SUBJECT
Title
WAIVE BOARD POLICY B-29 FOR UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO GRANT FUNDING FROM CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION CENTER FOR FORECASTING AND OUTBREAK ANALYSIS (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
In April 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics was established to improve preparedness and response to infectious diseases through data, modeling, and analytics. In May 2023, the CDC published a Notice of Funding Opportunity and awarded the Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant opportunity, intended to support State and local leaders in developing and implementing new analytical tools best suited for their respective jurisdictions, based on the best available information. This grant supports building and scaling disease outbreak response capabilities, and working with private sector, academic, and jurisdictional partners to allow communities to more effectively use data to help identify and respond to emerging public health threats.
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) applied for CDC grant funding, which included a subaward for the County of San Diego (County) in the amount of $1,324,098 for the term of September 30, 2023, through September 29, 2028. On October 24, 2023 (3), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) approved to accept this funding, and on September 10, 2024 (6), the Board also approved to accept additional grant funding of $355,400 for a cumulative total of $1,679,498. For both Board actions, it was anticipated the Epidemiology unit program would be able to budget the full indirect rate to the grant, and therefore, revenue would offset all expenses.
Today's action requests the Board waive Board Policy B-29 for indirect expenses, estimated at $370,068, which are not offset by grant revenue, for the period from September 30, 2023, to September 29, 2028.
Today’s action supports the County vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all, specifically those communities and populations in San Diego County that have been historically left behind, as well as the ongoing commitment to the regional Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe, and thriving communities. This grant opportunity will support State and local leaders during public health emergencies by using advanced modeling, forecasting, and outbreak analytics.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
Waive Board Policy B-29 Fees, Grants, Revenue Contracts - Department Responsibility for Cost Recovery, which requires full-cost recovery for grants, for Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant funding from the University of California, San Diego and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Funding from the Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant will enable the County of San Diego (County) Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Services to advise State and local leaders on the incorporation of data and outputs to ensure health disparities continue to be addressed during public health prevention and response. Addressing health disparities is a priority for the County, which has already implemented programs to better characterize existing disparities and prioritized addressing access issues during emergencies through the use of such data. The County acts as a partner to health care groups providing medical care, emergency response, and prevention services, as well as community groups, including those in communities facing health disparities. The Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant will help facilitate and communicate outbreak response activities with these long-standing partners.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Today’s action contributes to the County of San Diego Sustainability Goal #1, to engage the community in meaningful ways, and Sustainability Goal #2, to protect health and well-being of everyone in the region by utilizing forecasting and analysis to support outbreak responses. The Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant will provide support to State and local leaders during public health emergencies using advanced modeling, forecasts, and outbreak analytics. The program aims to establish a network to support decision makers before and during public health emergencies.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 Operational Plan and FY 2025-27 CAO Recommended Operational Plan in the Health and Human Services Agency. If approved, this request will result in estimated indirect costs of $136,945 and revenue of $60,761 for FY 2024-25, estimated annual indirect costs of $138,357 and revenue of $47,931 for FY 2025-26 through FY 2027-28, and estimated indirect costs of $34,589 and revenue of $11,983 in FY 2028-29. The funding source is the federal Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling grant, via the University of California, San Diego.
A waiver of Board Policy B-29 is requested because the grant funding from the University of California, San Diego, provided through the Centers for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling program, recovers all direct costs incurred by Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Services but it does not offset all internal indirect costs. Internal indirect costs not offset by grant revenue are estimated at $76,184 in FY 2024-25 and estimated annually at $90,426 in FY 2025-26 through FY 2027-28 and $22,606 in FY 2028-29, for a total indirect cost of $370,068. The funding source for these will be existing Realignment.
There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
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Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
The Health Services Advisory Board is scheduled to review this item at its meeting on May 13, 2025.
BACKGROUND
In April 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Center for Forecasting & Outbreak Analytics published a Notice of Funding Opportunity to develop a network of innovators to design, prototype, test, and scale capabilities for improving analytics, modeling, and forecasting to support State and local leaders during outbreaks of infectious diseases (both known and newly emerging) in the United States. The purpose of this grant is to prevent disease transmission through improving public health responses to disease threats. The primary objective of this funding is to enhance communication and collaboration between innovators, integrators, and implementers in analytic methods with public health partners at federal, State, territorial, local, and tribal levels to improve outbreak response through analytics and disease modeling.
Partnerships and collaboration between academia, public health, health care, and the private sector are at the core of this funding opportunity. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has applied for this funding opportunity and the grant proposal includes a subaward for the County of San Diego (County) Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Services (PHS), Epidemiology and Immunization Services Branch.
Under this grant, UCSD has leveraged the strong existing partnership between UCSD epidemic modelers and the County. The County has collaborated with UCSD on opportunities to develop and pilot models for policy decision making for hepatitis A and other outbreaks. In addition, the County and UCSD have pursued novel implementation strategies for surveillance, such as wastewater testing in public school districts, and participated in the communication of analytic results to the public through SEARCH, a collaborative research study between Rady Children’s Hospital, UCSD, Scripps Research and the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine that seeks to understand the spread and prevalence of COVID-19 in San Diego County.
As the implementing partner for this grant, the County benefits from the modeling and forecasting efforts and facilitates the use of such tools to inform decision making by other relevant partners. Improved outbreak analytics and forecasting aids in public health decision making during ongoing and future epidemics. The additional funding provided by CDC for this grant will be used to improve collaboration among UCSD, the County and partners at the local, state, and federal level.
UCSD applied for CDC grant funding, which included a subaward for the County in the amount of $1,324,098 for the term of September 30, 2023, through September 29, 2028. This funding was accepted by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) on October 24, 2023 (3) and additional grant funding of $355,400 was accepted on September 10, 2024 (6), for a cumulative total of $1979,498. For both Board actions, it was anticipated the program would be able to budget the full indirect rate to the grant, and therefore revenue would offset all expenses.
Although the term of the agreement with UCSD is a multi-year term, this agreement requires a manual renewal for each year of the agreement. For the current term, UCSD is drafting the agreement and has communicated to PHS that the indirect rate will be revised to 15%. This revision is due to HHSA not having a federally approved indirect rate. As such, the maximum allowed to budget for indirect costs to this funding is 15%, which will result in internal indirect expenses that will not be fully offset by this funding, and therefore, staff is returning to the Board to request a waiver of Board Policy B-29.
Today's action requests the Board waive Board Policy B-29 for internal indirect expenses not offset by grant revenue estimated at $76,184 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25, $90,426 annually for FY 2025-26 through FY 2027-28, and $22,606 in FY 2028-29, for a total indirect cost of $370,068 in internal indirect costs for the period from September 30, 2023, to September 29, 2028. The funding source for these internal indirect expenses will be existing Realignment. The services provided enhance public health preparedness through advanced modeling, forecasting, and outbreak analytics, enabling effective responses to health emergencies. The public benefit of providing these services, including improved outbreak control and health equity, outweighs the indirect costs not offset by grant revenue.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed action supports the Equity (Health) and Community (Quality of Life) Initiatives in the County of San Diego 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, as well as our commitment to the regional Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe, and thriving communities. This is accomplished by giving support to decision makers before and during public health emergencies using advanced modeling, forecasts, and outbreak analytics
Respectfully submitted,
ebony n. shelton
Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
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