By Wesley Prater

The National League of Cities (NLC) recently received a grant by Atlantic Philanthropies to conduct a three-year project, focused primarily on helping cities expand access to Medicaid and CHIP. The project will provide technical assistance and grants to help cities develop outreach and enrollment campaigns.  Request for Proposals (RFPs) will be released on March 18 and the city selections will be determined through three phases.

Phase 1 (Leadership Academies):

Based on the RFPs, 20 cities will be selected to attend one of two Leadership Academies. One Leadership Academy will be held in July and the other will be held in September. There will be a West meeting and an East meeting.  Criteria selection will include: demonstration of city commitment, past efforts, goals and strategy ideas.

Phase 2 (Planning Grants):

The 20 cities in the Leadership Academies will then be eligible to apply for planning grants of up to $30,000. From that pool of applicants, 8-10 cities will receive the planning grants, which will include in-depth technical assistance from the National League of Cities. The planning phase will be 6 months and include partner outreach, development of business plans, and a convening of the selected cities.

Phase 3 (Implementation Grants):

The 8-10 planning grant cities can apply for implementation grants of up to $130,000 per year over two years. Six cities will be selected and will be provided with in-depth technical assistance from NLC, site visits, and monthly calls with city teams.

To learn more about the project, you can see the slides from the webinar here.