To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Jennifer Ludwig, Director, Public Health; Sheriff Tyler Brown
Prepared By:
prepared
Penny Grande, Deputy Director, Public Health; Captain Kevin Heaton, Sheriff’s Office
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Subject:
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Amend Resolution Defining Office Hours for County Facilities
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Public Health and the Sheriff’s Office requests to amend the county office hours resolution (BOCC Resolution 24-016) to adjust their office hours as described below. The Board of County Commissioners heard and approved these items to be placed on consent at their meeting on March 5, 2024.
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Background and Discussion:
The Public Health Department is requesting a change to the county office hours resolution to include the closure of the Public Health Englewood Office (4857 S. Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113) on Fridays. This request is for the purpose of staff safety and increased service delivery at other locations. The request was approved by the Arapahoe County Board of Health at their meeting on February 21, 2024. Based on client needs, services in Public Health’s Englewood office offer extended hours Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Services provided at the Englewood office include WIC, Sexual Health and Immunizations. Currently, WIC is the only program that offers appointments on Friday. Immunization and Sexual Health staff provide services at the Altura Plaza clinics on Fridays. By shifting staff to serving clients for extended hours on Monday through Thursday, we have increased access for clients to receive services before and after their work times. This adjustment to our staff’s schedules has created very limited staffing at the Englewood office on Fridays, creating a safety concern. With the proposed new hours, the limited staff currently working on Fridays will work remotely or be reassigned to our Willow Office, Aurora South Office and Altura Plaza Office to provide additional services to support our staff and clients.
The Sheriff’s Office is requesting a change to the county office hours resolution to allow closure of the Sheriff’s Office lobby at 5:00 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m. This request is for the purpose of staffing and efficiency in the office. The Sheriff’ Office has historically offered public hours at headquarters from 7:00 am - 5:30 pm Monday thru Friday. These are the actual work hours of staff which does not account for opening or closing procedures, balancing financials, completing priority tasks, etc. As with any business, if a customer enters the lobby five minutes before closing, they are not turned away. By closing the lobby at 5:00 pm, this will give staff 30-minutes to reconcile SAP, finish up daily tasks, and assist last minute requests.
Fiscal Impact: There is no fiscal impact to the county.
Alternatives: For Public Health, some of the other alternative solutions include hiring security which is an expensive solution without a current budget allocation. Another option is having staff work shorter shifts on Monday through Thursday, and having more staff work on Fridays, which reduces our ability to serve clients when they are able to visit us for services before and after their workdays. If we don’t close on Fridays, we will need to look for alternative ways to ensure there are more staff in the building for safety, which will impact our ability to provide services on Monday through Thursday from 7:00-8:00 a.m. and 5:00-5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
For the Sheriff’s Office, the alternative would be to continue operating Monday - Friday 7:00 am to 5:30 pm.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☒Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approving these amendments to the resolution.
Concurrence: The Board of Health approved this proposal from Public Health at their meeting on February 21, 2024. The BOCC approved these requests to be added to consent at their meeting on March 5, 2024.
Resolution: Attached