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Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) recommending the Board adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 135-2022 amending the Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution (099-2022) to:
1) Delete one (1.0) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) vacant Public Health Nurse I/II allocation; and
2) Add two (2.0) FTE Disease Investigation & Control Specialist I/II allocations in the Health and Human Services Agency.
FUNDING: 100% State Future of Public Health funding allocation.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On June 21, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23 Personnel Allocation Resolution 099-2022 (File ID:22-0987, Agenda No. 3).
The State of California is currently working to address the funding and minimum staffing requirements of local health jurisdictions, after years of an inconsistent funding infrastructure. The California legislature has set aside significant long-term funding in concert with supplemental funding to address needed resources by local health jurisdictions to support enhanced activities in the areas of communicable disease identification, mitigation, control, community-level education, and equity distribution of public health preventive services. As a result, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has implemented the new Future of Public Heath (FoPH) program and annual funding allocation to local health jurisdictions, which is to primarily be used to sustain staffing levels through the hiring of permanent county staff.
The Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Department (HHSA PHD) proposed staffing profile in the FoPH funding work scope calls for 2.0 Disease Investigation & Control Specialists (DICS) or Public Health Nurses (PHN), high risk setting personnel. The original decision to seek PHN I/II personnel has been re-evaluated based on observed challenges to successful recruitment of the PHN classification. This coupled with a general professional nursing shortage in California warrant...
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