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: AMENDED

The Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment (BADUPCT) works to close gaps and reduce overall morbidity and mortality related to alcohol and substance use among New Yorkers. To accomplish this goal, BADUPCT contracts and oversees treatment, harm reduction, recovery, and support services; develops policy; conducts and disseminates
surveillance and epidemiology and program evaluation; develops and disseminates treatment and management guidelines; develops and implements public health initiatives; engages in public and provider outreach and education; and promotes community interagency collaboration.

The Bureau amplifies the voices of those most impacted and focuses on inequitable structural, social, service, and communication factors that drive disparities.

The Harm Reduction Unit (HRU) provides fiscal, technical, and programmatic support to all 14 New York City’s syringe services programs (SSPs). This includes managing over $24M in annual funding, providing core harm reduction interventions, promoting best practices and innovative strategies to support people who use drugs, and funding and monitoring increased access drop-in centers, low-threshold buprenorphine treatment, and tailoring services to specific subpopulations (e.g., womxn). HRU supports both internal and external community partners to actualize harm reduction theories and concepts and mobilize innovative programs while maintaining a focus toward quick response, sustainable solutions, and workforce development that prioritizes supporting people with lived experience of homelessness, drug use and sex work to sustainably serve their community.

This Community Coordinator will be situated within BADUPCT working in the Harm Reduction Unit, which
manages over $24M in annual contracts (and growing), supporting SSPs to provide core low-threshold, person-centered interventions that utilize innovative strategies to support people who use drugs. HRU splits the foci of its work into two portfolios, the community-based work that is done to reach PWUD and support their engagement in care (overseen by the Outreach and Syringe Litter Manager) and the place-based work that is done to increase SSP participants’ engagement in care and to offer wraparound services in a “one-stop shop” setting (overseen by the Drop-in Center Program Manager). Recent DIC-related expansions have included community access drop-in centers, low-threshold buprenorphine treatment, and tailoring services to specific subpopulations (e.g., womxn, transwomen who engage in sex work).


To a lesser extent, HRU supports both internal and external community partners to actualize harm reduction theories or concepts and mobilize research or pilot programs that are responsive, centering people with lived experience of homelessness, drug use and/or sex work.

Job Description: The Drop-In Center (DIC) Program Coordinator will perform responsible work in the planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and/or evaluation of a broad spectrum of place-based interventions at SSPs, including respite programming, hygiene services, preventive care and medical interventions (e.g. buprenorphine treatment, HIV or HCV testing, overdose prevention center services).The DIC Program Coordinator will also work across sectors to develop and maintain internal and external community partnerships (e.g., hospitals, substance use treatment providers, public transportation, and housing services) toward the goal of streamlining and improving services offered to at-risk populations.

Under general direction from the supervisor, the Drop-In Center Program Coordinator will have wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment and initiative to perform the following tasks:
Plans, implements, coordinates, guides and monitors Drop-in Center Learning Community and monitors implementation of place-based harm reduction services (e.g. overdose prevention center services) to inform technical assistance provided to Community-based SSPs)
Performs site visits to and participates in meetings with Community-based SSPs in collaboration with the PHS Contract Manager, DIC Program Manager, and conduct field observations at sites
Identify trainings, resources, and tools to support harm reduction workforce to rapidly develop and scale up services while maintaining resilient teams in the face of vicarious trauma and a challenging political environment,
Perform analyses; routinely review data and prepare evaluation reports, program plans, and funding opportunities related toon SSP program performance and the community engagement in low-threshold care including hygiene, respite, overdose prevention, medical and mental healthcare and recreation services recreation services
Provides training and technical assistance to Community-based providers seeking to rapidly develop and scale up services including guidance on workforce development, participant education content, communications with internal and external audiences, support to build and manage new partnerships.
Identify trainings, resources, and tools to support harm reduction workforce to rapidly develop and scale up services while maintaining resilient teams in the face of vicarious trauma and a challenging political environment,
Track and monitor drug- and health-related trends among PWUD to inform responses (e.g. educational resource content for internal and external audience) and manage new partnerships
Analyze and routinely review eShare, AIRS, and RedCap data as well as programmatic planning documents related to track SSP performance on new and existing funding
Investigate into and research complex problems in literature and through collaboration with community partners Prepare guidance, reports and recommendations to inform policies, protocols, and procedures that inform service provision, expansion, and uptake
Facilitate knowledge sharing and community engagement about services SSPs provide, (e.g. data displays, presentations, one pagers etc), to assist programs to gain the support of stakeholders, fiscal sponsors
Other duties or tasks may be assigned on an as-needed basis

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

Knowledge of harm reduction practice and theory, including syringe exchange, harm reduction strategies, engaging populations in low threshold services (respite services, educational or support groups, food programming). Practice utilizing motivational interviewing, and integration of higher levels of care into nontraditional settings. Experience in implementing, contracting, monitoring, and improving programs. Experience with facilitating conversations among service providers and partner organizations. Understanding of the intersection of homelessness, mental health, and substance use issues as well as the medical conditions common among this population and systems issues common among their service providers Ability to effectively engage PWUD and their service providers in a non-judgmental manner. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. Flexible team player. Expresses cultural humility and sensitivity to people of various ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic conditions., and histories of recovery. Microsoft Office proficiency. Ability to work independently and as part of a team. Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.

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.