Bilingual Recruitment & Enrollment (ERSEA) Specialist ($1K signing bonus!)

Description

About the job 

Monticello Area Community Action Agency (MACAA) partners with individuals and families experiencing low income to eliminate the condition of poverty by promoting economic empowerment, equitable access to healthcare and nutritional support, and the education and development of the whole family. We work alongside local leaders and community partners in our service area to leverage our collective resources and experiences and create sustainable solutions that connect more families to opportunity – and make our region a better place to live for everyone. 

ERSEA Specialists administer eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance processes for our Head Start and Early Head Start programs. This role is crucial in helping us serve the most vulnerable families in our community and comply with a variety of federal, state, and local regulations. The Bilingual ERSEA Specialist will work all families applying to Early Head Start and Head Start and will be the primary contact for Spanish-speaking families to determine eligibility for the programs. This position is perfect for someone who has excellent interpersonal skills, integrity, attention to detail, and experience with extensive data entry. 

Who will love this job 

• A self-starter—you proactively set and achieve goals with minimal oversight. 
• Approachable—you’re friendly, welcoming of all, and genuine. 
• Detail oriented and thorough— your natural tendency to follow up on tasks and see them through to completion will ensure loops are always closed. 
• An optimist—you see problems as opportunities and have a positive, growth-minded attitude. 

• Flexible—you cope well with sudden changes in circumstances and enjoy thinking about challenges and tasks in new ways. 
• Conscientious—you pride yourself in being an expert on the rules and regulations associated with your role, and you understand the importance of following and enforcing those requirements with consistency, care, and integrity. 
• An innovative thinker—your creativity helps you consider different approaches and ways to improve existing processes.

This role is currently on a hybrid schedule—approximately 60% in office and 40% work from home. This schedule is subject to change as circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic evolve. 

Job Duties

Your Impact 

• Recruit and enroll the most vulnerable children in our service area to meet and maintain funded enrollment benchmarks throughout the year. 
• Be an expert in program eligibility criteria and maintain comprehensive and accurate eligibility determination records in our database (ChildPlus). 
• Conduct interviews with families to determine their eligibility, always approaching those sensitive conversations with dignity and respect. 
• Establish and review enrollment/re-enrollment procedures annually. 

• Develop, coordinate, and participate in recruitment events and enrollment fairs in the communities we serve—ensuring that recruitment strategies prioritize children with disabilities or those in need of early intervention services, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 
• Ensure accurate PIR set-up annually. 
• Monitor child attendance and ensure daily attendance rate does not fall below 85%. 
• Build relationships with children, families, colleagues, management, leadership, and community partners that result in positive outcomes. 
• Understand, implement, and monitor compliance with various federal, state, local, and internal regulations (Head Start Program Performance Standards, VDSS Licensing, Federal Poverty Guidelines, etc.). 

• Create and facilitate ERESEA training for program staff and the Board of Directors. 
• Recommend and implement improvements to policies and procedures with an emphasis on efficiency, equity, and access for families. 

Skills Required

We’d love to hear from you if you have 

• Bilingual (English/Spanish) abilities and experience providing written and verbal translation services in a professional context. 
• 1+ years of experience collecting, inputting, and managing data in an electronic database system. 
• Experience working closely with a team as an effective contributor. 
• Effective communication skills – you can clearly convey information and ideas verbally and through a variety of media to individuals and groups in a manner that promotes engagement, understanding, and retainment of the message. 
• Collaboration skills—you work well in a team setting and with a partner to collectively solve a problem or make progress toward objectives. 

• Multitasking skills—you excel at managing multiple responsibilities/priorities at once. 
• Relationship building skills—you can connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds in a way that establishes trust and mutual respect. 
• Accountability—you share equal responsibility for your team’s objectives and outcomes, and you value the success of the team over personal success. 
• Nice-to-have: Experience working with vulnerable populations (Children and families facing adverse conditions including homelessness, food instability, incarceration, foster/kinship care, substance abuse, etc.) 

Special requirements 

• Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Medical and religious exemptions will be considered. 
• Must be able to complete health assessments including a physical exam and TB screen. 
• Must pass background searches including criminal, sex offender, and child abuse/neglect. 

• Must have reliable home internet. 

Work Schedule

Full Time (40 hours per week)

This role is currently on a hybrid schedule—approximately 60% in office and 40% work from home. This schedule is subject to change as circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic evolve. 

Additional Info

How to apply 

Please submit your application through our career center at macaa.org/careers. Internal applicants must apply through their ADP profile. Candidates must include a resume and cover letter with their application. In your cover letter, tell us about your unique experiences and talents and how they make you a good fit for this role. Your cover letter will give us insight into your personality, writing style, and communication skills. Plus, it’s a chance for you to sell yourself! Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please do not submit your application by email. Qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews. Preference will be given to applications received by June 6, 2022. Target start date for this role is July 18, 2022. 

MACAA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds and all walks of life to apply. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or hiring process, please call (434) 987-2236 and provide the nature of your request and your contact information. TTY/TDD users please dial 866-480-8821. 

Hiring process 

Candidates for this position can expect the hiring process to follow the order below. Please keep in mind that candidates can be declined from the position at any stage of the process. We will share interview questions and/or topics with candidates prior to each interview. We hope that this transparency allows candidates to think ahead and be ready to present their strengths and experience. This doesn’t mean that candidates should come with a script in hand! Rather, it’s our hope that candidates will come to these conversations with the confidence and desire to engage with interviewers. 

To learn more about someone who may be conducting the interview, find their job title on our team page. 

• Qualified candidates will be invited to schedule a 30-minute virtual screening call with our Family & Community Engagement Manager. 
• Next, candidates will be invited to schedule a 45-minute virtual panel interview with members of the family/community engagement team and other stakeholders. 
• After that, candidates will be invited to visit our main office location to participate in a 60-minute final interview with our Family & Community Engagement Manager. 

Onboarding process 

In the first week, expect to: 

• Review your onboarding resources and new hire roadmap. 

• Work closely with the Family & Community Engagement Manager and fellow ERSEA Specialist to review your job description and tools/platforms used by the team. 
• Gain high-level knowledge of our programs and services, as well as the departments and teams within the organization. 

In the first month, expect to: 

• Begin cultivating relationships across Early Head Start and Head Start programs, especially with your fellow ERSEA Specialist and the Family & Community Engagement Manager. 
• Shadow ESREA partner and Family Support Coordinator (FSC) staff in family meetings and community partner meetings. 
• Receive training on and explore database system (ChildPlus). 
• Become familiar with Head Start Program Performance Standards. 
• Learn eligibility requirements and begin practicing individual family calculations and conversations. 

In the first three months, expect to: 

• Continue to develop relationships across the program. 
• Practice most day-to-day job responsibilities independently. 
• Become familiar with our existing community partners and cultivate relationships with them. 

• Develop a collaborative relationship with ERSEA partner—communicating on a consistent basis. 

In the first six months, expect to: 

• Confidently know and work within ERSEA Head Start program standards. 
• Become an expert in eligibility and enrollment guidelines and procedures. 

In the first year, expect to: 

• Be viewed as a trusted resource throughout Head Start and Early Head Start. 
• Actively engage in conversations with the team to continually strive towards best practice. 
• Know what the primary tasks are during different periods of the year and be able to do each of those things independently.