Public Health Solutions

“The 990 is prepared jointly by public health solutions' independent auditor based on the information gathered as a result of the year-end audit and information provided by the fiscal department with the assistance of senior managers from relevant departments, where necessary. A complete draft is then reviewed by public health solutions' executive management. The draft is then provided to the audit & compliance committee for their review and approval for presentation to the governing board of directors. It is then distributed to the entire board.”

“Members of the board of directors are required to sign the conflict of interest statement and management maintains a record of all board affiliations. Conflict of interest situations are precluded by the administrative processes in place at public health solutions for entering into contracts and purchasing non-contracted goods and services. All contracting and purchasing is handled by appropriate public health solutions' staff in accordance with corporate policies and procedures that require competition and internal approvals at various levels within the organization. Board approval is not required to enter into a contract or make a purchase.”

“Annually the executive officers' salaries are reviewed by the compensation committee along with the internal and external comparability data. A compensation consultant periodically provides independent expertise to the committee. Based on the compensation committee's recommendations, the board then makes a salary recommendation for its officers. Public health solutions serves a predominantly low-income, immigrant and at-risk population in the new york city area, with programs that address some of the most serious and urgent public health challenges facing the city and the nation: children at risk of developmental disabilities and chronic health problems, such as childhood obesity; women with little or no access to health care, prenatal services, and family planning; families in need of food and nutritional guidance; and people with hiv/aids, as well as those at high risk of becoming infected who need preventive education. In addition to its many service programs, public health solutions advocates for healthcare system change to benefit its clients; provides training and technical assistance to community-based organizations; conducts research on emerging and existing public health challenges; and assists government agencies to allocate public funding through contracts with other nonprofits. To accomplish these goals and challenges, public health solutions requires a workforce consisting of diversified educational and technical backgrounds in the areas of concern addressed by public health solutions. To facilitate the engagement of a large and diversified workforce in its focus areas, public health solutions employs a compensation philosophy that encourages internal fairness of its pay program and external competitiveness in the various market places for which it hires employees. The overall goal of the public health solutions compensation philosophy is to attract high-quality employees at various levels in the organization and to retain these employees with a comprehensive salary and benefits plan that is competitive in the market places for which it competes for employees. An additional goal is to create career longevity by adhering to the philosophy of internal equity, external competitiveness, and performance management. Periodically, public health solutions seeks counsel and advice from a compensation consultant to keep the organization aligned with the goal of internal and external equity. They re-examine job descriptions and perform market job analysis, which informs the pay grade structure of public health solutions. We aim to pay all our employees, including officers and highly compensated employees, within the median of the market(s) in which we compete for talent. Public health solutions plans to continue its pay philosophy for the future and will monitor the marketplace for talent on a regular basis.”

“Public health solutions' financial statements are made available to the public on guidestar. They are also available from the nys attorney general's office. Public health solutions is upgrading its website to enable the viewing of governing documents, conflict of interest policies, and financial statements.”

“Description of the organization's mission or most significant activities: the mission of public health solutions (phs) is to improve the health of the public in new york city and beyond through service delivery, research, capacity-building and policy analysis. One of the largest nonprofits in new york city, phs addresses critical public health needs such as food security and nutrition; women's reproductive health; hiv prevention and care; healthcare access and quality; child development; and tobacco control. A nationally recognized public health institute, phs has a long history of research, program, policy, and infrastructure successes that have resulted in improved health outcomes across a range of public health areas. Its service delivery programs annually serve close to 80,000 low-income and at-risk individuals and families in new york and more than four million school children nationwide. For more than 50 years, phs has led the quest for innovation and progress in community health through direct and contracted services to improve population health, with a focus on disparities in access and outcomes; capacity- and organization-building support for the nonprofit and governmental sectors; and cutting-edge research and evaluation across a range of public health areas.”

“Description of the organization's mission: public health solutions is a leader in the field of public health, merging research and action and focusing on creating innovative and scalable solutions to significant public health problems. As one of new york city's largest nonprofits, phs collaborates with city, state, and federal agencies as well as charitable foundations in the development and implementation of programs, and in the evaluation of programs to ensure effectiveness. Phs also provides technical, fiscal and management assistance to community-based organizations, city government agencies and nonprofit start-ups, enabling them to enhance their effectiveness and efficiently manage funds. The services phs provides to government agencies, nonprofit organizations and others include administrative and fiscal management, contracting, recruitment, grants management, human resources, purchasing, and information technology.”

“Pension liability adjustment -9,147,387.”

“Committee that assumes oversight of the independent accountant and audit: public health solutions' audit & compliance committee assumes the responsibility of the oversight of the independent accountant and the audit, and the review of the 990.”

“Description of other program services: family planning capacity building program: the family planning capacity building program (fpcbp), initiated in february 2014, is a 20-month quality improvement collaborative that aims to improve contraceptive service provision at four non-title x-funded federally qualified health centers (fqhc) in new york city and, in so doing, reduce unintended pregnancies among women seeking primary care at those practices. A set of change ideas and quality measures were developed to drive the adaptation and implementation of best practices for contraceptive care, with targeted efforts around pregnancy intention screening and contraceptive counseling. Participant sites completed a self-assessment, formed project teams, staffed health educator positions, and created improvement plans to serve as step-by-step roadmaps for testing and implementing changes. Public health solutions provides training and technical assistance relevant to contraceptive service provision and convenes sites for quarterly learning sessions. Teams engage in site-specific clinical, operational, and administrative improvement activities and report monthly on quality measures. Since monthly reporting began in may 2014, the average annual pregnancy intention screening rate increased from 3% to 68%. Among women seeking to prevent pregnancy, the average rate of those leaving with an effective contraceptive method increased from 2% to 57%. Interim results support the use of the fpcbp model to achieve dramatic improvements in contraceptive service provision at fqhcs and other primary care practices. Healthy food initiatives: in 2014, phs was a subcontractor on a federal healthy food financing initiative in partnership with the greater jamaica development corporation, with the goal of supporting improved healthy food availability in this low-income community. Activities included mapping the community to understand the retail food environment, as well as supporting several retail establishments to improve their marketing of healthy, nutritious foods, particularly those which are available on the wic food package. In addition, phs is the co-sponsor of two coalitions convened to support healthy retail food, including the nyc farmers market alliance, and the healthy food retail group. Scale-up of an internet-delivered randomized controlled trial for hiv+ men: this phs-initiated nih research grant was funded on december 25, 2013. Phs will conduct an online video-based intervention for hiv+ msm who have unprotected anal sex with partners who are hiv-negative or who do not know their hiv status. The goal of the intervention is to reduce unprotected anal sex with hiv-negative or unknown status partners in order to prevent possible hiv transmission. Public health solutions is working with poz.com (poz), the largest website for hiv+ individuals, to recruit and follow a national online sample of 1,500 high-risk hiv+ msm for 12 months. Some notable aspects of the study include the collection of self-reported clinical indicators (i.e., viral load), targeted online recruitment by race and ethnicity to enroll equal numbers of hiv+ white, black and hispanic msm, and a cost and cost-effectiveness analysis to determine health-related cost savings. Cure violence initiative: in 2014, the new york city council awarded $250,000 to gangstas making astronomical community change (gmacc) for the cure violence initiative, an evidence-based public health approach to gun violence prevention. Cure violence identifies and mediates conflicts among high-risk youth in a target area, mentors high-risk youth to change behaviors toward gun violence and mobilizes communities to raise awareness about violence, promoting community norms that reject violence. Acknowledging that gmacc, a grassroots organization in its infancy, was just beginning to develop an organizational infrastructure, the city council looked to public health solutions to serve as administrative and fiscal age”

“Mic health centers: phs' article 28-licensed mic health centers have been providing comprehensive family planning and prenatal care to nyc's most medically underserved neighborhoods for over 40 years, serving more than 4,500 women annually at its two locations in brooklyn. High-quality reproductive healthcare services, including a range of effective contraceptive methods, are provided to all who need them, regardless of age, immigration status, or ability to pay. Nyc smoke-free (formerly the coalition for a smoke-free city) in 2014, phs responded to a competitive funding application from nys doh for a new five-year funding cycle of the tobacco control and prevention funds that previously funded the coalition for a smoke-free city. The funding application called for county-based initiatives; phs received contracts to increase awareness of tobacco control issues among community members and policymakers in bronx county, kings county (brooklyn), new york county (manhattan), and queens county. The new contract required phs to add a youth engagement component, with a particular emphasis on reducing pro-tobacco imagery in youth-rated movies and on the internet in addition to creating a new community engagement coordinator position to handle issues such as smoke-free housing and retail sale policies. As a result of these nys doh changes, phs reorganized and renamed the program. Nyc smoke-free continues to use a collaborative approach to partner with community-based organizations, policymakers, health advocates, and other stakeholders to reduce the burden of tobacco in nyc by: reducing youth exposure to tobacco marketing; increasing the smoke-free outdoor spaces; increasing the number of apartment buildings, co-ops and condos that are 100% smoke-free; and engaging community partners to build support for policy campaigns. Reproductive health services program a recognized leader in the areas of family planning, adolescent and women's health, phs has a long history of identifying and addressing emerging family planning clinical and administrative issues, as well as contributing to longstanding partnerships through state- and city-wide coalitions and initiatives that strive to improve care and policies in new york city through education, collaboration, and advocacy. Phs has been the non-governmental title x family planning services grantee for new york state for over 30 years. Title x is the federal grant program that funds comprehensive family planning and other related preventive health services to individuals, with a special focus on the needs of low-income families or uninsured people (including those not eligible for medicaid) who might not otherwise have access to these services. Phs administers funding to seven sub-recipient community health centers on behalf of the office of population affairs (opa) within the u.s. Department of health and human services (dhhs). Phs provides ongoing data monitoring and programmatic and administrative review for sub-recipients to ensure they set and achieve work plan goals and objectives and adherence to title x guidelines. School food focus focus is the country's leading school food reform program. A national collaborative network, focus is unique in its approach to leveraging the knowledge and procurement power of large school districts to make school meals more healthful, regionally sourced, and sustainably produced. Its 36 member districts serve more than four million students across the nation. Focus aims to transform food systems to support students' academic achievement and lifelong health, while directly benefiting regional economies, food system workers, and the environment. Sudden infant and child death resource center (sicd): sicd seeks to eliminate sudden unexpected deaths in infants and children. This program is one of five regional offices funded by the new york state center for sudden infant death. Sicd works with a wide range of health and social service professionals and community l”

“Research & evaluation activities: public health solutions uses its own research to help illuminate critical public health issues and to design, implement and assess effective methods for preventing disease and improving health. Phs' innovative research programs include: obesity research: first steps to healthy living: evaluation of new york state early childhood obesity prevention programs: the federally-funded wic program promotes good nutrition and healthy weight gain for low-income pregnant, post-partum, and breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to the age of five. In january 2009, new york became the first state in the nation to implement the usda-mandated revision of the wic food package, which offered a more balanced set of foods reflecting dietary recommendations to consume less fat and sweetened beverages, to eat more fiber and fruits and vegetables, and limited children 2-4 years of age to low- or nonfat milk. Public health solutions researchers -- along with colleagues from columbia university and the nys department of health -- have been conducting first steps to healthy living, a 4.5-year project funded by the robert wood johnson foundation and the new york state health foundation. The primary goal of the project is to assess the impact of the new wic food package on fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and low-fat milk consumption, initiation and duration of breastfeeding, and child weight/height among wic participants. Project researchers had determined that, two years after implementation of the new nys wic food packages, infants were more likely to be breastfed, and children were more likely to have increased consumption of healthy foods, including low/nonfat milk. Two presentations on recent data from the study - wic cohort weight trajectories in the first four years of life and changes in the consumption of sweets among children enrolled in wic, 2009-2012 -- were given at the obesity society meeting in november 2014. The project is now in its final phase of data analysis. Profiles of participation in wic and other healthy living programs for pre-schoolers in new york: this one-year grant from the robert wood johnson foundation provided funding for a study of: 1) lifetime participation and experiences in wic, factors associated with variations in wic participation, and reasons for non-participation by those eligible; and 2) how mothers combine wic participation with other resources to support healthy diets and activities for their pre-schoolers and other young children. Field work for this grant was completed in november 2014. Starting early childhood obesity prevention initiative: this five-year study is a randomized controlled trial (rct) being conducted in collaboration with lead investigators from new york university school of medicine to test the effectiveness of a primary care, child obesity prevention program beginning in pregnancy and continuing through the first three years of life. The study aims to reduce the prevalence of obesity at age three, improve child diet composition and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Pregnant women are enrolled in their third trimester from two large urban medical centers, nyu-bellevue and gouverneur hospitals. Low-income latinas who speak either english or spanish and who plan to receive pediatric care at bellevue or gouverneur are eligible to participate. The intervention, "starting early," consists of several components: 1) postpartum visit: to assist with breastfeeding and offer assistance and linkages to lactation resources; 2) family groups: interactive groups, coordinated with the child's primary care visits and lead by a nutritionist; 3) it's never too early: feeding your baby well: the public health solutions culturally-specific bilingual early nutrition video incorporated in family group discussions; and 4) plain language handouts: delivered by the child's pediatrician to reinforce the curriculum from the family groups. Baseline and periodic follow-up su”

“Special projects of national significance program (spns): community healthcare network (chn) was funded to implement the transgender women engagement and entry to care project (tweet care project) at the family health center in jamaica, queens. The tweet care project is a peer-based model of outreach and engagement designed to increase access to and retention in quality hiv primary care for nyc transgender women of color who are newly diagnosed or lost to care. Members of the transgender community often encounter a variety of challenges, stigmas, and prejudices when attempting to access health care services, and research highlights the complexities and challenges that can occur within the provider and transgender client relationship that can contribute to a reluctance to engage in or the disengagement in care. By empowering transgender individuals to become advocates and educators for their peers that are not currently receiving care, the tweet care project aims to reduce or eliminate the individual- and system-level barriers that transgender women of color often encounter in accessing healthcare and hiv treatment. Public health solutions is conducting the evaluation of this project in order to define best practices for the engagement, training, and support of peers. Using technology to match young black msm to hiv testing options: this is a four-year nih grant led by the new york blood center with phs as a subcontractor. The aims of the grant are: 1) to develop a brief internet-based intervention for young, hiv-negative or never-tested black msm and transgender women, optimized for mobile devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets) to increase hiv testing (the intervention will use an assessment and algorithm to provide men with a tailored recommendation of their optimal hiv testing approach); and 2) to pilot test the intervention using a three-arm randomized study design to estimate its potential efficacy compared to control conditions in increasing the proportion of young black msm or transgender women who test over six months. Staphylococcal and soft tissue infections in msm: an internet-based quantitative and qualitative investigation and us-wide study of molecular epidemiology: phs recently collaborated with columbia university medical center on an internet health-related survey for msm. Community-associated methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (ca-mrsa) or "staph" is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections (sstis) and is a serious public health issue. These infections disproportionately affect msm; however, this phenomenon is not well understood and is understudied. This study was performed to inform the design of an effective online prevention strategy. From november 2013 to july 2014, msm were recruited online (for a survey, with sub-studies including online focus groups, phone interviews, and self-swabbing) to: 1) identify risk factors for staph infections; 2) learn what msm know about these infections, where they obtain their health information and determine which interventions would be acceptable; 3) explore men's attitudes towards and experiences with staph; and 4) describe the strains of staph and their resistance to antibiotics that colonize the nose, groin, and perianal areas of our participants. Reproductive health: reducing the burden of teen & unintended pregnancy in the southwest bronx: improving access and decision-making: this one-year project, funded by the new york community trust in july 2014, is expanding the research unit's previous work with its interactive, online, bilingual contraceptive decision-making app from the clinical setting to the community setting. The community-based intervention will be implemented in the south bronx, which includes neighborhoods with the highest proportion of teen pregnancies in new york city. This project will establish community partnerships and clinical linkages in the south bronx to reach teens and young women, and disseminate information about the contr”