The Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) recently made funding available for multi-sector action plans that address social determinants of health (“SDOH”). The grant, titled “Closing the Gap with Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans”, is designed to support plans that involve governments, private businesses, non-profit and community organizations and health care organizations. The CDC aims to encourage community health assessments and long-range planning through the competitive grant program.
The SDOH have been shown to have a measurable impact on health outcomes and programs seeking to address them are critical to eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity. The grant can be used for projects such as housing, transportation and social services that improve SDOH in communities with the poorest health outcomes. Last year, Hall Render wrote about health system SDOH projects that created positive change in their communities. That article provides examples of effective SDOH programs that may be eligible for the grant.
Projects designed to address SDOH require dynamic planning across multiple organizations to be successful. Integrating diverse voices across a community is important for implementing productive actions and effective change in the lives of people adversely affected by SDOH. For this reason, health systems must work with state and/or local government agencies to develop a plan and apply for the grant. Other non-state actors that can enhance accelerator plans include grass-roots advocates, professionals in health care, non-governmental and civil society organizations, academia, the media and the private sector.
If a hospital or health system is currently working with local government to address a public health issue, the CDC grant is available to increase capital for qualifying projects.
How much is the grant and how many will be awarded?
The CDC has indicated that it will make up to twenty (20) grants, each totaling $125,000. Each Health and Human Services Region will be limited to three (3) awards to promote geographic diversity and at least one U.S. territory and one tribe will be funded.
Who can apply?
Notably, only government entities and tribal organizations can apply. As such, health systems and hospitals that are working on an accelerator plan must partner with local or state governmental agencies to obtain and utilize this funding. Eligible applicants include:
- City or township governments
- State governments
- Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
- County governments
- Special district governments
- Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
Applicants must also be physically located and operate in the state, tribe, locality or territory for which work is proposed.
How to Apply
Applicants must provide a statement that identifies the state or territory in which the applicant will do the proposed work. Documentation should be uploaded as a PDF file at www.grants.gov. Applications proposing work outside the applicant’s physical location or requesting more than $125,000 will not be considered. More information can be found here.
The deadline for the grant application is July 6, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST.
If you have any questions, would like additional information or need assistance applying for a grant, please contact:
- Andrew Dick at (317) 977-1491 or adick@wp.hallrender.com;
- Jennifer Skeels at (317) 977-1497 or jskeels@wp.hallrender.com;
- Gregg Wallander at (317) 977-1431 or gwally@wp.hallrender.com;
- Mayo Alao at (317) 977-1480 or malao@wp.hallrender.com; or
- Your regular Hall Render attorney.
Special thanks to Ben Jamison for his assistance with preparing this article.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
