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Behavioral Health

By utilizing a statewide, community-level approach we are gaining a deeper understanding of what works and greater insight into the structural barriers limiting a person-centered, recovery-oriented system. Through this work, we and other stakeholders are influencing the field and providing support to reshape it.

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Childhood Obesity

We established the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities initiative to address childhood obesity through prevention efforts in select areas. The work brings together schools, community organizations, businesses, parents, and residents to identify and advocate for changes that increase access to healthy food and physical activity where our kids live, learn, and play.

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Crisis Response

Our Diverting to Care initiative focuses on how and by whom behavioral health emergencies are handled because people with mental health or substance use disorders are best cared for in their communities — not in jails or prisons or through law enforcement and criminal justice interventions.

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Expanding Coverage

Uninsured Missourians are more likely to go without preventative care, to delay or forgo medical treatments, and to die prematurely. Formed in 2013, the goal of our Expanding Coverage initiative is to reduce the rate of uninsured Missourians under age 65 through awareness, enrollment assistance, and health insurance literacy.

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Firearm Suicide Prevention

We are working to reduce firearm suicides in targeted populations, promoting effective messaging that shifts the narrative about firearms and suicide, and increasing the focus on this issue within statewide comprehensive suicide prevention work that is in development.

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Firearm Violence Prevention

Firearm violence is increasingly recognized as a public health issue. Through a variety of partnerships we are playing a role in connecting communities to critical resources and elevating information about the impacts of firearm violence.

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Infant Mortality

Our Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative was created to address the disproportionately high rates of infant death in portions of St. Louis and the six counties that make up Missouri's Bootheel. Through the use of a collective impact framework, we are actively engaging community members and key stakeholders in the planning and implementation of equity-focused infant mortality reduction strategies.

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Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid is a key piece of the safety net in Missouri. Our goal is to reduce the number of uninsured Missourians to fewer than 300,000 and ensure adequate access to quality health services for newly enrolled Medicaid recipients.

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Unintended Pregnancy

With a goal of reducing Missouri’s unintended pregnancy rate by 10%, we are committed to addressing persistent health disparities that exist around unintended pregnancy and marginalized populations. We seek to empower individuals to take control of their own health by improving information about, and removing barriers to, contraceptive services.