Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management

Mat access points projectthe medications for addiction treatment (mat) access points project is supporting organizations throughout California to address the opioid and substance use epidemic. In partnership with the department of Health care services, funding supported community-based organizations, tribal Health programs and organizations, and federally or non-federally recognized tribes to address opioid and substance use disorder (sud) through activities supporting prevention, education, harm reduction, stigma reduction, treatment and recovery services, and expanding access to medications for addiction treatment. In 2023, the Center supported projects in 46 California counties. Funded partners trained over 63,000 individuals in overdose prevention and other sud topics; referred nearly 20,000 to sud treatment and recovery services; and reported 21,648 overdose reversals.

Covid-19 community outreach projectthe Center at Sierra Health Foundation partnered with the office of community partnerships and strategic communications and the department of industrial relations to provide funding for the covid-19 community Health and workplace outreach project. Community-based organizations across California were funded to conduct outreach activities to mitigate the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. Community-based organizations provided critical services and information to californians. Services included in-language outreach and culturally relevant preventive Health education to communities who experience the greatest social, economic and Health inequities on the importance of getting vaccinated and practicing safety measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. The Program ended june 2023.

Elevate youth California elevate youth California is a statewide Program addressing substance use disorder by investing in youth leadership and civic engagement for youth ages 12 to 26 in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. Funding and capacity building activities support community-based organizations to implement programs that empower youth to be community leaders and strengthen a movement that elevates California's youth and young adults. In 2023, the Center supported projects in 55 California counties. Funded partners engaged 46,697 young people, convened 785 youth listening sessions and hosted 40,235 prevention Program events. Additionally, the Center provided 5,872 hours of technical assistance/capacity building activities to community partners across the state.

Stop the hatethe California department of social services (cdss), in partnership with the commission on asian and pacific islander american affairs, designated the Center as the northern california/san joaquin valley/statewide project lead for the stop the hate initiative. Nonprofit service providers perform some combination of prevention, intervention and direct services to address anti-asian and other hate crimes and incidents. The first stop the hate contract from cdss was $3,042,000 and 17 local partners received a total of $1,039,250 in 2023. The second stop the hate contract from cdss was $15,839,900 and 30 local partners received a total of $1,917,500 in 2023.state opioid fundsthe state opioid funds addresses the opioid epidemic by supporting the department of Health care services (dhcs) in implementing various projects of dhcs' opioid response Program, including high impact abatement activities: creating expanded substance use disorder (sud) treatment infrastructure, addressing the needs of communities of color and vulnerable populations that are disproportionately impacted by sud, diversion of people with sud from the justice system into treatment, and interventions to prevent drug addiction in vulnerable youth. These projects include expanding mat in state-licensed facilities and/or certified sud and mental Health facilities, increasing mat access points, and the increase of medication through mobile narcotic treatment programs and medication units. Through this $113,676,444 contract with the California department of Health care services, the state opioid fund dispersed $13,332,682.44 to 14 organizations in 2023.california mortgage relief programthe covid-19 pandemic created inequitable financial hardship for many communities in California. The California mortgage relief Program (cmrp)-operated by the California homeowner relief corporation (calhrc) and funded by the 2021 american rescue plan act's homeowner assistance fund-provides eligible homeowners with grants to cover missed mortgage payments, late property taxes, loan deferrals and other homeowner financial hardships. The Center at Sierra Health Foundation was contracted by calhrc to administer an outreach and navigation Program, led by community-based organizations (cbos), to assist at-risk homeowners in difficult-to-reach, socially disadvantaged and traditionally underserved communities in learning about and applying for cmrp relief funds. Launched in january 2022, the cbo Program has provided statewide, multilingual outreach and application support to ensure income-qualified homeowners were made aware of financial resources, knew how to apply and had the support they needed to effectively apply. The cbo Program prioritized high-quality, interactive in-person engagement by trusted community representatives in order to reduce application process barriers and support vulnerable homeowners. Over the course of just under 2 years, the 17 cbos contracted to do this work recorded more than 350k interactive engagements with community members, more than 5k one-on-one interactions to assist homeowners during and after the application process, and more than 1k successfully submitted applications. This monumental effort by local, trusted community organizations fostered credibility for and trust in the cmrp among those skeptical of government assistance, and was essential to ensuring the most vulnerable californians were able to stay in their homes.california economic mobilization initiativethe Center created the community economic mobilization initiative (cemi) to help build a statewide economic development Program that strengthens the capacity of community organizations and their leaders to advance inclusive economic development initiatives in marginalized communities. Launched in april 2022, cemi is positioning under-resourced communities to more fully participate in historic levels of state and federal funding designed to spur a post-pandemic economic recovery. To date, $21.2 million has been raised in funding for cemi. Currently, 48 community partners in twenty-one counties statewide (from pooled and donor-directed funds) have been funded, totaling almost $15.4 million. Additionally, we are partnering with several consultants to help elevate cemi to the next level and tell stories of impact in communities around the state.