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Past Initiatives - 2006-2007 | 2008


Initiatives - 2008

Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Expansion
Amount: $2,625,000      Term: 9 years
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a phone survey used by most states to identify leading adult health risk behaviors. This survey identifies items such as how many people use tobacco on a regular basis, eat a high-fat diet or live sedentary lifestyles. Data gathered using this system are then used by public health leaders to develop programs that will respond to the identified health needs.

Some level of funding to administer the BRFSS in all 50 states is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with Kansas currently having sufficient funding from CDC to collect data on a statewide basis and specific data from the state’s two most populous counties. While this information is important, it does not address the need for more localized data. Community efforts to improve health behaviors and evaluate health outcomes are largely dependent on the availability of accurate and adequate data at the local level.

Funds from this grant will be used by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to double the number of respondents for the survey. This will allow for the collection of data on a more localized level, with county-specific data available for the 60 most highly-populated counties in the state. Data would also be available by region for rural areas. The expansion of BRFSS will better equip local communities throughout the state to address, develop, track and evaluate health interventions targeting health risk behaviors.

Kansas Action for Children (KAC) Support
Amount: $1,525,000      Term: 3 ½ years
This grant will provide continued support for Kansas Action for Children (KAC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to shaping health, education and economic policy that improves the lives of Kansas children and their families. For nearly three decades KAC has acted as a change agent of policies and systems to ensure that the needs and rights of children in Kansas are met.

With its longtime focus on children’s health, the Foundation has consistently served as a funding source for KAC. Over the past ten years, the Foundation has provided funding for the purpose of helping KAC plan and implement strategic communication tools designed to increase awareness among policymakers and community leaders about the importance of public investment in children. Funds from this grant will continue that support, as well as help KAC diversify its funding sources through the establishment of a development office.

Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition (TFKC) Capacity Building
Amount: $1,200,000      Term: 4 years
This grant will provide funds to the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition (TFKC) to expand its capacity and better allow the organization to work effectively with communities across the state on tobacco prevention efforts. The organization’s mission involves reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and addiction and decreasing the negative health and economic impact of the use of these products. Research has shown that tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death, both nationally and in Kansas. Funds from this grant will allow TFKC to increase its level of technical assistance to communities as well as increase the number of youth tobacco prevention organizations in Kansas.

The Foundation has a long history of working with TFKC on tobacco prevention efforts, including partnering with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to co-fund its initial development as the Kansas Smokeless Kids Initiative. Through continued support from the Foundation and other sources, TFKC has grown to be a strong organization in Kansas, actively working with communities through technical assistance, training, leadership opportunities and youth empowerment strategies.

Dental Hubs and Spokes: Expanding Access to Oral Health Care in Kansas
Amount: $1,000,000      Term: 3 years
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 30 percent of the counties in Kansas are designated as “Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas,” with less than one dentist for every 5,000 people. An additional 54 counties lack dental health professionals who provide care to low-income populations. Poor oral health has been linked to a number of medical conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and strokes. These serious health implications, combined with the shortage of services in many parts of the state, make access to oral health care a major concern for Kansans.

The dental hubs and spokes model is an effort by the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU) to increase geographic expansion of access to oral health care throughout Kansas, particularly for low-income families. This concept is to create dental hubs within existing primary care safety net clinics to provide dental care services in a central, underserved location. Satellite locations, or “spokes,” will then be located at schools, nursing homes and other community centers to extend services throughout a region.

Funds from this grant will be used to assist in the start-up of at least two additional dental health hubs, thus bringing KAMU closer to its long-term goal of 15 hubs. The overall project is a partnership with Kansas Department of Health and Environment and five other private foundations.

Governor’s Health and Human Service Fellows
Amount: $100,000      Term: 1 year
This grant provides support for an additional year of the Governor’s Fellows program, which identifies, recruits and trains students with significant leadership potential for future roles in Kansas state government. Its goal is exposing the best and brightest Kansas students to the possibility of government service within Kansas, as well as providing them with hands-on experience and training in the workings of government. Two to three students are generally selected for the program each year and are placed with multiple state agencies in order to provide the students with a more complete picture of how government entities work together for the benefit of Kansas. These students come from a variety of backgrounds, including those who have majored in public administration, public health, health administration, business administration or law.

The Foundation has supported the Governor’s Fellows program since 2004.



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