A capacity-building grant for mental healthcare safety net organizations, funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and implemented by the Camden Coalition.
Building the complex care field Strengthening ecosystems of care Education & training Measurement & evaluation Workforce development
This resource is a part of our “snapshot” series. A snapshot is a point-in-time window into our process for developing, testing, and implementing programs and partnerships. Snapshots let us share our hypotheses, workflows, and early observations and findings quickly with other innovators who are interested in what’s happening on the ground right now.
Healthcare safety net providers are a vital resource for vulnerable populations, especially those without access to equitable care due to income or insurance status. To meet the needs of their care populations, safety net providers require dependable funding and technical assistance (TA) to support service provision and expand capacity to address the growing needs of their communities. The New Jersey Safety Net Innovation Proposal (NJ SNIP), launched in 2023, is a grant opportunity funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation), an independent charitable organization, and implemented by the Camden Coalition to support safety net providers in their efforts to increase access to quality healthcare for medically underserved New Jersey communities. Two-year grant funding can be used by grantees for strengthening internal infrastructure, expanding current health services or programs, or creating a new service or program. In addition to grant funding, NJ SNIP provides technical assistance to expand safety net organizations’ capacity to serve local needs and create a bridge to additional funding opportunities.
The Camden Coalition was selected by the BMS Foundation through a competitive proposal process to serve as the NJ SNIP implementation partner based on our history of strengthening communities’ ecosystems of care, advocating for safety net funding, and supporting state and local policy implementation as a New Jersey Regional Health Hub (RHH).
The Camden Coalition’s technical assistance (TA) team collaborated with the BMS Foundation to design NJ SNIP, including the development of a program logic model, a grant application and review process, external advisory committees, and a tailored approach to technical assistance for the funded organizations. Our extensive experience in designing, launching, and sustaining evidence-based, grantfunded programs — as well as in amplifying best practices and creating workforce development materials — positioned the Camden Coalition TA team to design and deliver impactful technical assistance to the 19 community-based organizations funded by NJ SNIP.
The Camden Coalition’s technical assistance approach for NJ SNIP is anchored in three key strategies to support the grantees’ success:
The Camden Coalition collaborated with the BMS Foundation to identify tailored methods for grant progress reporting and data collection. In lieu of written reports from the grantees, the Camden Coalition TA team collects updates on grantee progress verbally during quarterly 60-minute conference calls to understand project objectives, emerging challenges, and upcoming priority activities and needs. Annual evaluation interviews are completed with each grantee team to explore project impact, changes in project plans, and feedback on the grant processes and structure.
The Camden Coalition understands the importance of building trusted relationships with grantees which allow us to then work in partnership to support their success. The quarterly meetings not only streamline grant progress reporting, but also offer time for the Camden Coalition and the grantees to engage in deeper discussion and brainstorming related to their work. The meetings are structured as a space for the grantee to share progress on project objectives and activities, assess ongoing and newly available program data, review successes and challenges that could be addressed through TA or training, and plan for sustainability and community engagement relevant to the grant program.
The Camden Coalition team has used the quarterly meetings to assess each grantee’s unique needs and challenges, and then provide tailored follow-up support to ensure each grantee receives the resources they need to be successful. We utilize a flexible approach to TA that allows us to focus on each individual organization and their needs, rather than requiring all grantees to participate in preset TA events or complete a standard curriculum. The TA team has provided connections to informational resources and subject matter experts based on the needs that emerged during the progress discussions. Additional TA-focused meetings are scheduled as needed or requested by the grantees between quarterly check-ins.
At the midpoint of the Cohort I grant period (one year after the project was initiated), we collected feedback on grantees’ experiences with the NJ SNIP grant as part of the program evaluation plan. Interviews conducted by an external evaluator generated highly positive feedback and provided input to refine our TA strategies for the second cohort of grantees and future TA engagements.
The grantees’ feedback highlighted early successes of this impact-focused grant program, and how the Camden Coalition can continue to support the grantees and help ensure that the program is effective from both the grantee and philanthropic funder’s perspectives.
Grantees described their partnership with the Camden Coalition as one built on mutual trust. They felt their expertise and knowledge of local community needs were recognized and respected by the TA team. Additionally, grantees stated that their TA experience was tailored to their specific needs and capacities, and that the Camden Coalition team prioritized working toward shared goals in the grant program. The TA team was described by grantees as “always available,” “easy to access,” and “very responsive.”
Through the quarterly meetings and additional interactions, grantees reported improving or developing skills in various areas including:
Multiple grantees expressed interest or enrolled staff to complete the Camden Coalition’s online, self-paced Complex Care Certificate program to further develop their skills, knowledge, and attitudes around complex care delivery.
The grantees felt that the funder’s willingness to consider grant funds reallocation requests— coupled with guidance provided by the Camden Coalition TA team – enabled them to make adaptations that broadened their patient populations and the services their organizations could offer. Overall, the cohort viewed the ability to request an adjustment for the use of funds and program activities in response to evolving community/organizational needs as an indicator of trust and confidence in their expertise. They described the grant reporting requirements as manageable and conducive to easy data sharing, given their team’s workload, and they credited a streamlined and supportive process for fund allocation with helping them to appropriately adjust spending to address real-time needs. Specifically, grantees have indicated that participating in quarterly check-in calls, rather than submitting written reports, significantly reduced administrative requirements as compared with other grants.
A common thread in the first cohort’s midpoint feedback was an interest in peer learning opportunities — the chance to learn from and share information with fellow grantees across both NJ SNIP cohorts. Grantees were also interested in opportunities to engage with state and federal advocacy efforts that impact funding for their work.
Based on the feedback, the Camden Coalition integrated peer learning into the TA opportunities for both Cohort I and Cohort II grantees. We have developed and implemented webinars on topics such as data, sustainability, community engagement, and communicating program impact that feature subject matter experts, peer presentations, and time for discussion. Through the TA provided by the Camden Coalition team and subject matter experts, we aim to support not only the success of the grant but also the longterm success for each organization beyond the grant period. The breadth of our TA offerings is designed to achieve sustainability by focusing on workforce training, meaningful community and consumer engagement, sustainable funding pathways, building partnerships, and developing compelling narratives about the impact of the organizations’ work.
The Camden Coalition team will continue to refine the TA approach in response to the needs of Cohort II grantees and looks forward to learning from the trust-based relationships developed with these impactful organizations, which are a critical part of the ecosystem of care for medically underserved communities throughout the state.
NJ SNIP Team [email protected]
Camden Coalition Technical Assistance Services [email protected]
A capacity-building grant for mental healthcare safety net organizations, funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and implemented by the Camden Coalition.
Building the complex care field Strengthening ecosystems of care Education & training Measurement & evaluation Workforce development