Community Health Advocate (Part-Time)

Are you ready to make a real difference in people's lives? Join the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD as a Community Health Advocate. The Community Health Advocate (CHA) is responsible for helping patients and their families to navigate and access community services, other resources, and adopt healthy behaviors. The CHA supports providers and the Case Managers through an integrated approach to care management and community outreach. As a priority, activities will promote, maintain, and improve the health of patients and their family. CHA provides social support and informal counseling, support outreach activities, participate in Nonmedical Drivers of Health activities and food distribution with food banks, advocates for individuals and community health needs, and provides services such as working with community.

Your Role in Action

• Assist staff and The Harris Center obtain identified services as requested; establish tracking mechanisms to ensure all referred consumers have access and/or received the appropriate service within a specified time.
• Participates in weekly multidisciplinary team meetings to ensure efficiency of collaboration and review referrals received. Inform members of teams of outcomes of referrals and staff any cases that present as outliers or require any specialized services
• Assists with the Houston Food Bank events throughout the various Harris Center distribution sites. This may include set-up and breakdown, including being an active contributor during the event.
• Responsible for establishing trusting relationships with patients and their families while

providing general support and encouragement.

• Provide ongoing follow-up, basic motivational interviewing and goal setting with

patients/families.

• Follow – up with patients via phone calls, home visits and visits to other settings where

patients can be found.

• Help patients set personal health related goals and attend appointments.
• Provide referrals for services to community agencies as appropriate.
• Help patients connect with providing transportation and resources and provide appointment reminders in special circumstances. Transporting patients based on agency vehicle policy.
• Exhibit excellent working relations with patients, visitors and staff,
• Effectively communicating Harris Center mission.
• Work closely with medical providers to help ensure that patients have comprehensive and coordinated care plans.
• Work collaboratively with other clinical personnel assigned to the same patient.
• Knowledgeable about community resources appropriate to needs of patients/families.
• Responsible for providing consistent communication to the Case Manager to evaluate
• patient/family status, ensuring that provided information, and reports clearly describe progress.
• Act as a patient advocate and liaison between the patient/family and community service

agencies.

• Attend regular staff meetings, training and other meetings, as requested.
• Manage assigned caseload of patients.
• Always maintain HIPPA compliance.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

What qualifications you will need:

Education:

• High School Diploma or General Education diploma.

Experience:

• 1 year experience working in a multicultural community-based setting.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Ability to adapt to constant changes in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to maintain absolute confidentiality of all work-related matters with the ability to communicate effectively and tactfully within all levels of the agency
• Ability and willingness to provide emotional support, encouragement and motivation to patients.
• Demonstrates knowledge of the correlation of physical & mental health challenges with the population served.
• Effectively collaborate with others.
• Strong communication skills
• Identify & offer solutions to resolve problems using knowledge of the Agency to identify helpful resources.
• Effective time management & organizational skills.
• Basic Word & Excel capabilities.

What we have to offer:

The Harris Center not only offers a competitive salary but also a suite of excellent benefits designed to enrich your life both professionally and personally. Imagine a future with a robust retirement plan complemented by our generous company matching – a testament to our investment in your long-term financial well-being. Experience the unique advantage of our prior service credit, accelerating your journey towards a more substantial Paid Time Off accrual, empowering you to enjoy well-deserved breaks.

Enjoy Cell Phone Discounts, exclusive entertainment deals through Tickets at Work, and a free Headspace subscription for mental wellness. Additionally, our Employee Assistance Program supports your overall well-being.

Take advantage of significant financial relief through student loan forgiveness as a valued member of The Harris Center team. As a qualifying entity, our employees are eligible for various student loan forgiveness programs, designed to alleviate the financial burdens associated with higher education.

What else you should know:

• This posting is associated with position #2122-83137 and 2106-83135.

About us:

The HARRIS CENTER is the state-designated Local Mental Health Authority and Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Authority serving Harris County, Texas. As the largest behavioral and developmental disability care center in Texas, The Harris Center provided care to over 96,000 people in fiscal year 2023!

As part of its mission to transform the lives of people with behavioral health and IDD needs in the third largest county in the United States, The HARRIS CENTER provides a full continuum of services at 86 different sites across Harris County. In addition, services are provided in more than 40 different languages as well as sign language to better serve what is one of the most diverse and multi-cultural communities in the nation.

By utilizing the unique expertise of its more than 2,500 employees, The Harris Center is committed to meeting the behavioral health and IDD needs of Harris County residents and giving them hope to live to their fullest potential.