Foundation awards eight grants this quarter
HARTFORD, Conn. (July 7, 2022) – The Connecticut Health Foundation has named physician and public health leader Mehul Dalal to its board of directors.
Dalal serves as New Haven’s community services administrator, overseeing the city’s health and human services departments. His teams have focused on local pandemic response and reimagining public safety through a community resilience lens.
He previously served as the chronic disease director at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, where he supervised health programs and helped implement components of the Affordable Care Act. Dalal has served on numerous stakeholder groups including serving as board president of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, co-chair of the State Innovation Model Quality Council, and a member of Connecticut’s State Health Improvement Plan Advisory Council. He is the founder of Health Design Strategies, which helps health organizations design and implement strategies to broadly improve health.
Dalal is a graduate of Brown University, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the Yale Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. He previously served on the foundation’s Community Advisory Committee.
“The Connecticut Health Foundation has been a critical force for advancing policies and programs to address Connecticut’s health inequities,” Dalal said. “I am honored to be part of the board and pledge to contribute to best of my ability.”
“Mehul brings a breadth of expertise in medicine, public health, and many other issues that affect people’s health, as well as experience in both state and local government. We are thrilled to have him join our board,” said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation.
“We know that addressing inequities in health requires understanding issues within and outside the health care system, and we’re eager to have Mehul’s expertise as we work toward advancing health equity,” said Kenneth R. Alleyne, chair of the Connecticut Health Foundation board of directors.
Grants awarded
The foundation awarded eight grants this quarter, totaling $337,455.
Access Health CT, Hartford: $82,455
This grant will support Access Health CT in launching its Broker Academy in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. The academy is intended to increase the number of licensed insurance brokers in communities of color who can help people sign up for health care coverage and use their coverage to get care. The academy – which begins this summer – is free to participants, who will receive training, professional development, and mentorship, as well as paid exam fees.
Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, New Haven: $80,000 (six months)
This funding will support Clifford Beers in implementing the CT Integrated Care for Kids model, or InCK, a new way of delivering and paying for care for children and young adults covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Much of the planning work has been supported by a federal grant. This funding will allow Clifford Beers to host a 6-month learning collaborative with six providers that have agreed to pilot the InCK intervention. This process will include training and evaluation, and is intended to produce feedback that can help improve the InCK model.
Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers, North Haven: $50,000
This funding will support the association in its work to strengthen and advocate for school-based health services and ensure that school-based health centers are well-integrated with other pediatric care providers, including primary care and behavioral health clinicians. The association also plans to work toward the expansion of school-based health centers.
Discretionary grants
President’s discretionary grants are awarded to organizations and institutions that respond to the foundation’s overall mission or priority areas.
Connecticut Healthcare Research and Education Foundation, Wallingford: $25,000
This funding will support the Connecticut Hospital Association and partners United Way of Connecticut/2-1-1 and SimplifyCT in developing an economic mobility and health initiative intended to address inequities in income and maternal mortality and morbidity. The program will be designed for low-income individuals who are or could become pregnant. Participants will receive financial coaching and free tax preparation, and will be eligible for cash assistance to cover emergency expenses. This grant will support work to develop and pilot financial coaching curriculum that can be delivered by community health workers and other community-based partners.
Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate, Hartford: $25,000
This grant will support the Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate in its work to advocate for consumer affordability considerations in the review process for proposed health insurance rates. The office plans to use this funding for an actuarial analysis of the proposed 2023 insurance rates from a consumer affordability perspective. This could lead to additional activities including requiring high-cost providers to justify the medical and pharmaceutical prices that underlie the rate requests.
Hartford Communities That Care, Hartford: $25,000
Hartford Communities That Care is a longtime provider of hospital-based violence intervention programs. This funding will support the organization in working with stakeholders in New Haven, Waterbury, and Bridgeport, with the goal of implementing the hospital-based violence intervention program model in those cities.
Khmer Health Advocates, West Hartford: $25,000
This funding will support Khmer Health Advocates’ work in developing a curriculum – known as the Community CARES (Communications, Access, Resources, Education & Strategies) Curriculum – for community health workers, to prepare them to deliver trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care to those who have experienced trauma. The curriculum will be based on Khmer Health Advocates’ extensive experience in training community health workers to care for trauma survivors. The organization plans to field test the curriculum and share it nationally once completed.
United Way of Connecticut, Rocky Hill: $25,000
This grant will support an outreach campaign by United Way of Connecticut and several partner agencies to inform Connecticut residents about a new child tax rebate and assistance for accessing it. The state’s new tax rebate provides $250 per child to families below certain income thresholds, but people must apply by July 31 to receive the rebate. This campaign is intended to reach people who might face barriers in applying for the rebate, and will direct them to free assistance to apply.
For more information, please contact Arielle Levin Becker at arielle@cthealth.org or 860-724-1580 x 16.
About the Connecticut Health Foundation
The Connecticut Health Foundation is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving health outcomes for people of color. Since its creation in 1999, the foundation has awarded more than $73 million to nonprofit organizations and public entities to expand health equity, reduce health disparities, expand health coverage, and improve the health of all Connecticut residents.