Sec. 562. Grants

1,776 words·~8 min read·/bill/116/hr/925/eah/section-562

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

To implement the national system under section 561, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, award grants to State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments that seek grants under this section to carry out coordinated testing, contact tracing, surveillance, containment, and mitigation with respect to COVID–19, including— diagnostic and surveillance testing and reporting; community-based contact tracing efforts; and policies related to voluntary isolation and quarantine of individuals infected with, or exposed to individuals infected with, the virus that causes COVID–19.

The Secretary shall ensure that— the grants under subsection

(a)provide flexibility for State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments to modify, establish, or maintain evidence-based systems; and local health departments receive funding from State health departments or directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to contribute to such systems, as appropriate. The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall allocate amounts made available pursuant to subsection

(a)in accordance with a formula to be established by the Secretary that provides a minimum level of funding to each State, local, Tribal, and territorial health department that seeks a grant under this section and allocates additional funding based on the following prioritization: The Secretary shall give highest priority to applicants proposing to serve populations in one or more geographic regions with a high burden of COVID–19 based on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other sources as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall give second highest priority to applicants preparing for, or currently working to mitigate, a COVID–19 surge in a geographic region that does not yet have a high number of reported cases of COVID–19 based on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other sources as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall give third highest priority to applicants proposing to serve high numbers of low-income and uninsured populations, including medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3) )), health professional shortage areas (as defined under section 332(a) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254e(a) )), racial and ethnic minorities, or geographically diverse areas, as determined by the Secretary. Not later than the date that is one week before first awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate a notification detailing the formula established under paragraph

(1)for allocating amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a). A State, local, Tribal, and territorial health department receiving a grant under this section shall, to the extent possible, use the grant funds for the following activities, or other activities deemed appropriate by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: To implement a coordinated testing system that— leverages or modernizes existing testing infrastructure and capacity; is consistent with the updated testing strategy required under section 541; is coordinated with the State plan for COVID–19 testing prepared as required under the heading Department of Health and Human Services—Office of the Secretary—Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund in title I of division B of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act ( Public Law 116–139 ; 134 Stat. 620, 624); is informed by contact tracing and surveillance activities under this subtitle; is informed by guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for which populations should be tested; identifies how diagnostic and serological tests in such system shall be validated prior to use; identifies how diagnostic and serological tests and testing supplies will be distributed to implement such system; identifies specific strategies for ensuring testing capabilities and accessibility in racial and ethnic minority populations; identifies specific strategies for ensuring testing capabilities and accessibility in medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3) )), health professional shortage areas (as defined under section 332(a) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254e(a) )), and geographically diverse areas, as determined by the Secretary; identifies how testing may be used, and results may be reported, in both health care settings (such as hospitals, laboratories for moderate or high-complexity testing, pharmacies, mobile testing units, and community health centers) and non-health care settings (such as workplaces, schools, childcare centers, or drive-throughs); allows for testing in sentinel surveillance programs, as appropriate; and supports the procurement and distribution of diagnostic and serological tests and testing supplies to meet the goals of the system. To implement a coordinated contact tracing system that— leverages or modernizes existing contact tracing systems and capabilities, including community health workers, health departments, and Federally qualified health centers; is able to investigate cases of COVID–19, and help to identify other potential cases of COVID–19, through tracing contacts of individuals with positive diagnoses; establishes culturally competent and multilingual strategies for contact tracing, addressing the specific needs of racial and ethnic minority populations, which may include consultation with and support from faith-based, nonprofit, cultural or civic organizations with established ties to the community; establishes culturally competent and multilingual strategies for contact tracing, addressing the specific needs of medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3) )), health professional shortage areas (as defined under section 332(a) of the Public Health Service Act( 42 U.S.C. 2324 254e(a))); provides individuals identified under the contact tracing program with information and support for containment or mitigation; enables State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments to work with a nongovernmental, community partner or partners and State and local workforce development systems (as defined in section 3(67) of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act ( 29 U.S.C. 3102(67) )) receiving grants under section 566(b) of this Act to hire and compensate a locally-sourced contact tracing workforce, if necessary, to supplement the public health workforce, to— identify the number of contact tracers needed for the respective State, locality, territorial, or Tribal health department to identify all cases of COVID–19 currently in the jurisdiction and those anticipated to emerge over the next 18 months in such jurisdiction; outline qualifications necessary for contact tracers; train the existing and newly hired public health workforce on best practices related to tracing close contacts of individuals diagnosed with COVID–19, including the protection of individual privacy and cybersecurity protection; and equip the public health workforce with tools and resources to enable a rapid response to new cases; identifies the level of contact tracing needed within the State, locality, territory, or Tribal area to contain and mitigate the transmission of COVID–19; and establishes statewide mechanisms to integrate regular evaluation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding contact tracing efforts, makes such evaluation publicly available, and to the extent possible provides for such evaluation at the county level. To strengthen the existing public health surveillance system that— leverages or modernizes existing surveillance systems within the respective State, local, Tribal, or territorial health department and national surveillance systems; detects and identifies trends in COVID–19 at the county level; evaluates State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments in achieving surveillance capabilities with respect to COVID–19; integrates and improves disease surveillance and immunization tracking; identifies specific strategies for ensuring disease surveillance in racial and ethnic minority populations; and identifies specific strategies for ensuring disease surveillance in medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3) )), health professional shortage areas (as defined under section 332(a) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254e(a) )), and geographically diverse areas, as determined by the Secretary. To implement a coordinated containment and mitigation system that— leverages or modernizes existing containment and mitigation strategies within the respective State, local, Tribal, or territorial governments and national containment and mitigation strategies; may provide for, connect to, and leverage existing social services and support for individuals who have been infected with or exposed to COVID–19 and who are isolated or quarantined in their homes, such as through— food assistance programs; guidance for household infection control; information and assistance with childcare services; and information and assistance pertaining to support available under the CARES Act ( Public Law 116–136 ) and this Act; provides guidance on the establishment of safe, high-quality, facilities for the voluntary isolation of individuals infected with, or quarantine of the contacts of individuals exposed to COVID–19, where hospitalization is not required, which facilities should— be prohibited from making inquiries relating to the citizenship status of an individual isolated or quarantined; and be operated by a non-Federal, community partner or partners that— have previously established relationships in localities; work with local places of worship, community centers, medical facilities, and schools to recruit local staff for such facilities; and are fully integrated into State, local, Tribal, or territorial containment and mitigation efforts; identifies specific strategies for ensuring containment and mitigation activities in racial and ethnic minority populations; and identifies specific strategies for ensuring containment and mitigation activities in medically underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3) )), health professional shortage areas (as defined under section 332(a) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254e(a) )), and geographically diverse areas, as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall facilitate mechanisms for timely, standardized reporting by grantees under this section regarding implementation of the systems established under this section and coordinated processes with the reporting as required and under the heading Department of Health and Human Services—Office of the Secretary—Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund in title I of division B of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act ( Public Law 116–139 , 134 Stat. 620), including— a summary of county or local health department level information from the States receiving funding, and information from directly funded localities, territories, and Tribal entities, about the activities that will be undertaken using funding awarded under this section, including subgrants; any anticipated shortages of required materials for testing for COVID–19 under subsection (a); and other barriers in the prevention, mitigation, or treatment of COVID–19 under this section. The Secretary shall— not later than 7 days after first awarding grants under this section, post in a searchable, electronic format a list of all awards made by the Secretary under this section, including the recipients and amounts of such awards; and update such list not less than every 7 days until all funds made available to carry out this section are expended.

Connectionstraces to 6

Traces to 6 documents

U.S. Code

public-private-law

1 reference not yet in our index