DATE: June 21, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Retroactive Revenue Agreement with California Department of Public
Health for Disease Intervention Specialist Workforce
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive revenue agreement with the California Department of Public Health, Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch, to expand, train, and sustain a response-ready disease intervention specialist workforce, effective July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025, total not to exceed $1,263,190.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Approval of the recommended action will provide new funding from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to support the hiring, training, and retention activities for staffing focused on sexually transmitted diseases (STD), HIV, COVID-19, and other infectious disease prevention and response during the performance period. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. Should your Board not approve the recommended grant agreement, the Department would not have the funding to hire and maintain the staff to conduct activities necessary to expand, train, and sustain a response-ready disease intervention specialist (DIS) workforce.
RETROACTIVE REVENUE AGREEMENT:
The recommended Agreement was received from CDPH on April 14, 2022 and is retroactive to July 1, 2021 and is being brought to your Board in accordance with the agenda item processing timelines.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. If approved, the grant will provide $252,638 annually for five years from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025, for a term maximum of $1,263,190. The Department will rollover the grant’s full $252,638 Calendar Year 2021 allocation to Calendar Year 2022.
CDPH allows full indirect cost recovery up to 25% of salaries and benefits. The Department’s full indirect rate was 22.579% in FY 2021-22. There are no pending invoices related to this item. Additional appropriations and revenues will be included in subsequent budget requests for the Department’s Org 5620.
DISCUSSION:
On October 25, 2021, the Department received notice from the CDPH of new funding available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for local health departments to develop, expand, train, and sustain DIS workforce. This funding is pivotal in aiding the Department in hiring and maintaining the needed staff to manage the infectious diseases in the County.
Approval of the recommended grant agreement will provide $1,263,190 in funding for five years from 2021 through 2025. These funds will allow the Department to increase disease investigation capacity, management and oversight of cases, as well as respond to outbreaks for STDs, HIV, Syphilis, and other communicable diseases for the duration of the Agreement.
The recommended agreement deviates from the County’s standard indemnification language and requires the County to indemnify the State in connection with the performance of the agreement. The grant provides funding for government public health response to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases by supporting activities necessary to expand, train and sustain a response-ready disease intervention specialist (DIS) workforce. Therefore, the department has determined the benefits of the revenue agreement to outweigh any potential risks.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Revenue Agreement with CDPH
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander