Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:
1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods
3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness
4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health
5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Division of Family and Child Health (DFCH) of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) is charged with the creation and oversight of programs, policies, services, and environments that support physical and socio-emotional health, and promote primary and reproductive health services, health equity, social justice, safety and well-being for New York City families and children. The Division is comprised of the Bureau of Maternal Infant and Reproductive Health, the Bureau of Early Intervention, the Office of School Health (OSH), and the Bureau of Administration.

The Office of School Health (OSH) is a joint program of the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene responsible for promoting the health of the 1.3 million school children enrolled in approximately 1,800 public and non-public schools in New York City. The Office of School Health's Adolescent Health Unit (AHU) manages, among other programs, an in-school reproductive health program, Connecting Adolescents, which offers in-school pregnancy tests, emergency contraception, hormonal contraception and referrals for reproductive health care by OSH staff in the school medical rooms This position will be a part of the CATCH program. We encourage qualified applicants with demonstrated commitment to social justice, particularly racial, gender, and LGBTQI+ equity to apply.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

Under the supervision of the CATCH Health Education Supervisor and the CATCH Program Director, the Senior Public Health Educator:

- Work with health care team to implement health education activities in school settings.

- Develop vast knowledge of reproductive healthcare and other health topics as needed and knows how to present information in a social/reproductive justice framework.

- Provide health education sessions (classroom, small group or individual) to student population with special emphasis on adolescent sexuality and reproductive health.

- Coordinate and assist with follow-up of missed appointments to the nurse, nurse practitioner or OSH physician.

- Organize and monitor the inventory of educational materials at assigned school sites.

- Utilize the Automated Student Health Record (ASHR) to maintain adequate student health records.

Assist with providing professional development/training to nurses, teachers, and school staff/administration about the CATCH program and, if desired, other areas of sexual & reproductive health such as- Sexual Health Updates, Comfortability Discussing Sexuality Topics, LGBTQ Inclusivity.

- Schedules community organizations and/or create professional development opportunities for the Health Education team.
o Assist in the planning of standard school vacation and summer schedules with continuing education trainings (external and internal), community-based clinic tours and workshops to outside organizations.

- Work with the Health Education Supervisor to strengthen and build curricula/workshops for students, parents, and school administration.

- Assist in the development, creation and coordination of outreach materials, including flyers, posters, bulletin boards, awareness campaigns, etc.

- Assist in providing outreach to any CATCH sites that do not have an existing health educator in the form of lunchroom tabling, meeting with staff and scheduling/implementing classroom sessions.

- Connect regularly with clinics and community-based organization for referrals (STI testing, additional birth control methods, mental health services, pregnancy options) to ensure up-to-date information and follow-up.

- Assist in the planning, organizing and implementation of special health education events and campaigns within the school campuses (Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, Healthy Relationship Month, World AIDS Day, etc.).

Maintain effective professional relationships with school staff, colleagues and supervisors to meet the needs of the program.

- Contributes to project program planning and evaluation by maintaining up-to-date records, filling out required statistical forms and entering program data into any electronic systems as required.

- Participates in all mandated NYC DOHMH and OSH trainings and professional development sessions.

- Performs other related responsibilities as required

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and two years of full-time satisfactory experience in: (a) developing public health education programs, including identifying target populations, conducting needs assessments, designing educational materials, planning educational presentations or workshops, and evaluating health education programs; (b) presenting public health education programs; and/or (c) counseling in areas such as communicable diseases, substance abuse, assault, sexual abuse, and/or family planning; or

2. A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in one of the following areas: public health education, education, public/community health administration, public administration or business administration and one year of full-time satisfactory experience as described in "1" above.

For Assignment Level II
In addition to meeting the "Qualification Requirements" above, to be assigned to Assignment Level II, candidates must have two additional years of full-time
satisfactory experience, for a total of four years of experience for candidates with a baccalaureate degree, and two years for candidates with a master's degree.

For Assignment Level III
In addition to meeting the "Qualification Requirements" above, to be assigned to Assignment Level III, candidates must have three additional years of full-time satisfactory experience as described above, for a total of five years of experience for
candidates with a baccalaureate degree, and three years for candidates with a master's degree; at least one year of which, in either case, must have been in a
supervisory or administrative capacity.

Experience supervising staff health education background and experience, preferably in reproductive health and/or family planning effective communication and interpersonal skills computer skills in Microsoft Office ability to maintain good public relations and to communicate effectively with students, school staff and parents ability to have sensitivity when working with all racial, disability, linguistic and socioeconomic groups. Ability to travel citywide and work occasional nights and weekends.

This position is also open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program. Please indicate at the top of your resume and cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position through the 55-a Program.

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.