The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to provide $300 million to jurisdictions for community health worker (CHW) services to support Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention and control, and an additional $32 million for training, technical assistance, and evaluation. CHWs are frontline public health workers who have a trusted relationship with the community and are able to facilitate access to a variety of services and resources for community members.
By scaling up and sustaining a nationwide program of CHWs who support populations at high risk and communities hit hardest by COVID-19, funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act will provide critical support to states, localities, territories, tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian health organizations, or health service providers for tribes. CDC expects to award funds to approximately 75 organizations through "Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities." Applications will be accepted through May 24, 2021, at www.grants.gov.
"These resources will strengthen the incredible work of our nation's community health workers in areas disproportionately affected by COVID-19," said CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH. "Community health workers are trusted messengers within communities, and instrumental in connecting high-risk and vulnerable individuals to care and needed services, and addressing local public health challenges."
Notices of awards will be issued in the summer, with the amount each jurisdiction receives determined by population size, poverty rates and COVID-19 statistics.
The funding is intended for recipients to address:
