Job Opportunity: Family Liaison
THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED. 12/10/18
The family liaison is an exciting new role, at Lower Columbia Hispanic Council, that will work closely with our partners from the Astoria School District, Warrenton-Hammond School District, Seaside School District and the NWRESD Early Learning HUB to develop and implement strategies that reduce cultural and linguistic barriers within the early learning and education systems.
The liaison will work to increase parent engagement and will meet with Latino families to provide system navigation assistance, referrals to resources that support family success and will help facilitate meetings between parents and school personnel as needed. The family liaison will also organize parent groups that give families a platform to come together and discuss needs, share ideas and learn from each other. Advocacy and leadership building workshops will be offered during parent group meetings and will be coordinated by the family liaison.
Job Title: Family Liaison
Type of Role: Full-time, exempt
Reports to: Executive Director Salary: DOE
The general job duties and skills required of the family liaison will include (but are not limited) to the following:
OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION:
- Work with school based counselors and family liaisons to identify families that need additional language, cultural or academic support
- Provide input to school partners regarding communications plan for reaching and engaging with Latino families.
- Review written materials, letter and flyers being sent to Spanish speaking families and make recommendations regarding content and tone of the translation.
FAMILY AND PARENT ENGAGEMENT:
- Meet with parents and families to provide general support with navigating the school system and make referrals to appropriate school personnel as needed
- Facilitate meetings between families and school personnel as needed
- Work with school staff to develop strategies to increase participation rate at parent-teacher conferences
- Connect families to social service resources such as OHP assistance, housing, food or legal assistance, as needed.
EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES:
- Meet with Early Learning HUB staff to assess early learning programs and services available in the community
- Collaborate with HUB staff to develop outreach strategies to maximize the number of Latino families accessing early learning programs and services
- Coordinate with partners, volunteers and facilitators to offer Abriendo Puertas program twice per year
- Attend NWRESD Early Learning Council Governance Board meetings as Consejo Hispano representative
PARENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
- Help families form a parent group as a resource for parents to learn from each other, discuss education needs and jointly advocate for programs and services that meet those needs
- Develop and facilitate a school systems navigation workshop to be offered at least once per year
- Work with parents to find leadership and advocacy skill building workshops to be be offered yearly
Tracking and evaluation of outcomes:
Tracks performance metrics including number (and type) of meetings with parents, number of meetings facilitated between parents and school personnel, number of referrals to early learning programs and social services, number of parents participating in parent group meetings, number of parents participating in workshops, etc. A comprehensive list of metrics and evaluation procedures will be provided upon hire and may change as the role evolves.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university AND at least three (3) years of experience working in a nonprofit, school or education based organization (5+ years of work experience in a coordinator (or above) type role may be substituted for degree)
- Superior communication skills (reading/writing/speaking) in both English and Spanish
- An understanding of the needs, challenges and barriers faced by Latino and/or immigrant families as they relate to accessing and engaging with institutional systems
- A substantial familiarity of the education and early learning systems, programs and services
- The ability to work with minimal supervision and adapt to rapidly changing situations
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with individuals from varied backgrounds in a positive, calm and supportive manner
- A passion for education and for working with parents to help them gain the tools they need to support their children’s academic success
- The ability to handle potentially challenging situations with integrity, poise and confidentiality
- Comfort with facilitating or leading discussions with families, partners and/or in group settings
- Valid driver’s license and up to date auto insurance for travel between work sites
Desired Skills:
- A self-starter who enjoys developing and implementing new programs while continually evaluating and adjusting priorities according to changing needs
- Experience working in a family liaison or community navigator type role is helpful (but not required)
- Experience with leadership development or advocacy training workshops is helpful (but not required)
- The ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships with partners and stakeholders such as school administrators, counselors, teachers, HUB staff, Migrant Education, Headstart and local social service providers
This is a new role that is still being developed and while the overall scope of the position will not change, some of the specific job duties are likely to evolve throughout time. For this reason, the ideal candidate will be someone who is excited about the opportunity help mold this new program.
Much of this position will involve travelling to various schools and offsite locations to meet with families and program partners, therefore candidates must be able to pass a background check and maintain a valid driver’s license and car insurance.
THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED. 12/10/18