Health Program Assistant

The City of Danbury is announcing an Open Competitive Exam for the position of

Health Program Assistant Statement of Duties:

The employee provides bilingual/trilingual customer service, public health education, and administrative support to the Health and Human Services Department, including but not limited to clerical tasks such as data entry, timekeeping, processing inquiries, coordinating purchase orders, and assisting staff. The employee also supports the development and delivery of community health education initiatives, outreach activities, and health promotion programming targeting Danbury residents, with emphasis on populations with limited English proficiency. Responsibilities also include performing related duties as required.

Supervision Required:

The employee works under general supervision, receiving guidance from either the Associate Director of Community Health or Director of Health and Human Services. While familiar with routine procedures, the employee exercises substantial independence in planning, organizing, and carrying out assignments, using initiative and determining appropriate work methods. Supervisory input is provided for new or complex tasks, and work is reviewed periodically for technical accuracy, policy compliance, and overall progress.

Supervisory Responsibility :

The employee is not regularly required to supervise other employees. Work operations are subject to frequent, abrupt and unexpected changes in deadlines, volume of work, sudden emergencies due to uncontrollable circumstances.

Confidentiality:

The employee has regular access at the departmental level to a wide variety of confidential information, including personnel records, medical records, client records, criminal investigations, court records, and financial records.

Accountability:

Consequences of errors or poor judgment may include missed deadlines, adverse public relations, jeopardize programs, danger to public safety, legal repercussions, and/or monetary loss.

Judgement:

The work requires examining, analyzing and evaluating facts and circumstances surrounding individual problems, situations or transactions, and determining actions to be taken within the limits of standard or accepted practices.

Complexity:

The work consists of the practical application of a variety of concepts, practices and specialized techniques relating to a professional or technical field, including public health principles, health literacy strategies, and community education methods.

Work Environment:

The work environment includes work in a municipal office setting subject to frequent interruptions, as well as community-based settings when conducting outreach or health education activities. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.

Work Schedule:

Work scheduled overtime and be available for emergency overtime when the need arises by responding to overtime call outs before and after standard scheduled hours of work. Work a temporary, alternative schedule or shift as requested by the supervisor due to emergency situations in the community. Some evening or weekend hours may be required to support community health education events and outreach programs.

Nature and Purpose of Relationships:

Relationships are primarily with co-workers and the public involving frequent explanation, discussion or interpretation of practices, procedures, regulations or guidelines in order to render service, plan or coordinate work efforts, or resolve operating problems. Other regular contacts are with service recipients, community organizations, schools, faith-based institutions, and employees of outside organizations. The employee serves as a frontline liaison for public health education, requiring extraordinary courtesy, tact and diplomacy, particularly when addressing health misinformation or working with underserved and limited English proficiency populations.

Occupational Risk:

Duties generally do not present occupational risk to the employee.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. Provides bilingual/trilingual customer service in English and Portuguese and/or Spanish to the general public via phone, mail, email, and in-person interactions, addressing inquiries related to department services, procedures, and public health topics. Receives and directs callers appropriately and facilitates effective communication between residents with Limited English Proficiency and department staff through consecutive, first-person interpretation. Develops, translates, and disseminates culturally and linguistically appropriate public health education materials in English and Portuguese and/or Spanish, including flyers, brochures, facts sheets, and social media content, to promote awareness of public health related topics. Plans, coordinates, and participates in community health education events, health fairs, and outreach activities, including scheduling, logistics, material preparation, and on-site staffing, to increase access to health information and department services among underserved populations. Assists in delivering health education presentations and workshops to community groups, schools, faith organizations, and social service agencies, translating complex public health concepts into accessible, plain-language content appropriate for diverse audiences. Supports the implementation of public health awareness campaigns by tracking outreach metrics, compiling participation data, and preparing summary reports to evaluate program reach and effectiveness. Collaborates with community partners, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare providers to coordinate health education referrals and ensure residents are connected to appropriate services and resources. Performs a wide range of clerical and administrative support tasks, including data entry, filing, copying, handling multi-line phone systems, processing mail, managing records, and preparing reports and correspondence. Maintains complex and confidential files and enters client-level data related to housing and services for homeless individuals and families. Supports field staff in scheduling appointments and processing license applications; administers licensing and permit functions, collects related fees, and prepares deposits. Ensures compliance with standards, prepares routine operational reports, and posts legal and health-related information. Provides coverage for Clerk Typist I as needed and assists with proofreading department documents, correcting grammar and usage. Coordinates calls for service on office equipment and appliances. Prepares and processes expenditure reports, requisitions, and purchase orders in accordance with established procedures. Communicates with vendors to obtain quotes, confirm order accuracy, and resolve shipment issues. Maintains purchasing documents and vendor records. Manages conference room reservations. Supports grant applications and programs, including grants related to public health education and community outreach initiatives. Assesses and produces eviction-related notices regarding goods storage and auction. Travels between department locations to deliver correspondence. Manages all aspects of environmental health licensures, including receipt and review of applications, approval and payment processing, providing technical assistance to applicants, and mailing licenses. Assists with the writing of notices of violation and supports the processing, maintenance, tracking, and execution of tasks related to Environmental Bonds. Performs related responsibilities as required.

Required Minimum Qualifications:

Education and Experience:

Must have a High School diploma, or equivalent and three to five (3-5) years of experience in customer service, clerical work, or community health education and outreach. Bachelor's degree in public health preferred.

Special Requirements:

Must obtain Notary Public certification within 6 months of employment.

Language Requirement:

Must be able to write grammatically correct routine business correspondence such as email, memoranda and responses to routine requests for information in both English and Spanish and/or Portuguese. Must be able to speak and write in Spanish and/or Portuguese fluently, defined as the ability to provide consecutive meaning for meaning, first-person interpretation. Bilingual proficiency is essential for the delivery of health education materials and community outreach to residents with Limited English Proficiency.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Demonstrated proficiency with modern office equipment and computer software, including word processing, database management, spreadsheet applications, scheduling/accounting tools, and personnel/licensing systems—as well as the internet and email to support departmental operations. Familiarity with public health principles, health literacy best practices, and culturally competent communication strategies is strongly preferred. Strong knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures relevant to Health and Human Services. Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-intensity office with frequent interruptions; to multitask, plan, and prioritize assignments independently; and to maintain confidentiality while managing sensitive inquiries. Demonstrates initiative, personal accountability, and sound judgment in responding to the public. Ability to engage diverse community members with empathy and cultural sensitivity in health education contexts. High level of organizational skill and attention to detail, with proficient written and oral communication abilities. Skilled in customer service, conflict resolution, time management, business mathematics, and collaborative teamwork. Experience creating or adapting health education content for low-literacy or non-English-speaking audiences is a plus.

Physical and Mental Requirements :

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position's essential functions.

Physical Skills:

Some physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. Community outreach activities may require standing for extended periods and transporting health education materials to off-site locations. The employee is required to frequently lift, push, or pull objects such as office equipment and program supplies.

Motor Skills:

Duties are largely mental rather than physical; duties require the application of basic motor skills in order to perform activities such as moving objects, operating a personal computer and/or most other office equipment, keyboarding, filing or sorting of papers.

Visual Skills:

The employee is required to constantly read documents and computer screens for general understanding and routinely for analytical purposes. The employee is rarely required to determine colors.

Application Submission :

Applications must be submitted online at www.danbury-ct.gov/employment . Qualified applicants must submit an application no later than 11:59 pm, Wednesday, May 20 th , 2026.

EEO/M/F/D/V

Important Note:

Paper applications will not be accepted. The application must be completed in its entirety. Omissions, false, misleading, or inaccurate information will result in rejection of the application. It is recommended that applicants not wait until the last day to submit the application. Applications should be completed as soon as possible after publication of the announcement for examination. Please contact the Human Resources/Civil Service Department at (203) 797-4598 or humanresources@danbury-ct.gov if you need assistance or if you have any general questions. 1. Application Review The Civil Service Commission is responsible for reviewing the applications to determine if they are complete and meet the minimum requirements for the position. The Commission will review all the applications for the position during their bi-weekly meetings following the closing date of the position. If an application is accepted by the Civil Service Commission, then the applicant will be notified in writing and will be informed of the next step in the process. If the Commission does not accept an application, the applicant will also be notified in writing. 2. Testing Once an application is accepted by the Civil Service Commission, the applicant will be notified in writing of the next steps in the testing process. Each test phase must be passed in order to continue to the next level of the selection process. The examination for this position will consist of the following parts:

PARTS WEIGHT ORAL EXAM 100

% It is the applicant's responsibility to adhere to the City's testing schedule . Unless otherwise stated, there will be no make-up examinations or alternative examination dates. If an applicant fails the test, the applicant will be immediately eliminated from consideration for this hiring process.

Oral Test Date:

•week of June 15 th , 2026

Test Time:

To be

Determined Test Location:

To be Determined •Exam date may be subject to change Unless otherwise notified, applicants are not permitted to bring and/or use calculators, electronic devices, books or other reference materials during the examinations). Reasonable Accommodations in the testing process: All requests for reasonable accommodations in the testing process along with medical documentation establishing the need for the accommodation must be submitted to the City of Danbury Human Resources Department no later than the closing date of applications. 3. The Eligibility List A passing average score of "70" on the above test will place an applicant on the Eligibility List in rank order. The rank on this list is established according to the scores on the exam(s) indicated above plus any additional applicable seniority points awarded. The resulting list is then certified by the Civil Service Commission and will be used to fill vacancies as they occur, as per Civil Service Rules. If the list is not exhausted, it remains in effect for one year. However, the Commission can decide to extend an eligibility list for one additional year. Participation in the testing and recruitment process and/or placement on an eligibility list does not guarantee a continuance in the remainder of the hiring process nor does it imply or constitute an offer of employment. 4. Additional Testing Requirements Once the eligibility list is certified, depending on the number of vacancies, candidates with the highest ranking on the list will be interviewed by a panel of City Officials. As future positions become available, applicants are interviewed from this list based on their ranking for as long as the list is active.