Questions are popping up as to why Orange County public health officials opted not to renew a grant aimed at helping Black moms navigate pregnancy amid a host of disparities impacting their community like preterm births, low birth rates and postpartum depression.

Although the program is funded through a state grant, OC Health Care Agency officials said the administrative cost behind it is too high as officials consider layoffs and cuts to other programs, while at least one OC Supervisor said they’d like to see if the county’s budget can eat some of the costs.  

Now, Black Infant Health center leaders and a handful of moms are calling on Orange County Supervisors to demand transparency and accountability on why health care leaders wouldn’t renew the one-year-old program’s state grant and asked them to continue to support it.

“It is more egregious that the Orange County Health Care Agency’s inaction, lack of transparency and accountability will gut the only resource that Black mothers and babies have to address their specific needs,” said Jazmine Allen, the community outreach liaison for the program, at the June 9 board of supervisors meetings after waiting hours to speak.

Jazmine Allen, the community outreach liaison for the Black Infant Health Program OC, on May 21, 2026. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC

A report released in December found the percentage of low birth rates were the highest amongst the Black community in 2023 at nearly 14% – seven times more than the percentage of Black people who make up Orange County’s roughly 3.2 million residents.

It also found the percentage of preterm births in OC were second highest among Black infants in 2023 at 11% and found from 2020-2022, postpartum depression was second highest among Black pregnant persons at 16%.

Black people make up roughly 2% of Orange County’s population, according to the census.

During last week’s OC Board of Supervisors meeting, two supervisors publicly questioned why OC Health Care Agency officials previously told them it was because contracted program operators didn’t reach required enrollment numbers and are now saying it had to do with administrative costs following a report by the Voice of OC.

[Read: OC Officials Won’t Pursue Renewing Funding For New Black Infant Health Program]

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said he has deep concerns about the agency’s decision not to pursue renewing the grant.

“I’m concerned that the rationale that was presented to our office for not renewing that grant differs from what was previously communicated to our office,” he said at the June 9 supervisors meeting.

“The issue was framed primarily as an enrollment challenge, not as an administrative cost to the health care agency so I’m struggling to understand what the financial rationale is for not pursuing this grant.”

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento at the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting on May 20, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Supervisor Katrina Foley also said public health officials told them the decision was based on enrollment.

“We were told that it was something to do with enrollment and so it sounds like we need to look into that. It sounds like a very valuable program. I don’t know why we wouldn’t pursue the grant so I don’t know if it’s too late but we should look into that,” she said at the meeting. 

Health Care Agency leaders say they told the OC Board of Supervisors back in December they won’t seek the state grant not only because they didn’t reach enrollment targets, but also because the county had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in administrative costs. 

“Our board was advised last year in December about the multitude of reasons why we weren’t going to apply for a new round of (Black Infant Health) grant dollars if they were available to our county,” said Dr. Veronica Kelley, director of the healthcare agency, in a Monday interview.

“You’ll have to speak to each of the board offices as to why they said what they said.”

The OC Health Care Agency headquarters in downtown Santa Ana on Sept. 28, 2021. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

She also said elected officials didn’t have many questions after their briefing and the agency provided them with documentation showing the program in OC only enrolled about 50 people – or 31% of their goal to enroll 160 Black birthing women.

“We provided in December to the supervisors, both Foley and Sarmiento, a briefing document that showed the fiscal impacts, as well as the fact that BreastfeedLA is hitting 31% of the required 160. Is it a reason to pull the grant dollars? No, but performance outcome measures wise – our board requires us to have good performance,” she said.

Leaders with BreastfeedLA, administrators of the county’s Black Infant Health program subcontracted by First 5 OC, said they have served 70 moms and 104 kids. 

California Department of Public Health officials previously said each funded area is expected to serve 128 participants a year or about 80% of the annual 160 participation goal.

“While CDPH’s target is 80% of 160 Black mothers served, continuation funding does not hinge on that recommended target and funding is awarded whether or not targets are met in a fiscal year,” Arissa Palmer, executive director for BreastfeedLA, wrote in a Monday memo to Foley’s office.

Kelley’s remarks come on the heels of county staff publicly telling supervisors last week they are using $75 million in one-time funds to balance the books and departments had to cut 5% from their budgets from the county to stay afloat.

[Read: Orange County Leaders Warn of Dangerous Budget Future]

A spokeswoman for Supervisor Janet Nguyen said Nguyen had no comment on the issue while a spokesman for Sarmiento directed a reporter to his comments at the supervisor meeting last week and said the supervisor had nothing to add when asked for an interview.

Sarmiento also did not respond to questions about health care officials’ comments saying they informed supervisors about administrative costs months ago.

Supervisor Doug Chaffee, Don Wagner and Foley did not reply to requests for comment Monday.

Babies Joy and Tytus in the play room at the Black Infant Health Center in Anaheim on May 21, 2026. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC

Sarmiento and Wagner previously told Voice of OC the reasoning health care agency officials gave them was that the program didn’t meet enrollment requirements from the state, while those same county health officials said it was due to cuts in public health funding.

At the same time, a California Department of Public Health spokesperson told Voice of OC that eligibility wasn’t based on enrollment but based on the size of population of Black birthing moms in an area and OC qualified for funding for one service area.

Funding For Black Infant Health

Jennifer Roberson (right), program manager for BreastfeedLA, at the Black Infant Health Center on May 21, 2026. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC

Health Care agency leaders said they got over $951,000 in state money for the program for the 2025-26 fiscal year and contracted with First 5 OC who then subcontracted with BreastfeedLA. 

The funding is expected to run out by July 1.

Kelley said even with the state grant, the agency has spent $500,000 to cover staffing amid cuts to federal and state public health funding.

“When we were looking at our fiscal crisis going into our current budget year, and next, all of our county departments were advised to focus on mandated programs,” she said. “In December, we went to the board and said, here’s yet another thing, we can’t continue to eat the cost of this.”

Kelley also said if they covered the full costs with the grant, it would leave BreastfeedLA with about $300,000 to operate the program – an amount she said was unsustainable.

Palmer said in an email in May the grant is about $900,000 a year and usually the county would run it or provide the full funding to the organization providing the services.

She also said the OC Health Care Agency initially kept $382,000 of the grant to support two county staff positions tied to the program – leaving BreastfeedLA $522,000 to hire staff, cover rent, transportation assistance, supplies, client support and programming costs.

Palmer said after discussions the agency ultimately bumped BreastfeedLA allocation to about $720,000.

“The funding is reimbursable, meaning the full amount could have been drawn down if the program continued and allowable expenses were incurred,” Palmer wrote.

“When we learned OCHCA was considering not renewing the program, I even offered for the County to retain the full amount they originally requested for staffing if it would allow the program to continue,” she added.

“I was ultimately told the decision had already been made not to renew the funding and that timing and contracting constraints would prevent continuation.”

Palmer said in the memo to Foley’s office they never got clarity on how the health care agency used the money they kept from the grant.

“We’ve requested and never received transparency from OCHCA as to how the retained funds were used, especially since the coordinator and public health nurse positions were covered by the same staff person for the majority of the 2025/2026 grant year,” reads the memo.

“That employee also covered other positions at OCHCA, outside of the BIH program.”

Kelley said they have a meeting planned on Wednesday with BreastfeedLA.

Will OC Keep The Program Running?

The County of Orange seal that sits above the dais in the board hearing room during an OC Board of Supervisors meeting on May 20, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

While county public health officials say they can’t afford the administrative costs behind the grant, Sarmiento called on the Health Care Agency (HCA) to review its budget amid the deficit and see if they can keep the program running, adding they pursue every opportunity to support infant and maternal health.

“I would like to also know from HCA and or have HCA review its budget and identify any available options to absorb those costs in order to sustain participation in this program,” he said at the June 9 meeting.

“Enrollment challenges should not be by themselves a reason or a justification for walking away from available grant funding that supports critical services, especially for an underserved population.”

Kelley said the only programs they could pull money from was their sexually transmitted infection clinic and HIV clinic that served over 4,600 people combined in the 2025-26 fiscal year and suggested supervisors pay for the program.

“Those are the places we would draw dollars from and perhaps shutter those programs,” she said in a Monday interview. “The board could direct their own discretionary dollars if they wanted, but we don’t have any more discretionary dollars in public health.”

The suggestion comes after Orange County Grand Jurors released a report last week questioning if supervisors have too much discretionary power and highlighting how they quietly increased their own salaries last year by 25% as department heads were told to tighten their belts.

Allen said supervisors need to hold the health care agency accountable for undoing the program and require them to provide funding.

“In refusing to equitably support Black birthers and their babies, you are showing future Black voters that their value lies in the confines of a data set” she said at the June 9 supervisor meeting.

“The stakes are high, but Black maternal mortality in the county is higher and the onus will be on the county to make amends.”

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.

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