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Improving the Health of Our Community
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The King County Health Action Plan is a public-private partnership with Public Health – Seattle & King County and three dozen collaborating members. Its mission is to implement collaborative policy development and pilot projects that focus on system change and improvement of worsening health trends affecting vulnerable populations within King County.
The King County Health Action Plan was formed in 1996 under a King County Council Motion, "to study health status and the changing state in health care in King County and recommend actions to the Metropolitan King County Council by which King County and the Health Department can most appropriately carry out their roles to protect and promote the health of the residents of King County." To accomplish this goal the Action plan currently operates the following programs under its umbrella:
King County Children's Health Initiative
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The Children’s Health Initiative (CHI) is a local approach to improving the health of low-income children. The first component proactively finds, enrolls, and links eligible low-income children to medical and dental homes, needed wrap around services and integrated preventive care. The second element consists of innovative pilot programs to improve the effectiveness of health coverage for low-income King County children.
The King County Children's Health Initiative was designed and spearheaded by King County Executive Ron Sims and his Children's Health Access Task Force which met in the winter and spring of 2006. In March 2007, the Governor signed into law the exemplary new State Children’s Health Care Act, expanding health coverage to all children in families earning less than 250% FPL in July 2007 and to families earning less than 300% FPL in January 2009. With the new state law, it became clear that it was more important than ever for local efforts to sign families up for the new coverage and to make sure that expanding health coverage leads to improvements in children’s health.
In May 2007, the County Council passed Motion 12507 adopting the policies supporting the King County Children's Health Initiative and expressing its intention to dedicate $1 million for outreach and linkage annually in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Kids Get Care (KGC) is a program to ensure that children, regardless of insurance status, receive early integrated preventive physical, oral, mental and developmental health services through attachment to a health care home. The program also serves pregnant women and women with young children in the areas of oral and mental health. To assure access to services, children need both health care coverage and a coordinated delivery system that will assure they get preventive services. Kids Get Care has been operating since 2001, assisted by two federal HRSA Healthy Community Access Program grants. The program serves patients at 24 clinic sites in King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties.
Children's Health Improvement Collaborative (CHIC)
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The Children’s Health Improvement Collaborative (CHIC) will merge with and become a part of the Washington State Collaborative to Improve Health for 2008-2009. The pediatric topic areas are asthma, medical home and overweight prevention. Adult focus areas are asthma, diabetes and hypertension.
Medical practices of all sizes are encouraged to participate in the Collaborative. However, first preference will be given to practices with five or fewer physicians, and first-time participants. Tuition is underwritten and is free to participants. Expense stipends - up to $5,000 - are available for practices that accept Medicaid clients and may be used for expenses such as travel and office coverage. Enrollment ends December 31, 2007.
Sea-Tac Smiles is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Initiative Funding Partners Program of Public Health – Seattle & King County/King County Health Action Plan and its local partners whose goal is to increase low-income South King County residents’ access to dental services by partnering with Sea Mar Community Health Centers to convert the formally dormant dental clinic that is part of the Dental Assisting Program at the Sea-Tac Occupational Skills Center (OSC) into a fully operational dental clinic serving the community, and to create a model for prevention-focused community based training at the OSC dental clinic for dental professional students. The clinic re-opened in November of 2004.
Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD)
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The ABCD Program focuses on preventive and restorative dental care for Medicaid-eligible children from birth through age five with an emphasis on the first dental visit by age one. Three year start-up funding ended June 30, 2006. The program efforts are now integrated into on-going access and outreach activities at Public Health, coordinated by the Kids Get Care program and the Children’s Health Initiative.
ABCD increases access to preventive and restorative dental care for children in low income families by:
- Training dentists to treat very young children and reimbursing them at enhanced rates
- Informing families and community partners about the importance of early preventive dental care, and
- Identifying and connecting Medicaid eligible children under age 6 to dental homes.
For more info:
Current programs:
King County Health Action Plan programs have received national accolades including recognition from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Commonwealth Foundation and the Packard Foundation.
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