In December 2019, CT CHW President and NACHW Ambassador Milagrosa Seguinot became the first CHW to be certified by the State of CT Department of Public Health. I have known Mrs. Seguinot for over a decade. Over this period, I have watched her progress, learned from her expertise and praised her poise, clarity and patient determination to address the myriad barriers of clients, communities and partners in the pursuit of health equity.
In 2013, I began working for the Access Health CT Marketplace and Millie became an enrollment Navigator for our historic 1st open enrollment. My collaboration with Millie continued in this new environment. I observed Millie providing detailed and highly effective outreach and enrollment support to dozens of CHWs in southern Connecticut. Those who worked with her praised her knowledge of enrollment requirements, CHW supervision approach, and the respect and dignity she showed with each community member encounter.
As Connecticut turned its focus on long term solutions to achieve equity and reform systems that allow disparity in health service delivery to persist, Millie was once again called upon to advise a CHW Workgroup under the CT State Innovation Model. Millie was an articulate advocate of our unique CHW roles, qualities and skills. The result of her labor: a voluntary CHW certification process in Connecticut through the CT State Department of Public Health.
Millie helped to create this process through many years of advocacy and engagement of employers, funders, stakeholders and legislators. She currently serves as the President of the CHW Association of Connecticut (CHWACT) and an Ambassador of the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) Ambassador. If you are a CT CHW, use this link to learn more about voluntary certification requirements and benefits or contact Millie Seguinot, CCHW with your questions at [email protected].
