Prevention Navigator

Job Description

Compensation Range$17/hr - $18/hr commensurate with experience

Benefits:

We have three comprehensive healthcare plans to choose from based on your priorities and budget. Housing Works covers most of the plan; you pay a portion, based on your salary. Staff begins accruing PTO immediately for a total of up to 30 days earned in the first year. We offer employees an educational benefit. This money is available for tuition loan reimbursement, tuition costs, and text books.

Overview:

The Prevention Navigator is the main link among clients, agency staff and medical care providers. This will be done by conducting assessments, enrolling clients into case management programs and navigating them through primary care, providing health education and various other services. Navigators build relationships, solve problems and locate resources. Prevention Navigators promote the recovery, independence, health and wellbeing of service users. This position will work in a drop-in space offering low-threshold services while providing care, intake and risk assessments and connect to testing, case management as well as higher threshold programs The Prevention Navigator must be knowledgeable about community resources, including educational and social support services available to clients. Duties may also include recruiting clients, administering questionnaires, data gathering, maintaining patient databases, assisting with event organizing, and performing various administrative tasks.

Responsibilities:

Primary:

• Conduct initial intake and ongoing assessments to evaluate participants' health status, wellness goals, and experiences with accessing healthcare.
• Provide health education, promotion, and risk reduction counseling tailored to individual needs.
• Facilitate harm reduction-focused group sessions that provide education, peer support, and skill-building opportunities, fostering a safe and inclusive space for participants to share experiences and strategies.
• Maintain regular communication with clients and collaborate with agency staff to support care coordination and goal achievement.
• Engage clients consistently to foster trust, monitor progress, and conduct follow-ups as needed.
• Assist clients in navigating the healthcare system, including scheduling appointments, accompanying them when appropriate, and supporting effective communication with medical providers.
• Conduct syringe transactions in accordance with program protocols, ensuring safe distribution, disposal education, and respectful engagement with participants.
• Document all services provided in a timely and accurate manner, ideally within two business days of service delivery.

Secondary:

• Attend meetings as deemed appropriate and related to the scope of service.
• Adhere to workplace policies and procedures, including confidentiality, documentation, channels of communication, workplace culture, dress code, and conflict resolution.
• Provide data entry support for any programmatic data needing to be submitted into databases.
• Conduct or be able to learn rapid testing for HIV and HCV Participate in quality assurance and quality improvement planning project and activities as directed
• Participates in monthly staff and peer workers development meetings and interventions

Job Requirements

• High school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma required
• New York City Department of Health Peer Certificate Training or the ability to obtain certificate through attendance at an AIDS Institute Authorized training center.
• Preferable training in the following areas:
• HIV 101
• Viral Hepatitis 101
• Motivational Interviewing
• LGBT Sensitivity
• Syringe Exchange and Harm Reduction Training
• HIV confidentiality and risk-reduction counseling
• Culturally aware and sensitive to PWUD (People Who Use Drugs), PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS), LGBTQAI, YIDU (Young Intravenous Drug Users), SMI (Severe Mental Illness), and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men)
• Ability to make data entries into programs database such as AIRS, e-Share, EiCare
• Good group facilitation skills and overdose prevention training experience
• Skilled with health insurance navigation and documentation.
• Good verbal, written, communication and interpersonal skills.
  Use of computer software- -Microsoft Office Suite including Word and Outlook calendaring, and Excel.
• Bilingual in Spanish/English helpful
• Frequently remaining in a stationary position, often standing or sitting for prolonged periods
• Occasionally moving around to additional worksites
• Occasionally lifting and moving objects up to 25 pounds in ordinary office related tasks.

Job candidates should be aware that scammers may pose as employers and create fake job postings in order to extract personal information from individuals for financial gain. Housing Works will never ask job candidates for personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account details, over the phone. If you suspect that a job posting may be fake or wish to confirm that a job posting from Housing Works is genuine, please contact us at

Housing Works was founded in 1990; With a long-term commitment to AIDS advocacy. Housing Works established New York State's first harm reduction-based, OASAS-licensed outpatient drug treatment program. Other services include Health Home care management, behavioral health, and syringe exchange programs. A pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement, Housing Works operates 10 high-end thrift shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a much-loved Bookstore Cafe in Soho. For more information, visit

Housing Works fights for funding and legislation to ensure that all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention, and treatment, among other lifesaving services.

Housing Works provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements. Housing Works complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. Housing Works also does not request prior salary information during the hiring process. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

This position is included in a bargaining unit of Housing Works' New York City employees represented by a labor union known as the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union ("RWDSU"). Accordingly, the RWDSU has the exclusive right to bargain over the terms and conditions of employment related to this position and this position may become covered by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (a "CBA") between Housing Works and the RWDSU