Care Navigator

Overview:

Works for a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center and in the community. Provides general health education and HIV/STD-specific education, counseling, and testing services. Offers assistance to newly or previously diagnosed individuals living with HIV in establishing and maintaining primary care, as well as increasing their access to comprehensive specialty care services within the 30-day linkage to care standards.

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Provides support, advocacy, information, resources, and referrals to clients to ensure linkage to care; acting as a liaison between internal and external clients, visitors, and staff.
• Link persons with newly diagnosed HIV and re-engage persons with previously diagnosed HIV, out-of-care to HIV medical care and ART
• Develops and enhancing systems for assisting persons with HIV with navigating services (i.e. obtaining necessary information, supporting, skills to access complex medical systems) at all stages of care, treatment, prevention, and essential support services.
• Engages in patient interactions via telephone and in-person to identify, advocate, and meet client needs to ensure linkage and engagement to HIV care.
• Responsible for establishing trusting relationships with community partners, patients and their families, and provide general support and encouragement.
• Provide health-coaching appointment to clients, as needed, encouraging risk-reducing and medical adherence behaviors.
• Assist patients with completing applications and registration forms.
• Assist with eligibility determination appointments, enrollment and follow-up with uninsured patients.
• Help patients set personal goals and attend appointments.
• Work cooperatively with other clinical personnel assigned to the same patient.
• Responsible for providing consistent communication to the supervisor ensuring that provided information and reports clearly describe progress.
• Attend regular staff meetings, trainings and other meetings as requested.
• Provide targeted outreach and recruitment, HIV/STI counseling, testing, and referral (e.g. blood based, oral swab) as well as Health Education and Risk Reduction to High Risk and/or Persons Living With HIV/AIDS.
• Assists these persons by providing support in maintaining safer sex practices in order to prevent HIV/STI infection or re-infection as well as accessing CTR services. 
• Coordinate a linkage/network system to ensure easy access to medical care, treatment, prevention and other social services.
• Performs quality management/assurance activities. 
• Must be highly available and flexible to work some late nights and maintain a flexible schedule. 
• Documentation of services provided in client record and required database(s).
• Other duties as described by the supervisor.

Education, Experience, Licensure/Certification and Skills/Abilities Related Requirements:

• High school diploma required.
• Bilingual English/Spanish Preferred
• Knowledge of HIV/STI and related services, Homeless, and Mental Health/Substance Abuse community resources, and working with other communities and/or populations as described within the program.
• Must be comfortable and culturally competent to work with special populations including the Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual Transgender (LGBT) community.
• CPR Certification Required within 90 days of employment.
• This is a grant funded position. This position is contingent upon receipt of grant funding specifically for that purpose. All such appointments terminate upon completion of the term of the grant under which the appointment was made, or upon early termination of the grant by the funding party, or upon exhaustion of the available funding for the position provided for under that contract or grant, whichever occurs first.

Continuing Education and Training Requirements:

Participates in trainings required by the funding source and/or as required by licensure and Avenue 360.