One of the lesser-known benefits of the federal health reform package is a $1.5 billion program to fund voluntary maternal, infant and early childhood home visits. In California, the Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Division of the Department of Public Health is taking the lead in the grant application process to draw down these federal funds and has launched a website with information about the program. The State Plan to administer the program is due in early 2011. [Download]

MRMIB has received sufficient funds to open Healthy Families up to new enrollment. They will take all the children off the wait list and will not be doing any disenrollments. This letter rescinds the instructions in ACWDL 09-39 regarding the Healthy Families wait list as there is no longer a wait list. Some cases that MRMIB is taking off the wait list will have new income provided. If the new income information makes a child eligible for free Medi-Cal the application will be sent to the CWD and the original date of application to the single point of entry will be preserved. There is no change to the Medi-Cal to Healthy Families bridge. [Download]

On June 29, 2009, MRMIB made a finding of insufficient funds and is limiting new enrollment of children into the Healthy Families Program (HFP). Effective July 17, 2009 all new eligible HFP applicants will be placed on a waiting list. During the wait list period, when a beneficiary fills out a single point of entry application it will continue to be income screened applications for both no cost Medi-Cal and the HFP. If the applicant is determined Healthy Families eligible they will be sent a letter telling them they are on the waiting list and advising them that they may be eligible for several programs including SOC Medi-Cal. Their application will NOT be automatically sent on to Medi-Cal; the applicant has to then apply for Medi-Cal to get SOC Medi-Cal. Workers will continue to forward the information of children who have been assessed a SOC on to Healthy Families so the child can secure a place on the wait list; and children will still get a bridge month wit no SOC. The letter includes several changes to the consent language regarding Medi-Cal forwarding information to Healthy Families. [Download]