1803-14108

This investment supports Put People First! PA (PPF-PA) to act as a lead convener in the Philadelphia community, and other regions across Pennsylvania, as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. PPF-PA enables diverse individuals and families who are new to civic engagement to join together and make their voices more powerful and impactful collectively. By partnering with multiple diverse stakeholders, PPF-PA works towards improving equity, participation, accountability of systems, and transparency, and will continue integrating oral health improvement into their efforts. Throughout the grant Year 3, PPF-PA continued to develop the leadership skills of community members who are directly impacted by the lack of dental care; created opportunities for these members to take action to expose the healthcare crisis and to engage with local officials; and provided a conduit for members to connect to other stakeholders through keeping people up to date and sharing upcoming events and opportunities. $100,800 will be used to advocate for the restoration of the adult dental benefit in Medicaid. As part of this work, PPF-PA will help leverage the statewide oral health network to help community members get access to key decision-makers and advocates and empower directly impacted people to speak for themselves. 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.