Syracuse Sun

The Syracuse C.A.R.E.S. Program will host “Medicaid and Me, a Medicaid education and resource event, on May 20th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at 486a W. Onondaga St., Syracuse, NY 13202. The May 20th program is a community education event to guide residents through the impacts of the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and provide guidance and resources on social safety net programs such as Medicaid.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government enacted a provision prohibiting states from unenrolling Medicaid recipients from the federal health coverage program for the duration of the pandemic. As the funding for this program ends, Medicaid unwinding refers to the process of states and the federal government checking the eligibility of enrollees and unrolling those who no longer qualify for coverage. COVID-19 unwinding began on April 1st.

About Syracuse C.A.R.E.S.

The City of Syracuse, in collaboration with the Center for Healthcare Workforce Development (CHW)--the non-profit arm of the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds (TEF)--and the Healthcare Education Project (HEP), created the CHWs Accessing Resources for Equity in Syracuse (C.A.R.E.S.) for COVID-19 Response Program. Announced in October 2021, the program was fully implemented in March 2022.

Since March 2022, the Syracuse C.A.R.E.S. program has train and deployed twenty Community Health Workers (CHWs) to engage with hard-to-reach residents, as well as people impacted by pre-existing racial and health disparities and unmet social needs that put them at higher risk for COVID-19. CHWs, who have been recruited and hired from city neighborhoods, have provided COVID and community resources to 3,463 residents across thirty-six community centers and sites throughout Syracuse, with a focus on neighborhoods that have had low COVID vaccination rates. 

Original source can be found here.