Title
CONSIDERATION OF A GRANT APPLICATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $744,598 TO THE HEALTH RESOURCES & SERVICE ADMINISTRATION (HRSA) FOR HEALTHY START INITIATIVE FUNDING TO PROVIDE HEALTHY BABIES PROGRAM SERVICES AT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Presented by: Claudia Blackburn, Health Director, Sedgwick County Health Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the electronic submission of the application for the grant; and if awarded, authorize the Chairman to accept the award and authorize the establishment of budget authority as provided in the financial considerations section of this request.
Body
Grant Renewal: Yes
Never Applied: No
Applied; not awarded: No
Grant Summary and Timeline: Healthy Babies (HB) is a prenatal and postpartum home visitation and group education program funded via a variety of sources. The first Healthy Start grant was received in 1997 to provide wraparound services in three northeast Wichita zip codes (67208, 67214 and 67219).
With the assistance of community partners, the Healthy Babies program has helped decrease the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for 67219 more than threefold since 1993, down to 7.5 infant deaths per 1,000. And the black IMR for those zips has decreased 35%, down to 18.8 from 28.69 infant deaths per 1,000.
Eligibility for this grant requires an IMR of 9.9 or higher for the three years 2007-2009 and the following zip codes individually and collectively meet the criteria: 67037, 67208, 67209, 67213, 67214, 67216, 67217 and 67218.
During those three years, 115 babies in the intervention area died, resulting in an IMR of 11.86 infant deaths per 1,000. From 2005 to 2012, the infant mortality rate for program participants was 2.87 infant deaths per 1,000, while the county rate was 7.88.
Healthy Babies will partner with community health clinics, residency programs and private providers to wrap services around moms via the evidence-based Healthy Steps for Young Children intervention model. Healthy Babies nurses and community liaisons will provide home visits and attend well-child appointments with clients, from the prenatal period up until the child's third birthday.
The Healthy Steps model bridges the gap between the client and the medical team and research shows that this model:
· Improves client satisfaction with medical care, resulting in follow-through for prenatal care and well-child visits
· Helps the clients understand the importance of having a medical home and improves trust with the medical team
· Increases immunization rates
· Improves safe sleep practices, decreasing related infant deaths, one of the top three causes of infant death in Sedgwick County
· Improves physician satisfaction with care because the home visitor helps keep the clients involved in their own medical care, as well as the care for their family
This patient-centered care approach is the foundation for the life course perspective, which focuses on understanding how early-life experiences can shape health across an entire lifetime; and potentially across generations. (www.healthysteps.org <http://www.healthysteps.org>)
Financial Considerations:
Grant period starts: June 1, 2014
Grant period ends: May 31, 2019
Source of funding
Grant: $ 744,598.00
Required Match: $ 0.00
Required Cash Match: $ 0.00
Required In-Kind Match: $ 0.00
Other funding: $ 0.00
TOTAL SOURCES: $ 744,598.00
Uses of funding
Operational costs: $ 744,598.00
Personnel: $ 516,906.00
Contractual services: $ 165,458.00
Operational supplies: $ 13,457.00
Equipment: $ 0.00
Indirect administrative costs: $ 48,777.00
Capital projects cost: $ 0.00
TOTAL USES: $744,598.00
Source of matching funds: N/A
Source of other funding: N/A
Budget Authority Adjustment: Yes; if awarded, additional funding of $174,513 is requested for 2014. The 2014 adopted budget included $570,085 in budget authority for this fund center; adding the authority brings the 2014 budget in line with the anticipated allocation. This is a five-year grant in the amount of $3,722,990, with annual grant award amounts of $744,598. The initial grant year is June 1, 2014 thru May 31, 2015; with each additional grant year to follow, based on availability of funds and program performance, as reported via annual continuation reports.
Personnel considerations:
This grant offers funding for seven positions, including (3) nurse providers, (2) community liaison providers, (1) nurse chart abstractor for the FIMR program, and (1) program director. No new positions will be requested for this grant.
Expected measurable outcomes:
By 05-31-19, we expect to see the following outcomes in our eight-zip code intervention area:
· Decrease low birth weight (LBW) from 8.88% down to 7.00%
· Decrease prematurity from 10% down to 8%
· Increase first trimester prenatal care from 77% to 89%
Alternatives:
To not apply for the funding and seek financial support to sustain and/or expand the program from other sources or to allow the program to downsize through attrition of grant funding sources. Note: This is the end of our five-year Healthy Start grant. If we do not apply for this funding, we will need to request local monies to pay for personnel costs for the (7) staff funded via this grant.
Policy considerations:
Legal considerations: The County has the ability to apply for this grant pursuant to its home rule powers within K.S.A. 19-101 et seq. Furthermore, pursuant to the County's Grant Applications and Awards Policy, due to the dollar amount of this grant, its application must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Approval is by simple majority vote.