Advancing Anti-Bias Practices in Maternal Healthcare Grant Program

The Advancing Anti-Bias Practices in Maternal Healthcare initiative is a competitive grant program administered by the New Jersey Department of Health, Division of Family Health Services, through its Maternal Health Innovation unit. This state-funded opportunity is designed to support a single organization in leading a statewide initiative aimed at addressing bias in maternal healthcare delivery. The program reflects New Jersey’s broader commitment to improving maternal health outcomes and reducing disparities, particularly among marginalized populations, by strengthening provider awareness, skills, and institutional practices related to bias. The primary purpose of the grant is to engage, educate, and mobilize maternal healthcare professionals across hospitals and birthing centers in New Jersey to adopt and champion anti-bias practices in clinical and operational settings. The initiative seeks to reduce maternal mortality and severe morbidity by addressing both explicit and implicit bias, communication challenges, and systemic inequities that impact patient care. The funded program must promote equitable, respectful, trauma-informed, and patient-centered care, with a strong emphasis on practical application and organizational change rather than one-time training. Funding for this opportunity is capped at 75225 dollars for a project period spanning August 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, covering approximately eleven months. Only one award will be made, and funding is contingent on the availability of state resources and satisfactory performance. The grant does not require a cost share or matching funds. Allowable uses of funds include personnel, training development, stakeholder engagement activities, convenings, evaluation, outreach, and related programmatic expenses necessary to implement the initiative. The program emphasizes sustainability, requiring applicants to consider how activities may continue beyond the initial funding period. Eligible applicants include New Jersey-based hospitals, universities, residency programs, nonprofit organizations with 501c3 status, health organizations, and maternal and child health agencies. Applicants must demonstrate organizational capacity to implement a statewide initiative, including experience in training delivery, program evaluation, partnership development, and engagement with healthcare systems. The selected grantee will be responsible for designing and executing a two-phase initiative involving stakeholder engagement and information gathering followed by implementation of statewide convenings and activities. Applications must be submitted electronically through the System for Administering Grants Electronically and accompanied by a PDF submission sent via email to the designated program officer. The application process includes a required letter of intent, a mandatory technical assistance meeting, and submission of a comprehensive proposal including a project narrative, organizational information, workplan, budget, and supporting documentation. Evaluation is conducted by an independent committee based on completeness, quality, organizational capacity, and alignment with program goals, with final award decisions made by the Department of Health. Key dates for the grant include the release of the application on July 13, 2026, a letter of intent deadline of July 17, 2026, a mandatory technical assistance meeting on July 20, 2026, and a final application deadline of July 31, 2026. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by August 10, 2026, at which point the project period begins. The grant is not explicitly recurring, and continuation funding in future years depends on performance and available appropriations. For additional information, applicants may contact Mildred Mendez at the New Jersey Department of Health via email or phone.

Focus on demonstrating statewide reach strong partnerships and measurable outcomes aligned with anti bias practices