Early Childhood
A child’s brain develops most rapidly in the earliest years of life, building the foundation for learning, behavior and health. Medicaid, along with CHIP, serves four out of five young children in low-income families, serving as a logical place to reach these children and their families before kindergarten. Prioritizing young children and their families in Medicaid through cross-sector, innovative practice change has the potential to improve their lifetime trajectories, overall population health and long-run savings. Through blog posts, papers, and resources, CCF seeks to highlight ways Medicaid can do more to set our nation’s youngest children on a path of healthy physical, social, and emotional development.
Families with Young Children Need More Support During COVID-19, Surveys Show
Since April, the researchers at University of Oregon’s Center for Translational Neuroscience have been conducting a weekly national survey of households with children age 5 and under and the findings are clear: families with young children are stressed, and they’re increasingly facing hunger and unemployment. These challenges, the authors write, are, “negatively affecting caregiver well-being, […]
Children Need Social Emotional Learning Support Especially During COVID-19 and School Closures
As we enter August with over 4.5 million COVID-19 cases and rising, many states and school districts are making final plans for the fall semester. As they do, they face lingering questions about what is the safest option for young students as they prepare for this school year. Although it may be beneficial to keep […]
At Hug Me Tight, no more hugs for now: The challenges of child care in the age of COVID-19
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette By: Kate Giammarise For the first time in months, young children toddled through the door at Hug Me Tight Childlife Center on Monday. They faced a few changes. Two-year-old Titan Yates arrived around 8:30 a.m. His mother Ty logged him into the center’s computer system by using her phone to scan a QR […]
Rural Disparities, Racial Disparities, and Maternal Health Crisis Call Out for Solutions
Maternal health access and care were already in crisis before COVID-19, and the pandemic has further laid bare the racial and geographic disparities experienced by pregnant women and new mothers across the country. Last month we submitted comments in response to CMS’s request for information on improving access and quality of maternal health in rural […]
Opportunities for Supporting Children and Families through Pediatric Primary Care in the Time of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing serious health and economic consequences on families, children, and communities and is threatening the viability of the health care delivery system. While we can’t know the lasting consequences of the unprecedented stress confronting families, it is likely to have detrimental, lasting effects on the social and emotional health of our […]
The Rate of Uninsured Infants and Toddlers is Growing. Don’t Let COVID-19 Pandemic Make Things Worse
Three+ weeks into my at-home work existence with a fellow teleworking spouse, a 3rd grader and a preschooler and I’ve found a new base level of stress, despite yoga, workouts, mediation and ALL of the deep breaths. It’s hard. And yet our family is among the luckiest of Americans. We are safe and healthy. We […]
