Northern Montana Health Care 2022

Meadowlark Initiative Implementation at Northern Montana Hospital

Northern Montana Hospital (Northern) will implement The Meadowlark Initiative to decrease drug use in pregnancy, reduce child removals, identify individual needs for each patient and their family, and build a safe team-based approach to support better perinatal outcomes. Northern will coordinate OB/GYN, family practice, and behavioral health providers and provide care coordination to identify and connect resources from the community to patients when needs are identified. Funding will support a care coordinator and licensed addiction counselor, and the project will also draw on Northern's behavioral health team. Project partners include Rocky Boy Health Center and Sweet Home Medical Center.

Grant Amount

$175,000

Term

24 month

2022

Partnership Health Center 2022

Strategic Alliance for Improved Behavioral Health

This grant will support the Strategic Alliance for Improved Behavioral Health to decrease the number of behavioral health crises resulting from incarceration or hospitalization by implementing the Crisis Now Model. The Strategic Alliance for Improved Behavioral Health (Alliance) is a coalition that includes critical stakeholders in Missoula County, including Providence St. Patrick Hospital, Community Medical Center, Partnership Health Center, Western Montana Mental Health Center, All Nations Health Center, the Missoula City-County Health Department, and the City Council and County Commission. This grant will support implementation of a crisis line (988), expand the community's mobile crisis team, and create a crisis receiving facility as a more effective alternative to hospitalization or incarceration for people in crisis. More broadly, the Alliance will also continue to plan and support implementation of a more complete continuum of behavioral health services -- from prevention to early diagnosis and treatment -- for the region. The Alliance will utilize the grant funds for a coordinator to oversee the project and a consultant for updating the resource mapping and strategic planning.

Grant Amount

$225,000

Term

36 months

2022

Pioneer Medical Center 2022

Crisis Coalition Formation, Improvement, and Sustainability

Pioneer Medical Center will plan and develop a crisis system for Sweetgrass County based on the Crisis Now Model. With this grant, Pioneer Medical Center will create a coalition, hire a coordinator, map the current behavioral health crisis system, and develop a strategic plan. The Crisis Now Model includes a crisis line (988), a mobile crisis team, and a crisis-receiving facility and provides a more effective alternative to hospitalization or incarceration for people in crisis. Funding will support a coordinator to oversee the project, mapping, program design, and convenings. Through this grant, Pioneer Medical Center will also engage neighboring counties, including Park, Wheatland, Meagher, Golden Valley, and Stillwater counties, in discussions on a regional crisis framework. Project partners include Sweet Grass County, Sweet Grass County EMS, Billings Clinic, and Billings Clinic Integrated Behavioral Health Program.

Grant Amount

$40,000

Term

18 month

2022

Plenty Doors Community Development Corporation 2022

Crow Nation Innovation Center

The Crow Nation Innovation Center will develop a facility to support community development for the Crow Reservation and surrounding area. Through this project, a signature space in the Crow community will be created to spur innovation and entrepreneurial development as well as local income and jobs. This grant will serve as a match for federal funding secured from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Partners include The Steele Reese Foundation, First Interstate Bank Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2022

Richland County Housing Authority 2022

Richland County Rural Housing Planning Grant

The Richland County Housing Authority (RCHA) will develop a community action plan focusing on Richland County’s homeless and housing insecure populations and coordinating housing and supportive services for this population. RCHA will contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to identify housing insecure individuals who frequently use community systems. It will also build partnerships with community service providers that can provide tenancy support and care coordination. The Richland County Health Department has identified housing as a critical health issue. It has partnered with the RCHA to convene stakeholders and develop a community plan to address housing access and service support for vulnerable populations. Funds will support the technical assistance contractor, project management, and convening. Partners engaged in preliminary steering committee discussions include the Richland County Health Department, Sidney Community Health Center, Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center, law enforcement, and Prairie Hills Recovery center.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2022

Roots Family Collaborative 2022

Postpartum Doula Project

The Postpartum Doula Project, a program of Roots Family Collaborative, will provide free or sliding-scale postpartum doula services in Gallatin and surrounding counties for families in the critical developmental stage following birth. Roots Family Collaborative's mission is to connect all families to the support they need from pregnancy to parenthood. This planning grant will support a year-long process during which the organization will examine and build program staff capacity, identify new and existing strategic partnerships, develop an advisory council, identify and overcome barriers to creating long-term sustainability for the program, and develop a handbook for program implementation.

Grant Amount

$20,000

Term

12 month

2022

Ruby Valley Medical Center 2022

RVMC Integrated Behavioral Health

Ruby Valley Medical Center (RVMC) will integrate behavioral health services into its primary care practice. RVMC is a critical access hospital in Sheridan serving seven rural communities in western Madison County and southern Jefferson County. This project will help RVMC identify a champion to lead the project and provide team training for its providers to enhance the organization’s standard way of delivering care. Funding will support staff training on the integrated behavioral health model, developing organizational workflows to support the model, and integrating a counselor into the primary care office.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

36 month

2022

South Central Montana Regional Mental Health Center 2022

Improving PACT Client Outcomes through Medication Optimization and Care Coordination

The South-Central Montana Regional Mental Health Center (SCMRMHC) will explore the feasibility of improving its Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) teams by adding another provider type – a clinical pharmacist – to the team. PACT allows people with longstanding, severe, or disabling mental illnesses to live and function safely in their homes and communities rather than being hospitalized. Traditional PACT teams consist of a supervisor, program assistant, psychiatrist, peer specialist, and mental health professionals. This project will explore the feasibility of adding a clinical pharmacist to the team to provide medication management which is proven effective in complex populations. Funds will be used for care coordination and supporting a consultant to help determine the feasibility of integrating a clinical pharmacist into the PACT team and recommending a successful finding to the state.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

18 month

2022

Southwest Montana Community Health Center 2022

West Elementary School-Based Clinic

The Southwest Montana Community Health Center (SWMTCHC) will expand school-based health services to the students of West Elementary in the Butte school district, the second school in which they will offer health services. The health center will help improve the students' health, which, in turn, will support their attendance and education. SWMTCHC will provide the medical and behavioral staff needed to offer services to students on-site at West Elementary. Funding will support a part-time behavioral health provider. Project partners include West Elementary School and the Butte School District.

Grant Amount

$75,000

Term

24 month

2022

St. John's Lutheran Ministries, LLC 2022

St. John’s United Workplace Integrative Behavioral Health Initiative

This project will develop on-site primary care with integrated behavioral health services for residents and employees of St. John’s United (SJU) senior living facilities. SJU is a significant provider of senior living opportunities, with campuses in Billings, Laurel, Red Lodge, and Hamilton. Its services include transitional inpatient rehabilitative care, skilled nursing, memory care, assisted and independent living, permanent supportive housing for older adults, home health, hospice, outpatient rehabilitation, and home and community-based services. The project goals include lower turnover, lower insurance premiums, higher work satisfaction for staff, and fewer hospital admissions and falls. They hope to achieve reduced rates of anxiety and depression and improved quality of life for both employees and residents. SJU’s work plan includes gathering initial health assessment data to develop implementation and service delivery targets. Funds will support the salaries of the team developing the project as well as consultation fees from mental health professionals. SJU will establish a new partnership with South Central Regional Mental Health Center for consulting services and future contracts with mental health providers.

Grant Amount

$24,500

Term

12 month

2022

St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation 2022

Meadowlark Initiative

St. Luke Community Healthcare will continue participating in The Meadowlark Initiative and enhance the behavioral health services it provides to women and families on the Flathead Reservation. This project will develop a patient registry to improve St. Luke’s data collection and analysis capacity, strengthen care coordination for pregnant women and families, and build a self-sustaining Meadowlark Initiative program. Funding will support care coordination and staff training on the electronic medical record. Partners include the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Tribal Health Department and St. Joseph Healthcare.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2022

St. Peter's Health Foundation 2022

Integrated Behavioral Health Support Program Expansion

St. Peter's Health (SPH) will expand and strengthen its established integrated behavioral health program. This project will increase the evidence-based screening cadence and enhance team-based care by expanding specialized support services. SPH will hire a licensed addiction counselor and behavioral health navigator and embed these positions into the ambulatory clinics to provide outpatient substance abuse services. The addition of the licensed addiction counselor position will allow SPH's addiction medicine and behavioral health providers to work to the top of their licensure, and the behavioral health navigator will assist in identifying social needs, connecting patients to the appropriate level of care, facilitating referrals, and ensuring continuity of care. Grant funds will support the licensed addiction counselor's salary and a stipend for a Carroll College Master of Social Work Program intern. Over the past several years, SPH has formed strong relationships with community partners, including other health care providers, mental health providers, DPHHS Child and Family Services, Lewis & Clark County Home Visiting Program, and many community-based organizations which will help support the effectiveness of this project.

Grant Amount

$175,000

Term

36 month

2022

St. Peter's Health Foundation 2022

Parental Mental Health Support Program Expansion

St. Peter's Health (SPH) will expand and strengthen its established Meadowlark Initiative program. This project will increase evidence-based screening cadence and access to services and enhance team-based care by expanding specialized support services. SPH will hire a licensed addiction counselor and behavioral health navigator and embed these positions into the obstetrics clinic to provide outpatient substance use and mental health services. The addition of the licensed addiction counselor position will allow SPH's addiction medicine and behavioral health providers to work to the top of their licensure, and the behavioral health navigator will assist in identifying social needs, connecting patients to the appropriate level of care, facilitating referrals, and ensuring continuity of care. Grant funds will support the behavioral health navigator's salary. Over the past several years, SPH has formed strong relationships with community partners, including other health care providers, mental health providers, DPHHS Child and Family Services, Lewis & Clark County Home Visiting Program, and many community-based organizations which will help support the effectiveness of this project.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2022

St. Peter's Health Foundation 2022

Helena Coordinated Entry System Data Coordination

St. Peters Hospital (SPH) will expand its data system to include the Coordinated Entry System, which identifies the most appropriate housing resources for homeless individuals. Currently, SPH’s system tracks data points of frequent users of jails, shelters, hospitals, and crisis public services (known as “Frequent User System Engagement” or “FUSE” clients). By enhancing its current data dashboard and expanding it to partner with the Coordinated Entry System, SPH will improve the community's capacity to monitor outcomes and keep clients housed. The new system will also help SPH and partners track and coordinate the supportive services needed to keep clients housed. Grant funds will support staffing costs for building and managing the upgraded data system. Our partners include the Helena Housing Authority, United Way, PureView Health Center, God’s Love, Good Samaritan Ministries, Lewis and Clark County Jail, and other organizations within the Coordinated Entry System.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

24 month

2022

The City-County of Butte-Silver Bow 2022

Butte-Silver Bow Behavioral Health Systems Improvements and Sustainability Project

The Butte-Silverbow City-County Health Department will implement the Crisis Now Model to decrease the number of behavioral health crises resulting in emergency room visits, hospitalization, and incarceration. The Crisis Now Model includes a crisis line (988), a mobile crisis team, and a crisis-receiving facility, and provides a more effective alternative to hospitalization or incarceration for people in crisis. Funding will support a coordinator to oversee the project, the expansion of the mobile crisis team, and planning for the crisis-receiving facility. Project partners include members of the Butte-Silver Bow Strategic Alliance, including St. James Healthcare; Action Inc; Southwest Montana Community Health Center; Western Montana Mental Health Center; and Community, Counseling, and Correctional Services, Inc.

Grant Amount

$150,000

Term

36 month

2022

Trust Montana, Inc. 2022

Engaging Private Sector Building Industry Professionals in Partnerships to Develop Permanently Affordable Homes for Montanans

Trust Montana will implement a replicable model for partnership between community land trusts and private sector building industry professionals as an innovative way to create more affordable housing. Trust Montana is located in Missoula and works to increase the number of permanently affordable homes in the state. This project will accelerate affordable home development by leveraging private developer construction financing, nonprofit grant acquisition expertise, land donations, related charitable tax benefits, and community land trusts' growing public and government support. Funds will support current staff in developing a tool kit and outreach plan and assisting rural communities across the state. Partners include WGM and Blueline Development, Inc.

Grant Amount

$95,604

Term

24 month

2022

TSNE MissionWorks 2022

Building Support to Advocate Effectively for Public Health at the State Level and Nationally

This grant will support the Network for Public Health Law in conducting a feasibility study to determine options for creating a more effective national and state-level advocacy platform to strengthen public health laws and funding. Public health has historically not received the funding required to allow county, tribal, state, and federal agencies to consistently carry out the core activities needed to protect and promote health effectively. Adding to this challenge, frustration with the public health response to COVID-19 triggered many state bills that limit the legal authority of public health agencies to protect the public from serious illness, injury, and death. Currently, no single organization exists to lead public health policy work at the state and national levels. Funding from MHCF will contribute to the overall study and ensure the inclusion of perspectives of rural and frontier public health experts.

Grant Amount

$15,000

Term

12 month

2022

University of Montana - Center for Children, Families, and Workforce Development 2022

Montana PAX Sustainability Initiative

This project will facilitate the implementation and sustainability of the PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX-GBG) in elementary schools around Montana. PAX-GBG is a school-based universal prevention intervention that teaches children self-regulation, self-management, and self-control. It provides educators with strategies to teach social-emotional and behavioral skills and academics, creating a trauma-informed nurturing environment. Considerable research has demonstrated the effectiveness of this model in preventing child and adult social and behavioral health issues. The University of Montana’s Center for Children, Families, and Workforce Development works with state agencies and local providers in education (k-12), social services, behavioral health, public health, and justice to improve their capacity to deliver high-quality resources and services to Montanans. Through well-established partnerships with the Office of Public Instruction, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division, the Montana Healthcare Foundation, and elementary schools across the state, the Center will develop leadership and implementation teams that will receive training on program sustainability and implementation from the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), which will provide expert consulting for this effort. Funding will support a contract with NIRN and offset staffing costs for center staff dedicated to the project.

Grant Amount

$200,000

Term

24 month

2022

University of Montana Office of Research and Sponsored Progams 2022

The Economic Impact of a Montana Law Income Housing Tax Credit Program

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana (BBER) will conduct a detailed, empirical analysis of how the establishment of a Montana Low-income Housing Tax Credit Program to finance affordable housing development would affect Montana's supply of affordable housing and impact the state's economy. The research will estimate how the development, construction, and completion of affordable housing units would likely respond to the establishment of the housing credit program. It will also model the impact of these units on the state's economy using Regional Economic Models, Inc., a validated economic and policy analysis model. Funds will support BBER staff time to conduct the analysis and offset the costs of the analysis model. Primary partners include the Montana Housing Coalition, Montana Department of Housing, Interdepartmental Housing Integration Project participants, and Montana developers of low-income and supportive housing.

Grant Amount

$28,473

Term

12 month

2022

Action Inc 2021

Butte Housing is Health Care Data Coordination Project

Action, Inc. is the nonprofit community action agency for the six-county region around Butte and works to develop pathways out of poverty for area residents. This grant will support Action, Inc. to create a database that allows the Butte Housing is Health Care Initiative partners to track and coordinate housing units and supportive services. It will begin by working with partners – including the Butte Housing Authority, St. James Healthcare, and Southwest Montana Community Health Center – to assess the data systems they currently use to track homeless individuals and their interactions with health, justice, and social service systems. Then, the team will agree to a set of data elements that will allow partners to track and more effectively manage outcomes for these individuals and build them into the new data tracking platform. Funding will support project coordination staffing, consultation, and data system access. The new shared data system will enable the partners to align housing units with supportive services, creating a more effective permanent supportive housing program for the region.

Grant Amount

$42,896

Term

24 month

2021

All Nations Health Center 2021

All Nations Housing Feasibility Study

All Nations Health Center is an urban Indian health center located in Missoula; it serves over 4,000 Native American people. This project will help the center conduct a feasibility study for a new facility incorporating housing and an integrated care clinic. Homeward, a local affordable-housing developer, will conduct the study, including housing development costs and available funding resources for financing. MASS Architecture Design will finish a preliminary architecture report detailing the logistics of an integrated care clinic. The Native American Development Corporation will support organizing finance options for the new building. Funding will support the contractors to complete the feasibility study, housing development costs, building design, and finance options.

Grant Amount

$74,250

Term

12 month

2021

Alliance for Youth, Inc. 2021

Development of Recovery Support Services Funding Model and Peer Support Capacity Building, Implementation, Evaluation and Integration Into Crisis Intervention Program

Alliance for Youth is a nonprofit organization that advances healthy youth development through a collaborative approach to substance use disorder education, prevention, intervention, and treatment. Sober Life is a program within Alliance for Youth that provides peer and recovery support services. With this grant, Alliance for Youth will partner with Alluvion Health to provide peer support services for Alluvion's Crisis Intervention Program. The Crisis Intervention Program decreases relapse rates among people struggling with substance use disorders and diverts people in crisis away from emergency rooms and jails. This partnership will help develop a sustainable funding model for peer support and expand services in Great Falls and North Central Montana. Funding will support staff salaries and contracts for billing and clinical supervision for peer support. Partners include Alluvion Health and the local Crisis Intervention Program organizations.

Grant Amount

$75,000

Term

24 month

2021

Arlee Community Development Corporation 2021

Pivoting from Emergency Food Response to Food Sovereignty (FSC) Programming with Healthy Local Foods

The Arlee Community Development Corporation will establish a walk-in, choice-based food pantry and a food resource center for the Jocko Valley (comprised of Lake, Sanders, and Missoula Counties), providing more local, healthy food options for the community. This project will help create local partnerships and reorganize food distribution models to connect local producers with local communities. The resource center aims for less dependence on low-quality staple foods and instead emphasizes locally grown, more nutrient-dense food options. Partners include Confederated Salish and Kootenai (CSKT) Tribal Health, CSKT Food Sovereignty Initiative, Mission Mountain Food Enterprise, and Montana Growers Cooperative. Funding will support project personnel and a consultant who will help with project development and travel expenses.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Billings Clinic 2021

Regional Integrated Behavioral Health Integration Project

Billings Clinic is a health care system that serves the state of Montana through a network of regional affiliate hospitals. For this project, nine critical access hospitals (which began implementing integrated care through a prior grant) will continue the process of transforming their primary care practices to a high-quality integrated behavioral health model, and up to five additional sites will join the network and begin implementing integrated care. The project aims to promote a deep understanding of integrated care practice and benefits, support long-term, sustainable engagement at rural sites, and promote integrated care conformity across the Billings Clinic affiliate network's Montana sites. Billings Clinic will continue network development activities and data sharing, with close collaboration and support of the Billings Clinic Regional Services team and the Montana Healthcare Foundation's technical assistance providers. Funding will support startup costs for additional care managers for the region (located in a rural affiliate site) and remotely support the rest of the facilities.

Grant Amount

$300,000

Term

36 months

2021

Butte SPIRIT Center 2021

Butte SPIRIT Home, Scaling up Staffing to Support SUD Recovery Home Sustainability

The Butte Spirit Center Substance Use Disorder Recovery Home is a candidate for state approval as a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment center, providing residential treatment and transitional housing (American Society of Addiction Medicine Level 3.1 care) for seven adult men in recovery. Its executive director is a certified peer support specialist. The organization will need to hire personnel to meet staffing requirements for the level of service they seek to provide because Montana Medicaid proposed changes in staffing requirements that will take effect in January 2022. This implementation grant will support the salary and benefits of a clinical director and residence manager. These positions will be covered by Medicaid revenue once the grantee can bill for services beginning June 2022. The grantee has strong relationships with referring providers and other community partners like Southwest Montana Community Health Center, St. James Healthcare, Montana Chemical Dependency Center, the SMART program through Community, Counseling, and Correctional Services, Inc., and Montana Peer Network.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2021

Cancer Support Community Montana 2021

Expansion of Behavioral Health Programs in Missoula

The Cancer Support Community Montana (CSCMT) is based in Gallatin County and supports individuals and families impacted by cancer, helping them improve their quality of life. This project will help CSCMT open a Missoula chapter to serve Western Montana with support, education, and hope and improve mental health and quality of life for youth and adults impacted by cancer. CSCMT will bring on an executive director and a clinical program director to help it expand its behavioral health services and help Missoula quickly implement evidence-based programs that have proven benefits to cancer patients, caregivers, and their families. Funding will support the new staff positions. Primary partners include the oncology centers at Providence St. Patrick Hospital and Community Medical Center and other care providers in the community.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2021

Center Pole 2021

Increasing Capacity and Food Quality to Create a Healthy Culturally Based Reservation Food System

Center Pole is a Native-led organization serving the Crow Reservation and surrounding areas since 1999. It conducts community projects on food security, food sovereignty, sustainable development, and community development while preserving Indigenous knowledge. This project will improve, expand, and streamline Center Pole's capacity to procure, produce, store, and distribute healthy foods. To do this, Center Pole will enhance its food warehouse and delivery system, educate staff on handling food procurement, storage, and distribution, and support local and traditional food entrepreneurs and community growers. Partners include Hopa Mountain Strengthening the Circle, Apsaalooke Abundance, and the Helping Hands Food Bank. Funding will primarily support staff to run the program and startup costs for Center Pole's service expansion.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Chippewa Cree Tribe 2021

Rocky Boy Food Sovereignty Project

Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation is in the remote Bear Paws mountains of North Central Montana. The remote location has contributed to a food desert on the Reservation, with the nearest grocery store selling fresh foods over 30 miles away. The Chippewa-Cree Tribe's Rocky Boy Food Sovereignty Project will develop a food chain of healthy products grown and produced on the Reservation. The project will help plant gardens, develop and market new value-added food products such as flour and pasta, and establish food handling laws. Locally grown and raised food products will be branded and made available to the community. Funding will help the purchase tools to support the food packaging and support a project coordinator who will develop and implement the program and build toward financial sustainability. Partners include the Stone Child College, the Rocky Boy Diabetes Program, Rocky Boy Public Schools, and the Chippewa Cree Agriculture and Sustainability Program team, which will serve as a board oversight for the project.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Community Hospital of Anaconda 2021

Integrated Behavioral Health

Community Hospital of Anaconda (CHA) is a critical access hospital serving the residents of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County in Southwest Montana. This project will build on our previous planning and implementation grants to CHA, allowing the grantee to complete and sustain the process of transforming their clinical care to a high-quality integrated behavioral health model. CHA will use grant funds and technical assistance to support a behavioral health provider position and optimize practice management, documentation, and billing. Moreover, the grant will support CHA in implementing The Meadowlark Initiative by providing direct support and training to the behavioral health providers and care coordinators serving perinatal patients and the general primary care population. This project will ensure behavioral health providers generate revenue and contribute to financial sustainability and long-term availability of services. It will also provide the primary care team with meaningful data analysis to support practice transformation and fidelity to the integrated care model.

Grant Amount

$75,000

Term

24 month

2021

Community Medical Center 2021

Community Medical Center’s Consolidation Grant

Community Medical Center (CMC) is a large hospital in Missoula that serves the surrounding region. This project will expand CMC's capacity to provide the entire continuum of care for patients with mental illness and substance use disorders by fully integrating behavioral health into its primary care clinics, expanding services through telehealth to specialty and walk-in clinics, and thoroughly training and integrating its clinical teams. Funding will support a social worker to serve as a centralized behavioral health care manager for the project. This person will provide the personnel, psychiatric consultation, and clinical supervision needed to implement the project. Partners include the University of Montana's Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program, Walla Walla University's Masters in Social Work Program, Andy Laue, LCSW, who provides group clinical supervision for the behavioral health providers, and other community behavioral health providers who offer individual clinical supervision and psychiatric consultation to the team.

Grant Amount

$175,000

Term

36 months

2021

Day Eagle Hope Project 2021

Aaniiih/Nakoda Food Sovereignty on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

The Day Eagle Hope Project is a Native nonprofit on the Fort Belknap reservation that addresses the disparities specific to cancer prevention, treatment, and management. It is a state-certified food bank, providing healthy, quality foods to the Reservation and surrounding area. This project will bring together community partners to provide food delivery services and education for the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and surrounding community. The food bank will work to reintroduce native and organic foods back into the community. It will also provide education alongside healthful foods to address further the health disparities in rates of chronic illnesses. Funding will help purchase fresh foods for the food bank, support transportation costs, and build community partnerships, specifically with Tribal Health. Partners include the Fort Belknap Indian Community, which will help with food delivery services, and the Fort Belknap Tribal Health Department, which will provide healthy eating and living education.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Fast Blackfeet 2021

Sustaining Food Security with MNT Service Delivery

Fast Blackfeet is working to address two crucial health problems in the Blackfeet Nation: food insecurity and nutrition-related illnesses (like diabetes). Fast Blackfeet is a Native-led nonprofit focused on nutrition, strengthening the local food system, and supporting a food bank on the Blackfeet reservation. For this project, Fast Blackfeet will work with consultants to explore sustainability for their Food Pharmacy Program, which is currently entirely grant funded. The Food Pharmacy Program allows providers to refer patients to the food bank for specialized foods to meet specific dietary requirements (such as a diabetic diet), counseling with a nutritionist, and vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables. Fast Blackfeet will develop a partnership with Blackfeet Tribal Health to establish third-party billing for services provided by nutritionists and dietitians. Funding will be used for consultants to complete business and sustainability plans and to provide guidance around the partnership with Blackfeet Tribal Health.

Grant Amount

$19,250

Term

12 month

2021

Fast Blackfeet 2021

Working Toward a Healthy, Food Secure Blackfeet Nation

FAST Blackfeet is a Native-led nonprofit organization that works to increase food access, reduce food insecurity, and improve nutritional intake and knowledge in the Blackfeet Nation. The O'yo'p' Food Pantry is a vital hub for FAST Blackfeet programs. It makes nutritious food readily available to Blackfeet families and aids in chronic disease prevention through clinics and dietitian counseling. This project will support the food pantry's growth and the development and sustainability of its operations infrastructure. Funding will support hiring additional personnel and help offset the costs of expanding the food pantry to meet the community's needs. Project partners include HOPA Mountain, Browning Public Schools, Glacier Family Foods, and the Montana Food Bank Network.

Grant Amount

$60,000

Term

12 month

2021

Fort Peck Tribes - Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center 2021

Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center Behavioral Health Capacity Building Project

Spotted Bull Resource Recovery Center (SBRRC) is the primary addiction treatment service provider in Fort Peck, offering chemical dependency services and inpatient treatment to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and surrounding community. With this grant, SBRRC will add mental health services to the care it offers people with substance use disorders. To accomplish this, SBRRC will provide training to its staff to help them develop the necessary clinical competencies, contract with a mental health provider for therapeutic services, implement culturally relevant healing practices, and develop a third-party billing system. Funding will support the contract with a mental health consultant and behavioral health telehealth providers. It will also support the project's evaluation and travel for site visits. The project will be completed through established partnerships with the Indian Health Service, Volunteers of America, and Our Home, Inc.

Grant Amount

$100,000

Term

24 month

2021

Glacier County Health Department 2021

Tribal-County Crisis Coalition Launch (Blackfeet – Glacier)

The Blackfeet Nation and Glacier County Health Department will launch a "Tribal-County Crisis Coalition" (Coalition) that aligns resources from law enforcement, behavioral health, and medical services across the Blackfeet Nation and Glacier County. The Coalition will conduct sequential intercept mapping (SIM) to understand how people in crisis currently interact with law enforcement, emergency medical services, and behavioral health, and use the results of this mapping to outline a more effective model for crisis response. The project will also develop a sustainable implementation plan. The project will be led by the Glacier County Health Department and the Piikani Lodge Health Institute staff. Loveland and Associates will support mapping, data analysis, and strategic planning. Funding will support the coordination efforts, consultation, travel, and convening expenses. Partners include law enforcement, the Blackfeet Tribe's Culture and Hope Program, and Blackfeet Tribal Health.

Grant Amount

$74,999

Term

24 month

2021

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies - The Montana Coalition 2021

Building Bridges for Better Births

Building Bridges for Better Births aims to improve community-based support systems for families through pregnancy and after birth by facilitating relationships between prenatal care providers and family support providers. The program will support the development of community teams, a critical component of The Meadowlark Initiative® model of care. Community teams are made up of social service providers, peer recovery coaches, and related caregivers who all play an essential role in supporting pregnant and postpartum women and their families. This project is a continuation of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies'work to support The Meadowlark Initiative® in previous years.

Grant Amount

$74,601

Term

24 month

2021

Heart Butte Schools 2021

Feather Woman Healing Lodge Business Plan

Heart Butte School District will contract with RJS & Associates, Inc. (RJS) to develop a business plan for a new facility, the Feather Woman Healing Lodge, to serve students who are homeless or experiencing mental health crises. Heart Butte is a community in the Blackfeet Nation. The school district has purchased two modular homes to be used as a youth shelter that will serve up to 12 students (six girls and six boys) at a time. The business plan will address staffing needs, operation and maintenance costs, insurance costs, risk management, potential funding sources, and other operational infrastructure needed for the facility. Heart Butte Schools currently has a school-based health center provided by the Tribe through the Southern Piegan Clinic. This new facility will strengthen the partnership with Southern Piegan and build a stronger continuum of care for students needing more intensive services and safe shelter.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2021

Helena Indian Alliance 2021

New Clinic Addition/Design

Helena Indian Alliance (HIA) is an urban Indian health center based in Helena and serving the surrounding counties. This grant will support project management during a clinic remodel and expansion that will enable HIA to provide integrated physical, behavioral, and dental services for patients. Funding will allow HIA to contract with SMA Architects to complete the clinic design and provide oversight and project management throughout the construction process. HIA is located in what used to be the U.S. Army Reserves Sheridan Hall building, and this project builds on two prior Montana Healthcare Foundation grants that helped HIA plan and prepare for this critically-needed remodel. The first grant, in 2017, created a master plan looking at how HIA could improve and expand the services they provide to their patients by updating the layout of their building. The second grant in 2018 helped HIA complete a structural assessment of the building, which was necessary before this construction could begin. HIA has secured financing for this project, estimated at roughly $1.1 million. By updating their building, HIA will be better equipped to implement high quality, integrated care, expand the services they can provide, and better address the health needs in their community.

Grant Amount

$85,750

Term

24 month

2021

Holy Rosary Healthcare Foundation 2021

Eastern Montana Perinatal Behavioral Health

Holy Rosary Healthcare will join the Meadowlark Initiative and improve access to mental health and substance use disorder care for pregnant women in Miles City and Eastern Montana. The project will integrate behavioral health services into Holy Rosary’s obstetrics clinic. As part of this project, Holy Rosary Healthcare will hire a care coordinator to work directly with patients and foster connections with social service organizations in the community. In addition to hiring a new staff person, grant funding will help establish telepsychiatry services and support coaching from the National Council for Behavioral Health to ensure the project’s success and sustainability. Partners include the Montana Health Network, the Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center, and Rimrock Foundation.

Grant Amount

$148,360

Term

24 month

2021

Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. 2021

HRDC Rural Housing Planning Grant: Home Rehabilitation

The Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. (HRDC) serves Southwest Montana with community assistance programs such as emergency assistance, transportation, senior services, and housing. This project will help build pathways for homeowners with low incomes to remain stably housed in a healthy and safe environment. This one-year planning grant will focus on developing home rehabilitation programming, planning for new housing needs, and partnership building in HRDC’s rural service area, including Park and Meagher Counties and the town of West Yellowstone. Funding will support staff capacity to research funding options (including the possibility of securing a Community Development Block Grant Housing Stabilization Program Grant) and creating an outline for implementing the new program. Project partners include the Park County Community Foundation, the Meagher County Stewardship Council, and various stakeholders through regional Housing Working Groups.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2021

Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. 2021

Tracking and Evaluation of Outcomes for Residents Housed Through Coordinated Entry

The Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. (HRDC) leads the Bozeman community’s coordinated entry, homeless shelter, and Housing First Village, in addition to providing many essential services to families with low incomes. To better understand how the system is currently used and identify housing and service gaps in the community for the housing insecure population, HRDC will develop a database to track housing vouchers and service utilization. Creating a database and information system will allow HRDC to gather data from housing and service providers. It will also help providers coordinate care and resources for recently housed individuals to ensure they remain stably housed. Funding will support technical assistance to develop the data platform, staff project coordination, and database maintenance. Partners for this project include agencies in Bozeman that currently serve the homeless population, including Community Health Partners, Bozeman Health, faith-based organizations, and other community service providers.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

24 month

2021

Jefferson Valley EMS & Rescue 2021

Jefferson Valley Community Integrated Health Launch

Jefferson Valley EMS & Rescue (JVEMSR) will begin offering community integrated health (CIH) services – often also referred to as "community paramedicine" – for residents of the Jefferson Valley. CIH can fill the health care gaps in care between hospital and emergency visits, home health, and hospice care. Jefferson Valley CIH will provide scheduled health care in people's homes, community gathering areas, walk-in hours in Whitehall, and at events such as mobile vaccine clinics. It will also be available to provide transportation to and from medical appointments and hospital stays. JVEMSR will create a steering committee for the project and will partner with multiple care providers in their area, including Saint James Healthcare, Whitehall Medical Clinic, and Mercury Street Medical Clinic for referrals. Funding will support the project director and CIH care technicians.

Grant Amount

$99,956

Term

24 month

2021

Lincoln County Library Foundation 2021

Troy Library and Opportunity Center Planning Grant

The Lincoln County Library is partnering with the community of Troy to plan a conversion of the Troy Branch of Lincoln County Library into a new Troy Library and Opportunity Center. This Opportunity Center would address community risk factors of substance abuse, human connectivity, poverty, and access to quality mental health care by creating a space that makes healthy, engaging, family-centered programs readily accessible. This grant will support community visioning, develop an operational and sustainability plan addressing capital needs, programmatic funding, and partner roles. Project partners include the Lincoln County, Zero to Five Lincoln County, Communities that Care, Western Montana Mental Health, and the Troy Chamber of Commerce. Additional partners and stakeholders will be engaged throughout the planning process.

Grant Amount

$25,000

Term

12 month

2021

Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana 2021

Strategic Planning for Little Shell Tribal Departments

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is the newly federally recognized Tribe of the Ojibwe people. Its service area includes Cascade, Blaine, Hill, and Glacier counties. This strategic planning project will help the Tribe begin developing a high-quality, effective health system by supporting the Tribe to create a mission and vision to meet the needs of its people and by providing expert technical assistance on health system design, infrastructure development, and operations. The Little Shell Tribe will model its new health system on Alaska Southcentral Foundation's award-winning NUKA System of Care. Funding will support a contract with the Southcentral Foundation to provide technical assistance and training throughout the planning process and the early stages of implementation. The project will be completed through close collaboration among the Little Shell Tribal Council, Tribal staff, and community members.

Grant Amount

$196,542

Term

24 month

2021

Madison Valley Hospital Association 2021

Integrated Behavioral Health

Madison Valley Medical Center is a 10-bed critical access hospital serving clients in Southwest Montana. This project will build on two previous MHCF grants to expand access to behavioral health services on-site in the hospital's rural health clinic and Big Sky Medical Center. Madison Valley will establish formal care pathways, advance staff training, strengthen behavioral health-primary care provider relationships, and create systems to improve referral tracking, care coordination, and the use of structured data to measure behavioral health outcomes. This grant will support targeted technical assistance along with on-site behavioral health and support staff. In addition to a partnership with Big Sky Medical Center, a focus for this project will be to establish relationships with behavioral health providers and resources outside the organization to improve patient access.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

24 month

2021

Messengers for Health 2021

Indigenous Evaluation and Dissemination of the Báa Nnilah Project

Messengers for Health works to improve the health of people living on the Crow Indian Reservation and outlying areas through community-based projects designed to empower communities to address their unique health issues. For this project, Messengers for Health will partner with two Tribal nations to adapt, implement, and evaluate a chronic disease self-management program – “Báa nnilah” – the grantee developed on the Crow reservation program. The evaluation will help the grantee and tribal partners adapt Báa nnilah for the specific needs of these Tribes, and it will help establish Báa nnilah as an evidence-based program, making it potentially reimbursable through the Tribal Health Improvement Program and providing sustainability for the project over the long term. Partners include Crow, Fort Belknap, and Rocky Boy Indian Reservations. Funding will support community members from the three communities to come together and develop the evaluation plan, support the adaptation of program manuals, and implement and evaluate the program in each community.

Grant Amount

$99,695

Term

24 month

2021

Mission West Community Development Partners 2021

Local Food for Local Families: Montana SNAP Food Box Pilot Project

The Local Food for Local Families: Montana SNAP Food Box Pilot Project will provide fresh, high-quality food items from Montana producers and processors to families with low incomes in Western Montana. The Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center (MMFEC) will partner with the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition and its Double SNAP Dollars Network to launch a pilot project that explores the sustainability of a long-term food box program using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Double SNAP Dollars. This incentive allows Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to double their benefit dollars for fresh fruits and vegetables. The program will provide boxes of local, fresh foods sourced from the Western Montana Growers Cooperative to food access sites in the Mission Valley, Flathead Indian Reservation, and Missoula's American Indian urban population through the All Nations Health Center. Individuals and families will use their SNAP benefits to purchase weekly food boxes, and the Double SNAP Dollars incentive will subsidize the cost. MMFEC will also develop and coordinate a new statewide partnership: Local Food for Local Families. This partnership will provide support and collaboration opportunities for increasing local and healthy food access for all Montanans and Tribal communities. Grant funding will support project coordination, free food boxes for two distribution sites to generate future interest, marketing, outreach, and project evaluation.

Grant Amount

$99,745

Term

24 month

2021

Montana Free Press 2021

Health From More Angles: Intersectional Health Care Reporting and Analysis for Montana Communities

Montana Free Press (MTFP) is a nonprofit news source that provides in-depth reporting on topics that impact the state and local communities. This project will incorporate health coverage into the regular beats of MTFP's full-time and freelance staff – including education, economics and data, social welfare, and the environment – resulting in roughly 20 stories covering eight health topics. Reporters will write in-depth stories on complex health issues that merit statewide attention and identify solutions that may already exist in the community. Like the rest of MTFP's coverage, these stories will be provided free of charge on its website and to its network of partnering local newsrooms and radio stations. This project will inform Montanans of the costly health issues in the state so they can make knowledgeable decisions about their health and the health of their communities.

Grant Amount

$39,870

Term

12 month

2021

Montana Health Network Health Inc. 2021

Eastern Montana Integrated Behavioral Health Project

The Eastern Montana Integrated Behavioral Health Project will support integrating behavioral health (IBH) into primary care for five rural healthcare facilities in eastern Montana (Baker, Ekalaka, Broadus, Malta, and Jordan). The grant will also allow three current IBH sites (Forsyth, Culbertson, and Terry) to refine and improve their initial IBH implementation efforts supported under MHCF's previous IBH network grant to the Montana Health Network (MHN). The goals for the project are to 1) implement routinescreening and early intervention for behavioral health and substance use issues in primary care; 2) improve care coordination between treating facilities; and 3) develop a sustainable integrated behavioral health model for existing and new facilities. Through implementing IBH in these facilities and consolidating the practice in previous grant sites in MHN’s network, the project seeks to improve health outcomes, contribute to a more effective crisis system in eastern Montana, and reduce the use of emergency services. MHN will use grant funds to provide project management, technical support and training, psychiatric consultation, and care coordination services. MHN will partner with Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center (EMCMHC) and Frontier Psychiatry to provide clinical services to patients at individual sites.

Grant Amount

$279,722

Term

36 month

2021

Montana Public Health Institute 2021

Unlocking the Public Health System’s Potential to Improve Behavioral Health in Montana – An Environmental Scan

This project will help unlock the potential of Montana's public health system to promote mental wellness, resilience, and protective factors that are critical to improving the health and quality of life of Montanans and preventing adverse outcomes such a mental health crisis, incarceration, abuse or neglect, and self-harm. The project will produce three related reports to guide public health efforts in this area. The Montana Public Health Institute (MTPHI) will carry out an environmental scan to understand how health departments around the country address behavioral health and identify effective programs that Montana health departments could implement. MTHPI will also produce a guide to these interventions for training local health department staff and a brief for state stakeholders summarizing key findings and recommendations. Together these reports will help guide efforts by local and tribal health departments and partners like the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) and institutions of higher education to implement evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions to improve mental wellness at the community level and within existing public health programs, like home visitation and chronic disease prevention services. MTPHI will work with partners, including JG Research & Evaluation in Bozeman, MT, and local and state stakeholders. Grant funds will be used to commission an in-depth research effort and present the results of that work in compelling and relevant ways to public health leaders, stakeholders, and policymakers.

Grant Amount

$50,000

Term

12 month

2021