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.
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.
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.
Child Find
Web site
Resources and information on Child Find programs, which identify young children who may benefit from early intervention or education services.
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.
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Web site
Connects child welfare and related professionals to comprehensive information and resources to help protect children and strengthen 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).
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.
Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) Program
Web site
EPSDT is 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.
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.
KIDS COUNT Data Center (KCDC)
Web site
Provides child well-being data by state and county. Formerly CLIKS (Community Level Information on Kids).
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.
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.
Maternal and Child Health Library
Web site
A virtual guide to maternal and child health information. Offers a combination of maternal and child health information compiled by library staff and pathways to the best maternal and child health information available on other Web sites, from organizations, and in libraries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Data Snapshot on High-poverty Communities
Sponsoring organization: KIDS COUNT
Indicates how high-poverty communities are harmful to children, outlines regions in which concentrated poverty has grown the most, and offers recommendations to address these issues. States that children living in rural areas (10 percent) are more likely than those in suburbs (4 percent) to live in a community of concentrated poverty.
Date: 02 / 2012
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
Effects of State EITC Expansion on Children’s Health
Author(s): Reagan Baughman
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Examines the impact of state-level adoption of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) on a set of health-related outcomes for children including health insurance coverage, the use of preventive medical and dental care, and health status measures.
Date: 2012
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: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Resource with which to analyze the health status, health care use, activities, and family and community environments experienced by children in rural and urban areas.
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
Maternal and Child Health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
Sponsoring organization: Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Describes indicators of maternal and child health,
including prenatal care, low birth weight, and infant mortality, within AA and NHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) populations in the United States and Pacific Islands.
Date: 05 / 2012
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
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
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
Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of a 50-State Survey of Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost-sharing Policies in Medicaid and CHIP, 2011-2012.
Author(s): Martha Heberlein, Samantha Artiga, Jessica Stephens
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Provides results from a 50-state survey of eligibility, enrollment, renewal, and cost-sharing policies in Medicaid and CHIP. Data identify changes implemented during 2011 and present policies in place for children, pregnant women, parents, and other non-disabled adults. Includes rural information.
Date: 01 / 2012
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
Preventing Bullying: The Role of Public Health and Safety Professionals
Sponsoring organization: Children's Safety Network
Discusses the consequences of bullying. Discusses how public health professionals can aide in preventing bullying and its consequences by bringing their specialized skills and knowledge to this struggle.
Date: 02 / 2011
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
Simulation Model for Designing Effective Interventions in Early Childhood Caries
Author(s): Gary B. Hirsch, Burton L. Edelstein, Marcy Frosh, Theresa Anselmo
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Reports on a study that developed a system dynamics model to assess and compare interventions for benefits and costs of early childhood caries - tooth decay among children younger than 6 years. This study and model was based on young children in Colorado, but could be applied to other areas.
Date: 2012
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
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.
