Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program (MCGP)

1. Equity in impact.

• Tailor to local needs and prioritizes resources to populations that experience inequities.
• Engage the community to understand health-related needs and opportunities to advance the Alliance’s vision of Healthy People. Healthy Communities.
• Create opportunities for members to play a central role in crafting solutions to improve health for themselves, their families and their communities.

2. Trusting relationships with community

• Build relationships based on mutual respect, collaborative learning and aligned priorities.

3. Transparent, accessible and responsive grantmaking.

• Minimize administrative burden on grantees and ensure the level of effort is commensurate with the grantee organization’s scale and administrative ability.
• Ensure accountability for grant funds and transparency about funding decisions and requirements.
• Measure and communicate the scale and impact of investments on the Medi-Cal system, infrastructure and members.

4. Grantmaking informed by Medi-Cal delivery system expertise and experience.

• Responsive to funding gaps and infrastructure needs for Medi-Cal transformation.
• Support innovations in the safety net health care delivery system to address root issues that impact health.
• Closely coordinated with Alliance staff, Board and community stakeholders.

5. Holistic view of health.

• Supports Medi-Cal members to achieve and maintain optimum physical, mental and social well-being.
• Addresses disease prevention/management upstream from the medical model.

1. Funding Allocations.

• Allocated by county and funding opportunity.
• Consider equity in impact of programs, not just equity in allocation.

2. Annual Spending Plan.

• Ensures transparency about the funding that will be available in the community for activities within the focus areas.

3. Member Benefit.

• Make strategic use of Alliance reserves to strengthen the delivery system to meet Medi-Cal member needs.

4. Local Innovation.

• Ensure strategic use of reserves to enable local innovation rather than supplanting state resources for ongoing program administration.
• Covered Service benefit expansions, provider payment augmentation and other services managed by the health plan are addressed via the health plan’s operating budget, not through the MCGP.

5. Funding Decisions Free from Conflicts of Interest.

• Rely on an administrative decision-making structure to avoid conflicts of interest in approval of programs and grants.

1. Medi-Cal Purpose

All grants must benefit Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

2. Sustainability

Create lasting change that is sustainable past the grant funding period. Grants are generally one-time investments to build capacity or ensure adequate local infrastructure to meet Alliance member needs. 

3. Service Area

Grantees must maintain ongoing operations, including staffing and programs, in the Alliance service area.

4. Alignment with Vision, Mission and Priorities

The Alliance invests in organizations and efforts that advance the Alliance’s vision, mission and strategic priorities.

5. Focus Areas

Funding awards must be associated with at least one of the MCGP focus areas.

6. Supplanting

MCGP funding should not be used to supplant or duplicate other funding. The Alliance focuses investments on areas where limited funding is available or where other funding sources can be leveraged to have a greater impact.