Child Care Inspector, Bureau Of Childcare

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

2. Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness

3. Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women's health

4. 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 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 support early childhood development and learning. The Bureau of Child Care seeks to hire a Environmental Health Technician to conduct inspections of child care programs throughout New York City and to enforce pertinent law, rules and regulations.

Conduct periodic inspections of childcare programs involving visual inspection of premises, review of documents and records field testing and sample collection;

Prepare reports using a handheld tablet to document inspection findings in a complete, clear, accurate and timely fashion;

Review findings with and instruct operators on regulatory compliance and remedial measures including but not limited to proper food handling, sanitation, vermin control, and other areas of public health;

Issue court summonses and hearing notices, and may close establishments in cases of imminent danger;

Determine site viability related to applications for permits to open a child care program under the NYC Health Code;

Conduct data collection and reporting activities for routine operations and for special studies and surveys;

Attend and testify at administrative hearings as representative of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene;

Travel throughout New York City using mass transit or a personal car and carry approximately 15 pounds of inspection equipment.

Minimum Qualifications

1.An Associate Degree or 60 credits from an accredited college with at least twelve credits in the physical or biological sciences; or

2.High School graduation or its equivalent, plus three (3) years of satisfactory, full-time paid experience conducting environmental health inspections; or

3.Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2". However, all candidates must possess a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Preferred Skills

Strong communication, analytic and observational skills Ability to deduce potential impacts of conditions or assess risk Writing skills including the ability to adequately describe observations in detail Computer skills including the use of mobile computing devices.

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.