Community Health Worker- Early Childhood Development

Job Description:

The Community Health Worker (CHW) assigned to the Early Childhood Development (ECD) program supports the Transforming Pediatrics in Early Childhood (TPEC) initiative by proactively engaging families and ensuring children receive timely preventive care and recommended services. Working as part of the regional ECD Support Team alongside the ECD Care Coordinator and pediatric care teams, the CHW maintains an ongoing understanding of the children served at assigned health center sites, including their well-child visit schedules, outstanding referrals, and barriers to care.

The CHW conducts proactive family outreach, monitors appointment and referral follow-up needs, and develops individualized strategies to engage families in care. Through relationship-building, care navigation, and coordination with healthcare and community partners, the CHW helps families overcome barriers, attend well-child visits on time, and complete recommended referrals. The CHW also maintains accurate documentation and tracks outreach, appointment attendance, and referral outcomes to support continuity of care and TPEC program goals.

Role and Responsibilities

- Maintain Awareness of Children Served at Assigned Sites: Maintain an ongoing understanding of the children receiving care at assigned health center sites, including well-child visit schedules, missed or overdue appointments, outstanding referrals, and identified barriers to care. Work with pediatric care teams to identify children who need outreach or additional support.
- Promote Timely Well-Child Visits: Monitor upcoming, overdue, and missed well-child visits in collaboration with the pediatric care team. Proactively contact families to schedule appointments, provide reminders, follow up after missed visits, and develop individualized strategies to support timely attendance and continuity of preventive care.
- Ensure Referral Follow-Up: Track referrals and recommended services for children and follow up with families to support completion. Help families understand next steps, connect with referred providers, address barriers such as transportation or scheduling, and communicate referral status and unresolved needs to the appropriate healthcare team member. Collaborate with the ECD Care Coordinator on referrals requiring additional coordination, including Birth to Three and school-district evaluations.
- Engage Families in Ongoing Care: Build trusting relationships with families through consistent outreach by phone, in person, and in community settings as appropriate. Identify reasons families may be disconnected from care and develop culturally and linguistically responsive strategies to encourage engagement in well-child visits and recommended services.
- Address Barriers to Care and Connect to Community Resources: Conduct social needs assessments to identify barriers affecting children's access to care, including transportation, housing, food insecurity, childcare, insurance coverage, and language access. Connect families with appropriate community resources, public benefits, and supportive services, and follow up to assess whether identified needs have been addressed.
- Document Outreach and Track Outcomes: Maintain accurate and timely documentation of family outreach, well-child visit scheduling and attendance, missed appointments, referral status, follow-up activities, and barriers to care. Use tracking systems and program data to identify children needing additional outreach and support program monitoring, reporting, and quality improvement.
- Coordinate with the Pediatric Care Team and ECD Support Team: Communicate regularly with pediatric care teams and the ECD Care Coordinator and participate in coordinated care planning and help ensure families receive consistent follow-up and support. Attend team meetings to support implementation and continuous improvement of the TPEC model.

Qualifications

Required

- Minimum Associate’s degree required; Connecticut CHW Training Certification may be accepted in lieu of an associate’s degree.

- Ability to build trust and communicate respectfully and effectively with families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

- Ability to identify family needs and connect families with community resources and services.
- Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple families, follow-up tasks, and deadlines at once.
- Comfort using computer systems and electronic records for documentation and data entry.
- Ability to work as a member of a team.
- Valid Connecticut driver’s license and reliable transportation, as the role requires regular travel within [define service region]. Mileage reimbursed per organizational policy [confirm].

Preferred

- Experience working with children, families, or early childhood development programs.
- Knowledge of the local community and enthusiasm for health education and outreach.
- Bilingual English/Spanish.

. The role combines office, community, and telephone work, with regular local travel to meet families and partners.

Organizational Summary:

The Moses/Weitzman Health System is a global leader addressing challenges faced by organizations caring for the poor and diverse populations, and is home to programs focusing on education, research, and process improvement support for safety net providers. The system delivers primary care to more than 150,000 patients in Connecticut, and extends access to specialty care for more than 2.5 million individuals across the U.S. It is a national accrediting body for organizations training advanced practice providers, and offers accredited education and training for Medical Assistants in multiple states. As an incubator for new ideas in areas including social justice, the environment, and social determinants of health, the MWHS is addressing challenges faced by providers caring for underserved communities, creating innovative and impactful initiatives led by nationally and internationally recognized experts. As it forges pathways into the future of primary care, the MWHS honors Lillian Reba Moses (1924-2012), a granddaughter of slaves, and Gerard (Gerry) Weitzman (1938-1999), whose ancestors escaped pogroms in Eastern Europe. Their vision and commitment to justice and equity in healthcare is the foundation upon which the Moses/Weitzman Health System was built.

Location:
Community Health Center of Meriden
City:
Meriden
State:
Connecticut

Time Type:
Full time

Compensation and Benefits:
$23-24 per hour

At Moses/Weitzman Health System, we are committed to supporting the health, well-being, professional growth, and financial security of our employees. Eligible employees may have access to a comprehensive total rewards package that can include competitive compensation, health and wellness benefits, retirement savings opportunities, paid time off, professional development and tuition assistance programs, employee assistance resources, flexible work arrangements where applicable, and other company-sponsored benefits. Specific benefit offerings and eligibility requirements may vary based on position, work location, scheduled hours, and applicable plan terms. Learn more about our benefits and career opportunities on our Careers website.