Child Development Specialist at Heartland Human Care Services – Chicago, Illinois

Location: 4822 N Broadway & 5715 W Belmont Chicago, IL

Schedule: Part Time 8:30am-12:30pm

Summary:

Are you passionate about early childhood education and program coordination? We are looking for a dedicated Child Development Specialist to join our team and make a difference in the lives of children and families!

As the Child Development Specialist, you will work under the general guidance of the Supervisor to oversee the planning, coordination, and evaluation of various participant-facing services. You will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure programmatic objectives are met, providing instruction and oversight of activities in the early childhood education room for children ages 2-5. Your role will be crucial in coordinating with the Adult Education and Youth and Family Services programs, following guidelines established by the Organization. Individual accountabilities and work volume will be established through the development of annual success objectives, allowing you to make a measurable impact within our organization. Leveraging industry knowledge and best practices, you will promote the mission and vision of Heartland Human Care Services, while also supporting culture development and management efforts.

Why Join Us:

- Make a Difference: Be a part of an organization that is deeply committed to creating positive change in the lives of individuals and communities. 

- Professional Growth: Take on a leadership role where you can develop and implement asset management systems, supervise a dedicated team, and contribute to ongoing education initiatives.

- Comprehensive Benefits: Enjoy a range of benefits, including medical, dental, vision insurance, 401(k) match, paid maternity and paternity leave, commuter benefits, student loan assistance, and more.

Our Benefits:

• Medical insurance.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• 401(k) match.
• Paid maternity leave.
• Paid paternity leave.
• Commuter benefits.
• Student loan assistance.
• Tuition assistance.
• Disability insurance

Essential Functions:

Duties & Responsibilities

• Plans and implements early childhood education activities.
• Coordinates early childhood education volunteers and interns, in collaboration with management.
• Recruits and conducts outreach to families to participate in early childhood development, family literacy and parenting education activities, in collaboration with Adult Education staff.
• Develops age appropriate and culturally relevant curriculum for early childhood education program.
• Coordinates testing for Family Literacy program participants.
• Plans and implements parent child together activities.
• Leads library and other parent-child field trips.
• Completes assessments and tracks and documents outcomes.
• Prepares monthly and quarterly reports.
• Provides basic case management services to families with preschool aged children.
• Collaborates with Adult Education staff to ensure that literacy instruction is aligned.
• Participates in staff meetings, in-service training, professional development, and organization activities.
• Assists families in completing pre-school, Action for Children, and other childcare applications.
• Builds relationships with local community organizations, schools, and other stakeholders to promote services and outreach potential participants.
• Organizes informational workshops for refugee and immigrant parents in the community to raise awareness about early childhood education and available services.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• High School Diploma or G.E.D. is required.
• Bachelor's degree may be required if mandated by funder and/or regulatory agency.
• Two (2) years’ experience working in child care, education, case work, human services or related field is required.
• Experience working with refugee and resettlement populations is preferred.
• Relevant lived experience in refugee resettlement or forced migration may be considered.
• Fluency in a second language may be required if mandated by funder or regulatory agency.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities (K/S/A):

• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. 
• Access to regular, dependable, and timely transportation
• Ability and comfortability working with people of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Excellent communication skills. Strong networker, convener, relationship builder and communicator with experience collaborating with diverse work teams and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to handle confidential and sensitive information possessing skills to handle situations in a professional and diplomatic manner.
• A high degree of collaboration and emotional intelligence, self-motivation, and analytical ability.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook/Exchange; Windows operating systems; and other software routinely used by Heartland Human Care Services.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
• Ability to work independently and remain self-motivated with minimal direct supervision.
• Strategic thought partnership and consultancy skills.

Work Arrangement:

This role is eligible for a “hybrid” work arrangement. If hybrid, it is expected this person would be able to meet for “in person” meetings when needed or at the request of others. In-person meetings may be required on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, etc.). There may also be the availability to work from home when appropriate.

Work Environment:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to travel locally and work/visit various sites.
• The employee may be required to visit customers in their offices, factories and/or institutional settings.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.
• The noise in the work environment is moderate.

Physical Demands:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear.
• The employee is regularly required to sit, stand and walk.
• The employee must be able to stoop, kneel and/or crawl.
• The employee is regularly required to use hands to key, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• The employee must have unrestricted ability to provide physical restraint.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Heartland Human Care Services makes all hiring and employment decisions, and operates all programs, services, and functions without regard to race, receipt of an order of protection, creed, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital or parental status, religion, ancestry, national origin, amnesty, physical or mental disability, protected veterans status, genetic information, sexual orientation, immigrant status, political affiliation or belief, use of FMLA, VESSA, military, and family military rights, ex-offender status (depending on the offense and position to be filled), unfavorable military discharge, membership in an organization whose primary purpose is the protection of civil rights or improvement of living conditions and human relations, height, weight, or HIV infection, in accord with the organization's AIDS Policy Statement of September 1987.