Kings County approves three new awareness month designations for August

Ravyn Cullor, The Hanford Sentinel, Calif.
·3 min read

Aug. 3—The Kings County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously designated August 2021 as Child Support Awareness Month, National Breastfeeding Month and Valley Fever Awareness Month to raise awareness and promote public education on each topic.

"I don't know if we're going to have an arm wrestling event, maybe rock paper scissors to see who's the king of the month of August," said Board Chairman Craig Peterson.

Child Support Awareness Month was brought forward by the Child Support Services Department. Director Marie Waite said it's the goal of the department to provide consistent financial and medical support for children in the county.

Waite said the county collected over $48 million in the last three years, covering 17,000 customers and 8,600 children.

The Public Health Department presented two designations for August — National Breastfeeding Month and Valley Fever Awareness Month.

Nutritional Services Manager Michelle Bieber said it's important for the county to promote the importance of breastfeeding for babies, the disparities in access to breastfeeding and what organizations can do to improve those conditions.

Bieber said breastfeeding is the biological norm and has a number of benefits for babies, including shared immune protections from mother to child, calibrated nutritional content and protections from short term ailments, such as ear infections, and long term issues like childhood obesity and diabetes.

Valley Fever Awareness Month is intended to inform residents about the illness, which is a respiratory fungal infection which can have mild or no symptoms, but about half the time can become serious enough to seek medical attention, said Darcy Pickens, assistant public health director.

For those with serious cases, some develop disseminated cases, meaning the fungus attacks many parts of the body, which can be fatal or cause other deadly medical conditions.

"Misdiagnosis of Valley fever is so pervasive that experts say some people suffer and even die from Valley fever without ever knowing they have the disease," Pickens said. "Studies have shown those seeking medical care for symptoms who have knowledge of the disease were more likely to receive an earlier diagnosis than those who were unaware of the condition."

Pickens said the department would be launching a Valley fever website this week with more information on the condition.

Other business

The board tabled the approval of a response letter to the Grand Jury in relation to a report regarding pedestrian safety in Kettleman City. In brief, the investigation found safety improvements need to be made for pedestrians who must cross Highway 41, many of whom are school children.

The county, along with Kings County Association of Governments, is required to respond to the report. The board was asked to approve a letter written by KCAG as Kings' official response.

Supervisor Richard Valle asked the approval to be tabled so language in the response could be updated to reflect the County's efforts to rectify pedestrian safety issues on Hwy 41. Valle said the report indicated the County hadn't adequately pursued solutions, which he felt is untrue.

The commitment of $2 million in state funding for a pedestrian bridge and pursuit of another $2 million from the federal government, as well as a number of smaller infrastructure projects like improved signage and sidewalks and gutters, should be added, Valle said.

The board tabled the issue 5-0, and it will return at a later meeting.