Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first organization that appealed to me is my local Boys and Girls Club.

Mission statement: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens (https://www.bgca.org/).

I chose this organization because they are an organization that cares for children especially children from low-income families. They open their doors to those who need them the most. Children go to the club after-school and in the summer for the summer program.

They currently had no job openings but if they had an opening for a position I would choose to be a Teen Program Coordinator. The skills and expertise I would need in order to fulfil this role would be:

• Associate degree from any college or university
• MS Office and web competency
• Experience working with youth ages 13-18
• Strong verbal and communication skills
• Knowledge of trends in fitness, developmental games, and other athletic activities
• Be able to work independently
• Be able to motivate youth and mange behavior
• Have a good driving record and valid driver’s license

 

The second organization that appeals to me is the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County.

Mission: The coalitoon will provide leadership. Direction, and integrated resource management for quality services that support our vision of success for children (https://elcpolk.org/about/mission-and-vision/).

I chose this organization because they are an organizaton that works to make sure all children attend quality child care programs, enter school healthy and ready for lifelong learning and collaborate with parents, families, educators, and the community.

The current position they have available that interest me is Parent Counselor. This position provides referral information to parents who are seeking child care assistance matters and determines if the parents are eligible for financial assiatance for child care/School readiness and Vountary Pre-Kindergarten services according to the funding guidelines. The skills and expertise that is needed for this position is:

• High School Diploma or equivalent, but preferably an AA degree
• 2 years experience in case management; provision of services under a county or state contract is preferred.
• Be available to work flexible schedules inclusing weekend/evenings occasionally
• Valid Florida driver’s license
• Proof of auto insurance
• Ability to travel locally or regionally for site and home visits, training, and other job-related activities and functions

The third organization that appeals to me is Florida Department of Children and Families.

I chose this organization because they help children and families in our city and state with different situations such as food and cash assistance, medical assistance, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, divorce, and etc. They care about the safe and well-being of children. They have several programs to help assist families.

The current job opportunity they have that interest me is Child Protective Investigator. They help children and work with families in crisis. This is professional work protecting children and working with families to conduct investigations of alleged abused, abandoned, neglected or exploited children (http://www.myflfamilies.com/).

The skills and expertise that is needed for this position is:

• Detail-oriented
• Conducts investigations regarding allegations of abuse, neglect, abandonment and/or special conditions for children;
• Works closely with law enforcement;
• Collects information through observation and interviews with the children, parents, relatives, neighbors, and other parties associated with the case, as well as analysis of criminal, past service history and other records;
• Engages families to understand the family’s perspectives about family dynamics, challenges and solutions, identifies needs and determines the level of intervention needed to include voluntary services or court ordered dependency services;
• Assesses danger threats, child vulnerabilities and caregiver protective capacities in order to determine whether a child is safe or not safe;
• Develops with family and other persons as necessary any required present and/or impending danger plans based on  analysis of danger threats in operation;
• Manages and modifies safety plans as necessary during the course of the investigation;
• Arranges emergency placement for any child that cannot safely remain in the home;
• Notifies state attorney, law enforcement, child protection team and other required individuals as appropriate;
• Provides written present and impending danger assessments;
• Completes Risk Assessment on families investigated and explains risk score to family;
• Conducts any staffing required for families with risk scores that are High and Very High Risk;
• Presents safety plan and impending danger assessment at case management case transfer staffing and participates in discussion as to recommended follow-up actions;
• Provides families with services linkages to agency and community resources based on needs assessment and provides recommendations for development of case plan to Case Manager;
• Conducts initial/ongoing child present and impending danger assessments;
• Develops with the family a signed Present Danger Plan and a signed safety plan for any identified threats and interventions;
• Notifies state attorney, law enforcement, child protection team and other required individuals as appropriate;
• Schedules and gathers information for and participates in case staffing
• Prepares appropriate reports/documentation in coordination with Children’s Legal Services and provides testimony in court;
• Maintains thorough documentation in the client records/appropriate information system(s) and maintains organized client files;
• Reports indication of abuse, neglect and/or abandonment to the Florida Abuse Hotline;
• Establishes and maintains cooperative and professional working relationships with organizations and other agencies involved with child protective investigations such as community based providers, Children’s Legal Services, law enforcement, medical personnel, schools, and other community/agency resources;
• Ensures effective communication with deaf or hard-of hearing customers or companions in accordance with the ADA and/or Section 504 and shall manage service records and report this data and any resources and/or training needs to their designated program point of contact.
• A Bachelor’s degree; preferred Bachelor’s or  Master’s degree in social work from a college or university social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education
• Must obtain Florida Child Protective Investigator certification within 12 months of hire (http://www.myflfamilies.com/).

 

References

Boys & Girls Club of America. Retrieved from: https://www.bgca.org/.

Early Learning Coalition of Polk County. Retrieved from: https://elcpolk.org/.

Florida Department of Children and Families. http://www.myflfamilies.com/.