Job 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:
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.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Division of Environmental Health works to prevent and control illness and injury related to environmental and occupational health risks through outreach, education, surveillance and enforcement. With staff of 1,000, the Division covers a broad range of subject matter, including oversight of environmental investigations, lead poisoning, injury prevention, occupational health, food safety, child care, radiation control, recreational and drinking water quality, air quality, climate health, vector control, veterinary public health and pest control. The Bureau of Child Care ensures that child care services in New York City operate in compliance with the New York City Health Code and New York State Social Service regulations and are licensed or permitted as required by law. The Bureau routinely monitors child care programs to protect the health and safety of children while in the child care environment, and actively works to improve and expand access to high quality programs which early childhood development and learning. The Bureau seeks to hire an Associate Investigator to respond to allegations of provider activity associated with child care programs that are unsafe, unhealthy or unregulated. The Child Care Investigator will also search for child care providers who are operating illegally, unregulated, and thus more likely to create an environment with health and safety risks to children.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
Investigate allegations of illegal child care operations throughout the five boroughs of New York City.
Conduct intense surveillance in and around commercial and residential buildings of suspected illegal operations.
Interview childcare operators, staff, witnesses, families and children involved in complaints involving allegations of illegal operations.
Collaborate with other investigative agencies such as ACS, DOI, NYPD, FDNY.
Examine and analyze records and files of the child care program to ensure compliance with regulations.
Maintain confidential records and files for all investigations performed;
Must be prepared to produce all required records and evidence to substantiate related legal processes.
Conduct public education and outreach efforts conveying the importance of choosing licensed providers and reporting to the NYC Health Department programs that may be unsafe, unhealthy or operating illegally.
Travel throughout New York City using mass transit or a personal car and carry approximately 15 pounds of inspection equipment.

**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.

**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 StudentAid.gov/PSLF.

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

“This position MAY be eligible for remote work up to two days per week, pursuant to the Remote Work Pilot Program.”

Qualifications

1. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and five years of satisfactory, full-time experience as an investigator evaluating credit worthiness, searching for assets, verifying information concerning education, experience, and other personal qualifications bearing upon character and fitness for employment, or performing investigations involving the research, compilation and/or location of evidence or information in order to build a case or uncover activities of a criminal, corrupt, unlawful or unethical nature; or
2. An associate degree or 60 semester credits from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory, full-time experience as described in "1" above; or
3. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of satisfactory, full-time experience as described in "1" above; or
4. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1", "2", or "3" above.