Community Engagement Specialist

Location: Local Hybrid: Local to the McMinnville, OR area, with flexibility to work both remotely and/or in-person at YCCO's office in McMinnville.

Department: Health Plan Operations FLSA Status: Exempt

Division: Community Health (Systems) Physical Strength: Light (L)

Reports To: Community Health Systems & Tribal Relations Manager Location: Local Hybrid

Supervisory Occasional Weekend

Role: No Work: Yes

About Us: Yamhill Community Care is a nonprofit coordinated care organization dedicated to managing the healthcare for Medicaid members, covered under the Oregon Health Plan, in Yamhill County, as well as parts of Washington and Polk Counties. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of the communities we serve by coordinating effective care. Beyond healthcare, we also provide an Early Learning Hub, supporting families and children with essential resources and programs for early childhood development. Together, we're building a unified healthy community that celebrates physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being.

Learn more about Yamhill Community Care: click here

Summary

The Community Engagement Specialist is responsible for developing and implementing contractually aligned community engagement strategies, including ensuring the collection of feedback from and sharing of information with the Yamhill Community Care (YCCO) service area community; overseeing a feedback loop between community input, YCCO staff and leadership, and the Board of Directors; and developing pathways for relationship development within the community.

Essential Duties

Job Duties

Member & Community Member Engagement

• Interprets YCCO contract, state rules and regulations, incentive metric requirements, Health Equity Plan, and other plan-related documents to determine member and community engagement strategy.
• Performs community outreach and engagement activities to connect with Yamhill Community Care members and community members at large, including those who may experience health disparities.
• Engages Spanish-speaking community members and Hispanic / Latinx culturally specific organizations as part of strategic outreach. Ensures linguistically appropriate activities and materials are prioritized.
• Provides leadership, direction, and technical expertise to team, external partners, providers, and vendors as well as internal staff regarding member communication and engagement.
• Conducts surveys, listening sessions, interviews, and other methods of soliciting input; analyzes and creates reports based on this feedback.
• Collaborates with other departments to align and compile member outreach efforts.
• Coordinates or supports community events to offer services, education, and connections.
• Shares member feedback reports from sources like state member surveys, satisfaction surveys, and community engagement efforts with staff, committees, community partners, and community members.
• Promotes trust-building and credibility with YCCO members as a whole and the community at large, including Tribes, rural populations, and communities from all different backgrounds and demographics.
• Provides direct navigation services to members when appropriate as part of outreach and engagement activities, including but not limited to checking eligibility, providing screening and referral, conducting surveys, and offering resources.
• Develops and maintains policies and procedures related to member and community member engagement strategy and best practices.
• Completes assignments, monthly statistics, and all reports per Department guidelines.
• Participates in the preparation and submission of regulatory and contract-required deliverables.
• Oversees culturally adaptive, data-informed engagement methods.
• Creates and informs internal initiatives informed by member input; completes feedback loop to ensure the community receives ongoing updates on input-informed initiatives.
• Designs the member engagement social media strategy and engages with the community as appropriate on social media and other digital platforms.
• Facilitates internal committees related to member and community member engagement.
• Champions health equity and YCCO efforts to redistribute power and resources; recognizes, reconciles, and rectifies historical and contemporary injustices within the YCCO healthcare and social service systems.

Community Advisory Council & Health Assessment

• Supports the Community Advisory Council, including material development, meeting planning tasks, ensuring language access needs are met, and coordinating technology.
• Ensures meeting activities and materials are culturally and linguistically appropriate according to the CLAS Standards.
• Ensures Community Advisory Council-led member education initiatives around preventative care.
• Leads Community Advisory Council, OHP member recruitment activities in line with the CCO contract, state, and other regulatory requirements.
• Supports required CAC-related contractually required reporting to Oregon Health Authority.
• Participates in local, state, and national workgroups, collaboratives, and learning sessions as appropriate.
• Develops strategies and plans to improve preventive care practices, population health, and address social determinant of health in the community.
• Supports the development of collaborative Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan.
• Provides leadership in Community Health Assessment process development, maintenance, and reporting.
• Supports maintenance and implementation of Community Health Improvement Plan strategies related to member and community health.

Essential Department & Organizational Functions

• Works to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable services, and working relationships with diverse groups of employees, community partners, and community members.
• Participates in the preparation and submission of regulatory and contract required deliverables.
• Works closely with other YCCO departments, including Compliance to assist with audits, including the External Quality Review (EQR), as needed.
• Proposes and implements process improvements.
• Meets deadlines for completion of assigned responsibilities and projects.
• Maintains agreed upon work schedule with punctual, regular, and predictable attendance.
• Attends in person Annual Company Conference in Oregon; typically held in the fourth week of September.
• Demonstrates cooperation and teamwork using a professional and respectful demeanor.
• Provides cross-training on specific job responsibilities.
• Meets identified goals that contribute to departmental goals.
• Works collaboratively in a team and matrixed (cross-department) environment with a spirit of cooperation.
• Respectfully takes direction from Supervisor.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Knowledge of community engagement best practices.
• Strong public speaking and presentation skills.
• Timely and accurate production of stakeholder communications and presentations.
• Knowledge of social determinants of health and their relationship to a person’s overall health and well-being.
• Excellent written composition skills.
• Excellent organizational skills including the ability to handle multiple priorities and demands simultaneously in a dynamic work environment while maintaining high attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to work independently, use sound judgment, anticipate next steps, and be proactive as part of a diverse team within a Matrix or shared resources across departments work model.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Ability to communicate both professionally and effectively in all forms of communication in a responsive, timely manner.
• Ability to work in an environment with diverse individuals and groups.
• Ability to remain flexible, positive, and adaptable.
• Ability to work across the YCCO region and to work remotely, as needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications Ability to perform essential job duties with or without reasonable accommodation and without posing a direct threat to safety or health of employee or others. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties

Education & Experience

Required:

• Minimum three (3) years of related personal and/or professional experience with community engagement, organizing, surveying, or advocacy.
• Bilingual Skills (English / Spanish).
• Familiarity with Yamhill County and surrounding areas.
• Program experience working with the Medicaid or low-income population.

OR:

• Any combination of education and experience that would qualify candidate for the position.

Preferred:

• Bachelor’s degree in community health, communications, public health, social work, public administration, or related field.
• Familiarity with Tribal history in Oregon, working with federally recognized Tribes, and/or background with Tribal or American Indian / Alaska Native culture and practices.

Certificates, Licenses and/or Registrations

This position does not require any certificates, licenses, or registrations.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this position. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential duties of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, use hands and fingers, handle or feel, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee may occasionally need to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

This position operates in a professional office environment and requires frequent use of standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, distance vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

This position may include occasional required or optional travel outside of the workplace, in which the employee’s personal vehicle, local transit, or other means of transportation may be used.