What is the Alumni Peer Navigator Services Pilot?
The Alumni Peer Navigator Services (APNS) pilot – previously known as the Benefits Bundle pilot – is an interagency collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (including the Administration for Children and Families, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The pilot aims to support HS grantees in reducing infant mortality rates and address social determinants of health by introducing a peer-based model to help HS families navigate the transition to parenthood.
In this model, Alumni Peer Navigators (APNs) deliver a “bundled” set of critical resources to HS participants and provide social, informational, and peer support. APNs are HS alumni (i.e., mothers who recently completed the HS program) and have experience navigating benefits enrollment (e.g., Medicaid, WIC) and accessing key community resources and supports. Six HS projects are participating in the current pilot project. At these sites, APNs are actively serving more than 170 families across Atlanta, Baton Rouge, New York City, Los Angeles, the PeeDee Region, and Turtle Mountain Reservation.