Job Openings

If you are a great communicator, self motivated, a self-described people person, want to do work with meaning and purpose and like to move quickly – we want you to apply for this position!

Reporting to the Virtual Support Program Manager, under the general direction of the Program Director, the Virtual Family Support Specialist must demonstrate an empathetic personality combined with a dynamic professional attitude to convey Hand to Hold’s mission and values. This position provides peer psycho-social support and education for NICU families.  The role requires leaning on one’s own personal experience and specific peer support training. Training to become a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist and with others on the Hand to Hold programs team will be offered to prepare for this peer support role.

A high degree of competence or expertise in using technology is necessary as communication with families is performed virtually through various platforms.  This is a multi-faceted role that requires a person who is energetic, proactive and motivated, produces consistently high quality work, turns tasks around quickly and communicates effectively. This position plays a role in a variety of Hand to Hold programs in order to extend services to the maximum number of NICU families possible.

Personal experience with Hand to Hold’s mission, and being bilingual in English and Spanish, are required.

Essential Functions:

Virtual Support Group Facilitation in English and Spanish

• Facilitate virtual support groups using Hand to Hold’s custom support group curriculum through Zoom or other similar platforms.
• Plan and prepare for each virtual support group.
• Provide support and encouragement to families during groups.
• Track and report program data within program timelines to collect demographic information, and measure impact, satisfaction and overall effectiveness of the groups.

Peer Mentor Program Coordination in Spanish

• Perform peer mentor recruitment, training and deployment in Spanish.
• Screen and train peer mentor volunteers to guarantee background standards are met to ensure they are qualified to provide specific services for appropriate placement.
• Coordinate matching process, monitor and mediate matches, and provide mentee and mentor support as appropriate.
• Maintain participant and database information including contact and demographic data, background checks, confidentiality agreements and training updates.
• Track and report program data within program timelines to collect demographic information, and measure impact, satisfaction and overall effectiveness of the  program.

App Moderation in English and Spanish

• Provide support and encouragement to families during their NICU journey through Hand to Hold’s Mobile App or one-on-one through Zoom appointments within the app.
• Moderate specific discussion threads designed with the emotional, physical and social needs of the entire NICU family and/or engage in one-on-one chats/direct messaging (DM) with participants.
• Take direction from, or collaborate with, the marketing team to have seamless, unified branding across the organization’s communication and social channels.

General

• Communicate with families during regular business hours, as well as evenings or weekend hours, depending on the work schedule set.
• Contribute to Hand to Hold’s educational content, training, manuals, curricula, and other writing projects as needed.
• Participate, facilitate and/or assist at Hand to Hold events.
• Submit weekly and monthly reports – timesheets, expense reports – in a timely fashion.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Program Manager and/or Program Director.

Additional Information:

Flexible work schedule
Estimated 10-15 hours per week; maximum of 20
Non-exempt hourly, part-time position
Compensation:  $21/hour
Hand to Hold is not currently able to offer part-time employee health insurance or benefits.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional work experience.
• Personal experience with a child in the NICU.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish.
• Certification in peer support or willingness to complete certification within the first 90 days of employment.
• Awareness of mental health challenges NICU parents face and willingness to complete appropriate training in this area, as well as ongoing education on racial and ethnic disparities, trauma-informed care and other relevant instruction, both online and in person.
• Ability to provide culturally competent support and education in English and Spanish.
• Work or internship experience working with children and families, including those with disabilities, in health care, early childhood intervention, or maternal health care programs.
• Ability to work both independently and on teams.
• Ability to think proactively, address problems creatively, and take initiative appropriately.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism as an ambassador for the organization.
• Demonstrated excellence in organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Willingness to learn and abide by best practices in peer support.
• Willingness to learn and apply best practices in health literacy and medical education.

Salary Description
$21.00/hour

APPLY HERE

Hand to Hold® is seeking a person with an empathetic personality combined with a dynamic professional attitude to convey Hand to Hold’s mission and values on behalf of the entire organization. The Family Support Specialist will help Hand to Hold® fulfill our contractual agreement with local area hospitals to provide peer psycho-social support and education for NICU families, in partnership with hospital staff as appropriate.

The role requires leaning on one’s own personal experience and specific peer support training. Training to become a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist and with others on the Hand to Hold programs team will be offered to prepare for this peer support role. Additionally, the Family Support Specialist will complete the hospital’s credentialing process that requires HIPAA training and proof of vaccinations, which may include COVID-19, before orientation and training commences in a hospital setting.

The Family Support Specialist’s primary responsibilities include visiting families at the bedside one-on-one, facilitating weekly support groups, distributing resources, and hosting holiday events. There are also essential data entry and reporting requirements to supervisors and hospital staff about the interactions with families.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

• Provides bedside support and encouragement to families during their antepartum and/or NICU stay.
• Identifies and provides timely and effective peer psycho-social support and interventions for families either directly or through referrals. 
• Disburses Hand to Hold resources and NICU Milestone beads to parents and families. 
• Plans, prepares for and facilitates in-person support groups using Hand to Hold’s custom support group curriculum.
• Transports materials (including parent bags and resources, event materials, etc) required in the NICU from Hand to Hold’s office, or other locations, as needed.
• Helps families identify and access medical and therapeutic services in their community. 
• Provides bereavement resources and support for families who have experienced a loss in the NICU.
• Serves as liaison between Hand to Hold and hospital NICU staff.
• Tracks and reports program data within program timelines to collect demographic information and to measure the impact, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness of each program component.

General

• Meeting with families occasionally during evening or weekend hours.
• Attends meetings with Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director and other Family Support Specialists, either virtually or in person.
• Contributes to Hand to Hold’s educational content, training, manuals, curricula, and other writing projects as needed.
• Participates, facilitates, and/or assists at Hand to Hold or hospital events as required.
• Helps to recruit volunteers and peer mentors.
• Submits weekly and monthly reports – timesheets, expense reports – in a timely fashion.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director. 

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional work experience required.
• Personal experience with a child in the NICU is required.  
• Being bilingual in English and Spanish; highly preferred.
• Certification in peer support by the State of Texas, or willingness to complete peer support training (virtual or in person) within the first 180 days, as well as completion of state certification process.
• Awareness of mental health challenges NICU parents face and willingness to complete appropriate training in this area, as well as ongoing education on racial and ethnic disparities, trauma-informed care, and other relevant instruction, both online and in person.
• Ability to provide culturally competent support and education in English to diverse groups of people, including Hispanic/Latinx, subcontinent Asian, Asian and Black families.Work or internship experience in health care, early childhood intervention, or maternal health care programs. 
• Experience working with children and families, including those with disabilities. 
• Willingness to learn and apply best practices in health literacy and medical education. 
• Willingness to learn and abide by best practices in peer support. 
• Ability to work both independently and on teams. 
• Ability to think proactively, address problems creatively, and take initiative appropriately. 
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism as an ambassador for the organization.
• Demonstrated excellence in organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated competence with a variety of office tools including virtual communication and meetings, time scheduling, video conferencing, organizational and project management, and CRM technology.

Additional Information:

• Open to applicants in the Dallas, Texas metropolitan area.
• Part-time, non-exempt hourly position.
• Estimated at 12 – 15 hours per week.
• Compensation:  $20/hour; $21/hour if bilingual in English & Spanish
• Hand to Hold is not currently able to offer part-time employee health insurance or benefits.
• Paid time off offered plus two office holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas Day) after the employee introductory period.

Physical Demands:

Substantial movements (motion) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers in a repetitive manner.

Must be able to tolerate standing or walking for 95% of the hospital shift and occasionally lifting/carrying 10-25 pounds.

Use telephone and email to communicate, approximately 2-4 hours per day.

Must be able to see clearly with or without corrected vision.

Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items.

Bending, stooping, and reaching several times throughout a shift.

APPLY HERE

As a 2022 & 2023 Best Place for Working Parents® business, our dynamic, growing organization seeks a NICU Family Support Specialist (FSS) to join our team in Houston, TX. Reporting to the Hospital Partner Program Manager, and under the daily direction of the Family Support Specialist – Team Lead, the FSS serves as a Hand to Hold representative in the partner hospital for NICU staff and NICU families. This person must demonstrate an empathetic personality combined with a dynamic professional attitude to convey Hand to Hold’s mission and values on behalf of the entire organization. The team of Family Support Specialists will fulfill our contractual agreement with a local hospital in Houston and provide peer psycho-social support and education for NICU families, in partnership with hospital staff as appropriate.

The role requires leaning on one’s own personal experience and specific peer support and mental health trainings. Training to become a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist and with others on the Hand to Hold programs team will be offered to prepare for this peer support role. Additionally, the Family Support Specialist will start the hospital’s required credentialing process, including HIPAA training, and begin orientation in a hospital setting. Some travel may also be required to Hand to Hold’s headquarters and other partner hospitals.

The Family Support Specialist’s primary responsibilities include visiting families in the hospital (primarily at the bedside one-on-one), facilitating weekly support groups, distributing resources, and hosting holiday events. There are also essential data entry and reporting requirements to supervisors and hospital staff about the interactions with families.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

Hospital Partner Program

• Provides bedside support and encouragement to families during their antepartum and/or baby’s NICU stay.
• Identifies and provides timely and effective peer psycho-social support and interventions for families either directly or through referrals.
• Disburses Hand to Hold resources and NICU Milestone Beads to parents and families.
• Plans, prepares for and facilitates in-person support groups using Hand to Hold’s custom support group curriculum.
• Prepares for and facilitates in-person holiday events and NICU awareness celebrations.
• Provides bereavement resources and support for families who have experienced a loss in the NICU.
• Serves as liaison between Hand to Hold and hospital NICU staff.
• Tracks and reports program data within program timelines to collect demographic information and to measure the impact, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness of each program component.

Virtual Support 

• Provides support and encouragement to families during their NICU journey through Hand to Hold’s app.
• Moderates specific discussion threads designed with the emotional, physical and social needs of the entire NICU family and/or engage in one-on-one chats with participants.
• Takes direction from, or collaborate with, the marketing team to have seamless, unified branding across the organization’s communication and social channels.
• Tracks and reports program data within program timelines to collect demographic information and measure impact, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness of the groups.

General

• Meets with families occasionally during evening or weekend hours.
• Attends meetings with Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director and other Family Support Specialists, either virtually or in person.
• Transports materials (including parent bags and resources, event materials, etc) required in the NICU as needed.
• Contributes to Hand to Hold’s educational content, training, manuals, curricula, and other writing projects as needed.
• Participates, facilitates, and/or assists at Hand to Hold or hospital events as required.
• Helps to recruit volunteers and peer mentors.
• Submits daily, weekly and monthly reports – timesheets, expense reports – in a timely fashion.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director.

Requirements:

• Personal experience with a child in the NICU is required; must be a NICU parent.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional work experience required, preferably including maternal mental health, maternal health care programs or family/client focused.
• Mental Health Peer Specialist certification, or willingness to complete mental health peer specialist training within the first 180 days, as well as State of Texas certification process, once training and minimum required work experience completed.
• Willingness to learn and abide by best practices in peer support.
• Proof of vaccinations and other supporting documentation for hospital credentialing processes.
  Awareness of mental health challenges NICU parents face and willingness to complete appropriate training in this area, as well as ongoing education on racial and ethnic disparities, trauma-informed care, and other relevant instruction, both online and in person.
• Ability to provide culturally competent support and education in English to diverse groups of people, including Hispanic/Latinx, subcontinent Asian, Asian and Black families.
  Bilingual in English and Spanish is preferred; other languages considered.
• Ability to work both independently and on teams.
• Ability to think proactively, address problems creatively, and take initiative appropriately.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism as an ambassador for the organization.
• Demonstrated excellence in organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated competence with a variety of office tools including virtual communication and meetings, time scheduling, video conferencing, organizational and project management, and CRM technology.

Additional Information:

• Open to applicants in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area.
• Part-time, non-exempt hourly position.
• Estimated at 15 – 20 hours per week.
• Compensation:   $20/hour; $21/hour if bilingual
• Hand to Hold is not currently able to offer part-time employee health insurance
• Included Benefits:
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • 2 days of Sick Time accrued annually
  • Paid Time Off annually plus two office Holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas Day) after the employee introductory period.

Physical Demands:

Substantial movements (motion) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers in a repetitive manner.

Must be able to tolerate standing or walking for 95% of the hospital shift and occasionally lifting/carrying 10-25 pounds.

Use telephone and email to communicate.

Must be able to see clearly with or without corrected vision.

Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items.

Bending, stooping, and reaching several times throughout a shift.

APPLY HERE

As a 2022 & 2023 Best Place for Working Parents® business, our dynamic, growing organization seeks a Family Support Specialist – Team Lead (FSS Team Lead) to join our team in Houston, TX. Reporting to the Hospital Partner Program Manager, and under the general direction of the Program Director, the FSS Team Lead serves as Hand to Hold’s primary representative in the partner hospital for NICU staff and NICU families.  This person must demonstrate an empathetic personality combined with a dynamic professional attitude to convey Hand to Hold’s mission and values on behalf of the entire organization. The team of Family Support Specialists will fulfill our contractual agreement with a local hospital in Houston and provide peer psycho-social support and education for NICU families, in partnership with hospital staff as appropriate.  

The role requires leaning on one’s own personal experience and specific peer support and mental health trainings. Training to become a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist and with others on the Hand to Hold programs team will be offered to prepare for this peer support role. Additionally, the FSS Team Lead will start the hospital’s required credentialing process, including HIPAA training, and begin orientation in a hospital setting. Some travel may also be required to Hand to Hold’s headquarters and other partner hospitals.

The FSS Team Lead’s primary responsibilities include visiting families in the hospital (primarily at the bedside one-on-one), facilitating weekly support groups, distributing resources, hosting holiday events, and supporting the local team of Family Support Specialists. There are also essential data entry and reporting requirements to supervisors and hospital staff about the interactions with families. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential Functions:

Hospital Partner Program

• Provides bedside support and encouragement to families during their antepartum and/or baby’s NICU stay.
• Identifies and provides timely and effective peer psycho-social support and interventions for families either directly or through referrals. 
• Disburses Hand to Hold resources and NICU Milestone beads to parents and families. 
• Plans, prepares for and facilitates in-person support groups using Hand to Hold’s custom support group curriculum.
• Prepares for and facilitates in-person holiday events and NICU awareness celebrations.
• Oversees coordination of weekly groups, holiday events and celebrations, including staffing.
• Provides bereavement resources and support for families who have experienced a loss in the NICU.
• Primary local Hand to Hold day to day point of contact with NICU leadership.
• Tracks and reports program data within program timelines to collect demographic information and to measure the impact, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness of each program component. 
• In conjunction with Program Manager, coordinates local FSS schedules to ensure contractual hours are covered every week, ensuring sufficient coverage.
• Liaises with H2H headquarters to ensure the hospital has sufficient inventory, marketing materials, etc.
• Supports and encourages the local team, ensuring all team members understand peer support as well as align with H2H mission, values and voice.
• Identifies any issues with local team and communicates to the Program Manager in a timely manner.

Virtual Support 

• Provides support and encouragement to families during their NICU journey through Hand to Hold’s App.
• Moderates specific discussion threads designed with the emotional, physical and social needs of the entire NICU family and/or engage in one-on-one chats with participants.
• Takes direction from, or collaborate with, the marketing team to have seamless, unified branding across the organization’s communication and social channels.
• Tracks and reports program data within program timelines to collect demographic information and measure impact, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness of the groups.

General

• Meets with families occasionally during evening or weekend hours.
• Attends meetings with Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director and other Family Support Specialists, either virtually or in person.
• Transports materials (including parent bags and resources, event materials, etc) required in the NICU as needed. 
• Contributes to Hand to Hold’s educational content, training, manuals, curricula, and other writing projects as needed.
• Participates, facilitates, and/or assists at Hand to Hold or hospital events as required.
• Helps to recruit volunteers and peer mentors.
• Participates in the recruitment and hiring process of Family Support Specialists.
• Submits daily, weekly and monthly reports – timesheets, expense reports – in a timely fashion.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Hospital Partner Program Manager and/or Program Director. 

Requirements

• Personal experience with a child in the NICU is required; must be a NICU parent. 
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional work experience required, preferably including maternal mental health, maternal health care programs or family/client focused.
• Minimum 1 year of experience supervising people.
• Mental Health Peer Specialist certification, or willingness to complete mental health peer specialist training within the first 180 days, as well as State of Texas certification process, once training and minimum required work experience completed. 
• Willingness to learn and abide by best practices in peer support. 
• Proof of vaccinations and other supporting documentation for hospital credentialing processes.
• Awareness of mental health challenges NICU parents face and willingness to complete appropriate training in this area, as well as ongoing education on racial and ethnic disparities, trauma-informed care, and other relevant instruction, both online and in person.
• Ability to provide culturally competent support and education in English to diverse groups of people, including Hispanic/Latinx, subcontinent Asian, Asian and Black families. 
• Bilingual in English and Spanish is preferred; other languages considered.
• Ability to work both independently and on teams. 
• Ability to think proactively, address problems creatively, and take initiative appropriately. 
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism as an ambassador for the organization.
• Demonstrated excellence in organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated competence with a variety of office tools including virtual communication and meetings, time scheduling, video conferencing, organizational and project management, and CRM technology.

Additional Information:

• Open to applicants in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area.
• Part-time, non-exempt hourly position.
• Estimated at 20-28 hours per week.
• Compensation: $22.50/hour; $23.50/hour if bilingual
• Hand to Hold is not currently able to offer part-time employee health insurance
• Included Benefits:
• Employee Assistance Program
• 12 days of sick time accrued annually
• Paid time off annually plus two office holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas Day) after the employee introductory period.

Physical Demands:

Substantial movements (motion) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers in a repetitive manner.

Must be able to tolerate standing or walking for 95% of the hospital shift and occasionally lifting/carrying 10-25 pounds.

Use telephone and email to communicate.

Must be able to see clearly with or without corrected vision.

Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items.

Bending, stooping, and reaching several times throughout a shift.

APPLY HERE