insure•a•kid®
FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE
A PROJECT OF THE LAKE COUNTRY AHEC
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS
The insure•a•kid®Texas Grant for School Outreach seeks to build a sustainable system of outreach for the CHIP program through local school districts across the state.
THE PROCESS
Insure•a•kid® grantees across the state partner with local school districts, working to integrate outreach activities into normal district operations and communication channels so that routine school procedures will sustain the outreach without additional cost after the grant ends.
• Insured children are more likely to be in school.
• Districts funding is tied to attendance; when sick children miss
school, districts lose funds needed to operate.
• Improved attendance results in improved performance on tests.
How can school districts assist in outreach?
1. Collect data on the health insurance status of students during the enrollment process.
2. Identify the district administrator who will be responsible for ensuring outreach occurs.
3. Train school personnel about the benefits, availability, and application process for CHIP.
4. Distribute information on the Children’s Health Insurance Program at least twice during each school year.
5. Have applications/information visible and easy to locate at all campuses.
6. Publicize information about CHIP through normal district communication channels.
•District/campus websites
•Public access channel (cable)
•District/campus newsletter
•High school newspaper
•Marquees on school grounds
•Weekly school menu
•Report cards/progress reports
•School year calendars
Roadblocks at school:
• NO TIME
• “It’s not our job.”
Roadblocks at home:
•Formerly middle-income parents who are new to poverty (due to layoffs, divorce, etc.) often:
–Do not know CHIP is available
–Do not know where to access CHIP
– Are reluctant to ask because they are embarrassed
•Some parents have difficulty with:
–Reading and writing
–Language
–Transportation
insure•a•kid®
FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE
Texas Grants For School Outreach
Started in 2002 and funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the goal of the statewide grants is to build a system of outreach for children’s health insurance in local school districts across the state.
Polling by insure•a•kid of Austin shows that families name schools as a major source of information, second only to television. Nationally, schools have been recognized as one of the best ways to outreach to families about children’s health insurance.
39 school districts serving over 971,000 students in 17 counties participated in the insure•a•kid school outreach grants during the 2003-04 school year.
§ Beaumont Beaumont Independent School District
§ El Paso YWCA del Norte
§ Galveston University of Texas Medical Branch- Galveston
§ Houston Children’s Defense Fund
§ Hays/Caldwell insure•a•kid
§ Hidalgo Children’s Defense Fund
§ Lubbock Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
§ San Antonio United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County
§ Smith/Gregg Van and Wood Counties- Lake Country AHEC
§ Travis/Williamson insure•a•kid
§ Waco McLennan County Youth Collaboration
What is the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation?
Established in 1999 with a gift from Michael and Susan Dell, the Foundation was created to fund initiatives and programs designed to remove barriers that prevent children from achieving their greatest potential. With an endowment of more than one billion dollars, MSDF proactively seeks out opportunities to support or develop programs that address the five essential focus areas of children’s health, education, safety, youth development and early childhood care. Using a collaborative, outcomes-driven approach, MSDF identifies programs and community leaders that share its vision of creating enduring systemic change for children. Within its first three years, MSDF has provided more than $40 million to children's and community initiatives.
insure·a·kid Project Coordinator insure·a·kid Statewide Grant Manager
AHEC office: (903) 877-5788 IAK office (512) 324-8970 ext. 88875
Cell phone: (806) 239-1171 Cell phone (512) 431-7138
Jill.howard@uthct.edu Kabney@seton.org
insure•a•kid®
FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE
Texas Grant for School Outreach
Terrell ISD Walt Davis Terrell Kaufman
Hunt
Scurry-Rosser ISD Michael French Scurry Kaufman
Kaufman ISD Bruce Wood Kaufman Kaufman
Arp ISD Toney Lowery Arp Smith
Tyler ISD David Simmons Tyler Smith
Van ISD Joddie W. Witte Van Van Zandt
Smith
Henderson
Mineola ISD Mary Lookadoo Mineola Wood
Yantis ISD Jim Richardson Yantis Wood
Hopkins
Winnsboro ISD Mark Bosold Winnsboro Wood
Hopkins
Franklin
Spring Hill ISD Mike Crossland Longview Gregg
Longview ISD Dana Marable Longview Gregg
Kilgore ISD Jerry B. Roberts Kilgore Gregg
Rusk
Waskom ISD Jimmy E. Cox Waskom Harrison