G-2308-19751

UMKC Institute for Human Development is an applied research and training center for human services. They aim to build partnerships that lead to effective social change through research, training, community development, and information sharing for unserved and underserved populations.

UMKC will be a first-time grantee of CareQuest Institute. The organization demonstrates a commitment to closing equity gaps and has experience in the collection and analysis of data in relation to maternal child health disparities. UMKC has a vast portfolio of relationships with relevant stakeholders that will contribute to this project including Nurture Kansas City, Kansas City Healthy Start and other community leaders, community health workers, doulas, and mothers with lived experience of disparities.

This proposal leverages recent Medicaid expansion in Missouri that increases coverage for postpartum women from 60 days to 12 months, including dental care. This proposal targets a population that would significantly benefit from upstream resources to prevent oral health issues in younger years. Additionally, Missouri’s SB993 went into effect in August 2022 and authorized the Missouri Dental Board to approve pilot projects designed to examine new methods of extending oral health care to underserved populations. This provision will expire in 2026 so this proposal will lay the groundwork for designing an intervention that imparts oral health equity among underserved maternal child health (MCH) populations that can be tested under SB993 and replicated in other states.

Key activities of this grant include:
Bi-monthly advisory groups to guide the implementation of the needs assessment with mothers of lived experience.
Develop and disseminate surveys to collect information on barriers to care and baseline oral health knowledge.
Develop and disseminate reports on identified gaps, barriers and opportunities to inform policy and system change in meeting current and future needs of mothers and young children experiencing oral health disparities.

This work will ultimately add evidence for policies that include preventive oral health services in the scope of non-dental workers and reimbursement for them under Medicaid.

The budget for this proposal is $80,000, which represents less than 1% of the organization’s budget. Funds will be used for salaries, incentives for focus group and survey participation and meeting costs.