This year the Division will invest nearly $3 million
in more than 100 arts and community organizations

WILMINGTON, DEL. (July 15, 2022) – The Delaware Division of the Arts is investing nearly $3 million in more than 110 arts and community organizations that will serve Delawareans statewide with arts programming and services, arts education, and arts marketing and promotion. This first round of funding for FY2023 includes: General Operating Support, Project Support, Arts Stabilization, StartUp and Education Resource grants.

“Artists and arts organizations state-wide have been on the cutting edge of innovation and community impact over the last two years. As they turn to a new phase of recovery from the shutdowns related to Delaware’s public health emergency, it is critical that the Delaware Division of the Arts continue our significant investment into the sector,” said Jessica Ball, director of the Delaware Division of the Arts. “This investment in the creative workforce—artists and organizations alike—enhances education, stimulates local economies, and enriches our communities.”

“Delaware’s financial support of our artists and arts organizations is engrained into the fabric of what we do at the state level,” said Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock. “Our roster of artists and arts institutions makes the State attractive for our residents, employers, and employees who spend their free time and money to enjoy the many experiences available to them. Attending an event in the State is not just about the admission price to that organization, but so often includes secondary spending at restaurants and local shops. Supporting the arts makes sense any way you look at it.”

Grant updates for fiscal year 2023:

• TranspARTation has returned! The grant will re-open in August 2022 to support travel expenses, to include buses, fuel, parking and toll costs of up to $500 (an increase of $200 from previous years) for schools to travel to Delaware arts and cultural institutions and venues in order for students to attend arts performances, events, and exhibits.
• Artist Opportunity Grants have increased to $1,000. Artist Opportunity Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support unique professional and artistic development and presentation opportunities for artists. Applicants can request up to 80% of the opportunity cost not to exceed $1,000. Quarterly deadlines: January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1.

The awards include:

• General Operating Support for sixty-one (62) arts organizations.
• Project Support for twenty-nine (29) community-based organizations that provide arts programming for children and adults with physical or intellectual disabilities; students whose schools are under-resourced and face multiple barriers, individuals and family members dealing with cancer; and young children and community members from across Delaware.
• Eight (8) Arts Stabilization projects that support capital improvements and repairs to facilities owned by arts organizations.
• StartUp Support for two emerging arts organizations, Jester Artspace and Reed’s Refuge, providing a combination of technical assistance and financial support for these new organizations.
• Fourteen (14) education-based partnerships between Delaware’s schools, arts organizations and artists that provide teacher training and standards-based arts learning experiences for pre K-12 students statewide, in alignment with the Delaware Standards for Learning in the Visual and Performing Arts.

Grants for Fiscal Year 2023

Funding for the Delaware Division of the Arts comes from the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency. In addition, the funds for capital improvements grants—provided by the Arts Stabilization Fund—are drawn from the Arts Consortium of Delaware, Inc. (ArtCo) endowment. A complete list of grants for the first round of FY2023 can be found here.

Grant review panels made up of Delaware artists, arts educators, arts and nonprofit organization administrators, corporate and fundraising managers, and interested community members, provided an impartial peer review of these grant applications based on established evaluation criteria, reflecting the importance of having diverse public and expert participation in the grant-making process.

The Division also awards grants on an on-going basis throughout the year, including Arts Access grants, Artist Residencies, Individual Artist Fellowships, and Individual Artist Opportunity grants. Full grant descriptions are available on the Division’s website and at the end of the release.

Interested members of the public, artists, arts organizations, and community leaders are encouraged to visit the Division’s website to learn more about these programs. Notification of grant deadlines, guidelines and applications, as well as technical assistance opportunities are published in the monthly e-newsletter, Arts E-News. Please visit our website at arts.delaware.gov for more details.

GRANT PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Arts Organizations: Non-profit Delaware organizations whose primary mission is the promotion, production, presentation, or teaching of the arts

General Operating Support – support of annual operating expenses to ensure that year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Delaware. This grant category utilizes a three-year application cycle. Full applications are due every three years, with Interim applications due in the “off” years. Annual March 1 deadline.

Arts Stabilization – supports improvements to facilities owned (or under long-term lease) and operated by the organization. Arts Stabilization grants are funded through the Division’s participation in the Arts Consortium of Delaware, Inc. (ArtCo) endowment. Annual March 1 deadline.

StartUp – a comprehensive program of financial support, training, and consultation to develop and strengthen the management capacity of emerging arts organizations so that they can operate in a sustainable manner. Completion of the StartUp program is a prerequisite for emerging organizations seeking General Operating Support. Annual March 1 deadline.

Arts Access – supports small budget projects that include the presentation of performing, visual, literary, media, or folk arts in communities throughout the state. Applications must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the project start date, and are reviewed as they are received, beginning on July 1 of each year. Organizations that receive General Operating or Project Support from the Division are not eligible to apply. Rolling deadline.

Community-Based Organizations: Non-profit Delaware organizations, colleges, universities, and government entities that do not have the arts as their primary mission

Project Support – supports arts programs provided by CBOs that assist in the growth of a vibrant cultural environment by encouraging the continued development of arts activities in communities throughout the state. College and university projects must be non-credit and serve the general community.  Annual March 1 deadline.

Arts Access – supports small budget projects that include the presentation of performing, visual, literary, media, or folk arts in communities throughout the state. Applications must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the project start date, and are reviewed as they are received, beginning on July 1 of each year. Organizations that receive General Operating or Project Support from the Division are not eligible to apply. Rolling deadline.

Schools: Delaware pre-K through 12 public, charter, private, and parochial schools

Artist Residency – grants for residencies with visual, literary, performing, or media artists working with students in the classroom or in professional development workshops with teachers. Rolling deadline.

TranspARTation – grants that support transportation costs for schools to travel to Delaware arts and cultural institutions and venues in order for students to attend arts performances, events and exhibits. The FY2023 TranspARTation application will be available in August 2022 for the 2022-2023 school year.

Arts Organizations and Schools:

Education Resource – grants to strengthen standards-based arts education projects, programs, and activities that utilize the arts education resources of the Delaware arts community or strengthen arts organizations’ capacity to serve as professional development resources for teaching artists and educators.  Annual March 1 deadline.

Individual Artists: Delaware residents, 18 years of age or older, not enrolled in a degree-granting program

Artist Fellowships – supports individual artists in their work as visual, performing, media, folk, and/or literary artists. Applications are received and processed by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. FY2022 Masters categories are Literary and Media Arts. Annual August 1 deadline (August 2 in 2021).

Artist Opportunity Grants – provides up to $1,000 to support individual artists with unique professional and artistic development or presentation opportunities. Quarterly deadlines, January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1.

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

(Smyrna, Delaware) – On December 13, 2019, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) officially earned accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). Only nine programs nationwide completed the rigorous assessment process in 2019 to achieve either initial accreditation or reaccreditation. This is the initial accreditation for DEMA and the State’s emergency management program.

“Congratulations to those programs that have maintained their accredited status as well as those who have joined the elite leaders in emergency management having earned accreditation through the Emergency Management Accreditation Program. Through their commitment and leadership, they have proven to their communities and stakeholders that their programs are sustainable and that they continue to focus on their communities’ best interests,” stated Nick Crossley, Director of the Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and the EMAP Commission Chair.

Providing emergency management programs the opportunity to be evaluated and recognized for compliance with standards certified by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) and recognized by the industry complies with EMAP’s mission to build safer communities through credible standards of excellence. These programs demonstrate accountability and focus attention on areas and issues where resources are needed to heighten their preparedness efforts to address any technical or natural disaster that may affect their communities.

To achieve accreditation, applicants must demonstrate through self-assessment, documentation and peer assessment verification that its program meets the Emergency Management Standard set forth by EMAP. The emergency management program uses the accreditation to prove the capabilities of their disaster preparedness and response systems. Accreditation is valid for five years and the program must maintain compliance with the Emergency Management Standard and is reassessed to maintain accredited status.

Through standardization EMAP revolutionizes emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters. In addition to obtaining the ability to measure those capabilities, EMAP recognizes the ability of emergency management programs to bring together personnel, resources and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to an emergency. The Emergency Management Standard is flexible in design so that programs of differing sizes, populations, risks and resources can use it as a blueprint for improvement and can attain compliance with those standards in an accreditation process. The accreditation process evaluates emergency management programs on compliance with requirements in sixteen areas, including: planning; resource management; training; exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions; communications and warning; and administration. EMAP is the only accreditation process for emergency management programs.

DEMA Director A.J. Schall said “The team at DEMA started on this journey in 2018. Over the last eighteen months we have worked diligently to review our processes, plans, and relationships. Over that time, we learned a tremendous amount and modernized procedures.  This was a division-wide project and everyone on the team had an important part. I couldn’t be more proud for their dedication to the State.”

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DOVER — Valentine’s Day is not just for sweethearts. Thursday, February 14 is the day that Schools and Foster Care Programs throughout Delaware will be able to pick up all the warm winter clothes collected by GACEC in their Heart 2 Heart Hugs annual campaign. Donations can still be dropped off at the GACEC office located in the old train station at 516 Loockerman Street in Dover.

Sue O’Day from Fleece for Keeps of Wilmington donated 65 blankets. (see photo and cutline below) Project Warm donated 800 winter coats and people from the community and other state agencies donated new store bought and handmade items for distribution.

This years distribution is on Valentines day with distribution to schools and foster care programs across Delaware. Some claim that this is too late for such a campaign. Wendy Strauss responded, “ Some of the items do go to students this winter. Mostly the schools need their inventory restocked so they have it when the need arises at the beginning and throughout the school year. Right now, retail stores are reducing their winter wear so it is a good time to buy and donate to the campaign.”

There is still time to donate! Staff will be at the office today until 4 p.m. if you would like to drop off donations. For additional information please contact Kathie Cherry by calling 302-739-4553 or email her at Kathie.cherry@gacec.k12.de.us and if you would like to donate items for Delaware’s homeless children.

NEW CASTLE (Jan. 2, 2019) – The number of full-time equivalent primary care physicians providing direct patient care in Delaware in 2018 declined about 6 percent from 2013, a trend that resulted in a slightly lower percentage of physicians statewide who are accepting new patients, according to a new University of Delaware study of the primary care physician workforce commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).

The study, done by UD’s Center for Applied Demography & Survey Research, also found that the reduction in primary care physicians likely will continue, with a declining percentage of primary care physicians expecting to be active in five years, especially in Kent County. Kent has the highest percentage (25 percent) of physicians 65 and older, compared with Sussex County (16 percent) and New Castle County (13 percent). Only 60 percent of primary care physicians in Kent County reported that they will be active in five years, compared to 70 percent in Sussex County and 78 percent in New Castle County.

Despite the workforce trends, the UD study found that there are a sufficient number of primary care physicians in Delaware, “although their location and specialty is probably not optimal.” In 2018, there were 815 individual primary care physicians practicing in Delaware, down from 862 in 2013, and a full-time equivalent of 662 physicians statewide in 2018 vs. 707 in 2013. The study found that the 2018 numbers are at the upper range of what is desirable. Both Kent County – 2,069 patients per primary care physician – and Sussex County – 2,014 patients per physician – are above the 2,000-to-one ratio used by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to designate shortage areas.

DHSS Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, a board-certified family physician, said the trends point to the need to strengthen the dwindling primary care workforce in Delaware.

“The best preventive care and the most cost-effective care is provided by a strong and coordinated primary care workforce,” Secretary Walker said. “Primary care providers know their patients and their medical histories best and can provide the most effective, high-value, longitudinal care for chronic health conditions and other preventable diseases. As state government officials, our priority is to find ways to incentivize front-line care to perform as coordinated teams that are ultimately accountable for population health. We also need more primary care physicians to remain in practice and find ways to encourage new doctors, including those from minority and rural backgrounds, to choose primary care as their specialty.”

State Sen. Bryan Townsend and Dr. Nancy Fan, Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission, are Co-Chairs of the Primary Care Collaborative, which is working on long-term solutions to support primary care in the state. The collaborative was created through Senate Bill 227, which aimed to strengthen primary care through a series of changes, including requiring insurers to reimburse primary care physicians and other front-line practitioners at the Medicare rate for the next three years. The collaborative, which has been meeting since September, is expected to issue its long-term recommendations by Jan. 8.

“It is vital that the State of Delaware, for the sake of Delawareans’ health, take steps to promote and strengthen primary care,” said Sen. Bryan Townsend, who sponsored Senate Bill 227 with Rep. David Bentz. “The declining rates of primary care providers practicing in Delaware or offering access to new patients are alarming. We have implemented immediate measures, and we have developed long-term solutions. The health and well-being of Delawareans, and the Delaware economy, cannot afford for us to delay in implementing those solutions, or for us to lack the courage to tackle complex policy and political issues.”

“This survey is very timely and demonstrates with supporting data the primary care physician crisis currently in Delaware,” said Dr. Nancy Fan, Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission and an obstetrician/gynecologist in Wilmington. “Recognizing that primary care is foundational to effective, quality health care, the Health Care Commission is working through the Primary Care Collaborative to develop policy recommendations that will strengthen and maintain the current workforce and increase attractiveness of practice in Delaware for the future physician workforce. If something is not done immediately, these numbers will only get worse.”

“This DHSS study illustrates the poor access to primary care experienced by Delawareans,” said Dr. James Gill, a family medicine physician in Wilmington and a member of the Medical Society of Delaware who advocated for Senate Bill 227. “Increasing access to primary care will require increasing payment for primary care services by commercial payers in our state, which is currently 40 percent to 50 percent below the rest of the country. Senate Bill 227 has begun to move Delaware in that direction, and the Primary Care Collaborative is working to continue the work necessary to reduce the cost of care and improve the quality of care and the health of Delawareans.”

Among the other findings in the Primary Care Physicians in Delaware 2018 Survey:

• In 2018, accounting for the time that primary care physicians offer direct patient care, the estimated full-time equivalent (FTE) was 662 physicians, with 461 FTEs in New Castle County, 89 in Kent and 112 in Sussex.
• About 60 percent of Delaware’s physicians went to high school in the region; over half graduated from a medical school in the region; and about 80 percent completed their medical residency in the region.
• The breakdown by gender statewide is 52.9 percent male and 47.1 percent female.
• Delaware has a disproportionately low percentage of African-American (6.6 percent) and Hispanic (4.3 percent) primary care physicians statewide, compared with the state’s general population of 22.8 percent African-American and 18.1 percent Hispanic/Latino.
• About 82 percent of physicians were accepting new patients in 2018, compared with 86 percent in 2013, but the proportion accepting new Medicare patients (72 percent) and new Medicaid patients (78 percent) was lower.
• Average wait times statewide for new patients was 23 days in 2018, compared with 32 days in 2013, and six days for established patients in 2018 vs. 17 days in 2013.
• The percentage of primary care physicians who employed non-physician services – advanced practice nurses, physician assistants and others – climbed to about 62 percent in 2018, up from 56 percent in 2013.
• About 80 percent of physicians participated in a pay-for-performance reimbursement model including shared savings (34 percent), shared risk (19 percent), capitation model (14 percent), and concierge model (6 percent).

Data collection for the Primary Care Physician in Delaware 2018 Survey was done during the spring and summer of 2018, with 2,533 physicians contacted by mail who have an active license with a Delaware address or an address with a ZIP code adjacent to Delaware. Of those contacted, 957 responded and provided usable data. Primary care physicians practice in one of five specialties: family practice, general practice, internal medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics/gynecology.

Download the study here from the DHSS website.

NEW CASTLE (Nov. 15, 2018) – As part of the State Innovation Model (SIM) initiative, the Delaware Health Care Commission has awarded the first value-based payment reform mini-grant to Christiana Care Health System to test a new reimbursement model that will also improve the coordination of patient care.

Christiana Care Health System’s CareLink Behavioral Health Medical Home Pilot was awarded $62,168 to test a reimbursement model to foster behavioral health integration within primary care practices focusing on a subset of AmeriHealth Medicaid members with chronic behavioral health conditions as a primary diagnosis.

The Health Care Commission is prepared to award up to multiple applicants in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 through the Value-Based Payment Reform Fund for work that must be completed by Jan. 31, 2019. The commission has received a total of 45 applications from primary care providers, behavioral health providers, hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and clinically integrated networks, all of which must be licensed in the State of Delaware. The commission expects to award grants for small projects (up to $50,000) and large projects (up to $250,000), based on the scope of the project.

“We are pleased to announce the first mini-grant award to Christiana Care as a way for a prominent health care provider in our state to conduct a pilot project in the area of value-based payment reform,” said Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, a board-certified family physician. “This is a significant step forward in terms of how health care will be delivered and paid for in Delaware. Additional awards are going through the review and approval process, and we look forward to making those announcements soon.”

“As our work with the State Innovation Model nears its conclusion, the mini-grants are an important milestone for health care providers in our state as they embrace change in health care delivery and plan for long-term sustainability in terms of innovation,” said Dr. Nancy Fan, Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission. “Along with ongoing work through our practice transformation vendors, the mini-grants will give providers a practical way to facilitate change in the health care landscape.”

Applications, which were received during the summer, fell into one of three areas:

• Data integration: Project must enhance the applicant’s data integration, clinical informatics or population-based analytics capabilities. Examples include data exchange infrastructure and analytics projects or support; data warehousing and reporting capacity; and development of data-sharing agreements.
• Improve the coordination of patient care: Project must enhance the applicant’s clinical integration. Examples include conducting data analytics and developing care guidelines for a primary care-based system of complex care management for high-risk population(s); implementing improvements in care transitions such as new business processes or mutual agreements with partner providers; and implementing a practice support call center.
• Increase readiness to integrate into an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or operate through an Alternative Payment Method (APM): Project must develop, expand or enhance the applicant’s shared governance structures and organizational integration strategies, linking the applicant with ACO leadership and across the continuum of care with providers already contracted with an ACO. An example would be support to model costs of care in preparation for participation in value-based payment arrangements with multiple payers.

“The Delaware Center for Health Innovation (DCHI) is a public/private partnership that was created after Delaware received a four-year State Innovation Model grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation,” said Julane Miller-Armbrister, executive director of DCHI. “We support innovative changes in health care delivery and payment in our state in order to drive quality and better health for the people of Delaware. The mini-grants are another step forward in achieving lasting change.”