Specialist Homeless And Foster Care Education Title I

Bargaining Unit: ACE

Work Year: 188 days per year, 12 contract payments

Work Day: 8 hours per day

FTE: Full time, 1.0 FTE

Salary: ACE 7, A-M $42,903 - $57,492, DOE

Job Summary

The Homeless and Foster Care Education Specialist serves as a liaison for homeless students, their families and students in foster care, providing advocacy and access to services in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act under ESSA. The position has a retirement association with the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS).

Job Requirements

The following are required:

• A bachelor's degree in social work, counseling, psychology, education, or a related field.

• Must be familiar with educational and community resources that support homeless students and their families.

• Superior interpersonal skills to establish and maintain effective communication with families in highly mobile and stressful living situations.

• Superior communication and problem-solving skills.

• Personal transportation for possible family visits, school meetings, community outreach, and agency meetings.

• Computer and organizational skills.

The following are preferred:

• A master's degree in social work, counseling, psychology, education, or a related field.

• Three or more years of experience in coordinating and providing services to homeless youth and families.

• Knowledge of the dynamics of family homelessness and experience with families and children in crisis.

• Knowledge of AK's Child Welfare system.

• Ability to perform outreach and coordination, working effectively with Anchorage School District staff and community agencies.

• Ability to establish and maintain productive working relationships with others.

• Ability to organize data and compile required reports.

Essential Job Functions

• Works with highly mobile and complex families to determine homeless eligibility and assess needs.

• Confers with families and maintains contact to perform advocacy and implement services and referrals as needed.

• Coordinates with Child in Transition staff, school personnel, OCS, and community agencies to deliver services.

• Advocates for the needs of homeless families and students in foster care by collaborating and coordinating with ASD and shelter staff, municipal, state, public, and private agencies.

• Facilitates communication between the home, school, OCS, and community agencies.

• Monitors student attendance bimonthly.

• Designs and troubleshoots transportation plans for students.

• Maintains knowledge and shares expertise of current community housing resources.

• Serves as a liaison to appropriate agencies or groups as delegated.

• Maintains accurate student/family records in CIT database and prepares reports.

Physical/Mental Demands

The physical demands of this job require frequent standing, walking, sitting, speaking, and hearing. Specific visual abilities are also required. The employee is regularly required to reach with his/her hands and arms and occasionally lift items weighing less than 40 lbs. Additionally, the employee must be able to communicate by oral and written means in an appropriate business manner and have cognitive skills to understand instructions, readily recall facts and details, handle conflict, and make effective decisions under pressure. The employee must have the ability to effectively manage the stress of working with students, parents, and other employees representing diverse cultures, personalities, and work styles in a dynamic work environment.

The Anchorage School District is committed to providing reasonable accommodations, according to applicable state and federal laws, to all individuals with qualified physical or mental disabilities.

Work Environment

Work is performed in a professional environment with a wide variety of individuals having differing functions, personalities and abilities, including working with diverse groups of people in a variety of different settings.

While performing the duties of this job the employee may be regularly exposed to a video display. The employee may be exposed to outdoor weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Additional Job Information

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties as requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments.

Anchorage School District employees must possess the ability to read and write in English. This includes the ability to communicate in English with school staff, coworkers, and the public. Employees must also have the ability to comprehend and carry out oral and written directions and understand and follow English instructions and written documents.

Offers of employment are contingent upon completion of a satisfactory criminal background check.

This position may be required to work in ASD facilities on the military installations (JBER). Please visit www.dhs.gov/real-id-enforcement-brief for additional information.

The Anchorage School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.