Welcome to the Illinois Community Health Worker (CHW) Certification Program. The purpose of the program is to create a voluntary certification for CHWs and training programs to advance and sustain the CHW workforce in Illinois. This website is a one-stop shop for the program.
What is a Community Health Worker
Community health worker (CHW) is an umbrella term. Some top job titles of CHWs in Illinois include:
What Roles do Community Health Workers Play?
CHWs have important roles in many settings. CHWs work in public health departments, health clinics, hospitals, social service agencies, and community-based organizations. They play many of the roles listed below. This is not an exhaustive list, and the roles of CHWs continue to evolve.
Roles of a CHW:
What are the Core Competencies of a Community Health Worker
To sucessfully carry out the roles of a CHW, there are certain things the CHW should know and be able to do. These are called core competencies. IDPH-certified CHW training programs are required to include all IDPH-required core competencies in their program.
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Communication, Interpersonal Skills, and Relationship Building
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Service Coordination and System Navigation
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Advocacy and Capacity Building
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Professional Skills and Conduct, Including Organizational Skills
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Public Health Knowledge: Use of Public Health Concepts and Approaches
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Education to Promote Healthy Behavior: Teaching, Presentation, and Facilitation Skills.
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Human Body Systems and Common Health Conditions, Including Behavioral Health
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Individual and Community Assessment
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Cultural Awareness and Responsiveness
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Application of New Learnings in a Field Setting
[You can find details on the CHW core competencies here.]
IDPH supported the development of a CHW Core Competency Model Curriculum and Assessment Toolkit that meets state requirements. The model curriculum may be used in part or in full by CHW training programs. CHW training programs may use the toolkit to support student assessment of core competencies.
[You can find the CHW Core Competency Model Curriculum and Assessment Toolkit here.]
The CHW Registry is a database of certified community health workers in Illinois. [You can find the CHW Registry here.] Employers use the registry to check if a CHW is certified. The Medicaid program uses it to confirm certification for Medicaid payments. Medicaid will only pay for services if the CHW's certification is active on the date of service.
The Administrative Code contains the CHW Code of Ethics.
The Community Health Workers Review Board and IDPH worked together to create the administrative code for the CHW Certification Program. The code explains how the program operates. [You can find the CHW Certification Program Administrative Code here].
Community health workers certified in Illinois must follow state law and administrative code. The code includes a CHW Code of Ethics, created by the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHWs). Illinois has officially adopted this CHW Code of Ethics. [You can find the CHW Code of Ethics here.]
