NOI_W21010.docx

Department of Public Health Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition Transforming Pediatrics for Early Childhood Notice of Intent: NOI/Waiver# 21010

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition (BFHN) is applying for a new round of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Transforming Pediatrics for Early Childhood (TPEC) notice of funding opportunity HRSA-26-104. HRSA will award 10 grants nationally for up to $950,000 each for 5 years.

The purpose of this grant is to prevent chronic disease early in life and promote healthy development in early childhood by supporting the placement of early childhood development (ECD) experts in local pediatric practices that primarily serve children enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP to deliver team-based care to young children and their families.

The grant requirements are as follows:

· Place early childhood development (ECD) experts in pediatric practices that primarily serve families covered by Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and deliver high-quality ECD services using a team-based approach. The Notice of Funding Opportunity requires applicants to name all practice partners in the grant submission.

· Build the skills of pediatric primary care staff statewide to deliver high-quality ECD services using a team-based approach.

· Improve statewide administrative policies and financing strategies to expand and sustain team-based pediatric primary care, improving the standard of care for all young children.

Grant funding would enable the Department of Public Health to: 1) deepen and sustain existing early childhood quality improvement and capacity-building activities, with a cohort of current Massachusetts TPEC practice partners, and 2) scale early childhood capacity building and quality improvement supports to a new cohort of pediatric practices, to increase access to high-quality team-based care for young children and their families across the Commonwealth. To accomplish this, DPH intends to contract with two cohorts of practices to implement an evidence-based primary care integration model, HealthySteps or TEAM UP for Children, that includes an ECD expert and team-based early childhood workflows.

The purpose of this notice is to publicize the DPH/BFHN intent to submit a federal grant application naming the pediatric and family medicine practices listed below as TPEC Implementation Sites.

Cohort 1

Cohort 2

DPH/BFHN intends to contract with the practices listed above because they are uniquely qualified to promptly fulfill grant requirements to enhance existing integrated care teams with early childhood development (ECD) expertise. The named practices all serve a patient panel that is primarily enrolled in MassHealth and have established relationships with evidence-based model partners, HealthySteps and TEAM UP for Children. All practices have demonstrated a commitment to implementing and sustaining integrated, team-based pediatric primary care for children birth-five. Additional details describing practice partners’ unique qualifications for this funding opportunity are included below.

Cohort 1:

Practice Qualifications: The four cohort 1 practices demonstrate readiness and commitment to meet grant requirements, including: 1) Defined vision for how their extended TPEC partnership will meet the needs of their birth-five patient panel as well as established goals for team-based ECD services; 2) Presence of an early childhood champion within pediatrics, support from executive level leadership, and capacity to continue to participate in TPEC quality improvement activities, and; 3) Established early childhood workflows, which include: promotion and prevention activities, comprehensive screening for child and family needs, and; processes for initiating and tracking referrals for children Birth-5.

Core Activities:

· Continued engagement with a primary care integration model named above to receive practice transformation support to strengthen and sustain early childhood workflows.

· Continued participation of the integrated team in the TPEC peer-learning collaborative, including completion of at least one early childhood quality improvement project per two 6-month Action Periods (two projects total).

· Participation of the integrated team in a virtual peer learning session at the conclusion of each Action Period to share outcomes of their early childhood quality improvement projects and discuss solutions to challenges.

· Continued engagement with DPH to support integration and sustainability of the Family Partner/Lived-Experience role, including:

· Monthly, individual reflective consultation from a Lead Family Partner

· Quarterly peer-learning sessions for Family Partners at cohort 1 practices

· Continued collection of core metrics to capture implementation of the early childhood care continuum provided by the integrated team (12-month period) Cohort 2:

Practice Qualifications: The eight cohort 2 practices will be new TPEC implementation sites and have already initiated practice transformation activities with TPEC primary care integration model partners, HealthySteps and TEAM UP. These practices have met model-specific selection criteria and completed readiness assessments that ensure they can fulfill TPEC grant requirements and activities. The identified practices have also begun preliminary administrative and training activities, which provide their integrated teams with a strong foundation to engage in TPEC early childhood capacity building and quality improvement activities.

Core Activities:

· Complete training on delivery of high-quality early childhood services provided by the practice’s selected integrated primary care model and will participate in model-specific technical assistance on team-based early childhood workflows.

· With the support of the model providers, complete at least two early childhood integration quality improvement projects.

· Participate in the DPH-lead Early Childhood Integration Learning Network to receive technical assistance on early childhood integration and share best practices and navigate challenges across peer practices.

· Collect and report annually on core metrics to capture implementation of the early childhood care continuum provided by the integrated team

If you have equal qualifications to the organization mentioned above and would like to be considered for partnership on this grant, send qualifications along with any questions or comments with the subject line: Transforming Pediatrics for Early Childhood Project in writing to Eve Wilder at eve.wilder@mass.gov by 07/02/26 at 4:00 PM