Local Public Health Departments

Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant

FY19 End-of-Year Reporting and FY20 Contract Negotiation

This bulletin is being sent to local health officers and tribal health directors.

Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) for the Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant ended September 30, 2020, and FY20 PHHS Block Grant contracts with local and tribal health departments (LTHDs) will be negotiated over the next month.

To complete these required grant functions, the Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Public Health (DPH) has developed a survey that will serve multiple functions. This helps get all the information needed in one place. The survey contains questions about:

1. FY19 PHHS Block Grant end-of-year reporting
2. FY20 PHHS Block Grant contracting
3. Impacts to the governmental public health system due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Because this survey meets grant reporting requirements, all local and tribal health departments are to complete the survey by November 15, 2020. It is estimated that this survey will take between 25-30 minutes to complete. You can save your progress and return to the survey at a later time if necessary.

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5849017/LTHD-COVID-19-Assessment

The information gathered through this survey will be analyzed and shared back with health departments to help in educating stakeholders and partners and to support local decision-making efforts. Responses will be also be used to report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on activities funded with the PHHS Block Grant and information about the current state of the governmental public health system in Wisconsin.

Additional information about the survey, how the data will be used, and some tips on how to complete it are included in this document.

FY19 PHHS Block Grant Expenses Due 11/15/2020

The FY19 PHHS Block Grant period ended 9/30/2020. All expenses for this grant must be submitted to CARS no later than 11/15/2020.

• Nearly half of agencies have expensed less than half of their award. We encourage you to speak with your accounting staff to check your CARS balance. These funds cannot be carried over to next year.
• As a reminder, each health department was allocated an additional $1,500 via unilateral contract amendment.
• Funds may be used for allowable COVID-19-related activities, as detailed in this GovD bulletin.

FY20 PHHS Block Grant Allocations and Usage

• FY20 PHHS Block Grant allocations were communicated in early 2020. You can find your agency’s allocation in this chart.
• Due to the ongoing pandemic, DHS is again allowing local and tribal health departments to direct their FY20 PHHS Block Grant funds towards unduplicated COVID-19 response activities.
• These activities are described in the Template Objectives document (see page 10).

Supporting Materials and Information

Grant-related documents are linked in this GovD bulletin and saved on the PHHS Block Grant SharePoint site. If you are unable to access this site, please e-mail Jessica Kessler, Grants Specialist, at jessica.kessler@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

Health departments must read over these documents to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the PHHS Block Grant funds.

1. Boundary Statement
2. Quality Criteria
3. Template Objectives

Helpful Resources

• PHHS Block Grant Survey Information - this document includes some FAQs and helpful tips for completing the survey
• FY19 PHHS Block Grant Allocation Table (grant period ending 9/30/2020)
• FY20 PHHS Block Grant Allocation Table (grant period ending 9/30/2021)
• PHHS Block Grant Update GovD Bulletin, April 8, 2020, RE: FY19 PHHS Block Grant redirection of funds, $1,500 award increase

Important Dates

• September 30, 2020 – last date to incur expenses for FY19 PHHS Block Grant
• November 15, 2020 – due date for completion of survey
• November 15, 2020 – last date to submit CARS expense reports for FY19 PHHS Block Grant

Technical Assistance

DPH OPPA staff members are available to assist you at any point in end-of-year reporting, contract negotiation, or survey completion. We have temporarily assigned health departments to these OPPA staff based on region due to team member availability as a result of our involvement in response efforts.

Please do not reply directly to this email message. If you have a question, please email DPHOPPARequest@dhs.wisconsin.gov.