HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care has announced the availability of a disaster resource webpage for health center grantees affected by the events of September 11th. The page can be found at: http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/news/BPHC_resourcespage.htm. Additional information is expected to be added as it becomes available. Suggestions or comments regarding the site can be directed to either Neena Desai at ndesai@hrsa.gov, or Anita Pullani at apullani@hrsa.gov

"DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: A GUIDEBOOK FOR CLINICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS" provides practical guidelines and background information to help clinicians and administrators establish disaster response strategies related to mental health. Developed by the Veterans Administration and the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the guidebook covers everything from setting up a disaster mental health team to screening and diagnosing patients. Administrative and organizational issues are also discussed in detail. The guidebook is available in its entirety in Adobe Acrobat format at: http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/departments/socialwork/provider/DMHS.htm

On October 9, 2001, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the availability of $35 million in competitive grants for public and not-for-profit entities that suffered losses as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

To be eligible, entities in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania or Washington, D.C. must have incurred health care-related expenses or lost revenue as a result of their immediate response to the public health emergency caused by the attacks. Individual grants were expected to range between $5,000 and $1 million. The grant application deadline was October 19, 2001. HRSA's contact person for the grant program is Timothy Miller, 301-443-4268; fax: 301-443-1221; e-mail: tmiller@hrsa.gov.

Technical Assistance calls for grantees continue to be held every other Tuesday from 2 to 3 PM EST. The schedule for October and November appears below. To register for the calls, please contact Angelique Raptakis at 301-468-6006 Ext. 501 or at araptakis@mac1988.com with your name and contact information at least one week prior to the call.

Shortly after you register, you will receive a call-in number and an access code. If you do not receive this call-in information by the Monday before the call, please contact Angelique. Agendas for TA calls will be emailed out ahead of time.

With the exception of calls related to legal issues, all TA calls are summarized and posted on the CAP website (http://www.capcommunity.org/). Legal issue briefs are posted on the site under legal issues and require a password. For the password, please email asmolkin@hrsa.gov. While the website is still under development, it currently has links to grantees, information on peer-to-peer support by area, TA call summaries, legal issue briefs, and a bulletin board to post questions.

On September 25, 2001, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the agency will provide $11.3 million to assist local health education centers in recruiting and training "diverse students" in community-based primary health care settings. HHS hopes to generate interdisciplinary training opportunities for students, faculty and other practitioners. The program operates under the HHS Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) program, which trains 32,000 college students each year. The additional funds will be used to establish new AHEC partnerships as well as to provide support for existing programs.

For more information, please visit: http://www.hrsa.gov/newsroom/NewsBriefs/2001/ahec.htm

On September 27, 2001, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the payment of nearly $227 million to 57 independent children's teaching hospitals across the country. The awards are intended to assist the hospitals in training and educating the nation's pediatric workforce, ensuring that future physicians will receive the highest quality training possible. The hospitals chosen train almost 30 percent of the nation's pediatricians. They also devote nearly half of their patient care to children who are either uninsured or covered under Medicaid.

A complete list of recipients can be found at: http://www.hrsa.gov/newsroom/releases/2001%20Releases/childhospgrantsl.htm.

The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's (CCPH) sixth annual conference is being held from May 4-7, 2002 in Miami, Florida. The conference will focus on "the PARTNERSHIP as the leverage point for change in communities and higher educational institutions." More than 500 participants are expected to attend from various community, governmental, health care and educational institutions.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a workshop, story session, partnership bloopers session, poster or site visit, go to futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ccph/projects.html #natlconf, or call CCPH's fax-on-demand service at 1-888-267-9183 and select document #202. The Call for Proposals deadline is November 1, 2001.

For information on conference co-sponsorship and exhibit opportunities, email CCPH program director Piper Krauel at piperk@itsa.ucsf.edu. Community-Campus Partnerships for Health includes a network of more than 1000 communities, health professional schools, colleges and universities. To learn more about CCPH, call 415-476-7081 or visit their website at: http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ccph.html.

The Evaluators' Institute will be held in San Francisco, California between January 14 and 19, 2002. The institute is endorsed by the American Evaluation Association and promises to be a wonderful learning opportunity for all. Please visit the website, http://www.EvaluatorsInstitute.com, for more information.

The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is offering their second annual Advanced-Service Learning Institute from January 26-29 in Santa Cruz, California. The Institute is designed for academic administrators, faculty, staff and community partners who have already implemented service- learning courses or programs. Those who either attended CCPH's introductory level institute or have demonstrated experience with service-learning will benefit most from the program.

Space is limited to 22 applicants. Applications must be submitted by November 6, 2001 and are currently available on the CCPH website at: http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/ccph/servicelearning.html#advsl.

For more information, visit the website or contact Piper Krauel, CCPH Program Director, at piperk@itsa.ucsf.edu or 415-502-7933.

The Community Care Networking Conference, sponsored by the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) of the American Hospital Association, will be held on November 29-December 1, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference is designed for representatives of hospitals, community health center networks, and public health and other social service organizations who wish to meet their colleagues and share lessons learned. Activities will focus on essential elements for network success, including working with partner organizations, sustainability, and enhancing the effectiveness of networks.

For more information, visit the CCN website at http://www.communitycare.org or call (312) 422-2600.

El Paso Community Voices in Texas is using CAP funds to develop and implement several new exciting programs in its community.

• A 24-hour Community Call Center will increase enrollment for public health insurance programs and provide triage health care among many other services.

• A Web-based information system will link providers in the El Paso First Health Network who deliver preventive, primary and specialty care.

• Promotores' (community health workers) roles will be expanded to allow them to act as case managers to respond to physical and behavioral health issues, including substance abuse problems. Promotores currently provide public health insurance enrollment assistance, referrals, community outreach and preventive care promotional services.

This project builds on the collaboration of the El Paso First Network for Medicaid, CHIP, and the Kellogg Community Voices Program. El Paso is the largest city on the 2,000 mile U.S. - Mexico Border and serves as a key anchor for HRSA Border Health efforts.

The Pima Community Access Program (PCAP) of Pima County, Arizona officially launched its program on September 1, 2001 with the goal of enrolling 4,000 uninsured residents in its first year. Local media, including the Arizona Star and Inside Tucson Business, supported this objective with extensive coverage of the program launch. At least five comprehensive articles about the program were published, detailing member eligibility requirements, available services, and how PCAP services benefit society overall.

This broad based media coverage gave PCAP a good start in their efforts to promote program awareness and key messages among targeted residents, local businesses and health and social services providers.

More than 40 percent of Arizona's working uninsured adults have no employer-based health care coverage. PCAP offers access to a health care delivery system that accepts substantial discounts for its enrolled members. The program hopes to enroll 30,000 residents over the next three years.

To learn more about PCAP, contact executive director Tammy Stoltz at tammy@pcap.cc.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is offering a free publication in Spanish that advises health consumers about receiving quality medical care and avoiding medical errors. The publication, Mejorando la Calidad de la Atencion Medica, provides information on how to select quality health plans, physicians and hospitals. It also encourages patients to participate in their own health care by informing their physicians about the medications they use and checking labels to ensure they match what the physician prescribed. Free copies of the publication can be ordered from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov or can be found on the AHRQ website at: http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/qntlitesp/index.htm.

Covering Kids has announced the availability of a new communications tool: Reaching American Indian and Alaska Native Families. The kit includes background information on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) health policy and culture, and tips for effective outreach to families in these communities. Also included are research findings to help communicate the benefits of SCHIP and Medicaid and suggestions for working with graphic designers and printers when developing targeted collateral materials. Templated fliers, coloring book pages, letters, and PSAs are also provided along with two computer diskettes for easy reproduction and customization of these materials.

To obtain a copy of the kit, send an email to coveringkids@gmmb.com with your organization's name, complete mailing address (no PO boxes), and daytime telephone number. Interested individuals may also call Chris Hockley at (202) 572-2848. The contents of the kit will eventually be available online as well. For more information on the Covering Kids Initiative, please visit: http://www.coveringkids.org

HRSA is inviting health professions students to enter the 20th Annual Secretary's Award for Innovations in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention competition. The competition honors innovative student proposals that support the Healthy People 2010 Initiative, a comprehensive set of national health objectives for the first decade of the 21st century. Students may enter proposals for new projects, or completed or already implemented projects. Cash awards will be presented to the top three entries in two categories, interdisciplinary and single discipline.

Students must submit entries to participating schools by Jan. 25, 2002. For more information, including entry guidelines and criteria, please visit: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/interdisciplinary/innovations.htm.

VISION USA is now accepting applications for its free eye care program that matches low-income children and adults with optometrists in their communities. More than 7,400 optometrists participate in the program, providing comprehensive eye exams in their offices at no charge.

Applications are currently available by mail and online. The mailing address to request an application is:

VISION USA
243 N. Lindbergh Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63141

Online applications can be found at http://www.aoanet.org/visionusa.html. In January only, applicants may choose to be screened for eligibility over the phone by calling 1-800-766-4466. For faster service, applicants are encouraged to apply online or by mail. All completed applications must be submitted by January 23, 2002. To date, VISION USA has helped nearly 300,000 people receive vision care across the country.

Volunteers in Health Care (VIH) has announced the funding of eleven new grantees. Six grants were given to volunteer-based health care programs to assist with outcome evaluation activities and five grants were given to primary care organizations. A complete list of grantees and details of the funding program can be found at: http://www.volunteersinhealthcare.org.

Do you have exciting or interesting news you would like to share with other grantees? Please send your ideas to Audrey Smolkin at asmolkin@hrsa.gov.

A report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on October 11, 2001 suggests the increased cost of health insurance and a slow economy will likely increase the numbers of uninsured Americans in the next two years. An estimated two-thirds of Americans receive health coverage from employers, but gain or lose coverage intermittently with changes in marital status, residence or job location. As a result, as many as one in seven lacks coverage for at least a year at some point in his or her lifetime, with many more lacking coverage for shorter periods of time.

Read the full report at: http://books.nap.edu/html/coverage_matters/.

The Institute of Medicine can be found at: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/iom/iomhome.nsf.

A recent Urban Institute report entitled "Workers Without Health Insurance: Who Are They and How Can Policy Reach Them?" examines the status of the working uninsured population and the policies that affect them. The report is based on analyses of 1999 Current Population Survey data and a survey of literature on working uninsured residents. It was developed for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of its Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved initiative, a multi-year project whose goal is to ensure survival of local safety-net providers and strengthen community support services.

Key findings include:

• More than half (59 percent) of uninsured workers' employers do not sponsor health insurance.

• Low-income workers are much less likely than higher-income workers to be offered, be eligible for, or enroll in employer-sponsored insurance.

• Hispanic workers have the lowest rate of health insurance coverage, primarily because their employers do not offer coverage, while African-American and white workers are equally likely to be offered coverage.

To obtain a copy of the report, call 1-800-819-9997 and request item #479, or download it from the Community Voices website at: http://www.communityvoices.org.

The following list of websites includes leading sites for expert and/or consensus clinical information related to bioterrorism and likely pathogen agents:

CAPStone is provided as a service to CAP Grantees by the Community Access Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Please forward your corrections, questions or comments about the newsletter to: