Focus Area 5—Ensuring Eligible Teens Are Enrolled and Stay Covered (4 Grants)

IA ($681,773) Iowa Department of Public Health will implement targeted grassroots outreach by engaging uninsured teens and their families through creative activities that reflect the interests and needs of teenagers. The State will develop and disseminate outreach materials and offer in-person assistance applying for Medicaid and CHIP coverage. It will also conduct a teen media, marketing and text- messaging campaign and use a statewide outreach network to build the capacity of local coalitions, create teen advisory councils, and conduct an evaluation of the project’s effectiveness.

IL ($409,958) Beacon Therapeutic Schools targets teens in Cook County and in the Chicago suburbs with a focus on enrolling uninsured and homeless youth in Medicaid or CHIP. The proposal targets teens in a range of situations where they may be at risk, including teenagers who are doubling up with friends (known as “couch surfers”) and those living on the street and in shelters. The project will focus on identifying eligible teens at homeless shelters and drop-in centers, schools, community events, as well as in their homes. The goal is for this work to be adopted and expanded as a statewide initiative through the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

TX ($1,000,000) Texas Leadership Center targets at-risk adolescents and their families in 17 high schools in five school districts in Hildago and Harris counties. The project will focus on youth leadership development and peer-to-peer connections as a way to improve the health of the communities. Strategies will include capturing data from a question about insurance coverage on school enrollment forms, assigning trained outreach staff to schools to conduct on-site enrollment, and referring teens and their families to medical homes.

WA ($596,464) HIP of Spokane County dba/Community-Minded Enterprises will approach the project with four goals: simplify enrollment, enhance retention, better integrate and coordinate services with partners, and employ digital communication strategies and enrollment tools. The grantee will send outreach workers across the state to develop and support networks of professionals and volunteers who interface with “disconnected” teens and with parents of “connected but uninsured teens.” The grantee will also create youth-oriented videos designed to promote peer-to-peer social marketing and will use a phone center to streamline the enrollment process, and remove barriers to coverage.One-on-one phone and internet support will be offered to teens, parents and youth-service professionals.