Overview
The Minnesota Community Health Worker (CHW) Alliance is a statewide nonprofit which serves as a catalyst, convener and subject matter expert in health equity and community health worker strategies. The mission of the Alliance is to build community and systems capacity for better health through the integration of community health worker (CHW) strategies. The Alliance seeks proposals from a variety of organizations and work settings to add and/or sustain a CHW position and participate in the Minnesota CHW Registry.
Timeline
January 16, 2025 | January 31, 2025 | February 7, 2025 | June 15, 2025 | June 27, 2025 |
Award announcement | Application submission deadline | Funding decisions made, awards announced to winners. Projects may begin when contracts are signed | Funding end date. | Last date to submit reimbursement invoices. |
Objectives
- Provide funding for new Community Health Worker positions in a variety of settings.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of CHW models
- Evaluate the value added and return on investment of CHW strategies in a variety of work settings.
Eligibility Criteria
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- Projects must be implementation ready
- Utilization of evidence-based and community driven/promising practice models such as CHW Apprenticeship, CHW Pathways, IMPACT, Transition Clinic Network, Health Care Home, Behavioral Health Home, home visiting, or community driven/promising practices.
- Eligible organizations include health care organizations, public health agencies, tribal nations, community health boards and community-based organizations.
- Must be located and providing services in Minnesota.
- Must be willing to create and maintain a CHW Apprenticeship Program.
- Demonstrate a commitment to health equity.
- Have the ability to bill for CHWs services for medical, dental, behavioral and/or mental health services, or to add CHW billing. (See example on MN DHS website)
- Demonstrate effective grant management experience.
- Commits to partner with the Alliance, participate in evaluation and share data.
- Commits to invest in/sustain community health worker strategies and/or the CHW Apprenticeship model.
- Must have a CHW engaged with MNCHWA either through the Minnesota CHW Alliance Registry, through volunteer engagement, and/or support this engagement through the project.
- CHWs from applicant organizations can join the registry now using promotional code “demogrant25” to waive the Registry fee.
- Finalists must complete an organizational readiness assessment to complete the application process.
Funding Dates
February 2025 – June 15, 2025.
Funding is available on a reimbursement basis. No advance funding is available.
Funding Amount
A funding pool of $300,000 is a available with intent to fund three to six projects/proposals. No single award will exceed an amount of $99,000.
Eligible Expenses
Eligible expenses may include the following:
- Salaries
- CHW Model Development costs (including training, data systems, etc.)
- CHW Team Integration
- Billing support and/or systems
- Supplies/equipment
- Mileage
Foundational Program Set Up Requirements
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- CHWs must either have a CHW certificate or begin to obtain the Certificate during the demonstration project.
- Work with the Alliance to assess organizational readiness and to adequately add, train and supervise CHWs and fully integrate them into the team.
- Must agree to use grant funds to cover time for CHW supervisors and CHWs to attend technical assistance and Registered Apprenticeship training on topics including: quarterly meetings of the project cohort, Insurance Navigation, Medication and Pharmacy Relations, Systems Navigation, Patient Rights and Advocacy, CHW Billing and Reimbursement, CHW Technical Tools and Skills, Trauma informed training, and Home Visiting and Community Safety, CHW Circle and Supervisor Round Table.
- Partner with the Alliance to participate in evaluation and to share data. Must agree to work with MNCHWA to measure the following: Measurements: CHWs hired; people served by CHW; CHW services provided; outcomes of CHW services/client interactions; value added by CHW presence and services; CHW impact on the team and organization. ii. CHW services provided, Improved health outcomes in clients of CHWs; increases in culturally appropriate care for clients of CHWs, Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned.
- Engage in data sharing agreements- client health outcome improvement.
- Invest in/sustain the community health worker strategy and/or the CHW Apprenticeship model (Stipends available.)
- Support the CHW(s) in gaining the CHW Certificate. Scholarships are available through the Alliance.
- Integrate the CHW(s) into the full organizational team.
- Work with the Alliance to successfully bill for CHW services
- Implement a plan to sustain the CHW position beyond the grant end.
- Connect the CHW(s) with other CHWs, within your organization and/or through the Alliance.
- Provide feedback on health equity programming to stakeholders such as Minnesota Dept. of Health, Department of Labor and Industry, Department of Employment and Economic Development, Department of Human Services and others in collaboration with MN CHW Alliance.
Grant Application
Deadline: Tuesday, January 31, 2025
Process:
- CHWs from applying organizations sign up to the CHW Registry using code “demogrant25“
- Submit a grant application using the form below
- Full proposals may be requested based on review of Application and Alliance priorities.
- Finalists must complete an organizational readiness assessment to finish the application process.
These funds are made possible through the State of Minnesota under Minn. Stat. §§ 144.05, 144.0742 and, 144.1462.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Q: Will there be an opportunity to apply for an extension for this funding?
A: There will be no extensions for this funding. The funding ends June 15th and all invoices must be submitted by June 27th. The MNCHWA source of funding for these demonstration grants is state funding that must be spent by the end of the state fiscal year 2025 (6/30/25).
Q: We are not currently an apprenticeship site, would we have enough time to accomplish during the funding period or are we ineligible if the program is created/completed by the end of the cycle? Perhaps that is a quick process but I want to be sure we know.
A: This funding can be used to set up a CHW apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship approval may still be pending at the end of this grant funding. For some organizations, this is a quick process and for others it takes longer. There is more information on what it takes to set up a CHW Apprenticeship site here: https://mnchwalliance.org/community-health-worker-training-program/apprenticeship/. The Alliance has staff available to help with CHW Apprenticeship applications and set up.
Q: What support is the alliance planning to offer to support the billing of CHW services? If we have a system, can we just use what we have? Any expectations on claims data sharing?
A: If your organization has a system that is working, you can continue to use that system. We will be providing technical assistance on how to successfully bill for CHW services for organizations needing this. We do expect data sharing on the grant goals and the outcomes of CHW services in accordance with HIPAA and data privacy laws.
Q: One of the eligibility requirements is to participate in program evaluation and share data. What type of data would be shared with The Alliance?
A: We require data sharing on the grant goals and the outcomes of CHW services in accordance with HIPAA and data privacy laws.
Q: Can you share more about the evaluation and data sharing process? Is there any reporting as part of the apprenticeship site that needs to be accounted for?
A: We collect information on individual Apprentices who receive the apprenticeship stipend, and the organizations where those Apprentices are employed. We report de-identified information from the Apprenticeship Stipend Application as well as wage data at the beginning, end, and after the apprenticeship, and survey questions that include information like: primary role at the site, vulnerable populations served, training hours etc.
Join the Demonstration Grant Review Committee
We firmly believe in the motto of “nothing about us without us.” Join our review committee for the Demonstration Grants and lend your voice to the process as we build the future of the CHW profession:
CHW Demonstration Grant Scoring Rubric
View Scoring Rubric
Requirements | Points Available (Up To) | Points Awarded | Additional Notes |
Organization is implementation ready | 10 | ||
Organization has a CHW supervisor on staff | 10 | ||
Organization has one or more CHW Certificate Holders on staff | 10 | ||
Organization is one of the following: Health care entity, local public health department, community health board, community- based organization, or tribal nation. | 10 | ||
Organization utilizes an evidence-based and community driven/promising practice CHW model | 10 | ||
Organization has the ability to bill for CHWs services for medical, dental, behavioral and/or mental health services, or to add CHW billing | 10 | ||
Organization demonstrates effective grant management experience | 10 | ||
Organization has a CHW engaged with MNCHWA either through the Minnesota CHW Alliance Registry or through volunteer engagement | 10 | ||
Preferred | |||
Organization is a CHW Apprenticeship Program. Or Organization is willing to add CHW apprentice(s) | 15 | ||
Organization demonstrates a commitment to health equity. | 5 | ||
Total Score | 100 |
If you have any questions or concerns about the process for this RFP please contact us via email: info@mnchwalliance.org