Department of Health Selects Vendor to Boost Contact Tracing Corps

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TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Health July 24 announced that Public Consulting Group (PCG) has been chosen to develop a supplemental contract tracing workforce that will support local health departments across the state.
According to a release, in this role, PCG will recruit, employ and manage contact tracers who can be deployed to carry out this work in areas with increasing COVID-19 cases.
“A robust contact tracing program to quickly identify those who may have been exposed is a vital tool to containing the spread of COVID-19,” stated Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “PCG will assist local health departments as they need to scale up contact tracing efforts in their communities.”
The work to increase the Community Contact Tracing Corps began with the assistance of the Rutgers School of Public Health, which began recruiting and training workers drawn from graduate programs and alumni of graduate programs throughout New Jersey.  Recognizing that the demand for contact tracer capacity could reach into the thousands, the department solicited vendor proposals to help us scale the corps across the state.
“Public Consulting Group is pleased to lend its capabilities to New Jersey’s COVID-19 response,” stated William Mosakowski, founder, president, and chief executive officer. “Our national approach mirrors New Jersey’s – we work with both local health departments and local community members to make contact tracing effective. And this is also personal for PCG – we have over 200 of our own employees who already live and work in New Jersey who we are trying to keep safe and healthy, as well.”
The request of quotes yielded 64 quotes total, which were received, reviewed, and technically scored by a seven-person committee representing the Departments of Health, Treasury and Labor and Workforce Development.
PCG will work to ensure that as many of these new contact tracers as possible come from and reflect the diversity of the communities they will be working in. They will be able to effectively communicate and engage with individuals who speak languages other than English and have diverse cultures. All individuals on-boarded for contact tracing will be required to complete contact tracing training developed with Rutgers School of Public Health.
“PCG’s approach is to build partnerships with the existing, robust network of stakeholders and community groups, especially in communities of color, to ensure the hiring pipeline reflects geographic and cultural diversity and that hiring decisions do as well. To implement this initiative, we are working Staffing Etc., a minority, woman-owned agency, to meet these goals,” added Mosakowski.
PCG is partnering with states to manage and support COVID-19 solutions, including deploying robust contact tracing programs alongside local health departments to stop the spread of the virus. PCG has programs underway in New York, Arkansas, and Wisconsin. PCG has offices in Princeton and Newark and has worked with New Jersey state and local government for 15 years on a variety of health, human services, and K–12 education initiatives.