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Council pauses MHIP contractor-to-merit conversions, asks for standardized evaluation and financial transparency
Summary
Committee declined to concur with the County Executive's recommendation to convert several MHIP contractor roles to county merit positions pending clearer data on contract underspend, service scopes, metrics and long-term staffing implications.
The committee debated proposed transitions within the Minority Health Initiatives Programs (MHIPs) — African American Health Program (AHP), Latino Health Initiative (LHI) and Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) — and voted not to accept the County Executive's FY27 recommendation to convert multiple contract-funded roles into county merit positions until the department provides additional data.
Mohammad Hassan (AHI) and other MHIP leads presented program metrics, claiming broad reach (tens of thousands of community contacts across outreach events and direct navigation services) and asking to convert certain brokered or contract-funded positions to merit to reduce turnover and build continuity. AHI requested 2.5 FTE conversions and one grants-administrator merit position; AHP and LHI also outlined targeted technical staff needs and proposed reductions in lower-utilization lines.
County staff said conversions would be cost-neutral in FY27 by repurposing underspent contract funds; staff cited historical precedents where the department moved positions from contracts to merit with no net budget increase. Some council members pressed for a full accounting of underspent contract funds and clearer evidence that converting contract dollars to merit positions would not create gaps in contracted services. "I'm not ready to create four new positions until I know exactly what they're going to do and where the funding will come from," Council member Friedson said.
The committee asked HHS for a standardized evaluation framework for MHIP contracts (scope of services, measurable performance metrics, ZIP-code service coverage, and actual spend vs. budget) and a complete inventory of grant-funded term positions across DHHS, including vacancy and funding risk assessments. The committee agreed to revisit the AHP conversion request at full council once HHS supplies the requested documentation.
Next steps: HHS to produce standardized MHIP scope-and-performance templates, a contract-level spend reconciliation and a list of grant-funded term positions to be shared with the committee before full-council consideration.
