FY 23-24 Program Report

Agency Name: Dientes Community Dental Care Program Name: Dientes Community Dental Care Equity Dimension: Income

Condition: Health & Wellness Tier: Large Budget: $194,040.00

Annual Goal FY 23-24	Annual Goal FY 23-24
Unduplicated Participants     Total Unduplicated Participants 14900 14943	How Many Activities/Services Will Be Provided?     53640 Dental Visits  53640 59147
Annual Goal FY 23-24 Age     0-5 9% 7% 6-18 35% 28% 19-59 38% 44% 60+ 18% 21% Unknown 0% 0%	Annual Goal FY 23-24 Language     English 52% 57% Spanish 35% 35% Other 7% 8% Unknown 0% 0%
Ethnicity     African American 1% 1% Asian 2% 2% Latino 37% 41% Multi-racial 2% 2% Native American/Alaskan 1% 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 1% 1% White 44% 35% Other 12% 17% Unknown 0% 0%	Gender     Female 52% 53% Male 48% 47% Transgender- Female 0% 0% Transgender- Male 0% 0% Other 0% 0% Unknown 0% 0% Nonbinary 0% 0%
Location     Capitola 4% 4% Santa Cruz 24% 26% Scotts Valley 3% 3% Watsonville 25% 25% Unincorporated Mid-County (e.g., Live Oak, Soquel, Aptos ) 29% 29% Unincorporated North County (e.g. , Davenport )  2% 1% Unincorporated San Lorenzo Valley (e.g., Ben Lomond ) 6% 6% Unincorporated South County (e.g., Freedom ) 4% 3% Unknown 0% 0% Out of County 3% 3%

Annual Goal FY 23-24   Annual Goal FY 23-24 How Well Did We Provide Service?     How many participiants did you survey? 14900 14943 80% of patients report being either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with services as measured by a patient satisfaction survey completed by June 30th of each FY. 80% 95%

Annual Goal FY 23-24   Annual Goal FY 23-24 Is Anyone Better Off?     45% of Dientes patients have improved physical health, specifically oral health, as measured by the absence of caries at recall (cavities at checkup). Data will be gathered through electronic health records. 45% 45% 75% of Dientes patients will have access to a regular source of oral health care and establish a dental home, as measured by the number of patients who have received preventative care. Data will be gathered through electronic health records. 75% 94%

Additional CORE Questions  (The maximum length is limited to 1200 characters in the below boxes)
1. Briefly describe any progress and/or successes your CORE program achieved implementing its activities during FY 2023-2024. (Recommended 2-4 sentences)	During FY23-24, Dientes successfully surpassed our activity goals, serving 14,943 patients with 59,147 visits. Our growth in patients was due to the opening of a new clinic in the Harvey West neighborhood on Pioneer Street. After opening the new clinic in July 2023, our team has worked tirelessly to ramp up operations and better serve the needs of the community. For the first time in several years, our Commercial Way clinic is accepting new pediatric patients due to increased capacity. This field is required
2. (Optional, Success Stories) Please share a short story about the experience of a participant or family that received services funded through this contract during FY 2023-2024. Please state the specific activity that was provided and the impact or positive change that occurred as a result of the service(s) provided. *Please make sure to change any identifying information, such as names.*	Camila and her son Gabriel's story highlight the impact of Dientes services on the lives of families in our community. Dientes provided Gabriel, who suffered from severe dental abscesses and dental decay, with emergency treatment allowing him to return to school pain-free and able to concentrate. His mom told us: “I don’t know where I would be without Dientes. My son has abscesses and can’t eat without pain. We couldn’t afford to see his last dentist, and his school was growing concerned. I just am getting emotional thinking about it and wanting to be a good mom. I just want to thank everyone for their help.” Now, with access to regular care at Dientes, Gabriel will be able to play freely, eat nutritious foods and learn without pain – restoring dignity through a healthy smile.
3. Please describe any challenges your agency experienced in implementing its CORE funded program.	While we exceeded our goals, our biggest challenge in implementing the program continues to be recruiting and retaining staff. It is difficult to recruit staff at all levels due to the high cost of living and lack of affordable housing in Santa Cruz County – from providers to front office staff. In response, Dientes has raised staff salaries for cost-of-living adjustments. We also continue to implement new workforce development programs that give staff an opportunity to grow in their careers. Our newest Registered Apprenticeship Program for Dental Assistants, partnered with the County Office of Education, will bring even more opportunity to our community’s workforce. This field is required
4.Have you encountered challenges in collecting CORE program or participant data?	Yes No This field is required
5. If you answered yes, what challenges did you experience? (Recommended 2-4 sentences)	N/A
6. What technical assistance can HSD or the CORE Institute provide to support your data collection activities?	N/A - We use electronic health records (Dentrix), Tableau and Practice Analytics to collect data. These programs are unique to Dientes and therefore there’s no assistance applicable from HSD. This field is required
7. During FY 2023-2024, did your CORE program staff participate in a CORE Institute event (e.g., Coffee Chats or Conversations)?	Yes No This field is required
8. During FY 2023-2024, how did your CORE program engage its staff on issues of equity?	In FY 23-24, Dientes continued to provide DEI training to our staff. We've had monthly DEI trainings with the full management team covering topics from microaggressions to belonging. At our annual staff retreat we held a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Workshop, with Guest Speaker Dr. Shindale Seale. In a survey of staff about the retreat, staff told us this DEI workshop was informative and helpful. We continue to include equity issues at management and board meetings and update and improve any policies with equity in mind. This field is required
9. In the CORE RFP, your program indicated an equity issue your program would address. How has your program impacted this equity issue in FY 2023-2024?	Dientes' program addresses equitable access to affordable, quality oral health care, specifically in regard to income. Of the over 14,000 patients we served, 97% live at or below the federal poverty level. Our priority is always to provide the best quality care regardless of income. As a critical part of the healthcare safety net in Santa Cruz County, we offer a dental home for families with low incomes at 4 full-time bilingual clinics. With sliding scale fees and free care for uninsured patients and the largest provider of care for those with Medi-Cal, Dientes’ program helps reduce cost as a barrier to care. This field is required