Covering Indian Country – June 2024

June 2024

Spotlight: E3 Pilot Community Development Project

Achieving and maintaining high vaccination rates helps keep tribal communities safe from diseases such as COVID-19, measles, polio, and whooping cough.

That’s why Indian Health Service (IHS), tribal, and urban Indian providers are encouraged to apply the national IHS E3 Vaccine Strategy in day-to-day practice. According to that strategy, every patient at every encounter should be offered every recommended vaccine when clinically indicated.

To further the E3 Vaccine Strategy’s success, IHS recently launched the E3 Pilot Community Development Project, which supports the sharing of best practices and lessons learned at 28 pilot sites in nine of the 12 IHS areas. The project is intended to help advance the E3 Vaccine Strategy’s objectives in clinical, public, and community health settings.

As you conduct outreach in tribal communities, share resources to help bolster the work of IHS to increase vaccination rates.

Outreach presents opportunities to talk with people in tribal communities about the range of services that Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace cover to promote health and prevent disease.

To that end, we hope you’ll help bolster the work of IHS to increase vaccination rates by:

• Sharing CMS’s checklist of vaccinations (PDF, 688 KB, 2 pp)
• Reminding families that Medicaid and CHIP cover vaccinations as preventive health services
• Referring people to their local Indian health care provider for more information on routine and catch-up vaccinations

June: Men’s Health Month

Share this ad in your newsletter or on your website. For more information, please visit CMS’s Outreach and Education Resources page.

Health observances

June is Men’s Health Month

Wellness visits are opportunities to get a primary care provider’s guidance in setting and achieving health goals. However, many men do not see a primary care provider regularly.

In observance of Men’s Health Month, please highlight the importance of wellness visits when talking with men in your community about health care coverage.

Also, remind men that cancer screenings and many other preventive health services are covered by health insurance.

National HIV Testing Day: June 27

Living with HIV infection is manageable with treatment, and transmission of the virus is preventable. That’s why knowing our HIV status is so important.

As National HIV Testing Day approaches, share a CDC video to help people:

• Better understand the results of HIV self-tests
• Choose options to keep themselves and their sexual partners healthy

Also, recommend that people use the HIV Testing Sites & Care Services Locator to find HIV testing in their area.

Additional resources

Protecting communities from mpox

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare but serious disease that is spread through skin-to-skin contact.

A safe and effective two-dose vaccine is available to help protect communities from mpox. That’s why we encourage you to share a:

• Short animated video titled What You Need to Know About Mpox
• Fact sheet explaining who should get the mpox vaccine (PDF, 54 MB, 2 pp)
• Brief video message from Indian Health Service about how mpox vaccination helps Native LGBTQIA2S+ people stay well

Funding opportunities

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C EIS

Deadline: June 17
View the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C EIS funding opportunity

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C Early Intervention Services (EIS) funding is available to help increase access to comprehensive primary health care and support in outpatient settings for people of low-income living with HIV. Grantees will be required to provide:

• HIV counseling and testing
• Periodic medical evaluations and other clinical/diagnostic services for HIV care and treatment
• Therapeutic measures to prevent and treat conditions arising from HIV
• Referrals for health and support services as appropriate

It is estimated that 357 grantees will be funded for a three-year performance period. Tribes and tribal organizations are encouraged to apply.

OVW’s Healing and Response Teams Special Initiative

Deadline: June 25
View OVW’s Healing and Response Teams funding opportunity

An Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) special initiative will support the creation, training, and sustainability of Healing and Response Teams using tribal-based care models to respond to cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous people.

One cooperative agreement of up to $2 million will be awarded for a three-year performance period. Tribal organizations with the capacity to provide tribal-specific training and technical assistance on a national level are encouraged to apply.

Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country

Deadline: June 28
View the Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country funding opportunity

The goal of this year’s Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country funding opportunity is to support a comprehensive, holistic approach to wellness that will help prevent, manage, and control chronic diseases.

The Healthy Tribes Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to award 30 cooperative agreements for a five-year performance period. Tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations are encouraged to apply.

Sweetgrass Grants to address chronic disease

Deadline: June 28 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific
View the Sweetgrass funding opportunity

Up to four Sweetgrass Grants of $10,000 each are available to support public health programs related to chronic disease prevention and management for urban American Indian and Alaska Native populations.

The grants are offered by the Urban Indian Health Institute and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eligible applicants include:

• Title VI urban Indian organizations as defined by Indian Health Service
• Organizations that are members of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition
• Not-for-profit urban Indian organizations that provide public health services

Tribal Opioid Response Grants

Deadline: July 1
View the Tribal Opioid Response funding opportunity

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is offering grants for services to help prevent and treat opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use disorders in tribal communities.

As many as 130 grants will be awarded. Tribes and tribal organizations are encouraged to apply individually, as a consortium, or in partnership with an urban Indian organization.

Calendar of events