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Enrollment Through Volunteering

By: Tobin Van Ostern, Advisor for Strategic Partnerships at Young Invincibles

Who We Are

YI formed during the health care reform debates of 2009 around the idea that young adults weren’t being adequately represented in the conversation

In addition to health care, we also advocate on behalf of young adults on the issues of higher education and jobs

We have offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Enrollment Through Teambuilding – CA

Example

The Healthy Young America Project uses the basic model of community organizing to engage and ultimately enroll young adults and their families into the new health options made available under the ACA

YI organizers are working to build 9 teams (split between LA and San Francisco), each with 1-2 team leaders and 9 members

While team leads are paid a stipend for their work to recruit members of their team, all other members are dedicated volunteers

By the end of January, LA and San Francisco have goals of having at least 40 and 8 volunteers respectively

Enrollment Through Teambuilding – Timeline and

Goals

Towards the end of last summer, YI’s California Organizing team set out rigorous and detailed goals for itself to achieve over the course of the open enrollment period. While the first half of the OEP was spent building teams, the second half is dedicated to helping the teams engage and educate the general public.

October Enrollment kickoff event held Each city was split into regions by organizer YI organizers customized outreach materials and strategy for

volunteers Organized 5 back-to-school events at local colleges

Enrollment Through Teambuilding – Timeline and

Goals

November Identified and confirmed 2-3 colleges and 2-3 community based

organizations in each region to reach out to for volunteers Researched and connected with SGA’s, health centers, Student Life,

residence life departments and other student groups Conducted ACA trainings, tabling events or focus group bi-weekly

December Identified and confirmed 5-10 young adult leaders in LA (at least 1 per

region) Identified and confirmed 2 young adult leaders in the SF Bay Area Before the end of the month, organizers ensured each team was

adequately trained on the ACA and outreach strategies. They worked with teams to form individual outreach strategies to reach the public at-large. They started communications prep, so that teams could interact with the media in the spring

Enrollment Through Teambuilding – Timeline and

Goals

January-March Launch HYA Education and Enrollment campaign YI Communications Coordinator starts pitching reporters with

stories about successes of teams reaching other young adults and educating them about the ACA

Each team will organize at least 2-3 trainings/activities on their own per month with the goal of facilitating enrollment among the general public. Referrals will be made to key partners/navigators

Have 5 positive media stories written each month about the teams

Distribute, and collect pledge forms to 1) Download the YI mobile app; 2) Visit a health care provider once covered.

Public-Private Partnerships

YI has an expertise in the area of young adult health care and aims to use partnerships to expand its impact to a broader audience

YI has collaborated with several different entities to reach out to young adults

We are working at the state and local level, as well as with businesses, to build off of broader efforts that are being made to educate and enroll the public

Washington State

To ensure that young people are being reached on platforms that they use and in messages they can relate to, YI is working directly with the state exchange and its marketing firm, GMMB, to reach young adults

We worked with the state exchange to develop a state-specific mobile application that: finds local doctors/clinics, answers frequently asked questions about health care, has a mobile friendly version of the Kaiser Family Foundation subsidy calculator, and direct links to the Washington HealthPlanFinder

Other Examples

YI is working with local governments, including Memphis and San Francisco, to incorporate youth specific outreach into broader efforts to educate and enroll the public

We are working with WebMD to highlight our youth specific FAQs to increase their reach to their large audience

YI plans to expand its “train the trainer” model, where our organizers train local individuals on the ACA who are influential among young people so that they can share their knowledge with their community

Contact

www.YoungInvincibles.org

Twitter: @YI_Care @TobinVanOstern

Email: tobin.vanostern@younginvincibles.org