The following community stories describe the activities of
California communities that participated in the Institute for
Local Government’s three-year Communities for Healthy Kids
program. These innovative efforts comprised more than 30 outreach
and enrollment activities to connect families with no- and
low-cost health insurance for their children and helped develop
the best practices and lessons learned included in the Insuring Kids Online Resource Center.
The Institute for Local Government thanks the local officials and
their local collaborating partners who participated in the
projects for their leadership and creativity
Recognizing that cities can play a role in enhancing parent and
family awareness about no- and low- cost health insurance for
children, the City of Chula Vista’s mayor convened a task force
to explore how the city might best focus its limited resources.
The task force included representatives from public agencies, the
private sector, a university and nonprofit community
organizations, who collaborated on exploring what types of
activities the city could undertake to promote enrollment in no-
or low- cost health insurance options for eligible children.
The City of Huntington Park worked in several ways to increase
opportunities for families to enroll their eligible children in
affordable health insurance. These included working through the
city’s Neighborhood Watch program, inviting health plans to a
community event and establishing office hours when families could
receive direct assistance in filling out the application for
their children’s health insurance.
To help enroll eligible children in affordable health insurance,
the City of Indio worked through its popular teen center. Because
residents considered it a safe gathering place, the teen center
served as the focal point for the city’s outreach activities.
A wellness initiative approved by the city council laid the
foundation for the City of La Mesa’s work to increase enrollment
of eligible children in no- and low-cost health insurance.
The City of Riverside implemented a pilot program, Riverside
Healthy Kids, to enroll eligible children in affordable
health insurance through a range of innovative activities. The
city partnered with local health plans, the county Children’s
Health Initiative, schools and community-based organizations to
conduct outreach and enrollment activities.
The City of Salinas worked to increase enrollment of eligible
children for no- and low-cost health insurance by implementing
outreach activities at community resource fairs. The effort built
upon an existing Neighborhood Engagement Strategy approved by the
city council
Collaboration between the Santa Barbara County Children’s Health
Initiative and the City of Santa Barbara provided a unique
opportunity to launch a new partnership to reach eligible
families with information about affordable health insurance for
their children.
The City of Santa Clarita strives to educate families about the
health coverage options available for children, and provides
several different types of enrollment opportunities to
accommodate residents’ needs and preferences.
The City of South Lake Tahoe increased opportunities for families
to enroll their eligible children in affordable health insurance
by offering information through its Latino Affairs Commission.
The city collaborated with the El Dorado County Children’s Health
Initiative to provide information and enroll eligible children in
no- or low-cost health insurance.
The “Helping Families Find Affordable Children’s Health Insurance” video encapsulates the goals and information developed from a three-year program called “Communities for Healthy Kids.” Hear testimonials from California city and county officials on the benefits of helping families find affordable health insurance for their children, as well as highlights of best practices and lessons learned by 10 California cities and counties that participated in the program.
