New Jersey Covering Kids & Families Initiative
Grant Overview
The purpose of this project is to maximize enrollment and retention of New Jersey's eligible uninsured children (approximately 119,000) in public health insurance programs – Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare. Building upon lessons learned through the previous Covering Kids project and a data-driven assessment of current needs and barriers, the project continues to focus on the poor and disadvantaged populations but specifically targets those with a proportionately greater number of eligible but uninsured individuals – i.e., eligible higher income people, immigrants and minorities, and adolescents. In addition to traditional outreach sites, the project will focus on areas with proven enrollment success, such as healthcare delivery sites, schools, immigrant communities and work sites. Advocacy strategies target SCHIP policies related to required documentation, renewal and immigrant eligibility, as well as simplification efforts through automation of application/eligibility determination processes, and emphasize the importance of a "medical home" for enrollees to improve retention. The statewide activities include: a host of educational and training programs on issues of the uninsured and on the NJ FamilyCare program, application process, regulations and policies; active outreach and coalition building to identify and enroll eligible children in NJ FamilyCare; development of outreach resources to complement statewide strategies; routine identification and assessment of barriers to enrollment and retention; development of action plans to redesign policy and practices, simplify the processes and remove barriers; coordination of existing health insurance programs, particularly targeting electronic interface between Medicaid and SCHIP programs and effective de-linking of coverage and welfare programs; and use of evaluation techniques to regularly assess and adjust the project's statewide and pilot plans. The New Jersey Immigration Policy Network is collaborating with statewide and local training efforts, providing information on the unique outreach needs and enrollment barriers faced by immigrant communities. The Association for Children of New Jersey is working with the statewide project to develop barrier review forms and collect and assess barriers identified by pilots, coalition member agencies and County Boards of Social Services. At the local level, three pilot programs have been formed, covering a range of urban, suburban and rural communities. In addition to each pilot's unique features (described in their links), all pilots offer local level NJ FamilyCare trainings, targeting healthcare staff as well as community outreach workers in their service areas, and provide direct outreach and application assistance to families. The project operates through a statewide coalition of government agencies and over 60 state-based and community organizations representing statewide children, families and immigrants advocacy groups; hospitals and clinics; healthcare provider and professional organizations; social service agencies; schools and educational associations; grassroots organizations; the faith community; private health plans; industry and business community. These agencies actively participate in task-oriented subcommittees with specific objectives and defined deliverables, with the lead agency serving as liaison.
Grant Amount
Children: $1,000,000
Start Date
July 1, 2002
Target Populations
African Americans (search other projects targeting African Americans)
Latino/Hispanic Americans (search other projects targeting Latino/Hispanic Americans) Interventions
Business (search other projects using this intervention)
Community-based organizations (search other projects using this intervention)
Faith based sites (search other projects using this intervention)
Hospitals (search other projects using this intervention)
Schools (search other projects using this intervention) Lead Organization
Health Research & Educational Trust of New Jersey
Contact
Firoozeh M. Vali, Ph.D.
760 Alexander Road
Princeton, NJ 08543
p (609) 275-4145
e fvali@njha.com
w www.njha.com
Local Projects in New Jersey
Hudson County
Northern New Jersey
Southern New Jersey
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