Community Health Workers Association of Rhode Island Logo

CHW Wellness Coordinator

Community Health Worker Association of RI
Providence, RI
Part time, 19 hours/week, $25/hr
CHW Certification Required + 2 years experience
Hiring for 2 Positions!

Job Description

Primary Purpose:

The CHW Wellness Coordinator plays a critical role in establishing Rhode Island College (RIC) and the Community Health Worker Association of Rhode Island (CHWARI) as the higher education and training partners respectively to strengthen community health work delivery through the recruitment, training, and apprenticeships of Community Health Workers. The CHW Wellness Coordinator is responsible for the following tasks: liaison between RIC, CHWARI, and community sites, support of new CHWs as they enter apprenticeship, onsite supervision, engaging in grant meetings and monitoring of CHW progression, and overall coordination of apprentices and related grant deliverables. The CHW Wellness Coordinator serves as a liaison between newly trained CHWs and apprentices with the HRSA Program administrators and healthcare organization industry partners.

Essential Duties:

Serve as the liaison between RIC, CHWARI, and the community sites by providing weekly supervision, data collection, and communication among practice sites, with special attention to end consumer, impact on the organization, student, and grant needs. Provide weekly onsite supervision, coaching, mentoring, and training for the CHW student apprentices. Support CHWs in their day-to-day activities in attending to their student and apprenticeship duties and overcoming barriers to accomplishing them, with guidance through in person, telephone, and video conferencing accessibility. Monitor and track student progress and completion of the training, monitor and track apprentices’ progression through the apprenticeship steps and demonstration of competencies. Provide oversite and support for meetings with grant partners.

Staff will report to the CHWARI Director and Project Coordinator. Staff will be responsible for the following:

  • Provide weekly onsite observation and support to CHW trainees and apprentices
  • Assume responsibility for monitoring team activities, data collection, and data entry related to outcomes
  • Participate in bi-weekly grant meetings with employer partners
  • Monitor and inform PI and partners of system issues related care coordination for consumers, organizational needs, care continuum obstacles due to burnout, discrimination, absence of services/resources, communication obstacles

Responsibilities:

  • The CHW Wellness Coordinator plays a critical role in establishing CHWARI as the CHW center through supporting creation of a pipeline of recruitment, training, and apprenticeships of Community Health Workers.
  • Represents and instills the values embodied by CHWARI, empowering people of the community to focus on advocacy and access to healthcare within the underserved populations of their communities.
  • The CHW Coordinator is responsible for the following: liaison between CHWARI, RIC and community sites, onsite supervision and supporting of CHW apprentices, grant meetings and reporting on CHW progress.
  • The CHW Wellness Coordinator serves as a liaison between industry partners, and RIC departments in the planning, development, and implementation, oversight of all grant deliverables.
  • Serve as the liaison between RIC, CHWARI, and the Community Health Worker employer partners by providing weekly supervision, data collection, and communication among practice sites, students and RIC with attention to consumer, organizational, student and grant needs
  • Providing coaching, mentoring, and training for apprentices during onsite visits, connect with onsite mentors on progress of apprenticeship, providing solution based guidance to apprentices and mentors when needed.
  • Monitor and track student progress and completion of the training
  • Monitor and track apprentices progression through the apprenticeship steps and demonstration of competencies
  • Provide insight and support for monthly integrated team meetings between RIC and employer partners.
  • Participate in grant meetings with grant partners, CHWARI, and RIC.
  • Communicate regularly with Program Director and partners on system issues related to care coordination for consumers, student-organizational conflicts, CHW obstacles due to funding, discrimination, absence of services/resources, communication obstacles

Required Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:

Experienced CHW in building partnerships between community-based organizations and healthcare organizations. Ability to plan, organize, and implement solutions for increasing access to care in community settings. Ability to work in situations requiring empathy, tact and collegiality. Knowledgeable about community health, organizations within the community, and resources available and how to access them. Ability to adapt to change with a positive attitude. Ability to communicate effectively in verbal and written form and to work with a variety of people. Good technology and digital literacy skills including MS Office, zoom, video conferencing platforms and general computer knowledge.

Qualifications

  • Previous experience in community health work, and navigation of resources most useful to CHWs as they work within communities of underserved populations.
  • Skills to mentor and provide support to CHW trainees and apprentices
  • Understanding the challenges CHWs face entering the workforce. Having the ability to empathize with and provide guidance to newly certified CHWs faced with assisting and overcoming barriers to health of individuals served.
  • Communicating the value of community health work. Building partnerships with health care organizations that also value and support this work in their position as employer partners.
  • Promote participant learning and achievement through coursework, on the job training, mentorship, and support leading to retention of CHW workforce.
  • Ability to multi task, demonstrate leadership, empathy and provide direction in a timely manner.
  • Familiarity with healthcare rules, regulations, and ethical practices most commonly affecting CHWs.
  • Ability to communicate effectively in verbal and written form to work with a variety of constituents with a positive outlook and attitude.
  • Good technology and digital literacy skills including knowledge of MS Office, video conferencing and communication, and general computer knowledge.
  • Experience with community health work settings and supervision of staff; building partnerships between community-based organizations, higher education and employer partners; and supporting program development through these partnerships

Requirements:

  • Must be a citizen of or have proof of the ability to work in the United States
  • At least 18 years of age
  • English fluency
  • CHW certification
  • At least 2 years working as a CHW, preferably in a supervisory role

How to Apply:

Please submit resume and cover letter to Tara LaMarre — TLaMarre@ric.edu

Please have references available upon request

About the Organization and Funding:

The Community Health Worker Association of RI is housed at the Institute for Education in Healthcare (IEH) which is situated within the School of Business at Rhode Island College (RIC). The IEH was formed in 2016 as a unifying body tasked with building partnerships across higher education, health and behavioral healthcare industry partners, community partners, and consumer groups for the purpose of identifying and responding to workforce needs across the care continuum. The IEH received a $2,300,000 dollar (over four years) award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for strengthening communities hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic by fortifying the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce. Through the grant IEH aims to train and deploy 225 CHWs through apprenticeships/mentorship.