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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: Children and youth

Other Project Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed June 2024

  • Need: To address the developmental, behavioral, and social/emotional needs of rural children ages 0-22 in northwest Illinois.
  • Intervention: Local partners teamed up to create a centralized service facility for children and families facing developmental, behavioral, and social/emotional issues. Florissa provides evaluations, diagnosis, and treatment to local children using a multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach.
  • Results: In 2023, Florissa provided a direct clinical service to over 337 children, in addition to many trainings and supportive programs. It also is co-located with the KSB Hospital pediatric department, a certified pediatric patient-centered medical home (PCMH).

Updated/reviewed June 2024

  • Need: To develop a child welfare system that provides rural Texas communities with flexibility, authority, and adaptability to improve services and outcomes for children and families.
  • Intervention: SJRC Texas's division Belong is the lead provider for Community-Based Care, which oversees foster and kinship care, case management, reunification services, and prevention services in the South Central and Hill Country region of Texas.
  • Results: Since October 2021, SJRC Texas Belong CBC has served more than 1,700 children and young adults and provided more than 1,400 home and virtual visits.

Updated/reviewed December 2023

  • Need: Agencies in Schoharie County, New York were seeing a widespread trend of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the children and families they served.
  • Intervention: The Schoharie ACEs Team was formed as a way to educate rural communities about ACEs, the associated brain science, and ways to build resiliency.
  • Results: The ACEs Team has put on 5 half-day educational conferences, 2 virtual conferences, and 10 trainings for various groups across the region. The team has also trained 3 school districts on trauma-informed care and provided resources for families exposed to trauma.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed October 2023

  • Need: In Colorado, 31% of children have experienced dental decay by the time they reach kindergarten. With several frontier and rural counties in Colorado considered Dental Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), options for oral healthcare are limited.
  • Intervention: Cavity Free at Three (CF3) works to improve access to preventive oral health for pregnant women and young children.
  • Results: CF3 has trained over 6,000 medical and dental professionals in performing preventive dental health. The percentage of children who received oral healthcare from a medical or dental provider before the age of 2 has progressively increased, and Colorado saw reduced cavities starting in 2007.

Updated/reviewed July 2023

  • Need: School-based drug misuse prevention program in Appalachian Ohio, a need triggered by a high school student's overdose death.
  • Intervention: Implementation of the HOPE curriculum, an age-appropriate K through 12th grade drug abuse prevention program.
  • Results: No further drug overdose deaths after curriculum initiated.

Added July 2023

  • Need: To improve access to healthy, affordable food for low-income families and children in Blaine County, Idaho in a stigma-free way.
  • Intervention: A truck that delivers free, healthy meals to kids in local neighborhoods and a farm stand selling fresh produce at heavily discounted rates.
  • Results: The Bloom Truck delivers meals to between 250 and 400 children each summer, with 1,599 meals served in June of 2023.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: To help adults and children in rural South Dakota prevent or manage their diabetes.
  • Intervention: The Facing Diabetes Project offered medical visits for adults and provided prevention and education sessions for the local 4th and 5th graders.
  • Results: Many adults and children in the region felt better equipped to choose healthy foods, exercise regularly, and manage their stress: all factors that can help prevent diabetes or decrease its effects.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: To address the needs of pregnant women who are using substances and infants born into drug-positive families.
  • Intervention: The Mothers and Infants Sober Together (MIST) program assisted mothers who used substances get treatment and provide a safe, drug-free home for themselves and their newborn.
  • Results: MIST has helped mothers find treatment and education and has helped children grow up in safe and healthy homes.

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: To improve health outcomes in rural Appalachian Ohio.
  • Intervention: Schools as a Hub for Health promotes holistic wellness for the whole community by creating or bringing in programs that support physical, mental, and social health.
  • Results: The project has gained administrator buy-in and was featured in a December 2016 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps webinar.

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: To encourage children to make healthy eating choices through learning and tasting.
  • Intervention: Brief, fun, and informative presentations and tastings for children on over 42 different fruits and vegetables.
  • Results: Participants are exposed to new foods and show more interest in healthy eating.

For examples from other sources, see: