The Partnership Center Newsletter

September 23, 2011

Dear Partners:

Last week we all got some great news when the Census Bureau released data showing that 500,000 more young adults in 2010 gained health coverage thanks to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26. 

This week, we got new data and even better news – the number of young adults with health coverage has climbed even higher.

A new report shows that as of March 31, 2011, approximately one million more young adults have coverage, compared with one year ago.

The CDC’s National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) shows that in the first quarter of 2011, the percentage of adults between the ages of 19 and 25 with health insurance increased to 69.6%, from 66.1% in 2010. This amounts to 1 million more young adults with insurance than last year, because of the health law signed by President Obama. The Census Bureau’s results only included data through the end of 2010. The report released from the CDC today includes data from a portion of 2011.

This data is one more sign that the Affordable Care Act is working - especially for young adults all across the country. We know young adults are the group least likely to have health insurance and while most are in great health, everyone needs insurance in case they experience an injury or illness.

The data released today is also consistent with reports from a newly released Gallup survey which found that the Affordable Care Act has been successful at covering young adults in the first part of 2011.  Gallup wrote:

“The provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows children up to the age of 26 to remain on their parents' plans appears to be having an immediate effect on the number of Americans who report they have health insurance.”

These three national surveys show a consistent pattern: more young adults are getting the health insurance they need.  This expansion of health coverage sets the tone as we move towards 2014, when more Americans than ever will have access to affordable insurance options.

To read more about the data release, please visit this page.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Featured Update

Improving Health Care through Faith-Based and Community Partnerships

Photo Courtesy: Chris Smith, HHS

(L-R) Bobby Baker, M.Div., Director of Congregational and Community Partnerships, Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare, Katherine Gottlieb, President and CEO, Southcentral Foundation, on the Nuka System of Care Model, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, Executive Director, Camden Coalition of Health Care Providers, on the Camden Model and Rev. Edward Livingston, Executive Director, Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP) share information about their respective programs during the Community Health Partnerships Models presentation.

From our first trip to Memphis, Tennessee to see a faith-health partnership in action to other visits across the nation, bringing together health care leaders who are proven innovators in pursuing creative and successful public health partnerships has been a goal for our Center this year.

Along with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, we welcomed a group of 16 hospital CEOs and senior leadership from health care systems across the country to the White House to discuss improving health outcomes through faith-based and community partnerships.  The one-day event gave attendees an opportunity to seek and share best practices on partnerships and programs that work for the good of the community.

“In addition to spiritual support, turning to faith and community leaders for health and wellness is a part of many faiths,” said Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the president and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  “By linking to the strong infrastructure of congregations, hospitals and care providers are able to reach deep into hard-to-reach and underserved communities to improve the health of Americans.”

The health systems invited to the meeting are unique, as their faith-based and community partnership programs are fully implemented within rural, urban and suburban communities and demonstrate their impact on the full community.

A portion of the day’s discussion focused on new health and wellness provisions included in the Affordable Care Act.  Under the new law, those with new insurance plans can get preventive services like mammograms and other cancer screenings without paying a penny out of their own pockets.  By making Medicare stronger, the law delivers less expensive prescription drugs to millions of seniors and, over time, closes the donut hole and makes preventive services free for everyone with Medicare.  These provisions, combined with the innovative health care being provided by the health systems in attendance, make our communities healthier.

Faith and community leaders are trusted messengers within their communities and are on the front lines of fighting many of the health care issues that are plaguing so many underserved communities.  By engaging faith and community leaders in collaborative partnerships, health providers can expand health care access, monitor which best practices are working in local communities and lower costs.

Mara Vanderslice Kelly is Acting Director and Senior Advisor at the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (The Partnership Center) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Let’s Move Faith and Communities Update

JCC Grows (Gardens)!

When the word community is in your middle name, it’s only natural to start gardens producing healthy, nutritious foods.  The Jewish Community Centers (JCC) Association has taken on the First Lady’s Let’s Move Faith and Communities challenge of growing community gardens. They have started JCC Grows, a healthy food and hunger-relief initiative involving the creation and/or expansion of community gardens at JCCs and JCC camps. Most of the produce grown is donated to emergency food providers to help those in need. JCC Grows also promotes fresh food collection drives and connects JCCs to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers markets.

The A-B-C Garden at the Jewish Community Alliance of Jacksonville, FL helps support an early childhood curriculum.

The JCC Association is the leadership organization overseeing more than 350 Jewish Community Centers, Jewish Ys, and camps in the U.S. and Canada.  When First Lady Michelle Obama launched Let’s Move Faith and Communities in November 2010, the JCC Association committed to involving one-third of JCCs and camps in fresh food access projects within three years.

With the goal of helping to make American children healthier, JCCs and camps are committed to promoting good nutrition and encouraging physical activity, Jewish learning, and social justice values.  The JCC Association was the first faith-based organization to register their gardens as part of USDA’s People’s Garden initiative.  To qualify as a People’s Garden, a garden must fulfill three components: benefit the community, be collaborative, and incorporate sustainable practices.

Barbara Lerman-Golomb, a Social Responsibility Consultant for the JCC Association, has been spearheading the initiative: “Our partnership with Let’s Move! and USDA’s People’s Garden initiative has motivated us to synthesize the work we’re doing, disseminate more resources, share best practices, and be part of a greater good.”

Community members work to build raised beds for the JCC garden in Indianapolis, IN. This past summer marked the garden’s first season.

Latest News

HHS Announces $ 710 Million to Expand Services and Create New Health Centers

By Lisa Carr, MSW, Associate Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Community health centers assure access to quality primary health care services at more than 8,100 sites, delivering care to nearly 20 million people regardless of their ability to pay. As comprehensive health service providers, they improve the health of the nation. Health centers provide high-quality preventive and primary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.

On September 9^th the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of $700 million to help build, expand and improve community health centers across the U.S. to provide needed care to people with low incomes. The grants include two funding opportunities, $600 million to existing health centers to expand their facilities, hire more employees and serve more patients. The second opportunity is $100 million to fund existing health centers to address immediate facility needs.

On September 15^th, HHS announced awards totaling $10 million to assist 129 organizations across the country that would like to become community health centers. These funds, made available by the Affordable Care Act, support organizations’ development as a future health center. Eligible organizations included public or nonprofit private organizations, including faith-based and community-based organizations.  To see the list of Health Center Planning Grants, listed by organization and state, visit: http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2011tables/1108healthcenterplanning.html.

Over the next five years, the Affordable Care Act provides $11 billion in funding for the operation, expansion and construction of community health centers across the U.S. The expansion of sites and services will help community health centers increase the number of patients receiving care providing continued support for the most vulnerable.

Grant Opportunities

As always, the final section of our newsletter includes an updated grants listing that faith-based and community non-profits can pursue. It is important to review the funding announcement thoroughly to ensure that the grant is one that is appropriate to your organization’s mission, size, and scope.

Grants Listings

Title: Public Education Efforts To Increase Solid Organ Donation Program

Description: The purpose of this program is to support the implementation of public education and outreach programs that show promise of increasing organ donation.  Specifically, this program supports the replication of strategies that have been identified through the research grant program of the Division of Transplantation as effective in increasing donation or strategies identified in the public health literature as being effective in modifying health behavior.  The program also supports the implementation of public education and outreach efforts that are based on an established framework for successful public health outreach programs.  This grant program is supportive of the Division's mission to educate the public about deceased donation and to encourage individuals to document their decision to be a donor in their statewide donor registry or by some other mechanism where a registry is unavailable. Projects may also increase knowledge of opportunities to donate specific organs or organ sections while living and the process, risks, and benefits of living donation. 

Eligibility:  This funding opportunity is open to nonprofit providers, including faith-based and community organizations.

Funding: Up to four awards, with funding from $250,000 to $1,000,000.
Link to Full Announcement: LINK TO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT 
Last Day to Apply: November 16, 2011 
Grant is administered by the: Health Resources and Services Administration

Title: Social and Behavioral Interventions To Increase Solid Organ Donation

Description: This grant program is to increase solid organ donation and to improve understanding of how to increase solid organ donation.  The goal of the grant program is to assist eligible entities in the evaluation of, or the implementation and evaluation of, highly promising strategies and approaches that can serve as model interventions for increasing solid organ donation. Projects may focus on community education and outreach initiatives or hospital based efforts focused on family consent for donation when a death has occurred. Projects may also increase knowledge of opportunities to donate specific organs or organ sections while living and the process, risks, and benefits of living donation. 

Eligibility:  This funding opportunity is open to nonprofit providers, including faith-based and community organizations.

Funding: Up to four awards, with funding from $300,000 to $1,250,000.
Link to Full Announcement: LINK TO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT 
Last Day to Apply: November 30, 2011 
Grant is administered by the: Health Resources and Services Administration

Grants Awarded

Continuing our efforts to provide you with partnership opportunities in your community, the section below lists federal grants recently awarded to organizations in your local community. 

HRSA awards $5.1 million to bolster HIV/AIDS training and technical assistance programs

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) today announced awards of $5.1 million to provide training and technical assistance (TA) as part of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides HIV-related services in the United States for those who do not have sufficient health care coverage or financial resources for coping with HIV disease. 

Read More>>>

ACF and HRSA award $1.3 million for the Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced today the award of five single source grants totaling $1.3 million for the Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program.

Read More>>>