Family Engagement Specialist - Head Start​/Early Head Start

The Family Engagement Specialist is responsible for providing family support services to enrolled Head Start and Early Head Start children and their families through regular contact, home visits, family partnership activities, and community referrals. In addition, the Family Engagement Specialist serves as a daily classroom and playground liaison — supporting fidelity to classroom management practices, communicating with parents about each child's individualized educational goals, and ensuring safety practices are followed during outdoor and gross motor activities.

The Family Engagement Specialist helps families identify goals, access resources, and strengthen their ability to support their child's growth, health, safety, and school readiness. The position aligns with the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework, and the Office of Head Start (OHS) Program Excellence indicators, modeling practices used by high-performing Head Start grantees that have achieved Program Excellence designation.

The Family Engagement Specialist serves as an advocate for, with, and on behalf of program participants and their families. In all responsibilities, the Family Engagement Specialist supports the agency's equity, diversity, inclusion, and trauma-informed service efforts.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Reports to:

Center Director Supervises:
No supervisory responsibilities

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESA. Conduct regular home visits, family contacts, and follow-up contacts with assigned families.

B. Recruit and enroll eligible families as assigned, and support attendance and engagement efforts.

C. Provide family support services that strengthen parenting, family stability, and family well-being.

D. Collaborate with families to complete family strengths and needs assessments and family partnership agreements.

E. Support family goal setting and help families connect to resources that address housing, employment, food security, transportation, education, and other needs.

F. Promote parent engagement in classroom activities, policy council, family events, and program governance, consistent with the PFCE Framework.

G. Communicate regularly with parents about their child's individualized educational goals, developmental progress, and alignment with the program's School Readiness Goals acrossthe five domains (approaches to learning; social and emotional development; language and literacy; cognition; and perceptual, motor, and physical development).H. Partner with teaching staff to share family insights that inform individualized goal setting, lesson planning, and classroom strategies for each child.

I. Observe daily classroom practices to ensure that approved classroom management strategies (including positive behavior supports, established routines, the curriculum's behavioral expectations, and CLASS-aligned teacher-child interactions) are being implemented with fidelity; report concerns to the Education Manager and supervisor.

J. Be present during outdoor playground time daily to ensure that all safety measures are being followed, including active supervision, name-to-face counts, equipment safety checks, weather-appropriate practices, and emergency response readiness.

K. Monitor and support children's health status, including medical and dental homes, physical health, mental health, developmental screening follow-up, immunizations, and nutritional needs.

L. Work closely with Health Services staff to help ensure completion of required health screenings, follow-up appointments, referrals, and documentation.

M. Reinforce health education with families related to nutrition, oral health, safe sleep, injury prevention, medication safety, and disease prevention.

N. Support health and safety practices in the home and in program settings, including emergency preparedness, safe child supervision, reporting concerns, and other program-required health and safety procedures.

O. Serve as a liaison between families and community resources, including medical providers, mental health providers, dental providers, social service agencies, and other supports.

P. Assist with crisis intervention, problem solving, and referrals as needed.

Q. Maintain accurate, timely documentation of family contacts, referrals, follow-up, attendance concerns, classroom and playground observations, and other required records.

R. Maintain confidentiality of all family and child information.

S. Participate fully in supervision, team meetings, case conferences, training, and professional development, including training that supports OHS Program Excellence indicators and continuous quality improvement.

T. Perform other duties as assigned and delegated by supervisor.

STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCEA. Must have strong relationship-building and engagement skills with families.

B. Ability to communicate effectively with parents, children, teaching staff, and community partners.

C. Strong organization, time management, and…