New Funding Opportunity
CHIC Updates
New Funding Opportunity!
Promising Maternal Health Initiatives (RFA# 67-194)
Application Due Date: April 25, 2025 at 1:30 pm
The mission of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (Department), Bureau of Family Health (BFH) is “to equally protect and equitably promote the health and wellbeing of pregnant people, their partners, their children, and all families in Pennsylvania.” Implicit in the BFH’s mission is a commitment to health equity, which the World Health Organization (WHO) defines as “implying that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential.”
Causes of poor maternal health outcomes vary widely and are influenced by individual factors; social, commercial, and political determinants; comorbidities; structural and interpersonal racism; implicit bias; access to affordable, timely, and quality care; screening and referral protocol; and many others. Improvement of maternal health outcomes also depends on many factors; therefore, the solutions must be varied and innovative to improve the overall state of maternal mortality and morbidity in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s state budget for fiscal year 20242025 includes $5 million to reduce preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. These funds will be primarily used to build workforce capacity, improve care for pregnant and postpartum individuals, and address root causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, especially where there are disparities.
All public health innovation must center on health equity to increase the opportunity for all individuals to achieve their best health. Through this RFA process, the Department is soliciting Grant applications on Promising Maternal Health Initiatives. The Department is interested in funding applications addressing the implementation of innovative maternal health initiatives in Pennsylvania counties, as determined by the United States Census. The overall goal of this funding is to promote the use of promising and practice-based solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and health equity in Pennsylvania communities. The anticipated grant agreement term is July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027 subject to the availability of funding. If the anticipated effective date is changed by the Department for the resulting grant agreement, the term is expected to remain a total of 24 months, subject to the availability of funding. The Department expects to award up to 20 grant agreements.
The overall 24-month budget for the application shall not be below $100,000 or exceed $500,000.
All questions regarding this RFA must be directed by e-mail to skl...@pa.gov, no later than 12:00 p.m. ET on April 1, 2025. All questions must include the specific section of the RFA about which the potential applicant is requesting clarification. Answers to all questions will be posted here as soon as possible, following the April 1 deadline (click on ‘Solicitations’ and search for RFA 67-194).