Position Purpose

Working under the direction of the Community Health Early Intervention Manager, the Community Health Early Intervention Specialist provides one-time health education interventions for individuals, groups, and communities.  One-time interventions may include diagnostic testing for infectious illnesses such as HIV and HCV or providing community outreach and prevention education to individuals who are at high risk for infectious and chronic diseases.  This position will involve provision of multi-session preventions and health education interventions.  Interventions may include Pre or Post-Exposure Prophylaxis and/or Early Intervention or Linkage to Care for health services for populations that are HIV positive or who have Hepatitis C.  

Job Type: Full time

FLSA Status: Hourly, Non-exempt

Reports to:  Community Health Early Intervention Manager

Essential Functions

• Provide HIV, HCV and STI education services to individuals in DAP Health (DAP) STI clinic The DOCK and community settings reaching individuals at high-risk for HIV infection. Complete an assessment of behavioral risk and utilize prevention strategies for specific infectious and chronic illnesses at time of individual visit;
• Provide information and education to each client about prevention tools including proper risk reduction, use of condoms, lube, and antiretroviral medication for prevention (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis - PEP/ Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis - PrEP);
• Refers and links individuals to available prevention services such as PrEP navigation or Early Intervention Services (EIS);
• Provide HIV, HCV and Syphilis testing to clients and instruct self-collection for gonorrhea and chlamydia:
• Collect and process blood (finger-stick and venipuncture) specimens and instruct self-collection for gonorrhea and chlamydia.  Prepare specimens for laboratory processing;
• Provide HIV and HCV test results to clients;
• Facilitate referrals to medical care, PrEP/PEP navigators and other DAP services as needed.
• For anyone testing positive for an infectious disease, provides education and linkage to care.  For HIV or HCV, ensure patient is linked and retained in care through their first medical visit;
• Facilitation of individual or group-level evidence based behavioral interventions, with fidelity to required intervention design. Includes required mastery of intervention through training;
• Home visits are required for EIS services when other means of contacting the patient have not succeeded;
• As a core function of the position, provides client referral to outside entities or support service programs, as appropriate;
• Provides education to DAP staff as appropriate and as assigned, on topics regarding health conditions impacting our service area and strategies to engage members of targeted and impacted populations in care;
• Communicates information consistent with agency standards;
• Completes other related assignments to help meet the goals and objectives of the department;
• Establishes positive community relations;
• Reaches out to local schools, community centers and other entities to expand our education and outreach services;
• Remains well-informed of how to access community resources to help guide clients through these systems;
• Maintains accurate and timely documentation of work;
• Keeps Electronic Health Record up to date as needed (ARIES, Epic, other databases);
• As necessary, maintains all paper charts in order and completes documentation within required time-frames;
• Monthly reporting of progress;
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

• Graduate from a high school, or possession of a certificate of proficiency issued by the California State Board of Education, or possession of a G.E.D. certificate or equivalent years of experience;
• Fluency/Excellent verbal and written communication in English.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree;
• Ideal candidate will have interest in and competence in cultural differences, HIV/AIDS, minority health, sexual practices, and a demonstrated competence in working with the substance abuse community, African-American, Latino/a, LGBT communities, health care workers, youth and/or seniors;
• Knowledge of HIV/AIDS disease, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) (Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis) and HCV, to include diagnosis, prevention, risk-reduction strategies;
• Previous professional or volunteer experience working in HIV/HCV/STI prevention or care and/or delivering sexual health education or other behavior;
• Understanding of how related chronic and infectious diseases are transmitted and prevented as well as familiarity with Pre-Exposure and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP);
• Experience in medical or health-related fields; social work, counseling, nursing, public health or other health education;
• Stages of Change and behavioral risk reduction;
• Motivational Interviewing;
• Bilingual in Spanish;
• Certified Phlebotomist.

License(s) and Certification(s)

• California Department of Public Health Office of AIDS HIV testing and finger stick certification required before providing CLIA Waived testing;
• Partner Services Training certificate preferred and must be completed upon first available training in the region;
• Valid CA Driver's License with a clean driving record and, access to a reliable vehicle and up-to-date auto insurance; although the majority of the work will be located at DAP in Palm Springs and/or Indio, there may be times when travel might include driving to client home visits, meetings, and events.

Working Environment and Physical Demands

This job operates in an office setting and requires frequent times of sitting, standing, repetitive motion and talking. Ability to lift up to 24 pounds. Direct patient contact under normal circumstances is required. This position involves exposure to blood, body fluids, non-intact skin or tissue specimens. Access to patient protected health information required. Services may be provided either on site in The DOCK at DAP or throughout the Coachella Valley. Community settings may include health fairs, religious institutions, substance abuse treatment facilities, high schools and colleges, businesses or partner health and social service organizations. Though the majority of the work will be located at DAP in Palm Springs and/or Indio during standard business hours, this position does require driving to client home visits, meetings, and events. All positions in the Community Health department require you to work some evenings and weekends.

Other Duties

Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of everything that is required of the employee for the job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Work Authorization/Security Clearance

This job requires full proof of authorization to work in the United States without any future requirement of sponsorship for work visa.

Grant Funding Notification

This position is part of or fully funded from a grant that was awarded to Desert AIDS Project from an outside funding source. Should the funding for this position not continue after a certain period of time, DAP will do everything it can to continue the position being funded, should the organization have the capability and programmatic need to do so. Should DAP not be able to continue the Grant funded position, the position will be eliminated due the lack of funding sources. However, you should be aware that the end date of a grant does not guarantee employment for the duration of the grant. Your employment as a staff employee of the DAP is considered to be at will and may be terminated by you or the DAP at any time regardless of the end date of the grant.

Affirmative Action Plan (AAP)/Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and a Drug Free Workplace. In order to obtain a culturally diverse staff, we encourage applications from individuals with varied experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. Applications from minorities, members of the transgender community and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

It is the policy of DAP Health to provide equal employment opportunities for applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, age, disability or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws. DAP Health welcomes the opportunity to provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during the employment process, please notify Human Resources. Any employment relationship with DAP Health is at-will. This means employment can be terminated at any time, with or without notice or cause, at the option of either DAP Health or the employee.