Illinois Delta Network
The Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development (CRHSSD) oversees the Illinois Delta Network, which is funded by the United States Health Resources and Services Administration. The funding has enabled the CRHSSD to implement the Illinois Catch on to Health and the Caring Connections IEP Enhancement Program.
The Illinois CATCH on to Health! Consortium (ICHC) applies a planned, systemic, and coordinated school-based approach to behavioral and environmental change to improve children's nutrition and physical activity as well as decrease childhood obesity. To address these needs, ICHC selected the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) as the primary change strategy and decided to focus its nutrition and physical activity project on elementary school children in the Illinois Delta Region. To implement this project, CRHSSD collaborates with Southern Illinois Healthcare, Egyptian Health Department, and Southern Seven Health Department.
The SIUC Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development (CRHSSD) in partnership with Shawnee Health Services and Williamson County Special Education District facilitate the development of the Illinois innovative project entitled the Caring Connections IEP Enhancement Program. The Caring Connections program is a telepsychiatry pilot project designed to: 1) include a child psychiatrist and family advocate into the IEP (individualized educational plan) process; 2) increase the parent/guardian’s and IEP team members’ satisfaction with the IEP process; and 3) create a sustainable telepsychiatry program that could be used as a model in medically underserved rural regions.