Search Results: MCH Organizations

Annotation: Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) is a nonprofit organization formed to address the epidemic of overweight, undernourished, and sedentary youth by focusing on changes at school, to improve children's nutrition and increase physical activity, which will in turn improve their readiness to learn. An outgrowth of the 2002 Healthy Schools Summit, AFHK is a public-private partnership of more than 50 national organizations and government agencies representing education, health, fitness, and nutrition. AFHK's Web site provides information on current activities in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, and a searchable database that lists resources to improve schools, including materials and profiles of successful school practices.

Keywords: Databases, Child nutrition, Health promotion, Model programs, Physical activity, Schools

Annotation: Adopt A Special Kid (AASK) provides complete, no-fee foster and adoption services to families interested in helping children in the child welfare system. The organization was formed in 1973 on the principle that it is every child's right to be a permanent member of a supportive family. AASK's pioneering success in placing children in California lead to requests to replicate its program model, and, today, adoption programs and services developed by AASK operate in California, Arizona, Ohio and New Mexico. In addition to its programs to find families for waiting children, AASK also advocates systemic changes that will improve life opportunities for these children.

Keywords: Adoption, Advocacy, Children with special health care needs, Foster care, Model programs, Services

Annotation: The American Health Quality Association (AHQA) represents quality improvement organizations and professionals working to improve the quality of health care in communities across the country. AHQA offers education and networking opportunities for its members and provides information and publications for providers as well as consumers.

Keywords: , Quality assurance, Resources for professionals, Consumer education, Health services, Model programs, Professional training

Annotation: The American Institutes for Research conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving peoples’ lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged. Within the United States and internationally, AIR produces improvements in education, health, and the workforce; addresses the needs of individuals, organizations, and communities; designs and advances statistical and research methods; helps practitioners and organizations to adopt evidence-based practices; and informs public understanding and policymaking by the best evidence. Topics include child welfare, cultural competence, families, juvenile justice, mental health, school violence prevention and intervention, and schools and special education.

Keywords: Collaboration, Evaluation, Information services, Listservs, Model programs, Program development, Public policy, Research

Annotation: The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) at the American Institutes for Research supports and promotes a reoriented national preparedness to foster the development and the adjustment of children with or at risk of developing serious emotional disturbance. To achieve that goal, the center has a policy of collaboration at federal, state, and local levels that contributes to and facilitates the production, exchange, and use of knowledge about effective practices. The center is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs and receives additional support from the Center for Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Topics covered by the center include child welfare, cultural competence, families, juvenile justice, mental health, school violence prevention and intervention, and schools and special education. The center provides publications, list service discussions, information about promising practices and prevention programs that work, and links to further information.

Keywords: Adolescent mental health, Affective disorders, Child mental health, Collaboration, Information services, Listservs, Model programs

Annotation: The American Public Health Association (APHA) represents members from a broad array of occupations in public health. APHA brings together researchers, health service providers, administrators, teachers, and other health workers in a multidisciplinary environment of professional exchange, study, and action. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health. The association actively serves the public, its members, and the public health profession through its scientific programs, publications, annual meeting, awards program, educational service, and advocacy efforts. Its Web site includes a wide variety of resources, including the Community Solutions to Health Disparities database. Publications include the monthly American Journal of Public Health, manuals, directories, books, pamphlets, and a newspaper, The Nation's Health. Services to consumers include referrals, reference information, and access to searchable databases.

Keywords: Public health, Access to health care, Community programs, Consumer education, Environmental health, Guidelines, Health promotion, Information sources, Mental health, Minority health, Model programs, Professional societies, Program evaluation, Publications, Standards

Annotation: The Asset-Based Community Development Institute works to build community capacity, conduct research, develop students as the next generation of engaged civic leaders and community builders, and produce publications and other resources for practitioners and scholars in the community development field. It shares stories of community groups who are using an asset-based approach to strengthening their communities.

Keywords: Community action, Community participation, Community programs, Model programs

Annotation: The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) supports state maternal and child health programs and provides national leadership on issues affecting women and children. AMCHP accomplishes its mission through the active participation of its members and partnerships with government agencies, families and advocates, health care purchasers and providers, academic and research professionals, and others at the national, state, and local levels. AMCHP tracks and analyzes emerging policy issues that impact family health and distributes the information to subscribers electronically via the AMCHP Legislative Alert. Issues areas include adolescent and school health; best practices; child health; data and assessment; family involvement; Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program, and welfare; mental health; and women's and perinatal health. It also has a National Center for Health Reform Implementation.

Keywords: Maternal health, Advocacy, Block grants, CSHN programs, Child health, Children with special health care needs, Federal MCH programs, Guidelines, Models, Professional societies, Public policies, State programs, Technical assistance, Title V

Annotation: Casey Family Programs is a national foundation that provides direct services and works to promote advances in child welfare practice and policy and collaborate with foster, kinship, and adoptive parents to provide safe, loving homes for youth. The foundation also collaborates with counties, states, and native tribes to improve services and outcomes for the more than 500,000 young people in out-of-home care across the United States. Casey Family Programs conducts studies and gathers information; offers access to innovative projects and online publications; organizes and participates in conferences, and provides life-skills tools and opportunities for young people at risk. The foundation has offices in several states.

Keywords: Child welfare, Collaboration, Electronic publications, Foster care, Foundations, Model programs, Out of home care

Annotation: The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) partners with states across the country to promote the delivery of quality heatlh-care services and innovations in publicly financed health care, especially for individuals with complex, high-cost needs. CHCS facilitates problem-solving exchanges and peer learning among a diverse range of health care stakeholders to improve access, integrate fragmented services, reduce avoidable expenditures, and link payment with quality. CHCS works directly with state and federal agencies, health plans, providers, and consumer organizations to design and implement cost-effective strategies that improve care for people with complex and high-cost needs. The Center's technical assistance and training activities are organized under four broad priority areas: 1) Health care coverage and access; 2) Integrating care for people with complex needs; 3) quality, delivery systems, and payment reform; and 4) leadership and capacity building. CHCS maintains an online library of publications, technical tools, and other resources on accelerating health care delivery innovations.

Keywords: Health care financing, Electronic publications, Managed care, Medicaid managed care, Model programs, Prevention programs, State Children', s Health Insurance program

Annotation: Child Trends is a nonprofit research organization that works to improve the lives and prospects of children and youth through high-quality research. Clients include researchers, policymakers, funders, and practitioners. Services include high-level analyses and helping organizations make their direct services more effective. Resources include indicators of children's well-being, a searchable database of evaluated programs serving children and youth and research based on those evaluations, and a national knowledge center providing insight on U.S. Latino children and families. Child Trends also hosts a newsroom and blog.

Keywords: Adolescent health, Adolescent pregnancy, Child health, Community programs, Data analysis, Data collection, Family relations, Health statistics, Information sources, Model programs, Program descriptions, Research, Statistical analysis

Annotation: The Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, whose mission is to increase government effectiveness through rigorous evidence about what works. The Coalition advocates many types of research to identify promising interventions in federal social and health programs such as education, poverty reduction, crime prevention, health care, and other areas. It includes a Top Tier Evidence initiative that identifies social program models that meet top tier evidence standards set out in federal legislation and other resources.

Keywords: Evidence, Model programs, Program evaluation, Social policy

Annotation: Communities Joined In Action is a campaign to help communities ensure health care access for all (as part of the movement to achieve 100% Access / 0 Disparities, started in 1998 by the U.S. Bureau of Primary Health Care). A private, non-profit organization, Communities Joined In Action provides access to technical expertise, peer-mentors from model communities, coaches with first-hand experience, and experts who can help communities at every step in the process to improve access to care and eliminate health disparities. The campaign collects and provides access to profiles of communities that have successfully designed and implemented integrated health care access systems, with details on structure, outcomes, lessons learned and financing. Members receive technical assistance, coalition-building advice and expertise, and special services such as state-level assistance to help improve health access and outcomes and facilitate local efforts to integrate services to achieve better health for more people at less cost. The campaign posts numerous technical documents which can be downloaded free of charge from the Web site. Communities Joined In Action was created with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Sisters of Mercy Health System, Ascension Health and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Keywords: Community programs, Access to care, Community role, Electronic publications, Healthy people 2010, Model programs, Technical assistance, Technical reports

Annotation: The Community Preventive Services Task Force was established in 1996 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to identify population health interventions that are scientifically proven to save lives, increase lifespans, and improve quality of life. The task force is an independent, nonfederal, unpaid panel of public health and prevention experts that provides evidence-based findings and recommendations about community preventive services, programs, and policies to improve health. The task force produces recommendations (and identifies evidence gaps) to help inform the decision making of federal, state, and local health departments, other government agencies, communities, health professionals, employers, schools, and research organizations.

Keywords: Communities, Community health, Decision making, Health policy, Life course, Model programs, Prevention programs, Prevention services, Program improvement, Research

Annotation: The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to foster health-promoting partnerships between communities and educational institutions. It identifies students, institutional leaders, and community leaders as equal constituencies and serves as a bridge between government and foundation-sponsored initiatives in community-oriented health professions education. CCPH has an online newsletter, Partnership Matters; a mentor network that provides training and technical assistance; other training opportunities; and awards for exemplary partnerships.

Keywords: Collaboration, Community based services, Health occupations, Health personnel, Model programs, Public private partnerships, Training, Universities

Annotation: The Diversity Rx Web site serves as a clearinghouse of information on model programs, policies, and legal issues related to cross cultural health, in collaboration with the National Conference of State Legislatures, Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Diversity Rx sponsors conferences, produces reports, and hosts an email discussion group for those interested in cross-cultural healthcare news.

Keywords: Languages, Cultural competence, Clearinghouses. , Cultural diversity, Cultural sensitivity, Culturally competent services, Health education, Linguistic competence, Model programs, Program development, Technical assistance, Training

Annotation: The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (ECCS CoIIN) is a five-year initiative that supports 12 states and their communities in an effort to enhance early childhood systems and demonstrate improved outcomes in population-based children’s developmental health and family well-being indicators.

Keywords: Child development, Collaboration, Community programs, Early childhood development, Model programs, Provider networks, Service delivery systems, Young children

Annotation: HealthConnect One focuses on collaborative work with grassroots maternal and child health (MCH) and social service providers. Activities include training community health workers (CHWs), including doulas and breastfeeding peer counselors, to improve the health of their own community; assisting organizations in developing programs that use peer support, incorporating trained CHWs into paid positions in outreach, health education, and community health advocacy; and mobilizing diverse stakeholders to build policies and programs that improve MCH in some of the most distressed communities in the country. The website provides information on advocacy; programs and training; news, events and resources; and ways to get involved.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, Community based services, Community health aides, Home visiting, Indigenous outreach workers, MCH services, Model programs, Peer counseling, Peer support programs, Social support, Training

Annotation: Healthy Kids, Healthy Future is a partnership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and Nemours that works to advance research, policies, and practices that promote obesity prevention in child care. The website, hosted by the Nemours Foundation, is designed to help child care providers promote healthy habits. Contents include proven tools, promising practices, policies, and presentations on topics such as healthy eating and physical activity.

Keywords: Child care, Disease prevention, Health promotion, Model programs, Nutrition, Obesity, Physical activity, Public private partnerships

Annotation: The Highmark Foundation is a charitable organization, a private foundation, and an affiliate of Highmark Inc. that supports initiatives and programs aimed at improving community health. The foundation’s mission is to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for individuals who reside in the Pennsylvania communities served by Highmark. The foundation strives to support evidence-based programs that impact multiple counties and work collaboratively to leverage additional funding to achieve replicable models.

Keywords: Collaboration, Community health, Diffusion of innovation, Financing, Foundations, Model programs, Pennsylvania