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MOA with The Public Health Authority of Cabarrus County, d.b.a. Cabarrus Health Alliance and Union County, acting through its Division of Public Health
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dennis Joyner, Health Director, Human Services Agency, 704-296-4801.
ACTION REQUESTED:
(1) Authorize the County Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement substantially consistent with this agenda item and (2) recognize, receive, and appropriate funding to the Human Services Public Health Division budget.
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched the public health workforce in North Carolina and exposed gaps in foundational public health capabilities at the state and local levels, hindering optimal public health pandemic prevention and response. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, is an economic stimulus bill signed into law by on March 11, 2021.
The North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH) received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a grant titled “CDC Crisis Response Cooperative Agreement: COVID-19 Public Health Workforce,” hereafter known as the COVID-19 PH Workforce Grant. This grant provides funding to establish, expand, train, and sustain the state, tribal, local, or territorial (STLT) public health workforce to support jurisdictional COVID-19 prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives. As part of this initiative, DPH is making available funds for the 10 regions identified by the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors (NCALHD) to recruit, hire, and train personnel to fill critical gaps in its Public Health Infrastructure Foundational Capabilities in order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Health National Center for Innovations’ Public Health Leadership Forum identified 7 Foundational Capabilities of Public Health-the suite of skills, programs, and activities that must be available in state and local health departments everywhere for the health system to work anywhere. The local health departments within each region have identified a lead local health department (Lead Regional LHD) for its region to host and manage the program. Cabarrus Health Alliance is the lead local health department in Region 4, the region that Union County is located. The purpose of this MOA is to document the efforts of Cabarrus Health Alliance and Union County Division of Public Health to carry out the objectives of the ARPA funding in collaboration with local partners.
Cabarrus Health Alliance received $3,265,772 through this project and Union County was allocated $55,574.52. The funds will allow for Union County to be fully (100%) reimbursed the $55,574.52 for the costs of hiring and/or training staff (full time, part time, supplement hours to increase FTE) and interns. The funds are available now through May 2023.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Union County will receive up to $55,574.42 from the Cabarrus Health Alliance for the provision of training and education under this agreement. No additional County funding is requested.