Across California, community-based organizations (CBOs), providers, and agencies are already doing the hard work of helping Medi-Cal members stay connected to care, housing, food, and other community support.
But even if they qualify for the benefit, standing up or expanding Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports (CS) programs under CalAIM takes time, training, systems, and infrastructure. To reduce barriers and ease the friction community providers are experiencing, the Department of Health Care Services introduced the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Technical Assistance (TA) program and marketplace.
The PATH TA marketplace offers fully funded, hands-on implementation support to help eligible organizations launch or scale CalAIM services. With applications due soon and requests already exceeding budget expectations, organizations are encouraged to confirm their eligibility and take advantage of this opportunity soon to have their project funding in 2026.
What is PATH TA funding?
The PATH Technical Assistance program was designed to ensure that every organization interested in participating in CalAIM has access to the expertise and infrastructure needed to succeed. Through the TA Marketplace, DHCS covers the cost of consultants and vendors who specialize in helping providers and CBOs implement and optimize ECM and CS programs.
While PATH TA shares on-demand and off-the-shelf resources, such as toolkits and standardized trainings and models, to help CBOs “do it themselves,” only the hands-on support project type is eligible for funding. Approved organizations can receive up to $150,000 in DHCS-funded support at no cost to them for up to a year. These technical assistance projects span across seven domains, ranging from improving workflows, developing data systems, training staff, or strengthening relationships with Managed Care Plans (MCPs) to improve referrals and billing. Importantly, organizations don’t have to be
The seven project domains
Project types are built around seven specific domains, each designed to help organizations build the capability and infrastructure needed to participate in CalAIM, whether they’re launching new services, growing from the CHW benefit, or optimizing existing programs.
Building data capacity
This domain focuses on support for redesigning workflows related to data exchange, implementing documentation and care-management platforms, and strengthening analytics and reporting for ECM and Community Supports. Pear Suite’s platform is interoperable with EHRs, which can improve data management for users.
Community Supports
This domain supports organizations in designing, implementing, and expanding services that tackle housing, nutrition, housing, and other social drivers of health, key components of Community Supports under CalAIM.
Engaging in CalAIM through Medi-Cal Managed Care
This focuses on helping organizations understand and engage with managed-care plans, build infrastructure for contracting and reimbursement, and refine staffing models needed for ECM/CS programs.
Enhanced Care Management (ECM)
This domain assists organizations in improving care coordination, developing outreach and engagement strategies for high-need populations, integrating behavioral and physical health services, and designing workflows for member support.
Promoting health equity
This type focuses on helping organizations embed strategies and tools to reach historically underserved populations such as non-English speakers, LGBTQ+ individuals, tribal communities, rural providers, ensuring that their program design, data tracking, and service delivery consider these groups.
Supporting cross-sector partnerships
This domain supports organizations in building effective collaborations across health care, social services, housing, justice, and other sectors including legal/technical support for inter-agency agreements and coordinated care pathways.
Workforce
The focus with this type is on workforce development to support ECM and CS programs, including recruitment, training, and retention strategies, especially frontline workers, peer specialists, and staff with lived-experience backgrounds. It also supports developing workforce pipelines and training programs.
Who’s eligible for PATH TA funding?
PATH TA is open to a wide range of organizations, from those working in or planning to enter the CalAIM ecosystem to those that are hoping to optimize existing programs or expand their services to more vulnerable populations as defined by ECM and CS.
Eligible applicants include community-based organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), behavioral health providers, hospitals, and county or local government agencies. To qualify, an organization must have a signed contract or Letter of Intent with a Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan (MCP) or other delegated entity, and must currently offer or plan to launch ECM or Community Supports services.
Providers interested in hands-on project support need to work with an approved TA Marketplace vendor to help manage the application and design process. The vendor can also help verify eligibility, prepare applications, and implement projects that align with DHCS expectations.
How does PATH TA help improve CalAIM readiness?
Many organizations share similar challenges when it comes to CalAIM implementation. Documentation often feels overwhelming, staff may need more training, and billing can be confusing or inconsistent. Some providers experience stalled MCP relationships or inconsistent referral flow, while others struggle to demonstrate measurable outcomes. These are precisely the types of barriers that PATH TA was designed to address.
TA Marketplace vendors have the expertise to address these challenges, having worked with other organizations with similar situations. To eliminate funding or budget constraints, PATH TA can fund projects across domains focused on technology adoption, billing optimization, and program development, which build the foundation for sustainable, reimbursable CalAIM services.
What does the application process and timeline look like?
Applying for PATH TA funding involves three main steps: submitting a Project Eligibility Application (PEA), developing a Scope of Work and Budget, and finalizing DHCS approvals and signatures. Each stage typically takes between one and two weeks, depending on feedback cycles, with total approval time averaging about four to five weeks.
Projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and organizations interested in taking advantage of existing funding are encouraged to begin the application process, the PEA) by December 31, 2025.
PATH TA requests are already surpassing available funding, so acting quickly is key.
To take an even deeper dive into eligibility, project case studies and successes, and next steps, watch the on-demand PATH TA webinar.
