“Expanding access to quality oral health care for all children in
Illinois is one of the Foundation’s primary objectives, along with
addressing the mental health needs of children and increasing the rate of
developmental screening of young children,” said Dr. Peter E. Doris, chair
of ILCHF board of directors. “As a component of ILCHF’s oral health care
initiative, the Foundation supports programs that are designed to increase
the number of oral health professionals caring for underserved children.”

To encourage an increase in the number of oral health professionals
dedicated to serving children in underserved areas, the Foundation also
announces the recent award of $3 million to the two dental schools in
Illinois. Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine and the
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry will each receive
$1.5 million over the next several years.

The grant awarded to Southern Illinois University School of Dental
Medicine will, over the next six years, allow the School to better prepare
dentists to provide care for underserved children, primarily in southern
Illinois. The University will design and implement a program that modifies
the admission process, updates the curriculum, provides mentoring and
support to students, expands community-based service-learning opportunities
and assesses the outcomes of the program.

Likewise, the grant awarded to University of Illinois at Chicago,
College of Dentistry will support significant changes and enhancements to
the existing community-based dental program over the next five years. These
changes include a greater emphasis on pediatric dentistry at community
sites and earlier, more in-depth exposure to service-learning opportunities
for students. The University expects to graduate professionals with a
greater understanding of the social dimensions of their profession and who
are equipped to participate in the development of solutions for expanding
access to oral health care for children.

The oral health care RFP is now open and will close June 20, 2008.
Grantees can expect to be notified of selection by October 31, 2008. All
interested applicants should visit http://www.ilchf.org to determine
eligibility and review the process for online application submission.

About Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation

The Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation was formed in 2003 with
one goal in mind: to improve the health of all Illinois children. Through
the release of targeted RFPs and proactive, ongoing funding, ILCHF works to
eliminate the barriers that prevent children from regularly accessing
high-quality health care. Since 2004, the Foundation has awarded more than
$25 million in grants to organizations serving children’s health needs
across the state. Please visit http://www.ilchf.org for more information
about the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation.