The American Heart Association has an excellent opportunity for a Child Care Specialist (CCS) Part time in the Denver area! This role is instrumental in the rollout and on the ground implementation of the Child Care Technical Assistance Project, a joint program of the American Heart Association and Nemours. The CCS will work directly with child care centers, supporting analysis and assessment of child health and obesity and disease prevention strategies at the center level, significantly contributing to the development and implementation of center wellness policy recommendations, and assisting with the development, implementation, and evaluation of the program promotion and prevention strategies and practices in a specified region/location. The CCS reports to the Director Childcare Initiative in Dallas, Texas. CCS will provide hands-on technical assistance and training to 20-25 child care centers in their first year, and add an addition 10 centers per year annually thereafter (while retaining previous years’ centers) and be accountable for conducting pre and post- assessments, in partnership with centers and evaluation subcontractor, to assess level of improvement and other key measures throughout the year
- With center staff, conduct an initial inventory (baseline assessment) of current policies and practices and create an action plan with center staff utilizing a wellness policy format: identifying priority areas of focus, resource analysis, and short- and long-term goals
- Identify available resources for centers that support action plans and provide on-site and telephonic support as needed
- Develop relationships locally with early learning coalitions/collaborative and other key stakeholders to support program implementation and success and ensure alignment with existing programs and infrastructures.
- Recruit participating centers in to the program, securing Letters of Commitment from Center Management
- Conduct trainings and facilitate networking for participating centers
- Conduct program orientation with staff at participating centers
- Conduct annual follow-up inventory with centers, refine action plan as necessary
- Familiarize self and maintain knowledge of federal, state and local regulations (i.e. licensing) and/or voluntary or involuntary requirements (i.e. QRIS) relevant to nutrition, physical activity, screen time and breast feeding
- Develop and set up regular integration meetings with local market staff to orient them to the National Child Care Recognition program, keep them informed about the status of the program and discuss ways to engage local volunteers and partners in the program
- 2 years of experience in general project management, community or public health environment
- 2 years of experience in training or education
- Proficient knowledge of child care, community/public health, prevention, childhood obesity and/or successful management and implementation of early education based programs
- Demonstrated understanding of child and family behavior, health, social, developmental, education, and poverty issues
- Experience supporting program evaluation and data analysis
- Excellent oral and written communication. Must be an excellent face to face, email and telephone communicator
- Plans, organizes, and schedules in an efficient, productive manner
- Ability to travel up to
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in developing and managing relationships with diverse groups/environments and individuals as well as capacity building/community mobilization
- Ability to serve as a mentor to program participants and internal staff while also ensuring they are accountable for performance outcomes
- Ability to assess and identify significant opportunities and potential problems in communities and develop feasible solutions