G-2411-22116

Kids In Need of Dentistry (KIND) is a nonprofit that provides high-quality, affordable dental care to children in need throughout Colorado. Since 1912, KIND has helped thousands of children each year get the dental services they need at a cost their families can afford and in a culturally responsive manner.

KIND is a returning grantee and received grant funding last year to conduct a strategic planning process that included community surveys with families, program partners, and oral health advocates to determine the need for a promotora program focused on oral health. Respondents confirmed this need, noting language and cultural barriers have historically been obstacles to good oral and overall health and, with CareQuest Institute grant funding, the KIND Hearts initiative was launched as an oral health promotora program with pathways for community members to become certified Community Dental Health Coordinators, serve as patient navigators, educators, care coordinators, and health equity advocates. Since the establishment of the KIND Hearts program, KIND has recruited 22 promotoras who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and these promotoras have connected with approximately 8,000 individuals since 2023. The organization’s promotoras worked closely with safety net clinics and hospital groups in Colorado to successfully support the signing of a bill to allow Medicaid reimbursement of uncertified community health workers, which will take effect in July 2025.

KIND’s commitment to growing its base of promotoras and promoting their ability to promote oral health literacy and access through care coordination remains paramount as the organization continues its efforts to establish and scale the first community-led oral health advocacy group in Colorado, based on the promotora-model of care. In 2025, KIND will:

Support professional development of existing promotoras through role promotion with the goal of formalizing an intentional leadership structure to support community education and ongoing patient engagement;

Develop a youth workforce pilot program to train “Junior Promotoras” to promote community and school leadership opportunities for youth, primarily BIPOC-identifying teenagers and young adults, while addressing ongoing oral health education and care coordination needs;

Collect and analyze data to effectively speak to the impact and financial return on investment of the KIND Hearts program as it relates to patient retention and care expenses; and

Build a replicable apprenticeship curriculum for communities beyond Colorado interested in promotora integration into oral health.

With the anticipated implementation of the state bill that allows Medicaid reimbursement for uncertified CHWs, supporting KIND to capture and disseminate its learnings and impact story carries potential to further integrate oral health into general healthcare. Additionally, KIND’s efforts with the KIND Hearts program have created new and sustainable pathways for Colorado to diversify its healthcare professional teams as well as enable economic mobility for passionate community leaders. This project also aims to expand KIND’s organizational partnerships to support more formal certification pathways and opportunities for residents within the state’s career and technical colleges.

This proposal is being recommended for funding at the requested amount of $143,000, which is 8% of the organization’s overall budget and reflects a decrease from the organization’s 2023-24 request. Project funds would be applied primarily to three staff salaries, professional learning and leadership opportunities for promotoras (CDHC Certifications), coalition memberships, and conference attendance at NNOHA. Some funding will also support in-person community meetings led by the newly promoted promotoras. The proposal budget indicates strong match support from KIND and the organization will remain involved with OPEN.