Community Specialist for Capacity Building, Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is a world-renowned agency with a long tradition of protecting and promoting health in the nation’s most culturally and linguistically diverse city. Our 7,000-plus team members bring an extraordinary array of languages, cultures, and experiences to bear on the work of public health. The Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness (CHECW) seeks to eliminate racial and other inequities resulting in premature mortality. With an unwavering grounding in history and structural analysis, CHECW works to increase visibility of the harm perpetuated by centuries of racist, socially unjust policy while pushing towards redress for the most affected NYC communities. CHECW addresses inequity across community and health-care systems in partnership with community, faith-based, and health-care organizations. CHECW’s work focuses on the social determinants of health, including environmental and commercial determinants, and addresses both upstream and downstream factors to improve the health and well-being of New Yorkers.

CHECW employs anti-racism approaches to reduce and minimize unfair exposure to risk and to advance health justice and social change. DOHMH’s Citywide Doula Initiative (CDI) aims to reduce inequities in birth outcomes in New York City by providing doula services in neighborhoods that face elevated social and health burdens, as a result of decades of structural racism and disinvestment. The work of the CDI falls into three broad categories: providing no-cost, professional doula support to eligible residents of specified neighborhoods; building and strengthening the city’s doula workforce through training, apprenticeships, and continuing education; and partnering with hospitals to increase doula-friendly policies and practices, and increases provider referrals to doula services. Services are provided both directly and through contracts with community doula programs. The initiative also seeks input from community stakeholders through a Community Advisory Board and promotes system-level change through the New York Coalition for Doula Access.

Duties

Coordinate and support the work of the Citywide Doula Initiative (CDI), especially as it relates to capacity building within the community doula programs that provide services through the initiative ( CDI vendors).

Coordinate communications with the Doula Capacity Coordinator and community doulas from each CDI vendor, fielding questions and facilitating the provision of technical support as needed.
Respond to community member inquiries on doula trainings; respond to inquiries from trained doulas on how to participate in CDI.

Conduct client intakes with community members seeking doula services and assist with enrollment and matching to community doulas in CDI.

Make recommendations for improving CDI policies and procedures, based on vendor and community feedback.

Schedule CDI Model trainings, and other required professional development trainings for all CDI community doulas; track attendance and provide to CDI vendors.

Schedule and organize monthly learning collaborative meetings with the Doula Capacity Coordinators from CDI vendors; record and disseminate minutes as needed.

Other duties as assigned.

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.