Vaccines for Children
One of the key components of all the health care delivery programs AHS administers is a keen
focus on prevention, and one of the best ways to begin the practice of this behavior is to
encourage families to have their children immunized according to established schedules. The
Federal government recognized this as well when they enacted the Vaccines for Children Program.
The Vaccines for Children Program provides free immunizations to health care providers to
administer to eligible children in their practice. AHS moved into providing Vaccines for
Children (VFC) services as an offshoot to our work with EPSDT and the Family Care Network (FCN)
in Pennsylvania. Since we were already interfacing with a large number of family and pediatric
providers, AHS was asked to incorporate the Vaccines for Children Program into our other
Pennsylvania operations by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Public
Welfare (DPW) late in 1995. By 1998 we had established a functional Program model in Pennsylvania.
We then used that model to successfully implement and administer the New Jersey effort.
The system we have developed includes the following specific skill sets:
- VACMAN
- Producing required reports
- Increasing the number of adequately immunized children
- Promoting and maintaining VFC quality standards and vaccine accountability
| AHS' Vaccines for Children Contracts |
| Time Period |
Location |
Contracting Agency |
Program |
| 1995 - 1998 |
Pennsylvania |
Department of Health |
VFC program development and administration
|
| 1998 - 2005 |
New Jersey |
Department of Health and Senior Services |
VFC program development and administration
|