Title
National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families Grant (B)
This item involves a request to accept a grant, if awarded, from the National League of Cities (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute) to assist the City in Expanding Access to Health Care for Children and Families.
Explanation
In 2009, the Children Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) was signed into law by President Obama. This legislation launched a new era in Children's health insurance coverage by providing states with significant new funding and a range of new opportunities for covering children eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The CHIP in conjunction with Title XXI of the Social Security Act funds the Florida KidCare Program.
The Florida KidCare Program provides low cost health Insurance for children under 19 years of age even if one or both parents are working. The program provides four different parts. When the individual applies for the Health Insurance, Florida KidCare will determine which part of the insurance coverage the child may quality for based upon age and family income. Despite the Florida KidCare program being available for families, in 2009 there was more than 600,000 uninsured kids in Florida. There were over 6,000 uninsured kids in Alachua County. The 2011 CHIRPA Annual Report indicated that there were still approximately 475,000 uninsured kids within the state. The State of Florida has made big strides to reduce the number of uninsured kids, however, Florida still ranked fourth in the nation behind Nevada, Texas, and Arizona with the highest rates of Uninsured Children.
Earlier this year, the City Of Gainesville (City) worked in cooperation with the Gainesville/Alachua County Office on Homelessness (OOH) to submit a pre-grant application to the National League of Cities (NLC) expressing an interest to increase access to health care for children and families in our community. In the pre-grant application, the City identified a representative from the Office of Homelessness, the City Manager's Office, and the Mayor (or designee) as the official delegation. The City's application was selected during the first stage in the grant application process and the delegation participated in the in the Cities Expanding Access to Health Care for Children and Families Leadership Academy on September 17th and September 18th in Baltimore, Maryland. Up to 10 grants will be awarded to cities represented at one of two leadership academies hosted by the YEF Institute.
During the next phase of the grant application process, the City was required to submit additional information by October 18th. The next portion of the application to the N LC planning grant program focused on the City's plan to expand access to health care services to uninsured children. One main purpose of the grant is to reduce the number of uninsured kids within the Gainesville community by working with existing community partners to inform working families about their eligibility to participate in the Florida KidCare Program which is the state's low cost Health Insurance Program for kids.
The NLC is providing a window of opportunities for twenty two cities including the City of Gainesville to submit a grant to participate a program to reduce the number of uninsured kids within their community. The grant program is eligible only to the Cities that participated in the Regional workshop. The City only had approximately two and half weeks to gather the data and submit the second portion of the grant application to NLC, as the deadline was October 18, 2013. The delegation worked diligently to submit the second phase of the application as to not preclude the City's ability to compete for this funding.
When awarded, this grant will be provided in phases. The first phase includes a Planning Grant of up to $30,000; the second phase includes the implementation phase in which the cities are eligible to receive a grant up to $260,000 for the first year and $260,000 in the second year. Cities cannot go on to the second round without participation in the first round of the grant process. The City would like to work with the various community partners including the business community to take advantage of the Florida KidCare Program. Only three cities will be selected for the large grant award in phase two.
Fiscal Note
At this time, the only cost has been staff time spent working on the grant application. The grant amount of $30,000, if awarded to the City, will be used to work with the community partners outlining a detailed strategy to reduce the number on uninsured kids in the Gainesville community and increase the enrollment in the Florida KidCare Program. There are no matching funds required for this grant.
Recommendation
The City Commission: 1) approve the request to accept a grant, if awarded, from the National League of Cities (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families to assist the City in Expanding Access to Health Care for Children and Families; and 2) if awarded, authorize the City Manager or designee to execute the grant award agreement and other grant-related documents, subject to approval by the City Attorney as to form and legality.