The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation this week kicked off a series of announcements in Dallas, Fort Worth and Rio Grande Valley to award $1.7 million in grants to area organizations and school districts to develop outreach programs designed to help enroll children in health insurance through local area schools.

This grant is part of the insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach, a program designed to reach thousands of children in Texas school systems who are uninsured but eligible for coverage through TexCare, the statewide campaign to enroll children in CHIP and Medicaid. The Foundation has committed $1.7 million to five communities across Texas in the first year of this new initiative.

The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation created the insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach to help communities develop school outreach programs for children’s health insurance in their own districts. It is the hope that through these grants, schools will incorporate children’s health insurance outreach activities into routine district policies and procedures to be certain eligible families are aware of health insurance available to their children.

This week in the Rio Grande Valley, Children’s Defense Fund-Texas was awarded a $328,000 grant to work with Mission Consolidated Independent School District, Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, Mercedes Independent School District and Pharr-San Juan Alamo Independent School District to develop their outreach programs.

On Monday, Oct. 7, Children’s Medical Center of Dallas received a $385,000 grant to work with the Dallas Independent School District to help enroll Dallas children in health insurance through local area schools.

“School based outreach programs like the insure•a•kid initiative have proven to be one of the most effective ways to enroll children in health insurance,” said Mike Moses, superintendent of Dallas Independent School District. “School districts throughout Texas understand that helping our children connect to health insurance is in the interest of both the district and our students because healthy children are better students.”

In Fort Worth, a $300,000 grant was awarded to Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fort Worth, Inc. to support the outreach program. Catholic Charities will work with Fort Worth Independent School District, Arlington Independent School District, Cleburne Independent School District and Nocona Independent School District to reach the thousands of children in those school systems that are uninsured.

“I applaud Michael and Susan Dell for their efforts to support children’s health insurance across Texas,” said state Senator Mike Moncrief. “The Dell’s had great vision when they thought of bringing together schools and community organizations to work together to ensure every family with uninsured children eligible for health insurance gets it.”

In Houston, the Children’s Defense Fund-Texas also received a $380,000 grant to work with schools in the Houston Independent School District to help enroll Houston children in health insurance.

A $275,000 grant was awarded to insure•a•kid in Austin to develop outreach programs in school districts throughout Hayes and Caldwell Counties, as well as to coordinate the statewide insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach effort.

Three years ago, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation launched the insure•a•kid program with the goal of improving the overall health of children by enrolling more children in health insurance through CHIP and Medicaid. CHIP alone has increased the access to health care for more than half a million children across Texas and improved not only their health, but their success in school as well.

“Michael and I founded the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation with a commitment to children and their future,” said Susan Dell. “We are dedicated to improving outcomes for children in Texas and we want to support local efforts that share this same mission. We envision a time when informing parents about their health insurance options becomes a routine policy and procedure.”

Currently in Texas, more than 500,000 children are enrolled in CHIP and almost 1,400,000 in Medicaid. As a result, these children have comprehensive healthcare coverage, enabling them to go to the doctor for checkups or get prescriptions if they are sick. Additionally, these children can see a dentist for dental care, have their vision screened and if needed, receive glasses.

Based on the Current Population Survey, there are nearly one million uninsured children in Texas who could be eligible for Children's Medicaid or CHIP. Uninsured children are the least likely to have routine access to a physician or to a regular source of health care. Compared with children who have insurance, uninsured children are more likely to be sick as newborns, less likely to be immunized on time and less likely to receive medical treatments when they are injured or sick. Children with untreated illnesses, injuries and chronic health conditions have a harder time performing well at school and uninsured children are 25 percent more likely to miss school."