Federal Children's Issues to Watch

Index:

Updated: March 4, 2007


Action Alert: Stop the Cutting of Childcare Programs

What would you do if you learned that your childcare was gone? Thousands of moms could face this scary dilemma if the proposed 2009 federal budget goes through which includes huge cuts to childcare funding. We recently shared the news with you about the terrible funding cuts proposed for afterschool programs--and you responded. We reached our goal last week of emailing over 40,000 letters to Congress for the 40,000 kindergartners home alone each day after school, and the word is out on Capitol Hill that moms are paying attention. Now your power and voice is needed again to help save childcare which is also on the chopping block. The proposed freezes and cuts to funding for kids' programs would mean that 200,000 children and families will lose their childcare. 14,000 children will lose access to Head Start, a crucial early education program.

From a Moms Rising e-Alert on March 4, 2008

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SCHIP Program Extended until March 2009

After two Presidential vetoes and days before the program was scheduled to run out, Congress has extended the SCHIP program until March 2009. This time, the President plans to sign the bill. The legislation includes just enough money to sustain the program at its current level and keep the approximately 6 million children on SCHIP from losing their health coverage. Unfortunately, there is no funding to cover uninsured children who are eligible for the program but not enrolled.

The bill does not contain harmful SCHIP policy changes that opponents of the program wanted. States that have covered low-income, uninsured adults using SCHIP funds can still do so, and the onerous citizenship documentation requirement in Medicaid was kept out of SCHIP. The bill also temporarily blocks bad Medicaid regulations to deny rehabilitative and school-based services for low-income people who depend on them.

The vote to overturn the President's second veto is scheduled to take place in the House of Representatives on January 23rd. If the vote fails, this extension will stay in place. The opportunity to cover more kids is not lost, but it has been delayed by this President and his allies in Congress. In the meantime, millions of uninsured children will stay that way.

- from a Families USA e-Alert for December 20, 2007

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Head Start Reauthorization Signed into Law

President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a bill (P.L. 110-134) reauthorizing the Head Start program for five years, the Washington Post reported. The House and Senate both passed (381-36, 95-0) the legislation last week. According to Congressional Quarterly, this is the first reauthorization of the early childhood development program for low-income preschoolers in almost ten years. The last reauthorization of the program was enacted in 1998 and expired at the end of FY03. Annual appropriation bills have kept it alive since then. Since its launch in 1965, the program has served more than 24 million children, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The new reauthorization expands eligibility to families slightly above the federal poverty level and requires at least half of all Head Start classroom teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education by the year 2013. The bill does not include a provision sought by the White House and opposed by AAUW that would allow religious groups participating in Head Start to discriminate against the staff they hire and fire by considering their religion.

By providing education, health services, and social services to children and their families who fall near or below the poverty line, AAUW believes that Head Start is a crucial, time-tested program that helps children beat the odds and have an opportunity to succeed.

- from AAUW's Washington Update for December 14, 2007.

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CDF Issues Report and Holds Summit on America's Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Crisis

CDF recently issued a report, America's Cradle to Prison Pipeline, to spotlight an urgent national crisis at the intersection of poverty and race that means that Black boys have a one in three chance of going to jail during their lifetime, and Latino boys a one in six chance of the same fate. Tens of thousands of children and teens are sucked into the Pipeline each year. The report includes:

The report was released earlier this week at CDF's Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Summit held at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The Summit provided the environment for a highly interactive dialogue to explore the underlying causes of the Pipeline, share promising approaches and develop a plan of action to dismantle it.

from the Children’s Defense Fund e-Newsletter for October 1, 2007

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Support Head Start

Congress is waiting to hear that you support parent involvement in Head Start through the Policy Council. Please tell your elected officials in Washington, D.C., that you support an active and vital role for parent-run Policy Councils. The current bill in the U.S. House is relatively strong, but the Senate bill needs changes.

- from a e-Alert from the National Head Start Association on June 28, 2008

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Over 214,000 Children Born Without Health Insurance

Did you know that at press time more than 214,000 children have been born without health insurance since the 110th Congress began on January 4, 2007? A number of bills have been introduced in this 110th Congress in an attempt to solve the problem of the nine million uninsured children in America. Earlier this month, Congressman Robert Scott (D-VA) stepped forward to do something real for our children with his introduction of the All Healthy Children Act (HR 1688). (You can watch that number grow by the minute with the new counter on our homepage.)

Unlike other health care proposals, Rep. Scott's legislation guarantees all nine million uninsured children and pregnant women access to the health care they need. Because of this, CDF has endorsed the All Healthy Children Act (HR 1688) and applauds Congressman Scott for having the vision to make health and mental health care a reality for all children in America.

Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have made tremendous progress in improving children’s health insurance, currently providing coverage to over 30 million children. Yet nine million children in America, almost 90% living in working households and a majority in two-parent families, are still uninsured. Millions more are underinsured. Chronic budget shortfalls, often confusing enrollment processes, and dramatic variation in eligibility and coverage from state to state prevent millions of currently eligible children from living healthy and realizing their full potential in school and life. As Congress prepares to consider reauthorization of SCHIP in 2007, there is a special opportunity for our nation and leaders in all parties to take the next logical, incremental, smart and achievable step to ensure health and mental health coverage for all children in America as a significant down payment on health coverage for all.

Because of this, the Children’s Defense Fund proudly endorses Congressman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) All Healthy Children Act (HR 1688). Unlike other health care proposals, the All Healthy Children Act guarantees the nine million uninsured children and pregnant women access to the health care they need. The All Healthy Children Act:

from the Children’s Defense Fund

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Dingell Introduced Child Dental Bill

Legislation designed to help deliver dental services to low-income children under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was introduced last week by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell, D-MI.

The bill (HR 1781) would expand dental coverage to additional children, provide access to qualified dentists, and allow for better reporting and tracking of dental disease among children. The bill would require dental coverage for any SCHIP benefit package. It would provide financial incentives and planning grants, by authorizing $50 million in fiscal 2008 and each subsequent year, to states to improve the delivery of dental services through the use of developing programs, analyzing data, and educating providers in Medicaid and SCHIP.

The legislation would authorize $40 million annually in grants from fiscal 2008-12 to improve the hiring and retention of dental providers to expand the availability of these providers in medically underserved areas. The bill would require Health and Human Services Department to develop an oral health initiative focusing on dental awareness and prevention.

- From a Commonwealth Fund e-alert of April 9, 2007

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Spotlight on Children's Health Care Quality & Coverage

The March/April edition of Health Affairs--a special issue focusing on children's health and health policy--features two articles by Commonwealth Fund grantees:

In "Transforming the U.S. Child Health System," UCLA researchers led by Neal Halfon, M.D., look at the current child health system--fragmented, underperforming, and fraught with inefficiencies--and propose an agenda for radical system change. Instead of the current patchwork system of programs and funding streams, Halfon and colleagues recommend integrated care that takes "a more comprehensive and holistic approach to optimizing health development."

In "How Stable Is Medicaid Coverage for Children?" Gerry Lynn Fairbrother, Ph.D., of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and colleagues examine enrollment patterns for children covered by Medicaid. While the program provides a "long-term continuous source of coverage for millions of children," it also creates "a revolving door for others," say the authors. Most Medicaid coverage gaps, though short, are long enough to cause a disruption in children's health and health care. The authors recommend eliminating or simplifying onerous application processes and recertification procedures to help keep children enrolled.

- from The , a private foundation that supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy.

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Healthy Child Campaign Update: New York State Is On-Board

Our Healthy Child Campaign to build awareness of America's more than nine million uninsured children and of CDF's proposal to enact health insurance coverage for all children has really taken off since our launch in January.

Last week, CDF joined with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to support for each other's efforts to provide all children in New York State and throughout the United States with health care coverage. "The Children's Defense Fund and Marian Wright Edelman are our nation's foremost advocates for the needs and rights of children," said Governor Spitzer. "Their efforts have consistently pointed us toward effective and innovative solutions. The proposal put forward by CDF will move us toward a better solution for children's health coverage. That is a mission that I and New York State share, and we look forward to working closely with CDF on this proposal to improve our efforts."

New Ways to Take Action: You can help support CDF's proposal and spread the word—visit our new and improved "Take Action" page on our website where you can send an email to your Members of Congress in support of health insurance for all children, find out how your organization can endorse CDF's proposal, and download toolkits that provide more information about the issue and our proposal, talking points to help get the message out, and tips on writing Letters to the Editor and contacting your Members of Congress. We even have a toolkit geared specifically towards faith communities!

- from a Children's Defense Fund e-Letter for March 14, 2007

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New Child Welfare and Mental Health Resources

CDF has released three new sets of child welfare and mental health reports: