Summer 2020: County COVID-19 Response

NYSAC News NEW

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STATE

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SUMMER 2020

County COVID-19 Response

Committed to your Community.

AT PERMA, WE DON’T THINK OF OURSELVES AS JUST A WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PROVIDER. We’re tightly woven into the very fabric of your community.

Just as you look out for your family, friends and neighbors, we’ll always be there for you. Doing more than what’s expected to help you and your loved ones so you can keep your community safe and strong. ~ That’s why we created New York State’s first and only crossing guard training program. ~ Why we subsidized a family’s lengthy hotel stay when one of our injured members was hospitalized out of town. ~ Why we brought food and clothing relief to a county member after catastrophic flooding during a hurricane.

We go well beyond workers’ compensation to offer you everything from comprehensive risk management training, a personalized claims team, and patient advocates, to fraud detection, wellness programs and transitional duty services.

To find out more contact: Leah Demo, Sales Executive 518-220-0342 • ldemo@perma.org Tony Cassaro, Sales Executive 518-220-0324 • acassaro@perma.org P O B O X 1 2 2 5 0 , A L B A N Y, N Y 1 2 2 1 2 • 8 8 8 - 7 3 7 - 6 2 6 9 • W W W . P E R M A . O R G

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President's Page Leadership in the Time of COVID-19

NYSAC OFFICERS Hon. John F. Marren Ontario County President Hon. Martha Sauerbrey Tioga County President-Elect Hon. Marcus Molinaro Dutchess County First Vice President Hon. MaryEllen Odell Putnam County Immediate Past President

BOARD MEMBERS Hon. Steven Bellone, Suffolk County Hon. Benjamin Boykin II, Westchester County Philip R. Church, Oswego County Hon. Bill de Blasio, New York City Hon. Beth A. Hunt, Hamilton County Hon. Margaret M. Kennedy, Otsego County Hon. Daniel P. McCoy, Albany County Hon. Mark C. Poloncarz, Erie County Michael E. Zurlo, Clinton County

PARLIAMENTARIANS Hon. Herman Geist, Esq., Westchester County Hon. A. Douglas Berwanger, Wyoming County

T

hank you!

Thank you for your leadership.

Thank you for your innovative ideas. Thank you for your improvisation.

Thank you for your time. Thank you for helping to protect your residents. Thank you for advocating for your businesses.

And thank you for your efforts to safely restart the economic engines of your community.

This magazine is devoted to the counties and county leaders who all stepped up to lead the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, in the weeks after the novel Coronavirus was labelled a pandemic and it became clear that New York was becoming the epicenter of this global health crisis, NYSAC adopted the NY Counties Lead campaign to recognize the elected and appointed county officials who were leading the local response.

First, we stepped up to declare states of emergencies so that our schools could close and we could take the early steps that were needed to curb the spread of the virus. Our public health officials were deployed, tracking positive cases, educating the public, and conducting the tracing necessary for those who may have come into contact with an infected person.

We limited public access to government offices to protect the safety of all and determined workforce staffing needs to address the COVID-19 in our communities. We opened, staffed, and operated our emergency operations centers. We have convened and operated our board meetings digitally on the Internet or through conference calls.

We have revised and continue to revise our 2020 budgets based on the precipitous drop in revenues and cuts in state aid. Now many of us are working on 2021 county budgets, based on projections of continued shortfalls in revenue from the economic impact of closing our economy for more than two months. We can expect to face budget challenges for years to come.

We continue to work with our business community to assess the economic damage and determine how best to reopen economic activity while continuing to prevent the continued spread of the disease.

While counties faced steep drop-offs in revenues, many of our residents lost their jobs, and counties are doing everything that we can to help those most impacted by this pandemic. We must do all we can to help those in need.

I am proud of the way that we have responded, and I appreciate the hard, long, and tireless work that all of you have done in leading the local response to this global public health crisis. Our governments never stopped serving the public and never will. Thank you for your service.

Jack Marren NYSAC President

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Director's Note

T NYSAC STAFF (partial listing) Stephen J. Acquario, Esq. Executive Director Karen Catalfamo Office/Financial Manager Patrick Cummings, Esq. Counsel Jackie Dederick Records Manager Patricia Gettings Assistant to the Director Ryan Gregoire Legislative Director Alexandra LaMonte Legislative/Policy Coordinator Mark LaVigne Deputy Director Dave Lucas Director of Finance & Intergovernmental Affairs Juanita Munguia Marketing Specialist Tom Oldfather Communications Manager Kate Pierce Multimedia Specialist Jeanette Stanziano Director of Education & Training

he New York State Association of Counties' mission is to represent, educate, advocate for, and serve New York's counties and the thousands of elected and appointed county officials who serve the public. This is your association, and as your staff members, we are proud to have the opportunity to support all of you as you lead the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a pivotal time in our history.

We recognize that your role as a county official has changed in response to this public health emergency and we are working hard as your association to shift the way we support those changes.

Over these past tumultuous months, your NYSAC team has been learning, experimenting, and testing how we can best stay true to our mission, while pivoting in response to this new reality. So much of what NYSAC has done for the past 95 years as the association representing county leaders has been through personal, face-to-face interactions and meetings. For now, this can no longer happen.

Associations associate. We connect our member county officials with one another. We connect our members with state agencies, the State Legislature, and the Governor’s office. We do the same with federal departments, Congress, and the White House. NYSAC is proud of our ability to do this well. We are still doing all these things. We have just had to change the way we do them.

At the outset of the pandemic—for the first 15 days—NYSAC hosted daily conference calls with county leaders.

There was a tremendous amount of information to convey, from the Governor’s Executive Orders to the Federal Stimulus legislation coming out of Washington. County officials had questions and we worked to find answers, and report them out in our daily calls, special bulletins, on our website, in our reports, and through our emails.

Throughout the pandemic, NYSAC has continued to advocate for our 62 counties, including the five boroughs of New York City, to the legislative and executive branches of government, both in New York and in Washington. In February, we held a State Budget lobbying day during which county officials from across the state met with state lawmakers and legislative staff members. Now, in a world of social distancing, we’ve shifted to making hundreds of phone calls, conference calls, and emails to state leaders and decision makers to advocate on behalf of our members. Though different and sometimes unfamiliar, these efforts were successful, and we are proud of the legislative victories we were able to achieve in partnership with our members. Now we turn our sights toward Congress as we advocate for the federal funding that states, counties and local governments will need as we emerge from the crisis and begin to reopen our economies.

There is nothing we look forward to more than bringing our members together for training and education, to share best practices, and to facilitate the exchange of innovative ideas that help county leaders better serve their residents. We look forward to doing that again, as soon as we can do so in the healthy and safe way. In the meantime, NYSAC is connecting on webinars, on conference calls, in podcasts, through a new county leader interview series on Zoom, and our other digital channels.

I don’t know what it will be like, the “new normal,” but I am certain that this association will be here for New York’s counties and the elected and appointed officials who are serving in those county governments.

Until we see each other again, stay safe.

Stephen J. Acquario, Esq. NYSAC Executive Director NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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NYSAC News NEW

YORK

NYSAC News NEW

YORK

STATE

ASSOCIATION

OF

COUNTIES

NYSAC’s mission is to represent, educate, advocate for, and serve member counties at the federal and state levels.

President Hon. John F. Marren Publisher Stephen J. Acquario Managing Editor Mark F. LaVigne Editor Tom Oldfather Designer Kate Pierce Advertising Staff Juanita Munguia 10

NYSAC News | Summer 2020

STATE

ASSOCIATION

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Advertise with NYSAC Contact NYSAC Marketing Specialist Juanita Munguia at 518-465-1473 or jmunguia@nysac.org Published 3 times a year by the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), the NYSAC News is the official publication of NYSAC, a non-profit, municipal association serving the 57 counties of New York State and the City of New York with its five boroughs for over 90 years. NYSAC’s mission is to represent, educate, advocate for, and serve member counties at the federal and state levels.

NYSAC NEWS MAGAZINE 540 Broadway, 5th Floor, Albany, New York 12207 Phone • (518) 465-1473 Fax • (518) 465-0506 Send submissions to toldfather@nysac.org. Submissions should be 750 to 1,000 words and include a high resolution photo of the author­. All submissions­are subject to editing for clarity, content and/or length.

The advertisements and articles in NYSAC News in no way imply support or endorsement­by NYSAC for any of the products, services or messages conveyed herein. ©2020 New York State Association of Counties

Table of Contents Volume 42, Issue 2 Summer 2020

LOOKING AHEAD

12

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 for Counties

14

Legislative Update

16

Social Services Block Grant

32

Working Together

36

NY Counties Lead Timeline

41

County Snapshots

42

Local Health Departments Provide Foundation for COVID-19 Response

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

COUNTY RESPONSE

18 19

Responding to COVID-19 at the Community Level Feeding Our Most Vulnerable Citizens During COVID-19

20

Lessons Learned

22

Nassau County Combatting Food Insecurity on Multiple Fronts

24

Setting the Stage for Success

25

Coordinating Antibody Testing in Erie County

26

Reopening Economies

30

New York City Hall Providing Regular Updates

44

Municipal Security Through the Pandemic Lens

45

Workers with Disabilities Step Up to Provide COVID-19 Support

52

Recently Passed Local Laws

55

Advertiser Index

Cover Photo Broome County Executive Jason Garnar at a mask distribution event

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 for Counties

By Dave Lucas, NYSAC Director of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs

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ast fall, when counties were adopting their annual budgets, no one could have predicted the economic climate we would be in today.

Scientists and medical professionals have learned much about the virus since it first appeared. Yet much remains unknown including the long-term public health consequences, the prospects of a second wave of illness and infection, and the timing and release of improved treatments and a vaccine.

What is well understood, however, is that slowing the spread of the disease requires limiting interactions between people. To accomplish this, governments around the world implemented a planned shutdown of large parts of the economy to reduce infection rates and buy time so health systems would not become overwhelmed.

At the beginning of New York’s “stay-at-home” order, NYSAC released an initial projection of how county sales tax might be impacted to help inform counties’ decision making on the utilization of staff and to manage limited financial and physical resources.

In early May, despite having limited high-quality data available, NYSAC updated the initial report and found:

Potential County Revenue Impact

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Declines will be far sharper (happening more quickly) than in past recessions

The core of county government revenues comes from economic transactions. For the average county, most locally derived revenues come from a handful of sources:

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New York State will be disproportionately hard hit compared to other parts of the country

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Downstate will be hit harder, but no region of New York will be spared

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35% from property tax

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30% from sales tax

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17% from services

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17% from the use and sale of property, and mortgage recording, hotel and gaming taxes

charges

Figure 1 for

Increasingly, counties have been relying on sales tax as their primary revenue source, with more than one-third relying on this as the number one source of revenue. Property taxes are important but are capped under state law, and while counties receive state and federal aid, these funds are highly restricted and often come in the form of reimbursement for an expense the county has incurred on behalf of the state or federal government.

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Counties utilize local revenues to provide essential services, including many services critical to combatting the virus, including public health, social services, emergency operations center activities, public safety, public works and various other county functions. Thus, any dramatic disruption to county revenue streams could have significant consequences for efforts to stop the virus and restart their regional economies.

NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Both our preliminary and updated reports constructed two scenarios: The first consistent with a milder recession and a quick recovery, and the second assumes a more severe and prolonged recession. In both scenarios, the sharpest impacts are on industries related to tourism, recreation, and restaurants. Also, while we know different parts of the state will be more heavily impacted by the disease, NYSAC assumes that industries are hit equally across the state. More details on the report can be found at: https://www.nysac.org/ COVID-19.

In the May update, under the milder scenario, the projection for sales tax losses outside New York City was increased to show a total drop of about 9%, for a loss of about $780 million. Under the more severe scenario, total sales tax losses are projected to drop about 22%, for a loss of about $1.8 billion. It is important to note that these are projections and that economic conditions continue to change quickly, actual revenue losses will fluctuate, especially in different regions of the state. Figure 1 provides a comparison, as economic data changed, how the projected loss of sales tax changed.

In April, we received our first snapshot of retail activity during a full month of “stay at home” lockdown orders and the results were staggering. The sales tax collected for April was down about 28% in total for the month compared to last year, adjusting for sales tax rate changes and not including AIMrelated sales tax diversions. This ranged from about -19% to -40% by county. With the economic lockdown scheduled to be in place for much of May statewide, the comparable loss in May sales tax collections should be similar to April.

The state is also struggling with revenue shortfalls, particularly in its income, sales, and profits-based taxes. The Enacted State Financial Plan is projecting a shortfall of $13.3 billion and indicates that, without additional federal support to help replace lost revenues, state aid to counties may have to be cut by 20% to 50% during the year.

When we consider the loss of local revenues beyond sales tax and including potential state reimbursement cuts, the range of losses could be $1.5 billion to $3.6 billion for counties over the next year.

Economic Data Informing County Revenue Update Unemployment claims show: •

Increases in New York are many multiples greater than in past recessions, including the Great Recession

•

Even though many counties have not yet been hit hard

by COVID-19 confirmed cases, every county has seen a dramatic increase in unemployment claims

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Downstate counties have been hit harder than upstate.

Manufacturing activity as measured by the New York Federal Reserve Bank fell by far more in March than it did in the Great Recession.

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The first robust piece of data, GDP for the first quarter of 2020, was released on April 29th. GDP shrank at an annual rate of 4.8%, the worst rate in a decade and worse than many forecasters expected.

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Such newly available data led many forecasters to lower their growth projections for the coming year. Figure 2 provides a comparison of the potential depth of GDP losses linked to COVID-19, to the Great Recession and normal growth as measured by the Congressional Budget Office and Blue Chip forecasters.

Federal Response As of mid-May, the federal government had enacted four separate COVID-19 response and recovery bills that are slated to spend nearly $3 trillion. These bills, however, provided negligible assistance to states and localities to help replace lost revenues considering the scope of the losses projected. Without further federal assistance the fiscal outlook for counties could become catastrophic.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Legislative Update Enacted Budget & Post-Budget Review

By Ryan Gregoire, NYSAC Legislative Director

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his year’s state budget was enacted in one of the most difficult periods in our lifetimes, given the public health, social, and economic uncertainties that are accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the state of New York and our counties.

The SFY 2021 Enacted Budget addresses the economic uncertainty through a combination of new authority to make mid-year cuts, expand the state’s borrowing capacity, and accept federal stimulus funding.

While the continuity of county government operations is protected through the preservation of local Medicaid caps and the extension of local home rule revenue authority, there could be significant mid-year cuts associated with reductions in state reimbursement tied to the loss of state and local revenue. In addition, counties will contribute to a new fiscally distressed hospital and nursing home pool.

SFY 2021 Budget Highlights Several components of the budget will have an impact on county operations, including: Executive Authority to Cut State Spending The SFY 21 Enacted Budget allows the budget director to adjust all appropriations, including capital and operating aid, based on whether the Financial Plan is out of balance by more than one percent (about $1 billion) during any measurement period. If this threshold is breached, the Executive will have authority to make spending cuts as necessary to bring the Financial Plan back into balance.

According to language in the Budget, the reductions “shall be done uniformly across-the-board to the extent practicable or by specific appropriations as needed.” This appears to provide the budget director some discretion in applying spending cuts.

If the budget is out of balance by 10% in a measurement period, then spending would be cut by 10% in that period. If the budget is out of balance by 20% in a period, then spending would be cut by 20%.

The measurement periods are defined as follows:

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

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April 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020

•

May 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020

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July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020

Expanded Appropriations Authority to Receive Federal Assistance The budget also includes large lump sum federal appropriations to draw down federal stimulus and emergency funding to address the COVID-19 pandemic. More than $70 billion in lump sum appropriations are provided, including: •

$25 billion - All Funds Special Emergency Appropriation Account

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$4 billion - Special Public Health Emergency Appropriation Account

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$40 billion – Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Home Rule Extenders and Modifications The enacted budget included provisions to extend all county sales tax through 2023. The budget also included all occupancy tax legislation set to expire this year through 2023, all mortgage recording tax and real estate transfer tax legislation.

Human Service Budget Implications Code Blue Investment In 2016, Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order directing local social services districts, working in consultation with state and local law enforcement and community-based organizations, to protect individuals experiencing homelessness from inclement winter weather when temperatures, including wind chill, reach 32 degrees or below. To support continued implementation of Code Blue efforts across the state, the SFY 21 Enacted Budget includes a $13 million stand-alone appropriation.

Increase Funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program The SFY 21 Enacted Budget increases funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program by $1 million, to $45 million. In 2019, approximately 19,000 youths were employed through the program.

Competency Restoration and 730 Exams The SFY 21 Enacted Budget shifts 100% of the cost of 730.20 CPL competency restoration exams to counties. Existing law allows the Governor to set the county’s cost of 730.20 competency restorations. As such, the cost increase was put in place through an administrative action by OMH and included as a budget assumption in the Executive Budget. This cost shift represents a $25 million cost shift to counties outside of NYC. Collectively with our partners at the Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors (CLMHD), we advocated for amendments to the Mental Hygiene Law (MHL) Sec. 43.03 to reverse the 100% cost shift, but those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

Medicaid Updates The adopted budget does not include the Executive’s original Medicaid budget proposals to shift significant new costs to counties. This represents a major victory as counties and New York City would have been at risk of new cost increases exceeding $1 billion on an annual basis over time.

Creation of a Fiscally Distressed Hospital and Nursing Home Pool The budget includes the creation of a new fund to help fiscally distressed health care facilities that will be partially funded through the diversion of county and New York City sales tax.

The new law would divert $50 million in county sales tax and $200 million in New York City sales tax per year for two years at which time the law is scheduled to sunset. The funds would be diverted quarterly on January 15th, April 15th, July 15th and October 15th. The Comptroller shall defer any quarterly payments due in 2020 until January 2021, when the full $50 million and $200 million will be deferred.

The formula defined in the law would divert funds from each county based on their proportionate share of total sales tax collected outside of New York City multiplied by $50 million.

The chart provides an initial estimate for the first year of diversion.

Post-Budget Summary We are unsure whether the State Legislature will continue to pass legislation throughout the remainder of the scheduled session. The Legislature has signaled that they intend to reconvene to discuss COVID-19 response legislation, aid New Yorker’s struggling to pay rent and mortgage payments. Adultuse cannabis legalization also remains elusive.

Should lawmakers return to Albany, additional priorities that NYSAC will continue to engage lawmakers on include: •

Rural cellular coverage issues;

•

•

Recruitment and retention issues for volunteer firefighters and EMS workers;

Criminal justice reforms including the MAT provisions for county jails and HALT Act; and

•

•

Policy tools to aid counties during the COVID-19 pandemic;

Reforms to state and county administered programs – reimaging government operations.

•

Expanding access to DD-214 records for County Veteran Service Agencies;

Of course, the NYSAC legislative team will continue to monitor legislation and inform members on pending legislation impacting counties.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Social Services Block Grant How It Can Help County Response to COVID-19

By Rachel Merker, Associate Legislative Director – Human Services and Education, National Association of Counties

S

upplemental SSBG funding would help counties respond to our communities’ most pressing needs during the COVID-19 emergency

As the coronavirus pandemic persists, the local health and human services safety-net is facing unprecedented pressure for emergency services. Not only do counties support over 1,900 local public health departments, nearly 1,000 public hospitals and critical access clinics, more than 800 long-term care facilities and 750 behavioral health centers, we also deliver essential human services across the country. With counties on the front lines responding to the far-reaching health, safety and economic consequences of the COVID-19 emergency, our federal partners can offer crucial support by providing supplemental funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG).

SSBG is a uniquely flexible federal funding stream for states and counties, requiring no local match and supporting nearly 30 different types of services to promote self-sufficiency, eliminate dependency, prevent child abuse, support community-based care for the elderly and disabled and support institutional care when necessary. Nine states pass SSBG funds directly to counties: Colorado, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, though counties in other states can access SSBG funds as well.

According to a NACo analysis of Federal Audit Clearinghouse data, counties utilized over $763 million in SSBG funds between Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and FY 2016 to serve our communities.

SSBG’s flexibility makes it ideally suited to help local governments adapt quickly and appropriately to the COVID-19 emergency. In 2013, Congress provided supplemental SSBG funding to states impacted by Hurricane Sandy, supporting services such as meal delivery, emergency transportation, services for the disabled, adult protective services, home based care, health services, employment services, child care and more. Importantly, for each state, service priorities changed throughout the crisis and reflected the progression of disaster recovery needs from immediate concerns to long-term recovery, with the Department of Health and Human Services confirming that “every program filled community needs in the wake of the disaster”. Similarly, SSBG has been a powerful tool to help states and localities respond to other public health crises, such as the opioid epidemic.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Now, not only are public health systems and hospitals overloaded, but as unemployment numbers skyrocket and economic hardship worsens, county residents are turning to human services agencies in unprecedented numbers to access emergency resources. At the same time, business closures and safer at home policies mean local general revenue funds — which counties often use to supplement federal and state funding for human services such as foster care, child care, homeless services, health services and more — are declining dramatically.

Against this backdrop, emergency SSBG funds would provide a critical bridge for state and local governments working to provide emergency services to impacted residents and adapt to the changing needs of our most vulnerable residents.

The HEROES Act, which passed the House mostly along party lines on May 15, included a proposal for the Social Services Block Grant to receive $9.6 billion to be available until December 31, 2020. The bill includes specific language championed by NACo requiring that states pass at least 50% of this emergency funding to county governments, local governments working in partnership with community-based organizations or community-based organizations with experience serving disadvantaged families and individuals. Additionally, states where county governments administer or contribute financially to the non-federal share of a program funded by Title IV of the Social Security Act—such as Child Support Enforcement, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program or Child and Family Services—would be required to pass the funding directly to the chief elected official of the county that administers the program. The bill would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to disburse the funds within 45 days of the bill’s enactment and states would be required to provide HHS with their plan for the distribution of funds within 90 days of receipt.

NACo will continue working with Congress to secure emergency funding for SSBG and other forms of direct financial relief for county governments responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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COUNTY RESPONSE

Responding to COVID-19 at the Community Level

By Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy

T

he COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent economic shutdown, has put New York’s county governments front and center, revealing to many residents for the first time, the full extent of the services that counties provide.

Counties are on the front lines of responding to the pandemic, primarily through our County Health Departments, which are responsible for identifying positive cases of COVID-19, mapping and tracing their contacts, and implementing and maintaining quarantines.

These selfless public servants are working extremely hard and putting their own health at risk every day to help keep our residents safe and slow the spread of the virus.

Even with the heroic efforts of county workers, we quickly realized that the old adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” certainly applies to pandemic response and that to best serve the needs of our residents, we needed to expand our cooperation with partners in the community.

We also partnered with local businesses and non-profits to rapidly ramp up testing. We have received tremendous help from businesses like Rite Aid, and nonprofits like the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center that helped establish the first-inthe-state walk-up mobile testing sites to travel the county for those who couldn’t drive to a testing site.

We teamed up with Hudson Valley Wireless and the BerneKnox-Westerlo Central School District to bring free, highspeed broadband to some of our rural communities in Albany County and help solve the unique challenge of transitioning all school children to online learning. The County will also help struggling families pay for their broadband while students remain home from school because of this crisis.

NYSAC News | Summer 2020

We must continue to look at how we can provide services digitally rather than in person—a process we’re beginning by transitioning all civil service applications to electronic—so that if a second wave of COVID-19 or any kind of pandemic strikes in the future, we're prepared.

Albany County Department of Health Commissioner

To ensure struggling families had Dr. Elizabeth Whalen adequate food supplies, we partnered with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York to secure food donations and then worked with the New York National Guard to deliver it. As a result of this partnership, as of this writing, we’ve sent out 3,200 35-pound boxes of the essentials to just over 1,000 households.

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As we move past the initial crisis and begin discussing regional re-opening, we must take stock of what lessons we have learned and start adapting to the new normal. We need to reduce the number of employees working in close proximity, whether that’s achieved through alternative work sites and multiple shifts, or by continuing to have staff work remotely.

Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis has brought the issue of health equity into sharp focus, something that my administration has made a top priority over the years. When you consider that minority communities across our state and nation have been disproportionately affected by this virus, it is another important reminder of the work that lies ahead.

Two years ago, researchers at some of the nation’s top universities, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the I.R.S., published the Opportunity Atlas to illustrate the disturbing fact that a person’s zip code determined their destiny in life. It illustrated the sad reality that if you lived in a poor, urban minority community, your opportunities for social and economic mobility were limited along with your chances for a longer life expectancy.

At the same time, the report also illustrated that these limitations are within our control. Affordable housing, available transportation, job training and employment opportunities, family support programs, access to health care (particularly prenatal and maternal health care), are all interventions that are effective in creating positive outcomes.

As we address the short-term effects of this pandemic, and as we prioritize policy and spending decisions going forward, we can also make great strides in creating a more equitable recovery for future generations.

Feeding Our Most Vulnerable Citizens During COVID-19

By Don Lehman, Director of Public Affairs for Warren County

W

arren County employees and county supervisors put hundreds of pounds of food in the pantries of the county's senior citizens in late March and early April thanks to a collaborative effort by multiple county agencies and volunteers.

The Warren/Hamilton Counties Office for the Aging spearheaded the effort to get food staples to seniors who can’t, or shouldn’t, leave their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of frozen meals were delivered as well as part of the home-delivered meal program.

According to Warren County OFA Director Deanna Park, more than 500 senior citizens in Warren and Hamilton counties received food “care packages” in late March. OFA staff then produced thousands of extra frozen meals to store for possible use if delivery or production issues occurred for the county’s home-delivered meal program during the pandemic.

Dozens of volunteers and Warren County employees took the food care packages to homes and meal sites far and wide, from Glens Falls to Long Lake, to recipients who get meals through the counties’ meals program.

Each senior got packages that included combinations of tuna fish, soups, juices, fruit cup or applesauce, granola bars, peanut butter, crackers, cereal, a loaf of bread, and cookies.

Home-delivered meal drivers then brought the packages to seniors, assisted by Warren County Department of Public Works employees who volunteered their time to drive to some of the rural areas of the Adirondack counties.

A similar effort followed in early to mid-April to produce and store 4,500 frozen meals that OFA mealsite staff prepared in addition to their standard hot meals for home delivery. Two Lake George businesses, Adirondack Pub & Brewery and Scotty’s Lakeside Resort/Restaurant, donated freezer space so the meals could be safely stored until needed.

The meals will serve as a backup plan if delivery schedules or production is affected during Frozen meals for delivery. the COVID-19 outbreak. They can be delivered to meal sites or to specific clients as needed.

There are enough meals for each of the 500-plus clients in both Hamilton County and Warren County to have eight different meals. And the meals will be used these in the event that the county is not able to prepare and distribute meals according to the new schedule.

The seniors who were on the receiving end of the deliveries were very happy to know they were being thought of, with OFA getting letters from a number who were moved by the effort.

Director Park noted that each care package included enough shelf-stable food items for approximately five to seven meals, information on COVID-19 and resources for our seniors, as well as an activity packet.

Thank you to everyone who has offered to help, pitched in with supplies and deliveries, and the amazing staff I have the pleasure of working with. Keep smiling, we will get through this.

Letter from Whitehall Elementary student.

Notes from Whitehall Elementary School students went with some of them as well.

Reusable shopping bags for the items were donated by Caregiver Support Initiative, Catholic Charities, Upstate Agency Insurance Company, and State Farm Insurance Company, and OFA employees, assisted by Warren County supervisors Gene Merlino, Rachel Seeber, Ben Driscoll and Matt Simpson, packed the bags.

Care packages for seniors in Warren County

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Lessons Learned Hotspot Testing and Morgue Expansion

By Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Executive

A

s Suffolk County navigates the front lines of this public health crisis, one of our goals is to ensure that other communities can learn from our experience.

The coronavirus is fast, it is intense, and we are responding with rapid innovation to strengthen our preparedness, with the ultimate goal of saving lives.

Finally, Fidelis Care provided tents for these sites in addition to bags for resources and giveaways promoted by the county.

Education for individuals receiving tests is undoubtedly the most important component of this initiative. A County Health Services employee speaks to each person onsite and informs them that they will receive their test results within four to five days.

Additionally, they provide key information on isolation procedures, disinfection protocols, and instructions on what to do should their symptoms worsen.

A crucial initiative, of which we were the first county in the state to implement, was to sponsor and coordinate hot spot testing in communities where the county initially saw exponential increases in COVID-19 positive cases. We analyzed the numbers based on the overall increase of positive cases and per-capita data; and in response, created five hot spot testing sites in the communities of Amityville, Brentwood/Central Islip, Huntington Station, Riverhead and Wyandanch.

We also know that the residents utilizing these hot-spot testing sites are experiencing much more than symptoms. Economic support, food and job security, and public

Every tested individual receives

Regional public-private partnerships were key to getting these testing sites up and running as quickly as possible. With the assistance of the state, Suffolk County secured nasal swab test kits from Bio Reference Laboratories; these tests are administered at our sites by the medical staff of HRH Care, Suffolk's Federally-Qualified Health Centers.

The physical logistics of the sites, including parking and patient queuing, was coordinated by Reef Technologies, a North-American Parking Infrastructure network.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

these resources while on-site: •

COVID 19 Flyer: "Steps to protect yourself and your families and how to stop the spread"

•

CDC Guidance: “How to Create Your Own Face Mask”

•

One Face Covering

•

New York State guidance on evictions pause

•

Updated Suffolk Transit COVID 19 Policies

•

The names, locations, and contact numbers of our local food banks

•

Resources for free and discounted Internet provider services

service changes are just some of the many challenges impacting our communities with alarming speed and severity.

It is our hope that as we move through this first phase of the pandemic and respond to flare ups or a potential second wave, other counties can utilize this information and follow this example, as we believe hot spot testing to be an incredibly effective and crucial step reducing the spread of the virus.

Another facet of this battle has been to address the question of Suffolk County's morgue capacity, which we tripled

in under a month. Informed by monitoring the situations of Nassau County and New York City, where death tolls hit earlier than in Suffolk, we were able to anticipate and prepare for the inevitable overflow that our hospitals, nursing homes, funeral homes and Medical Examiner's office would experience.

Through difficult and unfathomable conversations, county forces were able to accommodate the staggering number of decedents through the conversion of an existing county building, adding storage for 450 remains. With the addition of two new Conex containers that together store up to 88 decedents on county property, Suffolk County's total capacity is now at an unprecedented 609 at the time of this writing. Each of our new morgue facilities utilize a racking system constructed by the County's Department of Public Works (DPW), while the County's Medical Examiner's office is picking up hospital overflow in coordination with the Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, and DPW. These efficiencies have left us prepared for the worst, and we hope that our work will help inform other counties in the state as they prepare for and respond to, what is perhaps the most difficult and horrifying part of this crisis.

Additionally, Suffolk County provided information regarding: •

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles closures and online access instructions

•

Unemployment eligibility and filing instructions

•

United Way Benefit Fund resources

•

Department of Social Services options

•

The County's food-security program and Medicaid benefits, and

•

Cellular companies with available discounts

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Nassau County Combatting Food Insecurity on Multiple Fronts

By Tom Oldfather, NYSAC Communications Manager

A

s the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic shutdown have devastated local, national and international economies, more New Yorkers are in need of food assistance than ever before. In Nassau County, the effects of the pandemic were felt swiftly.

“SNAP benefits in Nassau County and applications doubled in the month of March,” said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. “Food insecurity is a growing problem due to the pandemic.”

To address the growing food insecurity concerns in lowerincome communities, County Executive Curran, in late April, launched the first of a series of food distribution events in Hempstead, one of the communities hit hardest by COVID-19.

The county provided food for 1,295 families at the event and for another 900 families at a distribution event in Uniondale several days later.

By May, Curran announced that approximately 5,000 families in need had been provided a week’s worth of food supplies.

"No one in our county should have to worry about where their family’s next meal is coming from. All levels of government must act fast to address the alarming rise in food insecurity, and Nassau will continue to do everything we can to make sure we all make it to the other side of this crisis," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.

Nassau County also built food assistance into the COVID-19 testing process, ensuring everyone tested at one of the county’s four outdoor testing facilities was provided a free box of food supplies.

By forging a partnership with Long Island’s community health clinics, or Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FHQC), the county was able to rapidly expand testing to four sites in Nassau’s hardest hit communities. All four testing locations are conveniently located and accessible by the Nassau InterCounty Express (NICE) Bus, which is currently not collecting fares and services are provided without regard to insurance or immigration status, and multi-lingual translation is available.

"One of the best tools Nassau County has to begin a safe reopening is mass testing, particularly in our hardest hit areas.

This crisis has affected all of us, but it’s shining a bright light on long-standing inequities that we must continue to address in our county and country. That’s why Nassau County is rapidly scaling up access to COVID-19 testing and services in our hardest hit communities, which are predominantly communities of color,” Curran said.

To fund the initiative, the county set aside $1 million in federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for food banks to collect, distribute and purchase food. The county then worked with school districts and community stakeholders to identify families in need and ensure they were made aware of upcoming food distributions.

Additionally, in partnership with Long Island Cares, Nassau continues to provide food assistance to veterans through the Nassau "Vetmart." Drive-through services for veterans in need and their families are available and volunteers are available to provide delivery services to veterans who are not able to utilize drive-through facilities.

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Nassau County Executive Laura Curran at a food distribution event.

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Setting the Stage for Success Compiled from Westchester County Communications

I

n the realm of emergency response, logistics doesn’t often generate the kind of headline grabbing enthusiasm that the heroic actions of doctors, nurses, law enforcement or other frontline workers. But for those heroes to do their jobs, they need to be provided with the supplies and other resources that make it possible for them to serve us. Counties play a crucial role in making that happen.

Westchester County was one of the first counties in the state to see spikes in COVID-19 cases, announcing our first confirmed case on March 3. In a matter of days, Westchester County became the east coast epicenter of the virus. Since then, we have worked relentlessly to provide the resources necessary to keep our citizens safe, and provide first responders with the tools they need to do their jobs.

Supporting First Responders Looking back on initial outbreak of COVID-19, it can be hard to fully appreciate just how suddenly the crisis ballooned and surpassed our health care system’s capacity. In mid-March, as the number of cases was exploding across New York, we issued a call to all available New York State Licensed Nurses to step forward and work in service to their neighbors. Several days later, we expanded the call to include certified physician assistants (PAs). In the first week we received responses from 122 volunteers to our call to healthcare workers: 90 nurses, 12 doctors and 20 others.

It also quickly became apparent that the immense demands on first responders’ time, coupled with the closing of schools, would create major childcare issues. For our first responders to be able to focus on their work, they needed to know that their children were well taken care of. To solve the problem, we partnered with the State and school districts in Westchester to open their doors to the children of healthcare workers and first responders so that those on the front lines could continue to do their jobs that benefit all of us.

We also undertook an effort to reduce stress on local health care workers by teaming up with the Westchester Hotel Association and Westchester County Tourism & Film, to match guest room donations to local hospitals for use by critical staff they designate. Not only did this allow those workers to lessen their commutes between long shifts but it also helped reduce possible exposure for their families.

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Providing Personal Protective Equipment As our collective understanding of COVID-19 improved over the course of March, it became increasingly clear that securing a supply of Personal Protective Equipment or PPE – masks, gloves, gowns and face shields – on a massive scale, was of vital importance to slowing the spread of the virus. With PPE supplies increasingly hard to come by, we initiated a call for donations of PPE and set up a dedicated email address for persons interested in donating or selling PPE to the county.

Over the following weeks, donations poured in. We received a donation of PPE for Westchester County’s frontline workers from the American Chinese United Care Alliance. The donation of protective gowns, masks and gloves, along with a monetary donation for Westchester Medical Center and White Plains Hospital, was a major boost in the county’s fight against COVID-19 in Westchester.

We also received major donations of masks for personal use from Hanes Brands Inc., and the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA). The masks were then distributed to villages and towns across the county as well as to religious communities in need.

Tax Relief for Residents Providing tax relief to our residents was crucial to mitigating the most harmful effects of the crisis and providing necessary financial relief to families suffering furloughs, layoffs and struggling to put food on the table.

To accomplish this, we introduced legislation amending the Westchester County Tax Law to authorize towns in Westchester County to waive penalties for the late payment of county taxes, county district taxes and assessments until July 15, 2020. This allowed a penalty-free additional 76 days to pay taxes.

Shortly after introducing the legislation Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.22, authorizing the plan and paving the way for Westchester County to ease the financial burden on our residents when they needed it most.

At the time of this writing, counties around the state are just beginning to transition out of social isolation and toward a safe, responsible reopening. This will undoubtedly present unknown challenges, just as the initial outbreak and corresponding shutdown did. The only thing we know for sure is that Westchester County government will be there, innovating and facilitating the recovery every step of the way.

Coordinating Antibody Testing in Erie County

By Kate Pierce, NYSAC Multimedia Specialist

T

owards the end of May, the Erie County Department of Health began offering COVID-19 antibody testing in a series of clinics throughout the county.

Antibody tests involve checking blood to look for antibodies, which are proteins that help fight off infections and usually provide protection against getting that disease again. The test can indicate if a patient has had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

The Center for Disease Control uses antibody testing to learn more about how the body’s immune system responds to the virus and to explore how the virus spreads among people exposed to it.

Conducting local antibody tests provides a sense of who has been exposed to COVID-19 in the Erie County community.

At the time of this writing, appointments were being offered in half-hour increments held three days a week at clinics in Amherst, Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Depew, Hamburg, Lackawanna, Orchard Park, Springville and Williamsville.

“This is a massive effort coordinated by our health department, many other county departments, and partners in our cities and towns, and our thanks go out to them and to the staff and volunteers who will be managing these sites,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

Testing conducted through the Erie County Department of Health was offered at no cost to residents, without doctor referrals, and with foreign language interpretations services available.

Antibody tests are not used to diagnose COVID-19 and depending on the timing of an antibody test compared to when someone was infected, the test may not find antibodies in someone with a current COVID-19 infection. The test is more effective if done at least 21 days after the onset of any COVID-19 symptoms.

Erie County's website features a searchable map of testing sites.

Health officials also cautioned that there is no guarantee that having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 can protect someone from getting infected again or, if they do, how long the protection might last.

Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Burstein described this time period right now as borrowed until we do get a vaccination for COVID 19, which is why we must continue to follow proper safety measures to keep our numbers down.

“Regardless of your antibody test results, you should continue social distancing, wear a mask when you could be near other people, wash your hands with soap and water often, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, and minimize the time you spend in public spaces, especially if you are elderly or have a chronic disease,” said Commissioner Burstein.

Appointments were required and scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Within only 24 hours of the May 19th announcement of available antibody testing, clinics became booked into June and fielded thousands of calls.

“With our diagnostic test locations, we are seeing a significant number of no-show appointments,” said Dr. Burstein. “By having appointments scheduled within the next week, we hope to reduce those no-shows and maximize the number of people we can test.”

Antibody test results are mailed within 7-10 days, and anyone who receives an antibody test through the County Department of Health is being encouraged to speak to their health care provider about their results.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Reopening Economies CNY and Mohawk Valley Counties Work Together

By Mark LaVigne, NYSAC Deputy Director

E

ven before the State of New York released its reopening strategy, county leaders from across Central New York and the Mohawk Valley worked together to develop a joint regional reopening plan designed to support the safe restart of economic activities in the 12 counties that make up the regions.

As they planned for reopening, leaders from the regions centered on Syracuse and Utica — which are connected by the Thruway and share many economic similarities — worked together to move their regions forward.

“We look at the Mohawk Valley region and the Central New York region as kind of one,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente. “We have been working on a plan for the last couple of weeks that takes into account where we are and where we expect to be over the next few weeks.”

“When you look at our infection rates of COVID and where we are as a region with our active cases flattening out, and our ability to understand more of where the active cases are … our region is really at a point now where we have the ability to fight the virus in real time, and that’s what is critical in any sort of restart,” said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon.

Picente and McMahon worked with executives in counties covering the two regions to discuss the reopening process. The counties — including Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Tompkins, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Otsego and Schoharie — submitted a formal plan to Governor Andrew Cuomo in early May. As they developed their plan, the county leaders in the regions prepared for returning to a new normal.

"But part of that new normal will continue to be physical distancing and different things that are just going to be what life is like. We'll be smarter because we've lived through the COVID-19 pandemic," said McMahon.

“Every decision we made was about stopping the spread and returning the community to a sense of normalcy,” Picente said.

That sense of normalcy came Friday, May 15, after the counties in the region met the state’s reopening criteria.

"The numbers were low… Onondaga County and our brother and sister communities [were] doing the right thing and their numbers [were] coming down," said Cortland County Legislature Chairman Paul Heider.

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CNY/Mohawk Valley Restart Flow Chart

COUNTY RESTART REGION

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT • HEALTH • LOCAL GOVERNMENT • COMMUNITY

BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL

COMMUNICATION PLAN

HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL

• COMMUNITY • GOVERNMENT • BUSINESS • PUBLIC EDUCATION

CDC OPENING GUIDELINES

LOCAL GOV ADVISORY COUNCIL

RISK ASSESSMENT

REOPENING REOPENING PLAN PLAN

• VULNERABLE POPULATIONS • HEALTH & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

ECONOMIC PUBLIC HEALTH PHASED OPENING

REGIONAL DASHBOARD

REGIONAL SWAT TEAM

REGIONAL TRACING

REGIONAL TESTING CAPACITY

HOSPITAL CAPACITY

MEDICAL

BEST PRACTICES

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE

PHASE 1

INFRASTRUCTURE

PHASE 2 ISOLATION

ANTIBODY

VIRAL

PHASE 3

PHASE 4

The plan developed by the two regions included a CNY/ Mohawk Valley Reopening Flow Chart.

“The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered government, the business economy and life in general in our nation,” said Fulton County Board of Supervisors Chairman Warren Greene. “The governor has laid out a very gradual reopening plan based upon health metrics and each region’s experience with the virus’ impacts.”

To get there, the regions needed to meet the state’s guidelines.

They needed to ramp up coronavirus testing and contact tracing, the two metrics that were under a county’s control.

The Central New York region, including Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Cortland and Madison counties, needed 233 contact tracers. The Mohawk Valley, comprised of Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Otsego, and Schoharie counties, needed 146 tracers.

“We are going to go forward or backward as a Mohawk Valley Region,” Montgomery County Executive Matthew Ossenfort said. “That’s why coordination is so important. Those metrics are calculated based on an aggregate of the region.”

“In order for business to reopen, each business and industry must have a plan to protect employees and consumers, make the physical workspace safer and implement processes that lower risk of infection in the business,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup on May 11, 2020.

Picente said continuing through the next set of reopening phases would depend on each region’s aggregate COVID-19 numbers. The regions both met the seven criteria put out

by Cuomo by May 15th, and they must keep meeting those metrics in order to continue through the next three phases of the reopening process.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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New York City Hall Providing Regular Updates Compiled from New York City Communication

T

hroughout the pandemic, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio kept leaders up to date with a range of resources designed to stop the spread of COVID-19. Here’s a sample of an update email that City Hall sent to elected leaders on May 28, 2020.

The Mayor recently spoke from City Hall and announced details about our newest addition to the Testing and Tracing program, launched by our Community Advisory Board, and gave updates about our current fiscal situation. He also provided the latest on the City's three progress indicators.

Testing & Tracing The City’s goal on testing capacity for this week was 20k tests/ day, but we’ve surpassed it and have reached ~27,000 tests/day, with 180+ sites for New Yorkers. Our new goal is to hit 50,000 tests/day by August 1st. On tracing, the City’s goal was to have 1,000 tracers in the field by June 1st, but we’ll now have 1,700

by June 1. Our new target is to have 2,500 contact tracers by the first half of June.

Take Care The other critical piece to our testing and tracing program is ensuring New Yorkers who test positive or are symptomatic are able to recuperate safely without endangering others. To this end, we are providing hotels for those who are unable to isolate at home. We will also provide meals, prescriptions & medication, as well as mental health support. And our Test & Trace team will be in regular contact with those who test positive by having daily calls, text messages, and in-person visits. Here’s how this will work: RESOURCE NAVIGATORS If New Yorkers can safely separate at home, we’ll bring free support to them through our “Resource Navigators.” A Navigator will be the point person when New Yorkers need something during their recovery -- food, medicine, laundry, etc. We also understand that this only works if our Navigators really know their communities, are culturally competent, and linguistically accessible. To accomplish this, we’ve partnered with 15 community-based organizations to hire these Navigators. We’ll have 200 Navigators citywide to start. Navigators will be on the ground next week and ramp up over the next two weeks.

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TAKE CARE HOTELS We know many can’t safely separate at home.

We have lots of multigenerational homes, smaller apartments, or places with elderly at risk. For these cases we’ll have 1,200 free hotel rooms ready to go.

We want to more than double that to 3,000 rooms by late summer.

H+H and hotel staff will give New Yorkers in hotels daily medical check-ins, meals, laundry, medicine delivery, and mental health support. Doctors will be able to evaluate whether this option of rooms makes sense for New Yorkers. Any doctor, nurse, physician’s assistant across the entire City can email: CommCareCP@nychhc.org to refer patients to hotels. Those who are symptomatic but don’t have a doctor can call our COVID hotline at 844-692-4692 and ask for the COVID Hotel Program.

COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD As we keep growing Test & Trace, we want to make sure we’re always listening & improving our approach. To this end, we are convening a Community Advisory Board from leaders from 60 organizations across the City. They’ll be meeting twice a week and they’ll be our guides to best reach New Yorkers during these next phases.

Other Recent Announcements TESTING SITES We launched a map to let New Yorkers know where the closest testing site is, all they need is to type an address. Got to https://www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/gettested/covid-19-testing.page to find a testing site or sign up for a COVID-19 antibody survey appointment.

EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAM The Emergency Food Program at nyc.gov/getfood delivers over 1 million meals per day. The City is currently working with approximately 30 food providers and looking for more partners; especially providers with expertise in culturally competent meals.

COVID-19 HEATWAVE PLAN We are purchasing over 74,000 A/Cs for vulnerable New Yorkers. HRA will be reaching out to eligible New Yorkers.

CURE VIOLENCE PROVIDERS The City is partnering with community groups to do outreach and education on social distancing as part of a broader effort to enlist civilians to help encourage compliance rather than relying solely on police.

As of 1 PM today the number of positive cases in NYC is 197,351. We have lost 16,610 New Yorkers due to COVID-19, with another 4,752 deaths likely due to the disease. DOHMH now has many more categories of data accessible to the public, including data broken down by zip code, and other demographic data.

NYSAC Webinar Series NYSAC strives to provide training and education to county leaders on issues vital to public policy and county services.

Topics range from Open Government Law and Best Labor Law practices, to State Budget Briefings and Understanding COVID Relief Programs.

To view upcoming webinars or recap previous slides and recordings, visit

www.NYSAC.org/webinars

Our webinar series addresses the questions that counties are grappling with during this local response to the global pandemic.

Your county staff will be able to plug into live video presentations or rewatch older webinars on our YouTube channel.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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Working Together Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments’ COVID-19 Response

by Nola Goodrich-Kresse, MS, MCHES, Public Health Educator / PIO Orleans County Health Department

G

enesee and Orleans Counties Health Departments have had a unique relationship since 2012. Although two separate health departments, we have a crossjurisdictional relationship (CJS) with integrated services and shared leadership and staffing. Over the past eight years, we have merged the majority of our policies, social media platforms, procedures and forms to reflect both counties while also maintaining our county identities where appropriate.

Engaging the Public

Laying the Foundation for Success

In order to continue to engage the community members, under the direction of Public Health Director for both Genesee and Orleans Counties, Paul Pettit, the PIO team of Nola GoodrichKresse (Orleans County Public Health Educator / Lead PIO for COVID-19), and Mari Hamilton (Genesee County Public Health Educator / PIO) developed GO Health Minute a video platform utilized to share guidance, information and encouragement while staying aligned with the mission and vision of the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.

As the local chief health strategists, we have spent years working with numerous county partners to provide training, referrals, collaboration and support in our communities. This has played an important role in our current COVID-19 response; without these established relationships, providing consistent messaging and response would have been much more challenging.

With an all hands-on deck approach, we are focused on providing services to our residents in a timely, effective and safe manner. We are working as a unified team to provide contact tracing, assisting individuals and families who have tested positive for COVID-19 or were in contact with someone who tested positive, providing guidance and consistent messaging to our local and regional media outlets and consistently updating our websites, social media platforms and emergency applications.

Resiliency Against Cyber Attacks Just as cases of COVID-19 were beginning to increase locally, the Orleans County website was hacked and disabled for approximately two weeks. This resulted in the losss all the links associated with our regular services as well as all COVID-19 guidance for the public, businesses and organizations depending on updated guidance. The Orleans County Information Technology Team worked diligently to develop a new website platform which took approximately two weeks. During this time, the health department was able to leverage our CJS relationship and referred everyone to the Genesee County Health Department website which has the same information as Orleans had on theirs.

The Public Information Officers (PIO) work cohesively to provide accurate, timely and consistent messaging in a way that all community members can understand and take appropriate action as needed. Utilizing social media platforms to reach people where they are has helped the PIOs give clear factual information.

As of the writing of this article, 20 GO Health Minutes have been produced and posted via YouTube (GOHealth NY), Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (GOHealthNY) with topics ranging from social distancing, handwashing, cloth face coverings, self-care, and running errands safely, to Older Adult and Food Distribution, being alone without being lonely, graduating in 2020, real estate, small businesses, and cyber security.

Our goal is to do several "Minutes" each weekday throughout our COVID-19 response. Each post is shared on our platforms and then the "Host" is given permission to share on their own social media and/or business pages. All of the videos have reached over 200 people with several engagements according to the Facebook analytics.

We are seeing that people are viewing the videos quickly upon their posting and are encouraged that they are reaching out to a broad audience. As our response becomes more manageable we will develop a survey for our friends/followers to evaluate how this outreach impacted our "audience." We expect this will be a new form of outreach for both departments and an opportunity to help our residents understand the services we provide and the value of public health.

As we begin to reopen our communities and adapt to the new normal of life after COVID-19, we look forward to the next eight years of continued collaboration that will be stronger, more efficient and more resilient than ever before as a result of weathering this crisis together.

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“Several years ago, St. Lawrence County joined the P-Card program and committed to make it a success.

That commitment has paid dividends.

Start saving today with the Payment Solutions Program

Now we have a steady and growing revenue stream just from changing the way we pay for things we were already buying.”

Mike Cunningham, Director of Governmental Services

NYSAC’s Payment Solutions (P-Card) Program, in partnership with PFM, provides counties with a tool to create an annual revenue stream, simply by paying your bills.

The P-Card, which is a special type of credit card, streamlines the purchase of supplies, furniture, construction materials, utilities and much more, saving time and money for your county.

For more information, please email PCardTeam@pfm.com PFM is the marketing name for a group of affiliated companies providing a range of services. All services are provided through separate agreements with each company. This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice or a specific recommendation. Payment Solutions services are provided through PFM Financial Services LLC. For more information regarding PFM’s services or entities, please visit www.pfm.com NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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NYSAC News | www.nysac.org 35 ©2018 KeyCorp. 180906-461780

NY Counties Lead Timeline March 7th through 27th March 10 th

National guard troops deployed to Westchester County.

N

ew York’s counties have been on the front lines leading the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, innovating, adapting and finding solutions to unforeseen problems.

Day and night, seven days a week, county governments have been working to keep their residents safe and healthy; providing tests, delivering meals, distributing life-saving PPE, supporting local businesses and lifting spirits.

NYSAC has been cataloging these efforts throughout the pandemic as part of our NY Counties Lead initiative. This collection, which can be viewed in its entirety at nysac.org/ counties_innovating, will not only help tell the story of county government leadership during this extraordinary time, but also serve as a resource for counties to learn from one another and collaborate moving forward.

March 7 th

Governor Issues Executive Order 202.0 Declaring a State of Emergency.

Though the efforts undertaken by county leaders across New York State’s 62 counties are too numerous to fully account for here, we have endeavored to provide a snapshot of the historic and unprecedented mobilization of New York’s counties, in service of their communities.

March 20 th

Rockland County Department of Health called on residents to help enforce the Governor's restrictions on mass gatherings, asking residents to report any gathering of any size.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Suffolk County launched the Business Recovery Unit. The unit was created to address the concerns and questions that businesses had amid the coronavirus outbreak, as well as track data and information provided by local businesses.

Prior to having a single confirmed case of COVID-19, Onondaga County announced the opening of a testing site at Syracuse Community Health Center to prevent a flow of potentially COVID-positive people from seeking tests in hospital emergency rooms.

Saratoga County Board of Supervisors authorized the allocation of $1 million to to be dedicated to hiring staff and buying the supplies necessary for the Department of Public Health to execute the county's emergency operations plan and support county operations.

March 19 th

Chautauqua County announced the launch of CHQbuylocal.com, a website where people can find a list of open businesses (for takeout or delivery).

March 14 th

Yates County announced the creation of a COVID-19 task force prior to receiving their first confirmed case. The task force met daily to proactively plan and manage the response to the coronavirus.

March 21st

Delaware County Board of Supervisors and County Treasurer announced leniency in collection of sales and occupancy taxes to help businesses struggling during pandemic.

March 18 th

March 16 th

In anticipation of closures to seniors’ centers, Rensselaer County proactively added all seniors who typically received meals at one of five county senior centers to their Meals on Wheels program. This move ensured uninterrupted meal service and provided the County Department for the Aging with the opportunity to conduct wellness checks.

March 17 th

Franklin County announced the availability of free WiFi from Town Hall that residents could use from their cars.

Monroe County Department of Public Health announced deployment of "strike teams" to perform at-home COVID-19 testing. The teams, which consisted of two state-certified medical professionals and one driver, tested individuals who had been in close contact with COVID-positive individuals. Health Department officials identified high-risk individuals through contact tracing after a positive test result.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran established a Coronavirus Economic Advisory Council to assess the countywide impact on both small and large businesses. As part of this effort, Hofstra University aided with creation of a data collection strategy to assist in addressing and mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic.

Broome County established free county daycare for the children of essential workers.

St. Lawrence County established a War Room emergency operations center in the legislative chambers and launched mobile app with COVID-19 news and alerts through the County Sheriff ’s Office.

March 22nd

Oswego County reached out to local retailers, distributors and manufacturers to ask that the county be given “right of first refusal” for personal protective equipment and supplies to ensure first responders and health care workers had sufficient access to lifesaving supplies.

Erie County announced they were temporarily waiving the face-to-face meeting requirement for TANF applicants to help keep residents safe while ensuring they could still access financial support during the crisis.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, announed an initiative called Light A Light: County Executive's Tribute to Healthcare Workers, was intended to show support and solidarity with health care workers who risked their lives throughout the pandemic.

March 23 rd

Following a dramatic increase in the number of confirmed cases, Cayuga Health and Tompkins County officials announced the opening a new COVID-19 sampling center location for patients who meet screening criteria for testing to handle more widespread screening.

Nassau and Suffolk Counties opened the state’s second and third drive-through testing facilities. The Nassau County testing location opened at Jones Beach and the Suffolk County location at Stony Brook University.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the launch of a citywide network to provide food for needy families and individuals. Kathryn Garcia, the city’s sanitation commissioner, is responsible for creating, operationalizing, and overseeing the structure.

March 27 th Putnam County launched a 2-1-1 phone service for residents to receive non-emergency COVID-19 information to help reduce the incoming 9-1-1-call volume.

Erie County launched a webpage identifying companies with job openings noting that while many businesses shut down due to the Coronavirus, other companies were hiring, especially in the grocery and food production industries.

Continued on following pages

March 30th through April 27th March 31

st

Tioga County Economic Development & Planning — which branded itself as TEAM Tioga — began conducting a 10-minute survey via email to gather information in preparation for federal advantage stimulus funds.

March 30 th

Courts in Lewis, Jefferson, Oswego, Herkimer, Oneida and Onondaga counties began holding “virtual court,” to ensure essential proceedings continued.

April 2 nd

Cortland County launched the ESRI Explore Countylevel Coronavirus Impact Planning searchable database.

The dashboard presented a demographic data snapshot of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in relation to hospital bed counts, population and businesses.

Warren County Board of Supervisors launched “A Taste of Optimism” to promote local restaurants that were working to keep everyone fed and their staffs employed as residents waited out the COVID-19 outbreak by staying safe at home.

Herkimer County officials established self-quarantine guidelines for visitors and tourists to follow in response to concerns about individuals and families visiting the area to stay at summer homes or rentals.

April 1 st

Cattaraugus County COVID response task force works with local companies and school district to design and 3D-print N95 masks to protect the whole face for medical professionals.

April 22 nd April 20

Schuyler County's Office for the Aging announced a new program to connect seniors with volunteers who would do grocery shopping and pharmacy pick-ups on their behalf, protecting this vulnerable population from potential exposure to the virus.

April 14 th

Jefferson Community College permitted students from its Collegiate Science Technology Entry Program to bring the school’s 3D printers home to produce parts for face shields and ear savers for masks.

April 13 th

Ontario County launched a partnership with Canandaigua Churches in Action, the City of Geneva, and Foodlink to supply households with a 25-lb box of emergency food in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

April 17

th

April 21 st

th

The Madison County Health Department recommended that businesses only allow people with their face covered in their place of business.

Niagara County Legislature passed a second extension of the county tax deadline.

The new deadline was intended to provide financial relief to residents as they waited for federal stimulus aid to arrive.

Otsego County announced the reopening of their domestic violence and homeless shelters; two facilities of vital importance during the crisis.

Albany County launched their Data Dashboard. The online tool tracks virtually every aspect of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus and was used to enhance the county’s response to the outbreak.

The data was updated daily and included total positives cases of COVID-19 and breakdowns by county zip code, race/ethnicity, age group and gender.

April 6 th

Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office announced it was collecting non-perishable food and pet food items to deliver and donate to local food banks/animal shelters for distribution.

Livingston County Administrator Ian M. Coyle was joined by his son Christopher Coyle, a high school freshman, to answer COVID-19 questions from the county’s under-18 demographic. The video was broadcast on the County’s YouTube channel.

April 5 th

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon launched a voluntary, two-week “shelter in place” initiative. The directive asked residents to alternate the days they go out of their homes to run errands or utilize parks by birth year; even years on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, odd years on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

April 7 th

Aileen McNabb-Coleman, Chairwoman of the Cayuga County Legislature, called for an emergency order to close the playgrounds and sports fields due to number of people gathering there.

April 8 th

Clinton County issued a public health order closing seasonal campgrounds until May 1st to limit unnecessary travel and minimize public gatherings.

The public health director in Orleans and Genesee counties urged all residents in the community to take the coronavirus seriously, noting a recent doubling of the number of cases.

Schoharie County ARC deployed all daytime staff to residential homes to help support residents with meals, dressing and bathing, in addition to helping keep this vulnerable population engaged and upbeat during a confusing time.

April 27 th Schenectady County COVID-19 Emergency Response Coalition hosted a free, no contact, drive-thru food pantry for county residents at Schenectady County Community College.

Sullivan County launched a COVID-19 dashboard with detailed information on positive cases, deaths, quarantines and an interactive map.

Ulster County announced partnership with the Human Rights Commission and Health Alliance to open a new testing facility in midtown Kingston that would serve residents in minority communities who lacked access to high-quality healthcare. This facility was one of the first instances of a testing facility established in a specific geographic region to deal with inequalities in the community.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer, joined by members of the Board of Legislators, signed the Property Tax Relief Law. The bill authorized towns to reduce late-payment penalties for all other town property taxpayers, regardless of specific hardship qualification, by as much as 80% through July 15.

Dutchess County announced the integration of a NYS Mobile Application allowing DCFS clients to scan required documents and submit that documentation from the safety of their home. The new app streamlined submittal of documents for critical social services.

April 23 rd

Chemung County Executive Christopher Moss announced that parking lot church services could lawfully be held and issued guidance for the maintenance of social distancing requirements including, requiring cars be parked six feet apart, windows remain at least halfway up, and prohibiting parishioners from sitting in pickup truck beds.

Continued on following page

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

39

April 29th through May 15th April 29 th

Allegany County warned residents to be leery of anyone asking for money, gift cards or other forms of currency. Officials also warned residents to be aware of other scams that are designed to trick people into giving away personal information such as passwords, account IDs or credit card details.

May 1 st

Fulton County Public Health Department provided health safety expertise in the planning of a food drive to help restock the Fulmont-Gloversville Food Pantry.

Columbia County Department of Health (CCDOH) in partnership with Columbia Memorial Health opened their first drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Columbia Greene Community College.

Greene County distributed cloth masks to residents at three locations across the county.

May 13 th

Chenango County Emergency Management Office and the City of Norwich Fire Department, in coordination with the DCMO BOCES, provided nearly 300 face shields to first responders.

May 14 th

May 7 th

Washington County formed the “Restarting Washington County” Advisory Committee to steer the reopening of county businesses and organizations.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Seneca County Board of Supervisors voted to make a substantial financial donation to its area food banks. Board Chairman Robert Hayssen said the supervisors all agreed to donate one full paycheck to the food banks.

May 4 th

Steuben County announced a program to provide seniors with a 3o-meal box of shelf-stable food; delivered by volunteers following all social distancing guidelines.

May 6 th

May 3 rd

Wyoming County Business Center made $200,000 in loans available to small businesses who had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Orange County Health Department released a new free mobile app to provide real-time information and updates related to the coronavirus pandemic.

May 15 th

Original NY on PAUSE Executive Order Expires, permitting counties who have met the state’s metrics for reopening to begin the process of restarting their economies.

The Wayne County Fair Board announced that to keep residents safe and healthy, they were cancelling the Wayne County Fair.

The Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties local health departments (LHDs) announced collaboration to develop a safe COVID-19 reopening of the North Country region and maintain consistent messaging using #NorthCountryStrong.

COUNTY SNAPSHOTS

Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon giving a daily briefing.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy giving an update on the Economic Development Strategic Plan.

A COVID-19 testing site in Warren County.

"Heroes Work Here" sign in Orange County, crafted by the Bruderhof Community.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncsarz and Council member Joel Feroleto in Delaware Park.

A COVID-19 testing site in Suffolk County.

Ontario County Public Health Director Mary Beer giving a briefing on COVID-19.

Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan hosting a virtual town hall on COVID-19.

Oneida County put on a sidewalk chalk contset for youth in the county, pictured are 3rd place winners.

The Walkway Over the Hudson in Dutchess County illuminated to spell out ‘THANK YOU!’ in honor of frontline workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Essex County Public Health Director Linda Beers speaking at the county complex in Elizabethtown.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County workers distributing hand sanitizer and masks to farmers.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

41

Local Health Departments Provide Foundation for COVID-19 Response

By Cristina Dyer-Drobnack, Program Director, NYSACHO

T

he COVID-19 pandemic is the public health crisis of the 21st century. While the COVID-19 response is extraordinary in magnitude, local health departments (LHDs) deliver the services needed to respond every single day.

Core public health services form the foundation fundamental to protecting a population’s health. The everyday work in each of the following six core services underpins the public health response to COVID-19.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Public health emergency preparedness and response includes planning, training, and maintaining readiness for public health. Prior to COVID-19, the threat of a global pandemic was theoretical to most - but not to local health departments. LHDs have been responding to public health emergencies for over a century, and starting in 2002, they began to formalize their emergency response processes.

LHDs integrated public health into broader county allhazards emergency plans and put pandemic response plans into action during the 2009 H1N1 Influenza pandemic. LHDs also maintain continuity of operations plans, conduct drills and exercises with staff and partners, and use core activities, such as annual flu vaccination clinics, to test and improve their ability to deliver medical counter-measures.

Communicable Disease Control Communicable disease control is where public health began. LHDs work daily to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases through activities such as disease surveillance and efforts to detect diseases in their early stages, immunizations, investigation and prevention of transmission through contact tracing, and isolation or quarantine, when needed. Contact tracing, a topic formerly obscure to most but gaining in public recognition, is the “who, how, why, when and where” of disease control that LHDs conduct daily. The process seeks to identify individuals infected with or exposed to emerging diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases and sexually transmitted infections.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Isolation and quarantine measures were most recently used during the 2019 Measles Outbreak. These were among the first public health defenses employed by New York’s LHDs as federal recommendations to identify travelers at risk of having COVID-19 were put in place.

Community Health Assessments LHDs conduct Community Health Assessments (CHAs) every few years. Working with their community partners, LHDs assess the health needs of the people in their community.

These assessments include an estimate and description of the health status of the population, social determinants such as housing and education that contribute to health issues; priorities for health improvement; availability of public health services and resources that can be mobilized to improve population health. Using these assessments, LHDs develop a community health improvement plan to track progress toward achieving public health outcomes. In a public health emergency such as COVID-19, these assessments empower local health departments to immediately know which populations are most vulnerable, where they are, and what resources are available to support emergency response.

Environmental Health Services

Control Your Energy Costs

Environmental health services protect the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink and recreate in. LHDs assure that safe and sanitary conditions are maintained at public drinking water supplies, food service establishments, children’s camps and other regulated facilities. They investigate public health nuisances to assure they are fixed by responsible parties. Public health sanitarians, engineers and technicians identify and mitigate environmental causes and exposures to prevent additional death and illness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that means monitoring public water supply capacity, addressing safe housing for migrant workers to help protect our food supply chain, educating community groups on safe food preparation and distribution, and helping restaurant cleaning, disinfection and social distancing compliance.

Family Health Services Family health services work to reduce perinatal, infant and maternal death and illness and to promote the health of infants, children, adolescents, and people of childbearing age. Because of their regular contact with families and community providers, LHDs engage in outreach and education about the potential risks of COVID-19 with pregnant women, child care providers and schools. LHDs are also working to assure remote access is available for services vital to children with disabilities and their families.

Chronic Disease Prevention Chronic disease prevention promotes public, community service and health care provider activities that encourage prevention, early detection and quality care delivery. These activities promote healthy communities and reduce risk factors such as tobacco use, poor nutrition and physical inactivity.

Many chronic diseases and/or health conditions, such as obesity, place individuals at greater risk of infection, serious illness and even death from COVID-19. Understanding the burden of chronic disease in the community helps LHDs tailor outreach, education and recommendations to community members at highest risk during this pandemic.

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Just as an individual needs a foundation of health to protect them from disease and injury, so too does a community need a public health foundation to protect them in both ordinary and extraordinary times.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org 43 www.megaenergy.org or 518.306.1996

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

Municipal Security Through the Pandemic Lens

By Randal R. Sickler, AIA Municipal Practice Leader, SWBR

A

safe and secure public building begins at the start of design and extends far beyond security cameras and metal detectors, particularly when it comes to protecting people during a public health crisis.

Safety and security are fundamental components of building design. As designers, we always factor security into design, but the higher risk which municipal facilities face, when it comes to employee and public health and safety, cannot be ignored.

Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must also learn to plan for health and sanitation issues. Even basic measures, such as pre-screening building visitors for health issues prior to entering buildings can contribute to maintaining a healthier environment. Mask or facial cover policies may need to be implemented when there are known public health issues.

Risk assessments, security features, and safety plans must be analyzed at the start of the design process, alongside site selection and space layouts. Protection of officials, staff, and the public from health threats also requires consideration in planning.

Does the layout allow social distancing recommendations? Is the HVAC system designed to evacuate exhaust air, rather than recycling it back into occupied space?

Risk & Vulnerability Assessments A one-size-fits-all security and health risk mitigation solution does not exist. However, conducting a “worst-case scenario” vulnerability and risk assessment defines the facility’s needs so the necessary options and technologies are considered. A risk assessment helps measure the building’s use, services offered, site and facility layout, and public accessibility.

Access Control Systems A secure entry/front desk with a clear line of site is the first line of defense for assessing potential threats. This is also a good location for a health screening checkpoint and restricting access to the facility during a public health crisis. Access control systems screen individuals entering the facility − be it a staffed security desk with a sign-in sheet or a remotely monitored advanced security authentication system.

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Electronic access control systems are a cost efficient and flexible option for monitoring entry points and restricting access to essential personnel. Electric strikes with swipe cards are the easiest option for retrofitting a renovated space, but electronic locksets offer a higher level of security.

Advanced Security Measures Facilities containing courtrooms or probation services are at risk for violence. Weapons screening is a tool for physical violence prevention, but its implementation demands additional waiting space and other long-term costs that must be considered. Since many active shooter incidences are employee-related, the designer and stakeholders must assess whether employees will be subject to weapons screening.

Bullet resistant wall systems are common in municipal buildings. Concrete provides thick and robust ballistics protection but can be cumbersome and expensive to install.

Fiberglass resin panels, however, can achieve similar levels of ballistic and forced entry resistance at a significantly lower weight and, often, price.

Tension escalation can occur more quickly in a loud space, particularly in a facility with human services. Considering acoustics during design can help lower risks for potentially violent or threatening situations. However, acoustic materials are typically absorptive and can harbor contagions more readily than smooth surfaces, which are simpler to disinfect.

Emergency Response Plans Advanced preparation for potentially dangerous situations, such as natural disasters, health pandemics, or threats of violence, can help protect everyone in the facility. Notification systems, evacuation routes with signage, health crises plans, lockdown procedures, and responder protocols are some of the elements essential to a strategic emergency plan.

Overall Health, Wellness, & Safety Successful municipal design incorporates comfort and efficiency for employees, convenience and usability for the public, aesthetics that blend with the community, and safety for those in the building and on site.

Workers with Disabilities Step Up to Provide COVID-19 Support

By Jennifer M. Lawrence, Director of Marketing & Communications New York State Industries for the Disabled

A

t a time when gratitude is owed to so many for keeping communities safe and healthy, we need to count among that group individuals with disabilities who are serving as essential workers of Governor Cuomo’s New York on PAUSE emergency plan.

New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (NYSID) has provided employment opportunities to this workforce for more than 45 years. The pride and diligence that individuals with disabilities put into these jobs have even greater importance and impact during the COVID-19 health emergency.

“I couldn’t be prouder of how workers with disabilities are keeping our counties safe right now,” said Maureen O’Brien, president and CEO. “NYSID’s membership of nonprofit provider agencies and partner associates puts thousands of individuals with disabilities to work each year. Now more than ever, these reliable workers are stepping up, with about 1,200 people currently providing enhanced cleaning services across the state.”

Even now, county government offices must remain open and safely accessible to the public.

Teams of custodians with disabilities are safeguarding these sites with specialized sanitizing requirements for high touch areas like doorways, keypads and other frequently-accessed surfaces, all while maintaining appropriate social distancing.

This is evident in public buildings like the Albany County Health Department and County Courthouse where Second Chance Opportunities cleaning staff have been providing increased services since the virus hit. Nichole Reed is a member of the cleaning team. “I feel privileged to be able to keep our front-line workers safe by doing my job at the Albany and Troy courthouses. I previously worked in health care jobs before joining the Second Chance Opportunities custodial team, so the need to help is deep in me,” she said.

Even now, county government offices must remain open and safely accessible to the public.

Teams of custodians with disabilities are safeguarding these sites.

In Oneida County, janitors employed at Human Technologies have been taking proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of government customers and the general public by providing enhanced COVID-19 disinfecting services at the Departments of Public Works, Social Services, Law Enforcement, and other essential public access sites.

“Our employees realize they are on the front line of this effort and have really stepped up for the good of their communities,” said Tim Giarrusso, president and CEO at Human Technologies.

The reliable work ethic of individuals with disabilities is also visible where NYSID Member Agencies produce and package emergency supplies like hand sanitizers, cleaning products, gloves, and other personal protective items. The need for these products has increased dramatically over the past several months, especially in the harder-hit downstate counties.

In the best of times, individuals with disabilities are the most vulnerable and under-employed segment of New York’s population. Yet here they are, working in stressful and critically important environments. They care about the health, safety and quality of life where they live and work, and it shows. We can’t thank them enough for their service to our state’s coronavirus emergency and their sacrifice on behalf of all New Yorkers.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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NYSAC thanks the following companies for their generous support of our 2020 Legislative Conference FEATURED SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

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N.K. Bhandari, Architecture & Engineering, PC National Association of Counties Nationwide Retirement Solutions Napoli Shkolnik PLLC Netsmart NY Environmental Protection & Spill Compensation Fund New York Power Authority New York State Office of the Attorney General

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Collar City Auctions Realty & Mgmt, Inc.

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Absolute Auctions & Realty, Inc. AXA Maser Consulting P.A. ProAct, Inc. Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux

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McFarland-Johnson, Inc. NYSAC News | Summer 2020

The Chazen Companies

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Maser Consulting P.A.

46

MVP Health Care

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NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

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NYSAC News | Summer 2020

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$70,000,000 $60,000,000 $50,000,000 $40,000,000 $30,000,000 $20,000,000 $10,000,000 $0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

49

A lot has happened in our world, but we remain focused on providing the needed pharmaceutical and healthcare services to our New York counties close to home as well as countless communities nationwide. As we move through these unprecedented times, our thoughts are with the people affected and everyone working to help those most in need. We will get through this together.

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50

NYSAC News | Summer 2020

NYSAC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS PROVIDE COST SAVINGS

Reduce Your 2021 Medical Plan Costs.

The Municipal Healthcare Financing Collective (MHFC) is a proven collaborative stop-loss program, enabling members to lower costs, stabilize risk, and recapture unspent premiums operating since 2018.

“The ability to get a return of our stop-loss premiums and reduce future costs is how we win together.

The MHFC makes this possible.”

Ron Caponera,

PREFERRED SERVICE PROVIDER Find out more: Call Eric Lintala 800-836-0026, x320 eric.lintala@aleragroup.com

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NYSAC Magazine_AleraGroup MHFC_summer issue.indd 1

YOUR MEMBERS WHILE MANAGING COSTS

Covid-19 brings great financial uncertainty. Now more than ever, it is crucial for employers to control costs by managing their family-building benefits.

The NY state mandate covers IVF treatment and fertility preservation as of January 2020, and gestational surrogacy starting in 2021. Offering a WINFertility managed family-building benefit will improve outcomes, lower costs and attract and retain top talent. WINFertility’s Nurse Care Managers will be your employees’ personal advocates, providing clinical oversight, emotional support and education throughout their journey.

Visit www.winfertility.com or contact tcarey@win-healthcare.com to see how WIN can help your organization.

5/5/2020 8:03:34 AM

Recently Passed Local Laws

By Patrick Cummings, NYSAC Counsel

N

YSAC tracks and makes available local laws that have been passed by our member counties. Understanding how New York counties are addressing their local issues and residents’ needs through local laws can provide ideas for you, as government leaders, to use in some variation in your county.

The County Health Department shall also have the authority to enforce this ordinance. Violations will be subject to the following penalties:

Below is a description of unique and recently passed local laws by our members as well as a web address link to find the entire the local law.

To read this local law in its entirety please find the following link: https://on.ny.gov/2WEwXqo.

First Offense: written warning; Second Offense: $100 penalty; Third and subsequent offense: $250 penalty.

Albany County Passed a Local Law to Lower the Levels of Plastic Waste The Albany County Legislature determined littered plastic products cause significant environmental harm and have burdened local governments with significant environmental cleanup costs. In response, the Legislature passed a local law to reduce the use of plastic straws and cutlery in order to lower plastic litter levels.

This local law requires all county restaurants, including fast food restaurants and/or beverage providing entities, and/or vendors to only offer plastic cutlery and straws, upon request from the customer. Restaurants may offer a "self-service" station for customers that includes straws and plastic cutlery.

Additionally, no establishment within the county shall offer to consumers any single-use straw or beverage stirrer made of plastic.

The County Health Department will engage the restaurant and food service community affected by this local law prior to implementation which occurs six months from when the local law was passed.

Suffolk County Passes Local Law to Help in Fight Against the Opioid Crisis To reduce the number of opiate overdose deaths, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services provides free naloxone training to all individuals, groups, and businesses that request it.

To build upon these training and education efforts, the County Legislature passed a new local law to make naloxone more accessible when needed. To accomplish this, the county took the proven model of Automatic External Defibrillators ("AED") and applied it to naloxone devices. AEDs are currently mandated at certain locations throughout the county and are maintained on a voluntary basis by many other businesses which recognize their life-saving capabilities. Now with this local law the county allows for all establishments where an AED is present to also maintain naloxone in close proximity to the AED to further protect public health.

Any establishments that choose to maintain naloxone shall clearly and visibly label the naloxone with the phrase: "For use by trained personnel only.�

To read this local law in its entirety please find the following link: https://on.ny.gov/3fYFg87.

52

NYSAC News | Summer 2020

Broome County Passes the "Emergency First Responders Protection Act" In appreciation for the vital work performed by first responders and in recognition of the hazards they often face, the Broome County Legislature enacted a local law called the Emergency First Responders Protection Act to protect service men and women from harassment while they are engaged in their official duties.

Tune in to County Conversations A podcast brought to you by NYSAC

The local law defines "Emergency First Responder" as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services personnel, or auxiliary officer.

Listen to county leaders discuss what's happening on the front lines of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in New York communities.

The local law states harassment of Emergency First responders is hereby prohibited. Harassment in this case is understood to mean when a Responder is in the course of performing his or her official duties and an individual intentionally engages in conduct against such Emergency First Responder, as defined by New York State Penal Law §240.26 which states, “…with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person:

Our series on COVID-19 Response features interviews with insight into how various departments and operations are impacted by and overcoming challenges pertaining to the crisis.

1.

He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or

2.

He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or

3.

He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose.”

Visit NYSAC.podbean.com to stay up to date with issues of county concern.

If an individual is found guilty of violating this local law penalties shall constitute an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by up to one year of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

To read this local law in its entirety please find the following link: https://on.ny.gov/3g0edsX.

NYSAC News | www.nysac.org

53

AS WE CONTINUE TO ADJUST TO EVERCHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, WE REMAIN STEADFAST IN OUR DEDICATION TO YOU.

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