Fresno Co. bought equipment two years ago, but hadn't put it to use.
Nearly two years after Fresno County officials spent $150,000 on a tattoo-removal machine, the equipment may finally get some use.
The machine, still in its original box, has been sitting in the basement at University Medical Center in southeast Fresno.
Now county officials say a local plastic surgeon's office will use the equipment to remove tattoos on about 200 welfare recipients and youths incarcerated at the juvenile hall. The Board of Supervisors will be asked to approve a contract with the Gailliot Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Institute next month.
"We're very pleased that we're finally going to be able to proceed with tattoo removals," said Julie Hornback, director of the county's Employment and Temporary Assistance department, which will oversee the program. "We already have people waiting to get this service."
In 2002, Fresno County began offering free tattoo removals to clients on CalWORKs, the state's welfare program. The county contracted with local plastic surgeons to perform the work.
But that program was put on hold in 2006 as some people were in the middle of their treatments -- leaving their tattoos only partially removed. County officials intended to start the program again after purchasing their own tattoo-removal machine.
The county's Indian Gaming committee -- which distributes local casino profits -- provided the $150,000 for the equipment so officials could expand the program to youths at the juvenile hall.
County officials struck a deal with Community Medical Centers to have doctors at its UMC campus operate the machine, which uses a laser to attack the tattoo ink below the skin. But that deal fell through last year after the hospital -- which never performed any tattoo removals for county clients -- relocated services from UMC to its campus in downtown Fresno, Hornback said.
That prompted county officials to put a contract out to bid for tattoo-removal services and an agreement was reached with the Gailliot institute. The one-year deal, at a cost of $75,840, will pay for about 200 CalWORKs clients and youths at the juvenile hall to have tattoos removed. The exact number of recipients will depend on the size and color of the tattoos being removed, Hornback said.
The service is desperately needed at the juvenile hall, Probation Chief Linda Penner said. She estimates more than 50% of the youths have tattoos, and most of them say they'd like to have them removed.
"We're going to do our best to help any kid who wants one removed," she said.
Fresno resident Jorge Janas, 32, is already on the list to continue treatments he's had to remove several tattoos from his forearm and hand. He got the tattoos when he was a teenager and started the process of removing them through the county's program several years ago.
Janas, who is on welfare and looking for a job, said the tattoos are a constant reminder of his troubled youth and his ties to gangs.
"I'm just ashamed," he said. "There was peer pressure to do it, and I don't want them anymore."
Marcie Cintora, 31, of Parlier also wants to complete the treatments she's had to remove unwanted tattoos from her wrist, fingers and ankles.
She's recently been hired as a county eligibility worker and wants to ensure that her tattoos -- which remind her of her former gang life -- are completely erased.
"I was really disappointed when the county's program ended," said Cintora, a former CalWORKs client. "I've always kept in contact with whoever was in charge to make sure I knew when it started up again."
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