Specialist - Birth to Five Helpline presso Southwest Human Development

A positive future for every child

Southwest Human Development is Arizona’s largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development. The first five years of life are the most critical in a child’s development. At Southwest Human Development, our services improve lives and help families by supporting young children and their caregivers during this important time.

Your skills, experience, and passion are needed at one of the nation’s largest nonprofits dedicated to early childhood development. Join our team and experience a long-term career which brings joy and satisfaction in knowing you make a difference.  We offer over 40 programs and services to more than 140,000 children.

Why choose us?

• Make an impact in a child’s life by promoting child health and development.
• Be rewarded with a rich benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness plans, 401(k) matching every paycheck, and generous paid time off.
• Opportunities for continued professional growth and development.
• Supportive and collaborative work environment.

Job Title: Bilingual Specialist - Birth to Five Helpline

This position is the first point of contact on our agency’s state-wide, toll-free Birth to Five Helpline. Bilingual Helpline Specialists provide individualized child development information and professional phone consultation in both English and Spanish for caregivers with young children, ages birth to five and professionals supporting families with children, ages birth to five. Additional responsibilities include time-sensitive data entry associated with incoming calls, maintaining up to date listings of resource/referral information, participating in marketing and outreach efforts and presenting (in person or virtually) to groups of caregivers and professionals on topics related to early childhood. As part of the Helpline Fussy Baby Program, Specialists provide infrequent home visits to families of infants within Maricopa County with specific concerns about their child and/or caregiving.

Essential Functions:

• Conducts phone and home visitation services that adhere with the thoughtful and thorough approach utilized by the Birth to Five Helpline and informed by the FAN Model.
• Provides home visitation services to families of infants who live in Maricopa County as needed.
• Recognizes and values cultural and sociological differences in child and family development and supports family perspective on parenting and caregiving.
• Maintains a regular schedule for covering the Birth to Five Helpline.
• Maintains timely data entry and enters all Helpline and/or Outreach data as calls are taken daily. If the volume of calls necessitates that data be entered after a call has been completed, that data must be entered within 48 hours of the date the call was received.
• Maintains updated resource/referral information daily.
• Builds collaborative relationships within SWHD and the community and participates in marketing and outreach efforts within SWHD and in the community, including the facilitation of presentations on the Helpline and early childhood topics as requested and approved by supervisor, monthly and/or as needed.
• Provides services that are family-centered and relationship-based.
• Supports integrated team process for service delivery.
• Actively participates in supervision that is regular, reflective, and collaborative in nature. As appropriate, takes the initiative to seek supervisory input.
• Shares pertinent information with supervisor and team members regarding work progress, successes, barriers, concerns and other information that may have an impact on the department’s service or image.
• Accurately identifies areas of mastery and areas targeted for personal growth and development. Seeks assistance and guidance when needed and incorporates constructive direction from supervisor to improve job performance.
• Demonstrates sensitivity to linguistic, cultural, social, economic, individual and role differences among persons and families served.
• Adheres to the SWHD Core Values and the Codes of Ethics of NASW and NAEYC.
• Adheres to the Southwest Human Development Mission, Vision, Core Values and policies.
• Other duties as assigned.

What it takes:

• Master’s degree in child development, social work, counseling, psychology, or related field with at least five years of experience working with young children and their families.
• Bilingual English/Spanish language proficiency.
• Extensive knowledge of child development and parenting/caregiving.
• Experience working with culturally diverse populations.
• Ability/willingness to facilitate community presentations on the Helpline and facilitate training in early childhood topical areas.
• Excellent organizational skills; excellent written and verbal communication skills, basic computer skills (Microsoft Word, e-mail, Excel, etc.).
• Experience working in early care and education settings preferred.
• Excellent communication skills in group settings and understanding of group processes; experience working closely alongside a team of professionals preferred.
• Knowledge of community resources preferred.

SWHD takes the health and safety of our employees and the communities we serve very seriously. We strongly believe vaccination is a critical safety measure to protect each of us and the communities we serve. COVID vaccinations have proven to be highly effective at protecting people from getting COVID-19 or from getting severely ill from it.

Learn more!

Our core values embody Southwest Human Development’s commitment to services that uplift the lives of children, families and other care providers, and the communities in which they live. These values are intended to guide the professional development, ethical conduct, and skilled practice of all our staff, whatever their specific role within the agency. All staff are valued as making essential contributions to strengthening the foundation that Arizona’s children need for a great start in life. Learn more about our values and benefits here.