County of Dupage Health & Human Services met March 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. CALL TO ORDER
9:30 AM meeting was called to order by Chair Julie Renehan at 9:30 AM. Julie Renehan, Chairman of the Health and Human Services committee called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m., stating a physical quorum is not present. Under 7E of the Open Meetings Act, members can participate virtually; requisite officers are present at our regular meeting location. Online and in -person public comment has been provided for and we do have health protocols in the room. All votes will be roll call votes.
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: LaPlante (Remote), Chaplin, DeSart (Remote), Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon (Remote)
ABSENT:
Nick Kottmeyer, Assistant State's Attorney William Yung, and County Board member Sheila Rutledge were in attendance.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
4. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - CHAIR RENEHAN
Chair Renehan stated we have a super short agenda today so Mary Keating does not have to speed talk with her presentation today.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Health & Human Services - Regular Meeting - Feb 16, 2021 9:30 AM
| RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 SECONDER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
A. DuPage Care Center Requests That Also Require Finance And/Or County Board Approval
FI-R-0175-21 RESOLUTION -- Acceptance of the DuPage County Community Development Commission Agreement No. CD20-07 in the Amount of $400,000 for the Steam Generator Replacement Project for the DuPage Care Center.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
2021-23 Recommendation for the approval of a purchase order to Midwest X-Ray, Inc., for professional on-site diagnostic healthcare (ultrasounds, x-rays, holter monitoring, etc.), for the period April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022, for a contract total not to exceed $16,000.00, per renewal option under bid #20-008-CARE, first of three, one-year optional renewals.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
A. Authorization for Overnight Travel -- Weatherization Assessor to attend the mandatory Healthy Home Evaluator Training Course in Champaign, Illinois from March 22, 2021 through March 26, 2021. Expenses to include lodging, miscellaneous expenses (parking, mileage, etc.) and per diem for an approximate total of $760. Weatherization Grant funded - 5000-1400. This travel was originally scheduled and approved for December 2020 but was rescheduled due to Covid.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 SECONDER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair SECONDER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
Consent Item -- Extend contract 4807-0001 SERV issued to Kronos, Inc., for software upgrade from Flash conversion to HTML, for the DuPage Care Center, through August 25, 2021, for completion of software upgrades. 4807-0001 SERV)
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, District 5 SECONDER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2 SECONDER: Greg Schwarze, Vice-Chair AYES: LaPlante, Chaplin, DeSart, Renehan, Schwarze, Selmon |
B. Grant Proposal Notifications -- GPN 015-21: Community Development Block Grant FY21 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Community Services - $3,900,835.
C. Grant Proposal Notifications -- GPN 016-21: HOME Investment Partnership Program FY21 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Community Services - $1,806,398.
D. Grant Proposal Notifications -- GPN 017-21: Emergency Solutions Grant FY21 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Community Services - $299,149.
E. Grant Proposal Notifications -- GPN 018-21: Community Development Block Grant Cares Act Funding, Second Allocation - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Community Services - $4,393,318.
10. RESIDENCY WAIVERS - JANELLE CHADWICK
11. DUPAGE CARE CENTER UPDATE - JANELLE CHADWICK
Janelle Chadwick, Administrator of the DuPage Care Center, stated since April, the Care Center has had 88 residents test positive for Covid, that number remaining stable, and 107 staff, up one from last report. There is one unit under isolation due to the one positive Covid test. Our vaccination clinics with residents and staff are complete. The Care Center continues to conduct tests for our Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) regulations on a very consistent and frequent basis. We are continuing all of our infection control practices; appropriate PPE and screenings, including midday screening and temperature checks. The Care Center has to reach 28 days without a case before we can look at any re-opening phases or transitions to the phases. It is a very slow and structured process. Our first phase will be to start the outdoor visits and maybe hold some small group dining or activities.
The Care Center is turning their focus to the emergency preparedness. There are approximately 40 tags or deficiencies under the IDPH - E category for life safety code. They are all related to emergency preparedness categories such as fire, disaster, and everything from electrical to a tornado. These tags require a lot of information and activity. Last year life safety code was the first one to conduct this survey and introduce these tags. You would be restricted to one room to produce whatever they request, which they are not doing anymore. Staff are preparing binders to give to the surveyor as they enter. We are conducting tabletop and full-scale exercises of preparedness and looking to conduct a simulated evacuation.
Member Selmon asked about the number of staff that have opted out of the vaccine. Ms. Chadwick responded about 24% have chosen against vaccination. Discussion ensued, Ms. Chadwick repeating that unvaccinated staff will be required to wear full PPE (KN95 masks, gowns and shields) whenever in the building, which they were made aware of early in the process. The Care Center is proposing a more rigid solution than most in the industry. Ms. Selmon was adamant that staff should be reassigned to non-contact duties if they are non compliant, and, according to Human Resources we can mandate compliance. Ms. Chadwick says the rule states that you must have a policy to address those that are not vaccinated in relation to PPE only. Ms. Selmon asked for Ms. Chadwick to follow up with Human Resources regarding the correct procedure before the next meeting so the committee can help the Care Center reinforce any measures taken.
At the suggestion of replacing staff that do not vaccinate, Ms. Chadwick responded that the Care Center is short considerable staff and the industry is extremely difficult to staff. Member Schwarze noted the challenges in the Care Center to recruit staff and would like the committee to address this in the future. Ms. Chadwick added that the numbers are higher due to Covid related retirements and the inability to hire during the Pandemic, partly due to desire, and partly not being able to complete the clinical segment of the education required.
12. COMMUNITY SERVICES UPDATE - MARY KEATING
Mary Keating, Director of Community Services, presented an overview of the funds that Community Services have been managing as a result of the Covid Pandemic, and what funds we may be allocating in 2021.
We are in the process of reviewing applications for the public service category of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Cares Act money. $1.5M was set aside for public services. Those recommendations will go the Community Development Commission in April and then to HHS. We narrowed the eligibility to housing and food assistance. We have $1.9M in applications.
All the grants under the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) programs are up and running. The 200% of the poverty level to qualify expires at the end of September. Typically, at 125%, the eligibility of the federal poverty level is extremely low for DuPage county residents with our higher cost of living. There are thousands of people in need that will fall between the 125% and 200% levels. We would like to take a request to the legislative committee to advocate for an extension at the 200% level.
Community Services generally receive $300,000 annually for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) and are now receiving $3.5M. The funds are primarily used for hotel stays for DuPage Pads and Catholic Charities for victims of Domestic Violence victims under their programs. We provided funding to Metropolitan Family Shelter Services with the CRF funds last year. Because of a nuance under the ESG regulations we can’t use funds for that purpose. We may bring a request to County Board for funding from general funds to continue to assist with the hotel stays. The $20M category represents county general funds and between 15-20 other federal and state grants.
The Community Services’ 20/21 overall budget would be about $25.8M. Including the $7M in relief funds the county allocated to our department in 2020, the CRF brought us an additional $19M, which is a 73% increase over our typical allocation. Adding in the $72M emergency rental assistance program that we are working on with IHDA to manage in 2020, we are experiencing a 279% increase in our typical annual year. This does not include any additional funds that may come through congress.
Responding to a question regarding the lack of headcount to manage the funds, Ms. Keating replied that it is difficult to find people with the skills to manage federal grants. The learning curve is extremely steep and requires a lot of training. Anytime you have programs with a large amount of money for a short period of time, you will experience a headcount challenge.
The handout is attached hereto and made part of the minutes packet.
Ms. Keating stated there is a meeting scheduled with the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) to complete the agreement for the emergency rental assistance program. If we complete the final details, we may bring this to Finance and County Board next week for approval.
Senior Services case managers have identified the most vulnerable clients in need of registering for Covid vaccines and for having access to getting the Covid vaccine and have registered them with the Health Department. Staff have identified the numbers by community and are looking for opportunities through the Health Department, Health Coalition, and/or pharmacies to coordinate services for these individuals. Reaching out to the senior buildings we found only five that have not established a procedure for their residents, which we also provided to the Health Department. Our department has identified a transportation provider and are acting as a conduit between where the seniors are and the vaccine, hoping to possibly get a mobile clinic established.
Current and Proposed Funds Managed by Community Services
13. OLD BUSINESS
Chair Renehan asked Ms. Keating if she heard anything long-term coming forward from DuPage Pads. Ms. Keating replied DuPage Pads approved a new strategic plan at the end of February and if there is any big news on the change of the business model, we will hear from them soon.
14. NEW BUSINESS
15. ADJOURNMENT
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11xPLcsj4v93a7bBWSjfWvNGPwIg2TW7gZ6zsYmF_LhY/edit
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