CTA's Teachers for Healthy Kids program plans to accomplish a healthy amount of work over the next two years with its new $1.2 million grant from The California Endowment health care foundation.
With its partner, the California Association of Health Plans, the project has ambitious goals that include creating a health care curriculum for students, conducting teacher focus groups, training educators to train colleagues about the project, and reaching out to other entities that have children's health initiatives.
Outreach is a top priority, says CTA Board member Lloyd Porter, co-chair of the project's steering committee. "One of our top goals is to get involved in children's health projects wherever they are — with county programs, for example, or with other groups that are doing things."
Teachers for Healthy Kids is already working with the League of California Cities to further spread the word about the state's low-cost Healthy Families health insurance program, says Porter.
The project's objectives for 2005 and 2006 are:
Legislation The project will work with CTA Governmental Relations to create a bill to expand funding or enrollment in Healthy Families or the state's no-cost Medi-Cal program, or to simplify the school billing options to make it easier for school districts to get reimbursed for the cost of promoting the state's public insurance plans.
CTA supports the expansion of a method used at several schools to enroll more students. Called "Express Lane," it allows parents to sign up children at the same time they enroll them for free or reduced-price lunches. In addition, the project's activities will be used to raise awareness among policy-makers about children's health issues. A children's health care handbook will be created to help teachers inform the Legislature.
Coalitions To further promote insurance coverage for all students under age 19, the project hopes to add teachers to coalitions of local or state agencies and community groups promoting school-based children's health outreach activities, as well as to form collaborations with local children's coalition efforts like First Five and the LA Project.
By the end of 2006, Teachers for Healthy Kids staff will implement projects in two counties to improve health care insurance options and expand delivery systems. The project will continue efforts to promote the Healthy Kids program in Los Angeles County with Los Angeles Unified officials and United Teachers Los Angeles.
Curriculum By 2006, the project will develop and distribute curriculum materials to teachers in targeted districts. The material will encourage parents and students to "see health insurance as part of a healthy lifestyle."
A curriculum advisory committee will be convened to develop and evaluate materials. The California School Nurses Organization and county department of education curriculum specialists will be consulted in the development of parent education materials that "encourage the importance of preventive health care and provide generic information on health insurance utilization."
Education CTA staff, leadership and members will continue to be educated on how to promote the expansion of the Teachers for Healthy Kids program into more CTA chapters. Eight to 12 teacher-trainers will be recruited to provide more support for the project statewide, and presentations about the project will continue to be made at CTA regional meetings and statewide conferences.
Enrollment To get more students enrolled in Healthy Families or Medi-Cal, methods to speed up enrollment and to keep children enrolled will be explored.
Additional information will be posted on the project's website [www.teachersforhealthykids.com], along with a calendar that lists all districts where the project is actively operating.
