Philanthropy @ Work – Grants and Programs – September 2026
The latest on grants and programs from the field.
Grantmakers In Health Joins Amicus Brief Challenging Medicaid Work Requirement Rule
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) has joined an amicus curiae brief filed September 10 in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Oz, supporting a challenge to a federal rule that the brief argues would strip Medicaid coverage from millions of people with serious health conditions. GIH joined the American Public Health Association, the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health…
Health-Related Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda
This Grantmakers In Health policy resource summarizes health-related executive orders and presidential memoranda issued since 2015, highlighting implications for health funders. It tracks directives on behavioral health, Medicaid, prescription drugs, federal grantmaking, DEI, gender-affirming care, child welfare, vaccines, and related litigation affecting implementation.
August 2026 Executive Order on Childhood Vaccines: Overview, Implications, and Stakeholder Reactions
This Grantmakers In Health policy resource provides an overview of the August 2026 executive order on childhood vaccines, including the restructuring of the federal immunization schedule, the directive to split the MMR vaccine, implications for insurance coverage, family costs, and state exemption laws, and reactions from stakeholders.
New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation
“Over the past several years, we have come to recognize that many of the issues our funded partners work tirelessly to address—poor health outcomes, educational disparities, and family instability—are inextricably linked to economic hardship. Even in a state often perceived as prosperous, significant pockets of child poverty persist, particularly in rural communities and among families with limited access to opportunity. This reality prompted us to take a deeper look at the systemic conditions shaping children’s lives and to reconsider how our philanthropy could be most effective.”
Beyond the Rankings: What Four Decades of KIDS COUNT Have Taught Me About Why Data Matter
For more than three decades, through the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® project, decisionmakers and communities have had access to reliable national, state, and local data to improve outcomes for all children, young people, and families in this country. KIDS COUNT comprises the foundation’s national KIDS COUNT publications—the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book and periodic reports such as Race for Results; the KIDS COUNT Data Center, a resource for year-round national, state, and local data; and the KIDS COUNT Network of state-based partner organizations that help policymakers, advocates, journalists, and community leaders understand and use data to make informed decisions.
Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy: Countering Bias and Promoting Care
Most pregnancy-related deaths in North Carolina are preventable. Yet mental health conditions, including overdose and suicide, remain the leading cause of pregnancy-related death. For health care leaders, that reality demands a closer look at how we identify, treat, and support pregnant and postpartum patients with opioid use disorder.
Preventing Domestic Violence by Reaching People Who Cause Harm
The research involved a landscape scan of Cook County, Illinois’ policies, funding, and services for people who cause harm with a goal of engaging the stakeholders and providers doing this work as well as survivors and those who receive services to identify barriers, challenges, and strengths of domestic violence prevention programs. The research examined Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (PAIP) in particular, a standard intervention for people who cause harm that is overseen by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Post-Overdose Response Teams: A Community-Based Approach to Public Safety
Recent changes in the federal policy landscape have created new questions for communities working to address substance use disorder (SUD), mental health needs, and housing instability. In this evolving environment, philanthropy, in collaboration with community-based organizations and local governments, has an important role to play in supporting evidence-based responses to overdose and mental health emergencies that improve access to care, strengthen community wellbeing, and uplift public health while avoiding unnecessary criminal legal outcomes.
The Voters Health Care Reaches
August marks Civic Health Month, a time to showcase the link between voting and health. It arrives this year against a difficult backdrop. The enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that helped millions afford coverage expired at the end of 2025, and federal cuts to Medicaid are reshaping who can get care and how. The ACA was among the hardest-won health equity victories in a century, and its erosion is a reminder that policy gains are never permanent. They are defended, or lost, depending on who shows up to vote.