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<chapter num="07" heading="Selection Criteria and Funding Priorities" title_num="10" subtitle_num="45">
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".01" heading="Selection Criteria.">
    <text>The Commission's criteria for selecting community health resources grant proposals for funding under this subtitle are as follows:</text>
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>Prospects for success of the proposed project, based on:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Clear, feasible, and achievable goals and objectives;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Reasonableness of work plan and budget; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Adequacy of:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>The project team's skills, competencies, commitment, and capacity to carry out the proposed work; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>Organizational and community support;</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>Potential impact of the proposed project, based on the likelihood of the project leading to:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Improved access to health care and health outcomes for the target population by expanding:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>Existing services to make them available to a new population not previously served by the applicant; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>The types of services offered to the applicant's established population;</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Expansion or replication within the community, in neighboring areas, or more broadly across the State; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Both;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="C.">
      <text>Community need for the proposed project, based on the:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Clarity and reliability of the proposal's quantitative and geographic identification and definition of the target population;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Adequacy of the proposal's documentation of the target population's needs through qualitative and quantitative data such as demographics, insurance coverage rates, and service utilization statistics;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Depth of the applicant's understanding of the community to be served; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(4)">
        <text>Relevance of the proposed project to the community's identified needs;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="D.">
      <text>Sustainability of the proposed project, based on the likelihood that the project will continue to provide benefits to the target population and the community beyond the duration of the proposed grant;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="E.">
      <text>Active engagement in the project by key participants, including relevant stakeholders, appropriate agencies and organizations, and community partners, based on their:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Participation in the project's planning and implementation process;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Allocation of dedicated staff and other resources to the project; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Contributions of facilities and equipment;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="F.">
      <text>Data collection in connection with the proposed project, based on the Commission's assessment of the project team's ability to:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Both at baseline and as the project proceeds, measure and report progress in achieving project goals and objectives through quantitative measures, such as the number, demographics, characteristics, and service utilization of the target population; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Comply with the evaluation and monitoring requirements established by the Commission;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="G.">
      <text>Organizational commitment, based on the applicant's:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Commitment to improving access to care for the target population; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Ability to demonstrate that the proposed project will significantly contribute to this goal;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="H.">
      <text>Financial viability and accountability, based on the:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Applicant's financial soundness;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Adequacy of the applicant's financial management systems; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Applicant's capacity to manage grant funds; and</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="I.">
      <text>The extent to which the applicant demonstrates use of a sliding scale fee schedule effectively to increase access to care for low-income uninsured and underinsured individuals in Maryland.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".02" heading="Funding Priorities.">
    <text>In selecting community health resources proposals to be funded under this subtitle, the Commission shall:</text>
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>Consider geographic balance; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>Give priority to community health resources that:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>In addition to normal business hours, operate during evening and weekend hours;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Have partnered with a hospital to establish a reverse referral program at the hospital;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Reduce the use of the hospital emergency department for nonemergency services;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(4)">
        <text>Assist patients in establishing a medical home with a community health resource;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(5)">
        <text>Coordinate and integrate the delivery of primary and specialty care services;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(6)">
        <text>Promote the integration of mental and somatic health with federally qualified health centers or other somatic care providers;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(7)">
        <text>Fund medication management or therapy services for uninsured individuals:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>Whose income is up to 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>Who meet medical necessity criteria; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(c)">
          <text>Who are ineligible for the public mental health system;</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(8)">
        <text>Provide a clinical home for individuals who access hospital emergency departments for mental health services, substance abuse services, or both; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(9)">
        <text>Support the implementation of evidence-based clinical practices.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <annotations>
    <annotation type="Authority">Health-General Article, §§19-2107, 19-2109, and 19-2201, Annotated Code of Maryland</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Effective date:</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Regulations .01—.02 adopted as an emergency provision effective October 31, 2006 (33:24 Md. R. 1905); adopted permanently effective February 12, 2007 (34:3 Md. R. 299)</annotation>
  </annotations>
</chapter>