The Illinois Department of Public Health is seeking a highly motivated individual to provide direct specialized legal services to a wide range of Illinois Department of Public Health (“Department”) programs with primary emphasis for the Offices of Health Care Regulation, Health Protection, Human Resources- labor relations, and Health Promotion; generally representing the Department as a prosecutor in administrative hearings. Provides materials and documentation for the Office of the Attorney General (“AGO”) in various civil matters involving the Department of Public Health. Reviews and makes recommendations on various legal issues.
Job Responsibilities
1. Serves as a Departmental prosecutor in administrative hearings, including the preparation of notices, motions, proposed orders and similar legal documents and in the presentation of oral and written evidence at such administrative hearings.
2. Provides specialized legal expertise to the Department with emphasis on matters relating to public health legal powers, and Health Care Regulation, Health Protection, Human Resources and Health Promotion programs.
Provides general legal services, including legal analysis, counseling, advice, and writing, including, but not limited to, letters, memoranda, and other legal documents for various Offices of the Department.
3. Reviews legal referrals from the Department to the Office of the Attorney General and local state’s attorney offices for purposes of litigation matters that require AGO legal representation of the Department.
After review, the legal referral is presented to the AGO requesting Departmental representation before the applicable tribunal.
Serves as liaison between the Department and the Office of the Attorney General and local states’ attorney offices on cases referred for litigation purposes of representing Departmental interests in these cases which require AGO representation.
Job Responsibilities (cont)
4. Assists in the preparation of rules, regulations, and standards required in the implementation of statutes which mandate Department rulemaking. • Researches legal impact of proposed language in rules, regulations and standards.
5. Performs related duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.
Minimum Qualifications
Requires knowledge, skill and mental development equivalent to completion of four years college, preferably with courses in pre-law.
Requires three years of litigation experience in participating in contested legal cases pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
Requires the possession of a license to practice law in Illinois.
Preferred Qualifications
Three years experience preparing notices, motions, proposed orders or similar legal documents.
Three years experience providing general legal services, including legal analysis, counseling, and advice.
Three years experience assisting in the preparation of rules, regulations, and standards required in the implementation of statutes.
Thorough knowledge of common laws: Federal and State laws and regulations.
Extensive knowledge of judicial and quasi-judicial and administrative procedures and the rules at all judicial levels.
Extensive knowledge of legal methods, practices and procedures.
Working knowledge of principles of management, including organization, controls and techniques used in dealing with management and procedural problems.
Two years experience planning, coordinating and reviewing the work of a technical or legal program or units.
Ability to develop and maintain effective professional and public contacts and satisfactory working relationships with others.
Two years experience analyzing and appraising facts, evidence and precedents in developing pertinent issues.
Department Overview
In Illinois, if you have eaten at a restaurant, required hospital or nursing home care, vacationed at a campground or swam at a public beach or pool, drank a glass of milk, got married or divorced ,had a baby, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has touched your life in some important way.
Assuring the quality of our food, setting the standards for hospital and nursing home care, checking the safety of recreation areas, overseeing the inspection of milk producing farms and processing plants, maintaining the state's vital records and screening newborns for genetic diseases are just some of the duties of IDPH.
In fact, IDPH has 200 different programs that benefit each state resident and visitor, although its daily activities of maintaining the public's health are rarely noticed unless a breakdown in the system occurs. With the assistance of local public health agencies, these essential programs and services make up Illinois' public health system, a system that forms a frontline defense against disease through preventive measures and education. Public health has provided the foundation for remarkable gains in saving lives and reducing suffering. ...Today, life expectancy is 80 years for women and 74 years for men compared with fewer than 50 years at the at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the past, IDPH directed state efforts to control smallpox, cholera and typhoid, virtually eliminated polio, reduced dental decay through fluoridation of community water supplies, and corrected sanitary conditions that threatened water and food supplies.
Today, IDPH has programs to deal with persistent problems that require continued vigilance – infectious diseases, such as AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and meningococcal disease; foodborne and communicable diseases, such as E. coli 0157: H7, monkeypox, salmonella and West Nile virus; vaccine preventable diseases; lead poisoning; lack of health care in rural areas; health disparities among racial groups, breast, cervical and prostate cancer; Alzheimer's disease; and other health threats -- sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco use, violence, and other conditions associated with high-risk behaviors. In addition, IDPH has been charged with handling the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of bioterrorism.
IDPH, which is one of the state's oldest agencies, was first organized in 1877 with a staff of three and a two-year budget of $5,000. IDPH, now has an annual budget of $2.9 billion in state and federal funds, headquarters in Springfield and Chicago, seven regional offices located around the state, three laboratories, and 1,200 employees.
IDPH is organized into 12 offices, each of which addresses a distinct area of public health. Each office operates and supports numerous ongoing programs and is prepared to respond to extraordinary situations as they arise.
