Community: Huntington Park (County of Los Angeles)

Population: 64,747

Summary:

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.

Program Highlights:

• Huntington Park staff institutionalized outreach efforts by using existing city programs to reach families of eligible children.
• The city used monthly Neighborhood Watch meetings as a focal point for reaching out to families. Information about affordable children’s health insurance was included in the Neighborhood Watch agenda packets, and staff gave brief presentations at the meetings.
• Huntington Park worked with the county Children’s Health Initiative to make a certified application assistant available during regular office hours at a community center to help families complete enrollment applications.
• The city developed an ongoing relationship with the county’s Children’s Health Initiative to respond to requests for information from families interested in learning more about affordable health insurance for their children.

The City of Huntington Park’s efforts educated families about the affordable health insurance coverage options available for their children and provided multiple enrollment opportunities for them. Families who attended the Neighborhood Watch events and expressed interest in affordable children’s health insurance were given a short referral card to fill out. These cards were then given to the county Children’s Health Initiative staff, who followed up directly with the parents to determine their children’s eligibility and help them complete the application process.