Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) is the lead entity of this Connecting Kids to Coverage (CKC) HEALTHY KIDS 2022 Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreement proposal. FL-CKF, a community based public non-profit initiative of The Chiles Center in the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida (USF) located Tampa, Florida, respectfully submits this request for $1.5 million. Our proposed overall project goal is to enroll/retain 9,817 children in the Medicaid and CHIP program with 3,355 parents enrolled in health care coverage and 2,082 pregnant individuals enrolled in coverage. Additionally, we are committed to accomplishing the following: create 40 new application assistance sites; expand the network of referral partners by creating 204 partnerships; attend 357 outreach events; provide 135 community partner workshops and 141 consumer education sessions. FL-CKF, a prior Cycle I-V awardee, along with its statewide coalition, has been vital to implementing outreach and fostering communication among all those concerned with health insurance coverage. FL-CKF works collaboratively with over 500 FL agencies and stakeholders to advocate and conduct outreach and enrollment for: Florida KidCare (FKC), the state’s Medicaid/CHIP program; the FFM; and county health plans. FL-CKF is committed to expanding upon successful activities conducted across the FL during previous grant funding cycles focused on: educating families about the availability of free or low-cost health coverage under FKC; identifying children likely to be eligible for FKC; and assisting families with the application/renewal process. FL-CKF, the State Coalition and the collaborative partners (Family Health Care Foundation; Lee Memorial Health System Foundation; Florida Health Justice Project , True Health, and Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital), will provide culturally appropriate outreach and application assistance to uninsured, eligible vulnerable populations s
tatewide, such as: Latino/Hispanic, Haitian and African American families; CYSHCN; children of post-secondary education students/Young Invincibles; LEP families; legal immigrants; children of new mothers; families residing in rural areas, and military/veteran families. Key partners include: public school districts, ESOL programs, adult education programs, pediatric outpatient & mobile clinics, veteran service offices, refugee task force, Hispanic advisory councils, and United Way. FL-CKF and its collaborative partners will engage schools, children’s hospitals, urgent care centers, and community organizations in outreach, enrollment, and retention activities to bridge health care coverage disparities through reaching out to specific subgroups of children that exhibit lower than average health coverage rates. Efforts focus on assisting eligible parents in obtaining health coverage; addressing a wide range of barriers to obtaining coverage amongst uninsured populations; delivering culturally and linguistically competent messages; and employing outreach/education techniques to increase awareness of the opportunity to enroll in FKC year-round. The strategic focus for outreach and enrollment is the expansion of Cycles 1-V activities concentrating on systems within children’s hospitals to provide enrollment/renewal assistance; utilizing existing networks of application assistors to reach uninsured but eligible vulnerable children; hands-on application/renewal assistance to eligible parents to ensure children get enrolled and utilize health care services; and outreach to individuals who are LEP and military/veteran families. The outreach and enrollment plan will utilize effective messaging for the targeted communities that are among the highest in the country with the number of uninsured children, to eliminate barriers, increase interest, and motivate families to enroll.