REPORTS TO:   Psychosocial Rehabilitation Manager & Project Manager

JOB LENGTH: 1 Year

 

JOB SUMMARY:   The Early Childhood Intervention Specialist (ECIS) will serve three primary functions:

1. The ECIS will provide ongoing, relationship based mental health consultation, technical assistance, and referral services to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) providers working with children ages birth to age 5 and their families within a designated service delivery area (SDA).

2. The ECIS will provide/facilitate pertinent training to ECCE providers and others within the SDA and on a statewide basis.

3. The ECIS will work proactively within their respective service delivery area to improve and facilitate understanding and collaboration between the ECCE field and the Mental Health field, and to promote community understanding of and support for child and family mental health.

 

 

1. Establish and maintain ongoing supportive relationships with childcare providers in a designated service delivery area (SDA). A minimum of two hundred on site contacts should be made per service year.

2. Provide program level mental health consultation and technical assistance to childcare providers (both licensed and non-licensed) in their respective SDA.

3. Provide ongoing support for childcare staff to enhance interactions with the children and parents they serve.

4. Assist ECCE providers in designing setting based intervention strategies to enhance children’s social-emotional development and mitigate behavioral disruptions.

5. Provide mental health consultation regarding particular children with mild social-emotional challenges, including the administering of screening and assessment tools as warranted.

6. Facilitate referrals for children and families with more intensive needs to the most appropriate available mental health (or other support) provider.

7. Maintain all records as needed in a timely fashion, including records necessary for program evaluation (ex: records of referrals and responses to those referrals).

8. Assist in the gathering of data and preparation of reports required by regulatory agencies and/or necessary for program evaluation.

Training

1. Develop, refine and maintain a timely menu of training topics and curricula aimed at improving the competency of ECCE providers in promoting the social and emotional development of children.

2. Confer with ECCE providers, IDHS, the project Coordinator, and others as appropriate to determine training needs.

3. Design new training programs and/or identify existing programs that can be utilized to meet identified training needs.

4. Facilitate delivery of training to the ECCE community, either by providing the training directly or arranging for other competent trainers to do so. A minimum of twenty training events should be provided per service year.

5. Assure that training provided is accessible and affordable for the intended audience, taking into account the working hours, geographic barriers and financial realities inherent in ECCE.

6. Identify those training topics appropriate primarily for local presentation and those that lend themselves to broader audiences (such as State conferences) and facilitate either or both types of presentation as appropriate.

7. Maintain all records as needed, including records necessary for program evaluation (ex: records of all training provided and evaluative feedback from ECCE participants).

8. Assist in the gathering of data and preparation of reports required by regulatory agencies and/or necessary for program evaluation.

 

1. Encourage and model a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to working with children, families, and other caregivers.

2. Develop and maintain collaborative, professional relationships with all major ECCE and MH providers within the SDA.

3. Seek and utilize opportunities to educate each discipline about the other through activities such as attending and presenting at conferences, participating in local interagency councils, participating in collaborative initiatives such as AOK, etc.

4. Assist ECCE providers in communications with the Mental Health field, and in developing their own collaborative relationships with Mental Health providers.

 

1. ECIS will enter up to date records into the Data Tracking Program (DTP) system on a weekly basis.

2. ECIS will participate in various scheduled intra project meetings including quarterly work sessions, training sessions, and scheduled teleconferences.

 

 

1. May be asked to perform other duties as required by the employer’s business needs.

 

1. Ability to lift/push/pull up to 50 lbs.

2. Ability to see accurately both near and far

3. Ability to walk, bend, twist, kneel, and stoop

4. Ability to accurately manipulate small objects accurately using fine motor skills

5. Ability to drive to various locations as needed, adapting to various weather conditions

 

1. Educational expertise must qualify the individual as a QMHP (Qualified Mental Health Professional) as outlined in Administrative Rule 132 OR The individual must possess at least a master's degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Infant Mental Health, or other related field (as determined by the Project Manager), and have successfully completed a practicum or internship that included a minimum of 1,000 hours of applicable (as determined by the Project Manager) supervised direct service, or have one year of applicable (as determined by the Project Manager) clinical or early childhood consultation experience under the supervision of a QMHP.

2. Knowledge of early childhood development, including an understanding of the concepts and dynamics underlying young children’s social-emotional development (such as attachment and separation), as well as an understanding of family dynamics and the importance of child-caregiver interaction.

3. The ability to discern and respect culturally appropriate behaviors and to respond appropriately.

4. Experience in the Early Childhood Care and Education field, including an ability to be comfortable practicing in various early childhood settings, and to effectively integrate various appropriate mental health activities and philosophies.

5. Willingness and ability to travel (both within the SDA and on occasion more extensively) and to work a flexible schedule in order to most effectively serve the needs of ECCE providers.

6. Ability to speak and present effectively and professionally to ECCE, Mental Health, and other groups, both large and small. Ability to listen effectively and reflectively. Ability to communicate verbally with a wide variety of audiences of divergent backgrounds. Ability to write effective reports and correspondence. Ability to provide effective and accurate referrals, both in written and oral form. Ability to read and interpret documents such as training manuals, curricula guides and rubrics, and to teach them to others. Where demographics warrant, ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in both English and Spanish or other locally predominant language.

7. Ability to analyze problems and achieve solutions.

8. Must have a valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, and applicable insurance.

9. Must possess basic computer skills, with a good working knowledge of word processing and presentation software tools, as well as correspondence tools such as e-mail. Will be expected to accurately maintain records in the Data Tracking Program (DTP) administered by the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA).