Bilingual English-Spanish Early Childhood Developmental Navigator
Full-time, Regular Status, FLSA Nonexempt
Location: Seattle, WA
$52,500 – $67,100 annually
Dependent on years of experience

Childhaven is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity. We are upholding this by recruiting candidates of every race, creed, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender or gender identity, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, and all other historically marginalized and excluded communities other protected status as provided by law.  Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are highly encouraged to apply!

ABOUT CHILDHAVEN
We are proud to be a values-driven organization that serves families from diverse communities. Our values guide us in the way we treat each other, the decisions we make, and the success we achieve. The following are the values guide our work:

• TEAMWORK:   Relationships come first.
• EQUITY:           There’s infinite value in every human.
• EXCELLENCE:   Constructively dissatisfied with the status quo.
• DEDICATION:   Do more. Do better.
• RESPECT:         Meet people where they are.
• REFLECTION:   Feelings Matter. Stepping back and exploring possibilities.

Childhaven is a leader in serving children, families, and communities that have experienced trauma and adversity. We are building a continuum of care model that is growing to respond to the changing needs of families by combining our legacy of healing-centered care, with the expertise of community partners. Going forward, we are embarking on a new and ambitious strategic impact plan to further strengthen programs, expand impact, and embrace innovation.

ABOUT YOU
You are a passionate and dedicated individual who shares our vision: To help ensure that all children are safe and healthy; thriving physically, socially emotionally and educationally; and well nurtured by family and by their community.

You too are constructively dissatisfied with the status quo. You are equal parts learner, leader and mentor and see around the corners of a challenge, replaying the question of “What if…” with a reply of “Why not…” If this sounds like you, then we want to meet, get to know you, and talk more about the positive impact we could have together.

ABOUT THE ROLE
Childhaven has 3 exciting opportunities to join our innovative and growing Healthcare Integration team as a Bilingual English – Spanish Early Childhood Developmental Navigator embedded in primary care medical clinics.

The Early Childhood Developmental Navigators provide culturally responsive developmental, behavioral, and social stressor screening, strengths-based developmental promotion, and proactive case management to early childhood services. Navigators also collaborate with interdisciplinary health care teams to break down silos and transform primary care services through early childhood healthcare integration to improve equity and accessibility for families, particularly those facing linguistic and/or cultural barriers to care.   

There are three open positions, with similar responsibilities and qualifications. One position will be at Harborview, joining an experienced team member, and two will be new positions at Sea Mar’s Seattle Medical Clinic. All three will join an existing team of Early Childhood Developmental Navigators employed by Childhaven embedded in pediatric primary care.

Sea Mar’s Seattle Medical Clinic
In 1978, the Seattle Medical Clinic opened as Sea Mar’s first medical clinic. It has since become a recognized Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and medical home from birth through adulthood for many Latinx families living in South King County.

Harborview Pediatrics
Founded in 1877 as a 6-bed welfare hospital, Harborview now provides care for children & families with medical and social complexity, including primary care and mental health services. The Early Childhood Developmental Navigator Program began as a partnership between Harborview and Childhaven in 2018.

The positions will include a combination of on-site work integrated within the medical clinics, some in-person meetings at Childhaven, and some remote work.  

TYPICAL DUTIES
Culturally responsive screening of child development, behavior, and family stressors.

• Describe to families the purpose of screening, normalizing the questions about specific childhood developmental tasks and behavior. Inform specifically about social-emotional skill development.
• Administer developmental, social, and emotional screening tools in a conversational format with parents, explaining the meaning of questions and soliciting examples when needed.
• Administer Social Determinants of Health screening tool at appropriate intervals. Route referrals to appropriate clinic resources as needed.
• Share the outcome of the screenings to the medical provider prior to the start of their well child visit through a warm handoff and maintain open communication with the care team.
• Use electronic medical records to record screening results and write progress notes with summary of visit. Track needed follow up and family progress through database (Redcap) and when families experience barriers to receiving needed resources. Collect demographic data per grant/funder requirements.

Strengths-based family support, developmental promotion, and parenting Education:

• Meet with caregivers of infants and children from birth to 5 years to promote strong Parent-Child relationships using a Promoting First Relationship approach.
• Emphasize strengths observed during the visit with parents and caregivers. Utilize tools (PFR, Vroom, 0-3 handouts) to assist with parental capacity building.
• Promote early childhood programs such as Early Head Start and Head Start, and child development support services such as Birth to Three and ChildFind by providing information about these programs including highlighting the benefits, describing the enrollment or evaluation process, and reducing stigma or misinformation about each program or service.
• Identify and provide community resource referrals, when needed, with consideration for cultural and linguistic needs, family geographic location and caregiver comfort. (e.g. ESIT services, supportive groups, mindfulness groups, early mental health interventions).
• Ensure families have access to needed supports and resources through the early childhood years by developing supportive, trusting relationships. Create the opportunity for ongoing contact with families with phone/text message check-ins in between scheduled well-child visits.
• Recruit Parent Partners from clinic and participate in Parent Partner Meetings with other Early Childhood Developmental Navigator Leads as needed. Plan for and lead Parent Partner meetings focused on child development topics of interest to caregivers.

Proactive case management of developmental referrals:

• When screenings identify areas of concern, provide a detailed overview of the ESIT or ChildFind program options including the referral and evaluation process, services offered, locations, and benefits of the programs.
• Complete release of information form for parents who desire a referral to allow for exchange of information between the medical home and early learning program.
• Provide proactive follow-up for referrals made to Birth to Three or ChildFind services. This includes frequent telephone outreach to the family and agency/school until the qualification step is completed and, if the child qualifies, until the child starts receiving services.
• Serve as a liaison between agencies or school districts and families. Advocate for family rights when agencies or school districts are not meeting requirements to provide families’ needs for the services.
• Address barriers such as transportation or language. Identify additional supports for families, such as legal support through the Washington Medical Legal Partnership
• Advocate for caregiver inclusion in decision-making around the services their child receives. Support families when they are not satisfied with the services their child is receiving.

Healthcare Integration Development, Improvement, and Advocacy
Along with other team members, Early Childhood Developmental Navigators will also:

• Train new Early Childhood Developmental Navigators on the responsibilities and techniques of the role.
• Share best practices with new Navigators about what works well and what to avoid when working with families, ESIT agencies, and school district programs/Childfind.
• Provide ongoing guidance and support for Early Childhood Developmental Navigators (within the same clinic site and across sites).
• Update program toolkit to maintain a relevant manual of goals, roles, and procedures.
• Inform new providers within clinic about the Early Childhood Developmental Navigator program, role in clinic, workflows, etc.
• Meet with local ESIT agencies and ChildFind programs to build relationships and streamline systems for families.
• Meet with new sites interested in Navigator program as requested to share knowledge and experiences.
• Recruit caregivers to provide input on Navigator program to demonstrate success and areas for growth, and guide program improvement.
• Provide feedback to program manager to demonstrate success and areas for growth, and guide program improvement.
• Track interactions with caregivers, service organizations, and other members of the primary care team as needed to demonstrate resources required for the program.
• Contribute to research with key stakeholders working to improve access to developmental services for families of young children. This may include (but is not limited to): experiences adapting screening tools for cultural responsiveness, strategies for connecting with diverse families, strategies for reaching unresponsive office contacts.
• Represent Childhaven in King County Help Me Grow Partnership meetings
• Present to current and potential partners, funders, and other interested community members about the new model of care being provided through the Early Childhood Developmental Navigator Program.
• Inform Childhaven’s advocacy and system change work by providing trends, specific examples, and narratives that illustrate the need for system changes.
• Contribute to building the program’s relationships in the early childhood ecosystem and share learning and experiences.

Professional Development

• Participate in professional development regarding anti-racism, oppression, and cultural competency and regularly assess own performance and program for related improvements.
• Participate in ongoing job-related professional development, in-service trainings and continuing education
• Participate in supervision with Childhaven supervisor and with as needed at clinic.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong, Bilingual English/Spanish communication skills
• Outstanding organizational skills and ability to manage a caseload of multiple families
• Interest and ability to successfully work in diverse communities, including self-awareness, understanding of systems of oppression, and willingness to contribute to undoing institutionalized racism
• Interest and ability to connect with diverse families and support them in overcoming systemic barriers
• Comfort with interacting with young children and commitment to creating a child-friendly environment
• Ability to collaborate effectively with diverse clients, agency staff, and team members
• Commitment to improving the experience of care for children and families, particularly those underserved by our current systems.
• Sufficient technological capabilities to use electronic medical records and other systems to record visit notes, collect data, and track patient progress.
• Ability and desire to be flexible and responsive
• Access to transportation to attend occasional off-site visits, trainings, or meetings.
• Ability to obtain and/or maintain current certifications including Pediatric/Adult CPR, first aid and AED, HIV and blood borne pathogens
• Background check, tuberculosis test, COVID-19 vaccination, and drug screen required.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Knowledge of early childhood development
• Knowledge of local resources for families with young children, preferably resources in King County
• At least 1 year of work or life experience in early childhood (parenting/education/developmental services), home visiting, social support services, infant mental health, or anything else related to early childhood

COMPENSATION
Childhaven has committed to equitable compensation practices, including pre-determining what roles require and the qualities needed from the individual that will fill the role. To achieve this, Childhaven uses a grade and step approach to determine the compensation of each team member based on years of relevant experience.

WHY CHILDHAVEN?
We strive to make Childhaven a great place to work by living our values: Teamwork, Equity, Excellence, Dedication, Respect, and Reflection. Here’s a bit of what we offer our staff:

• We believe in a fully transparent hiring process.
• We offer a comprehensive Benefits Package including Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance. Expanded benefits include a flexible spending account (FSA), healthcare reimbursement account, and 403(b) savings program. A full listing of benefits is available.
• Opportunities to attend a wide variety of trainings on clinical and educational topics, advocacy, and more.
• We’re dedicated to serving the full range of cultural diversity in our community, and to providing families with care that’s relevant to them. As a member of Childhaven staff, you’ll be encouraged to contribute to community engagement strategies and our antiracism council, which makes ongoing recommendations to ensure that our programs and protocols are doing their part to dismantle systemic racism.

Childhaven values organizational culture and professional development. Team members at Childhaven have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge through the following:

• Trainings
• Project work groups
• Clinical and/or reflective supervision
• Community advocacy and engagement
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Council (DIREC)

NOTE
***HOW TO APPLY***

Please apply through our website. If you require an accommodation to participate in the application or selection process, please let us know.

This position will be open until filled; applicants are encouraged to apply. In addition to completing the application online, please attach a resume and cover letter when prompted.

Childhaven would like to get an accurate understanding of each applicant’s experience and interest.