EXPANDED INCOME ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH INSURANCE WHAT IS MEDICAID EXPANSION AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? States can employ a number of strategies to increase health insurance coverage for their residents, and the most widely studied
HEALTHY AND EQUITABLE BIRTHS Setbacks and trauma that children and families experience due to often preventable pregnancy and birth complications can have lifelong consequences for children’s health and wellbeing. Adverse birth outcomes disproportionately affect Black
PAID FAMILY LEAVE WHAT IS PAID FAMILY LEAVE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? State paid family leave programs require employers to allow eligible parents time off from work to bond with a new child while
PARENTAL HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING Parents’ physical and mental health affects their ability to care for themselves and their children, including their ability to engage in the warm, nurturing, responsive interactions that infants and toddlers
STATE MINIMUM WAGE WHAT IS A STATE MINIMUM WAGE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? A minimum wage establishes a floor for workers’ hourly wages to prevent exploitation by employers and ensure a minimum level of
NURTURING AND RESPONSIVE CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIPS Stable, nurturing, responsive relationships with caregivers during the earliest months and years of a child’s life are key to long-term healthy development. Yet those critical early years also can be
STATE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT WHAT IS AN EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? The Federal EITC is a Refundable Tax Credit for Low-Income Workers Households with at least one working adult
NURTURING AND RESPONSIVE CHILD CARE IN SAFE SETTINGS The developing brain of a young child depends on secure attachments with caregivers. Consistent, appropriate, nurturing, and positive interactions, so fundamental to shaping brain architecture, are just
REDUCED ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN FOR SNAP WHAT IS ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Administrative burden refers to the barriers that increase the costs – time, money, and psychological distress – of applying for and
OPTIMAL CHILD HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT A child’s developing brain is most flexible during the earliest months and years of life. This flexibility provides a window of opportunity for establishing a lifelong trajectory for health and
