Covering Kids & Families® (CKF) grantees work with a variety of partners to achieve CKF goals and objectives. Most partnerships have been fruitful, although some grantees have noted problems within their coalitions.

Key findings from an analysis of interviews with CKF grantees and of a survey of CKF coalition members include:

• CKF grantees named state and local government agencies as the most helpful collaborators in increasing enrollment. Grantees choose partners who can best aid them in achieving CKF goals. Government agencies set policies for Medicaid and SCHIP eligibility, enrollment, and retention, and grantees expressed clear preferences for these partners: 76 percent named them the most helpful partners in terms of increasing enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. The dominant selection of government agencies holds true for all types of organizations hosting the grant.
• Collaborators provide varied support to grantees. Forty percent of CKF grantees indicated that their work is supported by non-CKF grants or in-kind contributions “to a large extent.” Grantees reported that coalition members offer their time and expertise to grantees, as well as providing access to target groups, state leaders, and to the media and public as a whole.
• CKF grantees expect their collaborating organizations to continue the work of CKF even if the grantees cease to exist when RWJF funding ends. Thirty-one percent of grantees expect that CKF activities, such as outreach and simplification of procedures, will be integrated into the ongoing operation of some coalition members. Another 30 percent expect coalition members to take on these activities, while a quarter of grantees expect that the organization hosting the CKF grant will continue the work.

The collaborative model used by CKF has had clear positive effects. Grantee expectations about their collaborators’ role in continuing CKF activities holds promise for the value of collaboration in improving access to health insurance in the long term.