1802-13887

This investment supports the Berks County Community Foundation (BCCF) to act as a lead grassroots convener in the Berks County and City of Reading communities as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. As a community foundation, BCCF has a well-developed network of partnerships throughout the community working towards improved quality of life for residents. BCCF’s key successes in Year 3 included supporting pediatricians and PCPs with consistent oral health messaging for families; increasing the number of non-clinical settings that provide oral health services; and educating new parents and caregivers about oral health best practices for children under 5. An investment of $100,000 will be used to map areas of dental provider shortages—or “children’s oral health deserts—and develop mobile dental services; strengthen dental home capacity of the local FQHC; disseminate consistent messaging and guidelines around under-5 oral health to providers and community partners; launch an online resources hub; and provide mini grants to community partners. The Year 4 workplan focuses on systems change across policy, financing, care and community. This proposal aligns with the Oral Health 2020 Goal 6 of improving the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health and the target that oral health is increasingly included in health dialogue and public policy.