JC-466649 – Participant/Local Agency Program Integrity Researcher

Overview

The Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) has been part of the nation’s nutrition safety net for 50 years.

Extensive research has found WIC to be a cost-effective investment that leads to healthier infants, more nutritious diets, health care for children, and subsequently higher academic achievement for students. WIC helps families receive healthy food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to healthcare and other community services.

Like other divisions within the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), WIC builds its program by addressing social determinants of health. WIC impacts the life course by promoting health practices that can ultimately improve life outcomes often experienced by vulnerable communities.

WIC serves babies and children up to age five, pregnant women, and new mothers. Dads, grandparents, foster parents of young children, and working families are welcome at WIC too!

Monthly, nearly one million WIC participants can find support at one of 84 local agencies which offer services at more than 500 sites throughout California. WIC participants can redeem their food benefits at approximately 3,800 grocers who are authorized to serve WIC families.

In 2019 – 2020, the WIC Division implemented an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card called the California WIC Card and a new management information system that allows WIC participants to be served more efficiently.

About the CDPH/WIC Family

Over 200 state staff work at CDPH’s WIC Division, headquartered at the Natomas campus in Sacramento.  WIC is committed to a hybrid workforce and the state provides a modest stipend for those who fully and partially work from home. Staff are provided with a computer or laptop, camera, and large screen to conduct their work. We build our unit teams virtually and maintain contact with stakeholders by being on camera to solidify our relationships.

The WIC Division is led by senior managers administering a Local Policy and Health Programs Branch, Local Services Branch, Vendor Management Branch, Communications, Food, and Vendor Policy Branch, Data and Integrity Branch, WIC Systems Integration Branch, and the Operations team.  Through these branches, support staff, analysts, specialists, researchers, and nutritionists serve the needs of WIC families, supports our program partners, and ensures the California WIC Program is administered appropriately and effectively.

The candidate works under the general direction of the Chief, Data and Integrity Branch, Research Scientist Supervisor II (RSS II). The Research Scientist II (RS II) conducts data analysis and scientific research studies of moderate scientific scope and complexity to investigate, detect, and mitigate fraudulent activity against the WIC program to develop and monitor participant-based high-risk indicators, and apply behavioral modeling and data analytics to protect the fiscal health of WIC. The RS II theorizes and tests various hypotheses to identify suspect WIC participant and staff activity within the WIC program; ensures the WIC certification process conforms to federal guidelines and evaluates fiscal, program, and health outcomes. The RS II develops data tables, figures, written summaries, reports, presentations, and articles for internal and external stakeholders, and may provide expert testimony at administrative hearings.

Minimum Requirements

You will find the Minimum Requirements in the Class Specification.

RESEARCH SCIENTIST II (SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES)
Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate’s relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

Ability to work both independently and in a team environment
Ability to handle “sensitive and confidential issues”
At least two years conducting descriptive and inferential statistics using a software program such as SAS or R
Ability to communicate effectively with staff at various levels, external agencies, and the general public
Developing and updating Tableau data visualization reports
Experience In:

Analyzing and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of program policies
Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting various forms of data and querying large databases
Developing and monitoring performance and outcome measures
Communicating data to non-data colleagues
Social/behavioral quantitative and/or qualitative research methods
Knowledge Of:

Government assistance programs, especially state and federal policies, and regulations as it relates to the WIC program
Data-driven decision-making techniques
Structured Query Language (SQL) and relational databases
Using data to detect outliers and anomalies
How To Apply

Complete Application Packages (including your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) and applicable or required documents) must be submitted to apply for this Job Posting. Application Packages may be submitted electronically through your CalCareer Account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov. When submitting your application in hard copy, a completed copy of the Application Package listing must be included.

https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=466649

At the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the core of our mission to advance the health and well-being of California’s diverse people and communities. We are genuinely and strongly committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness where we can grow and learn together with a diverse team of employees. In recruiting for team members, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring to us and the work we do