Family Advocate I East/Central

VOALA

Helping Our Most Vulnerable Change Their Life Stories

Volunteers of America is a non-profit human services organization committed to serving people in need, strengthening families, and building communities. VOALA provides a variety of social services to Los Angeles area communities such as Head Start programs, Upward Bound college prep programs, veterans’ services, homeless shelters, low-income housing programs as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Learn more at www.voala.org.

PAY RATE: $21.57 - $22.70 PER HOUR

BENEFITS: VOALA offers competitive medical, dental, vision and retirement benefits.

HEAD START/EARLY HEAD START

Through our Head Start and Early Head Start programs, we work with children (ages 0 – 5) and their families to provide the skills, confidence and stable home life necessary for a smooth transition into kindergarten and beyond. Children also receive a broad array of health services including screenings and referrals, maintenance of immunization schedules, nutrition assessments and follow-ups, mental health assessments as part of initial screenings, and determination if developmental or physical delays are present. Children receive health and dental services and have access to ongoing and acute and routine health and dental care. Enrolled children receive healthy meals, along with an assessment of their nutritional needs and the necessary follow-ups. Nutrition education is available for parents and incorporated into daily classroom activities for the children.

Cities served include: Carson, Commerce, Compton, Culver City, Del Rey, East Los Angeles, El Segundo, Harbor City, Hawthorne, South Central Los Angeles, Lomita, Lynwood, Mar Vista, Newhall, North Hollywood, Pacoima, Palms, Paramount, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Fernando, San Pedro, Santa Clarita, Shadow Hills, South Central Los Angeles, South LA, Studio City, Sun Valley, Sunland, Sylmar, Torrance, Tujunga, Val Verde, Valencia, Valley Village, Wilmington.

JOB SUMMARY AND PURPOSE

The Family Advocate I recruits and enrolls children into the Head Start Program, and assesses each family’s strengths, concerns, and priorities in order to provide services that improve a family’s future prospects in supporting their child through school. Using a case management methodology, the Family Advocate I manages a caseload of families and assists them in all program areas, and engages families in activities that support them and their child’s development in becoming school ready.

The Family Advocate I supports the classroom care and supervision of children, as needed. During this period, the Family Advocate can provide auxiliary services, such as food preparation, set up and cleanup, that allow the available teaching staff the ability to provide effective supervision of the children. The Family Advocate is responsible for working as a team with teachers, site supervisors, family service specialists 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 Family Advocate complies with agency policies, goals and objectives.

Specific Duties Include:

• Establish and maintain outreach and recruitment to ensure the assigned Head Start site is fully enrolled with eligible children, and monitor attendance to ensure children are actively involved in the program.
• Manage a caseload of families and assist them in getting their needs met, establish ongoing goals that engage them in their child’s learning and future growth.
• Initiate, maintain, and follow up with the referral process in conjunction with the family, teachers, family service specialists and service support personnel.
• Facilitate and ensure parent involvement in activities and trainings. Promote parent advocacy.
• Establish and maintain direct communication channels with the family, program, program staff, family service specialist, administration and community members.
• Accurately prepare and submit required reports and administrative forms on time.
• Other duties as may be needed to fulfill program requirements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Services for this position must be provided on-site. As a result, the position requires incumbents to report to work on-site each day of active employment
• Establish and maintain outreach and recruitment to ensure the assigned Head Start site is fully enrolled with eligible children, and monitor attendance to ensure children are actively involved in the program.
• Manage a caseload of families and assist them in getting their needs met. Establish ongoing goals that engage them in their child’s