The Preventive
Health and Health Services Block Grant (PHHSBG), created in 1981, allocate
funds to every state for their use toward any objective outlined in the
nation’s public health blueprint titled Healthy People 2020. The grant allows
the state to address some of the high priority public health issues as
determined by mortality, morbidity, and economic cost data for the state. The
program areas funded annually submits a plan stating the public health issue
that will be addressed, provide a description of the strategy used to address
the public health concern, identify the target population and how the program
addresses the targeted population needs, and identify the national and state
health status outcome objectives each program will work towards achieving as
reflected in Healthy People 2020. Each program outlines activities that support
one or more of the ten essential public health services recognized by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maintaining support for this grant
is critical in allowing Texas to focus funds on prevention measures that yield
clear benefits in terms of quality of life and savings.
The PHHSBG was funded nationally at
$147 million in FY 2017. Texas’ share was $6.3 million of which $562,234 is a
mandatory “set-aside” for sexual assault prevention and crisis services that
are administered by the Office of the Attorney General
DSHS will utilize the PPHS Block Grant funds
to support:
Local Health Departments (LHDs) utilizes funds
to provide self-identified gaps in essential public health services.
Using CDC’s definition of essential public health services as a framework,
local health departments (LHD) assess which critical areas of their
infrastructure in which to apply these funds. In all cases, services outlined
in LHD work plans would not exist in these communities if it were not for the
provision of the PHHSBG. The majority of the services include: education
and outreach to the community regarding disease prevention and other priority
health concerns; surveillance and monitoring of the community’s health
status through disease reporting and investigation; mobilizing community
resources to develop plans around health issues in their
jurisdiction; reviewing local policies to assure that standards are
maintained in the provision of health services; and monitoring the public
health workforce to ensure federal or state licensure and certification
standards are met. LHDs funded through this grant will be required to
identify national, state or local standards to be used to evaluate the
activities provided. Based on quarterly reporting measures, LHDs are
required to identify barriers to the provision of services and develop
improvement plans that may include new or alternative strategies in order to
effectively provide the service(s) outlined in their work plans.
Sexual
Assault Prevention & Crisis Services are funded by the Sex
Offense allocation, which are provided to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG)
through an interagency subcontract. These funds will continue to support sexual
assault programs to implement strategies and activities specifically for the
primary prevention of sexual violence using any of the following approved
activities and community change strategies: educational seminars; training
programs for professionals; preparation of informational materials; training
programs for students and campus personnel designed to reduce the incidence of
sexual assault at colleges and universities; community mobilization; coalition
building; and, policy education, and social norms change. Additionally, the OAG funds state sexual assault
coalitions to provide technical assistance and training to sexual assault
programs that are implementing primary prevention strategies.
Community and Clinical Preventive Services under the direction of the Division of Community
Health Improvement will continue and expand priority activities developed to
reduce the impact of obesity and other chronic diseases in the State of Texas
by focusing on clinical and community systems-level enhancements. Through subcontracts
with up to six local public health organizations, funds will support
coordinated, locally-driven approaches to obesity and chronic disease
management and prevention. Additionally, through a subcontract with the
University of Texas at Austin’s Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team, funds
will support a coordinated, statewide approach to tobacco prevention and
control. Program strategies include: creating new clinical-community
linkages to strengthen referral systems; standardizing clinical
quality measures through enhanced health information technology; promoting
evidence-based education and training for providers, patients, and the public;
and facilitating the integration of electronic protocols and other tobacco
cessation referral options into clinical systems. These efforts align with the
overall goals of improving the quality of care to improve health outcomes,
lower health care costs, and improve population health.
The
Texas Healthy Communities Program under the direction of the
Division of Community Health Improvement will continue and expand activities
which encourage and enable Texas communities to implement evidence based
practices to make policy and environmental improvements that reduce the burden
of chronic diseases. Eighteen subcontracts
with local health departments will support 20 communities to complete a needs assessment and to implement evidence-based
practices in identified areas of need, which may include the following priority
areas: accessible health food options, physical activity areas and
opportunities, breastfeeding-friendly worksites, school health programs,
worksite wellness programs, comprehensive tobacco control, cardiac and stroke
response-healthy aging, and/or promotion of primary and secondary prevention of
cardiovascular disease and stroke in healthcare systems.