HHS Healthy Start Evaluation Fellowship

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

HHS Office and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) located in Rockville, Maryland or may be remote.

The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.

Research Project: MCHB) Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Systems (DHSPS). The ORISE fellow will participate in the DHSPS Data, Analysis, and Evaluation Branch to provide technical guidance on the analysis of program and evaluation data for the Healthy Start program (https://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs-impact/healthy-start). The Healthy Start Program (HS) provides community funding to improve maternal and child health outcomes and reduce racial/ethnic differences in these outcomes. Since it was established in 1991, the program has evolved to include lessons learned from emerging research and past evaluations. The appointment will provide the ORISE Fellow with opportunities to observe, learn from, and apply new analytic and methodological approaches within the parameters of programmatic and policy decision making processes. Under the guidance of a mentor, the appointment activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Collaborating with the HS Evaluation Team to implement program evaluation efforts including assisting with the design, planning, implementation, analysis, reporting, and results dissemination of program evaluations and other evidence-building activities;
• Supporting the design, collection, analysis, synthesis, and reporting of HS program and evaluation data, including grantee performance measures;
• Supporting the planning and implementation of HS evaluation efforts such as grantee case studies and enhanced data collection protocols;
• Planning and implementing qualitative analysis of grantee progress reports;
• Planning and implementing review and synthesis of local grantee evaluation efforts;
• Supporting efforts to translate evaluation findings into data visualization products and communication materials, such as grantee data profiles, to inform program and funding decisions and enable dissemination of information for internal and external audiences.
• Supporting the development of manuscripts and reports describing HS program, policy, data and evaluation efforts, outcomes, best practices, and lessons learned.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain first-hand exposure to and understanding of the national Healthy Start program and the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
• Increase knowledge and skills in evaluation, research, analysis, synthesis, and reporting of performance measurement and/or evaluation data for HS.
• Gain experience and skills in methods to visualize data in ways that resonate with intended users.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to support evaluation goals and objectives.
• Refine data processing and analysis skills utilizing qualitative and quantitative analytic software and methods.
• Refine and expand written and oral communicative skills and competencies.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Ada Determan ([email protected]). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of HHS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and HHS. Participants do not become employees of HHS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to comply with Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) requirements of the hosting facility, including but not limited to, COVID-19 requirements (e.g. facial covering, physical distancing, testing, vaccination).

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email [email protected] and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. public health with a focus on evaluation, social science, epidemiology/data, or a related field), or be currently pursuing one of the degrees with completion before August 15, 2024. Degree must have been received within the past five years. Current PhD/DrPh or post-doctoral students who have completed a graduate degree are eligible.

Preferred Skills:

• Public health experience, ideally in maternal and child health
• Program evaluation design and implementation
• Strong interest in gaining additional evaluation design, data management, performance monitoring, and analytic skills
• Quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills (SAS, SPSS, STATA, R, nVivo, or Atlas.TI)
• Ability to perform independent tasks and collaborate collectively with a team to achieve project goals
• Strong oral and written communication skills and experience with writing and editing of documents
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point