What is direct certification? In simple terms, it is the process by which kids participating in the state’s Food Share or Wisconsin Works programs can be made automatically eligible for free meals at school. And, you’re right, there is no mention of BadgerCare in that sentence…

For a number of reasons, CKF was identified as a good choice for evaluating this process in Wisconsin. Since 2007 we’ve been working fairly intensively with schools in the state on our school-based BadgerCare outreach efforts. Much of that work relies on collecting information from school staff about their current processes for assisting students with health insurance and how those processes might be modified to better address the needs of families. It further has given us exposure to the wide range of administrative data systems that are used to store and share student information, including those relating to free school meals. (Particularly when we first began our school-based projects, we focused on linking the then-parallel income thresholds of BadgerCare and free/reduced price meals.)

Over the years we’ve built a partnership with DPI and their awareness of the outreach and evaluation components of our school-based efforts helped to make CKF a good candidate for carrying out the direct certification grant. We accepted the opportunity knowing it would allow our staff to venture to new parts of the state, coming into contact with and introducing CKF to new schools and districts. And figuring out how to further simplify access to other public program benefits for those who are eligible sounds an awful lot like the work CKF has been doing around BadgerCare these many years.

The direct certification grant concluded last October and we have just recently posted the full report of the project and findings.

CKF staff gained much from taking on this project and the exciting part is that the fun isn’t over. With our help, DPI submitted and was successfully awarded a follow-up grant in order to implement many of the improvements outlined in the report. CKF will once again carry out the tasks of the 3-year grant which has already technically begun. This means we are looking to for two full-time staff to be dedicated to the project. Take a look at the position listing and share it widely.

-Allison

Visit this website to view the webcast. No software or log-in information is needed. The webcast will be archived at www.ckfwi.org for later viewing.

We have limited seating available for live viewing of the presentation at the Pyle Center. If you are interested, please contact daniellez@communityadvocates.net to confirm your seat.

As you know, the State of Wisconsin is continuing to negotiate with the Federal government over a number of significant changes to BadgerCare+ and Medicaid. This webcast will provide you with the very latest information about those changes and what they mean for BadgerCare+ members and health care advocates.

Additional information (including presenters and webcast link) will be e-mailed out as confirmed, or continue to visit our blog http://ckfwi.wordpress.com or website www.ckfwi.org for updates.

Our Policy Committee banded together to write a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about its ongoing review of the maintenance of effort waiver the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has requested. In the letter, the Policy Committee addressed specific points from the waiver providing historical context and relevant research on the impacts to Wisconsin families. The letter was sent via mail and email to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her staff. You can find the letter on our website here.

As for the current status of the waiver, CMS is still in the process of fully reviewing the request. While the December 31, 2011 self-imposed deadline has passed, no changes have been made by DHS. Read more about BadgerCare Plus changes here.

We at CKF will make sure to update our website if any changes occur in the future.

Later days,

Caroline

Covering Kids & Families—Wisconsin works with schools all around the state through our REACH BC+ project and no two partnerships are the same. Depending on the school district we may work with the superintendent, director of pupil services, nurse, guidance counselor, parent coordinator, social worker, principal, classroom teacher….and the list goes on.

Before we increase knowledge among school staff and suggest outreach opportunities to promote BadgerCare Plus we must first identify the key contacts in a district who find the project meaningful to their daily work. Under our previously-funded CHILD Project we started with superintendents and they connected us to the appropriate school staff. Now, with our current REACH BC+ project we have taken a new, regional approach by utilizing the local expertise of CESA staff in districts one, three, and eight.  A few months into the project things are going well, we are connecting with numerous staff in various roles and finding our champions within the schools. We are excited to work with so many dedicated individuals and are always working on refining our school based outreach best practices.

While our project may look different throughout the state, our goal remains the same—to help schools connect Wisconsin families to BadgerCare Plus so they can access the health care they need.

Jeni

Toolbox materials and links always need to be monitored, updated and improved to best serve CKF coalition members and all visitors to the CKF website. Anyone who regularly downloads materials will want to know about these changes:

Routine: Early in the year, almost every February, the table that displays monthly family income levels is updated to reflect changes of the Federal Poverty Level. This helps families estimate if they may be eligible for public programs.  That is a predictable moment for changing the content for CKF brochures and ‘one-pagers.’

Pending:

Ø  Early in 2012 CKF staff will be looking carefully at the re-tooling of the Toolbox contents based on the outcome of a waiver submitted by the WI Department of Health Services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that may result in program eligibility changes and increases to out of pocket expenses for covered families.  Right now, in early December, we can only plan for the possibility that we will be updating materials, but we are also planning on how to notify school district partners, coalition members and all visitors to the Toolbox in a timely way if significant changes occur.   (Dept. of Health Services link:  http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/mareform/reforms.htm)

Ø  The 2012 plan to have ten Income Maintenance (IM) Consortia to centralize administration of BadgerCare+ and FoodShare is part of the governor’s budget bill.  Almost all  counties will be managed by one of the IM Consortia in WI, and the location and the staff who will be responsible for managing enrollment MAY change.  All resources in the Toolbox will be reviewed for needed updates as soon as possible to provide clear direction to families and program partners. (Dept. of Health Services link: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/em/IMR/)

Occasional:

Ø  Every so often a county office or other agency found in CKF materials will move, change telephone contact numbers or update website links. Those changes aren’t as easy to plan for, but they make their way to the Toolbox ASAP. In fact there is a Milwaukee County change in process now to update the phone # for BadgerCare+ and Foodshare to a new # at MilES at (888) 947-6583.

Ø  New ideas, simpler messages and suggestions for improved materials find their way into the Toolbox, too. Call CKF with your idea at 608-261-1455 or e-mail it to info@ckfwi.org.

In the end, CKF depends on current materials and feedback from many sources so the BadgerCare+ Toolbox contains the Right Tools (materials with accurate information) For the Right Job (directing eligible families to enroll in BadgerCare+.)

 –James Belasco

We all know how important the evaluation component of a project is, but also how time-consuming it can be!  Covering Kids and Families is in the process of beginning the first stage of its evaluation plans for the REACH BC+ project within CESA 8, funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program.  Parents of  children from participating school districts in CESA 8 will be surveyed on their perceptions of and knowledge on the BadgerCare+ program, before the project is implemented (now) and as the project is completed (three years from now) to measure change.  To make this happen, staff received directory data from the districts and drew a sample of families that represent the diverse demographics of that region.  On Monday and Tuesday, two volunteers joined seven CKF staffers to address and stuff over 2,200 envelopes to mail out to the families!   We completed the process utilizing 48 hours of staff time and by Thursday, families were beginning to receive the surveys in the mail. Thank you to our volunteers, and let’s hope for a great response!

Danielle

The conference agenda was fully loaded this year. With all of the known and expected changes coming up for Wisconsin’s public health coverage programs, identifying sessions and speakers of interest was easy. And we were thrilled that so many of our speakers were available and eager to participate.

The conference had a broad array of content and perspectives represented. Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith and Medicaid Director Brett Davis kicked off the day, addressing just-released details of proposed BadgerCare changes. Sara Finger provided commentary on the proposals and planned actions for the Save BadgerCare Coalition. Mary Kaminski of LogistiCare transportation management and Amy Mendel-Clemens of Dane County Economic Support, each provided some eagerly awaited details of recent program changes affecting enrollees.  And Barbara Zabawa gave a thorough rundown of what’s happened and yet to come for establishing Health Insurance Exchanges in Wisconsin while Pat Remington offered an overview of how the Wisconsin Partnership Program – a significant funder of health-related projects and research in the state – distributes its monies; an issue of interest to most in the current economy.

Conference survey responses indicate that, overall, attendees were happy with the wealth and diversity of presentations, though some felt the lineup may have been too heavy without enough time to reflect on the issues or have meaningful discussions. It’s a difficult balance to strike to be sure.

Of course, the annual meeting is just one of the more visible opportunities that Covering Kids & Families-Wisconsin provides for meaningful dialogue about BadgerCare and Medicaid in the state. We also hold regular phone conferences for our outreach and policy committees and anyone is welcome – encouraged, really – to add their voice and join in the fun. The calls take place each month on the second and third Thursdays, respectively. Check our web site, www.ckfwi.org, for details.

And for anyone who wants copies of PowerPoint presentations and other pertinent information shared during the conference, you can go to our web site for those too. Mary Unmuth, conference organizer, has posted materials here: www.ckfwi.org/2annualconf.html.

Happy Fall!

Allison

With our previous work with the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) we were able to build on our relationships with Madison school nurses to help identify families in need of health coverage. CKF has been working with MMSD school nurses since the Connecting Health Insurance to Lunch Data (CHILD) project that ended in 2010.

To identify the barriers that some families were facing in successfully accessing BadgerCare+, we met with MMSD school nurses in a couple of focus group settings for their input on what was needed for families to enroll onto BadgerCare+. The nurses discussed many different situations where families that they believed were eligible were not able to enroll onto the program due to issues around language, transportation, proof of documentation, or access to a computer. They also gave plenty of examples on how they problem-solved to assist those families the best they could. One resource that stood out for bilingual families was the utilization of MMSD’s Bilingual Resource Specialist (BRS). Several school nurses identified these staff members as people they worked with on a regular basis when they had a child or parent with limited English use. The nurses were able to ask the BRS to help interpret for the nurses and the families.

From these focus groups, CKF was able to arrange a training for the BRS staff to introduce them to BadgerCare+ eligibility and enrollment information. We had 40 attend our presentation at East High School in February of this year.

In the last month of this subcontract with DHS, we received a phone call from one of our school nurse contacts saying that she had a family who needed our assistance with BadgerCare+ enrollment. The family was referred to her by a BRS that was working with the family. This was a great example of our project goal of building capacity in action.  By our relationships with the school nurses, we identified an issue that was prominent among families applying for BadgerCare+ (specifically in this case),  language barrier. CKF then pursued an opportunity to enact a solution to relieve a solution (our presentation opportunity with the BRS staff). After building the knowledge around BadgerCare+ with the school nurses and BRS staff, a BRS staff was able to identify a family that may be eligible for BadgerCare+ and brought this to the attention of their school nurse (increased knowledge capacity put to use). Finally, the school nurse contacted CKF to assist the family in order for them to enroll onto BadgerCare+ (our relationship with MMSD school nurses at work).  This will ideally lead to a successful application for the family so that their children can receive health care.

We would like to thank all of our partners in our DHS project for all the help they provided in this last year and we hope that the families we were able to enroll are able to reach care when needed.

Thanks for the support,

Caroline

As a way to bring more health care information and CKF updates to our coalition and the general public, we have decided to initiate a blog. This venue will allow our staff, committee members, and director to speak to any healthcare changes that may be in the midst. We anticipate a new blog entry every other week to start and we look forward to comments and feedback on how to improve the site and delivery. We look forward to this experience and hope it will be a learning opportunity for us and our followers.

Cheers,

Caroline