Updates

County Employees make Adopt-A-POD A Success!

Every resident from every diverse community within Alameda County requires access to the COVID-19 vaccine – and our employees played their part in making that happen.

Alameda County launched Points of Dispensing (POD) sites in neighborhoods throughout the County with disproportionately high COVID case rates with the goal of providing vaccine access to residents directly in the communities where they live.  Four sites were hosted in East Oakland, Fruitvale, Cherryland/Ashland and Union City from March through the end of July.

Vaccination PODs need both clinical and non-clinical staff to operate efficiently and effectively.  The Health Care Services Agency led in staffing the clinical positions and the Social Services Agency led the Adopt-A-POD initiative to recruit other County departments to meet the challenge of providing the operational and logistical support.  County agencies “adopted” POD sites for a minimum of one month by staffing the support positions with staff volunteers who performed duties including logistics and supply management, communication facilitation, customer flow management and more.

Over 800 employees from 20 County departments provided over 6,400 hours of support, and over 60,000 vaccinations were dispensed! A special thank you to our employees for taking time to care for our communities. 

The County’s strategic vaccination efforts, including the Adopt-A-POD initiative, have resulted in over 80% of our County residents receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, one of the highest vaccination rates in the State. Vaccination efforts will continue through community partnerships led by the COVID Division of the Public Health Department.

Early Educator Apprenticeship Program

On Saturday, August 15, 2020 forty-four (44) individuals represented the graduating Class of 2020 who received either an Associate or Assistant Teacher Permit, AA Degree, MA Degree or FDA Family Development Credential. Of the 44 graduates, about 13 CalWORKs recipients received an Associate Teacher Permit. They marched into the parking lot wearing white caps and gowns to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance, No. 1” by Sir Edward Elgar. This is the first graduation of the Alameda County Social Services Agency/Tipping Point/First 5-funded apprenticeship program. A resounding message at the graduation was that funding from these three agencies allowed the graduates to get their permit without having to come out of their pockets to pay for this program. At the Saturday event, there was an outpouring of support from family, children, and friends who blew their horns and cheered as each graduate’s name was called to accept their certificate. After posing for a picture with their certificates, each graduate was presented with a transition bag that included items to help them as they transition to full-time employment and their AA degrees.

The graduation ceremony took place in the parking lot of the YMCA’s Ralph Hawley Center in Emeryville, CA. It was a “car-based, social distance, wear your mask” graduation, with the special guest speaker being Dr. Joya Chavarin, Dean at Berkeley Community College, and the Student Commencement speaker was one of the Social Services Agency’s CalWORKs participants who vowed to continue her career path of helping black and brown children assimilate into society and become successful adults . In her words, “there are no bad kids, there are just kids who are in need of a lot of love and direction.”

The CalWORKs cohort, consisting of timed-out individuals, active participants and non-needy caretaker relatives, began their journey of obtaining an Associate Teacher Permit about a year ago, with each participant receiving a $1,000 stipend 6-months into the program and another $1,000 stipend at completion of the program. Many of Saturday’s graduates, by a show of hands, plan to continue on this career path by now working towards obtaining an AA Degree. What’s special about this group is that when the Shelter in Place Order was executed, they had to quickly transition from in-person classroom learning to distance/virtual learning, which was unprecedented for the instructors and students. As a bonus for staying in the program, the graduates will keep the laptops that were used as part of their distance/virtual learning.

According to Pamm Shaw, Vice President, Early Childhood Impact, YMCA of the East Bay, most of the graduates will be working for the “Y” full time, because there are enough openings to accommodate all who want to work. The Y will be expanding programs in Hayward, CA this fall and will be looking for even more staff in that area.

Heroes of the Week

Each week we will highlight county employees for heroism, acts of kindness and exceptional service to the community.

The County Salutes a Winning Team!

The Alameda County Public Health Department’s Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention (DCDCP) is among the longest serving Bay Area front-line teams working on the pandemic. Comprised of clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, public health investigators, the Health Officer, and the Public Health Lab, this group of heroes has led the COVID-19 response for Alameda County since January 22, 2020.

The DCDCP Team is a division within the Health Department, where its purview includes all aspects of infectious disease and public health preparedness and response activities. Their day to day work includes preventing and controlling the spread of more than 80 infectious diseases that are reportable by law to the State, including TB, HIV and STDs. They also oversee the County’s immunization program.

The team springs into emergency action when there are outbreaks. The team was monitoring the Wuhan outbreak in December and activated its emergency response on January 22. Led by Health Officer, Dr. Erica Pan and DCDCP Director, Dr. Nicholas Moss, this team forms the foundation of HCSA’s Department Operations Center, which now includes nearly 300 people across the agency.

DCDCP is at the core of the County’s COVID-19 containment and mitigation strategy, which includes testing, investigating all cases and close contacts of cases, providing clinical and community guidance, and ensuring that all Alameda County residents have the resources they need to safely isolate and quarantine. Working around the clock, the team’s scope has expanded to include direct support for long-term care facilities, Santa Rita Jail, homeless encampments, and management of medical volunteers.

Thank you, DCDCP for leading the way in saving thousands of lives!