119 - Client Advocate

MORRIS HEIGHTS HEALTH CENTER INC•New York, NY

6d•$22 - $23

About The Position

The Healthy Start Client Advocate, Community Health worker (CHW) offers family centered and strength-based services to empower the family to meet their needs during the Healthy Start encounter. Has the ability to establish a trusting and respectful relationship with families and maintain boundaries while providing supportive services. A key responsibility of the CHW’s is to maintain accurate, complete documentation of family encounters. This data-driven program requires some data entry, strong organizational skills, consistently meeting deadlines, and good stress management/ self-care skills. CHW is a team player, has the ability to work and make decisions independently with minimal supervision, following established policies. Job Description Under the professional supervision of the CHW Supervisor, the CHW will: Outreach to identify (case finding) women of childbearing age– pregnant and parenting infants/toddlers up to 18 months of age, father’s/father figures/partners residing in the targeted project communities in need of case management intervention services. Assist clients and their families with navigating and accessing community services. Provide informal counseling to clients on health issues related to diagnostic screenings, such as breast cancer screening, women’s health care services, dental hygiene, glaucoma tests, hypertension, diabetes, annual physicals, immunizations, diet and exercise, etc. Assist clients with applying for social services including Medicaid and Women, Infants and Children, housing, day care, early intervention services, etc. Actively promote the offering and arranging of family planning services Inform clients on issues related to risk and prevention of situations such as prenatal substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, etc. Complete a comprehensive care coordination needs assessment and care coordination plan on enrolled clients in need of case management services intervention. Utilize electronic data system to enroll, refer and case manage participants and effectively manage caseload. Maintain updated client records with appropriate forms and pertinent information. Ensure that families receiving case management services intervention access the health and social support services they need through appropriate referral linkages and tracking follow-up. Conduct home visits and provide client advocacy at scheduled appointments whenever necessary. Ability to relate to clients from multi-cultural backgrounds, ages and socio-economic circumstances Maintain an ongoing dialogue with the maternal/child health and social support services providers in the targeted service areas to strengthen professional linkages, thereby, decreasing the barriers clients experience in accessing and negotiating the service delivery system. Coordinate and implement maternal/child health educational workshops to the project’s enrolled clients. Coordinate the procurement of community relevant maternal/child health education materials (pamphlets, videos, etc.). Submit to the CHW Supervisor, a monthly narrative report and statistical data summary on the status of the clients receiving case management services intervention as well as bi-weekly case review/supervision. Participate in regular reflective supervision and case reviews, staff meetings and staff development trainings Knowledge of local community organizations and services is desirable

Requirements

Education: An Associate’s degree in human services, social work or closely related field; or graduation from a senior high school or equivalent with two years of previous experience at a human services or health services agency.
Knowledge of infant and child development, parent-child relationship, maternal-infant health, psycho-social dynamics, recognizes indicators of child abuse and neglect, and community resources. Ability to follow and implement policies and procedures
Prior experience: Must have several years of experience in working with/ or providing services to children and families.
Good communication skills: Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Ability to interpret a variety of instruction furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
Good oral and written skills: Ability to write simple correspondence and narratives of activities. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers/ participants, and other employees of the organization. Ability to interpret and documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
Interpersonal skills: Highly motivated professional individual representative of the target community (culturally/ethnically, age) with a sincere interest in working in a maternal/child and family health focused environment.
Maturity and experienced in successfully working with expecting parents and children (newborn-2 years of age) and their families; and home visiting experience preferred.
Familiarity with and ability to utilize computer programs, including Microsoft Office Suite. Typing skills and ability to learn data entry system.
Ability to work flexible hours, including evening and weekend hours.
Bilingual in English/Spanish and other languages.

Responsibilities

Outreach to identify (case finding) women of childbearing age– pregnant and parenting infants/toddlers up to 18 months of age, father’s/father figures/partners residing in the targeted project communities in need of case management intervention services.
Assist clients and their families with navigating and accessing community services.
Provide informal counseling to clients on health issues related to diagnostic screenings, such as breast cancer screening, women’s health care services, dental hygiene, glaucoma tests, hypertension, diabetes, annual physicals, immunizations, diet and exercise, etc.
Assist clients with applying for social services including Medicaid and Women, Infants and Children, housing, day care, early intervention services, etc.
Actively promote the offering and arranging of family planning services
Inform clients on issues related to risk and prevention of situations such as prenatal substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, etc.
Complete a comprehensive care coordination needs assessment and care coordination plan on enrolled clients in need of case management services intervention.
Utilize electronic data system to enroll, refer and case manage participants and effectively manage caseload. Maintain updated client records with appropriate forms and pertinent information.
Ensure that families receiving case management services intervention access the health and social support services they need through appropriate referral linkages and tracking follow-up.
Conduct home visits and provide client advocacy at scheduled appointments whenever necessary.
Ability to relate to clients from multi-cultural backgrounds, ages and socio-economic circumstances
Maintain an ongoing dialogue with the maternal/child health and social support services providers in the targeted service areas to strengthen professional linkages, thereby, decreasing the barriers clients experience in accessing and negotiating the service delivery system.
Coordinate and implement maternal/child health educational workshops to the project’s enrolled clients. Coordinate the procurement of community relevant maternal/child health education materials (pamphlets, videos, etc.).
Submit to the CHW Supervisor, a monthly narrative report and statistical data summary on the status of the clients receiving case management services intervention as well as bi-weekly case review/supervision.
Participate in regular reflective supervision and case reviews, staff meetings and staff development trainings
Knowledge of local community organizations and services is desirable