Program Specialist, Housing Services

ONLY PERMANENT EMPLOYEES IN THE TITLE AND THOSE THAT ARE REACHABLE ON THE SPECIAL CONSULTANT (MHSS) CIVIL SERVICE LIST/ EXAM NO.1177 ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY.

Agency Description

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:

• 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
• Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness
• Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health
• 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 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.

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The Bureau of Mental Health’s mission is to improve mental health and wellness for people in New York City, and to eliminate racial and other long-standing societal disparities by providing services, resources, and opportunities to providers that are grounded in accurate, data driven information that fosters community participation, thus reducing the stigma around mental health. This includes procuring and monitoring more than 500 contracted programs that provide mental health treatment, psychiatric rehabilitation, supportive housing, care coordination and advocacy services and operating court-mandated Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), Single Point of Access (SPOA) for mobile treatment and care coordination and NYC Supportive Treatment and Recovery Team (NYCSTART) for people with first episode psychosis.

Duties will include but not be limited to the following:

• Manage oversight of programs in assigned portfolio and provide coverage as needed.
• Conduct ongoing site visits to assess and review the quality of program services and provide technical assistance. This includes observation and assessment in person, by telephone and in writing of a program’s quality, effectiveness, and outcomes to inform both policy and programmatic decisions.
• Address and respond to questions, concerns and complaints from agencies, programs, consumers, and the public.
• Review and discuss programmatic audits and fiscal issues as necessary.
• Refer, provide and/or coordinate meetings and trainings to address program needs.
• Review and negotiate program budget for optimal program performance.
• Develop, evaluate, and revise scopes of service for programs to ensure alignment with Bureau expectations and goals including recovery-orientation, competency in serving individuals with co-occurring disorders, and alignment with relevant State and Federal standards and statutes.
• Assist in the negotiation of contracts or MOUs between the Department, public and voluntary agencies.
• Act as liaison to government and interagency committees and represent DOHMH professionally at meetings, conferences, and workgroups.
• Draft reports and correspondence on behalf of the Office and assist with the preparation of reports on agency functioning and service delivery as requested.
• Undertake and /or participate in special projects to evaluate and improve the quality of services, operations and needs of the public.
• Develop and implement surveys, questionnaires, or other surveillance methods, identify potential data sources, and analyze new and existing data sets to inform program planning and evaluation activities.
• Conduct proposal review and evaluation.
  
  

**IMPORTANT NOTES TO ALL CANDIDATES**

Please note: If you are called for an interview, you will be required to bring to your interview copies of original documentation, such as:

• A document that establishes identity for employment eligibility, such as: A Valid U.S. Passport, Permanent Resident Card/Green Card, or Driver’s license.
• Proof of Education according to the education requirements of the civil service title.
• Current Resume
• Proof of Address/NYC Residency dated within the last 60 days, such as: Recent Utility Bill (i.e., telephone, Cable, Mobile Phone)
  
  

Additional documentation may be required to evaluate your qualification as outlined in this posting’s “Minimum Qualification Requirements” section. Examples of additional documentation may be, but not limited to college transcript, experience verification or professional trade licenses.

If after your interview you are the selected candidate, you will be contacted to schedule an on-boarding appointment. By the time of this appointment, you will be asked to produce the originals of the above documents along with your original Social Security card.

"FINAL APPOINTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET APPROVAL”

Minimum Qualifications

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, and either:

• A Master's degree in Social Work from an accredited college or university in the school of social work, or 60 graduate semester credits from an accredited university in social work, psychology, health, rehabilitation, public health, psychiatric nursing or special education; plus one year of full-time, satisfactory experience providing direct care in a social, psychiatric, health, mental retardation/developmental disabilities or substance abuse/chemical dependency/alcoholism agency or in the administration of a
  
  

program providing direct care as described above, or as a consultant on program planning or evaluation for such services; or

• A Master's degree of at least 30 graduate semester credits from an accredited university in psychology, sociology, anthropology, public health, special education,
  
  

psychiatric nursing, counseling, human services, health, rehabilitation, public administration, or business administration; plus two years of experience as described in "1" above; or

• A satisfactory combination of education and/or experience. Candidates without either a Master's degree as described in "1" or "2" above or at least 60 graduate semester credits in the areas listed in "1" above, must have at least:
• a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and one year of actual experience as described in "1" above; plus
• a satisfactory combination of: (i) graduate semester credits in the areas listed in "1" and "2" above; and/or (ii) additional experience as described in "1" above, to equal 60 graduate semester credits or 2 years of experience. Graduate semester credits from an accredited university may be substituted for the experience in qualification "3 b)" only, on the basis of 30 graduate semester credits for each year of experience. Experience may be substituted for graduate semester credits in qualification "3 b)" only, on the basis of one year of experience for each 30 graduate semester credits.
  
  

NOTE: For assignment to Assignment Level II, in addition to meeting the above qualification requirements, all candidates must have one additional year of experience as described in "1" above.

Preferred Skills

• Possess exceptional written and verbal communication skills, strong analytical and problem- solving skills and the ability to manage competing priorities and track progress to adhere to set timelines. - Have experience as a provider of services to homeless or formerly homeless person and persons with a serious mental illness and/or a substance use disorder. - Have experience working with young adults who have had episodes of homelessness. - Have strong computer and data management skills, including software such as Microsoft Excel and Word and PowerPoint.
  
  

55a Program

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.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

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/.

Residency Requirement

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.

Additional Information

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.