Insights Young Parent Services - Home Visitor

Position Summary:

Insights Teen Parent Services has been providing parenting education and support services to young parents through home visiting and support groups for over 30 years.  We offer 9 different programs with specialties including child development, domestic violence, homelessness and foster care involvement for teen parents or their children.

Insights programs offer intensive home and community visiting to young families promoting positive parent-child relationships, supporting healthy childhood growth and development, enhancing family functioning and life skills development. 

Home and community visiting staff conduct visits to provide life skills development, child development information, education, and parenting support. They conduct an initial needs assessment and multiple subsequent assessments for families and provide appropriate resources and referrals to community agencies.  Home Visitors utilize multiple assessments and brainstorm with the family to develop an individual family support plan and set up activities and strategies that help the family meet their identified goals.

Education/Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Services/Human Services or related field or equivalent education, training and experience.
• Experience providing outreach and/or direct-service to high needs families, preferably adolescents.
• Experience working with adolescents and/or teen parents or families is preferred.
• Experience demonstrating a strong understanding of child and adolescent development.
• Prefer experience working with local social service agencies and systems and familiarity with local resources.
• Preference will be given to candidates demonstrating successful experience working with diverse communities in Multnomah County.

Knowledge, Skills and  Abilities:

• Value, experience and willingness to work in a multicultural/diverse environment.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with a broad variety of individuals, including clients, staff, and community partners.
• Bilingual skills (Spanish/English) are preferred but not required.
• Ability to speak and present information in both individual, small-group and large-group settings and to represent the program in community settings.
• Ability to provide detailed documentation in a prescribed format and in a timely, organized manner.
• Flexibility and ability to adapt to fluctuating priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to problem solve and exercise independent judgment.
• Ability to de-escalate potentially volatile and/or chaotic situations.
• Ability to work effectively in a team-dependent environment and a willingness to receive and act upon feedback.
• Ability to maintain appropriate professional boundaries in working with others and in handling confidential information.
• Ability to exercise tact, discretion and judgment in working with a variety of people.
• Ability to remain calm and emotionally available in an environment serving at-risk adolescents and individuals in crisis.
• Ability to consistently attend and be punctual for scheduled work commitments and meetings and be in a condition suitable for performing the functions of the position. 
• Data entry skills sufficient for maintaining case notes, monthly statistics, and other recordkeeping responsibilities.
• Manual/physical dexterity allowing for performance of routine office functions such as writing, copying, filing, computer use, phone use, faxing, etc.
• Ability to lift up to 20 lbs in order to deliver/carry supplies and food boxes to families and/or to parent-child activities.
• Ability to walk and climb stairs in order to access clients’ homes and apartments is required.
• Ability to provide strengths-based, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and non-judgmental services while establishing trusting relationships.
• Proficiency using motivational interviewing techniques and coaching skills. 
• Possess strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize multiple and varied tasks while managing time effectively.
• Have the capacity for introspection, communicates awareness of self in relation to others and recognizes the value of reflective supervision.

Other Requirements:

• Driving is required; a personal vehicle for travel and/or transport clients required. All employees who drive for work purposes must have and maintain a valid driver’s license for state of residency, have a driving record that permits coverage under the corporate auto liability policy, and complete the agency’s driving approval process before driving for work. If driving a personal vehicle for work purposes drivers must also have personal auto liability coverage ($100,000/$300,000 levels strongly recommended). Employees are not to drive for work purposes until they have received written authorization to do so.
  All employees driving for work purposes, regardless of whether driving a personal or agency vehicle, must complete the agency’s driving approval process before they drive for work and must maintain a driving record that allows for ongoing approval for the duration of employment. 
• Bloodborne Pathogens training is required on the first day of employment and annually thereafter.
• Mandatory Abuse Report training is required on the first day of employment and annually thereafter.
• Must pass criminal history clearance

Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Provide curriculum based parent education and child development services to young parents through home and community visiting
• Work with families, supervisor, and program team to promote positive parent-child relationships, support healthy growth and development, enhance problem-solving and life skills and improve support systems. 
• Effectively work with families and individuals of diverse backgrounds (including families with mental health, substance abuse, or domestic violence concerns; families experiencing poverty).
• Connect families with community resources/referrals and support self-advocacy across systems.
• Maintain accurate, timely and cleanly edited documentation detailing contact and progress of families per program requirement.
• Administer written assessments in accordance with program requirements and timelines. 
• Complete on-going evaluation documentation and assessments for each family in accordance with program standards and requirements. 
• Participate meaningfully in all Continuous Quality Improvement Projects
• Fulfill all training and evaluation requirements as established by program and Insights Teen Parent Services/Janus Youth Programs.
• Maintain program required client engagement/ participation rates
• Maintain  program required monthly home visit rate
• Complete and submit all statistical data accurately and on time
• Work collaboratively with relevant community agencies including DHS Self Sufficiency and DHS Child Welfare.
• As required, participate in all mandated court appearances
• Model and encourage direct, professional communication and facilitate development of a positive working environment.
• Provide home visit shadows, support and development opportunities for new staff
• Comply fully with all Insights Home Visiting Safety Protocol and staff safety protocol.
• Serve as a cohesive member of the program and organizational team, participate in problem solving and promote innovation.  
• Establish and maintain appropriate professional boundaries
• Participate in staff retreats, meetings and team meetings
• Utilize Supervision to enhance services to families and promote personal growth
• Adhere to all Insights and individual program confidentiality and ethical guidelines
• Adhere to all current local laws regarding driving and cell phone usage
• Other duties, as assigned, by Supervisor, Program Director or Executive Director.

Working Conditions:

• May involve exposure to communicable diseases, including a variety of illnesses and infections such as the common cold, TB, Hepatitis, flu, meningitis, and HIV.
• May involve exposure to upset, angry, severely traumatized or emotionally disturbed children, adolescents, adults, and families; May involve exposure to angry, hostile individuals.
• May require working and providing services at locations other than program site (i.e., restaurant, café’, clients’ apartments, etc.,) and may, therefore, be exposed to environments not under agency control (i.e., second-hand smoke, varying hygiene practices, etc.).
• In order to meet client availability, may involve working late evening/early morning, including some weekends and possibly holidays.

This position description is intended to give the reader a general idea of the overall purpose and the main activities and responsibilities that are intrinsic to this position.  While this description is intended to be representative, it is not intended to be limiting.