Senate Releases Report on Impact of Domestic Program Sequestration: Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, earlier this week released the first comprehensive report on the potential impact of sequestration on dozens of education, health and labor programs under the subcommittee's jurisdiction. The report provides national and state-by-state estimates of the number of jobs that could be lost and the number of individuals who could be affected by cuts in services if sequestration went into effect on Jan. 2, 2013.
State-Level Trends in Foster Care Psychotropic Use: Policy Lab has released two interactive maps featuring national and state-level trends in psychotropic medication use among children in foster care. The safe and limited use of these medications is a current federal priority following research revealing high prescription rates of these medications among children, with exceptionally high rates among children in foster care. Of particular concern has been polypharmacy, the use of 3 or more classes of psychotropics at once. Additionally, the use of antipsychotics, a class of psychotropics, has been increasingly monitored in recent years due to rising use in children despite limited safety information. PolicyLab's maps feature national and state-level trends in polypharmacy and antipsychotic use for children in foster care from 2002 to 2007. The data in the interactive maps can inform oversight and monitoring efforts as states work to ensure safe use of these medications among children.
How the Supreme Court Health Reform Ruling Affects States & Medicaid Expansion: The Supreme Court's decision giving states the option to expand Medicaid coverage to individuals under 133% of poverty has resulted in numerous exchanges between governors and HHS. Here are a few resources that may be useful in understanding the decision. The Congressional Research Service has issued a memo to Congress analyzing the ruling and addresses selected implementation questions on implementation. This link tracks states and the status of their decision to expand coverage. And, earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that three million individuals will not be covered due to state decisions to opt out of the expansion. Finally, this Washington Post chart demonstrates that the poorest of Americans (below 100% of poverty) are those most affected by the decision.
HHS Proposes TANF Waivers: Earlier this month, HHS issued a state TANF Information Memorandum announcing that it will entertain state or county waiver applications to waive certain TANF federal work participation requirements if such alternative programs achieved TANF's goals of moving families into self-sufficiency. House and Senate Republicans immediately denounced the move and introduced legislation, contending that HHS does not have the authority to grant such waivers.
Kids Count Data Book Available: The Annie E. Casey Foundation released the KIDS COUNT Data Book 2012, its 23rd annual state-by-state report of child well-being. This year's Data Book reveals significant improvements in health outcomes and academic achievement for children in most states. Over the period of 2005 to 2011, improvements include a 20 percent decrease in the number of kids without health insurance and an 11 percent reduction in the rate of high school students not graduating in four years. Despite the progress, the Data Book indicates kids and families continue to struggle economically in the wake of the Great Recession.
50-State Poverty Data Available: Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity has updated its "Spotlight on the States" resource to better serve as a platform for collecting state-level information on these efforts. The 50-state resource map now includes a new design of individual state pages, additional state poverty data and statistics, new state policies, and information regarding the state governor and legislature.
50-State Poverty Data Available:
SNAP's Critical Role in Helping Kids: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation's largest child nutrition program, providing benefits to help one in three children in the nation to be able to eat a nutritionally sound diet. This Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issue brief notes that SNAP provides families with an estimated 22 million children with resources to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. This represents close to 1 in 3 children (29 percent) in the United States. Almost half of all SNAP recipients are children (47 percent), and an additional 26 percent are adults living with children. Over 70 percent of SNAP benefits go to households with children. In 2011, SNAP provided an estimated $51 billion in benefits to families with children, over half of which went to families with preschool-age children.
Work Supports for Homeless Families: In New York City, the Human Resources Administration (HRA) has focused on work supports as a key means of helping families engage successfully with the workforce while living in unsubsidized housing. For example, HRA estimates that a single mother with two children earning $9 per hour could receive supports equaling over $40,000 annually. The Institute for Children Poverty & Homelessness newest brief, "Do Work Supports Work?" examines the actual potential for work supports to help families in need.
