STATE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Appointed by Governor with Senate advice & consent to 4-year terms: Kevin J. Contreras, 2024; Bettye J. Muwwakkil, 2024; Yana Rachinskaya, 2024; Samantha A. Sailsman, 2024; LaKerry B. Dawson, 2025; Elizabeth Edsall Kromm, Ph.D., 2025; Tiffany Rivers Scott, 2025; Lashelle Stewart, 2025; Rosario A. Campos, 2026; Jude L. James, 2026; Jennifer Martinez, 2026; Rachael D. Parran, 2026; Kelly Umana, 2026; Fay L. Alexander, 2028; Griselda C. Funn, 2028; Kathleen Gilligan, 2028; Robin N. Hollar, 2028; Rebecca L. Jones, R.N., 2028.

Staff: Christina (Tina) M. Backe

Herbert R. O'Conor State Office Building, 201 West Preston St., Baltimore, Maryland, December 2000 (on right is 301 West Preston St.). Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

At least two times each year, the Advisory Committee meets and makes recommendations to the Maryland Department of Health concerning the certification of community health workers. A community health worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of the community being served and acts as a liaison, link, or intermediary between the community and its health and social services, thereby facilitating access to those services, and improving service delivery. Further, a community health worker informs the community through outreach, advocacy, social support, community education, and the provision of specific information.

The Advisory Committee consults with the Maryland Department of Labor; the Maryland Higher Education Commission; the Maryland Rural Health Association; the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; the Maryland State Dental Association; hospitals and community institutions that employ community health workers; and postsecondary educational institutions with nursing, social work, and dietetic programs. Next, the Advisory Committee advises the Maryland Department of Health on training programs for community health workers and the certification of such workers.

In collaboration with the Advisory Committee, the Maryland Department of Health adopts regulations establishing the process for accrediting community health worker training programs, as well as initial regulations for the certification of community health workers. Further, the Department is to establish a deadline, after which a community health worker must be certified by the State.

The costs of regulating and certifying community health workers are covered by the State Community Health Workers Fund.

The Committee consists of nineteen members. Of these, eighteen members are appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent to four-year terms. The Secretary of Health serves as Chair (Chapter 441, Acts of 2018; Code Health-General Article, sec. 13-3607).

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