Family Specialist

Who We Are

FamilyWise has been keeping children safe and helping families lead stable, healthy and productive lives since 1976. Our programs help families build resiliency, identify and harness their strengths, and connect to other resources. We promote individual and community-led actions that enhance supports for children, parents, and families across Minnesota.

Why You'll Love Working Here

Our mission is to strengthen families by promoting the safety, stability, and wellbeing of children, and our vision is for a world where every child thrives. As a multi-service, multi-cultural agency, FamilyWise focuses on nurturing children, families, and communities through culturally competent services. Our staff reflect the communities we serve through shared lived experiences and cultural background, and many can provide services in languages other than English. Our programs focus on natural supports, experiential learning, education, and a therapeutic approach with expertise in trauma-effective care.

Wages & Benefits

$20 per hour; For full-time positions: Paid vacation time, sick time, plus nine paid holidays and three floating holidays; competitive health, dental, and vision insurance; Health Savings Account (HSA), and options for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), employer paid basic life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance with the option for additional coverage, and employer paid short- and long-term disability insurance; agency sponsored retirement plan with immediate vesting, plus a 3% employer match. For part time positions: Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST), agency-sponsored retirement plan with immediate vesting, plus a 3% employer match.

Schedule

FamilyWise is looking to hire one part-time and one full-time Family Specialist. This position is scheduled to work during program hours, which may take place in the evenings. The Family Specialist often works in the community and family homes. There is opportunity has flexible scheduling and some remote work capability.

A Typical Day in the Life...

A typical day as FamilyWise's Family Specialist provides an opportunity to provide a secure and neutral environment for parents to learn positive interaction, social, and emotional skills, and will include the following:

• Providing a secure and neutral environment, ensuring positive experiences for parents and their children.
• Assessing parent/family social, emotional, and cognitive skills.
• Teaching parent education sessions based on curriculum and expertise.
• Conducting parenting observations and providing parents feedback on their interaction skills.
• Modeling appropriate social skills for parents and their children.
• Providing life skills education to increase parental capacity for positive family dynamics.
• Teaching parenting groups monthly for a group setting option.
• Preparing timely monthly written reports.
• Attending all appropriate collateral meetings with counselors and referring agencies.
• Developing and implementing service plans with clients.
• Coordinating and communicating with county workers, referring partners, and other stakeholders.
• Facilitating meetings of family, professionals, and natural supports.
• Collaborating with community partners.

Who You Are

• You have a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Development, Child Psychology, Family Social Science, Special Education, or a related human service field. A two-year degree and two or more years of experience providing parenting services will also be considered.
• You possess two to three years of experience in child development, abuse/neglect support services, or parent education, and you have used intervention methods for children with special needs.
• You have experience working with culturally and racially diverse populations in lower socio-economic conditions.
• If you are bi-lingual in Hmong, Somali, Spanish, or other languages, this is highly valued but not required.
• You have strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• You can maintain a good working relationship with all co-workers and community partners.
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• You can work evenings and weekends, as needed.
• You have a thorough understanding of parenting and child development issues.
• You thrive in a team-oriented environment.
• You can work independently, establish priorities, and meet deadlines.
• You can travel to participant sites within a 15-mile radius of the office.
• You have a valid driver's license, access to reliable transportation, and the ability to meet FamilyWise's driving record requirements. Please note that if the license was not issued in the state of Minnesota, you have 60 days after becoming a Minnesota resident in which to apply for your Minnesota driver's license or permit.

Diversity and open expression are fundamental to the work of FamilyWise Services. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment where everyone can belong. Every member of our team enriches our work by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our sector: individuals who identify as BIPOC, Indigenous or people of culture, LGBTQI+ and gender fluid or gender nonconforming, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, people of any age or family status. We encourage you to apply even if you feel like you don't fit 100% of the technical requirements. Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, genetic information or a protected veteran's status.

Our organization has a partnership with Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC) to provide administrative services including management of the hiring process. If you apply for this position, you may see references to MACC in some online materials.

FamilyWise Services participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you're authorized to work in the U.S. See E-Verify's official poster at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf. See E-Verify's Right to Work poster at https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster%20Eng_Es.pdf.

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