On August 28, 2014, HRSA www.hrsa.gov released the Funding Opportunity Notice (HRSA-15-034) www.grants.gov under the agency’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau www.mchb.hrsa.gov. The grant notice is soliciting applications for the “Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program” http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/healthytomorrows/index.html (HTPCP).
The goal of this program is to promote access to healthcare for children, youth, and their families by using preventive health strategies through innovative community driven programs.
In general, HTPCP projects target vulnerable and underserved populations to support community-based initiatives that are planning to implement innovative and cost-effective approaches to promote community identified preventive child health for children and their families.
Secondly, HTPCP fosters and promotes collaboration not only among community organizations, but also with individuals, agencies, businesses, and families. HTPCP most importantly involves pediatricians and other pediatric primary care providers in community-based service programs and at the same time, is building community and statewide partnerships among professionals.
HTPCP encourages the use of innovative health information technology to increase access to a wide variety of stakeholders in communities. HTPCP also encourages strategies to support outreach and enrollment efforts to help families access, understand, and use health insurance, that includes access to preventive care services.
Applicants should document the potential to develop and implement new tools and products along with the use of social media and other technologies for marketing and outreach. A goal is to build sustainable projects after federal funding ends that will improve access to care and reduce healthcare costs.
Previous grants have gone to but were not limited to medical centers, schools, local foundations, and non-profit agencies, community-based clinics, community health centers, hospitals and local and State health departments.
The closing date for applications for the HRSA Funding Opportunities Notice is October 14, 2014. Funding for the total program is $400,000 with $50,000 award ceiling. Applications will be accepted from state, city, or township governments, small businesses, non-profits, for-profits, public, state, and private institutions of higher education plus others.
As an example of how HTPCP can successfully help children, Boston Children’s Hospital www.childrenshospital.org created the Community Asthma Initiative (CAI). This is a comprehensive quality improvement program to provide enhance care to pediatric asthma patients with a history of hospitalizations or emergency department visits.
The program has demonstrated improved health outcomes, increased cost-effectiveness, and reduced health disparities. Hospitalizations for asthma have been dramatically cut, saving $1.46 in hospital care for every $1 spent on prevention.
After the first year, asthma-related emergency room visits for children in the program went down by 68 percent as compared with emergency room trips in the year before enrollment. The program is now being replicated in other states such as Alabama.
For more information on the Funding Opportunity Notice, Go to www.grants.gov, or email Madhavi Reddy-Netherland at mreddy@hrsa.gov.