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Report Profiles SCHIP/MEDICAID Outreach Program and Its Evaluation EffortsNational Center for Education in Maternal and Child HealthApril 28, 2000 An issue brief released by the National Association of Child Advocates (NACA) profiles an SCHIP/Medicaid outreach and enrollment program that relies on community organizations to conduct enrollment outreach. The program, called an "enrollment fund," pays individuals or groups who work with community organizations to complete enrollment paperwork and interviews for families. Organizations are paid for each SCHIP or Medicaid application they help complete. The goal of the program is to engage organizations that are interested in children's health but that may not have enough time or resources to aid in outreach. Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) runs the program and is a pilot site for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Covering Kids Initiative, which funds outreach and enrollment programs for SCHIP and Medicaid. Participants in PCCY's program include a YWCA, a community center, Catholic Social Services, a consortium of nurse-managed health centers, and a mobile health van. The program uses the concept of "participatory evaluation," which "proposes that assessment of effectiveness can be achieved as a project is under way." To assess participating organizations, PCCY's program asks them to periodically return tracking forms to PCCY with demographic and other information. This allows the program to monitor each participant’s enrollment statistics and to determine how many applicants were accepted into SCHIP or Medicaid using a random sample and a professional evaluator's pro bono assistance. In phone interviews with participants, evaluators found that the participating organizations needed to meet with each family three to four times to complete an application. Also, initial results indicated that organizations that are new to children's health insurance outreach "were among the most energized with the highest numbers of applications turned in." The author notes that "the question of how long the enthusiasm can be sustained is a good one, one which is at the heart of the enrollment fund project." Schmid M. 2000. Planning the Beginning with the End in Mind: Evaluating Outreach and Enrollment Strategies. An Interview with Pat Redmond, Health Director, Philadelphia Citizens for Children and NACA member organization. Washington, DC: National Association of Child Advocates. Available at http://www.childadvocacy.org/publictxt.html#health. To subscribe to the MCH Alert,
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