Family Advocate

Title: Family Advocate
Reports to: Senior Program Manager: Family Partnership Program
Status: Non-Exempt / Hourly / Full-Time / In-person
Location: Oakland, CA and throughout Alameda County
Pay: $26.50/ hour

***$1,000 Sign-on Bonus!*** Receive 50% upon hire, and 50% after 6-month probationary period.

Our Mission & Vision

The Brighter Beginnings mission to “support healthy births and successful development of children by partnering with parents and helping to build strong communities“, gains its strength and aspiration from our core belief and vision that, “Every family matters, and every child deserves a happy, healthy future.”

Our History

Brighter Beginnings is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and has been responding to the needs of families in underresourced neighborhoods since 1984 when our work began in response to the alarming differences in mortality and illness rates among African American babies compared to other children.

Brighter Beginnings has grown into a respected and well-connected organization with locations in Oakland, Richmond. We have a multi-cultural, bi-lingual staff of passionate and committed family-service professionals; in fact, many of our staff came to this work because of the challenges they faced in their own families.

Position Summary

Under the supervision of the Senior Program Manager, the Family Advocate (FA) will provide home visitation services and group socializations with pregnant parents and parents with children from birth to 3 years old in the Calworks Home Visiting program.  

In this role, you will work regularly with up to 17 assigned families in person (home visits/office visits), by phone, and through correspondence. You will deliver early chidhood education using the Parents as Teachers model and curriculum:

• Work with families to set and achieve meaningful family goals. 
• Serve as an advocate for families and assists in obtaining necessary services. 
• Help families with the home visitation delivery model to support school readiness for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Candidate Requirements:

• Minimum of a High School diploma. B.A. degree preferred, ideally in a related field such as Social Work, Psychology, Child Development. 
• Minimum of 1 year of work experience providing case management or advocacy-based counseling
• Excellent writing skills and computer proficiency
• Advanced organizational skills for data entry, meeting deadlines, and communicating effectively with the team via email and phone.
• Ability to work in a fast paced environment with diverse populations in a professional manner.
• Ability to exercise good judgement and communication skills needed to work in a team environment  and maintain client confidentiality.
• Valid driver’s license, acceptable driving record, reliable vehicle and car insurance. Must pass background check and have no history of abuse/neglect after conditional offer letter

Our ideal candidate has:

• B.A. degree in a related field such as Social Work, Psychology, Child Development. 
• Knowledge of ChildPlus, Efforts to Outcomes (ETO), and Microsoft Office
• Experience working with ages 0-3 years old
• Four-year degree in Social Work, Psychology, Child Development, or some college with work experience OR 12 Early Childhood Education (ECE) units
• Experience doing home visitation
• Bilingual fluency in Spanish/ English preferred. Not required.
• Excels in assisting families to develop case goals and plans.
• Ability to teach, nurture and empower program participants.
• Ability to work independently with a strong teamwork commitment.
• High ethical standards.
• Experience working with diverse populations.

Core Responsibilities:

• Maintain a caseload of up to 17 families with children 0-3 years old. Schedule, conduct and document 1-hour home visitation sessions twice or more per month with participating caregivers and their children in Alameda County. 
• Deliver the program’s curriculum designed to deliver child growth and development, health, educational, and nutritional information.
• Coordinate with parents to ensure that prenatal, well-child exams, immunizations, health screenings, and nutrition assessments are complete and necessary follow up occurs.
• Complete family partnership agreements, developmental screenings and all other required assessments with families in a timely manner. 
• Develop child goals in partnership with parents/guardians. Use multiple sources of data such as assessment results, caregiver home observations and program goals.
• Support activities that encourage developmentally appropriate activities for the changing needs of infants and toddlers.
• Coordinate and implement monthly group socializations.
• Collaborate with community partner agencies to access services for participating families.Promote awareness of programs through outreach in the community.
• Demonstrate and share knowledge of social services, human development and various programs available in the community, as well as state and federal regulations pertaining to child abuse and neglect to abide by reporting standards. 

Benefits

We are proud to offer competitive wages and benefits to our employees. Please feel free to inquire during the interview process. As a summary, we offer:

• 100% employer-paid health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance!
• Competitive wages and friendly environment
• Two weeks of vacation (increase after 1 year of employment)
• 13 paid holidays
• Sick leave accrual
• Optional employee-paid dependent health coverage
• 403b retirement account with matching
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Employee Assistant Program (EAP)

Notes: You may be a great Family Advocate if you have a background in any of the following: Preschool Teacher, Case Manager, Montessori Teacher, Early Childhood Development, Nanny, Childcare, Infant Development, Preschools, ABA, Behavior Technician.

Brighter Beginnings is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity and inclusion. At Brighter Beginnings, employment decisions are made regardless of sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnic origin, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, genetic information or ancestry, protected Veteran or military status, or other characteristics protected by law.

If you require alternative methods of application or screening, you must approach the employer directly.

All applicants that are offered a conditional offer of employment will need to complete a background check. For positions with client/patient contact, you must have a TB clearance and a physical assessment by a physician of your ability to complete job duties. Additional requirements are an immunization records (including MMR, Hep B, Varicella, TDAP, Covid-19). All positions require applicants to have a valid California driver’s license, be listed under car insurance as a driver, and a clean driving record (as defined by our insurance carrier).