Here Are Some Steps That You Can Take To Get Your Community Or State More Involved In Oral Health

• Contact your Administration on Children and Families Regional Office. They may already be working in partnership with the regional HCFA or HRSA office. They may be able to assist you in identifying regional, state, and local resources, or may be able to share what other Head Start programs in your region are doing to improve access to oral health services.

• Contact your Regional . . . Health Specialist. The . . . health specialists have been working on this issue for many years. They can identify state and local resources and contact persons, and can provide technical assistance as needed. They also have a limited supply of oral health buttons and posters they can send you in support of local and state oral health activities.

• Contact your State Collaboration Office. Many of the state collaboration offices are working on health issues such as improving access to care or Medicaid/SCHIP outreach. Ask them if they have information about state interest in or activity on oral health. They may also have names of state or local contact persons from HCFA, HRSA, or WIC.

• Take this opportunity to revisit formal and informal community partnerships. If you have an existing interagency agreement (state or local) with either WIC or HCFA (Medicaid), look over the agreement to see if it is broad enough to cover oral health, or think about how it could be revised to do so. If you rely on informal partnerships with your local health department or other community health providers (such as a managed care organization), think about the pros and cons of formalizing the partnership.

• Involve your Health Services Advisory Committee. Recruit a dentist or dentists to serve on your HSAC! . . . . They may also be helpful in contacting state dental schools to ask them to get more involved with Head Start.

• Let technology work for you. . . . .Ask your HSAC for assistance in deciphering the vast information available on the Internet, keeping in mind that the source and quality of the information is very important. Download pamphlets, fact sheets, and articles from reputable sites; copy them and give them to parents.

• Speaking of parents, do not forget the Policy Council! ... Have a parent meeting dedicated to the topic of oral health. Invite health staff, HSAC members, and community providers to watch [Embracing Our Future].

See also:
      Head Start Bulletin #71