Community Health Champions

1. Increase member awareness and knowledge of Medi-Cal benefits, community resources and how to access care.
2. Engage youth and adult Medi-Cal members in community-based efforts that enhance individual and community health.
3. Invest in trusted, community-based partners that serve historically marginalized communities, educate members about health and wellness, and improve access to health care and supportive services.

Grants support community-based projects that directly serve the Medi-Cal population and align with the Community Health Champions Program funding goals.

Grants support projects that:

1. Organize, train and support youth and adult Medi-Cal members to:

• Educate their community, peers and families on specific health topics and provide guidance on confidently accessing services to manage their health.
• Develop initiatives and interventions to prevent illness and chronic disease, including addressing food insecurity, nutrition and physical activity.
• Promote available health care services, supportive resources and health literacy.
• Destigmatize the use of behavioral health and substance use disorder services while integrating supportive, peer-based activities into community settings.
• Engage trusted community gatekeepers and local decision-makers to remove barriers to health and promote health equity.

2. Create a Community Health Worker career pathway for Medi-Cal member "champions" with focused interventions based on above strategies.
3. Do not supplant reimbursable Medi-Cal Community Health Worker, Doula or Enhanced Care Management benefits for eligible Medi-Cal members.

Strengthening your application

Applicants who demonstrate one or more of the following will strengthen their grant application:

• Commitment to strategies that promote linguistic and cultural competence.
• Use of evidence-based practices or recognized effective practices.
• Use of participatory evaluation methods to measure impact.
• Leveraging other funding sources and initiatives.

Applicants must meet the minimum eligibility requirements for the Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program (see Eligibility Guidelines) and the following criteria.

Applicant must be one of the following:

• A for-profit contracted Alliance provider.
• A 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• A community group with a fiscal agent that is a 501(c)(3).
• A governmental entity.
• A local education agency.

Eligible applicants must serve a significant volume of Medi-Cal members in the Alliance service area.

Additional types of partners not listed above may be involved in the project but cannot serve as the applicant (e.g., businesses, for-profit housing developments).

One organization must serve as the applicant/grantee organization.

Serving as the applicant for one project would not prohibit an entity from also serving as a partner on another Community Health Champions project.

An applicant is limited to Community Health Champions Program funding for one project at a time, which may be implemented at more than one site.

Amount

The Alliance will consider funding projects up to $250,000 per grant.

Term

Project timelines should be no more than 24 months.

Project timelines are defined as the date the project scope of work begins (after grant award date) to the date of project completion.

Funding will be considered for expansion of projects already in progress. However, completed activities or costs incurred prior to approval of the grant request by the Alliance will not be considered. A project budget may contain costs for more than one site.

Eligible expenses

Examples of eligible expenses include:

• Personnel expenses (salary and benefits) for one or more full-time equivalents (FTEs) with direct responsibilities for the project.
• Consultants and vendor costs for project start-up and/or implementation.
• One-time purchase of equipment and/or technology dedicated to project implementation.
• Programmatic costs (materials, non-cash participant incentives, mileage, etc.).
• Indirect costs up to 15% are eligible and may be included in project budget.

Visit our How to Apply page for deadlines, instructions and the online application form.

Applications require submission of financial statements, including audited financial statements for the last two fiscal years and an organizational profit and loss statement and balance sheet for the last 12 months.

If audited financial statements are not available, applicant should provide a rationale for not performing an annual audit and upload their company or organization’s most recent tax return or Form 990.