Education Specialist, National Center for Children & Families, Beltsville, MD
National Center for Children & Families -
Beltsville, MD,
US
Education Specialist
Date Posted: 2024-05-22
Job description
Position Purpose:
Responsible for ensuring that all children in the program are appropriately placed in the least restrictive educational setting and progressing regarding education.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
Physical Demands/Work Environment:
While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands and fingers to handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. Vision abilities required; this job requires close vision working with a computer monitor. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts and vehicles. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. While performing the responsibilities of the employee's job, the work environment characteristics are representative of the environment the employee will encounter. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
Responsible for ensuring that all children in the program are appropriately placed in the least restrictive educational setting and progressing regarding education.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Maintain a database tracking system that will track all clients, school placements, educational settings (special education/general education placements), modes of transportation, suspensions, absences, tutoring information, mentoring information, and all other pertinent educational information to monitors the progress that foster children are making towards their educational goals
- Retrieve all IEPs/504 plans
- Review all IEP's/504's and attend annual meetings (as required) assuring that the client is in the correct school placements and that all their needs are being met. Also, advocate in those meetings to add accommodations if it is deemed appropriate for the client
- Retrieve and review all report cards and submit tutoring referrals to CFSA for all youth who receive 2 or more Ds, Es, Fs, or its equivalent in core subjects
- Coordinates and collaborates with CFSA regarding tutoring and mentoring referrals as well as monitors the quality of services to ascertain if progress is being made with youth.
- Update FACES educational screens for all clients as well as monitor educational records to ensure all documents are current and up to date as well as submitted to the appropriate agencies
- Team closely with OYE CFSA team
- Track attendance of chronically truant and underperforming youth at risk for being retained
- Develop and facilitate program specific workshops and training and individual support with case management team and foster parents (ie. education, vocation)
- Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with CFSA/DCPS/PGCPS and other counties to facilitate appropriate placements.
- Visits and assesses special education school placements to determine their appropriateness for our foster children.
- Monitors school suspensions and expulsions to ensure that foster children are being fairly treated and that proper procedures are being followed.
- Ensures that the educational and employment screen in FACES is accurate and up to date.
- Provides ongoing training to foster parents in regards to educational rights and responsibilities as well as advocacy for foster children and families.
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
- Master's degree in Special Education preferred or a combination of education and experience with the special education population and system.
- Commitment to teamwork, collaboration, and the Agency's mission to progressively serve vulnerable families and youth.
- Must possess an attitude compatible with the goals and purposes of NCCF.
Physical Demands/Work Environment:
While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands and fingers to handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. Vision abilities required; this job requires close vision working with a computer monitor. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts and vehicles. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. While performing the responsibilities of the employee's job, the work environment characteristics are representative of the environment the employee will encounter. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.