Family Advocate

Direct Reports:

None 

USC’s School for Early Childhood Education is dedicated to providing comprehensive, high-quality early childhood education services to children and their families in the South Los Angeles area. Founded in 1970 as a teaching school for future early-childhood professionals, the USC School for Early Childhood Education (SECE) seeks to promote school readiness, health/nutrition, mental wellness, and family engagement. Today, our licensed Head Start and Early Head Start centers serve more than 500 infants and preschool children and their parents each year. We are seeking enthusiastic, creative, dynamic, and team-oriented individuals who enjoy fostering a supportive learning environment.

Job Overview:

• This position provides advocacy for families in the community, co-leads with parent representatives, coordinates and staffs the Center Parent Committees Meetings, and takes responsibility for all of the following: child services, health services, tracking comprehensive services, and forms relationships with community agencies and helps create partnerships, and links families to community resources and also complies with agency policies, goals, and objectives.

• Recruits, certifies and enrolls children into the Head Start and/or the CA State Preschool Programs and assesses each family’s strengths, concerns, and priorities to provide services that improve their prospects of supporting their child through school using a case management methodology. 

• The Family Advocate will manage a small caseload of families (up to 45) and engage families in activities that support their and their child’s school readiness development.

• Assist children and families in accessing a broad array of health services, including screenings and referrals, maintenance of immunization schedules, nutrition assessments and follow-ups, mental health, and disability assessments as part of initial screenings, and determination if any mental or physical delays are present.

• Conducts the Family’s Needs Assessment and Family Partnership Agreements with each currently enrolled family to identify problems and concerns and links families with the appropriate resources and referral systems and services.  

• Assures completion of all program requirements and is familiar with and follows the Head Start Performance Standards and California State Preschool Regulations, including licensing requirements related to enrollment, health, child rights, and program policies. 

• Ensure children receive health and dental services and access ongoing, acute, routine health and dental care.

• Supports the classroom care and supervision of children, as needed, when the class is temporarily understaffed. During this period, the Family Advocate can provide auxiliary series, such as food preparation, set up, and clean up, that allow the available teaching staff to supervise the children adequately.

• Establish and maintain outreach and recruitment to ensure the assigned Head Start and State Preschool sites are fully enrolled with eligible children. Monitor attendance to ensure children are actively involved in the program.

• Responsible for working with teachers, site supervisors, family Service coordinators, and other support staff to help families make choices and decisions that will respond to each family’s unique culture, roles, values, strengths, and beliefs.

• The position is grant-funded and contingent on continued funding.

Minimum Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree or combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education.

• 1 year of experience performing administrative support services.

• Knowledge of Head Start Performance Standards.

• Minimum of 6 months of experience monitoring, entering, and tracking data.

• Minimum of 6 months of casework management.

• Experience networking with community partners.

• Bilingual: English/Spanish.

• CPR & First Aid Certificate (may be obtained after applying but before starting).

• In addition, the successful candidate must also demonstrate, through ideas, words and actions, a strong commitment to USC’s Unifying Values of integrity, excellence, diversity, equity and inclusion, well-being, open communication and accountability.

Preferred Qualifications

• AA or BA degree in Human Development, Social Work, or a related field.

• 12 units of child development.

• Family Development Credential or obtaining within 18 months of employment.

• 2 yearsof experience performing administrative support services program support services in directly related field.

Physical Requirements:

Must be able to climb stairs, reach, bend, lift 20-30 pounds, crawl, kneel, stoop, twist, grasp with hands and fingers, use arms and legs, walk, and climb ladders if applicable. The usual and customary methods of performing the job’s functions require the following physical demands: lifting, carrying, pushing, and/or pulling; significant stooping, kneeling, crouching, and/or crawling.

Pre-Employment Requirements:

• Physical exam

• TB test

• Background/fingerprint clearance

• MMR and Tdap vaccinations

• CPR

• Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training

The hourly rate rangefor this position is $23.00 – $24.00per hour.  This position may require evenings and/or weekends. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.