Benefits Counselor

Company Overview:
Health disparities among New Yorkers are large, persistent and increasing. Public Health Solutions (PHS) exists to change that trajectory and support vulnerable New York City families in achieving optimal health and building pathways to reach their potential. As the largest public health nonprofit serving New York City, we improve health outcomes and help communities thrive by providing services directly to vulnerable low-income families, supporting community based organizations through our long-standing public-private partnerships, and bridging the gap between healthcare and community services. We focus on a wide range of public health issues including food and nutrition, health insurance, maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco control, and HIV/AIDS. To learn more about our work, please visit healthsolutions.org.
Program Description:
PHS’ Community Health and Nutrition Access Program helps New York residents obtain free or low-cost health insurance coverage, apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as Food Stamps), and through our WIC program, provides nutrition education sessions led by WIC nutritionists on healthy eating and physical activity, breastfeeding support, and eWIC cards to purchase nutritious foods.
Our staff members are culturally and linguistically competent and identify with the communities they serve. They help clients navigate through what can be a complicated and confusing application process, step by step. Each year, we help over 22,000 people apply for or renew free or low-cost health insurance coverage, 14,000 people to apply for SNAP, and 35,000 eligible pregnant and nursing women and children up to five years of age to enroll in the New York State WIC (Women Infants and Children) Program.
Position Summary:
PHS’ Benefits Counselors help families submit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications to HRA for review and eligibility determination and follow up to ensure the applications are processed accurately. They also provide referrals to a wide range of other services, including legal and financial assistance, WIC, and health insurance assistance. Over the past five years, the program has helped over 17,000 people apply for SNAP benefits. Our program uses a model of co-locating staff at trusted community-based sites where eligible individuals and families already receive services, including Public Health Solutions’ Neighborhood WIC Centers, Center for Health Equity’s Neighborhood Health Action Center, and NYC Health + Hospitals.
Specifically the Benefits Counselor will:

• Support individuals and families in meeting their food security goal.
• Provide SNAP enrollment assistance, advocacy and follow-up assistance for applicants as needed.
• Use referral platforms to assess and refer clients to relevant food and nutrition services.
• Conduct weekly outreach in her/his respective area as determined and approved by supervisor.
• Travel within NYC may be required to do cover different sites and events.
• Participate in regular debriefing to help the team evaluate referrals and information sharing through the referral platform.
• Provide information to participants in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate to the needs of the population.
• Work with the Program Manager and the outreach and engagement team to help develop, implement, and assess a tailored outreach plan at the hospitals and in the community.
• Attend all required trainings and maintain current knowledge of information relevant to the project.
• Assist the project team with other tasks and activities as needed.
• Assist the Director and supervisor on special projects as needed.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Associates degree.
• 1 year experience with customer service preferred.
• Ability to thrive in a work environment that is goal-oriented, respectful, focused, but is yet fun and dedicated to achieving work-life balance.
• Dedicated to helping improve the lives of disenfranchised and marginalized communities.
• Excellent team player with the ability to be flexible, work collaboratively both internally and externally, and engage in consensus-based decision making.
• Ability to embrace diversity.
• Possess good people and cultural competency skills.
• Be very organized; detail-oriented and able to work independently.
• Ability for excellent communication (listening, written, oral, and public speaking).
• Fluent in standard computer operation with good data entry skills.
• Bilingual in Arabic and/or Spanish is required.
• Meet all requirements for volunteering at NYC Health + Hospitals, including health, immunization, training and security requirements.

PHS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, and veterans.

NOTE: All applicants must comply with PHS’ vaccination policy. Effective October 1, 2021, employees will be required to provide verification that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (with an FDA-authorized vaccine).

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: Multiple Locations