10 research outputs found
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Reducing Disparities Beginning in Early Childhood
Research shows that many disparities in health and well-being are rooted in early childhood. These disparities reflect gaps in access to services, unequal treatment, adverse congenital health conditions, and exposures in the early years linked to elevated community and family risks. Early health risks and conditions can have long-range implications for physical, emotional, and intellectual development as well as health. Their contribution to disparities in health status, disabilities, and educational achievement is well documented. But many risks can be addressed in the early years, starting with quality prenatal care and interventions in the earliest stages of life. Thus, literally, reducing disparities begins with babies. Risks for disparate outcomes disproportionately affect young children, low-income children, and minority children. Poverty brings risks for children of all races; however, racial/ethnic status is an independent risk factor. Young children are more likely than older children to live in families without economic security. Of the 10.2 million U.S. children ages birth through 5 years, 42 percent lived in low-income families (with income below twice the federal poverty level—FPL) and 20 percent lived in poor families (income below 100 percent of FPL) in 2005. Minority young children also are overrepresented among the 2.2 million U.S. children ages birth through 5 who live in extremely poor families (income below 50 percent of FPL). The younger the child, the more harmful poverty is to developmental outcomes. Below we highlight patterns of disparities in both risks and outcomes, and access and treatment
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State of the States' ECCS Initiatives
The primary purpose of the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration's (MCHB-HRSA) State Maternal and Child Health Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants is to assist states and territories in their efforts to build and implement comprehensive statewide systems of care that support family and community approaches to promote positive early development and early school success for young children. These grants originated with a MCHB-HRSA Strategic Plan for Early Childhood that called on State Title V MCH programs to use their leadership and convening powers to foster the development of cross-agency early childhood systems development planning. Building a more comprehensive early childhood system requires intentional efforts to bridge the gaps created by multiple, discrete funding streams for early childhood services to create a deliberate framework to foster integrated early childhood service systems at the federal, state, and community levels. This Project THRIVE Short Take summarizes the results of Project THRIVE's review and analysis of state ECCS plans, reports, and other related documents related to early childhood systems
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Local Systems Development
State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants are designed to provide state Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Agencies and their partner organizations with small amounts of funding as an incentive for strengthening systems of care for young children and their families. States are encouraged to plan, develop, and ultimately implement collaborations and partnerships that support families and communities in the development of children who are healthy and ready to learn at school entry. But, to make a difference, integrated service strategies must work at the local level, on the ground where families live and providers practice. Therefore supporting local systems is a key strategy for ECCS grantees.
Project THRIVE reviewed state ECCS plans and proposals for evidence of local systems development, and collected additional information from selected states. In our scan, we found that 38 states are developing local systems to build their Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems and to improve outcomes for children and families (see Project THRIVE Short Take No. 5, State of the States‘ ECCS Initiatives). This Short Take highlights the efforts of 10 states and illustrates various approaches for state-to-local support for developing early childhood systems
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Reducing Maternal Depression and Its Impact on Young Children: Toward a Responsive Early Childhood Policy Framework
This issue brief reflects NCCP's continuing commitment to ensuring that every low-income child enters school with the skills to succeed, and that policymakers have access to the very best research to create policies that use public resources in the most effective, smartest way. It is based on a meeting convened through NCCP's Project THRIVE to identify and promote solutions to emerging issues that impact young children's healthy development and school readiness. The brief is being jointly published by Project THRIVE, through which NCCP serves as a resource to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau-funded State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) systems program and Pathways to Early School Success, NCCP's on-going project to help policymakers, program administrators and practitioners address barriers that get in the way of reducing the achievement gap for young low-income children
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State Indicators for Early Childhood
Virtually all State Early Childhood Comprehensive System Initiatives have adopted or identified indicators for monitoring program performance and child outcomes related to early childhood systems. These are primarily based on nationally recommended indicators or on state initiatives. However, although a functional set of indicators is needed to monitor progress of ECCS initiatives across the states, there is no one overarching set of indicators consistently being used. The challenge for states' ECCS leadership is to select an indicator set that is both comprehensive enough to monitor system developments and specific and limited enough to be useful and manageable. This Short Take reviews the characteristics of good indicators and proposes 36 indicators, based on a review of the literature, an analysis of key national indicator sets, and a comparative review of indicators set out in State ECCS reports and plans
Reducing Disparities Beginning in Early Childhood: Short Takes No. 4
Research shows that many disparities in health and well-being are rooted in early childhood. These disparities reflect gaps in access to services, unequal treatment, adverse congenital health conditions, and exposures in the early years linked to elevated community and family risks.1 Early health risks and conditions can have long-range implications for physical, emotional, and intellectual development as well as health. Their contribution to disparities in health status, disabilities, and educational achievement is well documented.2 But many risks can be addressed in the early years, starting with quality prenatal care and interventions in the earliest stages of life. Thus, literally, reducing disparities begins with babies
Big Talk, 4/12/2012
Suzanne Murphy talks with Emmie Theberge, Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator for the National Resources Council of Maine, about fossil fuel and alternative energy.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/wmpg_bigtalk/1033/thumbnail.jp
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Bridging the Chasm between Pregnancy and Health over the Life Course: A National Agenda for Research and Action
BackgroundMany pregnant people find no bridge to ongoing specialty or primary care after giving birth, even when clinical and social complications of pregnancy signal need. Black, indigenous, and all other women of color are especially harmed by fragmented care and access disparities, coupled with impacts of racism over the life course and in health care.MethodsWe launched the initiative "Bridging the Chasm between Pregnancy and Health across the Life Course" in 2018, bringing together patients, advocates, providers, researchers, policymakers, and systems innovators to create a National Agenda for Research and Action. We held a 2-day conference that blended storytelling, evidence analysis, and consensus building to identify key themes related to gaps in care and root causes of inequities. In 2019, more than 70 stakeholders joined six working groups to reach consensus on strategic priorities based on equity, innovation, effectiveness, and feasibility.FindingsWorking groups identified six key strategic areas for bridging the chasm. These include: 1) progress toward eliminating institutional and interpersonal racism and bias as a requirement for accreditation of health care institutions, 2) infrastructure support for community-based organizations, 3) extension of holistic team-based care to the postpartum year and beyond, with integration of doulas and community health workers on the team, 4) extension of Medicaid coverage and new quality and pay-for-performance metrics to link maternity care and primary care, 5) systems to preserve maternal narratives and data across providers, and 6) alignment of research with women's lived experiences.ConclusionsThe resulting agenda presents a path forward to remedy the structural chasms in women's health care, with key roles for advocates, policymakers, researchers, health care leaders, educators, and the media