The Partnership Center Newsletter
April 17, 2012 Edition
Dear Partners:
Happy Spring!
Every April we commemorate National Minority Health Month to raise awareness of the health disparities that continue to affect racial and ethnic minorities.
Despite the progress our nation has made over the past 50 years, and the health care law’s groundbreaking policies to reduce health disparities, racial and ethnic minorities still lag behind the general population on many health fronts and are:
- less likely to get the preventive care they need to stay healthy;
- more likely to suffer from serious illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer; and
- less likely to have access to quality health care.
A year ago, HHS launched the first-ever HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, which outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities, including increasing access to health care insurance and health care services and strengthening the diversity of the health care workforce. Also last year, HHS released the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, a roadmap for eliminating health disparities through cooperative and strategic actions across the administration and with public and private partners.
You are invited to join the HHS partnership Center on April 25th at 2 pm for a conference call on Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act: Creating Healthier Communities and Congregations. Click here to RSVP – we hope you can join us!
Dr. Nadine Gracia, Acting Director of the Office of Minority Health, will discuss the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Dr. Rochelle Rollins, Director of the Division of Policy and Data of the Office of Minority Health, will provide information on the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity.
Also on the move this spring -- Let’s Move Faith and Communities! We invite you to vote for your favorite video in the Communities on the Move Video Challenge. Winners will be invited to share their videos with the First Lady at the White House! Please see the information below for more information about the Challenge. You can vote once per day through May 11th!
In this newsletter issue we also highlight the critical issue of child abuse, a focus during Child Abuse Prevention month, which is also held in April. We provide links to several new resources that have been created to support family and community members in preventing child abuse.
In addition to features that lift up HHS’ Assets for Independence program and www.StopBullying.gov, our Upcoming Events section below lists conference calls for faith and community leaders on the benefits and provisions of the health care reform law. As always, please feel free to email us at Partnerships@hhs.gov or call us at 202-358-3595 to let us know how we can support your work.
Sincerely,
Alexia Kelley, Director
Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Featured Update
National Child Abuse Prevention Month 2012
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Over three million reports of child abuse are made every year in the United States; however, those reports can include multiple children. In 2009 alone, approximately 3.3 million child abuse reports and allegations were made involving an estimated six million children. 1 In the coming months, the Department of Health & Human Services will be hosting discussions, conference calls, and producing tools to help families, faith leaders and neighbors protect children from child abuse and neglect.
HHS has created several resources to support this national effort. The first is the Child Welfare Information Gateway, which connects faith leaders and community members (including parents and victims) to comprehensive information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. It features the latest information on topics ranging from prevention to permanency, including child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption.
We also are happy to share the Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being: A Network for Action 2012 Resource Guide. This guide was developed to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. It focuses on the six protective factors that have been proven to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect, and provides tools and strategies to integrate the factors into existing programs and systems. We hope that you will share this guide with members of your community.
Please let us know how you are helping your community end this silent epidemic. If you are interested in being added to our email list for calls related specifically to child welfare, please email us at partnerships@hhs.gov.
President Obama has also issued a Presidential Proclamation on National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Please join in this call to action!
Thanks to everyone who submitted videos to the Communities on the Move Video Challenge!From now until May 11th, visit our Video Gallery each day and vote for your favorite entry in the Popular Choice Category. Winners will be invited to visit Washington, DC to share their videos with the First Lady at the White House! The Video Challenge encourages faith-based and neighborhood organizations to create one-to-three minute videos highlighting their work to make their communities healthier. The Challenge is part of Let's Move Faith and Communities, which engages congregations and neighborhood organizations in the effort to end childhood obesity within a generation. Want to learn more about Let’s Move! and take action? Join our movement! |
Assets for Independence
Assets for Independence (AFI) enables community-based nonprofits and government agencies to implement and demonstrate an assets-based approach for giving low-income families a hand up out of poverty. AFI projects help participants save earned income in special-purpose, matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). AFI is administered through the Office of Community Services (OCS) at the HHS Administration for Children and Families. Applications for funding new AFI projects are currently being accepted. All applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov as paper applications are no longer being accepted. Applicants may submit materials at any time throughout the year. OCS will review and fund new grants in three cycles in calendar years 2012 and 2013. Applications for the Summer Cycle are due May 25, 2012. For more information, please visit www.idaresources.org. |
StopBullying.gov
Building on the momentum started a year ago by the Obama Administration and relaunched in partnership with the Department of Education, the new www.StopBullying.gov site emphasizes action steps individuals can take to prevent and stop bullying in their schools and communities. It also features easy-to-use tools and resources for community leaders, young people and families, including:
- How to recognize the warning signs and when to take action;
- Tips to prevent bullying before it starts;
- How to implement strategies for intervention;
- Ways to share your community’s resources, policies or strategies to prevent and address bullying;
- Information on bullying laws in your state.
The new site offers ways to share ideas and start discussions about different roles your community can play in bullying prevention. Spread the word and subscribe to email updates to find out about new content on the site. You are also invited to submit materials for inclusion in the resource database.
For more information on how to take action,
follow StopBullying.gov on Twitter and Facebook.
Upcoming EventsHealth Care Conference CallsThe HHS Partnership Center continues to host a series of interactive conference calls discussing the benefits and provisions of the health care law, the Affordable Care Act. All calls are open to the public and include a question and answer session where you can ask HHS staff any questions you may have about the health care reform law. We also encourage you to submit questions you would like to have answered on the calls to ACA101@hhs.gov. To participate in one of the conference calls, please select your preferred date from the list below and submit the necessary information. Call-in information will be made available 24 hours in advance. April 25th at 2:00 pm ET – Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act May 16th at 1:00 pm ET – The Health Care Law and Access to Care
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Grant Opportunities
As always, the final section of our newsletter includes an updated grants listing that faith-based and community nonprofits can pursue. All of these grant programs are competitive. It is important to review the funding announcement thoroughly to ensure that the grant opportunity is one that is appropriate to your organization’s mission, size, and scope.
Grants Listings
Title: Serving Adult and Youth Ex-Offenders through Strategies Targeted to Characteristics Common to Female Ex-Offenders
Description: The purpose of this grant is to improve the outlook for ex-offenders adjusting back into long-term employment in the labor market after incarceration by using an integrated strategy that includes empowerment and self-development, workforce development, education, case management, and partnerships with the state and local criminal justice agencies that serve adults or youth. Strong career development is essential with the goal of placing all ex-offenders in post-secondary education, apprenticeship programs, or vocational training.
Eligibility: Non-profit organizations with 501(c)(3) status, state or local government, or any Indian and Native American entity eligible under WIA Section 166. Applicants must serve pre- and post-release ex-offenders. Services must be targeted to female ex-offenders, but be eligible to male ex-offenders as well. Services may be to either youth or adults, but not both.
Funding: Estimated Total Program Funding is $12 million. 8 individual grants will be given. Applicants may submit proposals up to $1.5 million.
Link to Full Announcement: Link to Full Announcement
Last Day to Apply: May 4, 2012
Grant is administered by the: U.S. Department of Labor
Title: Senior Community Service Employment Program National Grants for Program Year (PY) 2012 - SGA-DFA-PY-11-04
Description: The purpose of this grant is to aid low-income older individuals who want to enter or re-enter the workforce with the goals of promoting useful opportunities in community service job training and to move participants into unsubsidized employment at the end of the program.
Eligibility: Non-profit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status, Federal public agencies, or Tribal organizations and consortiums that have the ability to administer a multi-State program that meets the eligibility and responsibility requirements outlined in 20 CFR part 641 subpart D (see Full Announcement).
Funding: Estimated Total Program Funding is $346 million.
Link to Full Announcement: Link to Full Announcement
Last Day to Apply: May 10, 2012
Grant is administered by the: U.S. Department of Labor
Title: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures
Description: The overarching goal of this FOA is to inform public policy and research relevant to (1) diet and physical activity behavior, and (2) weight and health outcomes of Americans. This grant opportunity encourages applicants to: (1) conduct evaluation research on obesity-related natural experiments (defined here as community and other population-level public policy interventions that may affect diet and physical activity behavior), and/or (2) develop and/or validate relevant community-level measures (instruments and methodologies to assess the food and physical activity environments at the community level).
Eligibility: Non-profit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status are encouraged to apply. The opportunity is also available to various governmental entities, local organizations, for-profit groups and small businesses.
Link to Full Announcement: Link to Full Announcement
Last Day to Apply: February 7, 2013
Grant is administered by the: National Institutes of Health
Title: Academic-Community Partnership Conference Series
Description: The purpose of this grant opportunity is to bring together academic institutions/organizations and community organizations to identify opportunities for addressing health disparities through the use of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). The objectives of meetings conducted as part of this award will be to: (1) establish and/or enhance academic-community partnerships; (2) identify community-driven research priorities, and (3) develop long-term collaborative CBPR research agendas.
Eligibility: Non-profit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status are encouraged to apply. The opportunity is also available to various governmental entities, local organizations, for-profit groups and small businesses.
Link to Full Announcement: Link to Full Announcement
Last Day to Apply: October 17, 2014
Grant is administered by the: National Institutes of Health