Initiative by dallas county to address covid-19 health disparities among populations at high-risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities - dallas…

Initiative by dallas county to address covid-19 health disparities among populations at high-risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities - dallas county health and human services (DCHHS) serves a population of over 2.6 million people and is seeking $35 million in funding under this grant opportunity. DCHHS has found that african american and hispanic residents and people living in ZIP codes located in southeast dallas county continue to experience the highest burden of disease and mortality in dallas county, including disparities associated with the covid-19 pandemic. To address these disparities, DCHHS intends to use this funding opportunity to reduce the impact of covid-19 among african american and hispanic residents by engaging with trusted community partners to provide better access to testing, contact tracing, and vaccination efforts to underserved communities. DCHHS will utilize this grant funding to increase internal capacity for covid-19 testing and sequencing, contact tracing, and community vaccination efforts. To prevent and control covid-19 infection among the identified target populations, funds will primarily be used to continue the DCHHS contact tracing program and to expand our covid-19 media campaign and community outreach efforts. DCHHS will also upgrade technology systems to improve data collection and reporting, and integrate these systems with social service programs to enable DCHHS to better address health disparities among the identified target populations.