Children's Defense Fund

52 East Lynn Street
Columbus, OH 43215
614-221-2244

Project Title
Children's Health Disparities Coalition
Grant Description
To establish a coalition of statewide providers and advocates who are committed to eliminating health disparities among Ohio's children
Focus Area
School Aged Children's Healthcare
Region Served
Statewide - OH
Award Amount
$45,000
Year Awarded
2007
Grant Duration
12 months

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Project Title
Children's Health Disparities Coalition Challenge Grant
Grant Description
To match funds raised to establish a coalition of statewide providers and advocates who are committed to eliminating health disparities among Ohio's children
Focus Area
School Aged Children's Healthcare
Region Served
Statewide - OH
Award Amount
$30,000
Year Awarded
2007
Grant Duration
24 months

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Project Title
Covering Kids and Families
Grant Description
To evaluate various outreach strategies for enrollment of eligible children and families in the Ohio Medicaid program
Focus Area
Community Primary Care
Region Served
Statewide, OH
Award Amount
$71,250
Year Awarded
2005
Grant Duration
12 months
Results During the grant period, December 1, 2005 through November 30, 2006, the project assisted with 442 applications for Medicaid of which 360 were successfully enrolled. The target of 500 was not reached because the time required to process each successful application (an average of 4.93 hours per application) was greater than expected, exceeding the grant amount budgeted for enrollment facilitation.

The Institute for the Study of Health at the University of Cincinnati was contracted to evaluate the outreach approaches.  This evaluation period was from January, 2005 through October, 2006.  During that period, 466 persons were assisted with Medicaid applications, and 379, or 81%, were successfully enrolled.    Eight outreach strategies were employed.  They included Covering the Uninsured Week, a national campaign sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; enrollment facilitation through employers, special events, the faith community, Legal Aid Society, and the schools; partner-based facilitation (e.g., having a project representative on-site at an agency to help families with enrollment); and partner referred facilitation (e.g., a clinic refers a family to the project representative for enrollment help). The key findings were:

  • The most successful outreach strategies in terms of number of applications and enrollment yield were Cover the Uninsured Week, partner-based facilitation and school- based facilitation.
  • The most cost-effective outreach strategies were school-based facilitation, partner-referred facilitation and partner-based facilitation.
  • The outreach strategies having the highest approval rates were Legal Aid Society referral, partner-based facilitation, and partner-referred facilitation.
  • The average time the project representative spent per application was 4.93 hours
  • The average cost per application was $158.79.
  • The estimated return on community investment resulting from enrollment facilitation was $14.77 to $1.
  • This enrollment facilitation project brought an estimated additional $1,093,183 in Medicaid reimbursement into the community.

1.      The project was successful in creating institutional support for Medicaid outreach.  In September, 2006 the Free Store/Food Bank began an enrollment broker program funded by the Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services (DJFS).  Two brokers have been hired – one based at the Free Store and the other rotating at sites such as food pantries. 

Advocacy has taken place with the Hamilton County Commissioners to set aside funds to increase outreach for  Medicaid enrollment. The Legal Aid Society has obtained funding from United Way and the Anderson Foundation to continue staffing the Coalition and advocating for the reduction of barriers to Medicaid eligibility.

Outcomes:

  • Surveys indicated that consumers and stakeholders were satisfied with the process of enrollment and with Legal Aid Society staff who provided assistance.
  • Legal Aid plans to continue the Covering Kids and Families for the foreseeable future and will continue to coordinate the Cover the Uninsured Week enrollment activities.  It will also continue to provide enrollment facilitation in the outreach strategies that were evaluated to be the most effective.  Full service enrollment facilitation will continue in Brown, Clinton and Highland Counties only.

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Project Title
Covering Kids and Families in Southwest Ohio
Grant Description
To develop enrollment and outreach activities for Medicaid-eligible children and families living in three southwest Ohio counties
Focus Area
Community Primary Care
Region Served
Butler, Clermont, and Hamilton Counties, OH
Award Amount
$25,000
Year Awarded
2003
Grant Duration
12 months
Results Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio (CDF-Ohio) is the lead agency for the Covering Kids and Families (CKF) Initiative, a collaborative effort committed to improving access to healthcare for uninsured Ohioans through outreach, simplifying enrollment processes, and more effectively coordinating healthcare coverage for low-income families and children.

CKF is a national project with a statewide component that includes a statewide coalition, policy agenda, and staff. One of the local pilot projects is The Southwest Ohio Local Project, led by CDF-Ohio’s Cincinnati office.

The goal of the CKF Initiative is to increase the enrollment of all eligible children and their families into the state’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The CKF Initiative will achieve this goal by pursuing three primary strategies:

  • conducting outreach and enrollment activities,
  • simplifying the enrollment and re-enrollment processes, and
  • coordinating public healthcare coverage programs so that families receive the services they need.

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Project Title
Insuring Our Children: Facilitating Access to Care
Grant Description
To design the monitoring and evaluation component of Hamilton County’s outreach campaign to enroll 12,000-15,000 eligible children in the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by Aug. 31, 1999
Focus Area
Community Primary Care
Region Served
Hamilton County, OH
Award Amount
$134,355
Year Awarded
1998
Grant Duration
18 months
Results The Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Greater Cincinnati Project addresses health issues through the Insuring Our Children: Facilitating Access to Care project. This project will 1) monitor and evaluate CHIP outreach to determine the most effective outreach strategies, 2) coordinate multi-county cooperation on CHIP outreach using lessons learned, and 3) educate the public and policy makers in Southwest Ohio about child health policy.

CDF will audit and evaluate the enrollment process to streamline and remove bureaucratic barriers. Overall evaluation will document the number of children enrolled and the number who remain enrolled and will expose barriers to enrollment leading to a more simplified application process. The results of the evaluation will provide insight into the most effective outreach strategies and can help determine whether community-based health resources are accessible.

CDF currently partners with multiple counties in the Southwestern Ohio Children’s Coalition (SWOCC) to develop and replicate the best practices on CHIP outreach. Regional meetings promote innovative outreach, provide support systems for CHIP coordinators, and encourage counties to share resources. Finally, regional coordination provides awareness on the effectiveness of different outreach models in different communities.

CDF educates the public and policy makers via newsletters, conferences, presentations, and legislative visits to increase access to community health resources. CDF uses solid data to alert elected officials to the health needs of children in working poor families. Such alerts prompt lawmakers to include child-centered legislation when planning health initiatives for this region.

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