for School-based Outreach to Promote Low-cost and
Free Health Care Coverage
Work
with your principal and/or superintendent to determine
what types of outreach activities are best for
your community and are permissible within your
school’s policies.
- Make
information available. Be sure to display
posters
and hand out fliers
at back-to-school night, sporting events and
other events that attract parents. Places parents
frequent, such as child drop-off or pick-up
sites, are great venues to post and distribute
information. - Hand
out packets at parent-teacher conferences.
Include a flier on low-cost and free health
care coverage in packages for parents. Prominently
display posters in classrooms where conferences
are held. - Post
health care coverage information near children’s
artwork. A child’s artwork will capture
parents’ attention.
- Send
information home. Put fliers in backpack.
Ask if your school can include fliers on health
care coverage with information on free and reduced
school
lunch programs.
- Publish
an article or “ad” in the school newsletter.
Submit a template
article for publication or print a flier
in lieu or addition to an advertisement.
- Create
an event to attract families. Work with
your PTA to ask a local business or community
group to host a spaghetti dinner or a pancake
breakfast. Educators can serve up information
on children’s health care coverage in addition
to meals! Download a flier
to publicize your event!
- Send
sick kids home with fliers. School nurses
provide health information to families. Be sure
the school’s nurse has materials to hand
out and is familiar with your state’s CHIP
and Medicaid programs.
- Recruit
retired teachers and school personnel. Your
retired colleagues can empathize with your desire
to link kids to health care coverage programs
and may have time to devote to outreach efforts.
- Ask
families and school personnel to tell a friend.
Word of mouth is a great communications vehicle.
For example, “Our school is hoping to inform
every parent in the community about affordable
health care for children. We’re asking
every parent to tell a friend about this program.”
For
Web sites with more information on school-based
outreach, check out the Healthy
Schools Project and/or Enrolling
Children in Health Coverage Programs: Schools
are Part of the Equation.
Need
Materials? Print a flier
to photocopy. Order posters,
bookmarks
and other materials.