The UPMC Jameson Child Advocacy Center is hiring a full-time Infant Mental Health Specialist to join the CAC Team! This full-time role will work primarily daylight hours five days per week with occasional evenings and weekends required depending on visits/socializations and recruitment events. This home visiting position requires travel within Lawrence County.

We highly value candidates with experience in home visitation and working with families with young children (under the age of 5). If you have this background, we strongly encourage you to apply!

Purpose:
Home visiting position responsible for working with families with children birth to age 6 and providing services to families with multiple, complex risk factors (including but not limited to issues of attachment, separation, and trauma).

Responsibilities:

• Works with the parent(s)/caregiver(s) and the infant/young child together, in the home. Establishes trusting relationship that supports the parent(s)/caregiver(s) and infant/young child in their relationship with each other and facilitates change. Observes the parent(s)/caregiver(s) and infant/young child together to understand the nature of their relationship, developmental strengths, and capacities for change.
• Conducts observations, discussions, and formal and informal assessments of infant/young child development, in accordance with established practice. Observes and articulates the infants, young children and parents/caregivers’ perspectives within a relationship context. Effectively implements relationship-focused, therapeutic parent-infant/young child interventions that enhance the capacities of parents and infant/young children.
• Helps parents identify goals and activities that encourage interaction and can be woven into the daily routines of the infant/young child and family. Uses multiple strategies to help parent or caregivers: Understand their role in the social and emotional development of infants/young children. Understand what they can do to promote health, language, and cognitive development in infancy and early childhood.
• Identifies both typical and atypical development during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood through formal observation, assessment, and day-to-day interactions with the infant/young child and family. Provides information, guidance, and support to families related to the development and care of infants/young children to further develop parenting capabilities and the parent-infant/young child relationship. During observations and assessments, identifies emerging competencies of the infant and young child within a relationship context.
• Supports and reinforces each parent’s strengths, emerging parenting competencies, and positive parent0infant/young child interactions and relationships. Shares with families the realistic expectations for the development of their infants/young children and strategies that support those expectations. Demonstrates familiarity with conditions that optimize early infant and young child brain development.
• Assists families to anticipate, obtain, and advocate for concrete needs and other services from public agencies and community resources. Performs other duties as needed.