Community Connections Specialist

Department: The Partnership for People with Disabilities(PPD)
Duties & Responsibilities:

The Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) celebrates over 40 years as Virginia’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Training and Dissemination ((Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). ).

The Partnership believes that families are best served by otherfamilies and people with disabilities, especially those with similar experiences and challenges. People with Disabilities and families are the experts in their own lives and their children, andcan pass this expertise to others. To this end, The Partnership’sCenter for Family Involvement (CFI) works with families 1:1 to build their skills as advocates fortheir child/family, mentors to other families, and leaders inchanging the system for those that follow.

The Community Connections Specialist is a part-time grant-funded position, reporting to the Director of the Center for Family Involvement (CFI) at the PPD munity Connection Specialists are specific to special populations and work with otherCFI staff and volunteer Family Navigators to help family members of children and adults with disabilities identify and access information, services, and community supports that meet their needs.

Community Connection Specialists also outreach to organizations andgroups in Virginia (and the country) with whom the CFI and Partnership should partner to meet the needs of all families with children and young adults with disabilities.

• Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with communityorganizations, family-led organizations, healthcare providers,disability organizations, schools, and other partners to improveaccess to information, supports, and services for families of children and youth with disabilities and special health careneeds.
• Conducts community asset mapping to identify organizations,resources, and informal support networks serving families across
  
  Virginia, particularly Tribal communities.
• Builds and sustains partnerships with Virginia Tribal Nations and Indigenous-serving organizations to strengthen disability awareness and access to family support and navigation services.
• Represents the Center for Family Involvement (CFI) and the Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD) in communitymeetings, trainings, and outreach activities to increase awareness of disability resources, family leadership opportunities, and available services.

• Provides individualized information, resource navigation, andpeer support to families of children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs, helping families understandavailable services, navigate complex systems, and access neededsupports.
• Uses family-centered engagement strategies to reach families whoexperience barriers to accessing services, especially families from Tribal communities.
• Recruits, supports, and mentors volunteer Family Navigators andfamily leaders, including outreach to underrepresented communities,to expand peer-to-peer support and strengthen family engagement.
• Maintains accurate documentation of family contacts, community partnerships, referrals, and outcomes using the CFI Salesforce datasystem.

• Attends and participates as a team member in regular CFI and PPDstaff meetings/trainings, including any regional meetings withother CFI staff;
• Serves as a resource to the CFI and PPD by bringing
  
  Tribal/Indigenous perspectives, training, and technical assistance to ensure the delivery of appropriate services to organizationalclients; and
• Assists, develops, and participates in programs or projects assigned by the supervisor.

• Attends mandatory PPD, CFI, and/or VCU employee orientation andon-going staff development opportunities;
• Participates in at least two face to face or virtual training,seminars, courses and/or a state conference every year to improveservice knowledge and skills;
• Actively participates in discussions by sharing experiences,training information, resources, etc. with other team members…