“When designing outreach activities for your community, remember that one size doesn’t fit all.”

Deciding on the right type of activity for your agency is a crucial part of getting started. Asking the following key questions will help your agency identify the best approach.

What resources does your agency bring to the activity? The type of activity your agency is able to conduct depends on the resources that can be devoted to the project. For example, does your agency have enough funds to pay only for printing flyers or does it have additional financial and staff resources to devote to a more extensive activity?

Does your agency have existing activities that can be expanded to include an affordable children’s health insurance component? Examples include health fairs, after-school recreation programs or ongoing partnerships with local schools or non-profit groups.

Is another group or agency already providing the outreach or enrollment activity that your agency wants to do? If so, is there a way your agency can collaborate or contribute to the existing effort to avoid duplicative efforts? Collaboration could include offering use of agency facilities for events or helping with publicity.

Does your agency want to limit its activities to simply providing families with information about affordable children’s health insurance? Or does your agency have resources to provide a broader range of activities to help families connect with health insurance for their children?

Do the proposed activities fit with what you know about the target population? For example, if the families your agency wishes to reach have second jobs on the weekend, then holding an enrollment event on a Saturday morning may not work. On the other hand, by making information available at neighborhood community centers where potentially eligible families congregate and making sure that the front-desk staff can respond to basic questions, you may be able to effectively reach your target population.

Activities

The following nine activities were developed as a result of three years’ effort by more than 10 cities and counties in California. They reflect the best practices and lessons learned by local agencies that reached out using more than 30 outreach or enrollment activities. The Institute for Local Government thanks the local officials and their local collaborating partners, who participated in the projects, for their leadership and creativity.

1. Place Information Brochures or Flyers at Agency Buildings.

2. Invite Health Plans to Community Events to Provide Information (and Follow-Up) to Families.

3. Collaborate With Local Non-Profit Organizations and Agencies.

4. Work With an Outside Certified Application Assistant to Help Families Complete the Application.

5. Inform Agency Employees About Potential Health Coverage for Their Children.

6. Assign an Agency Staff Member to Become a Certified Application Assistant.

7. Use Agency Staff as Roving Ambassadors at Agency Events.

8. Hold an Enrollment Event.

9. Collaborate With Schools.