Community Health Worker

Community Health Worker – Step/Re-Entry

Salary: $22.95 – 34.27 per hour, payable bi-weekly. The salary scale for this position is between steps 0 and 19, depending on experience.  This is a non-exempt, 40 weekly hours. This is a union position. Applicants must pass an extensive background check.

About Us
Seattle Roots Community Health is a not-for-profit organization that operates two primary care clinics, an After-Hours Clinic, two School-Based Health Centers, a low barrier Medication-assisted treatment clinic, and a Dental Clinic. Our Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center was founded in 1970 by the Seattle Black Panther Party in Seattle’s Central District. Our Country Doctor Community Clinic was established in 1971 by residents of the Capital Hill neighborhood in conjunction with the Seattle Liberation Front. The primary goal of each clinic was to provide low-barrier, high-quality healthcare services and promote social justice.

Seattle Roots is passionate about serving patients of all ethnicities, races, gender identities, languages, and backgrounds and employing individuals who are equally committed to this mission. To ensure our organization is best serving these populations, we strive to promote policies that enable us to work effectively in all cross-cultural situations, with patients, with coworkers, and with the community.

Our Mission and Commitment to Social Justice
We remain committed to health equity and our founding principle of social justice. Every day our actions are guided by our mission: to improve the health of our community by providing high-quality, caring, culturally appropriate primary health care that addresses the needs of people, regardless of their ability to pay. At Carolyn Downs and Country Doctor, health care is a right, not a privilege.

JOB SUMMARY

Seattle Roots Community Health (SRCH) is a federally qualified health center network in Seattle, WA, dedicated to providing exceptional healthcare which is accessible to all. Serving the central Seattle area for more than 50 years, our network is comprised of two primary care clinics, an After Hours Clinic, as well as satellite clinics in several SPS schools and programs that serve communities furthest from health justice.

The clients who utilize our clinics and programs are disproportionately affected by incarceration and substance use disorder. Our clients experience many barriers to care and it is our goal to minimize these barriers. Therefore, we provide additional resources to these patients through our Reentry Program, serving recently-incarcerated individuals, and a low-barrier substance use disorder treatment clinic co-located at Hepatitis Education Project (the STEP Clinic). In our experience, individuals who have either intimate knowledge of the criminal justice system and/or substance use can provide more timely, effective advice to our patients through peer navigation of medical and social agencies.

SRCH is recruiting an individual to assist patients with navigation (ie: scheduling, insurance navigation and connection to services to address housing, employment, transportation, etc), who will work closely with these two programs (Reentry Program and STEP Clinic) across multiple settings. This individual must be self-directed/motivated (ie: managing their own case load), work closely with medical teams, be an ambassador for our clinic programs with local community partners and a strong patient advocate. Must have some experience with social service navigation, and lived experience with substance use disorder and/or incarceration will be prioritized (personal lived experience or have provided direct support to someone in your life).

Responsibilities:

Re-entry Program

• In-person job
• Schedule day-of-release addiction medicine appts for patients released from incarceration
• Connect patients to a medication assistance fund for same-day meds during intake
• Coordinate patients applying for or reactivating Medicaid and insurance upon jail/prison release

• Facilitate Reentry patient linkage to care through the Community Health Plan of Washington (CHPW) Jail/Prison Delegation Agreement
• On-site visits to jails, community organizations

STEP Clinic

• In person job
• Provide information to new or potential clients on our low-barrier model of care for substance use disorder treatment
• Front desk clinic responsibilities including scheduling patient visits, registering new patients, activating/troubleshooting insurance
• Work with staff and nurse care manager to coordinate outreach activities for new, established and potential patients
• Work with staff to manage day-to-day tasks such as responding to phone inquiries, greeting patients and visitors, optimizing clinic flow, laboratory testing (eg. drug screen and pregnancy screen), and managing paperwork

Shared STEP/Reentry

• Cultivate relationships with staff and clientele and work to create a welcoming/inclusive/non-judgmental space. This role is often the first person that clients interact with and the most consistent person on the team that clients will engage with.
• Short-term, light case management for a subset of patients to include linkage to food, clothing, housing/rental assistance, licensing, employment, legal assistance and other resources
• Promote awareness of Seattle Roots Community Health and programs offered
• Act as patient advocate and liaison with staff (eg referral to SUDP) and community partners
• Work closely with Program Medical Directors to review and update active caseloads
• Participate in trainings and meetings assigned by your supervisor
• Participate in advocacy and program presentations with Medical Directors
• Community outreach to tiny home villages, encampments, etc

Requirements:

• Criminal background check with no history of violent or sexual crimes
• WA State Depart of Health Community Health Worker certification (completed within 1 year of hire)
• CPR certification
• High school diploma/GED required; some colleges preferred

Experience

• 2 years of experience working with marginalized community members, including persons living with mental and physical illnesses, chemical dependency, disabilities, HIV/AIDs, and those recently reentering society from the criminal justice systems
• Close understanding of incarceration and substance use issues. Individuals with personal lived experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Not currently on probation/supervision
• Stable in recovery from substances for at least one year

Abilities:

• Basic computer skills and proficient in Microsoft Office suite and Google products
• Strong working knowledge of social and health systems and resources in WA/King County
• Develop positive and supportive working relationships with patients while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.
• Engage professionally with community partners during outreach and patient advocacy
• Available to work at various locations including community organizations, jails, encampments, Tiny House Villages
• Strong organizational and time management skill with the ability to prioritize effectively while meeting deadlines in a professional manner
• Familiar with harm reduction approach and understanding of patients taking medications to treat substance use disorders
• Reliable to patients and clinical staff in attendance and following through on tasks

Benefits

We provide a robust suite of benefits, including the choice of three medical plans, two dental plans, long-term disability, life, and other insurance programs. You’ll have access to flexible spending accounts, a subsidy of up to 80% of the cost of an ORCA pass, plus an additional match of 50% of the employee's contribution up to 4% after one year of employment. (Ex. if employee contributes at 4%, Seattle Roots will match with an additional 2%, plus the safe harbor contribution totaling a 8% contribution to the employee's 401k)  We’ve got you covered!

Salary : $23 - $34