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Press Release  AG Healey Awards $3 Million in Grants to Support Innovative Health Care Partnerships

Grants Will Promote Health Equity and Reduce Health Disparities in Underserved Communities by Investing in Social Determinants
For immediate release:
1/08/2019
  • Office of Attorney General Maura Healey

Media Contact   for AG Healey Awards $3 Million in Grants to Support Innovative Health Care Partnerships

Alex Bradley

BostonAttorney General Maura Healey today announced nearly $3 million in funding under a new grant program focused on addressing the social determinants of health, including nutrition, safe housing, violence prevention, and substance use, all of which impact the health of individuals, families and communities. AG Healey’s Social Determinants Partnership program will provide grants to promote health equity across Massachusetts to 13 partnerships made up of health care providers, social service organizations, and municipal government agencies.

“As a state and as a country, we continue to spend most of our health care dollars treating people who are already sick, rather than investing to keep people healthy,” said AG Healey. “These grants will support new partnerships to improve nutrition, housing, and other social determinants to protect the health of every Massachusetts resident.”

“The Greater Boston Food Bank applauds Attorney General Maura Healey for her vision and commitment to address the social determinants of health through cross-sector partnerships,” said Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO of GBFB. “At GBFB, we know that ending hunger will require more than access to healthy food. We are honored to partner with Cambridge Health Alliance-Revere, Good Measures, the Institute for Community Health and Tufts Health Plan to find new and innovative ways to address the scourge of hunger and food insecurity and are grateful to the Attorney General’s office for providing critical resources to make this ground-breaking work possible.”

“LUK Inc. is honored to receive funding from the Attorney General's Office to support our Intensive Family Navigation program,” said Beth Barto, CEO of LUK Inc. “This program in partnership with UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital creates community-clinical linkages by providing rapid response and increased access to address the needs of those with substance use disorders, including opioid addiction, and their families. The program helps stabilize the family system, reduce/eliminate substance use, and increase social supports. The agency is extremely thankful for the Commonwealth’s support for this programming.”

“We are thrilled to collaborate with our partners, who bring a long track record of success in addressing health related social needs, to address housing instability and homelessness among pregnant women in Boston,” said Christina Severin, President and CEO of Community Care Cooperative (C3). “This grant provides us the opportunity to address the racial and economic disparities in infant mortality and pre-term births in Boston and to potentially change the life-course for pregnant women and their children. We appreciate our progressive Attorney General for recognizing the importance of addressing social determinants of health and for her enthusiasm for our project.”

The Social Determinants Partnership grants are funded by recent settlements reached by the AG’s Health Care Division. 

The funded partnerships are:

Northeast

  • Everett/Revere: Cambridge Health Alliance in partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank, Good Measures LLC, Tufts Health Plan, and Institute for Community Health. This partnership will operate a free monthly mobile food market in Revere and organize regular health fairs to provide health screenings, vaccinations, information on social services, assistance with enrollment in social services along with evaluating the impact of improving access to healthy produce on health and well-being.
  • Greater Lynn: YMCA of Metro North in partnership with Lynn Community Health Center. This partnership will support individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and their families using wellness practices combined with a 12-step model that will enhance recovery outcomes for participants.
  • Boston: Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC) in partnership with the Uphams’ Corner Health Committee Inc. and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Through this partnership, ESAC will work with the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program administered by MassHealth and Medicare, to provide a range of in-home care and services to elderly patients, such as assessing and modifying their homes to reduce the risk of falls.
  • Boston: Community Care Cooperative in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Housing Authority, and MLPB (formerly the Medical-Legal Partnership of Boston). This partnership aims to improve maternal and child health by stabilizing housing for approximately 50 housing-insecure pregnant and postpartum women.
  • Boston: Children’s Services of Roxbury in partnership with Boston Public Schools, Beats, Rhymes & Life, Boston Afterschool & Beyond, and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. This partnership aims to increase access to behavioral health services for young people who have experienced trauma using music therapy to engage at-risk adolescents who are reluctant to participate in traditional behavioral health services.
  • Boston: Health Care Without Walls in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital. This partnership aims to reduce health disparities and health care costs for homeless pregnant and postpartum women and their babies by providing intensive care management and nurturing trusting relationships by a field team that builds longstanding personal relationships in the outpatient milieu.
  • Lowell: UTEC Inc. in partnership with Lowell Community Health Center. This partnership will address behavioral health needs in young adults in order to reduce recidivism, increase employability, and promote educational attainment.

Southeast

  • New Bedford: Health Law Advocates in partnership with Boston Medical Center Health System Inc. This partnership will support a new site in New Bedford for Health Law Advocates’ Mental Health Advocacy Program, which provides free legal assistance for low-income children that need access to mental health care.

Central

  • Worcester County: LUK Crisis Center Inc. in partnership with UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital. This partnership will support families as they cope with addiction through family-centered approaches that address prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery from substance use and opioid addiction.

Western

  • Hampden County: Baystate Health Care Alliance/BeHealthy Partnership ACO in partnership with Community Legal Aid. This grant launches the BeHealthy Medical-Legal Partnership, which aims to improve the health and well-being of low-income residents of Hampden County by adding legal assistance and advocacy to the range of services offered by health care teams at five community health centers in Springfield: Caring Health Center, Baystate Brightwood Health Center, Baystate Mason Square Neighborhood Health Center, Baystate High Street Health Center Pediatrics and Baystate High Street Health Center Adult Medicine.
  • Franklin County: Community Action Pioneer Valley in partnership with Community Health Center of Franklin County and the Center for Human Development. This partnership will offer mental health support to improve the health of high-risk adolescents and young adults in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region, and help them participate fully in work, family and community life. 
  • Western Massachusetts: Collaborative for Educational Services' Healthy Hampshire initiative in partnership with the Hilltown Community Health Center, Hilltown Community Development Corporation, and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. This partnership will address identified inequities in the food system in the Hilltown region by designing and implementing a distribution system that connects underserved community members to healthy, affordable produce. It will also promote walk-friendly communities by working with six Hilltowns to develop walking maps and community design changes that promote pedestrian safety, accessibility, and connectivity.

Statewide

  • Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance in partnership with the Community Healthlink Inc., Duffy Health Center, and Mercy Healthcare for the Homeless Program. This partnership will address chronic homelessness and the impact it has on the health care system. The grant will help community health workers engage with long-term homeless individuals who frequently use emergency health care and behavioral services to help them move toward permanent supportive housing and change how they use health care services.

AG Healey’s Community Benefits Program supports a key component of the mission of hospitals and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that serve as anchor institutions in their communities. In February 2018, the AG’s Office issued updated Community Benefits guidelines that recognize the central role of social determinants in shaping community health and provide hospitals and HMOs with direction on how to incorporate social factors like education and violence in assessing and investing in community health needs.

The Social Determinants Partnership grant program is managed by Director of Grants Management Helen Wang and Assistant Attorney General Amara Azubuike of AG Healey’s Health Care Division.

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Media Contact   for AG Healey Awards $3 Million in Grants to Support Innovative Health Care Partnerships

  • Office of the Attorney General 

    Attorney General Maura Healey is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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