U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez

Fresno County and its health department have been at odds over whether the Covid Equity Project has been a good use of Covid-19 relief money. After postponing a vote to renew the program since last month, the board on Tuesday voted 4-1 to continue receiving funds to reach underserved communities. 

The Fresno County Department of Public Health came before the board July 13 asking for the continuation of the Covid Equity Project, which helps provide health education outreach, contact tracing and support services. 

The Covid Equity Project includes coalitions comprised of 18 community-based organizations that are focused on reaching vulnerable populations and addressing Covid-19 needs within these communities. The organizations reach those with disabilities, people of color, immigrants and refugees and agricultural workers. 

The project has increased vaccination efforts and moved Fresno County from ranking 51 to 33 out of 58 counties in health outcomes, the health department said. Had the vote not passed, the health department would have had to suspend the Covid Equity Project altogether.

Since the board left the meeting without a conclusive decision on July 13, the health department returned to today’s meeting with an amendment, which states that there should be a 10% withholding on an organization’s invoiced amount if it does not complete its work. 

This comes in light of the board’s concerns over which organizations are in it for the right reasons, especially when the line between education and advocacy is blurred. 

David Luchini, interim director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, said that these organizations have worked hard to contact hard-to-reach populations.

“They’re also our eyes and ears out there,” he said.

But the board was not too convinced. Supervisor Nathan Magsig struggled to quantify the success of these community-based organizations, and the collective board has been skeptical of the cost to benefit. 

Magsig said the cost was $300 per touch, impacting roughly 9,000 people from March 2020 to the end of May 2021 — totaling over $2.5 million spent.

The board expressed concerns over the organizations taking care of the community in partnership with the health department. 

In 2020, the board passed the plan for the Covid Equity Project, but Chairman Steve Brandau wants to change the way things operate this year. 

“We passed it underneath a crisis situation,” said Brandau.

He suggested including the organizations on an individual basis rather than lumping all of them together. 

“I just don’t think it’s good government,” Brandau said.

In the July 13 meeting, Brandau said the county is paying a lot of money to get minimal results, although he hesitated to use the phrase. 

“We need to find a way of getting a serious bang for our buck,” he said.  

We needed outreach and education,and we needed it from groups that had already established trust, Vice Chairman Brian Pacheco said. 

The board asked the health department to evaluate who rose to the occasion and who just got a paycheck.

The goal is to stretch the dollars and include groups that will help reach more people more effectively. Part of that is to narrow the goals of the organizations, and they are not allowed to use their funds for political or lobbying purposes. Luchini said that he is not aware of any groups currently doing so. 

Supervisor Sal Quintero appreciated the amendments made for this meeting, saying they held each organization more accountable. 

“That was a good amendment to add on. If they don’t report it right, they don’t get any money,” Quintero said.

The goal is to stretch dollars and also include groups that will help reach more people effectively. The funding will increase by about $3 million through December 2021. 

Luchini agreed this would be the last request for extension of funds, and future agreements with community-based organizations would need to go through a proper request for proposal process.