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Children's Health and Welfare

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These resources address the health status and human service needs of America's children. They look at the challenges facing rural children living in poverty. Resources include information about enrollment in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program as well as information about early childhood education and food assistance programs.

Related Guides

Tools

2-1-1 Information & Referral Service
Web site
2-1-1 provides free and confidential information and referral for help with employment, food, housing, health care, and counseling.
Sponsoring organization: United Way Worldwide

Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004
Web site
A web site that provides resources and information regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law which ensures services to children with disabilities throughout the nation.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Education

CDC-INFO
Web site
Single source for accurate, timely, consistent, and science-based information on a variety of disease prevention and health promotion topics. Representatives are available to answer questions in English and Spanish.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Child Find
Web site
Resources and information on Child Find programs, which identify young children who may benefit from early intervention or education services.
Sponsoring organization: Office of Special Education Programs

Child Trends DataBank
Web site
A data bank of information for the latest national trends and research on more than 80 key indicators of child and youth well-being.
Sponsoring organization: Child Trends

Child Welfare Information Gateway
Web site
Connects child welfare and related professionals to comprehensive information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families.
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Web site
Low cost health and dental insurance for uninsured children and pregnant women in families with incomes too high for most Medicaid programs. CHIP is financed through the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA).
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Childstats.gov
Web site
Provides links to tables and databases comparing the well-being of children in the U.S. with those in other countries.
Sponsoring organization: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics

Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) Program
Web site
Discusses EPSDT, the child health component of Medicaid, which finances pediatric services. Describes how EPSDT works with public health, families, managed care organizations, pediatricians, and other health providers.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

HealthCare.gov
Web site
A consumer website that provides one-stop shopping access for health care information that includes: federal and state public policies, comparison of private coverage and option plans, and personal health tools.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

KIDS COUNT Data Center (KCDC)
Web site
Provides child well-being data by state and county. Formerly CLIKS (Community Level Information on Kids).
Sponsoring organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation

Knowledge Paths Index
Web site
Resources and tools of new developments and research on maternal and child health-related topics. Includes links to Web sites, electronic publications, databases, and discussion groups, and citations for journal articles and other print resources.
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Let's Move Faith and Communities
Web site
Designed to help faith-based and neighborhood organizations transform neighborhoods, engage communities, and promote healthy choices. Supports the Let's Move! campaign started by First Lady Michelle Obama to address childhood obesity. Website includes success stories and a toolkit for starting a program in your area.
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) Program
Web site
Works to stimulate the birth and growth of parent-to-parent interventions that improve health and child development for low-income families in urban and rural areas.

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
Web site
Provides resources on pregnancy, infants, children, people with blood disorders, and people with disabilities.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Office of Adolescent Health
Web site
Provides information and resources on adolescent health issues, including physical, mental and reproductive health, substance abuse and healthy relationships.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Oral Health for Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women Knowledge Path
Database
Guide to resources and informative tools that offer suggestions on how to improve the oral health of children, adolescents, and pregnant women.
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Promising Practices Network
Web site
Provides evidence-based best practices and model programs and links to additional research information related to children, family and communities.
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation

Rural Mental and Behavioral Health: A Web Portal for Rural Communities
Web site
Works to help communities to enhance social and emotional outcomes for children and families in rural and frontier areas.
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

Funding

Active Living Research/Healthy Eating Research Rapid-Response Grants Round 3
Grants to support time-sensitive and opportunistic studies on emerging or anticipated changes in food-related policies or environments.

American Legion Foundation Child Welfare Grants
Grants to benefit the children of America.

CIGNA Foundation Grants
Funding for programs that enhance the health of individuals and families and the well-being of communities.

Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (hawk-i)
A program that provides health care coverage for Iowa children, under the age of 19, in families with limited incomes.

Humana Foundation Community Grants
The Humana Foundation supports charitable activities that promote healthy lives and communities.

Inactive Funding

Inactive Funding Opportunities - Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.

Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents

2011 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Services Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Includes chapters focused on rural childhood obesity, place-based initiatives for rural early childhood development, and rural implications of accountable care organizations and payment bundling. Includes recommendations to address these issues. Includes appendices regarding June 2010 and September 2010 site visits.
Date: 03 / 2011

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2011
Sponsoring organization: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
Provides annual updates on the well-being of children and families in the United States across a range of domains. Includes 41 key indicators in seven domains: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. Includes figures and tables.
Date: 07 / 2011

Around the Country: Afternoons ROCK for Indiana Teenagers
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Highlights the ROCK after-school program in communities throughout Indiana. The program teaches youth about social and media influences, conflict resolution and refusal/resistance skills, gang and violence prevention, avoidance of gambling, and structuring their leisure time to be free of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2011

Breastfeeding Prevalence and Distribution in the USA and Appalachia by Rural and Urban Setting
Author(s): R. Constance Wiener
Examines differences in the prevalence of breastfeeding among national, urban, rural, and Appalachian regions of the US.
Journal citation: Rural and Remote Health Volume 11 Issue Online Pages: 1713
Date: 05 / 2011

Child Health USA 2011
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Reports on the physical, mental, and emotional health of the Nation’s children. It addresses poverty, education, child care, and health service utilization and financing. State and city data are also available for selected indicators.
Date: 2011

Child Maltreatment 2010
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Includes national and state level findings about perpetrators of child maltreatment, workforce workload, preventive and post-investigation services, and statistics and data.
Date: 2011

Children in Central Cities and Rural Communities Experience High Rates of Poverty
Author(s): William P. O’Hare, Sarah Savage
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Presents new data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Date: 2008

CHIP Enrollment: December 2010 Data Snapshot
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Reports data on Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment nationally and by state.
Date: 12 / 2011

Confronting America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic: How the Health Care Reform Law Will Help Prevent and Reduce Obesity
Author(s): Ellen-Marie Whelan, Lesley Russell, Sonia Sekhar
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Summarizes statistics involving childhood obesity and outlines provisions from the new health care reform law that can help reverse the obesity epidemic. Describes Community Transformation Grants and how they apply to rural and frontier areas.
Date: 05 / 2010

Diet, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behaviors as Risk Factors for Childhood Obesity: An Urban and Rural Comparison (Final Report)
Author(s): Jihong Liu, Sonya J. Jones, Han Sun, Janice C. Probst, Philip Cavicchia
Sponsoring organization: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
Reports that in 1999-2006, 30.9% of United States children aged 2-19 years old were overweight and 15.9% of them were obese. A greater proportion of rural children were overweight than those living in urban areas. Similarly, the overall prevalence of obesity was higher among rural than urban children.
Date: 11 / 2010

Disparities in Children's Health Care Quality: Selected Examples from the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, 2008
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
This fact sheet discusses differences between groups in terms of relative rates, which is the ratio of the comparison group (e.g., Black) to a baseline group (e.g., White).
Date: 06 / 2009

Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers than Urban Mothers
Author(s): Kristin Smith
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes that rural mothers with children under age six have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts, but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income, placing rural mothers and their children in a more economically vulnerable situation than urban mothers.
Date: 2007

Federal Child Nutrition Programs are Important to Rural Households
Author(s): Barbara Wauchope, Anne Shattuck
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Specifically looks at participation data of rural households in four federal programs: the National School Lunch Program; the School Breakfast Program; the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Date: 2010

Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America
Author(s): William O'Hare
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Looks at the unique challenges of rural children living in poverty including the lack of social services compared to urban poor, changes in family structure, and the social stigma of government programs.
Date: 2009

Hard Times Made Harder: Struggling Caregivers and Child Neglect
Author(s): Wendy A. Walsh
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Identifies that neglected children whose caregivers struggle with substance abuse, mental health problems, or to pay for basic necessities are at significant risk for out-of-home placement in both rural and urban areas.
Date: 11 / 2010

Health and Well-Being of Children in Rural Areas: A Portrait of the Nation 2007
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Provides information on the health and well-being of rural children and their use of health services. Includes information on rural children's families and neighborhoods, as well as data on health status, health insurance coverage, and other aspects of child well-being. Includes comparisons of children in rural and urban communities.
Date: 09 / 2011

Healthy Kids and Strong Working Families: Improving Economic Security for North Dakota Families with Children
Author(s): Jennifer Shaffer
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Children in Poverty
Uses the Family Resource Simulator and Basic Needs Budget Calculator to demonstrate the basic costs associated with living and working in North Dakota and illustrate the important role of work supports in helping low income families make ends meet.
Date: 04 / 2011

Intervention Programs Target Childhood Chronic Disease
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Highlights health intervention programs, such as the CARDIAC Project in West Virginia, who are using school screenings to identify children at-risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Volume 2011 Issue Winter
Date: 02 / 2011

IPAC: Integrated Health Services for Appalachian Children
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses IPAC (Interprofessional Partners for Appalachian Children), which focuses on the assessment and comprehensive treatment of behavioral and developmental needs of children ages six and under in 19 university and community health care organizations in Ohio.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2007

Kids Count Data Book, 2010
Sponsoring organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Provides national and state-by-state information and statistical trends on the conditions of America’s children and families. Includes graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles.
Date: 2010

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity (Full Report)
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
First in a series of publications dedicated to providing brief, succinct information on childhood obesity prevention specifically for policy makers. Includes statistics and examples of successful programs specific to rural America.
Date: 09 / 2009

Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
Serves as an executive summary of the Map the Meal Gap project. Outlines 2009 estimates of child food insecurity (CFI) rates at state, county, and congressional district levels. Provides information on the proportions of the food insecure child population above and below the income threshold for most government child nutrition programs, and an overview of food cost variation. Includes data comparisons by metropolitan, micropolitan, and nonmetropolitan areas.
Date: 2011

Medicaid & CHIP Participation Among Rural & Urban Children (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer King, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Describes the characteristics of rural and urban children who qualify for Medicaid or CHIP but are uninsured.
Date: 07 / 2009

Mental Health Problems Have Considerable Impact on Rural Children and their Families (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer D. Lenardson, Erika C. Ziller, David Lambert, Melanie M. Race, Anush Yousefian
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural children are more likely to have a mental health problem and a behavioral difficulty compared to urban children.
Date: 10 / 2010

More Poor Kids in More Poor Places: Children Increasingly Live Where Poverty Persists
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Examines child poverty rates using decennial census data from 1980, 1990, and 2000, as well as American Community Survey five-year estimates between 2005 and 2009, to identify those counties where child poverty has persisted.
Date: 10 / 2011

North Carolina’s ABCD Program: Using Community Care Networks to Improve the Delivery of Childhood Developmental Screening and Referral to Early Intervention Services
Author(s): Sarah Klein, Douglas McCarthy
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
An overview of the key elements of North Carolina’s Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD) screening program that identifies at risk young children in rural as well as urban areas needing early intervention services.
Date: 08 / 2009

One Million Additional Children in Poverty Since 2009: 2010 Data Reveal Nearly One in Four Southern Children Now Live in Poverty
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Looks at child poverty by place and by state over the course of the recent recession. Reports that nationally, 24.8 percent of young children live in poverty.
Date: 09 / 2011

Out-of-Home Care by State and Place: Higher Placement Rates for Children in Some Remote Rural Places
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly, Melissa Wells, Michael Dineen
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Displays child placement rates by metropolitan/urban, adjacent nonmetro, or remote rural status for the nation, regions, and states.
Date: 2010

Pediatric Care in Rural Hospital Emergency Departments (Final Report)
Author(s): Victoria A. Freeman, Randy K. Randolph, Stephanie Poley, Sarah Friedman, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Analyzes data from the Emergency Pediatric Services and Equipment Supplement (EPSES) to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medicare Care Survey to compare rural and urban hospitals’ responses on various dimensions of pediatric Emergency Department care.
Date: 05 / 2010

Poor Birth Outcome in the Rural United States: 1985-1987 to 1995-1997 (Final Report)
Author(s): Eric H. Larson, Elise Murowchick, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Found that while progress was made in closing rural/urban gaps, rural residence and residence in a persistent poverty county remained independent risk factors for inadequate care and some adverse birth outcomes, especially postneonatal mortality.
Date: 02 / 2008

Promoting Oral Health in Schools: A Resource Guide
Author(s): Jolene Bertness, Katrina Holt (editors)
Sponsoring organization: National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center
A resource to help health professionals, program administrators, educators, researchers, policymakers, and parents working in rural and urban school settings prevent disease and promote oral health in children and adolescents.
Date: 04 / 2009

Rates of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children Rise as Rates of Private Coverage Decline
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Michael J. Staley, Jessica D. Ulrich
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. Found that rural places experienced declines in rates of private health insurance for children.
Date: 12 / 2011

Recruiting, Preparing, and Supporting Successful Adoptive Families
Provides a step-by-step recruitment guide to educate and empower agencies for recruiting adoptive families in rural communities.

Regional Young Child Poverty in 2008: Rural Midwest Sees Increased Poverty, While Urban Northeast Rates Decrease
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports that America's recession affected poverty rates for children under six years old unevenly, with rates in the rural Midwest rising significantly while rates in Northeastern central cities fell slightly.
Date: 2009

Rural and Central City Residents with Multiple Children Likely to Be Hardest Hit by Proposed WIC Cuts
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes the implications of the cuts to the WIC budget to help policymakers and service providers to better understand the population likely affected by cuts to WIC funding.
Date: 07 / 2011

Rural and Urban Children Have Lower Rates of Health Insurance Coverage and are More Often Covered by Public Plans
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly, Michelle L. Stransky
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Analyzes Census Bureau data that shows the geographic distribution of health insurance for children.
Date: 2009

Rural Children Are More Likely to Live in Cohabiting-Couple Households
Author(s): William O ’Hare, Wendy Manning, Meredith Porter, Heidi Lyons
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Focuses on the recent trends among cohabiting households with children in rural America using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Date: 06 / 2009

Rural Families with a Child Abuse Report are More Likely Headed by a Single Parent and Endure Economic and Family Stress
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly, Wendy A. Walsh
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
An analysis of child maltreatment in both rural and urban areas with a focus on rural families.
Date: 2010

Rural Policy Implications for Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation Program
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Discusses the impact of the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program on rural communities and how home visiting programs can dramatically improve the lives of mothers and their children who live in at-risk communities.
Date: 09 / 2011

School-Based Programs Help Children Shape Up
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Highlights schools who are working nutrition education and increased physical activity into their curriculums in an effort to combat childhood obesity.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Volume 2011 Issue Winter
Date: 02 / 2011

Securing a Healthy Future: The Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on Child Health System Performance, 2011
Author(s): Sabrina K. H. How, Ashley-Kay Fryer, Douglas McCarthy, Cathy Schoen, Edward L. Schor
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
State-by-state scorecard evaluating how the health care system is working for children finds that federal and state action on behalf of children has helped preserve, and even expand, health coverage for this group, despite the severe recession.
Date: 02 / 2011

State of America's Children 2010 Report
Sponsoring organization: Children's Defense Fund
A compilation of the national and state-by-state data on poverty, health, child welfare, youth at risk, early childhood development, education, nutrition and housing.
Date: 05 / 2010

State of Human Services in Rural America
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center
Provides an overview of the types of human service programs serving rural communities and the challenges they face. Suggests a research agenda for rural America.
Journal citation: Perspectives: On Poverty, Policy, and Place Volume 5 Issue Winter Pages: 3 - 6
Date: 03 / 2009

State Profiles of Child Well-Being: Kids Count Data Book, 2011
Sponsoring organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Presents national and state-by-state data on key indicators of child well-being. This year's essay is America’s Children, America’s Challenge: Promoting Opportunity for the Next Generation, which explores how kids and families are faring in the wake of the recession and why it’s important to help children reach their full potential and become part of a robust economy and society.
Date: 2011

Strategies to Improve Collaboration Between State Oral Health Programs and Head Start State Collaboration Offices
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors
Describes how a partnership between state oral health programs (SOHPs) and Head Start state collaboration offices (HSSCOs) could improve communication and networking between local Head Start programs and others to enhance oral health services for pregnant women, infants, and children enrolled in Head Start and their families.
Date: 10 / 2011

Synthesis: Training for Effective Child Welfare Practice in Rural Communities
Describes projects that developed, field tested, implemented and evaluated training curricula to provide effective child welfare services in rural communities.

Total Children Covered by Health Insurance Increased in 2009
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Michael J. Staley
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Uses 2008 and 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) to examine changes in overall insurance coverage rates, changes in types of coverage, and differences by region, state or territory, and place type (including rural designation).
Date: 07 / 2011

Understanding Very High Rates of Young Child Poverty in the South
Author(s): Maybeth Mattingly, Catherine Turcotte-Seabury
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Presents an analysis of national and state-by-state data to help understand high child poverty in the Southern United States.
Date: 2010

Unequal Distribution of Child Poverty: Highest Rates Among Young Blacks and Children of Single Mothers in Rural America
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly, Jessica A. Bean
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports poverty rates by race and family structure for all children and by place and region for young children (those under age 6).
Date: 10 / 2010

WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2009 Edition
Author(s): Victor Oliveira, Elizabeth Frazão
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Describes the WIC program — how it works, its history, program trends, and the characteristics of the population it serves.
Date: 04 / 2009

Young Child Poverty in 2009: Rural Poverty Rate Jumps to Nearly 29 Percent in Second Year of Recession
Author(s): Marybeth J. Mattingly, Michelle L. Stransky
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports that nearly 5.7 million children under age six live in poverty in America. Over one million of these poor young children live in rural America.
Date: 2010

Journals

Child Welfare Matters
Quarterly online newsletter focused on child welfare. Sponsoring organization: National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement

Children's Voice
Designed for readers - both professional and lay advocates - throughout the child welfare field who work with children, youth, and families or are concerned about the issues that affect them. Sponsoring organization: Child Welfare League of America

Future of Children
Promotes effective policies and programs for children by providing policymakers, service providers, and the media with timely, objective information based on the best available research. Sponsoring organization: Brookings Institution

Organizations

2-1-1
Nonprofit/Foundation
A telephone number that, where available, connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities. 2-1-1 is lead by United Ways and information and referral agencies in states and local communities.

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Federal government
Funds state, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families. Operates the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF). It is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
National organization
Provides pediatricians and subspecialists with educational and certification opportunities. Oversees the National Center for Medical Home Implementation. Works for the physical, mental, social health, and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
National organization
Works to educate members of Congress, the media, and the broader public on what is happening in the states regarding welfare, child welfare, health care reform, and other issues involving families and the elderly.

Casey Family Programs
Nonprofit/Foundation
The mission is to provide and improve foster care as well as work to prevent the need for foster care.

Center for Rural, Frontier, and Tribal Health National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NAMI)
Academic/Research
Assists rural, frontier, and Tribal communities in the treatment of child traumatic stress through technology-augmented resources.

Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)
National organization
Center helps states and localities implement creative and effective strategies that strengthen disadvantaged communities and families and ensure that children grow up healthy, safe, successful in school, and ready for productive adulthood.

Child Trends
Academic/Research
A nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children by conducting research and providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs, and policies that affect children and their families.

Child Welfare
National organization
Provides an extensive list of child welfare topics that include: adoption, protection services, welfare reports, foster care reports, child poverty, and child advocacy. Includes an adoption directory and adoption photolist by state.

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
National organization
An association of public and private nonprofit agencies that assist abused and neglected children and their families with a wide range of services.

Children's Defense Fund
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to ensure that every child has a good start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

Finance Project (TFP)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to support decision making that produces and sustains good results for families, children and communities. Develops and disseminates information, knowledge, tools and technical assistance for improved policies, programs, and financing strategies.

Free To Grow
National organization
A national demonstration project that identifies the best ideas and practices in the field of substance abuse and child abuse prevention and applies them to the early years of children.

InsureKidsNow.gov
Federal government
Provides information and resources about federal government and state programs that offer health insurance coverage for children through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Also, provides a listing of healthcare providers including oral health by state.

La Leche League International
International organization
Helps mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother. Information available in Spanish and other languages.

National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (DEC)
National organization
Supports a nationwide network of professionals serving drug endangered children by providing referrals to experts, updated research on topics concerning drug endangered children, and best practice information.

National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement
National organization
Strengthens and supports organizations committed to the welfare of children, youth and families through research, training, technical assistance and evaluation.

National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Provides prevention, intervention, and treatment services to physically and sexually abused children and their families within a child-focused team approach.

National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)
National organization
Supports court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes.

National Foster Parent Association (NFPA)
National organization
A national organization which strives to support foster parents, and a strong voice on behalf of all children.

National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA)
Tribal organization
Dedicated to the well-being of American Indian children and families. Works to address the issues of child abuse and neglect through training, research, public policy, and grassroots community development.

Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)
Federal government
Works to assure that assistance in obtaining support (both financial and medical) is available to children through locating parents, establishing paternity and support obligations, and enforcing those obligations. Part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Terms & Acronyms

National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) A database of information on all newly hired employees, quarterly wage reports, and unemployment insurance claims in the United States. Maintained by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.

State Lead Agency (CCDF) The State Lead Agency under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is designated by a state or territory to administer and/or implement, and maintain overall responsibility of child care programs. The agencies also serve as a contact for all child care issues.

Subsidy (child care) Anything that either reduces the cost of providing care for children or that allows parents who normally could not afford care to enroll their children in a particular day care center.

Success Stories

Child Welfare Success Stories
Examples of success stories compiled by the Rural Assistance Center.

Article Searches & Bibliographies

RAC Documents Search: Child Welfare

PubMed Search: Child Health & Welfare and Rural Populations
Searches PubMed's collection of journal article citations with abstracts for items related to this topic and published in the United States.

Some citations link to the full text of articles through PubMed Central, through your library’s electronic and print holdings, or through the journal's publisher. The first two provide free access; the latter may require payment. Check with your local library for details or call your Regional Medical Library at 800.338.7657.

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Page last updated 2/1/2012
Topic last reviewed 6/29/2011

Events
Feb 9, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Obesity Prevention
Health Resources and Services Administration
2:00 - 3:30 PM Mountain
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


Feb 11 - 14, 2012
2012 AMCHP Annual Conference
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, DC
Contact:
  703.964.1240
  AMCHPreg@conferencemanagers.com


Feb 20, 2012
Measurement Selection and Development for Maternal and Child Health Research
Health Resources and Services Administration
2:30 - 3:30 PM Eastern
Webinar

Mar 7, 2012
Advocate and Lobby for Kids Day
Wisconsin Council on Children & Families
First United Methodist Church
Madison, WI
Contact:
  Wenona Wolf
  608.284.0580 x304
  wwolf@wccf.org


Mar 8, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Affordable Care Act
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


Mar 19 - 20, 2012
2012 26th Annual Conference on the Prevention of Child Abuse
Prevent Child Abuse Texas
Westin Galleria Houston
Houston, TX
Contact:
  Rene Scoggin
  512.250.8438 x118
  rene@preventchildabusetexas.org


Apr 12, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Communities Working Together for Better Health
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


May 4 - 7, 2012
2012 38th Annual AAICPC Conference
Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
Rosen Centre Hotel
Orlando, FL

May 10, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Successful Asthma Management
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


Jun 14, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Healthy Homes
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


Aug 9, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: Children’s Environmental Health Research
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


Sep 13, 2012
Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration: National Children’s Study
Health Resources and Services Administration
Region VIII EPA
Webinar
Contact:
  Cherri Pruitt
  303.844.7872
  cherri.pruitt@hrsa.hhs.gov


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holly@raconline.org

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Pamela Friedman



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Funding for this project was supported by Grant Number U56RH05539 from the Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this website are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funder.