Family Liaison Worker

Mission:          Empowering Teen Parents to Succeed

Vision:             Teen Parent Families Thrive and Enrich our Community

Job ID:             24-017TERRA

As a non-profit organization that has been serving pregnant and parenting teens in Edmonton for 50 years Terra is recognized for its leadership, innovation and collaboration.  Annually more than 1,000 young parents and their children benefit from a comprehensive range of services. Through the compassionate work of the staff, we help parents and children to develop and reach their full potential by recognizing and responding to their unique and individual needs. Terra staff are guided by the Code of Honour which supports, respects, and celebrates our families and staff (https://terracentre.ca/what-is-terra/careers/).  If you share our values and support our mission and vision, please consider joining our team. 

Job Overview:

The Family Liaison Worker assists young moms and dads in their development of positive parenting skills to foster healthy parent child relationships. Through home visits, working with Child and Family Support Centre and community outreach, participants are supported to make healthy choices and to develop their capacity to effectively meet the needs of their children.

This is a full time (35 hours/week) with flexible hours to work between 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, and some evening and occasional weekend based on the needs of families and staff and to support day/evening programming. The position will be working out of the Terra office located at 10320-146 Street as well as Braemar School at 9359 67a St.

Responsibilities:

The Family Liaison will model and support participants with family and child development goals through modeling and building relationships:

• Provide ongoing support to children and families through home visits, telephone calls, and other support strategies.
• Foster relationship building with the agency, partners, and community resources.
• Assist families to connect with community resources and build a strong connection with their community.
• Plan, organize, and facilitate family meetings to reflect the needs and interests of families.
• Work with families to identify priorities and develop action steps to address those priorities in their individual and family life.
• Advocate for families in crisis, assisting with problem-solving, communication skills, decision-making skills, and goal planning to increase their confidence in meeting the needs of their children and family.
• Identify community resources and contacts to continually enhance programming to meet both the needs of the families and the outcomes of the program.
• Coordinate referrals, intakes, and assessments to other community resources or other Terra programs for families and seek opportunities for collaboration with community agencies.
• Provide guidance and support as required to help participants build skills and confidence in problem-solving.

The Family Liaison will support participants with children with complex needs through:

• Working with the Child and Family Support Centre (CFSC) to compete intakes, goal planning, and
• Complete ASQs (Ages and Stages Questionnaires) and provide relevant follow up support
• Completing home visits for families to support with integrating tools and strategies being implemented by Early Childhood Educators in CFSC playrooms or in the community
• Provide transition support for families to community childcare for families that are leaving CFSC or families that need to access the support for the first time
• Work and support parents with children with potential diagnoses and connect them to relevant community agencies.
• Spending time in CFSC playrooms with identified concerns to learn about and build relationships with children

The Family Liaison will offer coaching and support for other Terra Staff in their capacity to support Terra families by:

• Develop resources for team members and participants to engage and strengthen child development through activities that support with parent-child engagement, attachment, routine building, sensory play
• Provide mentorship to team members in using different resources and tools to support their work with child development
• Work in collaboration with CFSC Pedagogical Supervisor and Early Childhood Educators within connected playrooms in curriculum planning to help identify and develop targeted supports to ensure continuity of care

The Family Liaison ensures services align with program outcomes by capturing results and celebrating achievements for each family: 

• Maintain participant files in full compliance with policies and procedures.
• Complete documentation and reporting according to program policies and procedures.
• Record and monitor the progress on client goals.
• Acknowledge the attainment of participants goals, milestones and/or efforts towards their achievement 
• Compile monthly statistical information as required
• Collect outcomes measures data and completes evaluation activities as required
• Planning and conducting transition and follow up.

The Family Liaison ensures professional skills used to provide services and supports to participants reflect best practices by engaging in a process of continuous learning and professional development: 

• Adhere to Terra’s policies and procedures and to the professional code of ethics of applicable professional associations.
• Contribute to the development of team and agency-wide knowledge and skills.  
• Work to build an integrated service team and consult with the team as needed to ensure participant needs are addressed
• Consult with supervisor(s) as needed to ensure participant needs are addressed. 
• Participate in on-going professional development and a professional growth plan
• Actively seek opportunities to enhance personal/professional knowledge and skills.
• Learning from and sharing knowledge with colleagues.
• Participate in self-evaluation, peer evaluation and volunteer and student evaluation.
• Conduct interaction with participants in a professional manner, maintaining healthy professional boundaries in all participant interactions
• Expand personal sensitivity and knowledge regarding different cultures.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Post-secondary diploma or degree in Human Services, Education, Child Youth Care, Early Learning and Childcare, Special Education, another relevant field of study or equivalent life experience
• The ability to work independently in a self-directed environment with strong time management skills is required
• Ability to work with families from diverse cultural backgrounds and develop positive, effective, professional rapport and relationships with youth and children
• Knowledge of issues associated with people impacted by mental illness and substance abuse
• Knowledge of referral services and supports within the Edmonton community and/or the ability to research and connect with community resources
• Understanding and knowledge of the issues pregnant and parenting young people face
• Experience working with low income and marginalized participants, including people facing multiple barriers
• Knowledge and understanding of early childhood development
• Experience with supporting families with complex needs such as FASD and Autism and navigating the necessary community supports such as FSCD & other funding sources
• Experience creating, utilizing and teaching participants different tools, strategies or methods for supporting positive child development for children with complex needs  

Other requirements: 

• A valid driver’s license and a reliable vehicle with 2 million liability insurance
• Current clear Drivers Abstract
• Ability to work flexible hours
• Current First Aid certificate (Standard First Aid & CPR Level C)
• Current Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) or plan to get within 6 months
• Clear Criminal Record Check and Child Intervention Check that are dated within 90 Days of the start date

Intention Statement

Terra recognizes that it operates within a society and systems shaped by white supremacy and colonization and institutionalized discrimination and the exclusion, exploitation, and marginalization of Indigenous, Black, and people of color.

Terra strives to understand and be accountable for how white supremacy continues to impact its work at an organizational and systemic level and to address harm; implicit and explicit biases

Our intention is:

To build a foundation of awareness, knowledge, and skills to be an anti-racist organization. To respond to systemic racism that creates barriers and inequality in the workplace and in society. To be an organization that embeds the principles of equity and anti-oppression to everything it undertakes. 

Our goal is to actively promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through an antiracism lens through policies processes and practices.

Salary: The salary range for the position is $45,000-$47,857 year. 

Upon completion of a probationary period, we offer a comprehensive, competitive, extended health benefits package including RRSP contribution. Staff have three weeks of vacation, and, in addition, the agency is closed between Christmas and New Years.

As a learning organization, Terra supports ongoing professional development among employees through formal training, informal mentoring, and personalized growth plans.  Terra is continuing to grow our programming and there are anticipated opportunities for further professional growth within the agency.  

To Apply: 

Please email your résumé and cover letter to: Human Resources, . Please include “24-017TERRA Family Liaison Worker” in the subject line of the email.

Closing Date: Until suitable candidate found.