South Philly Review

With all of the squabbles adults have engaged in over health-care reform, one can easily forget the debates’ most vulnerable elements — children and youth.

Over the last six months, Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) has been implementing The Student Health Insurance Enrollment and Renewal Initiative, its plan to ensure that uninsured South Philadelphia high schoolers receive free or low-cost assistance. The summer months have intensified the organization’s outreach to the parents and guardians of the students attending Edward W. Bok Technical High School, 1901 S. Ninth St.; Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St.; and South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St.

The combined enrollment of the schools approaches 2,800, and PCCY, 1709 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., wants to enroll the majority of the uninsured students into either CHIP [Children’s Health Insurance Program] or Medicaid by next February. To do so, the organization, which next year will celebrate 30 years of advocacy for the children of Southeastern Pennsylvania, has instituted a number of means to sign up at least 60 percent of the aforementioned learners.

“We are targeting disproportionately uninsured students,” Colleen McCauley, PCCY’s health policy director, said. “Those students are usually older children and children from immigrant populations.”

Local high schools fit these criteria.

“All along, our goal has been to target South Philadelphia with this initiative,” she said. “It is flexible enough to be adding schools like Prep Charter [1928 Point Breeze Ave.] and GAMP [Girard Academic Music Program, 22nd and Ritner streets], and we can certainly add every child, not just high schoolers, in a family.”

Flyers, one of the group’s chief resources, reflect the diversity of the schools’ populations. Each bears PCCY’s number following the message “If a youth in your house needs health insurance” in English, Cambodian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean and Spanish. Distribution has taken PCCY to nail salons, Mexican restaurants, Asian eateries, Mummers clubs, community-based organizations and all five of South Philadelphia’s libraries.

“People often need to hear stuff at least three times, so we go to places where parents are,” McCauley said.

Funding came through for PCCY from the Fund for Philadelphia’s Children in February, with outreach beginning shortly afterwards. McCauley noted the additional money allowed the organization to hire an Spanish speaker, as well as develop additional materials. The last few months have helped McCauley and her colleagues to prepare for what they hope will be a busy 2010-’11 school year. The School District of Philadelphia’s summer session ended July 28, and PCCY representatives attended the commencement at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to circulate information.

“We are making a summer push. I would have liked to have more children enrolled by now, but I am not discouraged,” McCauley, who also sent 60 flyers to Southern last week, said.

“We have worked closely with Principal [Otis] Hackney [III] since he took over,” she added of the new head of the embattled school whose recent principal, LaGreta Brown, resigned in May amidst investigations on her qualifications.

The school has the largest population of the three initiative recipients, so McCauley, who is not aware of how many of the students from the three institutions lack coverage, knows she and her dozen staff members will need to “keep up the drumbeat.” Doing so will mean continued attendance at faculty meetings, increased notifications in churches and more public service announcements. McCauley recently taped a PSA scheduled to run 1:30 p.m. Aug. 21 during WPVI-TV Channel 6’s Puerto Rican Panorama.

Lilian Harris, of the 300 block of Christian Street first heard about the initiative during a Bok May graduation/prom meeting. The mother of senior-to-be Jaliyl Alexander, 17, said learning of the insurance could not have come at a more opportune time.

“I am most definitely satisfied,” Harris said. “I completed my phone application within a week of the meeting, and my son’s coverage became effective Sunday. Now, he can go for a physical in time for school.”

Once parents and guardians have learned about acquiring insurance for their relatives, they call PCCY to complete a phone application.

“Families can do a hard copy application, but most of our applications are done over the phone,” McCauley, who has spent 20 years as a nurse and nine with PCCY, said, adding she and her staff use the interpreatation service Language Line to negate the conversational barriers.

“Once people complete their applications, CHIP and Medicaid have 45 days to determine eligibility,” McCauley said. “Following the evaluation period, coverage should kick in relatively quickly.”

When calling 215-563-5848, extension 19, callers must answer questions concerning their addresses, the number of people living in a household, social security numbers and monthly incomes.