1512-11697

This investment supports Oral Health Colorado (OHCO) to build the capacity of local urban and rural communities to engage in oral health advocacy for change and continue to advocate for statewide policies that improve oral health access, quality, and integration into primary care for local stakeholders in Colorado. Specifically, OHCO will contract with the Interaction Institute for Social Change to conduct its Facilitative Leadership for Social Change training in five rural areas of the state; build diverse coalitions for action in three urban communities: Aurora, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction; and advocate for the inclusion of oral health in State Innovation Model initiatives and the framework of the Accountable Care Collaborative 2.0. When it comes to improving oral health in Colorado, there has been a shift in activity from the state to the community level. OHCO's work in the rural and urban communities will focus on developing plans that address either community water fluoridation, access/consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, or the development of in-school oral health services. Deepening the engagement of local communities in oral health will enable OHCO to more broadly build the public will to create sustainable social change. This proposal aligns with the Oral Health 2020 Goal 4 of eradicating dental disease in children and the target that, with the closing of disparity gaps, 85% of children reach age 5 without a cavity.