Community Health Worker - Early Relational Health

Sea Mar Community Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) founded in 1978, is a community-based organization committed to providing quality, comprehensive health, human, housing, educational and cultural services to diverse communities, specializing in service to Latinos in Washington State. Sea Mar proudly serves all persons without regard to race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, or sexual orientation, and regardless of ability to pay for services. Sea Mar's network of services includes more than 90 medical, dental, and behavioral health clinics and a wide variety of nutritional, social, and educational services. We are recruiting for the following position(s):

Sea Mar is a mandatory COVID-19 and flu vaccine organization

Community Health Worker - Early Relational Health - Posting #25899

Hourly Rate: $31.88

Position Summary:

Full-time Community Health Worker - Early Relational Health position available for the Maternity Support Services Program in Elma. The Community Health Worker (CHW) provide guidance on processes, such as screening and referrals, support with understanding medical/mental health recommendations and diagnoses, and support in moving across different services and settings. The CHWs will focus on supporting young children from birth to age five and their caregivers with short-term interventions within the scope of practice through outreach and engagement, informal counseling, social support and connection to resources addressing Social Determinants of Health.

Duties and Responsibilities

As a mission-driven organization, the core values of, and the services offered at Sea Mar are based on the belief that everyone deserves to be respectfully treated in a way that preserves dignity and enhances self-worth. Sea Mar is an advocate for its clients and aims to achieve industry-leading, client-centered, culturally-aware services. 

Sea Mar employees serve as an extension of this mission and demonstrate their commitment to an excellent client experience by:

• Understanding and empathizing with client needs
• Surpassing client expectations
• Demonstrating a high level of integrity
• Exhibiting compassion and commitment
• Advocating for social justice
• Taking pride in individual work as well as that of the team
• Continually learning to stay current with industry standards, best practices and technology

As a Sea Mar employee, the individual in this position commits to adherence to these values to their utmost ability and endeavors to strengthen and embody this mission daily.

The CHW will provide culturally responsive developmental, strengths-based health promotion and care coordination to children birth through 5 years old and their caregivers. The CHW will bridge vulnerable populations with the health care system and needed services while offering support and informal counseling to ensure responsive, tailored and accessible care. The CHW will also collaborate with the clinic care team to reduce silos and offer care system navigation. This role requires familiarity with the perinatal and early childhood services and systems to enhance early relational health, services and system landscape, and interdisciplinary support for young children and their families. Key goals are to promote healthy development, empower caregivers/parents with a focus on parent and family strengths, and decrease barriers to accessing desired resources and services for health related social needs.

The Major Responsibilities / Activities are:

Outreach

• Work closely with clinic staff to identify children/youth and their families to refer to CHW services, with prioritization for special populations such as those who have experienced life stressors, children/youth with special needs, those who have a preferred language other than English, BIPOC who experience greater barriers, etc.
• Provide tailored outreach utilizing interpersonal and relational skills to children/youth and their families on clinic panel lists who have had a gap in care or are otherwise identified by care team as potentially benefitting from additional support.
• Bridge the gap between children/youth and families and the health care system through application assistance, accessing behavioral health and related services, and support completing intake activities or services.
• Provide support and address barriers in obtaining healthcare coverage for uninsured individuals

Informal Counseling

• Support individualized goal setting with children/youth and their families to support health goals and address identified needs.
• Describe to children/youth and families the purpose of health care services/recommendations and provide tailored education regarding effective use of the local healthcare and social services systems.
• Provide culturally appropriate health education and wellness coaching on topics related to prevention, healthy living and relational health through emphasis on family and caregiving strengths and utilize tools to assist with assessing needs and progress.
• Meet with parents/caregivers of children/youth to provide education and promote strong caregiver-child relationship using a strengths and evidence-based approach.
• Provide developmentally appropriate education on identified health needs and concerns to support skill development and self-management techniques.
• Develop supportive, trusting relationships as means for increasing engagement in primary care and other identified services. Create the opportunity for ongoing contact and relationship building with families via phone/text message check-ins between scheduled visits.
• Address barriers faced/voiced in terms of access to any additional referrals or services (e.g., transportation, language).
• Advocate for and facilitate family/caregiver inclusion in decision-making around the services their child is receiving or might receive. Support families when they are not satisfied with the services their child is receiving.

Health-related social needs

• Conduct screenings to assess client/family needs to guide referrals and services, engaging in shared decision making with clients/caregivers.
•  Identify individualized and comprehensive service needs through in-depth client/family interviews utilizing a social needs assessment.
• Utilize knowledge of local community resources and services offered to provide tailored recommendations and referrals (considering cultural and linguistic needs, family geographic location, caregiver comfort and readiness) for client.
• Utilize interpersonal/relational skills and knowledge of human behavior to assess and influence client’s responsiveness to accessing the resources and services recommended.
• Create, update, and maintain each clients’ service/care plan, and other relevant documentation in accordance with clinic guidelines and policies.
• Meet with clients/families as needed to monitor implementation of the client service/care plan, to provide additional support/advocacy, and to partner to resolve barriers that are interfering with active participation in the plan.
• Establish and maintain relationships with other service providers/agencies. Keep updated on what services are available in the community to assist clients with a wide range of health-related social needs.

Other

• Attend staff meetings and workgroups to help organize and coordinate outreach.
• Maintain consistent documentation of services provided.
• Collect data to inform reporting requirements and assess outcomes.
• Participate in professional development to support culturally relevant, strengths-based, trauma-informed services.
• Participate in regular scheduled supervision with supervisor.

Education and/or Requirements:

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor Degree required from accredited university. Ability to read and understand documents such as documentation requirements, community resources, safety rules, other instructions, and procedure manuals.  Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Ability to communicate effectively one-on-one with clients, families, colleagues and community partners.   Must be computer literate and be able to utilize computer documentation, researching community resource, etc.

LANGUAGE SKILS

• Bilingual English/Spanish in reading, writing and verbal skills are strongly preferred and may be required, depending on the target community being served.  Other language skills may be considered depending on site needs based on the needs of the population served.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

• The applicant must have the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

REASONING ABILITY

• The applicant must have the ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists; ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Must possess a current Washington State driver's license. This person must receive a background check from Washington State Patrol. Must have and maintain CPR Certification and TB test annually

What We Offer:

Sea Mar offers talented and motivated people the opportunity to work in a dynamic and growing community health organization. Working at Sea Mar Community Health Centers is more than just a job, it’s a fulfilling career with opportunity for advancement. The fringe benefits surpass most companies. For example, Full-time employees working 30 hours or more, receive an excellent benefit package of:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Prescription coverage
• Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
• Paid-time-off starting at 24 days per year + 10 paid Holidays.

We also offer 401(k)/Retirement options and an exciting opportunity to work in a culturally diverse environment. 

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, complete the online application and click SUBMIT or APPLY NOW. If you have any questions regarding the position, email Alena Fureyster, MSS Program Manager at [email protected]. 

Sea Mar is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Posted on 12/14/2023

External candidates may apply after 12/19/2023

Reposted on 4/12/2024

This position is represented by Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).

Please visit our website to learn more about us at www.seamar.org. You may also apply through our Career page at https://www.seamar.org/jobs-general.html