<p>Rockingham County is an equal opportunity employer and will comply with federal and state statutes regarding discrimination in employment. </p> <p>This posting is continuous and will remain posted to fill vacancies as they become available.  Applicants that apply to this posting will be considered for any vacancies of this type and will only need to apply once.  </p> <ul> <li>Paid Medical, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance </li><li>Onsite wellness/medical clinic </li><li>Onsite fitness center </li><li>Retirement </li><li>Flexible Spending </li><li>Paid Vacation, Sick & Holidays </li><li>Bereavement </li><li>Community Service Leave </li><li>Weekends Off (varies by position) </li><li>Flexible Work Schedules & Telework Options (varies by position) </li><li>Tuition Reimbursement </li><li>401-K & 457 Plans with county match up to 1% of base salary </li></ul> <p>General Definition of Work</p> <p>The infant care counselor position is a WIC paraprofessional position responsible for serving as a role model and support person for pregnant women and new mothers.  This employee promotes the practice of breastfeeding as the ideal method of infant feeding.  The employee informs and educates women on the benefits of breastfeeding to pregnant women.  The infant care counselor position supports, assists, and counsels breastfeeding mothers in a one-on-one setting, teaching the basics of breastfeeding, and can lead breastfeeding support groups.  This position also provides WIC clerical services up to 50% of the time.  </p> <p>Qualification Requirements</p> <p>To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Examples of Duties</p> <ul> <li>Provides breastfeeding support to WIC participants. </li><li>Calls women to encourage initiation and increase duration of breastfeeding. </li><li>Answers breastfeeding calls to address questions or concerns about breastfeeding. </li><li>Maintains the WIC breastfeeding warm line to address questions and concerns about breastfeeding. </li><li>Performs breastfeeding weight checks to determine the success of breastfeeding. </li><li>Individually counsels and assists mothers with basic lactation issues. </li><li>Identifies situations that require referral to a breastfeeding specialist. </li><li>Loans, tracks, and cleans pumps issued to breastfeeding mothers. </li><li>Provides timely follow-up services by telephone and clinic visits. </li><li>Makes referrals to public assistance programs. </li><li>Communicates with health professionals regarding high risk cases and refers mothers with medical concerns beyond the counselor's scope of practice. </li><li>Ensures a clinic environment that supports breastfeeding and participates in staff training as it is relates to breastfeeding. </li><li>Ensures timely and accurate breastfeeding education / counseling and support for participants. </li><li>Partners with other health care professionals in the community to promote breastfeeding and serve as a resource to WIC participants and health professionals. </li><li>Helps to maintain collaborative partnerships for breastfeeding promotion and support with community partners. </li><li>Document all services provided in a timely manner, ensuring all records are current. </li><li>Documents, records, and reports daily activities as required by the Infant Care Counselor Program Manual, Health Department Policy Manual, and WIC and Nutrition Policy and Procedure Manual. </li><li>Performs additional duties as assigned. </li><li>Back-up team members when not providing counseling or lactation services. </li><li>Successfully completes required breastfeeding training. </li><li>Attends agency and departmental meetings and staff development opportunities. </li><li>Completes participant eligibility procedures for WIC program. </li></ul> <p>Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:</p> <ul> <li>Knowledge of breastfeeding and basic lactation management. </li><li>Knowledge of WIC breastfeeding policies and procedures. </li><li>Knowledge of social, economic, and cultural influences. </li><li>Knowledge of community resources and other agency programs. </li><li>Knowledge of manual, pedal, and electric breast pumps. </li><li>Ability to communicate clearly and accurately in presenting information to clients and make referrals to breastfeeding specialists. </li><li>Ability to observe, listen, and build interpersonal relationships and counsel clients with improper feeding techniques. </li><li>Ability to operate weight and height equipment and read incremental measurements. </li><li>Ability to read, write, and comprehend oral and written communication. </li><li>Ability to operate computer, phone, audio-visual equipment. </li></ul> <p>Physical Activities, Visual Acuity, and Working Conditions for this Position</p> <ul> <li>Balancing - Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing, or crouching on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces. This factor is important if the amount and kind of balancing exceeds that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium </li><li>Stooping - Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires full use of the lower extremities and back muscles </li><li>Crouching - Bending the body downward and forward by bending legs and spine </li><li>Reaching - Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction </li><li>Standing - Remaining upright on the feet, particularly for sustained periods of time </li><li>Walking - Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another </li><li>Pushing - Using upper extremities to press against something with steady force to thrust forward, downward, or outward </li><li>Pulling - Using upper extremities to exert force to draw, drag, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion </li><li>Lifting - Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires the substantial use of the upper extremities and back muscles </li><li>Fingering - Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling </li><li>Grasping - Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm </li><li>Feeling - Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature, or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips </li><li>Talking - Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; those activities where detailed or important spoken instructions must be conveyed to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly </li><li>Hearing - Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, and having the ability to receive detailed information through oral communications, and making fine discriminations in sound </li><li>Repetitive Motions- Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers </li><li>Sedentary Work- Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally, and all other sedentary criteria are met </li><li>Employee is required to have visual acuity to determine the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of the work assigned (i.e., custodial, food services, general labor, etc.) or to make general observations of facilities or structures (i.e., security guard, inspection, etc.) </li><li>Employee is subject to inside environmental conditions: Protection from weather conditions </li><li>Employee is exposed to infectious diseases (potentially) </li><li>Employee is required to function around prisoners or institutional patients (possibly) </li></ul> <p>Minimum Qualifications</p> <p>Graduation from high school and demonstrated possession of knowledge, skills and abilities gained through at least one year of office assistant/secretarial experience; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.</p> <p>Infant Care Counselor • Qualifications -</p> <p>An Infant Care Counselor is: A mother who has personal experience with breastfeeding, having breastfed at least one child a minimum of 6 weeks; The State wants 6 weeks of breastfeeding experience but we prefer breastfeeding experience of at least 9 months. A paraprofessional whose work history does not include extensive professional training and who does not have extended professional training in health, nutrition, or the clinical management of breastfeeding, assists professionals but are not licensed or credentialed as a healthcare, nutrition or lactation consultant professional, and is trained and given ongoing supervision to provide specific tasks within a defined scope of practice; able to portray breastfeeding in a positive manner; from the target population which may mean sharing in the culture and background of the majority of participants; speaking the common languages(s); having participated or participating in or eligible for the WIC Program; and available to work non-traditional hours and days of the week, such as evenings and weekends; and have access to reliable transportation.Note: In accordance with State mandates and the Rockingham County Emergency Operations Plan, Rockingham County Health and Human Services staff from the Divisions of Social Services, Public Health and Integrated Health are required to staff emergency shelters during times of disaster. Please be advised that every staff person is eligible to be assigned to an emergency shelter or Emergency Operations Center.</p>