Rural Project Examples Addressing Populations - Rural Health Information Hub

Updated/reviewed September 2026

Need: To develop a child and family well-being 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 (CBC) for Region 8, which encompasses 28 counties. Services include foster and kinship care, case management, and reunification services for children and youth involved in the foster care system.
Results: Since October 2021, SJRC Texas | Belong CBC has served more than 3,000 children and young adults, with almost 90% of youth achieving permanency through family reunification, kinship care, or adoption.

Added August 2026

Need: To help rural older adults navigate aging in place amid shrinking healthcare access, social isolation, a growing need for digital literacy, and other challenges.
Intervention: A multi-year initiative that works with local partners to build coordinated, community-driven systems that reduce social isolation, strengthen meaningful connections, and improve older adults' access to health, social, emotional, transportation, and technological supports.
Results: Five rural communities have adopted pilot programs, and more than 8,000 older adults have received support.

Added August 2026

Need: To improve children's physical health and social emotional well-being in early care and education (ECE) settings.
Intervention: Go NAPSACC is a web-based delivery program that helps ECE programs complete self-assessments, create an action plan, and complete trainings.
Results: Go NAPSACC is currently in 21 states.

Updated/reviewed August 2026

Need: Children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) face many barriers to coordinated, comprehensive healthcare.
Intervention: The North Carolina Innovative Approaches (IA) Initiative provides funding so communities can make systems changes to better support CYSHCN and their families.
Results: IA has impacted 22 counties and has had a positive impact on increasing family engagement and community capacity for systems changes.

Updated/reviewed August 2026

Need: Child care programs across Wisconsin continue to face serious business, staffing, financial, and operational pressures that affect program stability and families' access to care.
Intervention: The Wisconsin Early Education Shared Services Network helps regulated child care programs strengthen business practices, access coaching and technical assistance, use shared resources, and connect with supports that reduce administrative burden.
Results: WEESSN has grown from a regional pilot into a statewide shared services model, currently serving over 3,000 programs and maintaining an active coaching caseload of up to 300 programs per year.

Updated/reviewed July 2026

Need: To help older adults age in place.
Intervention: For four to five months, CAPABLE participants receive home visits from a registered nurse, occupational therapist, and home repair services.
Results: There are currently 35 CAPABLE sites across the country, 13 of which are located in rural communities.

Updated/reviewed June 2026

Need: To reduce youth suicide rates.
Intervention: First begun in Utah, Hope Squad is a nationwide program that trains youth to identify peers' signs of distress and connect them to help. Hope Squads educate the entire student body to increase connectedness and reduce stigma.
Results: Studies suggest that Hope Squad schools' students with suicidal thoughts are more likely than non-Hope Squad schools' students to solicit help. In addition, stigma surrounding mental illness is decreasing.

Updated/reviewed June 2026

Need: To provide affirming, destigmatized healthcare and support to thousands of Tennesseans living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, substance use disorder, and homelessness – and prevention services for individuals at risk of contracting HIV.
Intervention: Positively Living & Choice Health Network provides services including a medical clinic, pharmacy, therapy, case management, client services like housing aid and transportation, HIV prevention, and a harm reduction program.
Results: The program currently serves over 6,000 individuals and families through its offices in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Cookeville and its mobile medical unit for rural communities in Cocke and Claiborne counties.

Updated/reviewed June 2026

Need: To improve students' access to behavioral health services in rural North Carolina.
Intervention: North Carolina Project ACTIVATE provides three tiers of behavioral health supports in the school setting.
Results: The six pilot sites (Cohorts 1 and 2) have created or revised 91 mental health policies, and 53,170 school-based and related employees have received training in different topics and protocols.

Updated/reviewed April 2026

Need: Drowning was a leading cause of death for children in Alaska.
Intervention: Cold Water Safety and Survival for Educators workshops were developed in 1998, with help from a 4-year federal grant, to train educators to provide education and hands-on skills for school children and members of the public.
Results: The safety program was integrated into about 79% of Alaskan school curriculum and schools in other states, helping to train hundreds of educators and thousands of children on the importance of cold water safety.

Rural Project Examples: Populations