Total Grant Awards: $31,783,284
Focus Area 1: Engaging schools in outreach, enrollment and retention activities (9 grants)
CA ($974,929) Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District will expand outreach and increase the enrollment of eligible children in Medi-Cal. The project will target eligible children in pre-K through 12th grade at least three times a year in the City of Los Angeles and 31 adjacent cities and communities. Enrollment and renewal assistance will be provided through the district web enrollment portal, a central call center that will conduct enrollment over the telephone, and by trained local school-based staff offering in-person assistance. Application assisters will be trained on the new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act; other school and community personnel will be trained to deliver outreach messages to encourage enrollment.
CA ($877,750) Alameda County Social Service Agency
Alameda County Social Service Agency will conduct the School Portals Enrollment and Retention Project (AC SPEAR) in three large urban school districts – Oakland, Hayward and San Leandro. Mobile Health Coverage and Benefits Navigation Teams will identify children (and family members) who are eligible but not enrolled in Medi-Cal and assist them with getting enrolled and renewing their coverage at centralized school district locations, school health centers and neighborhood sites.
CO ($380,459) The Telluride Foundation
The Telluride Foundation, will target four rural Colorado counties – San Miguel, Ouray, Montrose and Delta – that have high percentages of children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP but not enrolled. The project will engage 12 elementary schools and 97 childcare centers in activities aimed at boosting enrollment and retention in Medicaid and CHIP. Navigators will identify eligible children, through review of free and reduced-price school lunch rosters and referrals from a school-based dental program, and will help them enroll in health coverage.
GA ($999,913) United Way of Greater Atlanta
United Way of Greater Atlanta will collaborate with Atlanta Public Schools, the Atlanta Promise Neighborhood Alliance and the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Atlanta Civic Site to implement CATCH: Connecting Atlanta's Children to Healthcare. The project will assist families with eligible students attending 37 schools and seven early childcare centers (and other eligible family members) with enrollment and renewal in Medicaid and CHIP. Outreach teams will also help families understand how to use their health care benefits and will work to build capacity within the schools and community-based organizations to conduct outreach, enrollment and renewal activities. Activities will include conducting screening and enrollment events, targeting renewal reminders and engaging school staff and educating them about working with families on health coverage issues.
IN ($997,810) Covering Kids & Families of Indiana, Inc.
Covering Kids & Families of Indiana, Inc. will reach increase enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP of eligible children and families in eight underserved Indiana counties. Four Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) will dispatch school-based enrollment specialists to conduct activities aimed at enrolling and retaining children in health coverage and connecting them to medical homes. Mobile school-based health clinics will be used for outreach services to smaller, isolated rural schools.
KY ($993,434) Access to Justice Foundation (AJF)
Access to Justice Foundation (AJF), will lead a collaborative effort that includes Kentucky's four Legal Services Corporation legal aid programs and the Kentucky Equal Justice Center. The project will engage Kentucky public schools in activities to enroll and retain eligible children and family members in Medicaid or KCHIP. Efforts will be targeted to schools with at least 20% of their students eligible for free and reduced-price school meals as well as to Hispanic and immigrant children. Kentucky's two Medical-Legal Partnerships will enroll eligible children at pediatric clinics for low-income children.
MO ($379,589) Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri will enroll and retain eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP in metropolitan St. Louis, in eastern Missouri and rural counties in northeastern Missouri. Outreach and enrollment specialists will train 50 school nurses in 20 school districts and 30 homeless enrollment coordinators in 35 school districts to help with enrollment. They also will handle requests for Medicaid enrollment and renewal assistance received through the project helpline. Project staff will help families navigate the new application process, starting with applying for coverage using the new single, streamlined applications.
NV ($895,832) The Foundation for Positively Kids, Inc.
NV ($895,832) The Foundation for Positively Kids, Inc. The Foundation for Positively Kids, Inc. conducts school-based health center programs for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. The project will engage community- based programs and schools in outreach, enrollment and retention activities targeting eligible children in 43 elementary schools. Four Outreach and Enrollment Service Centers will be established to provide one-on-one enrollment and renewal assistance. Bilingual materials, community workshops and information clinics providing individualized enrollment assistance will be available.
NY ($478,138) Kaleida Health
Kaleida Health, a hospital system, will work with Buffalo Public Schools, Kaleida Health School Based Health Centers and Kaleida School Health Services (a school nursing program) to identify the uninsured students the district's 58 schools. Project activities will facilitate the enrollment and retention of eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP.
Focus Area 2: Bridging health coverage disparities by reaching out to subgroups of children that exhibit lower than average health coverage rates (8 grants)
CA ($192,881) Lake County Tribal Health Consortium (LCTHC)
Lake County Tribal Health Consortium (LCTHC) aims to increase enrollment and retention among Lake County's tribal children and families to help ensure they get stable access to health care and improved health outcomes. The project will rely on intensive one-to-one outreach to families with eligible children delivered by a Children's Resource Advocate whose outreach activities will complement in-person enrollment assistance available at LCTHC.
MI ($593,587) Washtenaw County Public Health
Washtenaw County Public Health, operating in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, will coordinate a program called Coverage Counts: Connecting Teens, Immigrant and Homeless Families to Insurance. The project will engage local public health departments, local county health plans, educational services agencies, and local community organizations to enroll eligible children and their parents in health coverage. The project has a commitment from school districts to identify teens through younger siblings' school lunch participation. They will co-locate outreach and enrollment workers in schools and will provide training to partner organizations and will provide direct enrollment assistance.
NY ($874,948) Public Health Solutions
Public Health Solutions plans to bridge health care disparities by developing and implementing an outreach/educational plan targeted to Hispanic children and families in the northern Queens neighborhoods of Astoria, Corona, Elmhurst, Flushing, Jackson Heights and Long Island City. The project will co-locate enrollment and retention services at community sites, and maintain existing systems for a smooth transition to the NY health insurance exchange implementation. PHS has a proven successful model, which has yielded 70,000 enrollments in the last 12 years.
NY ($800,000) The Osborne Association
The Osborne Association will target children whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system: children of incarcerated parents and adolescents returning home from detention on Rikers Island. The project will reach families in prison/jail visiting areas, through other Osborne programs and through the programs of partner providers. Peer Patient Navigators will be deployed to help families of eligible children and teens enroll and retain coverage in Child Health Plus or Medicaid. Training for the Osborne staff and peers will be provided by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
PA ($768,000) Maternal and Child Health Consortium of Chester County (MCHC)
Maternal and Child Health Consortium of Chester County (MCHC) will target children in immigrant families residing in Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania. Activities will be conducted through a partnership of 24 organizations, including community-based social services agencies and health care centers serving Latino, Asian, and African immigrant families. Community outreach workers will provide bilingual application assistance and will help build the capacity of partner agencies to help enroll eligible children in the families they serve.
WA ($395,000) Neighborcare Health
Neighborcare Health will target foreign born Seattle residents who have low-incomes and have limited English proficiency for activities aimed at increasing enrollment of eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP. NeighborCare plans to build on previous success by hiring two new bilingual/bicultural Eligibility Specialists to conduct outreach and help families with enrollment and renewal in Medicaid and CHIP. Outreach to uninsured children and their families will focus, in part, on children currently getting care at Neighborcare medical and dental clinics, as well as its school-based health clinics and new elementary health program sites.
WI ($461,448) Partners for Community Development
Partners for Community Development will focus on reaching out and enrolling eligible Hispanic and Hmong children and teens in five Wisconsin counties. The project will capitalize on existing partnerships such the Low-Income Weatherization Program, the Hispanic American Information Center and the Volunteer Center of Sheboygan County. The project will hire and train two outreach coordinators who will, in turn, train others, including volunteers to use the state's online application (ACCESS) to enroll eligible children and families.
DC-Multi-State ($992,409) National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance for Hispanic Health will implement the "Nuestros Ninos" program that will target children and families participating in other public benefit programs (such as WIC, SNAP, Head Start and Public Housing) and help them enroll in Medicaid and CHIP. The Alliance will partner with community-based organizations in six states (AZ, CA, FL, GA, NY, and TX) to carry out this program. The project will help families with eligible children understand enrollment procedures and will provide enrollment assistance. It will develop and disseminate culturally appropriate bilingual messages and materials and will also utilize social media platforms work with the media to promote enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP.
Focus Area 3: Using Targeted Enrollment Strategies to streamline health coverage enrollment for individuals participating in other public programs (3 grants)
CA ($796,258) Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC)
Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC), a federally qualified health center, will work to enroll eligible children in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys who are participating in WIC, Head Start and subsidized child care programs. NEVHC is also a WIC agency, and it will partner with the Child Care Resource Center and Volunteers of America, to reach families with eligible children in these programs. The grant will enable NEVHC to hire five bilingual (Spanish/English) certified application assistors to provide enrollment and renewal assistance and assist families with utilizing health services.
CA ($313, 422) United American Indian Involvement (UAII)
United American Indian Involvement (UAII) will focus on targeted enrollment strategies by offering outreach and enrollment assistance services to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) families residing in Los Angeles County. Staff will assess clients for eligibility in Medicaid, CHIP and the CA public benefits programs. Outreach services will be provided in client homes, at community events, Native organizations, Native churches and community schools. UAII will build upon the lessons learned from their Cycle I grant in the areas of outreach and enrollment. A database will be developed to track and analyze enrollment efforts.
NM ($1,000,000) New Mexico Human Services Department
New Mexico Human Services Department will collaborate with partner state agencies, including the Department of Health, to establish processes to streamline enrollment in Medicaid for individuals participating in other public benefit programs. These activities build upon work conducted under the state's Cycle II grant, which was aimed at modernizing enrollment and renewal systems to reduce paperwork and achieve administrative efficiencies. Under the grant, the state also will conduct training for presumptive eligibility workers on submitting applications electronically.
Focus Area 4: Establishing and developing application assistance resources (13 grants)
CA ($999,956) Catholic Charities of California, Inc.
Catholic Charities of California, Inc. will increase the capacity of at least 65 local social service staff in 12 counties to reach out to families with eligible children and provide state-Certified Application/renewal assistance for Medi-Cal. Staff will be trained to implement in-language, culturally competent service in English, Spanish Vietnamese, Korean and Tagalog. They also will be positioned to guide consumers through program and system changes associated with the Affordable Care Act.
CA ($993,472) Family Health Centers of San Diego
Family Health Centers of San Diego, a federally qualified health center, will boost enrollment of eligible individuals in Medi-Cal by providing application and renewal assistance through a coalition of 13 primary health centers, 3 mobile medical units, local schools, WIC centers, Head Start sites, churches and social services agencies. The grant will enable Family Health Centers of San Diego to nearly double its capacity for providing these services by adding 4 certified application assistors and 2 care coordinators. Eligible individuals will be enrolled at health centers, at enrollment workshops and during home visits. The project will electronically track applications so that assistors can help ensure children are successfully enrolled and retain their coverage.
CA ($750,900) Tides Center- California Coverage & Health Initiatives
Tides Center- California Coverage & Health Initiatives will promote a robust culture of coverage among underserved Latino families in a seven-county area in the Inland Empire and along the western edge of the Central Valley. The project will mobilize, coordinate, and provide training and "on-the-ground" technical assistance to application assistors in the targeted regions. It will also leverage key relationships with Spanish-language media outlets that will publicize community enrollment events.
CA ($284,465) Nevada County Superintendent of Schools
Nevada County Superintendent of Schools office will provide comprehensive in-person application assistance services at four Family Resource Centers (FRCs) in four rural communities and through Nevada County 211, a free telephone-based resource and referral agency. The FRCs will provide help to families identified through local school districts and the Nevada County Health and Human Services Agency. The FRCs will serve as application assistance centers, providing in-person screening, enrollment and renewal services, as well as access to Internet-linked computers and commuter-assistance to help families complete the application on their own. Nevada County 211 will help callers and directly connect them to the nearest FRC when they need additional support.
FL ($1,000,000) University of South Florida
University of South Florida sponsors Florida Covering Kids and Families that has 14 years of experience enrolling eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP. The project will increase the number of application assistance center networks through the state so that more families may apply for health coverage and obtain reliable assistance from trusted helpers in their own communities. Partnerships will be developed in geographic areas of the state with diverse populations and high rates of uninsured children who may qualify for Florida KidCare. Florida Covering Kids and Families will share best practices and train assistors in the most effective approaches to community-based enrollment.
GA ($667,337) Family Intervention Specialists, Inc.
Family Intervention Specialists, Inc. provides community and home-based services across 16 Georgia counties. This project will enable FIS to expand its ability to deploy Family Advocates to deliver culturally competent in-person assistance. The project will cover all stages of the outreach process beginning with increasing awareness, providing support throughout the application process and assisting families in maintaining health care coverage for eligible children and other family members.
ID ($539,956) Mountain States Group's Covering Idaho Kids
Mountain States Group's Covering Idaho Kids will employ community outreach workers to provide scheduled, accessible, bilingual outreach, enrollment and renewal assistance at 20 Ada and Canyon County agencies serving low-income families. The project will use information from its Cycle I and II grants as well as from the Idaho Department of Welfare to identify children whose coverage is near expiration and offer then renewal assistance. The project will also train 150 staff of additional agencies and school districts in and beyond Ada and Canyon Counties to integrate Medicaid and CHIP enrollment assistance into their organization's family services.
MA ($747,908) Health Care For All
Health Care For All will increase coverage retention rates across the state with a focus on Hispanic and Portuguese children and families. The project will educate consumers about the specific steps they must take to keep kids enrolled and recommend policies and practices that stand to increase coverage retention rates statewide. New strategies to reduce "churn" will be piloted with the children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP through the Health Care for All Helpline. Data will be analyzed to identify promising strategies, raise areas of concern and foster continuous improvement.
NY ($999,070) Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.
Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc. will work with community-based organizations, local religious organizations and businesses to promote health coverage enrollment; increase enrollment and retention of children in the state Medicaid and CHIP program; and to provide education and link children and their parents to health services. Multicultural, multilingual outreach and enrollment specialists will be used to locate, inform, qualify and enroll eligible children and their families through a dedicated onsite Medicaid enrollment center. Off-site enrollment will be done using the Internet, mobile technology, portable scanners and laptop computers. Patient account representatives will use web-based tools for data capture and analysis to monitor Medicaid/CHIP member status expiration dates and follow-up with families about the application renewal process prior to expiration.
PA ($998,200) Keystone Rural Health Center
Keystone Rural Health Center will establish and develop application assistance resources to provide high-quality, reliable Medicaid and CHIP enrollment and renewal services in Franklin County, PA. The project will engage more than 30 community collaborators to provide outreach and enrollment assistance and would recruit an additional seven "Community Enrollment Navigators" to expand and complement these efforts.
TX ($989,357) The Community Council of Greater Dallas (CCGD)
The Community Council of Greater Dallas (CCGD) will deploy five experienced mobile Bilingual Application Specialists to provide intensive CHIP/Medicaid application and renewal assistance in English - and Spanish – speaking neighborhoods in a five-county area of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Texas. CCGD will link application specialists with referring agencies to increase the skill level in the application assistance network. The project will conduct application assistance days; develop a coordinated communications and referral process among application assistance providers; and conduct training for the public, small businesses and human service providers about the ACA's new application and renewal system.
TX ($820,050) Community Action Corporation of South Texas
Community Action Corporation of South Texas will employ seven navigators to serve in eleven counties of South Texas, a service area with significant gaps in health coverage among its Hispanic population. Navigators will conduct outreach and provide application assistance through an established network of community health centers, Head Start programs, community service resource centers, schools and early childhood intervention centers. Navigators will be bilingual, available for home visits and will provide transportation assistance as needed.
VA ($999,993) Virginia Health Care Foundation
Virginia Health Care Foundation will expand the reach of its existing network of Project Connect Application Assistors by adding six more in areas of the state with high levels of eligible, uninsured children. The project will create a network of application assistance centers within Virginia's 24 federally qualified health centers; develop a local network for application assistors among 250 Lay Health Promoters, adding a FAMIS/Medicaid component to the metro Richmond program. and hire a FAMIS Resource Officer to establish a FAMIS Application Assistance Resource Center to address inquiries, perform data collection and analysis and act as a liaison with key state agencies.
Focus Area 5: Conducting training to equip communities to help families understand the new application and enrollment system and to deliver effective assistance to families with children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. (8 grants)
AZ ($999,920) Pima Community Access Program
Pima Community Access Program will prepare communities in four Arizona counties – Maricopa, Pinal, Pima and Santa Cruz – for upcoming changes in the health insurance landscape through creative training that is factual, clear and easily understood. The project will provide tools and support trainees can use to motivate AZ families to enroll and maintain enrollment in the health insurance option that best fits their needs. In-person and web-based training will be developed and delivered by 14 Master Trainers to a broad array of 600 community organizations, schools, government agencies and faith based groups in the target area that serve families with children potentially affected by the changes. Trainers and trainees will receive additional support via a password protected (secured) website. Evaluation data will be collected to inform the Training Team on the effectiveness of the training and assist with making improvements.
IL ($999,908) Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition
Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition will equip health care providers, social service agencies, and other entities in touch with children and families in Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Kendall, Lake, Will and Grundy Counties with the information and tools necessary to facilitate enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP, known as All Kids in Illinois. The grantee will increase the capacity of communities to identify and enroll uninsured children but also promote strategies that target parents eligible for Medicaid or tax credits and/or cost-sharing subsidies in the new health insurance marketplace.
NJ ($1,000,000) New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Servi
New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services will provide training to certify application counselors and interested stakeholders on using the new "single use" application and new eligibility system, Consolidated Assistance Support System (CASS). A new statewide comprehensive training curriculum on the new paper and online applications will be developed and delivered. Training will also include information on HIPPA regulations, cultural competency and customer service. Professional instructors will be utilized at ADA accessible county college locations with computer labs so that attendees will have opportunity to practice entering family scenarios into the new eligibility system.
NY ($814,048) Adirondack Health Institute
Adirondack Health Institute is a consortium of FQHCs, hospitals, medical centers, affiliated primary care practices and critical access hospitals located in the Adirondack region of eastern Upstate NY. The grantee will build on its CHIPRA Cycle II initiative to establish a regional training approach to provide community partners with the ability to assist in the understanding of the changes in which families and individuals apply Medicaid, CHIP and other affordable health insurance programs in NY State. Training will be provided to 2,000 professionals to help families understand the new application and enrollment system and to deliver effective assistance.
PA ($267,500) Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network
Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network will provide training on the availability of health coverage, enrollment and renewal and the new program standards established by the Affordable Care Act to ensure eligible children and their families apply enroll and stay enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. The training will be delivered in three influential family-serving professional sectors that regularly serve low and moderate income families: legal service programs, juvenile and family courts, and the health care provider community.
SC ($969,185) South Carolina Office of Rural Health
South Carolina Office of Rural Health, through the Benefit Bank of South Carolina, will provide training to position communities to explain the new application processes and coverage options available to families with children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. Trainings will be tailored to groups such as medical providers, agency workers, faith-based organizations, re-entry programs, school personnel and businesses. Training will be available statewide via webinar and on-line. Application assistance also will be part of the project. As a result of building its electronic submission system through a CHIPRA Cycle II technology grant, the tools and agreements are in place to move into educational outreach and to use new modes of providing direct assistance to individuals. The Benefit Bank's Contact Center will include access to referrals and resources, checks on pending applications, and offering assistance with completing application by phone.
TX ($998,784) Gateway to Care
Gateway to Care will provide training to equip the community to help families understand the new application and enrollment system and to deliver effective assistance. Anchored by Harris County/Houston, TX, the project will cover six counties: Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty and Montgomery Counties. The collaboration consists of 32 partners that will increase the number of individuals authorized to provide application assistance under state guidelines and as navigators under the federal insurance marketplace.
DC – Multi-State ($777,468) Farmworker Justice
Farmworker Justice will partner with four Latino-serving, community-based organizations in North Carolina, Florida, Arizona and California and a national Latino communications organization to educate rural Latino communities on the changes in the application and eligibility requirements for Medicaid and CHIP. The grantee will train community health workers, called promotores de salud, who share the same ethnicity, language and life experiences, to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach education to increase enrollment and access to Medicaid and CHIP for eligible individuals and families in the four targeted state communities.