Community Health Worker

Virginia Information Technologies Agency • Orange, VA

8d • $25 - $30 • Onsite

About The Position

The Virginia Department of Health is seeking a Community Health Worker (CHW) to serve as a Direct Service Associate III. This role involves providing direct service to clients, coordinating care, conducting community health education, and engaging in outreach activities. The position requires a strong understanding of social determinants of health, public health principles, and the ability to work effectively with diverse populations. Wage employees are subject to specific employment conditions, including limitations on hours worked per week and per year, and are not eligible for benefits provided to salaried employees.

Requirements

• Knowledge of Social Determinants of Health: Knowledge of the various social, economic, and environmental factors that influence individual and community health, including disparities in access to resources and services.
• Knowledge of Mental/Behavioral Health: Familiarity with the impact of mental and behavioral health on physical health outcomes, including an understanding of common mental health issues and how they intersect with physical health needs.
• Knowledge of Public Health Principles: Basic knowledge of public health practices, epidemiology, disease prevention, health promotion, and social service systems, including the roles of government agencies and community organizations in addressing health needs.
• Community Experience: Experience working with priority or underserved communities, with an understanding of relevant unique challenges and resources.
• Cultural Competency: Ability to communicate effectively with diverse populations, recognizing and respecting cultural norms, practices, and values within the community.
• Effective Communication Skills: Ability to communicate clearly and concisely in both written and verbal formats using plain language that is accessible to individuals from diverse backgrounds. This includes the ability to adapt communication styles to meet the needs of different communities served.
• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrated ability to build and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues, community members, and stakeholders. Strong team collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Technology Proficiency: Ability to operate a personal computer and use internet-based tools and applications for data entry, communication, and research.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency in a second language (especially relevant languages in the community served) is highly preferred to effectively communicate with a broader population.
• Previous experience in a public health or community-based agency environment, with familiarity in coordinating services and supporting public health initiatives.
• Community Health Worker (CHW) certification, or the ability to obtain one after hire.

Responsibilities

• Serves in a managerial/supervisory capacity to conduct performance management activities and ensure onboarding/offboarding and training for staff.
• Establishes and reviews work assignments and priorities and implements performance improvement strategies and/or problem resolution for related issues, in conjunction with program management and Human Resource staff.
• Ensures relevant training and workplace safety for staff.
• Conducts required performance monitoring and appraisals, establishes clear performance expectations, addresses deficiencies in a timely manner, and documents underperformance in accordance with state guidelines.
• Supports employee growth through regular feedback, coaching, and professional development opportunities.
• Assists clients in completing forms/applications, eligibility documents, and referrals required to receive needed services or community resources, as required by state/federal agencies.
• Assist clients with navigation of the healthcare systems and processes.
• Participates in care coordination and/or case management for district core programs.
• Speaks with diverse populations in a sensitive and culturally competent manner.
• Performs administrative tasks related to client navigation and outreach event management.
• Develops and delivers individual and community-based education on diseases, prevention and health promotion practices to encourage clients to adopt positive health behaviors.
• Educates individuals and communities on how to navigate health and social services systems to achieve improved health outcomes.
• Fosters relationships and works with community partners to provide a wide range of educational activities for vulnerable populations.
• Participates in and collaborates with local coalitions and groups focused on health, aligning efforts with the agency’s needs.
• Documents and responds to requests from community groups and organizations for information on health department programs and services.
• Coordinates and supports community-based initiatives focused on the social determinants of health to address health disparities.
• Develops and/or acquires educational materials from credible healthcare and community sources for public use.
• Utilizes evidence-based strategies to improve population/community health.
• Employs policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to effectively address health disparities.
• Identifies target audiences, strategies, interventions and programmatic problems. Provides guidance in determining effective resolutions.
• Integrates building health literacy and cross-cultural communication across all sectors of work.
• With proper training and competency validation, may perform client measurements (temperature, pulse, blood pressure, height, weight), support comprehensive risk reduction strategies, and assist with point of care testing/laboratory specimen collection.
• Supports the clinical and outreach teams with inventory management of outreach and educational supplies.
• Serves as a liaison between district programs, schools, community and other local agencies.
• Participates in the design, implementation and analysis of individual-level and community level assessments, community health assessments (CHA) and improvement plans (CHIP).
• Participates in the evaluation of CHW services and programs.
• May assist in preparing required reports for local, state, and/or federal funders.
• May support the team in preparing requests for proposals during the grant application process.
• Participates in the sharing of results and findings through various methods of communication (oral presentation, social media posting, journal article, etc.) to identified stakeholders.
• May assist with language interpretation.

Benefits

• Wage employees are not eligible for benefits which are provided to salaried employees, such as leave credits, holiday pay, insurance, access to the grievance procedure, etc.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed