1509-10488

California: This investment supports the Student Health Support SVCs dba Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health (L.A. Trust) to spread and continue to improve its effective model for integrating oral health care assessment and early intervention in school campuses within the high-need area of Los Angeles County. Specifically, L.A. Trust will expand and continue to refine its school-based assessment and prevention Oral Health Initiative to 13 school sites; partner with District Nursing and local dental providers to identify school sites with a high level of need that are ready to implement the program; develop a robust referral and care coordination system by working with local dental providers, Wellness Centers, and District Nurses to establish dental hubs in each of the Education Service Centers; engage students and their families as oral health champions through the delivery of oral health education using a health equity lens; and engaging the Oral Health Advisory Board in discussions about program sustainability, identifying additional local funders, and leveraging data to build the case for the cost savings associated with supporting the Oral Health Initiative. L.A. Trust has partnered with the DentaQuest Foundation to develop a district wide oral health initiative for LAUSD, the second largest school district in the nation serving over 600,000 children, 90% of whom represent minority groups and 76% of whom qualify for school lunch programs. Through this partnership, LAUSD has revised its school oral health policy to include oral health as a key component of health programs across all school campuses, L.A. Trust has built a strong network of local providers and advocacy organizations that support the inclusion of oral health in schools, and over 200 parents have been engaged as advocates in this effort. $224,999.80 will be used to support personnel time to manage the day-to-day activities of the project work plan, communicate and convene project partners and staff, and provide overall program direction; local travel to conduct project activities and events; administrative costs associated with the implementation of the work; a robust evaluation of the impact of the proposed activities; and support to District Nurses for their role in the work. This proposal is aligned with the Oral Health 2020 goal of incorporating oral health into the primary education system and the target that by 2020, oral health is incorporated into the systems of the 10 largest school districts.