The goal of the Children's Health Insurance subprogram is to ensure that all children have health insurance that provides them access to care appropriate to their needs.

What We Fund

Due to changes in the federal policy climate, the California state fiscal situation, and the U.S. economy, which has constrained resources at our Foundation, as of June 2009 we are adjusting our program strategy and grants budget allocation as we continue to pursue the long-term goal that every child in the nation has health insurance. For more information on these changes, see the Changes to our Grantmaking Strategy page.

Overall, our funding is focused on sustaining, improving and expanding public health insurance programs for children, and maximizing participation in public programs, for which most uninsured children are eligible. In particular, we support state-based efforts to cover all children in order to highlight and disseminate effective models of children’s coverage and increase momentum for a national program to cover all children. Grants are typically awarded for advocacy, technical assistance, communications, research, and policy development aligned with our programmatic goals. As a general practice, staff invites proposals from specific organizations for specific projects. A very limited pool of funding is available to respond to unsolicited letters of inquiry for innovative projects that fit within our guidelines.

Insuring America's Children: States Leading the Way
In March 2007, the Packard Foundation Board of Trustees approved a significant new, multi-year grantmaking strategy, Insuring America's Children: States Leading the Way, in its work toward the goal of ensuring that all of America's children have health insurance. This grantmaking strategy builds upon the remarkable activity unfolding in states across the country to cover children and includes two projects: the Children's Health Coverage Narrative Communications Project and the Finish Line Project.

Both projects will support state-based groups working to expand children's health insurance coverage through investments in advocacy, policy analysis, communications, technical assistance, cross-program learning, and training. The longer-term goal of supporting states' pioneering efforts is to inform and advance federal policy to cover all children.

Information on how to apply for a grant in this subprogram