National Organizations of State and Local Officials: State Health Legislative Education

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the National Organizations of State and Local Officials (NOSLO) Program: State Health Legislative Education to fund a national level organization with an in-depth understanding of, and experience with, providing technical assistance and support to state and territorial legislators and legislative officials. The purpose of the NOSLO program is to assist state and local authorities in a) improving public health, health care and health care delivery, b) building capacity to address public health issues and support and enforce regulations intended to improve the public’s health, and c) promoting health equity to preserve and improve public health. To fulfill the purpose, the NOSLO program has the following objectives: 1) facilitate communication and data/information-sharing between HRSA and state, territorial, and/or local officials, 2) improve understanding of state, territorial, and/or local needs, priorities, and perspectives, and 3) support capacity-building activities at the state, territorial, and/or local levels that strengthen the health care safety net and advance public health goals. The term “capacity-building” includes actions that build, strengthen, and maintain the necessary competencies and resources to improve health services delivery to people who are geographically isolated and/or economically or medically vulnerable. The NOSLO: State Health Legislative Education cooperative agreement supports states in preparing for and addressing emerging and other health issues to improve access to quality health care for people who are served by HRSA, with a special emphasis on under and uninsured populations, maternal health disparities, geographically isolated people in rural areas, individuals with HIV, people with unmet behavioral health and substance use disorder needs, and other vulnerable populations. The successful recipient is expected to provide tailored technical assistance to state and territorial legislators and legislative officials to address HRSA priorities through: • Communication and information sharing between HRSA and state and territorial legislators and legislative officials, and • Training; data collection, sharing, and analysis; publication development; convenings, (e.g., learning exchanges on priority topics); and other activities that enable state and territorial legislators and legislative officials to operate in a responsive, coordinated, and effective manner. Program Objectives • Engage multiple states and their state and territorial legislators and legislative officials to develop detailed implementation plans for policy initiatives that will improve access to quality health care for their highest-need populations that HRSA-23-058 2 intersect with HRSA programs. Where feasible, these initiatives can be shared across multiple states to achieve a nationwide impact. • Implement technical assistance activities and tools for innovative solutions to address emerging and other health issues to improve access to quality health care to address the following: under and uninsured populations, maternal health disparities, geographically isolated people in rural areas, individuals with HIV, people with unmet behavioral health and substance use disorder needs, and other vulnerable populations. For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations.