Dear Reader, We began this research in October 2019 in an effort to better understand how significant — or insignificant — a role systemic barriers, institutional racism, and discrimination played into a community’s experience of food insecurity. Despite being one of the wealthiest states in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, food insecurity […]
Access to High-Quality, Affordable Child Care: Strategies to Improve Health Across Boston and the Commonwealth Summary of Findings Cost, location, hours, and/or availability of high-quality child care may restrict parent’s ability to work and/or further their education, a condition referred to as “child care constraints”. Children’s HealthWatch research found that parents and children in families […]
Access to High-Quality, Affordable Child Care: Strategies to Improve Health High-quality, nurturing, and affordable child care is essential to support children and their parents. A large body of evidence demonstrates the importance of high-quality early environments as critical determinants of school readiness, cognitive and social outcomes, and later educational and career success for children living […]
An Emergency Policy Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) State Opportunities to Address the Needs of Families With Young Children Amid Public Health and Economic Crises Key Takeaways: The COVID-19 pandemic and economic crises have placed millions of people at risk for financial instability and poor health outcomes. State and local policymakers should seek out policy […]
An Emergency Policy Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) National Opportunities to Address the Needs of Families With Young Children and Promote Equity Amid Public Health and Economic Crises Key Takeaways: The COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis as a result will increase hardship among families of young children with low incomes, immigrant families, and communities of […]
Early childhood is the most rapid period of brain and body growth. A child’s best chance for a healthy, productive future is to ensure that they receive all the care and resources they need for optimal development, which includes both medical care and oral health care.
Summary of Findings: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutritional support for income-eligible families, most of whom have working adults. However, as families increase their income, they may experience a reduction or loss of SNAP benefits that leaves them with fewer overall resources. Children’s HealthWatch research demonstrated that working families that increased their income […]
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and Children’s HealthWatch have conducted the following Health Impact Assessment to estimate the potential health-related impacts of creating a state-level, refundable Earned Income Tax Credit for the approximately 300,000 qualifying low-income Arkansas households. This Health Impact Assessment also identifies appropriate actions to manage those effects.
Given the importance of promoting solutions that ensure all children live in stable homes, Children’s HealthWatch partnered with Mission Partners to develop an advocacy toolkit that makes a compelling connection between the importance of safe, stable homes with the health and wellbeing of children and their families. Though the connection between housing, mental health and […]
Stable homes are vital for good health. Research demonstrates children’s health improves when their families are able to live in homes they can afford without falling behind on rent, moving frequently, or experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, Massachusetts has a shortage of affordable rental homes across the state. For every 100 families with extremely low incomes* in […]