City Health Improvement Grant Program

CalOptima Health's mission is to serve member health with excellence and dignity while respecting the value and needs of each person. Through the City Health Improvement Grant Program, CalOptima Health is partnering with Orange County's 34 incorporated cities to make community-level investments addressing conditions that influence long-term health and health disparities. The program is intended to improve environments where CalOptima Health members live, work, and gather and to fund projects that have a measurable impact on member health but are not already covered Medi-Cal services. Program goals include encouraging physical activity, safe public spaces, and community engagement; increasing opportunities for early detection of chronic diseases; improving access to healthy food and mental wellness support; and improving environmental conditions and reducing related health risks. CalOptima Health has committed $5.2 million to the program. Each eligible city has a maximum request based on its assigned segment and estimated CalOptima Health Medi-Cal member volume and population penetration. Segment 1 cities Anaheim and Santa Ana may request up to $350,212.47; Segment 2 cities Garden Grove and Westminster may request up to $262,659.35; Segment 3 cities may request up to $175,106.24; and Segment 4 cities may request up to $87,553.12. Cities may propose one or multiple eligible projects as long as their total request does not exceed the applicable maximum. After letters of intent are received, CalOptima Health will confirm requests and, if fewer than all 34 cities participate, may increase maximum allocations for confirmed applicants with the aim of committing 100 percent of the dedicated funds. Eligible projects fall within Community Wellness Infrastructure, Preventive Health Access, Food and Mental Health Supports, and Environmental and Climate Health. Examples include community health and fitness hubs, asthma-friendly playground improvements, outdoor wellness improvements, preventive health fairs, self-service screening stations, community gardens, mental health quiet rooms, food pantry refrigeration, shade and rain shelters, hydration stations, and cooling centers. Projects must be implemented at approved locations based on the applicant city's segment. Allowable expenses include capital and infrastructure costs directly related to approved projects, community outreach, education and programming associated with funded projects, and reporting. Costs other than capital and infrastructure, including outreach, education, programming, and reporting, may not exceed 10 percent of the total budget. Funds may not support project administration, indirect expenses, lobbying, duplicative CalOptima Health funding or Medi-Cal covered services, administrative overhead not directly tied to the project, projects outside the Eligible Projects Menu, or projects at non-approved locations. No cost-share or matching requirement is stated. Eligibility is limited to the 34 incorporated cities in Orange County, California. An applicant must be an incorporated Orange County city, must not have an active CalOptima Health grant that duplicates the scope of this opportunity, and must be or have been in good standing with the terms of any previous CalOptima Health grant agreement. Each city may submit only one application. Proposed projects must come from the Eligible Projects Menu and be conducted at eligible locations. Applicants must describe the proposed project or projects, required activities, and implementation timeline; commit to reporting the number of CalOptima Health members directly impacted, including through the stated estimation methodology where appropriate; and attest that grant funds will not supplant other city resources. The application process includes submission of a Letter of Intent followed by a full application for cities selected to advance. Applicants create a city profile in the grants system and may add additional city team users. After LOIs are submitted and reviewed, the Grant Management team will determine and calibrate the funding available to each city. The LOI may be reopened for updated requests if funding remains. Selected applicants then complete the full application through the CalOptima Health grants portal, including all required attachments and documentation. Technical assistance is available upon request. CalOptima Health also scheduled a Bidders' Conference for August 12, 2026 at 9 a.m. PST, with Q&A to be posted on the Funding Opportunity webpage; attendance is strongly encouraged rather than stated as mandatory. The application portal opened July 31, 2026. Letters of Intent are due August 31, 2026, confirmed applicants and maximum funding amounts are scheduled for September 15, 2026, and full applications are due October 30, 2026. Internal review is scheduled for November through December 2026. The CalOptima Health Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for February 4, 2027, with approved grants expected to be announced February 5, 2027. The grant term begins April 1, 2027. No recurring or regularly repeated application cycle is stated in the source. This is described as a non-competitive funding opportunity, so cities are not scored against one another, but each applicant must achieve at least 75 percent to be eligible for an award. The 100-point evaluation considers CalOptima Health Value Alignment for 10 points, Project Description for 20 points, Project Implementation Plan for 20 points, Readiness for 15 points, Capacity for 15 points, Sustainability for 10 points, and Evaluation Plan for 10 points. Applicants should therefore demonstrate mission and health-equity alignment, a clear eligible project, feasible objectives and activities, readiness to launch, sufficient administrative and operational capacity, sustainability or an appropriately time-bound design, and a feasible evaluation and impact-reporting approach. Questions about the opportunity or application may be directed to the Grant Management Team at communitygrants@caloptima.org.

Select projects strictly from the Eligible Projects Menu and use only locations approved for the city's segment; keep the total request within the city's confirmed maximum allocation; ensure outreach, education, programming, and reporting combined do not exceed 10% of the total budget; demonstrate clear alignment with CalOptima Health's mission, health equity, and whole-person care; provide specific objectives, feasible activities, a clear timeline, and measures of success; demonstrate readiness and sufficient administrative, financial, and operational capacity; explain sustainability or why the project is appropriately time-bound; present a feasible evaluation and member-impact reporting plan; ensure the application can achieve at least 75% of the evaluation points