Publications on Child Health

Children of incarcerated parents are often an invisible population, but analyzing and mapping local-level data on these children and their parents can help policymakers and advocates better understand their experiences and needs. This brief discusses the mapping of community data on these families, drawing on the experiences and insights of partners in the Urban Institute’s Reentry Mapping Network (RMN). The brief discusses the value of analyzing and mapping data on children of incarcerated parents, outlines potential data sources, and explores the process of working with and mapping data on this population.

The ability of employed parents to meet the health needs of their children may depend on their access to sick leave, especially for low-income workers. By examining access to paid sick leave and paid vacation using the 2003-2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the authors find that low-income families are less likely to have access to paid leave, especially if the family lacks a full-time/full-year worker. Among children whose parents have access to paid sick leave, parents are more likely to take time away from work to care for themselves or others.

In budget policy, myths are progress's number one enemy. One silly fiction now making the rounds is that we don't know how to judge the relative value of different types of health care, so we can't control health care costs-at least not for now. Like many myths, this one contains an element of truth-there is a lot we don't know. So what? It's still a myth that we know too little to act.

In early 2003 San Mateo County, California launched the Children's Health Initiative (CHI), to ensure that all children have access to comprehensive health insurance coverage. Healthy Kids covers uninsured children below 400 percent of poverty and primarily serves poor, undocumented Latino children. A survey of parents of Healthy Kids enrollees found that in the first year of enrollment, children experienced improvements in access to and use of medical and dental care; a reduction in missed school days due to health problems; reduced unmet need; increased parent confidence in getting care and satisfaction with quality; and reduced financial worries. Moreover, use of preventive and dental services continued to improve during the children's second and third years of continuous enrollment.

The Los Angeles Healthy Kids program, during its first four years, extended comprehensive, affordable coverage to over 40,000 poor and vulnerable children, and improved their access to and use of care. Yet, the program also faced serious challenges, primarily related to financing. Funding for children ages 6 through 18 ran short in spring 2005 and Healthy Kids capped their enrollment. State health reform efforts that could have stabilized funding for the program have failed. Based on interviews with over 40 stakeholders, this case study analyzes the complex challenges that the Los Angeles Healthy Kids program faces at this critical juncture.