Brightpoint (formerly known as Children’s Home & Aid) invites you to join our team of mission-driven staff who share a common vision: an equitable world where all children and families thrive in strong communities. As a leader in the human services sector for 140 years, we aim to advance the well-being of children by investing in families and strengthening communities through data-informed, collaborative, and preventative solutions.
The Trauma Training Specialist develops and facilitates professional development training on trauma and young children for early childhood education staff and others. In addition, provides consultation to teachers on classroom management and strategies for responding to children who are experiencing post-trauma symptoms. The Trauma Training Specialist also provides program support through referral and data management. This position reports to the Clinical Supervisor.
Core Responsibilities:
- Research, create, facilitate, and presents trauma-informed professional development training for early childhood center staff. Topics include but are not limited to effects of trauma and toxic stress on young children, attachment, mindfulness skills for children, culturally responsive services to families impacted by trauma, and providing a social-emotional learning environment in the classroom.
- Create informative and engaging training sessions that can be facilitated in-person and/or virtually.
- Collaborate with program therapists to be give joint trainings, as needed.
- Partner with the training department for input and guidance on the development of new training sessions.
- Develop and disseminates an annual training needs assessment.
- Utilize the results from the training needs assessment and grant requirements to support the development and management of an annual training plan.
- Collaborate with early childhood education leadership to schedule and update the calendar of trainings and in-services.
- Develop quarterly training calendar based on the annual training plan and budget and distributes calendar to all early childhood center sites.
- Assist in the creation of a post-training survey; ensures completion of post-training survey by participants.
- Provide consultation to teachers on classroom management and strategies for responding to children who are experiencing post-trauma symptoms.
- Refer families/children for further mental health services, as needed.
- Provide outreach and ongoing support to families referred to community services.
- Enters training information, attendance, and referral data into database; accurately tracks training and referral data for grant reporting.
- Responsible for intake processes and data collection, as needed.
- Adhere to program and data requirements of the funding grant
Candidate qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in social work, early childhood education, and/or related field required.
- A minimum of 3 years of work or volunteer experience with children/families who have experienced trauma.
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of early childhood education, trauma-informed care, and the effects of trauma on young children.
- Demonstrate excellent writing and oral communication skills to effectively address varied audiences.
- Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills to establish and maintain teamwork, rapport and professional relationships with co-workers, participants, and outside agencies.
- Consistently demonstrates compassion, objectivity, and sensitivity towards participants served and their clinical needs.
- Demonstrate ability to create curriculum that addresses the professional development needs of the target audience.
- Demonstrate the ability to present information in an engaging manner.
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and identify engaging and informative training materials, including slide decks, videos, and hands-on activities that accurately represent the training concepts and skills.
- Demonstrate initiative, consistent follow-through, and the ability to work independently.
- Demonstrate effective organizational and time management skills with the ability to set priorities, handle multiple projects and responsibilities, and meet deadlines.
- Demonstrate intermediate computer skills, including Microsoft Office, Outlook, videoconference software, electronic database systems, and other related information management systems.
Job details:
- Compensation: Range starts at $49,000/yr; Offers are commensurate with experience.
- Benefits: Medical/dental/vision insurance, 3+ weeks paid time off in the first year including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day (PTO increases with tenure); 11 paid holidays, supplemental insurance options, 401(k) with match (more benefits details here)
- Location: Home office located at 100 N. Western Ave.
- Schedule: Full-time, salaried; general business hours with some flexibility to work Hybrid 1-2 days per week.
- Student Loan Forgiveness: Brightpoint is an approved agency for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
Where you work matters.
We believe that by building diverse and inclusive teams of passionate advocates for youth and families, we can continue to show up for Illinois families, putting those families at the center of every decision, and strengthening the communities where we all work, play, and live together. (More about who we are here.)
We invite you to become an active member of a team that supports, inspires, and challenges each other, and grow your career in an organization that celebrates emerging leaders and provides development and learning opportunities aligned with your individual goals and aspirations. If you are looking for an opportunity to do meaningful work, including raising your unique and authentic voice to disrupt the systemic inequality impacting children and families, we encourage you to apply today.
Click here to review our agency’s Blueprint for Impact.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)