This article examines children's health coverage today and explores the ways and means to ensure its financial sustainability and the factors associated with it. As extensively argued, long term negative effects could be on health, education, and financial success as an adult. It also suggests that reductions in children's coverage could have…

The federal government has a long history of investing in programs for feeding children, starting with federal aid for school lunch programs in the 1930s. Today, federal child nutrition programs support food served to children in schools and a variety of other settings. This report starts with an overview of child nutrition programs' funding…

The recent passage of H.R. 1 by a partisan Congress chooses billionaires over babies, and puts children in unprecedented peril. This Issue Brief describes some of the many ways that H.R. 1 will hurt children in the U.S. and even around the world in the very near term and in the years to come, including that it: (1) Cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid…

The House has passed a budget reconciliation bill that supporters are referring to as a "one big, beautiful bill." However, the authors of this Issue Brief believe that this budget bill threatens the health and nutrition of millions of children and pushes millions of children into poverty in order to provide tax credits for corporations,…

Child applications and awards for U.S. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) fell sharply at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cumulative applications from April to September 2020 were about 30% lower than applications over the same period in 2019 with substantial variation in rates of decline across local areas. In this article, we explore the…

Several states have invested in 1915(c) Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) Medicaid policies to improve outcomes and reduce costs for children and youth with significant behavioral health needs, or Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED). However, little is known about these programs and the children they serve. Through a retrospective…

Multiple definitions of homelessness exist across U.S. federal statutes, including those used by programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Understanding federal definitions of homelessness is essential for…

The child nutrition programs support meals and snacks served to children in schools, child care, summer programs, and other institutional settings in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. This report starts with an overview of child nutrition programs' funding structure and then provides detail on each program,…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was reauthorized to create school environments that provide nutrient-dense meals to students who are living in poverty. The free and reduced-price lunch program helps 19% of students who are living in poverty in America (Kids Count Data Center, 2017). These students arrive at school hungry and often times…

An estimated 339,000 workers were employed in foodservice operations in the nation's elementary and secondary schools. While news stories often focus on so-called "lunch ladies," the school foodservice workforce encompasses employees ranging from front-line cafeteria workers to chefs and food preparation staff to administrators and…

This appendix describes the data and methodology used to estimate federal program and tax expenditures on children in "Kids' Share 2021: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2020 and Future Projections" (ED616306). The following contents are included in this appendix: (1) Introduction; (2) Summary Table of Multipliers and…

As one out of five children in the United States demonstrate some type of mental or behavioral health concern warranting additional intervention, federal policies have emphasized the need for school-based mental health (SBMH) services and an expansion of Medicaid reimbursement for eligible children and families. Most youth access mental health…