Give a SHOUT and city funds for health care

Student Health Outreach of New Haven-Yale (SHOUT), a student-run nonprofit organization designed by two Yalies, will soon be helping more New Haven children to obtain free health insurance.

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH On Thurs., Jan. 25, members of Shades sang at Koffee? Too in support of SHOUT.

Andrea Johns, ES '02, and Irene Liu, SY '02, founded and direct this new program, which registers children for free health care. A May 2000 initiative of the Children's Defense Fund, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., allows children of city residents to qualify for health insurance until the age of 19.

Ward One Alderman Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, introduced the health care issue to Johns and Liu after he attended the annual Children's Defense Fund conference. "The reason I was so energetic about it was because I see how chil-dren's health impacts everything we try to do," he said. "I think it is going to keep being a priority for the city as long as kids do not have health insurance."

Gonzalez said that he and Liu identified the need for a program like SHOUT, and he introduced Johns and Liu, who, since September, have designed the program from scratch and written grant proposals. He added that his community contacts helped implement the program. "Without Julio, SHOUT would not exist," Liu said. "He took the first steps and throughout this entire process has been an advisor to us and an advocate to community groups and leaders."

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a federal initiative begun under the Clinton administration, allocates funds to states for health care. Every Connecticut citizen can apply for care through the Healthcare for Uninsured Kids and Youth organization (HUSKY), which administers CHIP funds to subsidize private health care. An outreach of HUSKY, SHOUT helps maximize use of state funds for uninsured children.

Last February, Susan Rushing, MED '03, involved graduate school students in efforts to enroll children in HUSKY. "We went to DSS [Department of Social Services] and got a waiver to let students and not just DSS employees help people fill out applications," she said. "People are more likely to become enrolled if they sit down with one of the volunteers and go through the process of filling out an application. Our goal is to make sure all applications that we send in are approved."

Yale undergraduates became involved when Rushing met Liu. "We just wanted to make it a joint effort on behalf of all schools," Rushing said. SHOUT is unique because students from each of Yale's schools run the organization with New Haven funds.

Volunteers recognize the importance of SHOUT to the New Haven community. "As students, we are not in control of our health care because parents or Yale take care of it. It is important for us to realize that there are people who cannot afford health insurance for their kids," Bola Olupona, BK '04, who has volunteered from the beginning, said of the program.

SHOUT spread to other schools when Liu's friend at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill expressed interest in starting a chapter. "SHOUT is springing up in other schools, and they are following our model," Liu said. She and Johns will advise students on how to run the organization. Liu plans to visit other schools, and she added that a handbook describing how SHOUT works is currently being compiled.

Philip Voigt, New Haven alderman and chair of the finance committee, was part of the board that approved allocation of city funds to SHOUT. "Voigt was instrumental in advocating for us to get us our seed money," Liu said.

"[Voigt] said this is something that is cost-effective and important," Gonzalez added. "He is an advocate for children and working people."

City of New Haven Health Department officials Pam Hansen, director of Child and Maternal Health, and Shannon Simmons, head of the Healthystart Program, also facilitated the introduction of SHOUT. "They were the first people we worked with and both of them came to the Board of Aldermen meeting and presented on our behalf to help us get seed money," Liu said.

SHOUT maintains outreach sites where residents can complete applications at St. Raphael's pediatric clinic, Yale-New Haven hospital's pediatric Emergency Room, and Chapel Square Mall, and hopes to open one at Shaw's grocery store on Whalley Avenue. Since December, SHOUT volunteers have helped families of 60 children complete applications at St. Raphael's. In addition, SHOUT runs projects that target specific community subgroups, such as immigrants.

Johns and Liu are hoping to increase retention rates of enrolled children and to ease some applicants' communication problems. "Working with state and federal programs is intimidating, and there's also a language barrier for immigrants to New Haven," Johns said. "A lot of what we are offering is manpower. It is good to have someone to call on your behalf."

Johns said the program is essential, since one-third of children in New Haven live below the poverty level. "It is the difference between taking a child to the emergency room when they are ill versus preventative care," she said.

Liu plans to take next year off to run SHOUT, a Yale work-study program, full-time as executive director. After she graduates in 2003, she hopes to work full-time for SHOUT for two more years. Rushing will also take six months off school to work with SHOUT full-time. "For every hour you put in, another child will get health insurance," Liu said.

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