Boosting Medicaid services for disadvantaged people

CityMeals-On-Wheels has received a $2 million contract from the New York City Department for the Aging. The money will fund meal deliveries for seniors, according to the City Record. Four nonprofits are getting contract extensions from the Department of Probation to deliver programming for young adults: The Fortune Society ($66,602.38); Fund for the City of New York/Center for Court Innovation ($66,936.67); Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services ($67,199.10); and The Osborne Association ($131,519.11). The agency has also awarded a $2.8 million contract to Urban Youth Alliance International to fund mentorship programming. 

Race to Lead is seeking participants for a study of nonprofit executives. The 25-minute confidential survey seeks perspectives on leadership. “The survey includes a focus on how people's identities impact their experiences and perspectives,” according to the Race to Lead website. Take the survey here.

There is a new program director at the Center for Urban and Community Services. James Holmes is taking on the role of overseeing the nonprofit’s Academy for Justice-Informed Practice. He has served as the program director of CUCS’s Crisis Intervention Training Program, which provides training to the NYPD on how to effectively work with people experiencing mental health conditions. He first joined CUCS in 2008 as a social worker, according to a July 25 press release. 

Nonprofits are getting behind legislation to boost Medicaid services for disadvantaged people. The Social Determinants Accelerator Act aims to help state and local governments better serve people receiving Medicaid in both medical and non-medical ways. Those who stand to gain include: “homeless individuals, older workers with arthritis, nursing home patients, or mothers diagnosed with postpartum depression,” according to a post on the website of Aligning for Health.

For those who attended the event, we hope you learned more about the impact + change this bill will have. @RepCheri + @RepMcGovern spoke about why funding social services will help to lower health care costs and improve patient outcomes. Learn more here➡️ https://t.co/F5LXw7FPNJ pic.twitter.com/F2iJYwNuKp

— Aligning for Health (@Aligning4Health) July 25, 2019

Advocates of the legislation, sponsored by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, aim to do this in three ways. 

• An inter-agency technical advisory council on social determinants of health. 
• Up to $25 million in grants to state, local and Tribal governments to develop Social Determinants Accelerator Plans. 
• Technical assistance to grantees to help them implement their plans by identifying federal authorities, opportunities and strategies for braiding and blending funds and designing rigorous evaluations.