Job Description

About NYC Health + Hospitals:

Empower Every New Yorker — Without Exception — to Live the Healthiest Life Possible

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the United States. We provide essential outpatient, inpatient and home-based services to more than one million New Yorkers every year across the city’s five boroughs. Our large health system consists of ambulatory centers, acute care centers, post-acute care/long-term care, rehabilitation programs, Home Care, and Correctional Health Services. Our diverse workforce is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible.

At NYC Health + Hospitals, our mission is to deliver high quality care health services, without exception. Every employee takes a person-centered approach that exemplifies the ICARE values (Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence) through empathic communication and partnerships between all persons.

Job Description:

The Mental Health Continuum is a collaboration of various agencies, including the Department of Education. Through this collaboration, the Family Advocate will support the behavioral health needs of students and families in the South Bronx with Lincoln Hospital Child and Adolescent Program. They function as a support in the Child Outpatient Mental Health Clinic and School Based Clinic servicing child and adolescents with severe mental health conditions and co-morbid medical and substance use disorders. The goal is to provide meaningful and stable connections between school staff, who know their students and families’ best, and mental health service providers committed to serving their local communities. This will allow Lincoln to more rapidly see students in need of urgent evaluation, assessment, treatment and referrals for additional support.

Summary of Duties & Responsibilities:

The Family Advocate is an integral part of this interdisciplinary team. Under supervision, the candidate for the position uses their lived experience navigating one or more systems that serve children and families. They are a parent or primary caregiver of a child or young person with significant social, emotional, developmental, medical, substance use, behavioral health and/or suicide attempts.

The Family Advocate provides direct services to families in the outpatient clinic, and the school including the satellite school-based clinic. Works in close collaboration with staff, the school staff, consumers and family in planning and implementing treatment plans, supporting and navigating the system of care.

Areas of Responsibilities:

Parent support, advocacy, system linkage, access to care.

General Tasks and Responsibilities Will Include:

• Providing information and referral
• Engaging Families in service
• Working with families to discern their strengths, needs, and priorities
• Providing 1:1 assistance to help families connect to and participate in services
• Increasing parents’ feelings of self-efficacy
• Reducing stigma and feelings of isolation
• Helping families identify goals and track progress
• Supporting families to develop formal and informal networks of support
• Empowering parents by increasing their knowledge and skills
• Initiating and supporting parent support and skills groups
• Helping families understand mental health diagnoses, medication, and treatment options
• Helping families learn about services and navigate complex systems
• Outreaches families post-visit
• Escort children to their appointments
• Maintains required documentation/tracking in electronic medical record (Epic) and use other electronic systems in accordance with established policies and procedures.
• Conducts community outreach
• Engages patients, parents and/or caretakers and/or community providers, as applicable, and provides resources and assistance needed to address issues preventing them from staying healthy
• Assists in the preparation of information and educational materials
• Report regularly to Supervisor for support and feedback; participate in program improvement efforts
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Four years of full-time experience in counseling, community work or community health activities in a government agency or community organization engaged in providing community services to the public, assisting members of the community in obtaining community services or maintaining liaison with schools, community organizations or other government agencies for the purpose of providing assistance and obtaining participation and support for implementation of community or public service programs; or,

2. Education and/or experience equivalent to (1 above). Study at an accredited college in Sociology, Psychology or other behavioral sciences may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for the experience described in (1 above). However, all persons must have at least one year of full-time experience as described in (1 above).

Department Preferences

• One year of full-time experience in a government agency or community organization in providing community services to the public or in assisting members of the community in obtaining community services
• New York City residency (Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island) preferred.
• Familiarity with email and Internet usage and comfort learning new computer programs.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.
• Proficiency in speaking a language other than English, preferably Spanish, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Bengali, Russian, Cantonese, French, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Albanian, or Korean.
• Credentialed Family Peer Advocate (FPA-C)

NYC Health and Hospitals offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• Comprehensive Health Benefits for employees hired to work 20+ hrs. per week
• Retirement Savings and Pension Plans
• Loan Forgiveness Programs for eligible employees
• Paid Holidays and Vacation in accordance with employees' Collectively bargained contracts
• College tuition discounts and professional development opportunities
• Multiple employee discounts programs

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