This year's "Report Card" breaks new ground by providing "The Children's Agenda", which details the top ten high-priority, high-impact actions California policymakers should take to reverse the declining status of children. It's clear any sound plan to revitalize the state must prioritize children's development. California's history backs this up,…

This report, the 10th in a series of the National Governor's Association (NGA) project "Facilitating Improvement of State Programs for Pregnant Women and Children," describes ongoing efforts of facilitating development of provider participation in Medicaid. The objective of the project is to identify where participation problems result…

Conducted community survey (N=396) which revealed that adequate financial coverage for health care for low-income urban Black elderly has been prevented by out-of-pocket medical expenses. Found that, although health care facilities were regularly available, the lack of regular physicians' services at the health care location was a major cause of…

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides funds to states to expand health insurance coverage for low-income children who are uninsured. States have a great deal of flexibility to design and implement SCHIP, resulting in considerable diversity across states. Enrollment reached 3.4 million in federal fiscal year 2000 and…

In an effort to provide uninsured children with health care, California and states across the nation have focused on locating uninsured children and enrolling them in Medicaid and their state children's health insurance program. This report provides a comprehensive examination of California's efforts and offers strategies for keeping children…

This paper examined the extent to which families faced hardships in moving from welfare to work, highlighting: families who received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) during the last month of the Survey of Income and Program Participation or the National Survey of American Families; families who received other public assistance in the…

Health insurance coverage of low-income children and parents in immigrant families has become more precarious since passage of the federal welfare law in 1996. This is primarily the result of a substantial decline in Medicaid coverage for these children and parents, which stems from restrictions that the welfare law placed on the eligibility of…

A few years ago the public schools made no provision for the education of the blind, crippled, or mentally deficient, but now in New York City alone there are more than 100 classes for mentally peculiar children, while arrangements are rapidly making for the care of crippled and other classes of physically handicapped children. It was only as…

Reviews issues surrounding the delivery of managed health care services to children in foster care. Details the unique characteristics of children in foster care, including limited medical histories upon entry into foster care, multiple health care needs, lack of a clearly identified medical care coordinator, and frequent placement changes.…

Discusses the history of the United Mine Workers Welfare and Retirement Fund and its efforts in providing physical rehabilitation and job retraining to disabled miners. Created in 1946, the fund was successful in providing vocational rehabilitation services to over 1,200 miners and could serve as a model of a comprehensive cost-effective approach…

Although the Medicaid program has brought health insurance coverage to millions of poor children and their families, children continue to make up a disproportionately large share of uninsured Americans. Discusses the various national reform measures under consideration to expand health insurance coverage and contain the costs of such coverage,…

Components of healing are spiritual, relational, and intergenerational. This narrative report reaches beyond an intellectual understanding for a "healing spirit" for American Indian women in recovery. Four intersecting circles of spiritual and cultural understanding speak to balance and wellness, the colonization experience and addiction…

Evaluated the impact of two elementary level school based health centers (SBHCs), located in schools within high-poverty, inner city neighborhoods, on emergency department visits by children enrolled in the SBHC. Overall, SBHCs resulted in significant decreases in non-urgent emergency department visits, but not in urgent visits. Medicaid-insured…

A study of 1,792 rural hospitals with fewer than 200 beds found an increase of 100-200 admissions per resident--more for smaller hospitals and fewer for larger hospitals. Because increased admissions improve the financial health and continued operation of rural hospitals, this study confirms the importance of education-based strategies in ensuring…

Evaluation findings of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Community Demonstration Program show few clear indications of the effectiveness of case management approaches. This article identifies phenomena that explain the lack of positive effects and suggests that evaluation problems may explain apparent negative…