By Liane Wong, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
It should be common sense to say that policies and programs which improve the health and well-being of parents will also help their children, right? I recently joined the Aspen Institute’s ThinkXChange to discuss priorities and emerging opportunities across the country to develop two generation approaches—where parents and children are supported together—in education, health, and family economic support. From these and a series of discussions that preceded the ThinkXChange, the Aspen Institute released the Top Ten for Two Generations.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Mathematica Policy Research recently released a brief on the use of communications strategies to shape state policy conversations on health care coverage for children and families. In the context of highly politicized and sometimes contentious debates around the Affordable Care Act, advocates in Colorado, Ohio, and Wisconsin used positive solutions-focused framing in support of their state Medicaid expansions, with each highlighting the connection between a parent getting coverage with their children’s health. The brief offers insight on the specific strategies the three organizations are using so that uninsured children and their families receive the coverage that meets their unique needs.
Communicating about children’s coverage in a way that resonates broadly. Advocates must make clear and careful decisions about how to link children’s coverage to other issues, including two-generation approaches. The groups featured in the brief outlined successes in connecting children’s coverage to family well-being, economic security, and state pride in order to advance policy goals.
Selecting the right target audiences and strategies to influence them. States offer examples for moving policy agendas forward with both direct and indirect outreach. In cases where organizations possess strong relationships, direct outreach is often the most efficient path. However, when grantees have less access to policymakers, many organizations achieved success by indirectly engaging with policymakers through the media and third parties.
Serving as a trusted voice among decision makers. Advocates focus on actionable solutions, communicate relevant, fact-based messaging and provide valuable services and expertise.
Amid different state conditions and approaches for implementing the Affordable Care Act, children’s advocacy organizations can look to their counterparts in Colorado, Ohio, and Wisconsin for ideas about developing and maintaining a positive, fact-driven approach to increasing children’s and parents coverage in the current policy environment. These states show that there are key opportunities to address the health needs of vulnerable families, with Medicaid as a growing whole-family coverage source nationally and in many states.
