Position Summary

The HealthySteps Specialist is an early child development professional who joins the pediatric primary care team to provide developmental guidance, family support, referrals, and follow-up services. This role is grounded in relationship-based practice and community connection rather than clinical therapy.

The HealthySteps Specialist builds strong relationships with families and providers to increase the efficiency of the medical system and support team-based comprehensive care. Candidates should bring strong early childhood knowledge, family engagement skills, and experience navigating community-based care systems.

The HealthySteps Specialist plays a critical role in strengthening the birth-to-five continuum of care. Relationship-based referrals, especially to Parents as Teachers, are essential to ensuring families receive timely, coordinated, and effective supports that promote school readiness and family well-being.

The duties of the position include:

Preventive and Responsive Care

• Participate in well-child visits to support developmental monitoring, social-emotional development, and anticipatory guidance
• Provide short-term consultations related to common early childhood concerns (e.g., sleep, feeding, behavior, routines, and positive parenting)
• Promote nurturing caregiving and early relational health
• Participate in reflective supervision and team meetings
• Conduct follow-up with families to ensure continuity of care

Referrals and Care Coordination

• Make relationship-based referrals to community resources, with particular emphasis on the Local Partnership’s Parents as Teachers (PAT) program
• Ensure warm handoffs and active follow-up to confirm families successfully connect to referred services
• Track all referrals and document outcomes
• Maintain ongoing communication with referral partners to support coordinated care
• Build trust with families to reduce barriers to service engagement

Community Collaboration

• Develop and maintain a community resource directory
• Participate in local early childhood, family support, or community health meetings as appropriate
• Serve as a connector between families, pediatric providers, and community-based programs

Team-Based Care

• Actively participate in the HealthySteps Implementation Team
• Coordinate schedules with clinic staff to align with well-child visits
• Collaborate with providers on goal setting, coaching, and family support strategies
• Support continuous quality improvement efforts to maintain HealthySteps fidelity

Documentation, Tracking, and Reporting

• Document services and referrals in the electronic health record (EHR)
• Track caseloads, referrals, and follow-up activities
• Support reporting requirements for South Carolina First Steps and the HealthySteps National Office

Education/Experience/Skills/Abilities

• Master’s degree in social work required
• Must be licensed in the state of South Carolina as an LMSW or LISW
• One (1) to three (3) years of experience is required
• Ability to build trust and rapport with families from diverse backgrounds. Experience working with families of young children (ages 0–5) is preferred
• Experience in early childhood systems, home visiting, community health, family support, or social services is preferred
• Experience as a Community Health Worker, Family Support Specialist, or similar role is preferred
• Ability to communicate effectively with caregivers, providers, and community partners
• Ability to recognize developmental, behavioral, and social-emotional concerns in young children
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced pediatric primary care environment
• Ability to manage multiple referrals, follow-ups, and documentation requirements simultaneously
• Ability to work independently while remaining connected to a multidisciplinary team
• A valid driver's license is required
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification is required

Hours

Monday – Friday; 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Location

The HealthySteps Specialist will rotate between our Hartsville Pediatric and Bennettsville Pediatric offices.

CareSouth Carolina is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all. We seek to have a diverse, inclusive workforce and encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.