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Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation announces a request for proposals to expand oral health care services; awards two significant oral health

care grants

HINSDALE, Ill., May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation's (ILCHF) $20 million, five-year initiative to expand access to oral health care for Illinois children, the Foundation is pleased to announce a request for proposals in the oral health care field. The RFP process is open to any nonprofit that currently provides primary care services directly to children or formally collaborates with a primary care provider and desires to establish a new oral health service, expand existing services in a clinical setting or implement a community planning process. This RFP is expected to result in ILCHF awarding a number of grants ranging between $50,000 and $300,000.

"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
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