First published on July 13, 2015 in observance of the COPH’s 30^th anniversary celebration.

Jodi Ray is a bundle of energy when she talks about the project that has become her life’s work, Florida Covering Kids and Families, which is a part of the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies.

The founding program director was Mary Figg, a state representative for Hillsborough County.  After a year or two of preliminary maneuvers, the initiative began formally in 1999.  Figg had enlisted Ray, who has a master’s degree in mass communications, the year before to be program coordinator and handle all things media, including assisting her with crafting the successful request for that all-important initial grant.

“My job was to manage a multimedia campaign.  I’ve done a lot of mass communications on this job,” she said.  “In fact, I’d say I do more of that than anything else.”

The project was funded its first seven years by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to do outreach enrollment of children eligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid.  During that time, a staff of two more than doubled to five by 2006, then, when that funding ended, was cut all too literally in half, reduced to a project director, a coordinator and a half-time assistant: essentially, a staff of 2-1/2.  Fortunately, they had a dedicated network behind them.

Jodi Ray

“We have a state coalition,” Ray said, “a large collaboration of partners from around the state and local coalitions in almost every community in the state.  We came together and said, ‘Our mission is to get uninsured into coverage.’”

The coalition was initially mandated by the RWJF grant, Ray said.  It remains active today and includes some of its original members.  No question, it answered a critical need in 2006, when half the staff was asked to keep up with an exponential work-load increase created three years earlier.

Crying on the phone

“In 2003,” she explained, “the state ended all outreach efforts for CHIP.  So they literally boxed everything up and sent it to me.  They gave me their contact lists and all of their partnerships and said, ‘Could you please take this on?’  Now granted, there were no financial resources with that at the time.”

“The state also closed enrollment for CHIP in Florida for 18 months.  As a result of that, we lost over 300,000 kids in the Florida KidCare program.  In one month alone, we lost 40,000 kids.

“There was no statewide outreach initiative except us,” she said, “me and my other 1-1/2 people.  The number of calls I got was unbelievable.  People were calling and crying.  It was terrible.”

That situation started Ray on an 18-month crusade, talking to newspaper editorial boards, legislators, community leaders, almost anyone who would listen.

Committed to moving forward, she and the coalition began implementing a plan that was as innovative as it was aggressive:  Sign up as many kids as possible to a waiting list.  When the list reached 120,000, the New York Times took notice and gave the state a boatload of blistering press.  Not long after, the governor issued an executive order to enroll all the kids on the list, and open enrollment returned permanently four months later.

In 2007, a new governor, Charlie Crist, declared the uninsured rate among children appalling.  He brought the state agencies together, Ray said, and told them to figure out how to make it better, and fast.

“One of the things they did was decide to give us some resources,” Ray said.

A state contract and marketing materials soon followed, along with help from state agency staffs on routine but time-consuming matters like mailing.  Growth was back, and with it, ramped-up after-school activities and more engagement with local businesses.

The results since have ranged from impressive to remarkable.  Since the first open enrollment period began on Oct. 1, 2013, the project has gained national media coverage for enrolling about 2.5 million previously uninsured Floridians, twice the expectation.

“We expanded to focus on all the newly eligible uninsured to help them get into whatever coverage options are available,” Ray said, “whether under the Affordable Care Act in the marketplace or Medicaid or CHIP.  One way or another, we were going to help people who didn’t have coverage get health insurance so they could get access to health care services.

“Health care services are important, and having preventive care, all those things.  We talk about all those things being necessary, but you’re not getting in the door unless you have health insurance.  So that’s what we focus on: the first step, getting people in the door.”

That may be the focus, but there’s plenty more to do.

“We also do one-on-one application,” she said.  “We have consumers that actually sit down with us and do enrollment.  We do everything that involves connecting people to health coverage.

“We even do some health literacy.  How do you use health insurance?  How do you make an appointment to see a doctor?  For many of the uninsured, these are not obvious.”

“We work with all the agencies on both the state and federal levels that are involved in implementing health coverage, and we get out there and shake the bushes.”

Media and more

As much effort as is spent on finding the uninsured, many do find FCKF first, Ray said.

“We get cold calls for everything,” she said.  “I used to wonder sometimes how people find us, but I don’t wonder that anymore.  All you have to do is help somebody.  Then that person gives your number to somebody else.  We get a lot of calls by word of mouth.  We helped someone at some point, and even years later, we get a call from that person’s family member or friend who needs help.”

“The things that consumers come in here and tell you are unbelievable, sometimes heartbreaking.  That’s the other thing that’s really tough,” she said.  “I’ve gotten calls that have made me literally get up and walk around the building a few times because the stories are terrible: the family living in a car; the kid who’s got some kind of horrible heart condition; the mother who had CHIP coverage, but something went wrong with her renewal, it got dropped, it’s Christmastime and she has no money because the asthma medication she had to pick up for her son cost $400.”

While grants provide the funding, the University of South Florida and College of Public Health make it work, Ray said.

“Our work has been very well supported by both the College of Public Health and the University.  I say this out loud every day:  I don’t think anybody doing this work could be in a better place.  I don’t think there’s any way Dr. Petersen could support our work any more than she does.  We get so much support from one end of this university to the other, and we worked with everybody through open enrollment.”

Student Health Services, the libraries, the Morsani College of Medicine and the Marshall Center were regular haunts, as were the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses.

From the beginning, Ray, who became director upon Figg’s retirement in 2003, has been the media go-to person from the beginning, and that responsibility has grown as exponentially as the project itself.

“We do four press conferences a year.  I spend a ridiculous amount of time talking to reporters.  Just in the first open enrollment period alone, I probably did 80 or 90 interviews with reporters from one end of the country to the other.”

The result was major articles in The New Yorker, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, to name a few, as well as pieces widely disseminated by the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as personal visits from two national health secretaries.

Ray on Capitol Hill in a nationally televised discussion.

“During the first open enrollment period, we had the second-largest grant in the country,” Ray said.  “That, in itself, drew attention, and [U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius] came here, herself, and awarded the grant.  She came to the college, and that’s how I found out we’d gotten the grant.”

It’s little wonder, then, that what began with two people 17 years ago keeps a dozen in the USF office busy with training, policy work, education, outreach, grant-writing, communications, etc.  It’s an office full of multi-taskers, Ray said.

“We all do all of it,” she said.

Given the complexities of health insurance laws and regulations, not to mention a new set of rules for navigators, just keeping up is a task unto itself.

“We do have to make it a point to stay informed.  We’re constantly on webinars and trainings, reading policies and reading new rules.  We have our hands in a lot of different elements of public health, just because we have to.”

The toughest part of the job, she said, is not being able to help everyone.

“We still have a gap of folks who are not going to qualify for coverage they can afford because the state has not expanded Medicaid coverage,” she said.  “I’d like to see us be able to enroll everyone who has no access to health coverage.  I’d like to see that in less than five years, quite frankly.  I would hate for that to be a five-year goal.”

Ray makes it obvious that what she and her colleagues do at Florida Covering Kids and Families is what keeps her pumped with energy.

“It’s all very exciting,” she said.  “We’re right there at the front end of this, and that, in and of itself, is exhilarating.  I feel good about what we’ve been able to accomplish, so it’s all been worth the time and effort – and the stress and the exhaustion – because it’s paid off.  We’re actually having an impact, and people see it.”

Every flight needs a navigator

The federal navigator initiative aimed at getting people into the new health insurance marketplace has been a major focus of their work the past two years, as well as a major hallmark of their success.

“The navigators are tied specifically to the federal marketplace.” Ray explained, “Some states are not participating in the federal marketplace, but Florida happens to be one of those states that is.”

The federal program provides outreach enrollment funds.  The first funding opportunities began in 2013, Ray said, and her office applied for USF to get an award that would cover the state.  She and her team did all the grant writing.

“We had already been doing this work on the ground across the state to enroll kids in CHIP and Medicaid,” Ray said, “and many of the partners around the state had come to a consensus that it made perfect sense for us to be the applicant for this grant and take the lead.  So, what we did was look at the model that was already working and find a way to expand on that.”

The result was a $4.2-million award in 2013 to cover 64 of the state’s 67 counties, the exceptions being Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe, which submitted their own applications separately.

“The second year,” Ray said, “we went back to those partners again and asked them if they would like to join us for the 2014 application.  They said yes the second time around, so the second time around, we covered all 67 counties in Florida.”

The second award was worth $5.3-million.  Ray’s group had secured million-dollar grants for their Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollments, but those, which  had been their largest to date, are easily dwarfed by the Navigator grants.

Most of the funds are vested in the people who get the job done, Ray said.

“A lot of people.  I’m a big believer that priority number one should be the human resource.  The folks on the ground.  The folks who are out there doing the education, the communication, the one-on-one application assistants, the people who know the processes.  We know from our history of doing this and tons of research that these are the folks who keep people from getting lost along the way through the process.”

In one regard, Ray said, the Navigator’s work has only begun with the enrollment stage.

“They help people navigate the enrollment process and get to the point where they can be enrolled and covered, and they’re also key to helping people appropriately use health insurance,” she said.  “We want folks not just to get in, but we want them to keep their coverage and to use their coverage properly.

“When you’re connecting people to health care coverage for the first time, these are not innately understood concepts.  Insurance is actually a pretty complicated idea, and if you’ve never used it, you really can get overwhelmed.  If you have it and you’re not using it, then the tendency to understand its value can be diminished.  The Navigators and the Florida KidCare application assisters on the ground are essential for that piece of it.  It’s not just about filling out the forms.”

The numbers tell just how busy those people on the ground have been.

“The first year, the projected enrollment for the federal health insurance marketplaces in Florida was around 450,000, give or take,” Ray said.  “We ended up enrolling – with all partners across the state, not just the USF partners – almost a million.  We doubled the projections, basically.

“The second year, the last number I saw was about 1.6 million, but that didn’t include the last month, the limited special enrollment period for people who got hit with the tax penalties.”

As impressive as those figures are, their national rank may be more so, especially given California’s stand as by far the most populous state of the union.

“The first year, every month, we came in second in the country to California,” Ray said.  “This year, our enrollment here in Florida was higher than enrollment in any other state in the country.  It’s a pretty successful initiative in Florida.”

That seems understated, especially considering that it was the work of about 90 Navigators the first enrollment period and around 150 the second round.  Ray was quick to note, however, that Navigators weren’t the only people involved.

“There are more resources that go into managing this than just the enrollment folks,” she said.  “We have IT people involved, we have human resource people involved, we have grant administrators involved.  It’s an undertaking, for sure.  It’s all a team effort.”

A niche in the state’s public health

The stakes, along with the numbers, will be higher for the third round, since the funding will be for three years.  Ray is undaunted by the change and, in fact, favors it.  For one thing, it will provide greater continuity in enrollment services, she said.

“We won’t have the start-up delays that come with a grant ending,” she explained, “and then waiting for another grant to come in.”

Given the early success but also knowing the nature of the funding world, Ray is cautiously optimistic about future Navigator grants.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” she said.  “I feel like we’ve done a good job.  I think our outcomes have been really high.  Our partners at the federal level seem very pleased with the work that we’re doing.

“Florida certainly has been a shining star all the way through this.  Not because I was optimistic, but because I believed we were doing the right thing and that we knew what we were doing, I’m not surprised.  Because we didn’t go into this making up a plan of action.  We went into it with a sense of how it can be done, what the best practices were.  We had learned our lessons along the way.  We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to do this.  All our collaborative partners made a big difference, too.

“I feel pretty good going into years three through five.  It’s going to be harder going into these years, because we’ve enrolled so many of the low-hanging fruit, so we really have to hone in on who we’re missing and whatever we need to do to make sure we’re not leaving people behind.

“This is our niche for the state of Florida in public health.  Whether it’s obesity or diabetes or getting cancer screenings, it’s very difficult for people to do anything about those things we talk about in public health if they don’t have health insurance.  So, I think we’re doing something valuable in contributing that first step to addressing some of these important public health issues that are so important.”

Story by David Brothers, College of Public Health.  Graphics courtesy of Florida Covering Kids and Families, CSPAN and Jodi Ray.

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Candace Webb, a USF College of Public Health (COPH) graduate, drew inspiration from the ‘80s sitcom “The Cosby Show.” 

“I was really impacted by seeing representation of two black professional parents on TV. I always wanted to go into medicine and was always really interested in science and human biology.” 

While a student at Tampa’s King High School, Webb volunteered at Tampa General Hospital as a Red Cross candy striper. 

“I loved patient care—the teamwork and communication between providers. And I really liked the clinical environment.”  

Through a fortunate discovery in the library at King, Webb found a program that allowed her to work in the labs at USF’s Morsani College of Medicine. It was a program that gave minority high school students an opportunity for mentoring and exposure to biomedical research. It was a formative experience that propelled her to pursue a biochemistry major at the University of Florida (UF). 

In her first year at UF in 2000, Webb experienced her mother’s untimely passing from complications related to HIV.  

“It was Thanksgiving Day, and it was traumatic and tragic,” Webb remembered. “Her experience made me ask questions like, ‘Why are African American families disproportionately impacted by a preventable condition like HIV? Why are children of African American women being orphaned in America at higher rates – especially when there’s highly effective treatment available?’ This introduced me to health care disparities, health inequities and how the health insurance system is tied to employment. My mom was caught in that gap period where employers hold initiation of benefits for six months. She passed away in that period of time. That is what drives me now and also what led me to public health.”   

It was during her time at UF that she noticed something. 

“I started seeing that the people who were doing the work that I cared about all had MPH at the end of their names,” Webb said. “I told myself, ‘I need to learn more about this MPH degree,’ and so I shifted from wanting to treat one person to wanting to treat communities and to affect systems.” 

Webb subsequently earned her MPH with a concentration in maternal and child health from the COPH in 2006.  

Driven by her personal experiences and a desire to create change, Webb said she embarked on a path that combined her scientific background with her passion for public health. In 2018, Webb was presented with the USF COPH Outstanding Alumni Award, which is given to alumni who demonstrate—as judged by their former professors and current colleagues—exceptional dedication and improvement to public health. 

Currently, Webb holds a position in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as the chief of the Adolescent Health Branch in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.  

“ I think HRSA is one of the best places to work in the federal government and especially in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” Webb commented. “Equity has been at the core of our mission. While other organizations have broader missions, ours is squarely on underserved and rural communities, people living with HIV, maternal and child health populations and the health workforce.”  

Drawing from her own experiences, Webb offered advice and recommendations to current students and young alumni who aspire to make their mark on the world. She emphasized the following key points: 

• Stay connected: “Maintaining strong connections is essential. I am still connected to individuals I met during my time at USF. And I’m friends with folks who went to USF at different times than I did. The program’s quality and the caliber of its graduates are evident in the strong network of USF alumni. It truly feels like being part of a family.” 
• Broaden your connection: “Join organizations like the American Public Health Association, be an active member and engage with different sections, interest groups and caucuses.” 

Alumni Fast Five:

What are you reading recently? “I recently started reading ‘My Dear Comrades,’ by Sunu P. Chandy, a social justice activist and civil rights attorney who works at the National Women’s Law Center. The book of poems weaves together her personal experiences as a woman of color and her legal and activist work. It provides a refreshing contrast to my daily technical reading. I’m also reading “The Boy, The Mole, the Fox, and The Horse” by Charlie Mackesy.

What did you dream of becoming when you were young?
“I’ve always been interested in science, medicine, dance, and culture so I dreamt of being a physician (an OB-GYN or a pediatrician), a medical geneticist, or a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.”

Where would we find you on the weekend?
“You will likely find me covering a performance at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC for The Rogers Revue, at a book talk or book festival, Latin dancing (salsa, bachata), enjoying brunch with friends, or playing with my rescue kittens Lucky and Nigel.”

What superpower would you like to have?
“I would love to be able to communicate and connect with more people meaningfully. So, it would be cool to be a hyperpolyglot (proficient in more than 6 languages)!”

What’s your all-time favorite movie?
“There are so many. A few are Love and Basketball, Dirty Dancing, Happy Feet, Up, and The Sound of Music.”

Bonus! What podcasts are you listening to? “Loretta Ross, a remarkable human rights activist, has a TEDx talk on the ‘Calling in Culture.’ It emphasizes the importance of fostering understanding rather than calling people out. I also love Michelle Obama’s podcast, ‘The Light We Carry.’ The former First Lady explores themes of resilience, hope and personal growth, inspiring listeners to reflect on their own journeys and find light in challenging times.” 

Story by Liz Bannon, USF College of Public Health 

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Leandra Olson got her first real introduction to public health when she was a junior in college at the University of Minnesota, taking part in an internship with the Minnesota Vikings Children’s Fund that focused on childhood obesity.

“A mentor at the time noticed that I seemed to have more of an interest in population-level health rather than clinical services,” said Olson, who grew up in North Dakota and graduated from the USF College of Public Health (COPH) in 2015 with an MPH. “She suggested I take some public health courses to explore this interest further. I ended up taking several—epidemiology was my favorite—before deciding to apply to MPH programs.”

Olson enrolled at the COPH in 2013 and quickly found a passion for maternal child health (MCH). She worked with Dr. Jennifer Marshall, a COPH associate professor and alumna, on the Florida Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (FL MIECHV) Program.

Her experiences with the FL MIECHV Program helped her land a public health fellowship with the Federal MIECHV Program at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), her first post-graduation public health job.

“What interests me most about public health is how it impacts and intersects with so many other areas beyond just the health sector,” said Olson, who concentrated in epidemiology. “It is this intersectoral collaboration that is essential to improving health outcomes, achieving health equity and addressing disparities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, public health was not as widely known or appreciated, but now there’s a better understanding of the importance of the field and how it can impact many other facets of society, including transportation, housing, education and the economy.

Olson eventually shifted roles within MCHB and began working closely with MCHB leadership to develop policies and strategies to implement more than 50 public health programs dedicated to improving maternal and child health.

“I worked on programs and policy issues focused on the MCH workforce, the Title V program, the MIECHV program and emerging issues in MCH, including the Zika virus, maternal mortality and disaster response. MCHB does such important work, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to it.”

In 2020, Olson began working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary’s Office advising on global affairs.

“My office was the primary liaison between the U.S. government and the World Health Organization, which was an interesting place to be at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic!” she said.

Olson supported HHS political officials, including the HHS Secretary, in global health negotiations and policy discussions. She also helped advance U.S. global health priorities at the World Health Organization and United Nations.

During her time at the HHS Office of Global Affairs, she is most proud of her work supporting the development of two White House initiatives aimed at enhancing the global health workforce.

Today, Olson is a policy team lead in the Office of Minority Health at the HHS where she leads policy efforts to improve health outcomes and health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations.

“I love that my current role allows me to be creative and inquisitive in determining approaches to address health disparities,” Olson said. “I’m proud that my office is seen as a leader in making progress toward achieving health equity.”

According to Olson, being open to challenging yourself with new opportunities and focus areas is key to acquiring a diverse skill set and finding your passion.

“It’s important to explore different areas in your career to build a diverse and transferable skillset and expand your knowledge of various topics,” she said. “A mentor once told me to say yes to opportunities that excite you, and I think that is especially true to help you continue to learn and grow professionally.”

Alumni Fast Take

What did you dream of becoming when you were young?

 A doctor—until I took organic chemistry in college!

Where would we find you on the weekend?

Hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains with my fiancé and dog or checking out a fun restaurant in Washington D.C. with friends.

What superpower would you like to have?

Being able to communicate with dogs.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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Dr. Rochelle Logan graduated this summer with her DrPH in advance leadership in public health practice from the USF COPH. She has worked in the field of public health practice for more than 14 years after earning her BS in community health education and her MPH in social and behavioral health science from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

She selected the USF COPH after being intrigued by the robust curriculum of the DrPH program, which encourages students to hone in on the skills they are presented in their coursework and immediately apply them in their current professional roles.  

During her time as a student at the COPH, Logan has been honored with the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs Go Beyond Emerging Graduate Student Scholarship Award and inducted into the Tau Chapter of Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health.

Logan said that she is most proud of maintaining a cumulative 4.0 GPA while simultaneously, working diligently to aid underserved communities across the country through her full-time federal position.   

“Upon graduation, I plan to continue my federal career as a dedicated public servant championing for at-risk communities and advocating for funding to reduce health disparities,” Logan said.

Currently, she serves as a policy specialist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services within the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start where she is charged with developing new and innovative plans and initiatives to evaluate services to diverse children, birth to five, and their families.

“My dream job is one where I can use the knowledge I have gained throughout my matriculation at USF to be a leader in the field of public health practice,” Logan said.

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

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Dr. Karen Liller, a USF College of Public Health professor of community and family health, has been appointed to serve on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“I have been working in injury prevention for over 25 years,” Liller commented, “and this is a great honor.”

Karen Liller, PhD, a specialist in injury prevention who also directs the COPH’s Activist Lab, was recently appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors for the CDC’s National Center of Injury Prevention and Control. (Photo by Caitlin Keough)

Liller, whose term has already started and runs until August 2022, is serving at the invitation of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar, II.

The board is comprised of 18 voting and 17 nonvoting members and is made up of government officials, behavioral scientists, epidemiologists, statisticians, criminologists and legal and medical professionals as well as others who specialize in injury management. Liller and her colleagues will meet several times a year at the CDC in Atlanta.

According to its charter, the purpose of the board is to “conduct, encourage and cooperate with” research pertaining to the prevention and control of injuries and violence due to things like homicides, motor vehicle crashes, falls, prescription drug overdoses and other incidents.

(Photo source Google Images)

Members are to advise the HHS secretary, the director of the CDC and the director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control on things such as surveillance, epidemiologic and intervention research and evidence-based strategies for injury and violence prevention.

“This is an important role because it enables us [the board] to advocate for different topics and hopefully affect policy change,” Liller said. “Between the advisory capacity of the board and its ability to recommend  approval for programs and research—both within the government and outside it—we can really make an impact on public health.   As I said earlier, this is a real honor and I am  thrilled to be a part of the board for the next several years.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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Each year the USF College of Public Health joins the country in celebrating National Public Health Week, held this year April 2-8.

One of the highlights of the USF COPH observance is the presentation of the COPH Outstanding Alumni Awards, given to alumni who demonstrate—as judged by their former professors and current colleagues—exceptional dedication and improvement to public health. This year Candace Webb, who earned her MPH in maternal and child health in 2006, was one of two graduates honored with the award at a presentation held at the COPH in the Samuel P. Bell, III Auditorium on April 4.

“Public health is a great home for all my interests,” said Webb, who is a senior state health policy analyst at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families in Washington, D.C.

Candace Webb, MPH, accepting her award. (From left) Dr. Ellen Daley, Webb, Dr. Donna Petersen. Photo by Torie Doll)

Webb works with state advocates to advance the health and well-being of low-income children and families. She’s currently anchoring the 18-state network of child and family health advocacy organizations funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s Insuring America’s Children: States Leading the Way initiative. In this role, she serves as the primary liaison with state-based health policy organizations engaged in efforts to advance and protect health coverage for vulnerable children and families at both the federal and state level—through building policy and communications capacity, leadership development and implementing innovative access solutions for children and families.

Candace Webb, MPH, attending a Georgetown University Center for Children and Families’ event. (Photo courtesy of Candace Webb)

“Public health work is intellectually stimulating and meaningful, and you can always bring it back to social justice,” commented Webb, a Tampa native. “So many disciplines come to bear when you’re advocating for social justice and health care. I love that I get to do that.”

A career in public health wasn’t on Webb’s radar until she experienced a family tragedy.

When Webb was 18 and a freshman at the University of Florida studying premed, her mother died of complications from HIV, a condition Webb had no idea her mother was battling.

“My mother was a single mom who at the time of her death was waiting for her employer health coverage to kick in with her new job,” said Webb. “Her death made me acutely aware of the barriers people face getting health care. Sadly, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

After graduating from UF in 2004 with a degree in health science education, Webb became a certified health education specialist and enrolled at the USF COPH. Webb said she chose the COPH because of its “solid reputation,” but wound up staying because of “the relationships I formed with amazing faculty, staff and students—relationships I have maintained to this day. I was fortunate to be around professors who were not only incredible academicians, but who also had practical experience in the field that they brought into the classroom.”

(From left) Webb near the U.S. Capitol with COPH’s Dr. Ellen Daley, Webb family friend Krystle Starvis and COPH’s Dr. Kay Perrin. “The COPH has been such a big cheerleader for me. I always felt supported there,” said Webb, who calls Daley and Perrin some of her “mentors and friends.” (Photo courtesy of Webb)

One of Webb’s academic highlights was partnering with Dr. Ellen Daley, associate dean of research and practice in community and family health, other COPH faculty and Moffitt Cancer Center on research regarding the psychosocial impact of HPV diagnoses. This graduate research assistantship paid 75 percent of Webb’s tuition and gave her an hourly wage.

“It afforded me an opportunity to form strong relationships and collaborate on research with faculty, staff and peers,” said Webb, who had some of the research published in peer-reviewed journals. “The assistantship was a huge support for me, and I am extremely grateful.”

Webb has received numerous accolades and awards and has held an impressive array of jobs advocating for the health needs of the underserved. She worked in education and training at the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth, and Families; was a scientific program analyst at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (part of the National Institutes of Health); and has been both a health analyst and supervisory public health analyst in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Webb at work on Capitol Hill. “Knowing the work I do has an impact on securing and safeguarding the health and well-being of others fills me with a sense of personal satisfaction.” (Photo courtesy of Candace Webb)

To date, Webb says her proudest career accomplishment has been securing and completing a competitive 11-month leadership development program for mid-level federal government leaders run by the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the HHS Department. This while working her full-time job as a project officer with the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

“COPH helped me channel my idealism in a really good way,” said Webb in accepting her award.

Webb’s next career move is to keep doing what she does best: learning and serving.
“I’ll continue to serve and apply my talents to those who need them the most. I also want to add more tools to my public health professional tool box and am exploring doctoral programs. I love being a part of something that’s bigger than I am.”

Alumni Fast Five
What did you dream of becoming when you were young?
A physician or medical geneticist.

Where would we find you on the weekend?
At a worship service, enjoying one of the D.C. metro area’s brunch options, relaxing at a dinner party with friends, taking in a show at the Kennedy Center, going to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is amazing!

What is the last book you read?
I recently re-read “Tuesdays with Morrie,” by Mitch Albom.

What superpower would you like to have?
To be a super linguist.

What is your all-time favorite movie?
“Outbreak” and “Up.”

Related media:
Healthy Bites

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post Candace Webb honored with 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award appeared first on College of Public Health News.

The Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) Program at the USF College of Public Health’s, received a two-year, $1 million grant.

The award, from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was presented on June 13, 2016 as part of the Connecting Kids to Coverage campaign.

Florida Covering Kids & Family staff members at an outreach event at Lowry Park Zoo. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF)

The Connecting Kids to Coverage project aims to maximize existing opportunities and structures currently in place with the statewide Florida Covering Kids and Families Coalition and its network of regional collaborative partnerships to increase enrollment and retention in the Florida KidCare program, which includes Title XIX Medicaid and Title XX in the State of Florida.

In total, $32 million has been dispersed to 38 community organizations in 27 states, funded by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) legislation.

“I’m thankful we got this grant because it allows us to make sure we’re not only getting people into health coverage, but we have folks who are focused on children’s issues who are working side by side with the Navigator team around the state, so we’re able to get families covered,” said Jodi Ray, program director.

These awards represent the fourth cycle of outreach and enrollment grants that USF was a recipient of and are designed to build on the historic progress already made increasing the number of children who have health coverage.

Ray, who has been with the FL-CKF program since its inception at the USF COPH’s Lawton Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, said a new focus for this particular grant year will be an increased focus on working with free and charitable clinics to provide assistance and training on enrolling eligible uninsured children into health care coverage.

Program Director Jodi Ray speaks with members of the community during a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF).

“Getting those kids and those families connected to someone who can help them apply and enroll is going to be key,” Ray said. “Our goal is to be able to get the information out to the families where they are; where they eat, where they sleep, where they live. So, having that partnership with these organizations lends itself to a certain amount of credibility, increases our reach and increases the trust that we have in working with families around sensitive issues.”

FL-CKF will increase the number of Florida KidCare application assistance center networks throughout the state where families may apply and receive reliable assistance.

“Not having health coverage is a real impediment to most of the things we advocate for in public health,” Ray said. “I’ve talked to families who haven’t been able to get through the process, people who are living in their cars, and people who have children with serious health issues and couldn’t figure out how to get their child in for services. Some have told me they had to skip Christmas because all their money was going to be spent for the prescriptions needed for their child’s asthma.”

FL-CKF has established a statewide coalition to engage with members of the community, including those at health departments, hospitals, school districts, faith-based organizations and veteran’s agencies. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF)

FL-CKF and their partners will engage schools, children’s hospitals, urgent care centers, and community organizations in outreach, enrollment, and retention activities to bridge health care coverage disparities through reaching out to specific subgroups of children that exhibit lower than average health coverage rates.

Local outreach projects under this grant will cover: Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Duval, Baker, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau, Putnam, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties.

Related media:
Press release
List of grantees

Story by Lindsay Kuznia, Florida Covering Kids and Families, and Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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With enrollment starting for year two of the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell paid a visit Nov. 17 to the community outreach and enrollment event hosted by USF Health navigators.

U.S. DHHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell meets with enrollees with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (left) and Program Director Jodi Ray (right), at the USF Health Nav-Lab.

Sec. Burwell toured the “Nav-Lab” set up in the USF Marshall Student Center with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Jodi Ray, project director for the Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health.

In a roped-off area of the Marshall Center lobby navigators from USF Health, joined by those from Florida CHAIN and Covering Tampa Bay, assisted eligible students and families in making informed choices about their health care insurance coverage and guided those interested in enrolling through the application process.  Sec. Burwell and Rep. Castor were able to see firsthand the personal assistance navigators give to enrollees, meeting with several to talk about their experiences.

They then joined representatives from USF, Enroll America and a USF Public Health student who is a local Marketplace consumer for a press conference to talk about the Affordable Care Act and the Open Enrollment period.

USF Health’s Dr. Ed Funai recognizes the DHHS for providing USF with the largest Navigator grant in the country.

In his welcoming remarks, Edmund F. Funai, MD, chief operating officer and vice president for administration at USF Health, said USF’s mission as a leading public research institution requires the university to be an economic engine and trusted resource for the region, state, nation and world.

“The program we are here to highlight today is a perfect example of the way in which we carry out that mission at USF each day, Dr. Funai said.  “We are honored that just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized USF’s commitment to these ideals and the incredible capabilities of our faculty, students and staff by awarding USF the largest Navigator Grant in the country this year.”

Jodi Ray, principal investigator for the USF Navigator grant and project director for Florida Covering Kids & Families.

“USF is extremely proud of the accomplishments achieved in Year 1 of the Marketplace initiative,” said Jodi Ray, principal investigator for the USF Navigator grant.  “Our reach was far and wide.  Close to 100,000 individuals received one-on-one education and application assistance from USF Project Navigators, and more than 230,000 consumers were reached through community outreach activities, in addition to 37 million individual hits reached through the numerous educational marketing and communication efforts.

“We’re excited to participate in Year 2, and this year USF and its 12 consortium partners will be on the ground providing outreach, education and enrollment support to the entire state of Florida.  We don’t take a top-down approach, but rather one built and designed by the local communities being served.”

U.S. Rep. Castor commended USF’s role in helping Florida lead the federal Marketplace.

“I’m proud of USF for their efforts,” Rep. Castor said. “The challenge is to replicate that and to sign up more this year.”

Then Sec. Burwell took the podium, sharing details of this year’s enrollment efforts and fielding questions from reporters.

Sec. Sylvia Burwell explains Year 2’s enrollment and answers questions from reporters.

“Last year, we had 10.3 million fewer adults uninsured, a cut of 26 percent of the uninsured,” Sec. Burwell said to a room filled with local and national media. “So far, in the first two days of this year’s enrollment, we’ve had 1 million visitors, 200,000 calls, including 20,000 calls to our Spanish language lines, and 500,000 successful entries in the system.”

This year’s system is aimed at providing something more like window shopping, she said.

“We’re taking a targeted outreach approach in what is a shorter period of time (for enrollment), using what we learned last year,” she said. “How are people making decisions and what information do they need to do that? … The big focus is how we can serve the consumer this year, to get them the information so they can make good choices for themselves.”

In 2013, USF’s FL-CKF received the second largest award nationwide out of $67 million in “Navigator” grant awards distributed to 105 organizations.  USF received the largest of these awards among eight recipients in Florida.

Just this September, USF was awarded a $5.38 million, second-year Navigator grant – the largest single award in the country and in Florida – to help enroll more eligible consumers and small employers in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

In its second year, FL-CKF expects to surpass its Year 1 accomplishments through one-on-one renewal and enrollment assistance and indirectly reach more than 1.5 million individuals through outreach activities in the 67 counties served by the USF Navigator grant, Ray said.

In addition to Ray, other members of the USF Navigator team at FL-CKF are Michelle Ray, Xonjenese Jacobs, Wendy Hathaway, Avery Slyker, Linda Detman, Jessica Berumen, and Tommi Rivers.

For more information, visit Healthcare.gov. Or call (813) 803-0628 to speak with a USF Navigator.

Sec. Burwell hears from Ashley Brunson, who is re-enrolling for Year 2.

Navigator Maria Jimenez (right) helps Chris Villatte enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Peggy Johnson (left) and Don Gray (right) enroll for coverage with help from Navigator Joanna Reid.

From left, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, U.S. DHHS Sec. Sylvia Burwell, and USF’s Jodi Ray at the USF Health Nav-Lab.

Written by Sarah Worth and photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications. Reposted from USF Health News

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The University of South Florida has been awarded by far the largest grant in the state to hire “navigators” who help uninsured people sign up for health insurance coverage through the federal Marketplace, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday.

Only two other Florida organizations won  navigator grants: the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida, $871,275, and the Pinellas County Commission, $535,156.

This year’s USF grant, of almost $5.4 million, is even larger than the $4.2 million USF received last year. The territory covered is greater this year; USF has responsibility  for all 67 counties, while for 2014 others did enrollment for Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

HHS did not say why USF was chosen, but the outcome last year won widespread praise. Florida signed up more people for coverage through Healthcare.gov than any other state participating in the federal Marketplace.  The number who enrolled in plans was well above 900,000, but recently the Office of Insurance Regulation reported that 866,485 Floridians actually paid for premiums.

USF’s Covering Kids & Families Program, in the College of Public Health, coordinates the enrollment through 12 organizations around the state, most of them grass-roots non-profits. It’s important to have local people leading the effort, said Jodi Ray, program director.

Jodi Ray is project director for Florida Covering Kids & Families based at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. In 2013, she led more than 100 navigators across Florida, which had the second highest rate of uninsured in the country.

“We’re able to provide 1- on-1 assistance to many thousands of consumers and get them through the process, so I think the strategies we have and the fact that we have a very strong infrastructure in terms of a network in place has been effective,” Ray said.

Florida navigators succeeded last year despite opposition from state officials. For example, the State Department of Health ordered county health units not to allow navigators on their property, and members of the Florida Cabinet raised fears that navigators would steal personal health information.

The Marketplace is aimed at individuals and families who must buy their own coverage, not those who get their coverage through an employer or a government program. While those buying health coverage don’t have to go through the Marketplace — they can use an agent or company — it is the only way to qualify for tax credits that bring down the cost of premiums. The government reported in March that 90 percent of Floridians who signed up for plans received subsidies that averaged $3,000.

Open enrollment for 2015 in plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act begins Nov. 15 and lasts through Feb. 15. Most Americans are required to have coverage that complies with the law or pay a penalty at income-tax time. The penalty for remaining uninsured this year was just $95 or 1 percent of income, but each year it rises; for 2015, it will be $325 per adult or 2 percent of income.

USF navigator project coordinator Xonjenese Jacobs, right, with Ryan Morris, a health organizer for Florida CHAIN.

Among the exemptions are those whose income is below the federal poverty level in states that declined to expand Medicaid to cover low-income families as called for under the ACA. Florida is one that refused, passing up federal funds. If legislators don’t change their mind, the state will give up an estimated $51 billion over a decade.

HHS said it was awarding $60 million in navigator grants to 90 organizations in states that use the federal Marketplace or participate in federal-state partnerships.

Reposted from Health News Florida. Photos courtesy of USF Health Communications.

Related story:
USF gets $5.38 M grant to help enroll more eligible uninsured in Health Insurance Marketplace

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• Jessica Gipson, MPH student
• Amelia Phillips, MPH student
• Laketa Entzminger, MPH student
• Ariana Bentz, MPH student
• Mahmooda Pasha, doctoral student

Through the traineeship, each student receives a stipend, a tuition waiver, and a specialized curriculum involving intensive mentoring and leadership training in maternal and child health.

The Maternal and Child Health Leadership Training Program is funded by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, located in the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services.  The program holds seminars throughout the year on cultural competence, family-centered care and interdisciplinary practice.

The University of South Florida College of Public Health is the parent organization for the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Training Program. Its academic home is the Department of Community and Family Health.

Submitted by Ankita Patel, USF College of Public Health

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