August 8, 2024

Media Contact: Kristen Lambert, kristen.lambert@oha.oregon.gov, (971) 271-1347

State partners prepare to announce capacity building grants for community groups

$31 million in federal funds will be distributed to support new Medicaid services

Salem, Ore. – Local organizations will begin receiving grants soon to boost their capacity to deliver new Medicaid services aimed at reducing health inequities across Oregon. The grants, known as Community Capacity Building Funds (CCBF), are part of Oregon’s effort to connect several first-in-the-nation benefits to Medicaid coverage. The new Oregon Health Plan (OHP) benefits include health-related social needs services which will address basic needs that affect a person’s ability to stay healthy, including housing and nutrition supports.

“Supporting community organizations at the ground level is key to successfully rolling out these new services for OHP members, and more broadly, for helping eliminate health inequities in Oregon by 2030,” said Dave Baden, Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) deputy director for Policy and Programs. “OHA appreciates all the work our Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) partners did in making sure organizations knew about this opportunity, particularly in regions and communities that continue to face some of the biggest barriers when it comes to health and well-being.”

Oregon received almost $50 million in federal funding this year to help local, social service organizations, providers and the Nine Federally Recognized Tribes in Oregon to prepare to deliver these new services to eligible OHP members.

Following OHA’s Tribal Consultation Policy and honoring the government-to government relationship, there is a tribal set-aside of the CCBF funding. The state’s 16 CCOs, which serve as local health care provider networks for OHP members, will be awarding a little over $38 million in CCBF grants to organizations. $31 million will be distributed in this first round. The remaining $7 million of 2024 CCBF grants are under review, and award notices will go out later this year.

In this first round of $31 million in grant awards:

• More than 320 organizations submitted applications for grants through the CCBF program.
• Funding was approved for 157 organizations representing housing and nutrition providers across the state.
• Organizations will use these grants to upgrade technology, invest in educational trainings, develop their workforce and prepare to deliver the new services.
• CCOs are in the process of announcing the first-round grant recipients.

Award information, including the list of awardees, will be updated as available on the CCBF web page. 

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