Grant funding sources for Lactation Consultant?

[Ironica]

I work in the development department at a smallish health care nonprofit in Los Angeles. We have a strong Family Planning program, a new and expanding prenatal program, and of course primary care and pediatrics. We do NOT have an LC on staff, however... and this seems to me to be a serious lack.

Since I'm in the department that's responsible for getting funding for our programs ;-), it's an easy thing for me to get buy-in for seeking out funding for an LC position. I don't think it will be a difficult sell for the providers, either, since increasing breastfeeding rates will improve the health of our patient population and will also assist many moms with family planning efforts. However... since this task is coming from the ground up, so to speak, it would be nice to lower the impact on our grant research resources and come up with some organizations to look into for funding.

I'm looking for ideas. Have any of you heard about grants specifically for this sort of thing, or generally for advancing breastfeeding? Some of the pertinent points are:

* Location: Southern California, multiple clinic locations (likely we'd be hiring one person who would schedule at various clinics as needed; we have four main locations and four family planning clinics co-located with other agencies).

* Patient population: homeless and indigent persons throughout Los Angeles County, majority persons of color, large immigrant and non-English-speaking population.

* We're an FQHC and are participating in the CPSP program (If you don't know what any of that means, don't worry about it, but I'm including it on the off-chance someone does and it's relevant ;-).

* Annual operating budget is ~14 million, and we're 501(c)(3).

[Lil'M]

I heard the CDC is giving grant money for targeting obesity, with breastfeeding specifically mentioned.

[MaryJaneLouise]

Here's a press release from someone else who got funding from the California Endowment, is that a possibility?

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/20...brfeeding.html

[MaryJaneLouise]

I know this does not address your original question, but I thought this was an interesting document.

CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions

http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf...erventions.pdf

Included in this guide are all the types of breastfeeding interventions that have been reviewed by the Cochrane Collaboration and published through the Cochrane Library, a comprehensive collection of up-to-date information on the effects of health care interventions. In the 21st century, effective health care relies not only on individual medical skills but also on the best information on the effectiveness of interventions being accessible to practitioners, patients, and policy makers. This approach is sometimes known as “evidence-based medicine.” The Cochrane Library is designed to provide information and evidence to support health care decisions and inform those receiving care.2

They have several ideas for proven & unproven interventions to improve bfing rates. Maybe one of these could work as well as hiring an LC?

[Ironica]

Thanks for the ideas so far... keep them coming!

I did find out that CPSP considers LC services billable, so that would go a HUGE way to offsetting the cost of adding an LC to staff. I'd still love for us to secure additional funding, though, because if we have the funding, we need to hire someone to KEEP the funding ;-). I'm also hoping that this can be a person who is in a position to educate our clients on their rights WRT employment, NIP, etc. as well as basic education on how and why to breastfeed.