With $8.8 Million in Q2 Funding, Blue Shield of California Foundation Reaches $300 Million in Total Giving

Since inception, the Foundation has provided grants to advance California’s healthcare safety net and prevent and address domestic violence

San Francisco, CA (June 24, 2014) — Today, Blue Shield of California Foundation announced $8.8 million in second-quarter grantmaking. This body of grants brings the Foundation’s overall grantmaking total to more than $300 million since 2002. Building upon the Foundation’s legacy of support for community health centers and domestic violence service providers in California, this quarter’s funds aim to drive collaboration and innovation in healthcare delivery across the safety net, and help integrate primary and behavioral health services for the most vulnerable.

“This three-hundred-million mark symbolizes the years of work that we've put into ensuring our grants have the greatest possible impact for low-income and underserved communities across California," said Peter Long, PhD, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California Foundation. "As thoughtful stewards of our philanthropic funds, there isn't a moment in which we forget the potential impact of every dollar we have the privilege to give. Investing - in a strategic, meaningful way - in the future of our state's healthcare safety net and domestic violence service providers remains at the heart of our grantmaking this quarter, and beyond."

In addition to increasing the use of cooperative, multi-agency, and team-based care models, the Foundation also extends its longstanding support for leadership development across the healthcare and domestic violence safety nets. This quarter’s grants include additional funding for the widely-successful Clinic Leadership Institute (CLI). Now on its seventh year, CLI continues to train new and emerging leaders from community health centers throughout the state. Second-quarter funding also continues the Blue Shield Against Violence (BSAV) Leadership Development Program (LDP), which builds a more innovative and collaborative domestic violence field in California.

This round of grantmaking also includes support for policy analysis and public surveys to improve outreach and enrollment efforts among California’s diverse safety-net communities.

A break-down of second-quarter grantmaking is as follows:

HEALTH CARE AND COVERAGE ($6,201,874) 

Two new areas of focus for the Foundation’s Health Care and Coverage program are optimizing care teams and behavioral health integration. This quarter’s funding aims to ensure that California’s safety net can successfully adapt to a changing healthcare landscape that demands innovation in order to succeed. Grants are designed to help these providers transform the way they work within their organization, with other safety net providers, and with their patients.  Grantees in each strategic area include:

Grants to Advance Behavioral Health Integration 

  • Merced County Department of Public Health (Central; $125,000)
  • Transitions-Mental Health Association (Central; $100,000)
  • Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County (L.A. Care)
    (Los Angeles; $175,000)
  • Health Alliance of Northern California (North; $100,000)
  • Siskiyou Community Services Council (North; $75,000)
  • Alameda County Health Care Services (San Francisco Bay Area; $150,000)
  • Redwood Community Health Coalition (San Francisco Bay Area; $125,000)
  • Community Clinic Association of San Bernardino County (South; $175,000)
  • Council of Community Clinics (South; $175,000)
  • California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, Inc. (Statewide; $100,000)

Grants to Expand Access Through Care Teams 

  • Livingston Community Health Services, Inc. (Central; $50,000) 
  • Los Angeles Christian Health Centers (Los Angeles; $75,000)
  • Northeast Valley Health Corporation (Los Angeles; $75,000 ) 
  • Olive View-UCLA Education and Research Institute (Los Angeles; $74,750)
  • Valley Community Clinic (Los Angeles; $75,000)
  • Hill Country Community Clinic, Inc. (North; $75,000)
  • Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Inc. (North; $75,000)
  • Coastal Health Alliance (San Francisco Bay Area; $50,000 )
  • Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley (San Francisco Bay Area; $75,000)
  • La Clínica de La Raza, Inc. (San Francisco Bay Area; $75,000)
  • San Francisco Public Health Foundation (San Francisco Bay Area; $75,000)
  • North County Health Project, Inc. (South; $75,000)
  • Share Our Selves Corporation (South; $75,000)
     
  • Community Partners (Los Angeles; $190,934): To support the Los Angeles Department of Health Services (LADHS) in developing a system-wide vision and infrastructure for centralized performance improvement to drive innovation in safety-net care delivery.

In an effort to address the needs of the remaining uninsured, the Foundation is awarding a series of grants that provide stakeholders with resources to work with counties and the state to expand access and improve safety net services and systems for the remaining uninsured. Grantees include:

  • Working Partnerships USA (San Francisco Bay Area; $200,000): To design a coverage program in Santa Clara County that will improve access to health services and cost-effective, high quality care for the remaining uninsured. 
  • The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley (Statewide; $210,000): To analyze statewide enrollment data to identify barriers as well as successful enrollment channels, and disseminate findings to inform future enrollment strategies.
  • National Academy of Sciences (National; $200,000): To identify, analyze, and share successful approaches for enrolling racially and ethnically diverse populations into coverage through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in California and nationally.
  • National Immigration Law Center (Statewide; $100,000): To conduct policy analysis and provide technical assistance to address the gaps in and barriers to affordable coverage and services faced by low-income immigrant Californians.
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles (Statewide; $100,000): To improve access to health care for California’s undocumented immigrant communities and strengthen the Statewide Latino Health Network.

We continue to identify and spread policies and practices that advance our goals of improving access to care and strengthening systems across the safety net. Grantees include:

  • Kaiser Family Foundation (Statewide; $505,500): To conduct a second survey of low-income Californians that will provide timely data to inform whether and how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is affecting health coverage, access, and financial security of low-income individuals.
  • The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (Statewide; $200,000): To develop an interactive resource exchange center that provides a platform for learning, sharing, and collaboration around safety net integration between community health centers and providers in the larger medical neighborhood.
  • Prevention Institute (Statewide; $124,378): To conduct research and produce a report that identifies and analyzes current and potential opportunities for advancing community-centered health systems in California through innovations in payment and delivery-system redesign.
  • In this round of grantmaking, we continue to promote the development of new and emerging leaders in California’s healthcare safety net, in effort to help them succeed in an era of transformative change. Funding goes to:
  • The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (Statewide; $2,066,312): To deliver the Clinic Leadership Institute (CLI), including an eighth cohort the Emerging Leaders program, a fourth cohort of the New Executive Transitions (nEXt) program, and strengthen the state-wide CLI alumni network.

BLUE SHIELD AGAINST VIOLENCE ($2,007,840)

In this round of grantmaking, the Foundation is supporting projects that foster innovation in domestic violence service delivery, and enhance the capacity of the field to operate in a more effective and integrated system. Grantees include:

  • Women's Shelter Program of San Luis Obispo County (Central; $215,000): To promote domestic violence (DV) and healthcare safety net partnerships that address and prevent DV through integrated models of service and system-level improvements. 
  • California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (Statewide; $400,000): To enhance the capacity of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the “Partnership”) to advance its statewide policy advocacy leadership work through the support of regional programming, an annual conference, and organizational strengthening activities.

Foundation funding for leadership development has already produced significant results — not only for individuals, but for the DV field as a whole. To further expand the capacity of DV organizations and empower the individuals who lead them, the Foundation is awarding funds to the following grantee: 

  • CompassPoint Nonprofit Services (Statewide; $1,392,840): To deliver an enhanced Blue Shield Against Violence (BSAV) Leadership Development Program (LDP) for leaders of domestic violence service organizations, as well as to support continued alumni activity from past cohorts, and ensure the overall sustainability of field-wide leadership.

ADDITIONAL GRANTS ($620,000)

Outside of traditional programmatic areas, the Foundation is also investing in a number of unique projects that aim to advance the Foundation’s mission and vision and expand the visibility of our grantmaking to public audiences. These grants include:

  • Mission Edge San Diego (South; $270,000): To scale the Military Transition Support Project (MTSP) in San Diego, a model cross-sector effort to provide comprehensive, coordinated services to military families, helping them to successfully transition to civilian life. 
  • Kaiser Family Foundation (Statewide; $350,000): To increase national and local media coverage of health issues in California and surrounding states.

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About Blue Shield of California Foundation

Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the state's largest and most trusted grantmaking organizations. Our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians, particularly the underserved, by making health care accessible, effective, and affordable, and by ending domestic violence. For more information visit: www.blueshieldcafoundation.org.  

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