News and Stories

COI staff recently visited Rady Children's Health, one of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative's (COI) 2025–26 mini-grant recipients, to see how their Enhanced Care Management (ECM) team supports families beyond the clinic visit. In San Diego, where food insecurity remains a pressing challenge for many households, the work of the COI and its partners is more vital than ever. The mini-grant award was made possible through funding provided by the San Diego Foundation's Born Well Initiative in partnership with the UC San Diego Human Milk Institute, helping expand the number of organizations receiving COI mini-grants this year. COI is funded by the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency and implemented by the UC San Diego Center for Community Health.

The Rady Children’s Health ECM program is part of a statewide Medi-Cal benefit under CalAIM that provides a dedicated lead care manager (LCM) to coordinate physical, behavioral, and social services for eligible members with complex medical needs. Among ECM members, 62.6% screen positive for at least one social need, including food, housing, and/or transportation. The LCM’s help families who screen positive for food insecurity using the validated Hunger Vital Sign to connect with the appropriate resources. CalFresh benefits alone often aren’t sufficient, so the team works to ensure families have access to enough of the right food. Each LCM builds a personal relationship with their families, learning what is culturally and medically appropriate, what they need, and what doesn’t work for them. 

The food program pairs that relationship-based knowledge with the Food Navigator staff person. The Food Navigator handles the weekly shopping, assembles the food bags, and prepares them for the LCMs to deliver to families. The LCMs, in turn, help inform selections so the bags meet the medical and cultural needs of the families they serve. 

The COI mini-grant has allowed the ECM team to purchase more food, healthier options, and greater variety, so families receive food that works for them. That tailoring shows up in the details. . The team adjusts each bag to reflect each family's dietary needs, food preferences, cultural traditions, and allergies. The program also stocks staples like broth, oil, and spices, which meet cultural norms.

Delivery matters too, since not every family has reliable transportation. The team keeps shelf-stable, ready-to-eat foods on hand for families who are living in temporary accommodations, making sure all families in need are receiving what works for them. They have also introduced fresh fruit and vegetables, made possible with support from Foodshed Cooperative, making this program unique.

Rady Children's launched its food distribution work as a small pilot in 2022, with just a couple of distributions a year. It has since grown into weekly shopping trips to stock the pantry and weekly deliveries to families, supported by constant communication between the Food Navigator, the LCMs, and the families.

Programs like this demonstrate what is possible when healthcare extends beyond the clinic walls. By combining trusted relationships, coordinated care, and access to healthy, culturally appropriate food, Rady Children's is helping families meet immediate needs while supporting healthier futures. It is an example of the growing recognition that addressing food insecurity is an important part of improving health and helping all families access the resources they need to be healthy.

We're grateful to the Rady Children's Health ECM team for hosting us and for the thoughtful, family-centered work they do every day. As the program grows, the team says the biggest ongoing need remains simple: more food, and more options that are healthy and fit each family's needs.

To learn more about other COI mini-grant awardees, visit sdcoi.org.