San Mateo County Health is seeking a well-qualified individual for the position of Senior Community Program Outreach Specialist – Limited Term. This Outreach Specialist will conduct a needs assessment, and research, develop and implement new and innovative strategies to locate and engage the hard-to-reach and or homeless population into care. The Outreach Specialist will contribute to increasing the program’s knowledge on homelessness and its impact on health, local services, and referral pathways and provide appropriate best practices for outreach and engagement.

The current vacancy is limited term in the Public Health, Policy and Planning Division supporting the Bridges to Wellness Team based in South San Francisco, CA, but will travel/drive throughout the county to perform duties of the job.

Primary responsibilities will include:

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  Develop an understanding of the current outreach methods, processes, and workflows for Bridges to Wellness (BWT) and Aging and Adult Services (AAS);
• Review outreach materials and program information to develop an understanding of existing strategies, trends, gaps and patterns in outreach;
• Review other existing literature on outreach for hard-to-reach populations including the Department of Health Care (DHCS) Outreach toolkit to identify new best practices for outreach and engagement;
• Meet, hold discussions and shadow outreach care managers and social workers to learn existing best practices, barriers, challenges, and gaps to conducting outreach and engaging clients into care;
• Conduct telephonic and field-based outreach to clients authorized for Enhanced Care Management (ECM) using current and new strategies to test, learn, and improve on approaches;
• Develop engagement strategies to build rapport and trust with people who may have had negative experience with health care, or who might have English as their second language;
• Develop strategies for building relationships with clients in their environment;
• Promptly document outreach services in Electronic Health Record (EHR) in accordance with documentation standards;
• Develop rapport, establish, and maintain contact with clients authorized for Enhanced Care Management (ECM) services;
• Conduct outreach activities to community organizations to provide information about the programs and link clients to services where possible;
• Coordinate program outreach meetings and Bridges to Wellness meetings with homelessness service providers including LifeMoves;
• Participate at community events to promote referrals to BWT and AAS Enhanced Care Management (ECM) services;
• Prepare and distribute materials and or flyers to publicize services;
• Assist eligible applicants to apply for ECM if needed;
• Strengthen partnerships with LifeMoves and other agencies providing services to individuals experiencing homelessness to facilitate field-based outreach;
• Prepare reports, outreach materials, toolkits, and other messaging to improve the program’s capacity to encourage members to enroll in ECM services and maintain engagement;
• Document best practices learned and update outreach materials;
• Provide training to the Bridges to Wellness Care Managers and AAS Social Workers to implement new outreach approaches;
• Create a database of community resources for BWT and AAS;
• Attend staff meetings and in-service trainings;
• Any additional tasks assigned by Manager or Supervisor.

Ideal candidate will possess:

• Experience working effectively with hard to reach and or homeless population;
• Experience working effectively with older adults and/or people with disabilities with medical and psychosocial needs and or individuals with co-morbidities including complex medical conditions, Serious Mental Illness (SMI), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and experiencing homelessness;
• Ability to develop and implement new and innovative strategies to locate and engage the hard-to-reach clients;
• Knowledge of and ability to apply process improvement principles to test, learn and apply new outreach approaches;
• Experience preparing clear reports, messaging, and toolkits;
• Knowledge of health, social and community resources;
• Ability to work with staff and clients from diverse backgrounds and with varied experiences;
• Ability to train other staff on new strategies, tools, and messaging;
• Ability to work collaboratively with BWT and AAS team members, and other stakeholders;
• Ability to lead meetings and communicate effectively with a variety of audiences ranging from clients, providers, and community partners;
• Knowledge of techniques for effectively representing the County in contacts with clients, community partners and community groups;
• Skill to address the client population's unique needs in a culturally sensitive manner;
• Ability to interpret and apply administrative and departmental policies and procedures;
• Ability to interpret ECM Policies and procedures to clients served;
• Ability to organize own work, set priorities, and meet critical time deadlines;
• Ability to work independently;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to establish, maintain, and foster positive and effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work;
• Ability to speak, read and write fluently in English and Spanish is strongly preferred.

Bridges to Wellness
Bridges to Wellness is a care management program within the Public Health Policy and Planning (PHPP) Division of San Mateo County Health, which provides intensive case management, care coordination, patient advocacy, and systems navigation to clients with high/complex needs. Bridges to Wellness strives to remove barriers that prevent clients with complex needs from accessing essential medical, behavioral health and social services. Bridges to Wellness staffing consists of 14 Care Managers (CMs), two Social Work Supervisors, Triage Nurse, Medical Director, and Health Services Manager I. In contract with the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM), Bridges to Wellness provides Enhanced Care Management (ECM) services, a new Medi-Cal benefit, to San Mateo’s most vulnerable and high need clients. The team uses a person-centered, recovery-oriented approach to care and the staff frequently provide services in the field.

Aging and Adult Services
San Mateo County (SMC) Aging and Adults Services (AAS) Enhanced Care Management (ECM) program provided social and health care management to people aged 21 or older who are eligible for Medi-Cal and are Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM) members. AAS ECM program is a voluntary program providing intensive care management to older adults and/or people with disabilities with medical and psychosocial needs. Care management services are provided to help reduce adverse health and psychosocial outcomes. The team of 10 is composed of a Health Services Manager, 1 Social Work Supervisor, 6 Social Worker Care Managers, 1 Public Health Nurse, and 1 Community Worker.

This is a limited term, at-will position . Limited Term Employees are assigned to assignments not to exceed three years. They receive medical and dental benefits, similar to regular employees, and a defined contribution retirement plan.

Information for current County employees: Current and regular San Mateo County Employees who are interested in this assignment must submit application materials and compete in the selection process. If you are successful in the selection process and are being considered for the assignment, HR will work directly with you and/or your department for options. Please note that there is no guarantee that you will be allowed by your department to rotate into this assignment nor are your departments obligated to allow you to take on this assignment. The salary range for this position is "as is" and non-negotiable.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is five years of experience in an organization providing social services, which has included responsibility for community service development such as planning, evaluating, monitoring or coordinating projects.

Application/Examination

If you are interested in being considered for this limited term position the following items must be submitted via e-mail:

• 
  Cover letter with responses to Supplemental Questions (maximum of 2 pages)
• Resume

Supplemental Questions:

• Describe your experience working with older adults and/or people with disabilities with medical and psychosocial needs and or individuals with co-morbidities including experiencing complex medical conditions, Serious Mental Illness, Substance Use Disorder and homelessness. Include any experience conducting outreach and engaging clients into care.
• Describe your experience preparing reports, messaging materials, and toolkits targeting hard to reach or other populations. Additionally, provide a specific example of a report you wrote or materials you developed.

• Describe your experience establishing community networks and collaborations, and working in communities with diverse racial, ethnic, and economic populations.
• Are you fluent in both Spanish and English? (Bilingual skills are preferred, but not required.)

Please include the words "Senior Community Program Outreach Specialist – Limited Term Position" in the subject line of email submission. All submitted materials must be in a Word or PDF format.

Please submit the above listed materials via email to:

Application materials will be reviewed as they are received, and well-qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Apply immediately. Application materials will be accepted until position is filled. This posting is open on a continuous basis and selection may be made at any time within the process.

NOTE: Application materials are only accepted via e-mail. Materials sent via regular mail and/or fax will not be accepted. Submittals that do not include all required elements (cover letter with responses to supplemental questions and a resume) will not be considered.

The County of San Mateo may require that all employees provide proof of COVID-19 vaccine. Employees hired into specified health care facilities and other high-risk settings where there is potential for frequent COVID-19 exposure to staff and highly vulnerable patients are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. For more specific information, please refer to the County's COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Policy.

San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities. The County of San Mateo is committed to advancing equity in order to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work. The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels.