Saturday, December 7, 2024
12/7/2024
PURPOSE: Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) is proposing the Multco ACTion Project, which will build off of MCHD’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program to implement policy, systems, and environment (PSE) interventions that address Food and Nutrition Security to reduce chronic disease- and risk factor-related disparities for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), people living on low incomes, and Medicaid beneficiaries in Multnomah County. Implementation will be multisectoral, promote cross-divisional work within MCHD, and advance innovative leveraging of Oregon Medicaid policy to increase access to healthy, culturally responsive food. Equitable economic development and sustainability factors will be integrated into the strategies’ approach to nutrition and health equity in order to have enhanced health impacts, especially for priority populations. The multisectoral Leadership Team will include community-based organizations and coalitions, health systems, Medicaid managed care organizations, the Oregon Health Authority, and other community representatives and partners with vested interest. This Leadership Team will drive ACTion Project strategies and will draw from existing multisector collaboratives. Multco ACTion Project populations of focus include BIPOC, of any income level; people living on low incomes (i.e., below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level/FPL), of any race/ethnicity; and Medicaid beneficiaries. MCHD selected these priority populations due to (1) the well documented correlation between lower socioeconomic status, fewer opportunities to pursue optimal health, and, ultimately, poorer health outcomes, (2) the also well documented adverse impacts on health that white supremacist racism has for BIPOC, both through limiting socioeconomic opportunity and constant toxic stress and marginalization, and (3) the specific barriers to healthcare Medicaid beneficiaries experience and the opportunities to impact their health through specific policy levers. OUTCOMES: MCHD proposes the following Period of Performance Outcomes: (1) Increased and/or strengthened Multnomah County government policies that support healthy food access and equitable purchasing; (2) Increased County organizational behavior and norms that promote healthy eating and equitable purchasing; (3) Increased access to healthy food via “no-cost-to-participants” programming; and (4) Increased health system utilization of Medicaid policies to fund healthy food access programs. PSE change strategies include Multnomah County Comprehensive Institutional Food Procurement and Food Service and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)/Produce Prescription (PRx) Program Systems Improvement PSE change strategies. Key activities include: 1) Research, develop, and adopt a Multnomah County government-wide values-based food procurement policy, enhanced food service guidelines, a “Greener by Default” pilot program, and local food systems investments; 2) Conduct County-wide communications campaigns to raise awareness of adopted policies; 3) Provide technical assistance to employees and management to implement and enforce policies; 4) Explore Medicaid policy-based funding mechanisms to support CSA/PRx programs, opportunities to share resources across CSA/PRx programs, and referral/access points and pathways; 5) Pilot funding mechanisms and innovations; and 6) scale and sustain successful pilots.
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).
