Full Time
Who We Are: CAMBA is a community of staff, volunteers, clients, donors, neighbors and partners who work together to build an inclusive New York City, where all children and adults have access to the resources and supports they need to thrive. We take a comprehensive approach by offering more than 160 integrated programs in: Education & Youth Development, Family Support, Job Training & Employment Support Services, Health, Housing, and Legal Services. We reach more than 65,000 individuals and families each year at our 90 locations, including 10,000 youth. CAMBA serves a diverse cross section of New Yorkers from new mothers in Brownsville to job seekers in the Rockaways. More than half of our clients are immigrants and refugees from around the globe. Over 85% of our families are in living in poverty, reflecting the challenges faced by nearly 1.7 million New Yorkers today.
CAMBA’s Healthy Families Program offers voluntary home visiting services to pregnant or newly parenting families living in zip code 11226 (Flatbush) and 11233 (Bedford-Stuyvesant/Ocean Hill) Brooklyn communities. The program helps parents with the changes that come along with pregnancy and the birth of a child. HFP also helps to identify and address financial or emotion stress, as well as other family risk factors that may exist during pregnancy and at the time of birth. Program services are free and focus on parent/child interaction, effective parent/child bonding, and overall family support. These services may be utilized on a short or long term basis, and are available up to the child’s fifth birthday.
Position: Family Support Specialist
Reports To: Supervisor I
Location: 21 Snyder Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11226
What The Family Support Specialist Does:
- Initiate and maintain regular contact with up to 20 families (or maximum case weight of 30), primarily in their homes.
- Conduct initial intake and/or assessment of participants (and, sometimes, participants’ families’) situations and needs, and/or periodic re-assessments.
- Establish trusting relationships with families and assist with strengthening parent-child relationships.
- Provide pre-natal and other health information.
- Assist parents to improve their skills to optimize the home environment for the child’s well-being and safety.
- Assist participants in completing all CAMBA intake applications/forms as well as applications for benefits and entitlements.
- Conduct street/creative outreach in order to recruit participants if caseload falls under 20 families (i.e.10 – 15 families).
- In collaboration with participants, prepare initial and periodic revisions of service plans, including short-term and long-term participant goals.
- Assist participants in attaining their goals by identifying community resources for participants and by making referrals to appropriate services both within and outside CAMBA.
- Follow-up with participants and with referral organizations regarding participant contact and progress with referral organization.
- Work with participants to overcome barriers to goal achievement and assist participants in advocating for themselves.
- Monitor and document participants’ progress toward their goals and track dates achieved (via regularly scheduled telephone contact, face-to-face home and office visits, and progress notes etc.).
- Participate in required Healthy Families training on role expectations, maternal health, parenting, child health and development. May also receive additional training to enhance client engagement, case management and outreach skills.
- May take new workers on home visits to observe.
- May participate in Case Conferences.
- May follow-up with participants for a period of time after successful completion of their primary goals to assure participant stability.
- May act as liaison/advocate with outside organizations regarding such matters as education, healthcare, housing, legal issues, etc.
- May escort participants to appointments (educational, medical, social service, etc.)
- May recommend and implement strategies to persuade participants to participate more fully in the program.
Minimum Education/Experience Required:
- High School diploma or GED and 4 years of experience and/or equivalent experience.
Other Requirements:
- Some evenings and/or weekends may be required.
- Experience working with, or assisting high needs/vulnerable children and families in a community setting.
- Bi-lingual Haitian-Creole/English or Spanish/English preferred.
- Ability to establish trusting relationships and work effectively with mothers, fathers and extended family.
- Ability to accept individual differences and to work with the culturally diverse populations that are present within communities served.
- Strong listening skills,
- Ability to identify family strengths and provide strengths based support.
- Ability to be satisfied with on-going projects where positive outcomes are not often immediately apparent.
- Emotionally mature and capable of exercising sound judgment.
- Knowledge of infant and child development. Belief that children need to be nurtured.
- Open to reflective practice and supervision.
- Ability to handle stressful situations.
Compensation: $35,000 – $38,000 Annually
Status: Full-time (35 hours per week)
Benefits: CAMBA offers a comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, dental insurance, 403(b) retirement plan with employer match, paid time off (vacation, personal, and sick time), and paid holidays.