Careers

Early Childhood Specialist

The Early Childhood Specialist provides pre-licensing support to individuals seeking to open family or group child care programs, with an emphasis on recruitment and outreach to potential providers. The Specialist also supports the early childhood workforce through coaching and training efforts that promote quality improvement using evidence-based tools. 

This is a full-time, 36-hour a week (Monday-Thursday) position. The wage range is $21.51 to $28.68 per hour. 

Essential Functions

• Pre-Licensing 
  
  • Work with the Pre-Licensing Lead to:
    
    • Ensure compliance with the stated requirements with applicable funding sources and contractual agreements
    • Provides onsite technical assistance for potential family or group child care providers 
    • Responds to requests from potential providers in a timely manner
    • Communicates with funder and DCF Licensing Specialists when appropriate 
  • Be knowledgeable on DCF 202, DCF 250 and DCF 251 licensing requirements and related current issues
  • Maintain a working knowledge of required systems and databases utilized for regulation including, but not limited to the Child Care Provider Portal, the Wisconsin Registry, WISCCRS, and Salesforce
• Training 
  
  • Become and/or remain current as an approved trainer in Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS), Pyramid Model, and other evidenced based tools for training
    • Offer high-quality, evidence-based training opportunities to both regulated and unregulated providers in a variety of modalities and languages to meet needs.
    • Plan & present Child Care Foundation Trainings, CPR w/ AED, First Aid, and other courses required for potential child care providers striving to become a regulated child care provider.
• Technical Assistance for Stakeholders 
  
  • Families
    
    • Connect and/or refer families to appropriate human service and community early childhood resources including but not limited to WI Shares, Birth to 3, services for children with disabilities and/or special health care needs, Family Resource Centers, and tribal agencies.
    • Make intentional efforts to engage with families experiencing gaps in access to needed care and services, including families with children with disabilities and/or children with special health care needs, families experiencing homelessness, and families in tribal nations, rural communities, communities of color, and communities preferring a language other than English.
  • Potential Child Care Providers
    
    • Conducts recruitment meetings/events for potential child care providers
    • Provide unregulated providers with education about the benefits of regulation and encourage them to become regulated. Offer guidance to unregulated and/or prospective providers who express interest in child care regulation and refer them to pre-licensing and/or certification services as appropriate.
    • Send appropriate materials to those requesting start-up information
    • Manage recruitment statistics
    • Represents the agency at media and visibility events appropriate to assigned program or project that support the overall efforts of the agency
    • Reach out to local high schools, technical colleges, or universities to promote CCP services & speak on the benefits of regulation  
    • As assigned, contributes information or resources related to starting a child care business & best practices for distribution by email and/or through social media
    • Collects data and generates monthly, quarterly, or annual reports as required by funding sources and contractual agreements
    • Provides technical assistance to potential providers regarding child care business practices, strategies for building relationships with families, health and safety, child development, and other issues both in person, by telephone, or email
  • Regulated Child Care Providers
    
    • Provide comprehensive early care and education systems navigation and supports to providers by providing warm handoffs to services that can improve the quality of their program, including, but not limited to: services in support of high-quality early care and education (including YoungStar), services in support of families (including Wisconsin Shares, Birth-to-3, Tribal Agencies, services for children with developmental disabilities and/or special health care needs), and services in support of providers (T.E.A.C.H., REWARD, WI Registry, Healthy Minds Healthy Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program,
    • Early Childhood Health Consultation, WEESSN).
    • Become and/or remain reliable in th Environment Rating Scales (ERS) to deliver technical assistance (TA) and trainings for stakeholders
    • Provide regulated providers with technical assistance about regulatory and quality standards. 
    • Offer customized supports (e.g., training and technical assistance) to providers referred by DCF regulatory staff.
    • Make intentional efforts to engage with current and prospective providers experiencing gaps in access to recruitment, technical assistance, and referrals including tribal nations, rural communities, communities of color, and communities preferring a language other than English.
    • Establish and maintain a professional consulting relationship with child care programs and share resources with early childhood professionals to guide best practice
    • Achieve compliance with program deliverables through participation in local and statewide meetings, training, and conferences to model and implement objectives with fidelity for group and family center personnel
  • Community
    
    • Ensure that all families and providers within the SDA are aware of and have access to the services offered through Child Care Partnership, making intentional efforts to outreach to the family and provider populations
    • Attend community events and meetings to represent CCP, including but not limited to workforce/job fairs, child development days, community events, fairs, etc.
    • Advocate for the early childhood field with local legislators
    • Collaborate with statewide stakeholders including: Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, parents, caregivers, regulators, Head Start, CESA, school districts, Wisconsin Technical Colleges and Universities, and other agencies
• Reporting and Case Management
  
  • Develop and implement workflow, timeline, and evaluation into your reporting strategies
  • Produce reports as specified for grants and updated requests from DCF
  • Assist with writing and compilation of data reports and anecdotal success stories.
  • Communicate regularly and effectively with group and family center professionals
• Other duties
  
  • Participate in Western Dairyland CCP Meetings
  • Understands and adheres to agency personnel policies.
  • Understands agency mission and represents same to public
  • Perform other duties as assigned within your scope of practice

Qualifications

• To perform this job successfully, an employee must:
  
  • Possess an intense interest in good outcomes for young children & their families
  • Be a dynamic public speaker and enjoy engaging groups in conversation
  • Maintain a high level of confidentiality 
  • Make informed & immediate decisions (know whom to contact for support when needed) 
  • Ability to work independently, organize tasks, and analyze information.
  • Keep up with current technology demands
  • Demonstrate a strong sense of customer service
  • Be accurate and detail-oriented
  • Write timely anecdotal stories and enter data as required to achieve reporting accuracy and meet deadlines
  • Have the ability to travel throughout the service delivery area, statewide & nationally as required 
  • Know the importance of documenting results of onsite site visits
  • Exhibit knowledge and understanding of child care issues, trends, and concepts      
  • Understand and promote Wisconsin child care rules and regulations
  • Possess the drive to be a lifelong learner for ongoing professional development
  • Are willing to travel statewide & remain away from home overnight
  • Can work evenings & weekends

Education and Experience

• BA or BS in Early Childhood Education or related field is preferred. A combination of credit-based education & experience equivalent to a Wisconsin Registry Level 13 and Tiered 3 Trainer would be considered. 
• Preference will be given to bilingual staff. 

Licenses, Certifications, Authorizations Required

• Annual Registry Certificate
• Valid Driver's License
• Clean Driving Record
• Current Vehicle Insurance
• Must meet WDEOC's insurability requirements
• Clear Criminal Background Check
• Signed Conflict of Interest statement as required by funders

We offer a complete benefit package, including:

Vacation, personal leave, holidays, sick leave

• Vacation time accrued at 0.05769 hours per hours worked
• 25 hours of personal time (prorated at start time)
• 10 paid holidays
• Sick leave accrued at 0.05709 hours per hour worked
  • approximately 6 hours of sick leave per month for full-time employees
  • maximum accrued sick leave of 408hours
• Short-Term Disability
• Long-Term Disability agency paid

401(k) plan with up to a 6% match 

Employees can contribute immediately. After 1 year of employment, the agency will contribute between 3 and 6 percent, dependent on the employee's contribution.

Health Insurance

• 90% of premiums covered for individual coverage
• 75% premiums covered for additional coverage needed
• $3,750 deductible reimbursement for individuals and up to $6,500 reimbursed for family deductibles
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Accounts for both Health and Dependent Care

Dental Insurance

• Employee Only $38.16 per month
• Employee + Family $112.56 per month

Vision Insurance

• Employee Only $5.43 per month
• Employee + Spouse $12.47 per month
• Employee + Child(ren) $13.82 per month
• Employee + Family $21.10 per month

Additional Benefits

• Employee Assistance Program - fully paid
• Basic Life Insurance - fully paid (plus additional group coverage amounts)
• Flexible work schedule with generous accommodations for family, school, and volunteer commitments
• Opportunities for continuing education, conferences, and classes
• Employees have access to our Discount Marketplace
• WDEOC is a qualified employer under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program

Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council Incorporated is an equal opportunity employer.