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This publication is a record of the Supporting Families Breakthrough Series Collaborative and its participants. It documents their efforts, from changes that yielded no improvement, to promising strategies that generated measurable improvement in retention data at their test sites.
A PowerPoint presentation by Penny Lane from Maximus - The Center for Health Literacy presented at the Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX Feb. 25, 2004.
Covering Kids & Families Process Improvement
December 10-12, 2003
Tempe, AZ
March 30-April 1, 2004
Chattanooga, TN
Supporting Families Breakthrough Series
September 4-6, 2002
Tempe, AZ
Nov. 13-15, 2002
New Orleans, LA
April 22-24, 2003
Charleston, SC
SF Learning Session 4
February 24-26, 2004
San Antonio, TX
Supporting Families After Welfare Reform was initiated in February 2000 to help states or large counties diagnose problems and remove barriers in their Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and Food Stamp eligibility systems. In recent years, numerous data analyses have shown that many families are inappropriately denied the benefits for which they qualify at three crucial junctures. First, they are denied enrollment when they apply for Medicaid and SCHIP. Second, their benefits are sometimes inappropriately terminated or closed at renewal. Third, their benefits are sometimes inappropriately terminated or closed during continuous eligibility periods. While families moving from welfare to work are eligible for health care coverage through state Medicaid and SCHIP programs, many are not being enrolled or are being disenrolled due to technical problems. The goal of the Supporting Families program is to maximize enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP by improving eligibility processes.
In September 2001, a Special Solicitation for Proposals was released to counties with more than one million residents. Grants were subsequently awarded to Nassau County, New York and Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in California. During 2002, NPO staff attended the Breakthrough Series College sponsored by the Institute on Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The Breakthrough Series utilizes an improvement method that relies on spread and adaptation of existing knowledge to multiple settings to accomplish a common aim. IHI's approach has been very successful in the health care system and is being used in another RWJF program Pursuing Perfection - Raising the Bar for Health Care Performance. The decision was made that Supporting Families would adapt the Breakthrough Series model for use in a government/ social service setting. Assisting the National Program Office with program development is Ron Moen. Mr. Moen is a private consultant with Associates in Process Improvement and is a recognized expert in improvement methods and measurement standards. Other faculty members are Cheryl Camillo from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Penny Lane from Maximus -The Center for Health Literacy and Dr. Vicki Grant, Nancy Gantt and Laura Heller from the National Program Office.
Throughout the course of the Collaborative the grantees participated in conference calls, learning sessions, one-on-one calls, site visits and online collaboration through a dedicated website. This publication is a record of their efforts, from changes that yielded no improvement, to promising strategies that generated measurable improvement in retention data at their test sites. It is a story of dedication and hard work. It is a story of collaboration between teams separated by great distances. But, most of all, it is a story of success.
Download the Storybook here. (1.5MB, PDF)
