Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity
The Carestar Foundation has announced Transformations & Innovations Grants to invest in community-based collaboratives reimagining and transforming local emergency and prehospital care.
Given the critical role of the emergency and prehospital care system to protect public health and safety, and provide healthcare in their homes and communities, with the Transformations & Innovations Grants Program, the Foundation wants to catalyze new and better ways for Californians to engage, receive, and experience emergency response and care. This includes rethinking how and where people receive emergency and prehospital care, as well as ensuring care is delivered by first responders and other healthcare providers who reflect and respect the rich diversity of the communities.
The Foundation is specifically looking for collaboratives that:
- Prioritize the experiences, needs, and ideas of residents who identify as Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, or another racialized group – as well as communities that have historically been under-resourced;
- Include diverse community representatives/agencies;
- Include one or more agencies responsible for local emergency response; and
- Have support from, or the potential involvement of a Local Emergency Medical Services Agency (LEMSA).
CARESTAR’s Mission, Vision, and Goals
The CARESTAR Foundation’s mission is to improve health outcomes for all Californians using a racial equity lens to fund and advocate for improvements to their emergency response system. The vision is that all Californians experience an emergency response system that is equitable, unified, and compassionate. To achieve this vision, the Foundation is reimagining an emergency and prehospital care system in California in which:
- Individual Californians trust and are confident (and don't fear) in engaging with emergency and prehospital care organizations and receive care and services that are appropriate for their needs.
- Communities have the voice, power, and influence to transform emergency and pre-hospital care to work for them.
- The system of emergency and prehospital care values community input and works collaboratively with communities, and with each other, to better meet local health and safety needs.
- Local and state policy codifies and incentivizes innovation and community-centered care to improve equity in the emergency and prehospital care system.
Scope of Work
The scope of work proposed can be narrow and deep – focusing on specific components of the emergency and prehospital care system, or broad and wide to transform the landscape depending on local needs, opportunities, and resources. How the collaborative operates and progresses toward reimaging and transforming local emergency and prehospital care including the workplan, activities, and use of funds over the multi-year period, is flexible as long as the collaborative engages local community members, focuses on racial equity within the system, and considers local data.
The following are examples of activities a collaborative could pursue toward a transformed emergency and prehospital care system. This is not a required list, but offered as ideas for consideration:
- Assess the Current System: Paint a picture of how the current system is structured and working (or not), where are the pressure points, what is working well, and what could be improved. Examine and highlight any racial disparities or biases in the ways community members engage, receive and/or experience local emergency and prehospital care. Review quantitative data related to the local emergency and prehospital system at the local level (e.g., zip code, census tract, GIS mapping etc.). Collect and reflect on qualitative data such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, etc. with community members, people with lived experience, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Create a Shared Vision: Engage a range of stakeholders — such as first responders, health care providers, public officials, community members and/or community-based organizations — to reflect on local realities and data and consider what communities want and need, local assets, barriers, challenges, and opportunities. Create a shared vision for a transformed local emergency and prehospital care system that centers racial equity. What would the ideal system look like? How would it function and feel? What would be different than the current system?
- Develop a Plan: Develop an implementation plan for pursuing goals toward change including components such as stakeholders, key milestones, budget, participant roles, how progress will be captured, and a process for engaging community members and if appropriate, key staff required for success. A shared vision or goals and local data can inform this plan.
- Advance Systems Change: Share process, progress and outcomes with key regional and state agencies including the Local or State Emergency Management Systems Authority (EMSA) or the public at large, in order to support the integration, spread, and sustainability of innovations achieved, reinforced by policy or regulatory changes.
Funding Information
- Award Amount Grants will range in size from $100K-$150K for one-year grants, to $300K-$1M for multi-year grants.
- The specific parameters (amount and time) will be determined in partnership with applicants to align with the complexity, needs, and plans discussed.
- These are flexible funds for use by the collaborative as needed.
Eligibility Criteria
- To apply for a Transformations & Innovations grant, the lead applicant/organization must be a California-based non-profit organization or public entity, with at least one collaborative member physically located in the geographic area where the project will occur. The strongest applicants will include the involvement of a LEMSA.
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Overall, applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
- Problem identification.
- Project and vision of success.
- Population served.
- Community involvement.
- Use of data.
- Potential for systems change.
- Strength and diversity of the lead agency/applicant.
- Strength and diversity of the collaborative.
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Collaboratives can be in any stage of development, from the early introduction of potential partners, to fully functioning, multi-disciplinary groups. Applications that include (or demonstrate strong potential to include) involvement from the following will be prioritized:
- local emergency response agencies;
- community organizations or representatives;
- Local Emergency Medical Services Agency (LEMSA); and/or
- Hospital/trauma centers.
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Examples (not requirements) of other partners that could be involved in a collaborative include:
- Local public health and/or behavioral health department;
- EMT or paramedic training program (including community colleges);
- Community-based agency that provides physical or behavioral health care, such as behavioral health or substance abuse care facility;
- Local/regional government representatives; and
- Other relevant organization(s).
- These grants are available for work at the city, county, or LEMSA area within California. At least one collaborative member must be physically located in the geographic area of focus.
For more information, visit Carestar Foundation.
For more information, visit https://www.carestarfoundation.org/transformations