Job Details
Level
Experienced
Job Location
MFS Rockwood Office – Portland, OR
Remote Type
N/A
Position Type
Full Time
Education Level
4 Year Degree
Salary Range
$21.50 – $22.14 Hourly
Travel Percentage
Negligible
Job Shift
Day
Job Category
Nonprofit – Social Services
Description
Metropolitan Family Service
Position Description
Position Title: Family Resource Navigator (FRN)
Reports To: Regional Program Manager
Dept/Program: Community Schools FTE: .75 (30 hours/week)
Locations: See below
Status: Exempt
Created: August 2023 Job Number: FRN0817
General Description:
Metropolitan Family Service position descriptions are guidelines. They are not intended to identify every task that an employee will be asked to complete. They are intended as a general outline of the essential work responsibilities and qualifications of the position.
Agency Culture:
- We use creative and proactive problem-solving to build and sustain dynamic community-based programs and quality services.
- We believe in the potential of families and individuals at all life stages and focus on prevention, wellness, and independence.
- We build strong relationships by collaborating with our funders, partners, and highly trained volunteers, always striving for an extensive commitment to diversity.
General Function:
Under the general supervision of the SUN Site Manager, the Family Resource Navigator (FRN) is responsible for supporting a caseload of families with basic needs resource referral and navigation in Multnomah County. The FRN will approach this work from a strengths-based perspective, working alongside families to navigate systems of support and remove barriers to self-sufficiency.
Locations:
One position is available at each location.
- Glenfair Elementary School
- Gordon Russell Middle School
- HB Lee Middle School
- Centennial High School
- Davis Elementary School
- Oliver Elementary School
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
General:
- Work collaboratively with MFS Staff, SUN Site Managers, and the school district to provide services to the SUN Site Community
- Effectively and consistently market the organization, communicating about MFS and its programs in a way that is both compelling and on message. Follow marketing guidelines in place when communicating with staff, volunteers, clients, partners, and potential supporters
- Comply with Metropolitan Family Service policies and procedures as outlined in the Employee and program handbooks
Outreach:
- Conduct ongoing community outreach to identify families in need of support
- Develop marketing materials (such as flyers and social media posts)
- Conduct outreach to and develop relationships with families in the schools’ catchment areas, including but not limited to: talking with families at school drop-off and dismissal times, creating and disseminating flyers, making phone calls, and using social media to promote meetings, events, and workshops
- Design and create promotional materials for family outreach efforts (e.g. flyers, mailings, signage, emails, and social media posts)
Client Experience and Relationship Building:
- Follow-up with families to see if the resource suggested fulfilled their need
- Create appropriate and effective communication through social media tools
- Connect families to the broader services of Metropolitan Family Service, the school district, and the community
- Provide information and assist with linkage to resources as needed
- Provide resource and referral assistance to families, including follow-ups with families to monitor progress toward achievement of resources and family progress toward goals
- Work closely with SUN Site Manager to create culturally responsive family educational workshops focused on literacy and educational development
- In partnership with school staff, assist with the development of school-based family engagement events and workshops to increase social supports for families.
- Collect Client Voice on FRN Program and overall SUN programming
Resource and Referral:
- Consistently ensure updated information about organizations referring to, know if they have resources available, or a clear understanding of their processes, timelines, and capacity levels
- Develop strong referral systems including the development of forms, electronic communication platforms, and data tracking processes
- Develop strong connections with referral sources for community social services and provide referrals as needed
- Establish and maintain new community partnerships, including local faith-based organizations, businesses, and other social service organizations, depending on the need of assigned schools
Data and Reporting:
- Develop a system to keep track of the resources shared with families
- Develop strong referral systems including the development of forms, electronic communication platforms, and data tracking processes
- Create and provide data and written reports as required
- Develop and implement a process to survey families to inform continuous improvement and to elevate culturally responsive approaches and practices.
- Lead the development and maintenance of a sound and accurate record-keeping and documentation systems for all FRN related work, including the use of the MFS internal database (Efforts to Outcomes/ETO)
Collaboration:
- Communicate frequently with SUN Coordinators and school staff to identify the needs of the families
- Create and sustain effective relationships with SUN staff and the larger school community
- Work effectively with the SUN teams to create and implement programs that address specific program goals
- Collaborate with the Hunger Relief Team to support Food Pantry Distributions and promote food security with school families
- Develop and maintain strong and positive relationships with school staff
- Seek out and maintain relationships with local community providers
- Work closely with SUN Site Coordinators to create culturally responsive family educational workshops focused on literacy and Social-Emotional Learning, and on other topics informed by interests and needs expressed by families
- Seek out and maintain relationships with local community providers connected to various community services with a holistic family approach.
- Coordinate with school and school-based partner agency staff who also focus on family engagement (e.g. family engagement committees and Family Engagement Coordinators from partner agencies)
Meetings:
- In partnership with school staff, assist with the development of school-based family engagement events and workshops
- Attend supervision meetings with SUN Site Coordinators
- Participate with the SUN team in regular meetings and training
- Attend school/ district meetings as needed
- Attend MFS SUN Cluster meetings and any other system-wide meeting that supports the work
- Attend 21st Century Conferences/Meetings as needed throughout the school year, if at a 21st CCLC funded SUN Site.
- Participate in training/meetings for the integration/alignment of financial services for families in collaboration with the MFS Economic Empowerment team
- Participate in appropriate school and community meetings/committees to develop and maintain strong community partnerships with the goal of sustaining program activities beyond the grant
- Participate and attend as a member of the Family Leadership Team at each school/site
Qualifications
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required:
- Training and a minimum of 2 years of professional or lived experience in social services, parent education, and social service program development
- Experience in the area of Information and Referral Systems (preferred)
- Experience in community recruitment, marketing, and community outreach is essential (preferred
- Experience working in a public school setting or with public school partners (preferred)
- Experience working in collaboration with a variety of agencies and programs (preferred)
- Bi-lingual in a language in addition to English required, ability to read, write and speak effectively in communicating with clients in a professional setting (Spanish or Language the school has identified most needed preferred)
- Ability to work independently and to collaborate with other staff and teams
- Knowledge and competency to operate a personal computer
- Competency in using Word, Excel, and database programs
- Competency to use various social media tools, Zoom, Google Hangouts/Meets and other tools to communicate to families virtually
- Possesses strong verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
- Possesses excellent time management and organizational skills
- Ability to provide strength-based resource and referral services to families
- Ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of individuals and groups
- Ability to maintain appropriate and professional relationships with clients and volunteers
- Values working in a multi-cultural, diverse environment
CORE VALUES
Equity & Social Justice
- Values working in a multi-cultural, diverse environment
- Values and supports inclusion and program access for clients
- Supports agency goals for reducing disparity in outcomes for communities of color
- Adopts anti-racism approaches to services by understanding and acknowledging systemic and individual racism and privilege
Collaboration and Teamwork
- Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with a broad range of individuals and groups within all program areas of MFS as well as other agencies
- Values the inclusion of multiple voices, including clients/service users, in the design and implementation of programs and services
Education and Experience Requirements:
- Minimum of a BA or BS in public health, or human services related field; BSW, MSW or MA preferred or related equivalent, relevant experience
- Fluency and the ability to communicate effectively (read, write and speak) in a language in addition to English (Spanish preferred) is Preferred
- Language fluency will be evaluated at the time of hire
Other Requirements:
Personal transportation allowing for travel within the Portland Metropolitan area in a timely manner. If driving a personal vehicle must maintain a valid driver’s license for the state of residency, personal auto liability insurance coverage, and a driving record permitting coverage under the agency auto liability policy.
MFS requires all employees and volunteers to complete a criminal background check. We review the results of all background checks individually and consider all of the circumstances of any issues that arise in a background check during the hiring process.
Work Environment:
Work is performed in an office environment, at community events, and/or at other locations as deemed necessary. May require occasional early morning, weekend, or evening work. Position requires the ability to sit for extended periods as well as stand occasionally. Position requires the use of a computer, telephone, fax machine, copier and may require accessing locations by use of stairs
Metropolitan Family Service is committed to building a diverse workforce to broaden and deepen our work in the communities we serve. We strongly urge candidates from communities of color, disability, LGBTQIA2S+, linguistically diverse populations, older adults, and military veterans to consider an application to our positions. MFS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.