The Partnership Center Newsletter

October 28, 2011

Dear Partners:

Father absence is a growing crisis in America, one that underlies many of the challenges that families face today. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America – one out of three – live in homes where their biological father is absent. As the father of two young girls and someone who grew up without his dad in the home, President Obama knows firsthand the power of a father’s presence in the lives of his children – and the holes dads leave when they are absent.

That’s why, over the past two years, President Obama has joined with fathers across the country through the President’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative. The president is sending a strong message about personal responsibility while supporting dads who want to be there for their kids.

The Partnership Center at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the great honor of supporting the President’s fatherhood efforts, which seek to encourage individuals, especially fathers, to be involved in the lives of their children, and to be positive role models and mentors for other children in their lives and communities.

As part of those efforts, we are pleased to let you know that the HHS Administration for Children and Families recently awarded just over $119 million in funding to programs that promote healthy marriages and responsible fatherhood. Please see our Featured Update for more information.

To learn more about all these efforts, check out www.Fatherhood.gov, where you and others can also sign the President’s Fatherhood Pledge and stay updated through the DadTalk Blog.

Sincerely,

Mara Vanderslice Kelly, Acting Director

Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Featured Update

HHS Awards Grants to Support Fathers and Strengthen Families

On October 3, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded just over $119 million in funding to programs that promote healthy marriages and responsible fatherhood. The awards to 120 grantees will help fathers and families build strong relationships to support the well-being of their children.

The funding supports local efforts across the United States, including those that combine a focus on building stronger family relationships with job training and career counseling to help individuals and parents find employment that can help families make ends meet. This focus on fostering employment success recognizes that financially secure families are more likely to provide stable and enriching environments for children. Organizations receiving healthy marriage grants may provide a range of services, including marriage education, divorce reduction, and marriage and relationship skills programs that may include parenting skills, financial management, conflict resolution, and job and career advancement. Fatherhood program funding must be used to promote responsible fatherhood through activities that promote or sustain marriage and responsible parenting, and that foster economic stability.

George Sheldon, Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at HHS, recognized the impact this funding will have, saying, “A strong and stable family is the greatest advantage any child can have. These grants support programs that promote responsible parenting, encourage healthy relationships and marriage, and help families move toward self-sufficiency and economic stability.”

The marriage and fatherhood grants were awarded through a competitive process and will be administered by ACF’s Office of Family Assistance. These grants must have procedures in place to address issues of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, and they must ensure that program participation is voluntary.

For the complete list of grantees, please click here.

Let’s Move Faith and Communities Update

Refugee and Immigrant Communities look to the Land to Support Health and Safety Needs

As refugee families in the United States begin to assimilate into mainstream American culture, their eating habits similarly evolve, reflecting a departure from their traditional customs. The result of this shift can be alarming, as obesity rates and other negative health outcomes soar in these particularly vulnerable communities. Health experts have discovered that among immigrant and refugee populations that have been in America for less than one year, the prevalence of obesity is approximately 8 percent. However, among individuals who have been living here for up to 15 years, the rate of obesity jumps to nearly 20 percent, reflecting the growing impact of American habits on these impressionable populations.[i]

In Sacramento, California, Arden Manor, a community comprised primarily of refugee families from Nepal, rose to meet the challenges that underscore this health dilemma:  unhealthy eating habits, lack of access to healthy foods and the increase of violence throughout the neighborhood. Their solution: start a community garden! The Arden Manor Garden, established in the heart of a large apartment complex housing many refugee families, is sponsored by the Impact outreach program run by Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, one group associated with the Church World Service (CWS). CWS is a national organization that works to eradicate hunger and poverty, and sees community gardening as a way for refugee and immigrant groups to re-establish their roots, since for many families, gardening was their way of life in their native country.

CWS donated the tools, supplies and land necessary to start the Arden Manor Garden, but the community members took responsibility for making it bloom and are now harvesting the benefits! Beyond providing healthy food alternatives at no cost, the community garden serves as a social hub for people in the neighborhood. It fosters a sense of pride among the neighborhood and provides a productive activity for community members, especially children, to engage in during their free time. Today, many community members contribute to keeping up the garden on a daily basis, and lavender plants, fresh tomatoes, chilies and pumpkins are growing, providing fresh ingredients for the community’s more traditional dishes. There’s even a chicken coop in the corner, providing eggs as well as entertainment for the kids! As Vickie Guanzon, who spends time in the Arden Manor community garden every day, explained, “What this garden is doing is bringing families…together.”

[1] Goel, Mita Sanghavi, Ellen P. McCarthy, Russell S. Phillips, and Christina C. Wee. "Obesity among US Immigrant Subgroups by Duration of Residence." Journal of the American Medical Association 292.23 (2004): 2860-867. Print.

Jessica Fern is a Fall intern at the HHS Partnership Center.

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: National Neighbors Silver Grant Project

Description: The National Neighbors Silver grant project seeks to support and empower older adults across the country. The initiative brings together community, public and private sector partners together utilizing structured, neighborhood-focused outreach, education, and advocacy led by older adults. National Neighbors Silver funds organizing and education networks, facilitated by local organizers.

Eligibility: NCRC is seeking grant applications from community-based organizations dedicated to safeguarding the financial security of older adults. Organizations must be registered partners of NCRC. Organizations can become members before applying for the National Neighbors Silver grant.

Funding: $47,500 for three years per organization for each of the five organizations selected.

Link to Full Announcement: LINK TO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT

Last Day to Apply: November 4, 2011

Grant is administered by: The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

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:Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program

Description: The purpose of this program is to support groups helping to meet the food needs of low-income people, increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs, and provide comprehensive responsive to local, food, farm and nutrition initiatives. Project initiatives may also seek to assist with local infrastructure improvement and development, planning for long-term solutions, and/or the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit low-income consumers and agricultural producers are also eligible.

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

Funding: Funding up to $500,000 per organization, up to a potential total award allocation of $5,000,000.

Link to Full Announcement: LINK TO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT

Last Day to Apply: November 17, 2011

Grant is administered by the: United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute for Food and Agriculture

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. 

Core Workplace Health Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced awards of approximately $9 million for comprehensive workplace health programs across the nation. The initiative, funded by the Affordable Care Act, aims to help workplaces support healthy lifestyles and reduce risk factors for chronic diseases in order to improve the health of American workers and their families. Over a two-year period, project funds will support evidence-based initiatives to build worksite capacity and improve workplace culture to support healthy behaviors. At the end of this project in 2013, CDC will disseminate the findings and provide recommendations for how to successfully implement and expand successful workplace health programs throughout the United States. Read More.

Community Transformation Grants

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced grants to 61 states and communities with over 120 million residents to fight chronic disease, which is the leading cause of death in Americans. Created by the Affordable Care Act, Community Transformation Grants help states and communities tackle the root causes of chronic disease such as smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Grantees will use these funds, which total more than $103 million, to transform where their residents live, work, play, and go to school so that they can lead healthier, more productive lives. Thirty-five grantees will implement proven interventions to help improve health and wellness. Funding amounts range from $500,000 to $10 million depending on population size and scope of project. These grants are expected to run for five years. Read More.

Comprehensive Primary Care initiative

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new initiative made possible by the Affordable Care Act to help primary care practices deliver higher quality, more coordinated and patient-centered care. Under the new initiative, Medicare will work with commercial and state health insurance plans to offer additional support to primary care doctors who better coordinate care for their patients. This collaboration is modeled after innovative practices developed by large employers and leading private health insurers in the private sector. Read More.

Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a new effort to address childhood obesity using successful elements of both primary care and public health. Funding made available through the Affordable Care Act will support a four year Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project.  Supported by $25 million in funding awards, the project will build on existing community efforts and will work to identify effective health care and community strategies to support children’s healthy eating and active living and help combat childhood obesity.  Read More.

Affordable Care Act Prevention and Public Health Fund Grants

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a series of initiatives that will help over 900 community health centers and community-based organizations to enhance the quality and coordination of health care services across the country. A total of $47 million, made available by the Affordable Care Act, was awarded in every state and will help improve quality and access to services for millions of Americans. They will also support better primary care and behavioral health services for people with mental and substance abuse disorders. Read More.