Grants Aim to Improve Health Care for Chronically Ill Children
PALO ALTO – The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to improve systems of care for chronically ill children in California.
See details about the grantees and their work here.
“California lags behind many states when it comes making health care work for children with special health care needs,” said David Alexander, MD, president and CEO of the foundation. “These grants are aimed at creating an effective, cost-efficient system that meets the needs of children and families.”
Families of chronically ill children must navigate complex and fragmented health, social services and educational systems that make it difficult to coordinate the many services these children need. According to a recent report commissioned by the foundation, California parents of chronically ill children are more likely than their counterparts in any other state to quit or cut back on work because of their child’s condition.
Streamlining care for children with special health care needs can save both families and taxpayers considerable money: this population accounts for more than 40 percent of all health care costs among children nationwide, despite making up only about 16 percent of the U.S. child population.
Because nearly 44 percent of California’s children with special health care needs are Latino, one of the foundation’s new grants will support development of a comprehensive report and accompanying policy recommendations on the health of Latino children and youth in the state.
Other grants will support:
* Training families of chronically ill children to effectively advocate for health system change.
* Developing better ways to evaluate how well providers coordinate children’s care.
* Explore creation of an online claims clearinghouse for providers who serve children in the California Children’s Services (CCS) program.
* Creating a statewide medical advisory committee of CCS directors.
The grants, which total $852,286, are part of the foundation’s ongoing work to improve the care and quality of life for the 1 million California children who live with special health care needs.
For more detailed information on the grantees and their projects, click here.
###
About the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health: The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is a public charity, founded in 1997. Its mission is to elevate the priority of children’s health, and to increase the quality and accessibility of children’s health care through leadership and direct investment. The Foundation works in alignment with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the child health programs of Stanford University.