Latino PrEP Connections Counselor

Through street and social media outreach, the Client Service Counselor engages Latino individuals, particularly Latino gay and bisexual men (LGBM) and Latina transgender women, living and/or working In Union City and within the greater Hudson County area who are at high risk for acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) in order to first assess their HIV or HIV-risk status and then assist them in accessing the necessary health and social services appropriate to their status. For Latinx who do not know their HIV status, they will be provided with HIV prevention education and connected to HIV testing to determine their HIV status. For any Latinx subsequently identified as HIV-infected, they will be connected to services such as HIV/STI education and linkage to HIV medical care, along with associated services such as HIV medical case management, STI testing, medication adherence counseling and mental health/substance abuse counseling, among others. For any Latinx subsequently identified as HIV-negative, they will receive services such as HIV prevention education and materials, linkage to HIV/STI testing and linkage to PrEP counseling services to support their efforts to remain HIV-negative. The Latino PrEP Connections Counselor is primarily responsible for working with Latino individuals who are at risk of HIV, but may be asked to assist with outreach or counseling to secondarily assigned groups as needs and opportunities arise. This staff member is also responsible for delivering education on PrEP, HIV/AIDS and/or LGBT-sensitivity to Latinx community groups and Latinx client support groups and assisting with writing grant proposals, with tracking and managing client data and with submitting reports to grant funders. In addition, and depending upon qualifications and experience, this staff member may also be responsible for supervising other outreach staff and providing task supervision to social work interns. Responsibilities: - Accurately collect, record and update all client data necessary for intake and referral to care process; - Accurately maintain outreach logs, data and client records; - Attend all HPC meetings and development opportunities at HPC; - Attend community meetings and events to both promote the PrEP program and screen for potential new PrEP clients among Latino Gay and Bisexual Males (LGBM) and Latina Transgender Women attendees; - Network with community stakeholders, leaders and other service providers in order to create more cohesive services for Latinx persons on PrEP and Latinx persons living with HIV/AIDS; - Screen outreach-referred clients for PrEP eligibility; - Assess outreach-screened clients’ suitability for PrEP initiation via provision of single EBI “Personalized Cognitive Counseling” (PCC) session; - Link appropriate clients to PrEP or HIV medical provider for medical evaluation; Latino PrEP Connections Counselor. - Conduct social media outreach to promote PrEP among LGBM; - Provide PrEP safer sex and adherence supports (e.g., condoms, pill boxes, insurance navigation, incentives, etc.; - Translate PrEP-related materials between English and Spanish; - Develop initial client PrEP adherence care plan or HIV linkage to care plan and at minimum, update quarterly - Provide individual PrEP education, addressing both HIV prevention and PrEP awareness; - Deliver 20-40 min individual PrEP Adherence counseling sessions to clients medically approved for PrEP at NHCAC, HPC and/or another designated medical provider site; - Facilitate weekly 90-minute PrEP Adherence counseling and/or HIV support groups, if required; - Employ individual CLEAR/Motivational Interviewing for client risk reduction; - Maintain monthly communication with PrEP medical provider or HIV medical case manager to assess, discuss and address on-going adherence and/or other social service needs; - Participate in QM activities such as case conferencing and individual clinical supervision to ensure client services are appropriate and clinically sound; - Implement and monitor patient retention efforts; - Maintain charting about client progress toward achieving care plan goals; - Assist with program quality management activities, including data collection, chart maintenance and conducting PDSA cycles; - Collect data and manage the Union City site’s DHSTS system, and attend the DHSTS-required PrEP Counselor meetings; - Assist with planning of outreach strategies, including devising new activities as needed; Supervise outreach staff and social work interns, if qualified and needed; - Write reports for grant funders; - Assist with identifying and writing new grant proposals or with writing grant funding continuation proposals. Qualifications: - Minimum of BSW or BA in social services field; (Associates Degree in social services will be considered with a minimum of 3+ years professional post-degree work experience in HIV prevention area) - Minimum of one (1) year professional or internship work experience (not non-academic volunteer) in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and linkage to care or other similar skills; - Extensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; - Extensive knowledge of LGBT social, health and cultural issues currently impacting LGBT people in the U.S. - Extensive knowledge of Latinx communities who are at high risk for acquiring HIV, especially Latino gay/bisexual males and Latina transgender women; - Familiarity with Union City and West New York care services and social venues where target communities are known to congregate in particular and with those of Jersey City and Hudson County in general; - Basic knowledge of PrEP and other HIV prevention strategies - Basic knowledge of motivational interviewing, stages of change and other behavior change counseling techniques; - Basic experience co-facilitating support groups; - Should be self-motivated and able to operate effectively both independently and as part of a team - Should be able to responsibly engage and motivate individuals from target audiences in community settings, on social media platforms and on-site at NHCAC-Union City and/or HPC; - Able to communicate in a professional manner with medical and other service providers to advocate on behalf of clients; - Functional working knowledge of Microsoft software, databases, spreadsheets and social media platforms; - Strong written and verbal skills in both English and Spanish; - Excellent organizational skills; - Self-Identified passion for members of marginalized communities, especially LGBT community; - Preferred experience supervising staff in a social service organization, but not required. To apply, please email and resume and cover letter to our Chief Operations Officer, Elizabeth Schedl, at elizabeth@hudsonpride.org
Reference : Latino PrEP Connections Counselor jobs

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