PHHS Block Grant - OHP - WA State Dept. of Health

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Educating the Public on How to Stay Healthy and Prevent Disease and Injury

The Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant is a core source of prevention funding that winds throughout the entire public health system in Washington State, touching the lives of more than one million Washingtonians every day.

The PHHS Block Grant does not duplicate other funds. It supports emerging and ongoing health issues for which little or no other funding is available, such as cross-cutting disciplines – like health education and epidemiology – that don’t neatly fit within a single disease category.

Some of the initiatives that have been funded include:

an online health promotion clearinghouse that receives an average of over 35,000 hits per month,
a statewide county-by-county injury database that enables communities to make good decisions about how to tackle the leading cause of preventable death in children,
TB screenings and treatments, much of it aimed at high risk immigrant populations, and
programs for mothers and babies that have inadequate resources to meet community needs.

Helping teen moms toward independence

In Benton and Franklin Counties, the block grant supports efforts to prevent repeat pregnancies among teen mothers, pairing public health nurses with first-time teen mothers. Last year, only two of the 103 teen mothers served had repeat pregnancies. This success also meant Washington required fewer Medicaid dollars to pay for teenage deliveries. (From 2000-2002, the Medicaid-funded births by 15 -17 year-olds cost nearly $43 million dollars.) One program participant, who had a seriously ill baby, received health care services and the help she needed to finish school, avoid repeat pregnancy, and become a certified nursing assistant with a full-time job.

Kids get car seats, lives are saved

The Block grant supports statewide coordination of Washington’s Safe Kids Coalition, which has stimulated public/private partnerships and resulted in the development of 17 local community coalitions, and $237,000 in additional funding from the National Safe Kids Campaign over the last two years. Among the activities undertaken by Local Safe Kids Coalitions are providing car seats to low income families and conducting car seat checks to assure seats are properly installed. Every dollar spent on a child safety seat saves $32 in direct medical costs and other costs to society.

Healthy aging means living longer independently
Washington has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the country. By 2020, more than one million people in our state will be age 65 or older - almost twice the population we have today. The PHHS Block Grant supports Washington’s work to address the aging of the population, increase the focus on prevention, and send strong, consistent messages on how to stay healthy and prevent disease and disability. View the “Steps to Healthy Aging” and other relevant work.

Supporting a local focus on local priorities
Every local health jurisdiction in Washington receives funding from the PHHS Block Grant to address locally identified priorities. From TB screening and treatment to the collection, analysis and reporting of health problems that allow communities to make good decisions about health, block grant support is critical to the daily functioning of health departments across Washington State. View a complete listing of activities (PDF - 75.5 KB) and successes.

Skagit project attracts numerous partners and larger investments
Skagit County has reaped a 4:1 return on its initial investment of $25,000 a year from the PHHS block grant to promote physical activity. More than $1 million in additional contributions from foundations, counties, cities and businesses have resulted in such things as new trails, sidewalks, school walking and nutrition programs, worksite walking programs, and community education campaigns.

Secretary of Health Mary Selecky
“The PHHS Block Grant benefits people directly in many important ways that cannot be continued without this support. The provision of car seats to low income children; statewide coordination of 17 local Safe Kids Coalitions; health promotion and disease prevention for the aging population; six community programs to promote physical activity and good nutrition – these efforts are supported by the PHHS Block Grant and cannot continue without this support.”

Links to external resources are provided as a public service and do not imply endorsement by the Washington State Department of Health.

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Washington State Department of Health

Office of Health Promotion

P.O. Box 47833
Olympia, Washington 98504-7833

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Last Updated: 08/28/2007 09:08 AM