Thrive Allen County (TAC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Iola, Kansas, requests funding in the amount of $1,819,661 for the third 12-month period (August 27, 2023 through August 26, 2024) to support the recruitment, training, and activities for Navigator services throughout the state of Kansas. TAC proposes to serve as lead applicant for a consortium of 10 subawardee entities that will perform Navigator activities in their home regions: Barber County United Coalition, Vibrant Health, El Centro, Impact Ulysses, LiveWell Northwest Kansas, Mitchell County Regional Medical Foundation, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Liberal Area Coalition for Families, Grow Clay County, and Urban League of Kansas. These services will be provided in 52 counties throughout the state of Kansas FFE. This cooperative agreement proposes to serve the following counties within the state of Kansas FFE: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Sherman, Thomas, Haskell, Morton, Stevens, Seward, Kiowa, Comanche, Barber, Harper, Sedgwick, Butler, Greenwood, Elk, Chautauqua, Montgomery, Labette, Cherokee, Wilson, Neosho, Crawford, Woodson, Allen, Bourbon, Coffey, Anderson, Linn, Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Jefferson, Atchison, Jackson, Doniphan, Brown, Nemaha, Marshall, Pottawatomie, Riley, Geary, Dickinson, Clay, Washington, Cloud, Republic, Jewell, Mitchell, Lincoln, Osborne, and Smith. Within these counties reside approximately 52.6% of the state's uninsured population under the age of 65, or about 126,775 uninsured residents. Over half of these residents (51.8%) live in rural or frontier counties, which experience higher rates of poverty than the rest of the state. The urban and semi-urban counties, such as Sedgwick and Wyandotte, have higher concentrations of uninsured Individuals, as well as more residents who are not proficient in English and may, therefore, require additional assistance in navigating the healthcare landscape. 29 Navigators will be federal
ly trained and certified/re-certified by October 1, 2023 and throughout open enrollment which will end on January 15, 2024. Of the 29 Navigators, 18 will be paid full-time/100% from Navigator grant funds, 11 will be paid part-time from Navigator grant funds, and 0 will be volunteers/not paid from Navigator grant funds. 29 Navigators will remain federally trained/re-certified post enrollment from January 16, 2024 to the end of the budget period on August 26, 2024. Of the 29 Navigators, 18 will be paid full-time/100% from Navigator grant funds, 11 will be paid part-time from Navigator grant funds, and 0 will be volunteers/not paid from Navigator grant funds.