WIC Nutritionist - Community of HOPE
Washington, DC 20032
About the Job
- We care for families by providing direct services with a focus on prevention, healing, and wellness.
- We improve lives by building on families’ strengths, honoring their choices, and taking a whole-family, multi-generational approach.
- We lead and advocate for system change to address the effects of historical and current racial inequities on health outcomes and housing opportunities.
- We embrace the diversity of our community, welcome all voices and perspectives, and treat everyone with respect, compassion, and integrity.
- We strive for excellence in all that we do, implement evidence-based practices, measure our outcomes, and use this knowledge to continuously strengthen our work.
The WIC Nutritionist is accountable directly to the WIC Program Director. This position provides important nutrition education, breastfeeding support, to families to support prenatal, postpartum, infant and childhood health. The role will be responsible for the certification, nutrition education and health components of the WIC Program, working as needed at multiple permanent sites depending on scheduling needs. This is a full-time position based out of our Conway Health and Resource Center, with an option to work one day a week remotely.
- Assess nutritional and/or health risks, including an assessment of eating patterns, breastfeeding goals, economic and cultural background, food preferences, medical history, laboratory values, and other pertinent data. Determines and prioritizes the nutritional risks of clients based on established priority factors
- Delivers one-on-one nutrition counseling and support to a minimum of 10 patients per day, either in person or via telehealth.
- At least 80% of time allocated to the provision of direct nutrition and breastfeeding promotion and support services and no more than 20% dedicated to administrative duties.
- Implements the nutrition and breastfeeding promotion and support services component of the local agency plan.
- Prescribes a food package to address the individual client's medical and nutritional needs, taking into consideration food preferences and cultural background, as well as the availability of refrigeration and cooking facilities
- Develops high-risk nutritional care plans for designated individuals and provides individual follow-up counseling as required to assure that the health and nutritional needs of the clients are adequately addressed
- Provides education and counseling in individual and group settings to women or caretakers concerning breastfeeding goals, nutritional needs of women and children, and preventive health, including substance abuse education and referrals
- Coordinates nutritional care with other members of the health care team to assure comprehensive medical and social services for clients, including referrals for related services, such as substance abuse intervention, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid/DC Healthy Families benefits and child protection as required
- Assists in the implementation, and evaluation of nutrition education programs to meet the needs of the WIC community, taking into consideration cultural and ethnic needs, including the selection of appropriate materials, formats, and scheduling of sessions
- Keeps abreast of current research findings in maternal and child health and nutrition in order to ensure that appropriate intervention strategies are provided to participants
- Assures that nutrition education and counseling services are documented as appropriate and that anthropometrical and hematological data are appropriately recorded.
- Identifies gaps in services to address social determinants of health based on outcomes and patient feedback. Assists in developing plans, community resources, and other partnerships to meet identified needs, particularly around food insecurity.
- Assures proper certification of eligible applicants.
- Maintains target productivity standards.
- Serves as a liaison to external partners in the food and nutrition space and works to promote partnerships that enhance access to healthy, affordable foods and culturally competent education, including cooking courses and grocery store tours.
- Uses population health data to target outreach to specific patients/sub-populations that could benefit from nutrition-based interventions.
- Contributes accurate and timely data to support program reporting and quality improvement.
- B.S. in clinical nutrition, nutrition science, dietetics or nutrition-related field required. Masters degree preferred
- Registered Dietitian (RD)– eligible with the Commission on Dietetic Registration Licensure in the District of Columbia (LD, LN) or licensed in another state with proof of application for licensure in the District of Columbia preferred. Candidate must achieve an active license in the District of Columbia before the start date
- This position may also be filled by a Licensed Physician (MD, DO) or Registered Nurse (RN).
- Experience providing culturally competent, patient-centered education in a low-income setting is highly required.
- Ability to multi-task and problem-solve required.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, team-based setting required.
- Ability to work flexible hours (i.e. evenings, weekends) to provide increased access to patients required.
- Ability to travel to other sites for the purposes of training, meetings, and providing cross-coverage required.
- Experience in community health center setting preferred.
- All Health Staff must receive the required vaccinations. This includes annual flu and COVID vaccines. Medical or religious exemptions may be requested.
At COH, we understand the toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on the workforce, which is why we prioritize the following well-being and work-life balance-centered benefits:
- Remote work opportunities are available for many of our roles, promoting a culture of work-life balance.
- 8-hour workdays, which include a paid lunch
- 11.5 paid company holidays, 1 personal floating holiday, 15 days of paid vacation (increases to 20 after 3 years of service), and 12 days of paid sick leave on an annual basis
- Annual performance-based raises, up to 5% of your annual pay
- National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and DC Health Professional Loan Repayment Program (DCHPLRP) participants
- Tuition reimbursement, loan repayment for clinicians, licensing reimbursement, and continuing education unit funds for licensed staff
- Many opportunities for internal promotions and transfers across the agency as we continue to grow; we average 30+ promotions each year
- Ongoing internal leadership training for supervisors
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion training and initiatives for all staff
- Ongoing well-being activities, culture compact activities, and trauma-informed care initiatives
- Medical/Dental/Vision Plans through CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield
- Life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance
- 403(b) Retirement Plan
- Flexible Spending Accounts for medical and dependent care reimbursable expenses
- And much more!
About Us:
To request a reasonable accommodation to complete an employment application or for general questions about employment with Community of Hope, contact a Recruiting Coordinator. Email: hr@cohdc.org Phone: 202-407-7747. Community of Hope is an equal-opportunity employer.
About Community of HOPE:
Community of Hope is a mission-driven, innovative, and rapidly growing nonprofit. For nearly 40 years, we have provided healthcare, housing, and supportive services for low-income, underserved, and homeless people in Washington DC. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, we provide medical, dental, behavioral health, and care coordination services for the whole family at three locations in DC. Community of Hope also has a strong emphasis on maternal and child health, with a midwifery practice and the only free-standing birth center in DC. In 2020, Community of Hope provided about 28,400 medical visits, 7,000 dental visits, and 10,000 behavioral health visits for about 11,000 patients. Community of Hope is also providing community walk-in COVID testing and COVID vaccines. Community of Hope is also one of the largest providers in DC of housing and support services for families experiencing homelessness. Through providing these programs, we live out our mission to improve health and end family homelessness to make Washington, DC more equitable.