School Outreach

Experiences to Share

Many counties find that outreach through the schools takes many forms and lots of champions.

Many county schools are amenable to helping distribute HC/NCHC outreach material through report cards (Granville, Buncombe), student packets (Wilkes, Hertford-Gates, Pamlico, Alleghany, Columbus, Person, Buncombe, Brunswick, Dare, Macon) or just allowing material to be available for parents (Stanly).

For public schools you start with endorsement from the superintendent to get to approval by the principals. With private and charter schools your initial contact is with the principal.
Home Schools have a local association. You can locate the local association and the current leader by asking any parent who homeschools in your county.
-- Harriett Marlor, Buncombe Co. Check out Harriett's recent article "Why Do School Outreach?" with how-to tips

School Outreach for our county has been excellent, because not only have we reached parents of the students, but also school employees who were eligible as well.
-- Phyllis Caine, Halifax Co.

The most efficient way with the best response is sending ½ informational sheets home with every school child once a year. Each school has a packet with applications so that the school nurses and counselors can promote my program as soon as they know of a situation in need.
-- Ann Bolen, Brunswick Co.

Pre-K and K outreach
Several counties reported that Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration is excellent time to reach families:

Every year I set up a booth at each Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration. I've found this to be a wonderful way to introduce myself to the parents and educate them about the HC/NCHC program.
-- Lisa Perdue, Franklin County

[We hold] a coloring contest to encourage parents to take their children in for early health check screenings. Contestants are awarded with book bags filled with school supplies for first year students. Local newspapers cover this event.
-- Annie Locklear, Scotland County

Free and Reduced Lunch
A few have been able to get material in the Free and Reduced Lunch applications or approvals. These include Person, Dare, Watauga and Wake counties. Wake is able to send a flyer with the Free and Reduced Lunch applications that are mailed to each household with school-age children.

The Board of Education allows me to enclose HC/NCHC information in their Kindergarten Orientation packets and the approvals for Free and Reduced Lunches. I have reached hundreds of families this way.
-- Elaine Adams, Watauga County

School Nurses and School Clinics
Many counties work with school nurses and dental hygienists, ensuring that these professionals have information about the program and applications.

We provide orientation to all new school nurses, as well as ongoing training for experienced school nurses, regarding enrollment and re-enrollment in Health Check/NC Health Choice. --Maria Eason, Wake County

We meet annually with the Jackson County School Nurse, looking at strategies for the upcoming year. We target those who have high absenteeism and sickness in families.
-- Michelle Frizzell, Jackson County

School Nurses are trained to inform individuals who need health insurance on how to complete application forms. At Public Dental Hygienist visits, informational materials are on hand for parents to read about Health Check/ NC Health Choice.
-- Annie Locklear, Scotland County

I work with the school nurses to keep in touch with who needs physicals and insurance in the school age population.
--Christa Reid, Harnett County

We work with the school nurses during the Hepatitis B Program for 6th graders. We receive paperwork from the nurses telling us which parents wanted their kids to get shots but were without health insurance. We call the parents and encourage them to apply. About 90 percent want an application mailed to them.
-- Susan Vaudreuil & Genia Webb, Onslow County

I continue to follow high school students through our Mobile Expanded School Health.
-- Debra Miller, Wilkes County

Networking with school officials
In Robeson County, the HCC works closely with the principals in the school system, involving them on projects that focus on children's health and safety.

In Jackson and Davidson Counties, outreach workers have networked with School Social Workers and (in Jackson County) the Director of Nutrition Services so that these professionals can refer parents to the program.

Other school events
Many counties are able to participate at PTO/PTA meetings (McDowell, Orange,Haywood, Warren, and Granville) Head Start Orientation (McDowell), Health Fairs (Cherokee, Perquimans, Madison, Cleveland, and McDowell counties), and School Open Houses (Madison and Haywood counties).

We are there every time they have an Open House or the first meeting of the Parent/Teacher Organization. We feel this is a wonderful time to meet parents as they come to meet new teachers. We include a brochure about BETTER HEALTH + BETTER GRADES = BETTER FUTURE!
--Wilma Young, Haywood County

We set up table in gym for Parent Teacher Organization meetings. Hand out brochures and magnets as parents enter. Place a brochure in each student packet at the beginning of the year. Articles are placed in the schools' newsletters. Magnets are given to sixth graders when the Health Department comes to the school to give Hepatitis shots.
-- Angelia Bowman, Alexander County

From "NC Covering Kids:
A Retrospective"
(A report on the RWJ Covering Kids grant outreach activities of 1999-2001)

(Below are excepts from the School Outreach efforts of Forsyth, Guilford, Buncombe, Cabarrus, and Edgecombe counties. For additional ideas, see Overall Lessons & Conclusions.)

Flyers and follow-up
The "flyer and follow-up" strategy can be sustained fairly easily. Flyers continue to appeal to families who may have previously received flyers but were not yet ready to apply, as well as those who are newly eligible. For parents whose children are already enrolled, the flyer serves as a re-enrollment reminder.

In schools, a program champion in upper administration and committed folks at other levels are crucial. Upper level administrators are likely to become program champions if they are involved in their local coalitions and they see the critical role schools can play in insuring kids.

If possible, Pilots recommend discussing the program and the importance of distributing the flyers with teachers at faculty meetings before the flyers are to be distributed - particularly if teachers are involved in the distribution process. The more teachers understand the program, the importance of getting the flyers home to parents, who they should call with questions, and where to refer parents, the better.

Easy does it
Pilots found that the job got done more reliably when they made it easy for the schools, e.g., pre-counted and delivered flyers to the schools with instructions.

Practice makes perfect
The strategy of sending flyers home with students through the schools can be successful, but it may take several tries to build relationships with school officials and staff (trust, commitment, enthusiasm), and work out the logistics.

The devil is in the details
We learned that it is best to start planning with the schools early - in the spring before the new school year begins.

If adopting Buncombe's method, use a personal approach, i.e., get to know office staff/your main contact at each school. Call them as you are gearing up and before you are ready to deliver the flyers to tell them about changes in the program. The more they hear and know you, the greater the level of cooperation.

Package the flyers so they will be easy for the school to distribute, and attach a brief memo to the outside of the package that you deliver. The memo should include the name of the contact person (in large print); the number of packets enclosed; and a request/reminder to attach the flyers to each report card, if that is the plan. Changes in the Health Check/Health Choice program should be highlighted in the memo along with a word of thanks.

Repetition pays off
Staff and others who have worked on our outreach projects are convinced that for many families it takes multiple "hits" before they respond. Distributing flyers repeatedly during the year (e.g., with report cards), they believe, can make a difference.

Keep it simple
In looking back at their various schools projects, Guilford staff concluded that they probably would have had a better response for the school meals project if their print materials had contained less text, more graphics, and the name of a personal contact.

While small promotional items are popular, they may not produce the biggest bang for the buck, in the view of many of our pilots. Scarce resources may be better spent on directly distributing flyers to parents.

Back-to-school events/campaigns
Brief campaigns give businesses a feasible way to contribute to the effort. These events/campaigns provide businesses with a valuable opportunity to be involved in promoting Health Check/Health Choice in concrete, but time-limited ways.

With large chain stores, Buncombe learned that it is best to start with district managers and get their permission for the store manager to be contacted. Because each store manager operates differently, it is useful to propose ideas, but best to "let managers lead."

Buncombe Covering Kids staff found that a month is too long for an in-store campaign (plans to try a week in the next go-around); and that it is important to meet directly with employees/staff of each store so they understand the program and enthusiastically support the campaign (employees children may be eligible as well). Covering Kids staff believes that the outreach effort dropped in the year that they didn't meet with employees directly.

While flyers seem to work fine for the kick-off events and short-term campaigns, Buncombe advises using posters for more permanent displays (remain in place and don't require constant replenishing).

Features that we believe contribute to success are:

• The personal touch. Having letters, notes and postcards come from a specific person rather than an office or department.
  
  
• Sending applications in envelopes with the Health Check/Health Choice logo and a statement alerting the receiver that the requested application is enclosed. And using the logo and effective/consistent phrases and graphics on postcards and other materials.

Next time

• We'd include a short letter of endorsement from someone influential.
  
  
• We'd recommend testing a modified, slightly centralized approach where the flyers would direct callers to the State hotline for information and to request applications, and hotline staff would obtain contact information needed so that counties could provide personal follow-up and application assistance by phone. Such an approach might be helpful and more efficient in serving Spanish-speakers.