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Strengthen the Evidence for Maternal and Child Health Programs

New: MCHbest strategies database for sample ESMs

Evidence Tools
MCHbest. NPM 15: Continuous and Adequate Insurance

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Strategy. Outreach Using Mini-Grant Opportunities

Approach. Provide small grants to community-based organizations to improve enrollment and utilization of Medicaid and CHIP.

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Overview. Small grants to community-based organizations can be effective in garnering the involvement of the local community in health promotion efforts. A mini-grant program in Georgia leveraged modest funding and resources to promote community involvement efforts in order to improve enrollment and utilization of Medicaid and CHIP services for children.1

Evidence. Emerging. There is some evidence that funded community-based organizations can improve utilization of children’s health services by developing innovative staffing patterns, creating new data systems for scheduling appointments and maintaining records, and forging new collaborative relationships to leverage financial support, but further research is needed to confirm effects. This strategy has been tested more than once and results trend positive overall. Access the peer-reviewed evidence through the MCH Digital Library. (Read more about understanding evidence ratings).

Target Audience. State/Community.

Outcomes.  Increased levels of enrollment for children in Medicaid and CHIP; improved appointment setting and referrals for social and other services. For detailed outcomes related to each study supporting this strategy, click on the peer-reviewed evidence link above and read the “Intervention Results” for each study.

Examples from the Field. Access descriptions of ESMs that use this strategy directly or intervention components that align with this strategy. You can use these ESMs to see how other Title V agencies are addressing the NPM.

Sample ESMs. Using the approach “Provide small grants to community-based organizations to improve enrollment and utilization of Medicaid and CHIP,” here are sample ESMs you can use as a model for your own measures using the Results-Based Accountability framework (for suggestions on how to develop programs to support this strategy, see The Role of Title V in Adapting Strategies):

Quadrant 1:
Measuring Quantity of Effort ("What/how much did we do?")

  • Number of community-based organizations that used mini-grant funding to improve enrollment and utilization of children’s health services..

Quadrant 2:
Measuring Quality of Effort ("How well did we do it?")

  • Percent of community-based organizations that used mini-grant funding to improve enrollment and utilization of children’s health services.

Quadrant 3:
Measuring Quantity of Effect ("Is anyone better off?")

  • Number of children who were enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP as a result of outreach efforts by community-based organizations.
  • Number of children who experienced improved appointment-setting and referrals to other services as a result of being helped by community-based organization.

Quadrant 4:
Measuring Quality of Effect ("How are they better off?")

  • Percent of children who were enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP as a result of outreach efforts by community-based organizations.
  • Percent of children who experienced improved appointment-setting and referrals to other services as a result of being helped by community-based organizations.

Note. ESMs become stronger as they move from measuring quantity to measuring quality (moving from Quadrants 1 and 3, respectively, to Quadrants 2 and 4) and from measuring effort to measuring effect (moving from Quadrants 1 and 2, respectively, to Quadrants 3 and 4):

Learn More. Read how to create stronger ESMs and how to measure ESM impact more meaningfully through Results-Based Accountability.

Reference:

1 Phillips MA, Rivera MD, Shoemaker JA, Minyard K. Georgia's utilization minigrant program: promoting Medicaid/CHIP outreach. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved. 2010;21(4):1282-91.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U02MC31613, MCH Advanced Education Policy, $3.5 M. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.