The Detroit URC is one of 12 efforts throughout the nation that has been awarded a Roadmaps to Health Community Grant of $200,000 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve the long-term health of people in Detroit by increasing graduation rates at several of Detroit's lowest-performing schools and ultimately putting these students on a path toward better jobs and improved health. The Skillman Foundation will provide an additional cash match of $100,000 for this project.

The grant will support a two-year collaborative effort to engage with schools identified by Michigan's Education Achievement Authority (EAA), the new statewide authority on under-performing schools, specifically those located in the Brightmoor, Chadsey/Condon, Cody Rouge, Northend/Central, Osborn, Southwest Detroit and Lower Eastside neighborhoods. This new effort entitled, 'Neighborhoods Taking Action: A Partnership Approach to Policy and Systems Change to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Health (NTA)', aims to ensure that students- and their parents- are actively engaged in and have an impact on the design and implementation of the reforms associated with the EAA. NTA is a collaborative research partnership that includes the following organizations: Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance, Communities In Schools of Detroit, the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, the Detroit Public Schools Office of Charter Schools, Friends of Parkside, Henry Ford Academy, The Skillman Foundation and the University of Michigan School Of Public Health.

"This funding could not have come at a more opportune time for Detroit. It will provide us with the opportunity to collectively influence the direction and future of our children's education and well-being through strong and informed voices from our parents and youth," said Angela Reyes, MPH, Executive Director of the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation and founding Board member of the Detroit URC and Steering Committee member of the NTA.

The 12 Roadmaps to Health Community Grants, which support two-year state and local efforts among policymakers, business, education, health care, public health and community organizations, will be managed by Community Catalyst and are part of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, a collaboration of RWJF and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI).

"These projects are really exciting for two reasons: first, they are truly collaborations among diverse community partners who bring expertise, relationships and resources to improve people's health; and second, that in addition to health behaviors such as smoking and diet, they are focused on factors such as education, family relationships and income that heavily influence our health and quality of life," said James S. Marks, MD, MPH, senior vice president and director of the Health Group at RWJF.

The on-time graduation rate in Detroit's Wayne County is 65%, compared to the state rate of 77%, ranking it last of the 82 counties in Michigan. There is considerable evidence that lower educational achievement predicts poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancy. Better education typically results in more stable employment and higher income, enabling greater access to health enhancing resources such as housing in safer neighborhoods and better quality health care. A significant body of research has identified parental involvement and student engagement as important influences on educational outcomes such as achievement and the decision to stay in school until graduation. This project will ensure substantive parent and student participation in the educational reform process and will select at least one identified "best practice" for increasing high school graduation rates, such as establishing small learning communities, and work with stakeholders in each of the above neighborhoods to determine what this change will look like depending on individual neighborhood and school needs.

"Neighborhoods Taking Action will work directly with parents and residents to help ensure Detroit kids graduate from high school and go on to successful lives as adults," said Skillman Foundation President & CEO Carol Goss. "We're enthusiastic about this project," Goss added, "and we believe it will play an important role in Detroit's comeback."

The Neighborhoods Taking Action effort and other grantees will build on the UWPHI's County Health Rankings model, which highlights the critical role that factors such as education, jobs and our environment play in influencing how healthy people are and how long they live. The Roadmaps to Health grantees are working to create healthier places to live, learn, work and play. Taken together, the Rankings and the actions of the Roadmaps to Health grantees are a way of solving our nation's health crisis.

The grantees will build consensus for and implement policy and systems changes that address the factors that we know are connected to health - education, income and employment, community safety and social connectedness. Community Catalyst, a national consumer health advocacy organization, will use its expertise and successful advocacy framework of coalition building, grassroots mobilization, policy research analysis, campaign design and implementation, and communications and media strategies to help each grantee group achieve results, including policy and systemic changes.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measureable and timely change. For nearly 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

About Community Catalyst
Community Catalyst is a national non-profit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to quality affordable health care for all. Community Catalyst works in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and foundations, providing leadership and support to improve the health of communities and to change the health care system so it serves everyone. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org. Read or comment on our blog at http://blog.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @healthpolicyhub.