Multi-State ($1,000,000) American Association of School Administrators, working in collaboration with the Children’s Defense Fund, will conduct outreach in four states — California, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Eight school districts, all of which have strong support from high-level school administrators, have been selected for the project. The goal will be to build the capacity of the selected school districts to incorporate children’s health outreach and enrollment activities into routine school operations. Various strategies will be used to target eligible children and help them enroll in health coverage, including adding questions about insurance status to school enrollment documents and providing training on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment procedures.

CO ($729,348) Colorado Association for School Based Health Care will reach out through school-based health centers to children in nine school districts who are eligible for public health insurance programs but are not enrolled. Data from free and reduced-price school meal programs
and school registration forms will be used to help identify eligible children and assist their families with Medicaid/CHIP applications. Outreach activities will be coordinated with efforts to provide oral hygiene education, fluoride varnish and dental sealants through school-based programs.

FL ($1,000,000) University of South Florida will engage school districts in outreach and enrollment activities. Rural school districts will receive special attention, as well as school districts with large populations of limited English proficient (LEP) students. A multi-media teen marketing campaign and curriculum will target uninsured adolescents in high schools. The grantee also will work with the Florida Association of Children’s Hospitals to increase the number of school professionals trained to identify and assist eligible families with applications.

CA ($982,170) Los Angeles Unified School District will expand the capacity for outreach and enrollment in health coverage in 13 wellness center school complexes. School and district data will be used to identify and target services to children who are eligible for health insurance but uninsured. District application assistors and health care advocates will alert families of eligible children to health coverage opportunities and help get eligible children enrolled, using the online application. One-e-App. Application assistors also will be linked to health care providers at the district wellness centers so eligible children can be enrolled in coverage when they seek care.

CA ($769,313) Mendocino County Office of Education heads a consortium of eight organizations that will collaborate to implement strategies to increase enrollment and retention of children in MediCal and Healthy Families (California’s Medicaid and CHIP programs). The project will focus attention on helping children stay covered when they move from primary to middle school and from middle school to high school. A toolkit of promising practices will be disseminated statewide through Teachers for Healthy Kids, California School Boards Association and the California Children’s Health Initiatives.

NY ($505,370) Mothers & Babies Prenatal Network of South Central New York will work with school districts in an eight-county region of south central New York to identify eligible children and provide assistance with enrollment and renewal in Medicaid and CHIP. A variety of school-focused outreach strategies will be used in an educational program for middle and high school students on the value of health coverage and health care.

OH ($360,000) Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati will work with two school districts and their respective county Departments of Job and Family Services agencies. Children likely to be eligible for health coverage will be identified using free and reduced-price school lunch data, school sports physical forms, emergency cards and health history updates. School nurses will help engage families and refer them to the grantee for application assistance. The grantee also will work with the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio School Athletic Association, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and others to encourage use of successful strategies statewide.

Grants awarded in focus area 4 and 5 on next pages.