Service Learning Blog Entry 2

I have continued my services this semester with Early Childhood Partnerships of Adams County (ECPAC). The community partners and I have been steadily working on our community referral system. This system involves initiating a referral system in Adams County community preschools that directly links preschoolers and their families to medical, dental, mental health or Medicaid/CHP+ enrollment sites. We have partnered with one clinic for each of the needs that has committed to helping these children and their families. The referral system begins with a basic survey of health care access questions in the annual preschool enrollment packets. The preschool director reviews the packets, identifies there is a need and meets with the family to discuss the need. After consents are signed, the child's information is faxed over to the site of need. The site takes over at this point and contacts the family to schedule an appointment. This system is different from the usual process that takes place because all the family has to do is show up for the appointment. Previously, a need might have been discovered by a teacher that had limited knowledge of health care resources. A phone number to a random agency may have been given to a family and thus the family becomes lost in the system and never calls the agency.

This week was exciting because we implemented the referral system in twenty local underserved preschools in Adams County. We held a meeting with the directors last week to explain the referral system and let them know we are available and are a resource for any questions they might have along the way. I was also able to explain the expected impact the referral system will have on health care access, preventive care and the importance of following up with these families. We assembled packets for the directors with information from each of the sites we will be using. Yesterday we traveled around to each of the preschools and delivered the packets and explained the process again. We are expecting the initial health care access survey will reach 500-1000 preschool children in Adams County! The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Colorado Maternal and Child Health Bureau have recently shown interest in forming partnerships to implement this program throughout the state if it proves to be effective in increasing health care access (this is where my Capstone project begins!).

The most challenging aspect of the referral system has been the time commitment for all of those involved. The preschool directors voiced the concern that they have a lot of paperwork that they already have to sort through and the referral system will increase their workload even more. As the system is complex and has several parts, much time has been spent on educating the preschool directors and the community health sites about the program. Our biggest fear at this point is knowing that the referral system and paperwork for the directors may get pushed aside and the children will not be identified or referred to the appropriate site.

As we have pulled this project together over the last year, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with many non-profit organizations that support underserved children and families. I have established a strong relationship with Partnerships for Healthy Communities and with ECPAC. Partnerships for Healthy Communities ensures school age children have the right environment at home and at school to grow and learn. This organization does a lot of education in the schools involving health and nutrition. I have also worked with the Adams County Head Start program. All of these organizations work towards the same goal of improving the lifestyle of underserved children. I have learned that these organizations greatly appreciate even an hour or two of your time. They also appreciate the opinions of health care professionals when they are developing community projects. I plan to continue to volunteer a few hours a week at Partnerships for Healthy Communities and ECPAC after graduation. I have found a few hours of my time can greatly improve the life and health of a child!