How can my municipality efficiently utilize the funding provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health in the new program Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19?

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and the Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced the availability of funds for Fiscal Year 2021 under the authority of 42 U.S.C. § 300u-6 (Section 1707 of the Public Health Service Act) and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260).^[1]

Eligibility for these funds is limited to legally recognized local municipalities (excluding States, Territories, Tribes, Tribal organizations, and non-profit urban Indian health organizations), such as cities, townships, boroughs, parish governments, as well as county governments across States and commonwealths of the United States. Other eligible applicants can also include water use cooperatives and even school districts.^[2] Furthermore, there is no threshold or quota that determines eligibility; however, all eligible entities must submit applications which will go through a screening process to determine the communities with the greatest needs.^[3]

More information may be found in the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health Notice of Funding Opportunity: Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 Opportunity Number: MP-CPI-21-006 (“Notice of Funding Opportunity”).^[4] Beginning on page 14 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity, applicants should prepare a Project Narrative, including the following topics: Statement of Need, Proposed Approach, and Organizational Capacity.

Furthermore, applicants should prepare the Narrative and implement their proposed health literacy program using the details below:

• Demonstrate how health literacy strategies will be implemented to advance Healthy People 2030 objectives HC/HIT-01, HC/HIT-02 and HC/HIT-03, and improve adherence to COVID-19 public health practices with high-risk and underserved racial and ethnic minority populations in the geographic area of focus.
• Provide a list, as an appendix, that identifies the types of partners and their role in developing and implementing the health literacy and sustainability plans.
• Describe the quality improvement approach that will be used to refine health literacy strategies that support the access, use and outcomes of COVID-19 health information and services for the populations in the geographic area of focus.
• Describe the evaluation approach that will be used to determine whether the health literacy intervention was implemented in adherence with the National CLAS Standards, whether it reached its target population described in the Disparity Impact Statement, and whether there were any changes in access, use and outcomes of program activities, especially COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, vaccination. Include a description of how data stratified by demographic characteristics will be used to advance Healthy People 2030 objectives HC/HIT-01, HC/HIT02, HC/HIT-03 and IID-D02.^[5]

Once a municipality has determined whether it is indeed eligible, and has completed all the necessary actions related to funding utilization, it may follow the additional application steps found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Last Revised: April 21, 2021