Sunday, April 28, 2024
4/28/2024
The National Latino Research Center at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is requesting $333,331 to develop and evaluate an innovative health service that directly and demonstrably contributes to the improvement of health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups, individuals with limited English proficiency, and individuals adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. The proposed research will develop and evaluate “Bridges2Health,” a Community Health advocate program developed by a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC). The project will tailor and evaluate the intervention within two recently designated “Community Schools” within the Vista Unified School District in north county San Diego. A Bridges2Health Community Health Advocate from Vista Community Clinic will provide support within two Community Schools to assist ethnic/racial minority, low-income, and limited English proficient students and their families establish a medical home, connect them with community resources to address health needs, increase enrollment and sustain engagement with Medicaid/CHIP and SNAP programs, and plan health specific events in the community. The proposed goals of the project inform the development of this project through community engagement and collaboration with the Community Schools and their partners. Goal 1. Engage families in two community schools in setting priorities related to services urgently needed and in identifying effective culturally and linguistically appropriate community engagement strategies for the Community Schools Bridges2Health project. Goal 2. Assess system level logistics required to design and implement the Community School Bridges2Health from the perspective of the Community Schools and the FQHC. Goal 3. Collaborate with the Community Schools Steering Committee to incorporate health services within the Community School Initiative with VUSD. Goal 4. Develop and Implement Community School Bridges2 Health Community Health Advocate Program in two community schools. Nationwide Community Schools are anticipated to transform educational outcomes for vulnerable students through its distinctive model of “whole child, whole family and whole community connections.” Locating CMS service providers directly in local Community Schools provides the opportunity to directly impact social determinants of health at the health care system level and ultimately contributing to the reduction of health disparities for minority communities. The proposed project is a collaboration between the NLRC, Vista Community Clinic, and Vista Unified School District. The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) is an academic unit within the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. CSUSM is a regional, forward-focused university in San Marcos, North San Diego County, California, serving more than 16,000 students. CSUSM is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with Latinos comprising 47% of the student body. Vista Community Clinic (VCC) is a Federally Qualified Health Care Center (FQHC) with a 50-year history serving the north county region of San Diego including the City of Vista. Vista Unified School District VUSD was awarded 5 community school grants from the California Department of Education in 2022 and was recently awarded 9 more in 2023. All schools who were awarded Community School Grants meet the threshold of at least 66% of the students meeting eligibility criteria for the national school lunch program.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
