Mainstream Resources of the Department of Health and Human Services

Useful websites for information on mainstream treatment, service, and support resources relevant to persons who are homeless.

A. Administration on Children and Families

Assistance for Families

www.acf.dhhs.gov/ - The Administration on Children and Families is the federal agency funding state, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families. Links to available resources in each of these, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Head Start, Community Services Block Grants, and Social Services Block Grants, are available here-click on "Programs."

State Offices for Assistance for Families

www.acf.dhhs.gov/news/welfare/stlinks.htm - Each State maintains a social services office responsible for the administration of the program. Links to each office are maintained at this site.

B. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly Health Care Financing Administration)

State Children's Health Insurance Program

www.hcfa.gov/init/children.htm - This site is CMS' informational website on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This site is intended to provide materials of interest to various audiences regarding the passage of CHIP, also known as Title XXI, as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Medicaid

www.hcfa.gov/medicaid/medicaid.htm - Medicaid is a jointly-funded, Federal-State health insurance program for certain low-income and needy people. It covers approximately 36 million individuals including children, the aged, blind, and/or disabled, and people who are eligible to receive federally assisted income maintenance payments.

National Association of State Medicaid Directors

www.aphsa.org/affiliat/affiliat.asp - The website for the National Association of State Medicaid Directors is accessed at the website for the American Public Human Service Association, as an affiliate. The organization provides for the development of information, recommendations, and comments of state agencies on federal laws and regulations and problems and the issues affecting the administration of the Medicaid program.

Medicare

www.hcfa.gov/medicare/medicare.htm - This site is the Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare Information targeted at the beneficiary and contains the following:

Search and compare tools - Search for information on health plans, nursing
homes, Medigap policies, contacts, and Medicare activities in your area.

Medicare basics - Information on coverage, eligibility, enrollment, your
Medicare card, and help with health care costs.

Medicare plan basics - Learn about Original Medicare, managed care, Private
Fee-For-Service, and Medigap policies.

Nursing Homes - How to choose a nursing home (alternatives, payment, checklist,
patient rights).

www.medicare.gov/nmep/ - This site is CMS' National Medicare Education Program Partners' Web Site. The site is designed to fulfill the needs of partners as a portal to the information resources necessary to their work in communicating with people with Medicare, their families, and care givers.

C. Health Resources and Services Administration

General

www.hrsa.gov - The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) directs national health programs that improve the Nation's health by assuring equitable access to comprehensive, quality health care for all. HRSA works to improve and extend life for people living with HIV/AIDS, provide primary health care to medically underserved people, serve women and children through State programs, and train a health workforce that is both diverse and motivated to work in underserved communities.

Community Health Centers

www.bphc.hrsa.gov/chc/ - The Community Health Center (CHC) Program is a Federal grant program funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to provide for primary and preventive health care services in medically-underserved areas throughout the U.S. and its territories.

Maternal and Child Health

www.mchb.hrsa.gov/ - Under Title V of the Social Security Act, the MCH Services Block Grant program has three components: formula block grants to 59 States and territories, Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) and Community Integrated Service Systems (CISS) grants. The purpose of the block grants to the States is to create Federal/State partnerships to develop service systems in our Nation's communities to meet critical challenges in maternal and child health.

State Children's Health Insurance Program

http://www.insurekidsnow.gov - A website oriented to parents to help them locate information on the CHIP.

HIV/AIDS

www.hab.hrsa.gov - The Ryan White CARE Act funds primary care and support services for medically underserved people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Today, CARE Act programs are in every state, 51 major metropolitan areas throughout the Nation, and in Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Office of Rural Health

www.ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/ - The Office of Rural Health Policy helps shape rural health policy in a variety of ways. The Office advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on major issues such as the effects of Medicare and Medicaid on rural citizens' access to health care.

Health Professions-Nursing

www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/dn - Nursing Special Projects are awarded to eligible entities for projects that enhance the educational mix and utilization of the basic nursing workforce by strengthening programs that provide basic nurse education, through the following purposes: establishing or expanding nursing practice arrangements in non-institutional settings to demonstrate methods to improve access to primary health care in medically underserved communities; providing care for underserved populations and other high-risk groups such as the elderly, individuals with HIV-AIDS, substance abusers, the homeless, and victims of
domestic violence; providing managed care, quality improvement, other skills needed to practice in existing and emerging organized health care systems; developing cultural competencies among nurses; expanding the enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs; etc.

D. National Institutes of Health

The NIH includes Institutes that provide the major resources for basic research.

www.nichd.nih.gov - Home page for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
www.nimh.nih.gov - Home page for the National Institute for Mental Health
www.nida.nih.gov - Home page for the National Institute on Drug Abuse
www.niaaa.nih.gov - Home page for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

E. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

General

www.samhsa.gov - Technical assistance to states via block-grant set-asides: Each Center's Block Grant set-aside funds provides technical assistance for each State in the management of its block grant funds. Via site visits and assessments, each State develops its technical assistance plans for the mental health block grant, and for both prevention and treatment activities under the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant. Information on these activities is available through the SAMHSA website by clicking on each of the Centers.

Substance Abuse

www.nattc.org - The national web site of the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network. At this site we will furnish information and training resources that will ultimately translate into better care for people with substance use disorders.

www.treatment.org - The Treatment Improvement Exchange (TIE) is a resource sponsored by the Division of State and Community Assistance of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to provide information exchange between CSAT staff and State and local alcohol and substance abuse agencies. This site has links for the SAPT block grant (information and application) and for the directors of State alcohol and substance abuse programs.

www.health.org - The National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) provides a variety of information on alcohol and other drugs and maintains a comprehensive library of publications on substance abuse which can be shipped at no cost.

Mental Health

www.mentalhealth.org - The website for the Knowledge Exchange Network, with links to SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services and to funding opportunities.