Cheboygan County receives grant to reimburse cost of COVID testing at county jail

On Tuesday, the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners approved the receipt of a grant for over $150,000 to reimburse the county for expenses of COVID-19 testing in the Cheboygan County Jail.

Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont said the sheriff's department, including the Cheboygan County Office of Emergency Management — with the assistance of Cheboygan County Finance Director Sue Buitenhuis — had applied for the reimbursement grant. The grant was under the COVID-19 grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and supported through the United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"In the amount of $151,142.68," said Clarmont. "That was for the time period of Oct. 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022."

Cheboygan County Jail Administrator Brenda Beckwith and Cheboygan County Office of Emergency Management Director Lt. Jeremy Runstrom found the grant and applied.

The purpose of the grant is to reimburse the county for its expenditures incurred for the COVID-19 testing that had to be performed on the jail staff, the inmates housed in the jail, and all visitors to the facility during the time period.

Clarmont came before the county board members to ask them to approve the acceptance of the grant and for Buitenhuis to make the necessary budget adjustments. The commissioners voted unanimously to do so.

In November of last year, the sheriff's department and Runstrom applied to, and were awarded funding from, FEMA to help pay for a number of COVID-19 testing kits that were needed to perform the required testing. The funding provided around 2,800 testing kits for the jail staff and inmates. At that time, Clarmont was estimating using around 200 tests per month.

More: County approves FEMA grant application for more COVID-19 testing supplies

At the meeting this week, Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners Vice-Chair Rich Sangster asked Clarmont whether the $151,000 grant award would cover all the expenses the sheriff's department incurred for the testing. Clarmont said the funds will about cover what was spent in testing supplies.

The grant funding for the sheriff's department's testing can be used to reimburse the cost of personal protection equipment used during testing, such as the gloves and masks worn, as well as disinfecting supplies, rapid test kits, and test kits that gave results in longer than 15 minutes.

The funds can also be used for contractual labor related to the testing, data entry and disinfecting needed, and any staff labor overtime charges directly related to the COVID-19 testing of jail staff, inmates and visitors.

After receiving this grant, the sheriff's department will need to complete a reimbursement form through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services with the acceptable expenses documented.

Contact Features Writer Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: County receives grant to reimburse cost of COVID testing at jail