Education Specialist | Community Health Worker - Pathways Program - Downtown PH Center

Public Health Seattle & King County’s Pathways Program at Downtown Public Health Center is looking for an individual who brings experience working with adult people with opioid use disorder (OUD), complex social, medical and mental health conditions and homelessness, providing care using a harm reduction approach.  The Pathways Program is co-located at Downtown Public Health with the Robert Clewis Center (RCC) - Needle Exchange Program, Downtown Family Medicine primary care clinic, and other Downtown Public Health Center programs.


Pathways is an innovative program that uses a harm reduction approach to help address the opioid epidemic and provides low barrier access for individuals into Medication for Opiate Use Disorder (MOUD)using buprenorphine.  The Education Specialist will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team and will serve as a frontline staff member welcoming people to buprenorphine services through the RCC and other referral sources.  They will register new patients with the electronic health record (EPIC), schedule new and returning patients, provide resources and referrals to other care systems, perform outreach and engagement activities, and provide support to patients, as well as supporting other team members as needed. They will be responsible for providing program information and details to clients and community partners, as well as gathering and reporting data. The Education Specialist will provide health education related to OUD, injection drug use, homelessness and other disease risk factors.

 
Named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history, King County is a vibrant international community with residents that represent countries from around the world. It is a region with increasing diversity that cherishes the traditions of many cultures.

The county government has a deep commitment to equity and social justice and advancing practices, strategies, and policies that promote fairness, justice, and opportunity for all – in our workplaces and our communities. With this commitment, King County has adopted a pro-equity agenda to advance regional change and ensure that residents from all communities are incorporated into our emergency planning and public outreach efforts.

We recognize that structural racism consists of principles and practices that cause and justify an inequitable distribution of rights, opportunities, and experiences across racial groups. Since declaring Racism is a Public Health Crisis in June 2020, King County and Public Health committed to being intentionally anti-racist and accountable to Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities.

To learn more, please visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/equity-social-justice.aspx


 
This position works on-site.  Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM; 40 hours per week and may be required to work outside of these hours.

 
Based out of the Downtown Public Health Center in Seattle.  On occasion or as needed, the position may be deployed to other Public Health Centers and service sites throughout King County.
 

• Register Pathways patients into Epic.
• Conduct outreach to engage people who inject drugs (PWID) in targeted communities for enrollment in the Pathways Program.
• Conduct appointment reminder and follow up calls for enrolled Pathways patients..
• Facilitate information and linkage to other community resources and identified service needs
• Work as part of an interdisciplinary team. 
• Provide individualized harm reduction counseling to help initiate and maintain behavior change to reduce risk of opiate overdose, death, and infection of HIV/Hepatitis and other injection drug use related harms
• Facilitate referral to and enrollment in MOUD services.
• Coordinate and follow up on referrals to housing and other services that affect overall health and risk of overdose.
• Establish and maintain linkages with service providers to ensure coordination and access to needed services.
• Preform Quality Assurance activities, maintain client service data and prepare summary reports to inform program planning, service evaluation and meet reporting requirements.
• Develop and maintain expert knowledge of Medicaid, other health insurance coverage and public funding options for MOUD, other substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and health care services.

• Demonstrated knowledge of theories and practices related to health promotion.
• Demonstrated excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate complex information in a culturally appropriate, consistently respectful, and non-judgmental manner to people.
• Skill and comfort making cold contacts to engage potential new patients in outreach settings.
• Demonstrated skill to set and maintain clear, professional, respectful boundaries and interactions with clients and fellow staff members.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently following established protocols and policies, and work effectively as a member of a team.
• Ability to lift and move boxes weighing up to 25 pounds.

 

• Demonstrated skill in using the electronic health record, EPIC 
• Demonstrated skill in delivering harm reduction interventions to people who use drugs.
• Demonstrated current knowledge of: (a) MOUD,  (b) street life, slang vocabularies and drug use practices; (c) harm reduction concepts and principles; and (d) local SUD treatment, health care and criminal justice systems and resources.
• Demonstrated ability to use de-escalation skills.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play. 
 
Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ , people living with disabilities, and veterans.
 
If you are the successful candidate for the position(s), as a condition of your employment, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work in the medical clinic(s) outlined in this job posting prior to your start date.  To ensure this condition is met, prior to your start date, the county will send you a conditional offer letter requesting you to provide proof of vaccination or have an approved request for medical or religious exemption and an approved accommodation. Philosophical, political, scientific, or sociological objections to vaccination will not be considered for an exemption or accommodation.”
 
No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.


If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact your recruiter listed on this job announcement.


Applications will be reviewed after the job posting closes. The following items are required to be considered for this vacancy:

1. NEOGOV/Government Jobs on-line or paper application 
2. Supplemental questionnaire responses
3. Resume

 
Please do not use "see resume" in your application or answers to supplemental questions as these will be considered incomplete.
 
Please do not copy and paste your entire resume, or copy and paste your entire job history, as your answers to the supplemental questions as these will be considered incomplete.
 
You may attach multiple documents if you wish:

• Copy and paste one or more documents into the text resume section of the application.
• Attach multiple documents/files in the resume attachment section.

 
Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the standard information in the application. Providing information only in a resume will not be considered a complete application.
 
Your application materials must validate your answers to the supplemental questions. If your answers cannot be validated, you will not proceed to the next steps of the process.
 
The selected candidate will be required to pass a thorough background investigation. In the event the job classification requires an exam; an offer of employment will be contingent on passing a pre-employment physical exam and must maintain security clearance.
Supplemental Information:
 
This selection process may include but is not limited to: evaluation of application materials and supplemental questions, testing and interviewing. For more information on our selection process, please refer to http://www.kingcounty.gov/jobs/applying.aspx 
 
Public Health relies on office automation (Microsoft Office) and web-based enabled tools, therefore candidates must be proficient and comfortable with computer use to perform functions associated with on-going work.
 
Employees are required to adhere to OSHA/WISHA guidelines including but not limited to completing their mandatory trainings on time and obtaining required immunizations.
 
Regular and reliable attendance, effective communication skills, and development of effective working relationships are requirements of all Public Health positions.
 
Employees are required to protect the privacy and security of protected health information as defined in State and Federal Law.
 
Staff may be required to play an active role in the event of a public health emergency, which may include changes in responsibilities and working hours.
 
If you need a disability accommodation in the application or testing process, please call the contact number listed on the job announcement.
 
Applicants from this job posting may be used to fill temporary or other positions in this classification for a period of up to a 6 months.
   
 
For more information about the application process please contact Mark Lacy at Mlacy@kingcounty.gov.

Salary : $61,610 - $78,104