Children’s Health Resources

Resources to protect and promote children’s health and safety are available at the federal and state level and from private foundations.  Many of these resources specifically target rural communities. 

These grants have January deadlines:

  • The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for their Child Mental Health Initiative.  This multi-year program seeks to develop “integrated home and community-based services and supports for children and youth with serious emotional disturbances and their families by encouraging the development and expansion of effective and enduring systems of care.â€Â  The RFA notes that 65-80% of the estimated 4.5 to 6.3 million children in the United States who suffer from a serious emotional problem do not receive the mental health services they need.  I’m sure this problem is even more severe in rural areas.  The application deadline is January 15, 2009.

  • The American Academy of Pediatrics sponsors the Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) program.  They will award grants up to $12,000 in 2009 to “community based child health initiatives.â€Â  They will give priority to proposals that target areas with large numbers of uninsured children and with poor health outcomes, and that demonstrate community collaboration.  Many rural areas in Wisconsin would fit these criteria.  A pediatrician must lead the project.  CATCH offers free technical assistance in completing your proposal.  The application deadline is January 30, 2009.

SAMHSA has also produced the Native American Children’s Program Kit.  The kit contains materials to enable substance abuse programs to provide educational support for the children of clients in substance abuse treatment.  Material teaches children skills such as solving problems, coping, and social competence. The kit has activities for all levels of school age children.  It contains information for therapists to distribute to their clients to help parents understand the needs of their children, and training materials including posters and DVDs for substance abuse treatment staff who plan to offer support groups for children.   The kits are free and can be ordered online.

You might want to review the work of the Governor’s Task Force to Improve Access to Oral Health.  A priority of the Task Force was to find ways to improve children’s access to dental care in Wisconsin.  Many of their recommendations require action at the state level, such as expanding the Health Professions Loan Assistance Program and implementing a tax on soda.  However, some of their proposals address policy initiatives that can be pursued at the local level.  These include municipal water system fluoridation, coordinating public health and school dental programs and providing oral health education to children and their families.  If you’re requesting funding for a program, it’s a good idea to keep these types of recommendations in mind and reference them in your proposal—it could make it much more competitive.  See the complete Task Force Recommendations for more details.

November 18, 2008 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , , , ,  Â· Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies, Training and Tools

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