Primary Department: Public Health Services
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Leah Barton - Executive Director
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by Public Health Services for approval to purchase gift cards in the amount of $10,000 to provide incentives for participants in the Healthy in Harris County project pilot focus groups.
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Background and Discussion:
The Healthy in Harris County project addresses critical chronic disease challenges, as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease remain leading causes of death in Harris County. The project objectives include helping residents establish health routines, empowering them to take control of their health, building trusting relationships with their medical team, documenting health information, and increasing awareness of HCPH prevention programs. This purchase supports the pilot phase of the project, during which 350+ draft health journals will be distributed, and 6 focus group sessions will be convened with 50-100 Harris County residents to gather critical feedback. Pilot participant input will be used to refine and tailor the health journal content, design, and culturally appropriate materials specifically for Harris County's diverse population before full implementation. Gift card incentives are essential to ensure robust community participation in this pilot phase and to compensate residents for their time in providing feedback that will directly improve program effectiveness.
Expected Impact:
Gift card incentives will ensure meaningful participation from diverse Harris County residents during the pilot phase, enabling HCPH to gather critical feedback to refine the health journal before full-scale implementation. This community-informed approach will result in culturally appropriate materials that better serve Harris County's diverse populations and ultimately contribute to decreasing chronic disease rates over the next 3-5 years. Pilot feedback will directly improve the journal's effectiveness in achieving Year 1 goals of educating at least 500 residents through chronic disease education sessions and distributing materials to 300+ residents.
Alternative Options:
The County could opt not to provide incentives, which would likely result in significantly lower participation rates and reduced diversity of community feedback during the critical pilot phase. This would compromise the ability to tailor materials to Harris County residents' specific needs and cultural contexts. Alternative options include reducing incentive amounts or limiting the number of pilot participants, though this would decrease the quality and representativeness of feedback needed to develop effective, culturally appropriate health materials that serve Harris County's diverse communities.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 4. Improve physical and mental health outcomes across all communities.
County Strategic Plan Objective: N: Improve the health behaviors of community members.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): Choose an item.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Administration and Support - Office of the Executive Director |
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Grant - 2601 FY26_IWDS |
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$10,000 |
$10,000 |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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Additional Positions Request |
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Total Personnel |
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County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
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CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
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CAO Review Completion Date |
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Anticipated Court Date: 2/12/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 2/12/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Dr. Kimberly Henderson, Deputy Chief of Staff, Public Health Services
Attachments (if applicable): N/A