We’re delighted to announce the start of our initiative to implement the IMPACT (Improving Mood – Promoting Access to Collaborative Care) model of depression treatment in community health clinics serving patients from rural areas in the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) region.

As a first step, the Hartford Foundation is seeking applications for grant funding from primary care clinics in the region. And we’re asking for your help in getting the word out on this funding announcement .

As many of our readers know, this funding opportunity is made possible through the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant we received from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), along with our additional support for technical assistance, training, and evaluation. With the combined funds, the Hartford Foundation will award a total of $3 million over the first two years of the initiative, and another $1.5 million in the third year, contingent on programmatic requirements and the availability of federal funding.

Through this initiative, we hope to increase access to effective depression treatment for low-income patients in rural areas, decrease depression, improve social and occupational functioning among these patients, and improve the economic well-being of individuals and families served by subgrantees. And, in the long-run, we hope to influence how primary practices use teams to implement evidence-based care for chronic conditions more generally.

Through implementing models such as IMPACT, primary care practices can raise the quality of care, improve the health of the population, and lower per-capita health care spending.

The Hartford Foundation will make between five and eight subgrant awards to individual community primary care organizations serving rural, low-income populations. Awards will range between $100,000 and $300,000 per year for a maximum of three years, and award amounts will vary depending on the number of practice sites, patient volume, the prevalence of depression in the clinic’s patient population, and the applicant’s proposed budget for program implementation.

Subgrantees will be required to match their subgrant awards on a dollar-for-dollar basis in cash with eligible non-federal matching funds. That means subgrantees will manage a clinical operating budget that is at least twice their award amount.

In addition, subgrantees will be required to participate in evaluation activities commissioned and paid for by the Hartford Foundation to measure the success of these implementations. In partnership with the University of Washington’s Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions (AIMS) Center, the Foundation will provide subgrantees with technical assistance on program implementation, fundraising, sustainability, and potential expansion of IMPACT services.

Interested applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by email due on Dec. 7th indicating their interest in submitting a full application and documenting their eligibility as an applicant. Only eligible organizations that have submitted a letter of intent will be invited to submit a full application.

For additional information on eligibility requirements, due dates, and other details, please see our Request for Applications on the new Social Innovation Fund section of our website. Check back for important announcements, including information on upcoming webinars for prospective applicants.

We’re thrilled that CNCS selected us to be part of this exciting new program, and we know from our long relationship with IMPACT how much of a difference it can make in the lives of people who need help. Please help spread the word to help us find the best applicants to help us achieve our goals.