Cook County Health Bureau

Cook County Health Bureau Grants Finance Administration Division, doing business as Cook County Health, is a U.S. government entity and county-based health system that acts primarily as a federal grant sub-recipient (79% of recent awards) and secondarily as a prime recipient, delivering community-based health services, behavioral health care coordination, substance use disorder treatment, and workforce development programming across Cook County, Illinois. As a division of Cook County, a U.S. local government entity, Cook County Health holds no SBA certifications and competes in full-and-open federal grant channels.

Cook County Health's federal grant footprint centers on health services delivery and public health programming. Recent prime recipient awards include a $999,999 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances program (CFDA 93.104), awarded September 30, 2026, running through September 29, 2030, to establish CareConnect Youth, a school-linked system of care providing care coordination to 1,850 youth and treatment services to 1,000 through evidence-based interventions including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents, and family-based treatment. Cook County Health also holds prime grants from the HIV/AIDS Bureau for Ryan White Title IV services for women, infants, children, and youth (awarded May 1, 2025, completing September 29, 2026) and Ryan White Part C outpatient early intervention services (awarded January 1, 2025, completing December 31, 2027) to deliver comprehensive medical and support services to persons living with and vulnerable to HIV across the nine-county Chicago eligible metropolitan area, where Cook County Health serves 40% of patients known to be in care with 86–90% viral suppression rates. Two congressionally directed spending grants from the Department of Health and Human Services Healthcare Systems Bureau fund construction: a project launched September 30, 2023, to establish urgent care centers in medically underserved communities in Cook County (completing September 29, 2026), and a $877,134 award also launched September 30, 2023, to replace neonatal intensive care unit equipment at Cook County Health's John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital (completing September 29, 2026). Cook County Health holds prime grants from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration for an EMT apprenticeship program ($315,000, awarded April 1, 2023, completing March 31, 2025) targeting youth ages 18–24 and delivering training, recruitment, employment assistance, and retention services through JUMPHIRE as a fiscal intermediary and sub-recipient, and from the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance for the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-Based Program ($1.6 million, awarded October 1, 2022, completing September 30, 2027) to expand substance use disorder care and recovery housing coordination for justice-involved individuals across Cook County. Cook County Health also holds a prime grant from the Bureau of Health Professionals for an Advanced Nursing Education Nurse Practitioner Residency Fellowship Program (awarded August 1, 2023, completing July 31, 2027).

Sub-recipient activity dominates Cook County Health's federal footprint. The entity receives 79% of its recent awards as sub-grants from state and local prime grantees, concentrated in the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) administered through the Illinois Department of Human Services (59 awards across the footprint, the single largest customer category), followed by sub-awards from the Illinois Department of Human Services under the Social Services Block Grant and Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse programs. Cook County Health also sub-receives grants from the Illinois Department of Public Health for family planning, perinatal, and school-based clinic programs; from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority for addressing co-occurring disorders in the justice system; from Northwestern University for HIV research cohort participation, cancer health equity research, and post-partum care transitions; and from other research institutions including Rutgers University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and Michigan Technological University for clinical research participation and data services.

Customer concentration across Cook County Health's 130 recent awards spans 24 distinct federal agencies. The top five funding entities account for 75% of awards, led by the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (59 awards), the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (19 awards), the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (8 awards), the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (7 awards), and the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Professionals (5 awards). Activity has contracted since a peak in 2023, moving from 52 awards that year to 9 in 2026 year-to-date. Six awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing a modest recompete window.