Assessment and Planning Specialist

State of Colorado•Denver, CO

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The mission of the Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships (OPHP) is to collaborate and partner across the public health system to maintain and further strengthen statewide infrastructure and capacity. The Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships exists to build capacity and improve performance of state and local public health agencies. Office staff members work across the department and with local public health agencies, boards and organizations to foster collaboration and leverage resources to: Lead Colorado's assessment and planning system for state and local public health. Develop infrastructure to ensure all counties provide the core public health services and local public health directors meet the defined minimum qualifications. Distribute funds to local public health and monitor contracts. Provide technical assistance to state and local public health agencies for training, assessment and planning, public health practice, performance improvement, workforce development, Serve as a liaison and contact for all local public health agencies and provide connections to a variety of CDPHE programs and resources. Connect with national organizations and governmental public health agencies in other states. Increase public health practice competency through the utilization and dissemination of evidence-based best practices using a variety of delivery mechanisms including synchronic and asynchronous training, tools, and resources. Represent the department in professional public health organizations. Support the development of the public health workforce through training, capacity building, funding, and partnerships. This position assists with implementing Colorado's Public Health Improvement Plan which is required in Colorado statute. This position provides technical assistance and training for Local Public Health Agencies per the 2008 Public Health Act. The 2008 Act requires a coordinated system of state and local public health planning on a 5-year cycle. This is also in line with the national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), which has the same cyclical requirements with emphasis on stakeholder engagement and partnerships between state and local public health. This position provides coordination, support and technical assistance for state and local community health assessment and improvement planning in accordance with best practices and national standards. This includes the continuous process of state and local community capacity assessment, prioritization, improvement planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation in accordance with statute and national accreditation standards. Having a point person for related guidance and technical assistance at OPHP has been cited by local public health agencies (LPHAs) as integral to their success in this process. It also helps bolster capacity for the core public health service of assessment, planning and communication and accreditation readiness among LPHAs in Colorado. Additionally, this position ensures that CDPHE's statewide public health improvement plan (as required for accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board) is aligned with the strategies and recommendations in local improvement plans. In order to achieve this, this position identifies and analyzes strategies and issues in local health assessments and public health improvement plans, and makes recommendations to CDPHE public health and environmental programs to address gaps and areas for needed alignment. This position increases accreditation readiness among LPHAs in Colorado because community health assessments, public health improvement plans, strategic plans and quality improvement activities are required for national public health accreditation. Increased accreditation readiness ensures stronger, higher quality provision of public health services. This position also works within the training team to develop and ensure a robust and appropriate training suite is available either by leveraging existing training or creating new training where needed. The target audiences are early career professionals that either have formal public health education or are transitioning from another sector; emerging leaders; new executive directors, and public health adjacent stakeholders such as local boards of health and county commissioners. This support and training provides a solid, common foundation for public health response. The position works with department health equity staff to ensure training materials are accessible to all and incorporate health equity principles. This position is the main preceptor point of contact for OPHP and will coordinate all steps with CDPHE Human Resources. This position will supervise incoming interns, AmeriCorps members, and will assign and monitor progress of all students within OPHP. The FTE and length of positions will vary each year.

Requirements

Seven (7) years of relevant experience in public health planning and evaluation including providing technical assistance to diverse partners and communities. Technical assistance includes providing training, consultation, resource development, and quality assurance checks to partners.
A combination of related education in public health or closely-related field and/or relevant experience in public health planning and evaluation including providing technical assistance to diverse partners and communities. Technical assistance includes providing training, consultation, resource development, and quality assurance checks to partners. equal to seven (7) years

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated proficiency working collaboratively with internal and external teams, technical and community partners, diverse public stakeholders, and medical providers.
Proven experience building and maintaining strong relationships with diverse partners, including schools and education entities.
Experience using communication strategies and tactics to disseminate information to partners.
Outstanding verbal and written communication, ability to adapt communication to fit intended audience that may have varying technical skills, various levels within an organization, and in groups and individual settings.
Working knowledge of Public Health Accreditation Board requirements
Experience assisting local public health agencies in aligning their work with state-level messages or priorities.
Experience selecting evidence-based public health strategies and implementing those strategies with fidelity.

Responsibilities

Staff Authority - Assessment, Planning and Implementation of Colorado's Statewide Public Health Improvement Plan through the Colorado Public Health Assessment and Planning System (CHAPS)
CHAPS Management and Technical Assistance
Monitoring and Evaluation of the Assessment and Planning System
Public Health Systems Dashboards and Communication
Project Management Duties

Benefits

Free parking and access to RTD bus lines.
Flexible working arrangements
Retirement ( PERA options), Medical and dental health plans Defined Benefit Plan or the PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus optional 401K and 457 plans
Paid life insurance
Short- and long-term disability coverage
11 paid holidays per year and generous personal time off
Tuition assistance
Wellness programs
Professional development opportunities on a wide variety of subjects
Career advancement opportunities throughout the State system
Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.