NC Child
3101 Poplarwood Court, Ste. 300
Raleigh, NC 27604
United States
NC Child is the state’s children’s advocacy organization serving all of NC. One of the core strategies of NC Child’s work is the operation of a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) which has been maintained for five years and is comprised of Medicaid beneficiaries and parents of Medicaid beneficiaries. NC Child has worked with the PAC to strengthen the organization's ability to understand health policy and contribute to statewide health policy conversations around coverage and reform.
Through their previous grant, NC Child was able to conduct quantitative and qualitative research on Medicaid beneficiaries’ experience in seeking pediatric oral health care and develop fact sheets with policy recommendations to address the concerns and needs of impacted families. Key recommendations included:
Support a braided funding approach that incentivizes clinics and public health departments to see entire families in the same visit to reduce family burden and increase supportive practice
Provide enhanced rates for providing care in rural and/or significantly underserved communities, including serving children with special health care needs.
This proposal falls under the subprogram Strengthen Community Voice and State Advocacy. NC Child is unique in their use of the PAC that allows them to hear directly from a diverse network of parents to inform data gathering and priority setting. Typically, only one or two representatives are considered to represent an entire population. The PAC model establishes families enrolled in Medicaid as the experts that lead from the ground up on issues that affect them. PAC members have strong relationships in their communities that will be invaluable as NC Child embarks on this listening session to maximize the diversity of perspectives received on the tour.
Two fundamental aims of this proposal are to:
Understand the underlying systems that impact adverse oral health outcomes.
Build power among impacted communities to share their experiences with decision makers during and after the listening tour.
This project builds on and leverages existing progress made through the CANs and removes barriers for participation by going directly to communities to gather feedback.
The budget for this proposal is $175,000 which represents 7% of NC Child’s overall budget. Funding will support salaries, community engagement events, and indirect costs.