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Review Vacancy

Date Posted 01/10/20

Applications Due01/27/20

Vacancy ID77809

AgencyPeople With Developmental Disabilities, Office for

Title Associate Attorney

Occupational CategoryAdministrative or General Management

Salary Grade28

Bargaining UnitPS&T - Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PEF)

Salary RangeFrom $95136 to $116844 Annually

Employment Type Full-Time

Appointment Type Permanent

Jurisdictional Class Competitive Class

Travel Percentage 0%

Workweek Mon-Fri

Hours Per Week 37.5

Workday

From 9 AM

To 5 PM

Flextime allowed? No

Mandatory overtime? No

Compressed workweek allowed? No

Telecommuting allowed? No

County Albany

Street Address OPWDD Central Office

44 Holland Avenue

City Albany

StateNY

Zip Code12229

Minimum Qualifications MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Candidates must be reachable for appointment on Current Civil Service Eligible List for this title.

OR

Candidates must have permanent competitive status in the posted title and be eligible for lateral transfer; OR be eligible to transfer via Section 70.1, 70.4, or 52.6 of Civil Service Law. The transfer cannot be a second consecutive transfer resulting in an advancement of more than two salary grades.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Strong analytic and writing skills, and the ability to read, comprehend and analyze complex, detailed and technical statutes and regulations, along with the ability to draft all kinds of legal documents. Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to work with top and middle management. Ability to supervise and direct other attorneys. Knowledge of administrative law, health or disabilities law is preferred but not required.

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Duties Description POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The Office of Counsel provides legal guidance and services to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) service network on the myriad of issues arising from the delivery of supports and services to individuals with developmental disabilities. This position will report to the Deputy Counsel for Policy and Regulatory Affairs. The Bureau of Policy and Regulatory Affairs oversees the preparation of the agency’s legislative agenda, regulations, Administrative Directive Memoranda (ADMS), and policies and is responsible for the development of OPWDD regulations in accordance with the requirements of the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA). The Bureau also supervises agency compliance with agency confidentiality requirements, ethics, Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, HIPAA privacy and legal issues related to records management, and supervises the agency’s administrative adjudication function.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

As an Associate Attorney, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

• Act as OPWDD’s HIPAA Privacy Officer, promoting a culture of respect for the privacy of the individuals OPWDD serves, and HIPAA compliance in alignment with the mission of OPWDD;
• Develop, manage and implement processes to ensure OPWDD’s compliance with applicable federal and state HIPAA regulations, Mental Hygiene Law (MHL) statutes and guidelines, particularly OPWDD’s access to and use of protected health information (PHI);
• Develops, in conjunction with OPWDD Administrative training units, training on privacy requirements and procedures for all OPWDD employees;
• Evaluates OPWDD’s existing policies and procedures for HIPAA compliance;
• Performs HIPAA risk assessments to identify threats and gaps in policy/procedures;
• Identifies how OPWDD creates, receives, maintains and transmits PHI;
• Maintains and updates policies, training records and procedures related to PHI access and use; ensuring strict adherence by all staff with access to PHI:
• Assist in review of requests under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and Personal Privacy Protection Law (clinical records requests) as they relate to privacy rules;
• Reviews various documents to ensure agency compliance with applicable requirements pursuant to Federal and State statutes, including but not limited to the MHL;
• Drafts, updates and monitors all Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to ensure maintenance of privacy requirement and responsibilities;
• Research and advise on matters related to agency support operations such as internal controls and policies, HIPAA, privacy, Office of Counsel records management, and ethics;
• Performs Counsel’s office records management and record retention matters, including methods and procedures used to store and transmit PHI;
• Meet, on a regular basis, with OPWDD HIM staff, located at DDSOO locations, to review, update and discuss Privacy policies under HIPAA and MHL, develops standard operating practices for these staff;
• Oversees the Clinical Records Access Review Committee as described in MHL and OPWDD regulations;
• Serves as the internal subject matter expert on HIPAA;
• Establish protocols to track access to PHI for audit purposes;
• Implement a process for receiving, documenting, tracking, investigating and acting on all breaches of PHI, including the annual reporting requirement;
• Attend and advise the OPWDD EHR committee and assist in the development of a user policy;
• Attend and advise the OPWDD SHIN-NY committee and statewide meetings, assist in development of identified policy and security tasks;
• Research and advise on issues related to administrative proceedings, review hearing records, and draft proposed decisions;
• Assist in the review of administrative hearing decisions and adjudicative functions;
• Assist in the development of internal policy; procedures and agency policy manual; and
• Other tasks as assigned.

Additional Comments Please note:
• Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume/cover letter.
• In order to be eligible for appointment and to maintain employment, you cannot be listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of the Federal and/or State Medicaid and Medicare exclusion lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program). If you are appointed and subsequently listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of these lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program), you may be terminated from your employment.
• OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Some positions may require additional credentials or a background check to verify your identity.

Name Danielle Schittino

Telephone 518-473-4785

Fax 518-474-9902

Email Address opwdd.sm.COrecruitment@opwdd.ny.gov

Address

Street OPWDD, Human Resources

44 Holland Avenue

City Albany

State NY

Zip Code 12229

 

Notes on ApplyingNOTE: Pending Division of Budget approval to fill.

Submit cover letter and résumé by January 27, 2020. Please reference the above EOA #2020-16 in all correspondence.

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