G-1812-14632

The purpose of this grant is to support the Arizona Oral Health Coalition (AZOHC) in facilitating the oral health movement in Arizona through relaunching it’s new infrastructure, evaluating and expanding the funding and capacity of the AZOHC, and engaging in policy advocacy focused on an adult dental benefit in Medicaid and other access to care policies. This project builds on a largely transitional year that focused on strengthening infrastructure while also building significant momentum towards legislative change. Specifically, the AZOHC will hire a coordinator to align the activities and direction of the AZOHC under the leadership of the Leadership Committee, will host an annual summit in partnership with the Arizona Public Health Association and will finalized and engage around a policy agenda during the 2019 Legislative session focused on expanding the adult dental benefit in Medicaid to be more comprehensive. This project aligns with the OH2020 goals of shifting the public perception of oral health as a part of overall health as well as including an adult dental benefit in publicly funding health coverage. The budget for this project is $60,000 which is primarily to support the salary of the Coordinator and to host the annual Oral Health summit.