Each year, effective federal programs give parents the power to provide their children with affordable healthcare, nutritious food, stable housing, and early childhood education. These programs lift millions of children out of poverty, but also have long-term benefits--children in families who accessed these programs have higher educational…

Previous literature documents a strong relationship between food insecurity and mental health, and also examines the impact of safety net programs on food insecurity. However, little is known about the intersection between mental health, safety net participation, and food insecurity. In this research, we use a multi-program safety net calculator…

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Arizona is called KidsCare. This report provides a portrait of children's health coverage in the state after a year of operation of KidsCare. Following an executive summary, the first section of the report presents overall statistics and trends in children's health coverage. The second section…

Assessed the cost and effectiveness of contacting parents through schools, educating them about health insurance programs and preventive care, and helping them with insurance applications. Data analysis indicated that accumulative cost per enrolled child was $75. Schools located and assisted large numbers of uninsured children who had failed other…

Under Title XXI, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), states have considerable flexibility to define the scope of benefits available to eligible children. Noting the importance of policymakers, advocates, service providers, and parents speaking out in support of children's need for the full range of necessary health care, this…

As states face increasing fiscal pressures, many are considering proposals to cut eligibility levels, eliminate outreach, and retract simplified enrollment procedures for children and families eligible for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This paper presents evidence on the importance of maintaining gains made in…

In this paper, we explore whether the specific design of a state's program has contributed to its success in meeting two objectives of the Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): increasing the health insurance coverage of children in lower-income families and doing so with a minimum reduction in their private health insurance coverage…

The development of standardized performance measurements, the widespread use of such measures in Medicaid, and the planned uses of such measures in the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide significant opportunities for child advocates to improve child health services. This issue brief describes the growth of managed care organizations,…

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 signaled a major increase in time, energy, creativity, and money devoted to enrolling eligible children in health insurance programs. Child advocates and others have focused on developing outreach and enrollment strategies to bring the benefits of these new SCHIP programs to children…

Federal funding for children's health insurance may significantly reduce the problem of uninsured children in New York and subsequently improve child outcomes. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two program models in educating parents about available sources of health insurance and in increasing enrollment of uninsured children into…

Responding to the need for a universal and comprehensive approach for supporting all families with children from birth through age 5, the Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) was launched by a broad-based coalition of public and private partners brought together by the Cuyahoga County government in Ohio. This report describes the history of ECI,…