Page 24

remind parents to have their children immunized and to inform them of the availability of free or reduced price immunizations and health care coverage.

7) Outreach through Foundation Sponsored Coalitions Health Kentucky, Inc., sponsored by the Kentucky Medical Association and the Good Samaritan Foundation, provides qualified applicants under 100% FPL with free single-visit access to health care providers. Persons who contact Health Kentucky are routinely screened for Medicaid eligibility and will be provided with KCHIP enrollment information as well.

The University of Kentucky Center for Health Services Management and Research, the lead applicant, and other health care and children’s organizations, in collaboration with the Cabinet for Health Services (the Title XXI agency) received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant: Covering Kids: A National Access Initiative for Low-Income, Uninsured Children. The grant facilitates and augments a close working relationship through state and local efforts in three areas: design and conduct of outreach programs that identify and enroll eligible children into Medicaid and KCHIP; simplification of enrollment processes; and coordination of existing coverage programs for low-income children. This coalition covers the entire state and includes: Family Resource/Youth Services Centers; Head Start; Commission for Children With Special Health Care Needs; public health departments; primary care centers; rural health centers; academic health centers; Kentucky Youth Advocates; Kentucky Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics; Kentucky Hospital Association; Kentucky Medical Association; Kentucky Public Health Association; day care coalitions; school-based groups and other child advocacy groups.

There are a number of outreach efforts that are best accomplished through a coalition. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health Services, as the agency responsible for KCHIP, supports this coalition and will continue to participate and support it regardless of funding decisions made by RWJ.