American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Communities Putting Prevention to Work (ARRA/CPPW)

California’s Statewide Coordinated Response wins Federal Funding

Evaluation - Prepared by the Center for Community Health and Evaluation details the work CA Convergence did to respond to this funding opportunity:
From Competition to Coordination - The California Convergence Response to Federal Funding Opportunities.pdf

How the Public Private Partnership Worked

1. Overview:   California’s Rapid Response to an Economic Opportunity
2. Context:     Key Players & Advocates
3. Process:     Coordination & Partnership
4. Outcomes:  Ready Response & Funding

Download TIPS & TOOLS HERE:

√  Coordination

√  Technical assistance

√  Grant writers

√  Support letters

1. Overview: 
California’s Rapid Response to an Economic Opportunity

In late September 2009, the federal government released the first component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s economic stimulus dollars for Prevention and Wellness -- the Communities Putting Prevention (CPPW) Funding Opportunity Announcement.

CPPW offered a golden opportunity to support policy change to reduce inequities and improve nutrition and physical activity environments. To capitalize on this opportunity, California’s foundations (private) and government (public) sectors formed an unprecedented public-private partnership to maximize potential awards for California communities. 

Results:

• $2,200,000 in federal funding to CA to support policy and environmental change efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity and to reduce inequities. 
• Shared policy framework (Health in All Policies) and policy goals among state and county health departments, community groups, and advocates.
• Accelerated momentum for obesity prevention across the state.
• Relationships established and strengthened at multiple levels and across multiple sectors.
• Successful model of public-private partnership demonstrated, and improved responsiveness for future funding opportunities.

The public-private partnership built a rapid response system to support development and submission of 14 large/urban and two small/rural county health departments’ applications for federal ARRA funds.

With the Public Health Institute as intermediary and the California Convergence as the coordination vehicle, the partnership provided grant development contracts, technical assistance coordination, and connections within the CA Convergence community sites, to support local public health departments and communities to apply.

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2. Context:  Key Players & Advocates

California’s ARRA/CPPW applications were built on years of investment by The California Endowment (TCE), Kaiser Permanente (KP) and other foundations in community and regional models that demonstrate the importance of place-based, multi-sectoral, equity-focused, environmental improvements through policy change.

The ARRA/CPPW partnership leveraged strong collaborative relationships cultivated among the foundations, state and local government, and community leaders.  It utilized California Convergence, a strong statewide network and communications infrastructure.  And it built on the Governor’s 2005 Obesity Prevention Summit, and the 2006 release of California’s Obesity Prevention Plan.

Key Players

• Public Partners
  • California Health and Human Services Agency(CHHS)/California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
  • California Conference of Local Health Officers (CCLHO)
  • County Health Executives Association of California (CHEAC)
  • Local Public Health Departments (LHDs)
• Private Partners
  • The California Endowment (TCE)
  • Kaiser Permanente (KP)
• Intermediary
  • Public Health Institute(PHI)
  • Coordinating Organization:  California Convergence (CAC)
• Community Collaboratives

Assets for Successful Rapid Response

Key ingredients for California’s successful rapid response to win critical Federal funds included:

• Dozens of community collaboratives (e.g., CCROPP, HEAC, HEAL) had years of experience working to reduce obesity through policy and environmental change. 
• A network of technical assistance providers had worked with these communities had an arsenal of tools and had experience with which to assist local applicants and existing funding from the partnering foundations, which they could redirect to support the ARRA application process. 
• A network of state policy advocates had been collaborating for nine years via the Strategic Alliance to establish a shared policy platform and to improve food and physical activity environments in California. 
• The state had an experienced coordinating entity in place. California Convergence, staffed by Partnership for the Public’s Health, capable of coordinating such a statewide effort on a short time line.
• There were existing relationships across the state, among foundations, state public health, local health officers’ and administrators’ professional organizations, state advocates, technical assistance organizations, communities, other sectors (e.g., schools, transportation, agriculture, land use) and local health departments. 

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3. Process:  Coordination & PARTNERSHIP

Coordination and Partnership: Leadership Team

To respond quickly to the ARRA/CPPW opportunity, a public-private partnership was organized by The California Endowment (TCE), Kaiser Permanente (KP), and Public Health Institute (PHI), along with the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency and its California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

These entities became the leadership team guiding California's ARRA/CPPW coordinated response to this economic opportunity.

• The foundations provided funding to support the effort
• The state health department had deep relationships and credibility with local health officers across the state
• Public Health Institute had the flexibility and capacity, in a short time frame, to process funding and redeploy staff from its Partnership for Public Health’s (PPH) program office
• Partnership for Public Health’s program office, which serves as the primary coordination and support organization for California Convergence network (CAC), provided the coordination for this effort
• California Convergence served as the coordinating body and vehicle for implementation

DOWNLOAD: Tools for Partnership and Coordination

Assistance Provided by the Partnership

To enable counties to respond quickly the public-private partnership, facilitated by the California Convergence:

• Linked CA Convergence’s cutting edge communities with their local public health departments (LHDs).
• Coordinated technical assistance, with a single point of contact to access CA’s leading state policy advocates, TA providers, and evaluators. Technical Assistance Tools 
• Offered an assembled stable of pre-screened grant writers, or funding to support county-identified grant writers.  Tools for Grant Writing Assistance 
• Provided immediate communication, liaison, guidance and letters of support to applicants. Sample Letters of Support 

California Convergence staff also distilled and disseminated crucial grant information, offered emotional support, and provided day-to-day triage to link applicants to the available assistance.

Commitment Required from Applicants

In return for coordinated support and assistance through the application process applicants agreed to:

• Adopt a shared framework (Health in All Policies) and policy agenda in their funding application. 
• Share the products (e.g. materials, media) of any funding received. 
• Participate in the CCLHO Chronic Disease Committee and in the California Convergence to share lessons and mentor other communities, enabling the state as a whole to benefit.

DOWNLOAD: Tools for establishing commitment 

• • Letter from State Public Health Department Secretary
    [Secretary Belshe ARRA Partnership Letter.doc]
  • Grant Writer Agreement
    [Proposed Scope of Work-CDC Funding Opportunity.docx] 

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4. Outcomes: Ready Response & Funding

The ARRA process in California delivered a number of significant short- and long-term outcomes:

• $2,200,000 in federal funding to California to support policy and environmental change efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity and to reduce inequities.
• Shared obesity prevention/health equity agenda – policy & environmental change.
• Aligned statewide policy priorities.
• Deepened & new partnerships across funding silos and sectors.
• CA Convergence cutting edge communities linked w/ their LHDs.
• Informed the Governor’s 2010 Policy Platform.
• 16 Local Public Health Department (LHD) applications submitted.
• California shovel-ready plans for diversifying funding:
  • Corporate
  • Local foundations
• Ready response model for future opportunities.

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