| Community Catalyst | Boston, MA | $546,334 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Community Catalyst to continue federal and state advocacy for comprehensive health coverage, inclusive of oral health, that is centered on the needs and perspectives of community, as well as provide technical assistance and training around equity-driven community engagement in service of oral health systems change. |
| Hispanic Dental Association | New Rochelle, NY | $278,535 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is for the Hispanic Dental Association to inform evidence-based policy decisions and support Hispanic dental providers as equity driven advocates for oral health. |
| Families USA Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | $262,500 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to grow and reinforce the infrastructure that ensures community voices and equity are at the center of oral health policymaking and to position oral health coverage as a prominent policy issue heading into the 2023 election season. |
| Families USA | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Families USA to 1) Grow and reinforce the strategic infrastructure that ensures community voices and equity are at the center of oral health policymaking; 2) Position oral health coverage as a prominent policy issue heading into the 2024 election season; 3) Prepare for the various alternative legislative and administrative scenarios that may arise in 2025 at the federal and state level. |
| National Rural Health Association | Kansas City, MO | $245,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant to support the National Rural Health Association in their work to improve rural oral health equity through the continuation of the National Rural Oral Health Initiative and its key pillars of advocacy, communications, education, and research. |
| Community Catalyst Inc | Boston, MA | $240,288 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Community Catalyst to continue federal and state advocacy for comprehensive health coverage, inclusive of oral health, as well as provide technical assistance and training around equity-driven community engagement in service of oral health systems change. |
| The American Institute of Dental Public Health | River Forest, IL | $210,882 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support The American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH) use data-driven advocacy to improve veteran oral health through the development of federal policy priorities and to build the capacity of the oral health workforce for community engagement. |
| Hawaii Public Health Institute | Honolulu, HI | $205,970 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Hawaii Public Health Institute (HPHI) and the Hawaii Oral Health Coalition to explore new policy options for expanding functions among existing dental workforce, conduct a community oral health needs assessment, and improve oral healthcare prevention and access for Hawaii children. |
| University of Maryland Baltimore | Baltimore, MD | $200,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support medical-dental integration pilots, led the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, that respond to the expressed needs of prenatal and post-partum people in Maryland as well as the state's ongoing workforce shortage. |
| Texas Health Institute | Austin, TX | $184,848 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Texas Health Institute in the development of a state level dashboard with population health data that will inform advocacy efforts in the 2025 legislative session. The proposed activities of this grant will also address access gaps for minority populations in Texas by conducting a landscape scan of current efforts, develop a learning collaboration for providers to advance solutions to these gaps, and engage with academic institutions to advance policies to address care gaps. |
| Missouri Coalition for Oral Health | Jefferson City, MO | $180,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Missouri Coalition for Oral Health in continuing the design and implementation of a dental alternative payment model (APM) for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) by testing incentivized payments for dental providers. This is the second year of funding of phase two of their current grant with CareQuest Institute, laying the groundwork for future implementation of an APM in Missouri. |
| Partnership for Southern Equity | Atlanta, GA | $175,500 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to sustain and expand the Partnership for Southern Equity's engagement of youth leaders, adult allies, and community-based organizations to advocate for improve access to equitable and integrated oral health that responds to the unique geographic landscape of the South, beginning with Georgia and North Carolina. |
| Partnership for Southern Equity | Atlanta, GA | $175,500 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to sustain and expand the Partnership for Southern Equity's engagement of youth leaders, adult allies, and community-based organizations to advocate for improve access to equitable and integrated oral health that responds to the unique geographic landscape of the South, beginning with Georgia and North Carolina. |
| Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy | Albany, NY | $175,292 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy's efforts to increase availability of oral health care to populations with the greatest need through comprehensive changes to health workforce laws, improved Medicaid policies, and a strategic workforce pipeline to meet future needs. |
| Colorado Consumer Health Initiative | Denver, CO | $175,000 | 2025 | The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative seeks to advance equitable oral health policy and systems change efforts through advocacy by advancing access to adult dental coverage and care, integrating dental into the state's essential health benefits benchmark, improving access to key services and minimally invasive care for children, and supporting the growth and direction of the new statewide oral health coalition by ensuring all community voices are heard. |
| Florida Voices for Health | Gainesville, FL | $175,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Florida Voices for Health in their work to support community members and coalition advocacy for a Florida Medicaid adult dental benefit and other policy opportunities that support oral health in Florida. |
| The Connecticut Oral Health Initiative Inc | Hartford, CT | $175,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI) to expand its community engagement efforts and continue important oral health advocacy to preserve and expand coverage and access to oral health care for historically marginalized populations throughout the state. |
| American Children's Campaign | Tallahassee, FL | $175,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support American Children's Campaign to carry out an integrated public education and advocacy campaign to authorize and implement dental therapy in Florida. |
| Oral Health Kansas Inc | Topeka, KS | $172,647 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Oral Health Kansas in addressing oral health access issues, continued convening of the "Sedation Dental Care Task Force Lived Experience Advisory Group to identify gaps and obstacles in accessing sedation dentistry, and advocating for expanded access to dental services for the Kansas Medicaid population. |
| Children's Action Alliance | PHOENIX, AZ | $170,118 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is for the Arizona Oral Health Coalition (AZOHC), with support from Children's Action Alliance (CAA), to lead legislative and administrative efforts in pursuit of oral health equity by continuing to advocate for a comprehensive adult dental benefit in Arizona's Medicaid program. |
| Harvard School of Dental Medicine | Boston, MA | $153,056 | 2025 | The purpose of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine's grant is to inform and engage state legislators as essential stakeholders in oral health policy and to inform OPEN members about state-level oral health policy. |
| Asian Resources Inc (ARI) | Sacramento, CA | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Asian Resources, Inc. drive systemic changes that improve oral health outcomes for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders communities by advocating for policy changes, diversifying the oral health workforce, and enhancing the collection and reporting of disaggregated race and ethnicity data. |
| Utah Health Policy Project | West Valley City, UT | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Utah Health Policy Project (UHPP) in the expansion of the Oral Health Consumer Coalition, ensure Utah's newly passed adult dental Medicaid benefit is implemented properly, create broad awareness of program eligibility, and to strengthen oral health coverage and access to UHPP clients who receive direct health care enrollment assistance. |
| Heart Ministry Center | Omaha, NE | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this proposal is to support Heart Ministry Center as they determine their oral health policy and advocacy priorities through trauma-informed story gathering of community members impacted by oral health challenges. |
| University of Colorado Denver | Aurora, CO | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine to strengthen the community voices of the American Indian community on Pine Ridge, in South Dakota, through authentic partnership development and test a theoretical framework on perceived discrimination and other dental care-related experiences in the utilization of dental care among adults in this population. |
| West Virginians for Affordable Health Care | Charleston, WV | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to build a grassroots advocacy base for West Virginians for Affordable Health Care's Medicaid Buy-In Proposal which will protect Medicaid beneficiaries from losing coverage due to modest income increases by providing additional affordable coverage options. |
| Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers Inc | Boston, MA | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to expand and pilot a four-part curriculum developed to equip oral health staff within community health center dental clinics with culturally sensitive communication skills to improve patient-providers relationships and care outcomes. |
| Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board | Portland, OR | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board in creating a sustainable, culturally centered oral healthcare workforce that addresses social determinants of health and reduces inequities in American Indian and Alaska Native communities through integrated dental, behavioral, and community health training. |
| University of Houston | Houston, TX | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to integrate oral health and overall health through medical/dental collaboration and community input at the University of Texas Health Houston School of Dentistry's Center for Health Promotion to create a care model that will be utilized to influence oral health and healthcare policy. |
| Children Now | Oakland, CA | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is for Children Now to ensure effective and widespread implementation of policies related to the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Initiative, specifically the Community Healthcare Worker Benefit, to better serve all 5.6 million children and youth in Medi-Cal. |
| Maryland Dental Action Coalition Inc | Columbia, MD | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Maryland Dental Action Coalition's expanded Medicaid implementation efforts, which include advocacy and legislation, interprofessional collaboration, and oral health literacy and education, all done in coordination with a diverse statewide network of oral health stakeholders. |
| Alabama Arise | Montgomery, AL | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this proposal is to continue support of Alabama Arise's work to advocate for expanded Medicaid coverage including educational advocacy efforts around oral health, opportunities to advance teledentistry and medical-dental integration. |
| Health Care For All | Boston, MA | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Health Care for All in its efforts to enhance oral health integration and promote teledentistry, protect and defend adult dental Medicaid benefits, advocate for state and federal policies aimed at expanding access to vulnerable populations, and conduct listening sessions with community members and organizations to inform the organization's 2025-2026 oral health legislative agenda. |
| Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education | Los Angeles, CA | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support SCOPE to build grassroots power and mobilize for a community-driven solution to address oral health inequities in BIPOC, rural, and tribal communities in California. |
| ITNAmerica | Westbrook, ME | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of the proposed work is to support ITNAmerica to study the relationship between transportation and access to healthcare, focusing on oral health and develop a research design for a cost-effective longitudinal study of the relationship between transportation and access to healthcare. |
| Society of American Indian Dentists | Carson City, NV | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) implement a call to action in their 2023 white paper ("American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Face a 'Disproportionate Burden of Oral Disease'") to "interpret [research] results with Indigenous communities." In partnership with CareQuest Institute's Analytics and Data Insights Team, SAID will take the data from recent research and present in the language and methods appropriate for the unique communities it serves - SAID's membership, Indigenous communities, and policymakers. |
| Medical University of South Carolina Foundation | Charleston, SC | $150,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the establishment of the Pipeline Dental Champions for Diversity and Mentorship between the Medical University of South Carolina and five historically black colleges and universities to increase the number of admissions to dental school and improve diversity in the oral health workforce. |
| Smiles Across Montana | Bozeman, MT | $149,950 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant to Smiles Across Montana is to develop a pilot program to deploy non-dental professionals as Community Health Care Workers who will provide education, preventive measures, and referrals to the underserved communities identified. |
| ACHIEVAThe Arc of Greater Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $149,740 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Achieva's advocacy efforts to designate people with disabilities as a Medically Underserved Population on a state-wide and national scale, which would increase access to primary, behavioral, and oral healthcare through federal funding opportunities. |
| Center for Medicare Advocacy | Willimantic, CT | $145,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Center for Medicare Advocacy's work to expand oral health coverage for Medicare beneficiaries |
| University of Florida Foundation | Gainesville, FL | $143,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the University of Florida in conducting a comparative study to provide evidence-based data to help authorize dental therapy in Florida. Authorization of dental therapy will improve access to affordable dental care for underserved populations and influence state-level policies for broader integration of dental therapists. |
| Alliance for a Healthier Generation | Portland, OR | $142,600 | 2025 | The purpose of this proposal is to support the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in the creation of a community-informed pathway to update the Model Local School Wellness Policy to include oral health, creating increased access to oral health services and early screenings, ultimately reshaping how school districts across the country address oral healthcare. |
| Virginia Health Catalyst | Glen Allen, VA | $135,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Virginia Health Catalyst to provide guidance and technical assistance to safety net clinics expanding the use of patient-centered, culturally humble care coordination techniques and tools. |
| Dignity Health Foundation - East Valley | Chandler, AZ | $134,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Dignity Health in the expansion their ICU Oral Care project. This project will embed Registered Dental Hygienists into the Medical and Trauma Intensive CareUnits at Dignity Health Medical Center toprovide oralhealth careto patients with advanced airwaystoreduce the incidence of Infection-Related Ventilator Association Complications (IVAC) and PossibleVentilator-Associated Pneumonia (PVAP). |
| Medical University of South Carolina Foundation | Charleston, SC | $130,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Medical University of South Carolina to conduct and evaluation of its Dental Pathways for Faculty Campions for Diversity and Mentorship project phase one and develop course materials for the spread of this model to other Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. |
| Nebraska Appleseed | Lincoln, NE | $130,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support Nebraska Appleseed in their efforts to continue collaborating with underserved communities to advance systemic change that improves health and increases equity in their state. Nebraska Appleseed will continue to prioritize growing capacity and voice, deepening oral health advocacy, expanding and strengthening health care partnerships, and improving Medicaid access and processes. |
| EXCELth Inc | New Orleans, LA | $125,000 | 2025 | This grant, through the School-Based and School-Linked Initiatives to Improve Oral Health RFP, will support EXCELth in the implementation of the Louisiana Smile Krewe School-Linked Initiative with the goal of increasing the number of children utilizing dental services as well as promote widespread use of teledentistry to address barriers to oral health for rural communities. |
| Center for Oral Health | Sacramento, CA | $125,000 | 2025 | This grant, through the School-Based and School-Linked Initiatives to Improve Oral Health RFP, will support Center for Oral Health to harness the success of the Early Smiles Program to advocate for critical policy reforms at local and state levels in California. This initiative seeks to expand and enhance oral health services provided through their school based program, which has demonstrated significant impact in Sacramento, Yolo, Alpine, and Trinity counties (California). |
| Well Child Center | Elgin, IL | $125,000 | 2025 | This grant, through the School-Based and School-Linked Initiatives to Improve Oral Health RFP, will support Well Child Center in forming and convening a Community of Practice to improve oral health in the second largest school district in Illinois (western suburbs of Chicago). |
| Southern Plains Tribal Health Board | Oklahoma City, OK | $125,000 | 2025 | The purpose of this grant is to support the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board to establish and maintain a racial misclassification advisory group (RMAG), made up of tribal and clinical oral health stakeholders, to map and propose solutions to instances of misclassification throughout the care process. |
