August 13, 2019
Voices for Healthy Kids is excited to announce our 2019-2020 funding awards for national organizations leading issue coalitions and Innovation, Equity and Exploration special project workgroups (IEE). They will mobilize broad expertise, perspectives and advocacy capacity in an engagement model around health equity and the social determinants of health, advancing the public policy agenda of the initiative.
Issue-specific coalitions will further expand our networks and support Voices for Healthy Kids by building collaboration among diverse stakeholders, sharing grassroots campaigns and valuable resources as well as exploring policy issue developments and challenges. This past year, coalitions successfully extended collaborative work in the areas of school health, early care and education, Head Start programs, afterschool programs as well as active transportation related areas in communities. The funded coalitions are:
Special project workgroups (IEE) support dialogue on social, demographic, policy and other trends related to the policy areas. Each workgroup has specific deliverables to be completed by the end of each one-year project. As an example of how the special project workgroups (IEEs) dig in deep on critical issues, this past year the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) led development of report, A Roadmap for Comprehensive Food Service Guidelines. This deep dive into procurement sheds much needed light on critical ways to improve nutrition in institutions serving populations of greatest need.
Best practices and opportunities to advance policies in diverse public settings will continue to be a focus of the coalitions and special project workgroups (IEE) this year. Additional coalitions and/or workgroups may still be funded during this fiscal year. The special project workgroup (IEE) for this coming year include:
Adverse Childhood Experiences
School Wellness and Health
Health Equity and Sugary Drinks
Active Transportation Equity