Quarterly News and Updates

June 2025

A Letter from the Chief

Dear Family PACT Community,

I am honored to step into the role of the Chief of the Office of Family Planning at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). For the past 11 years, I have worked as a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Northern California, where I saw firsthand the meaningful impact of the State’s family planning policy and the Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT) Program on patient care, public health, and health care service delivery. I bring to this role the ‘on-the-ground’ experience of utilizing the Family PACT Program and how vital it is to Californians.

As we move forward in these challenging times, I am eager to:

• Partner with Family PACT Providers, community stakeholders, California Department of Public Health, and other DHCS divisions to continue advancing high-quality, equitable, and patient-centered family planning care for low-income Californians.
• Further the incredible work that the team has done in rolling out the new California Healthcare, Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS) Family PACT Patient Portal (more on that below!), including portal optimization and client outreach.
• Provide ongoing clinician resources and support. Don’t miss our upcoming webinar on June 24^th: What's New in the 2024 U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC), Selected Practice Recommendations (SPR), and Quality Family Planning (QFP) Guidelines with Jennifer Karlin, MD, PhD & Michael Policar, MD, MPH.

I look forward to working alongside you to ensure that Californians have access to critical reproductive health care services. Thank you for your dedication, and I welcome your insights as we continue this important work together.

Sarah Gilbert, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, WHNP-BC

Chief, Office of Family Planning

California Department of Health Care Services

What Is the Family PACT Portal?

The Family PACT client enrollment and transaction services transitioned to the Family PACT Portal. This platform is housed in CalHEERS, which is where Medi-Cal and Covered California members apply and renew their coverage. The Family PACT Portal simplifies and streamlines the eligibility process for Family PACT clients. The Family PACT Portal consists of the Client Portal and the Provider Portal.

• The Client Portal allows users to create accounts, apply for Family PACT, and manage their enrollment status online.

• The Provider Portal enables Family PACT providers to efficiently enroll and recertify clients.

To access the new portal, providers are required to update their site certifier contact information in the Provider Application and Validation for Enrollment (PAVE) portal to receive their login credentials.

Providers who do not have a current site certifier in PAVE are instructed to immediately email the site certifier's first and last name and email address to Providerservices@dhcs.ca.gov or call (916) 650-0414.

Health Access Programs (HAP) cards are no longer being issued by the Fiscal Intermediary (FI) and will now be referred to as a HAP Identification Number.

HAP cards are now digitized and can be accessed and printed directly from the user’s Family PACT account via the Family PACT Portal. The number can be printed or shown electronically on a mobile device when visiting a provider. Providers can print the card for the client, or the client may print it themselves.

Providers are responsible for returning any unused numbered HAP cards to the FI as soon as possible.

To return unused HAP cards, package the unused numbered HAP cards with a cover letter that includes your provider number or NPI used to order the cards. Mail the package via UPS or a similar service to the following address:

California MMIS Fiscal Intermediary

Attn: Print and Distribution Center

830 Stillwater Road

West Sacramento, CA  95605 

Check out the newly updated client education materials in our library of family planning and reproductive health client education materials. All these resources are available to download in both English and Spanish.

• All About the Birth Control Intrauterine Devices English | Spanish
• All About the Emergency Contraception Pills English | Spanish
• Male Birth Control Options English | Spanish
• All About Permanent Birth Control: Tubal Ligation English | Spanish
• All About Permanent Birth Control: Vasectomy English | Spanish
• Abnormal HPV Test: What You Should Know English | Spanish
• Abnormal Pap and HPV Test: What You Should Know English | Spanish
• Pap Test: What You Should Know English | Spanish
• Colposcopy Exam: What You Should Know English | Spanish
• Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: What You Need to Know English | Spanish
• Sexually Transmitted Infections: HIV Facts English | Spanish