Northern Arizona Council of Governments

Job Description

Early Head Start Home-Based Visitor

Division:                Early Head Start

Program:                Head Start

Reports To:           Head Teacher

FLSA Status:        Non-Exempt

Salary:                    X-##, (Entry $__________  per hour)

Summary

The Early Head Start Home-Based Visitor has direct responsibility for the delivery of Early Head Start services to families with infants and/or toddlers in the families’ homes through scheduled, weekly home visits, 12 months a year.  The EHS Home Based Visitor works directly with teens or young adults who are at risk of not completing their education, pregnant and/or have newborn infants to three year old children, including children with special needs. 

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

·         Demonstrates compliance with Head Start Program Performance Standards and Arizona DHS licensing requirements.

·         Recruits and enrolls Early Head Start families.

·         Establishes and maintains positive and productive relationships with families to encourage meaningful participation in the Early Head Start Home-Based program and communicates effectively with parents or other family members.

·         Works effectively as a member of a team that includes community professionals, EHS program staff, and parents to adapt a family education and development plan that meets the needs of families based on the individual care service delivery model.

·         Works with parents to develop weekly home visit and activity plans based on each child’s assessment and identified family needs.

·         Demonstrates an understanding of child development and applies this knowledge to practice.

·         Assists parents in developing ways of using household resources in activities with their children.

·         Organizes and participates with parents and children in bi-monthly group socialization experiences.

·         Demonstrates the capability of entering into one-to-one caregiving relationships with infants and toddlers which support the positive formation of their identities.

·         Observes and provides on-going assessment of infant’s and toddler’s behavior in planning and individualizing practices.

·         Collects and documents the necessary data to track and monitor each infant’s and toddler’s developmental progress.

·         Works cooperatively with parents and teams to coordinate goals and activities that meet the plans set for children with special needs.

·         Participates in family staffings.

·         Assists parents in establishing good nutritional habits for their children.

·         Assists families in establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for their children.

·         Collaborates with each family in the establishment of a medical home as well as additional available community services when necessary; conducts health checks on each home visit.

·         Assists parents in becoming the prime family educator(s) and reinforces this concept with practical suggestions for its development.

·         Plans and implements developmentally appropriate activities that advance all areas of infant’s and toddler’s learning and development.

·         Supports the development and learning of individual infants and toddlers, recognizing that they are best understood in the context of their family, culture, and society.

·         Assists parents in establishing supportive relationships with their children and models developmentally appropriate techniques of positive guidance and behavior management techniques.

·         Provides high quality, comprehensive, inclusive, culturally appropriate, and family-centered services.

·         Assists families in identifying family resources and needs and utilizing all available community resources.

·         Acts as a liaison and advocate between community resources and Early Head Start families.

·         Maintains confidentiality of family records and information.

·         Encourages and promotes the family’s achievement of self-sufficiency by establishing short and long term, realistically attainable goals.

·         Establishes and maintains productive relationships with colleagues; coordinates EHS activities with other staff.

·         Communicates effectively with other professionals and agencies concerned with children and families in the community to support children’s development, learning, and well-being.

·         Participates in all appropriate training and related career development classes, enrolls in the Early Head Start Child Development Associates (CDA) Credentialing program, if necessary,

·         Attends staff meetings.

·         Attends parent meetings, as needed, assisting with the planning and implementation of the meetings and any other related parent activities.

·         Completes monthly written paperwork and submits reports to immediate supervisor.

·         Demonstrates an understanding of the early childhood profession and makes a commitment to professionalism and the Early Head Start program.

·         Performs related duties, as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications  

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Education and/or Experience

Experience and training equivalent to one year certificate from college or technical school; or three to six months related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Working knowledge of IBM compatible computers, spreadsheets, DOS, database, and word processing software.

Must possess extensive computer knowledge and skills relating to both hardware and software usage.  Ability to maintain effective working relationships with people of varied social, cultural, and educational backgrounds.  Must be bondable.

Other Skills and Abilities

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.  Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.  Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.  Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization. Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.  Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Certificates and Licenses 

Current, valid Arizona Drivers License.

Physical Demands And Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met, or are encountered, by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear.  The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, and sit.  The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance and taste or smell.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.  While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.