This announcement solicits applications for the National Organizations for State and Local Officials (NOSLO).

The purpose of the NOSLO cooperative agreement is to improve health, promote a skilled healthcare workforce, and achieve health equity for communities by:
(1) strengthening the organizational

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capacities of state and local health departments, Primary Care Organizations (PCOs), State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs), small rural hospitals and clinics, State Medicaid agencies, and legislatures through information exchanges and participation in learning communities that support quality improvement and innovative public and private sector initiatives; (2) developing technical assistance materials and training activities that can be used by states and political subdivisions to benefit HRSA grantees such as health centers, state maternal child health programs, health professions training programs, state and local Ryan White grantees, and state and local public health agencies/entities providing services to underserved communities; and (3) engaging national organizations, representing state and local officials, to provide training and technical assistance to promote primary care and public health integration initiatives for their constituencies.

The NOSLO program has the following goals:
(1) address a broad range of cross-cutting matters that affect state and local governments, such as implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), through policy and data and environmental analyses associated with emerging health reform issues; (2) improve public health programs at the national, state, and local levels by partnering with state and local government entities and programs that contribute to population health and health policy development; (3) strengthen the organizational capacities of state and local health agencies, State Medicaid agencies, and health care entities to collaborate and implement innovative initiatives which improve health and achieve health equity; (4) leverage key strategic interests at the state and local level, including safety net provider workforce development, health information technology and exchange, health equity, and safety net funding programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid; (5) promote the integration of primary care and public health activities and examine key issues that affect health care delivery in underserved urban and rural communities; and (6) incorporate into practice the indicators of primary care and public health system integration, such as establishing multi-stakeholder coalitions that align with national, regional and local health and human services initiatives to strengthen the infrastructural capacities of these systems.

Program Expectations:  The NOSLO awardees will carry out initiatives which:
help states and local government entities to address the needs of uninsured, underserved and special needs populations in states and local areas, including reducing health disparities and improving access to quality care; focus on health promotion and prevention of disease, illness, and social problems through quality improvement activities at the state, local, and practice levels using mechanisms such as resource sharing, data collection and analysis for outcome measures and documentation of benefits across sites; create useful, effective forms of collaboration with partners, within and beyond the health sector, to facilitate opportunities for policy development and implementation of initiatives that support underserved populations; help states and local entities to expand the capacity of the health care safety net through partnership building that sustains community care teams and standardizing care coordination practices; promote workforce development in state and local public health agenices; support the organizational capacity for primary care organizations/associations and community health centers, and other HRSA grantees to address the education and training needs of the core safety net provider workforce; and increase collaborative efforts with federal/state supported resources with a shared goal to improve the capacity and efficiency of the public health and health care systems by leveraging resources to avoid duplication of efforts.

This program will support national organizations that represent the following groups:  State/Territorial Health Department Officials, Local County and City Health Department Officials, State Medicaid Directors, and State Legislatures to address cross-cutting, publicly-funded health program integration and health access issues identified by the states and local governments and entities.  Specifically, under the NOSLO program, each awardee will be responsible for carrying out activities tailored to its own constituency¿s needs (i.e., its target audience).

The NOSLO cooperative agreements are multi-faceted and include opportunities for policy information exchange and collaboration, as well as for providing training and technical assistance to state and local governments and their political subdivisions, health centers, other HRSA grantees, and other health care entities to address the needs of the underserved and targeted populations.  The NOSLO program will address the three core functions related to the program goals and expectations:
(1) training and technical assistance (T/TA) in program management and operational support; (2) policy, program development/analysis and information exchange; and (3) collaboration, coordination and promoting partnerships.  Applicants must outline specific activities under each required core function targeted to strengthening the organizational capacities of state and local health departments, their political subdivisions, and HRSA awardees to improve health and achieve health equity for the communities they serve.  The projects will also address program priorities for the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, such as the implementation of ACA activities at the state and local level, and ways in which the ACA provisions can assist states and local governments to achieve improved outcomes for beneficiaries and better services and value for state Medicaid programs.

HRSA strives to create an initiative where success is measurable and significant, the results are reproducible, the efforts are sustainable, and the approach cost-effective.