Public-private infant mortality initiative CelebrateOne and various partners have been awarded a $4.5 million grant.
The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and Ohio’s Managed Care Plans (MCPs) announced that the grant would be awarded to 13 local partners led by CelebrateOne to address the disparity in birth outcomes experienced by African American women in Franklin County.
“Addressing the disparity reflected in our local infant mortality rate is a complex issue, and it is critical that we address it,” said Mayor Andrew Ginther. “The grant…will help us improve care and support for all of our residents, regardless of their race, address or family income.”
In Franklin County, non-Hispanic Black infants are more than twice as likely to die than non-Hispanic white infants. In partnership with hospitals, clinical providers and community-based agencies, the 2020-2021 grant intends to increase the availability of prenatal care and support for women of childbearing age, with an emphasis on African American women.
“Ohio Medicaid covers approximately 52% of the births in our state, and our department is deeply committed to investing in local services that will help reduce the infant mortality rate for African American babies in Ohio,” said Maureen Corcoran, state Medicaid director. “We are holding ourselves, Medicaid’s managed care plan partners, and our new community grantees accountable to make positive changes for Ohio’s babies.”
The grant will provide continued support for programs addressing the disparity in infant mortality rates, while also providing funds to new or emerging community-based efforts. CelebrateOne will receive the largest portion of the grant. Its funds will support the initiative’s “connector corps” community health workers, who connect pregnant and parenting moms to existing clinical care models to help bridge prenatal and post-partum care.
“The State’s emphasis on home visiting, CenteringPregnancy prenatal care, community health workers and community-based programs offering wholistic [sic] care, like that of Doulas and through programs such as Moms2B, supports the collective work to reduce infant deaths,” added Erika Clark Jones, executive director of CelebrateOne. “This funding will help to sustain and deepen our work across Columbus and Franklin County.”
Grant recipients include:
- CelebrateOne ($855,569)
- Columbus Public Health ($707,601)
- Moms2B ($702,635)
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital ($561,427)
- Physicians CareConnection ($415,000)
- Restoring Our Own Through Transformation ($357,202)
- YMCA of Central Ohio ($242,153)
- Heart of Ohio Family Health Centers ($209,968)
- OhioHealth ($127,713)
- The Center for Healthy Families ($81,964)
- PrimaryOne Health ($78,772)
- Men for the Movement ($78,575)
- Black Lactation Circle ($17,714)
For more information, visit CelebrateOne.info.