As seen in The June 2017 Help Me Grow National Center E-note
Help Me Grow Orange County will benefit from the leveraging of federal funds known as an Intergovernmental Transfer, or IGT. IGTs are used to offset the cost of uncompensated care provided by county health departments, public hospitals and other local care providers. IGT transactions can only occur via a managed care organization. In Orange County, the county-organized health system that administers health insurance programs for low-income children, adults, seniors and people with disabilities is known as CalOptima. Only agencies that are contracted providers with CalOptima are eligible to receive IGT funds. CHOC Children’s is a contracted provider, and Help Me Grow is a program of CHOC Children’s, allowing for the IGT transaction to occur. While the Children and Families Commission is providing the matching dollars, it cannot earmark IGT funds for specific uses. However, it is anticipated that CHOC Children’s will use a portion of IGT funds to support the ongoing efforts of the local Help Me Grow, whose mission aligns with both that of the Commission and CHOC Children’s, for a period of up to nine years.