1. GMMB&A Media Outreach Conference Call #2 The second call in GMMB's ongoing communication technical assistance series is Tuesday, 22 May 2001 at 8:00 am HST. "Back-to-School 2001" will discuss the Covering Kids communications wave and their Back-to-School Action Kit. It will focus on core messages for the campaign and how groups can use the kit's materials to publicize their August 6-10 outreach efforts to local media. Covering Kids grantees will share media outreach experiences and suggestions for successful efforts. It is open to Hawaii Covering Kids coalition members. 2. Keeping Medicaid After Welfare: Advertising Campaign The overhaul of the federal welfare program in 1996 created confusion among recipients throughout the country about their ability to retain Medicaid coverage. Although individuals who lose their eligibility for cash assistance can keep their Medicaid health insurance if they qualify, recipients are often poorly informed about their Medicaid eligibility and as a result have either lost or are in danger of losing their health insurance. The Commonwealth Fund is sponsoring a new public education campaign featuring subway and radio ads that is the first of its kind to alert people who have left or are about to leave welfare for the workforce that they and their families can retain Medicaid eligibility. While the message targets the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have lost Medicaid coverage because of confusion over their continued eligibility, it applies across the United States. Created by the award-winning firm Robbett Advocacy Media, the English-and Spanish-language ads will run during May and June on all subway lines and air on several radio stations. The ads publicize HealthStat, a telephone helpline operated by the city that provides callers with information about Medicaid and Child Health Plus, prescreens them for eligibility, and offers referrals to community-based resources for assistance in applying for and keeping coverage. The news release is at http://www.cmwf.org/newsroom/newsroom_show.htm?doc_id=223662. 3. Spring Edition of "Sign Them Up" Focuses on Innovative CHIP and Medicaid Outreach Efforts The Children's Defense Fund's Child Health Implementation Project's spring edition of "Sign Them Up" newsletter is now available online. It focuses on a variety of innovative outreach efforts from across the country. Some of the articles included in the spring edition are: * SHOUT: Involving Students in a National Movement * Healthy Ties: Bringing Kinship Care Families into the Health Care Circle * Keeping the Faith in Mississippi * Insuring Kids is Good Business To access the newsletter online, go to Archive: Sign Them Up! Newsletters. Previous editions of the newsletter are also available on this page. 4. How Social Workers Can Link Children to Free and Low-Cost Health Insurance The paper describes how social workers can play an integral role in improving the health status of the children they serve by helping them obtain health insurance and by advocating for public policies that respond to the needs of families: * Reach out to families seeking medical services for their children. * Identify eligible children through schools and help them enroll. * Include outreach efforts in clinical practice. * Enrich services provided through the child welfare system by helping families obtain health insurance for their children. * Forge partnerships between social workers and other entities interested in children's health. * Incorporate children's health insurance outreach activities in training for students and young professionals. * Improve access to free and low-cost health insurance through grassroots community organizing efforts. * Engage professional associations in outreach activities. * Encourage social workers to take on volunteer efforts that include child health insurance outreach. * Use professional expertise to advance policies and practices that will improve children's access to health insurance. Social workers can make a valuable contribution to the national effort to link uninsured children with health insurance. In addition to being congruent with the overall mission of social work, outreach activities can be viewed as a way to bring financial resources into the hospitals, schools, and community organizations where social workers are employed. 5. Low-Income Mothers Lack Health Care Some 5.9 million American mothers of children under age 19 years lack health insurance, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Nearly nine in ten of the uninsured mothers earn too little to afford health insurance, but too much to be eligible for Medicaid. http://www.cbpp.org/5-10-01health-pr.htm