March 1, 1999

Community-Based Organizations

Paving the Way to Children's Health Insurance Coverage

Providing health insurance for children from low-income working families has emerged as a top priority for the nation. While fundamental policy and procedural changes are needed to lay the essential groundwork for increasing enrollment in children’s health coverage programs, goals must be achieved one child at a time, application by application. No matter how easy the application system, many children will miss the opportunity to obtain health coverage if their families do not get easy-to-understand information about available programs and direct help with the enrollment process. Community-based organization that interact regularly with families, and have earned the reputations for fairness and trust are best-suited to providing these essential services.

This issue brief is for community-based organizations that are planning child health insurance outreach and enrollment assistance activities. It covers some basic principles and approaches to consider as a local outreach campaign moves forward. More than 30 individuals with experience conducting outreach in community settings were consulted in the preparation of this paper. They include child health advocates, outreach workers, representatives of state and local government agencies and others, from California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington. Their insights and ideas form the basis of this document.

Source: Southern Institute on Children and Families

Citation: Cohen Ross, Donna. Community-Based Organizations: Paving the Way to Children's Health Insurance Coverage. Columbia, SC: Covering Kids National Program Office, Southern Institute on Children and Families, March 1999.

View Complete Document