1. Isles 13th in U.S. for Kids' Well-Being By Alice Keesing, Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer, 20 June 2000 Despite an increase in the number of children living in poverty, Hawaii remains the 13th-best state in the nation for children's overall well-being for the second year running. The health and economic status of Hawaii's children is revealed in the 2000 Kids Count Data Book, released today. The report is based on 1997 data. Hawaii's relatively good standing is the result of declines in the rates of child death, teen birth, high school dropouts and teen deaths from accident, homicide and suicide. But at the same time, Hawaii's economy, on the mend now after years in the doldrums, has taken its toll. The percent of Hawaii's children living in poverty increased 20 percent from 1990 to 1997, compared with 5 percent nationally. "A lot of people are really worried about the division in society between the haves and the have-nots," said Marcia Hartsock, project director of Hawaii's Kids Count at the University of Hawaii Center on the Family. There are many in Hawaii, particularly on the Neighbor Islands, who are falling behind because they aren't connected to the community, Hartsock said. Those people often have no access to services or jobs, she said, "and they may not have transportation to get to doctor's appointments or to enriching experiences for the kids." However, Hartsock said she believes Hawaii is on the right track. "I think at last we're seeing an improvement in the economy, and I feel like we've bottomed out and things will start to improve," she said. How Hawaii ranks nationally (with 1 the best and 50th the worst): * Percent of teens who are high school dropouts (ages 16-19): 2nd (same as the previous year). * Rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide and suicide (deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15-19): 2nd (up from 9th the previous year). * Child death rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1-14): 3rd (6th the previous year). * Percent of families with children headed by a single parent: 10th (20th the previous year). * Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births): 18th (8th the previous year). * Teen birth rate (births per 1,000 females ages 15-17): 19th (22nd the previous year). 2. South Dakota Joins Covering Kids Initiative The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a grant in the amount of $599,972 to Community Health Care Association Inc. of South Dakota to implement the Covering Kids Initiative in that state. South Dakota's addition, effective 1 July, gives Covering Kids a presence in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Details will appear on the Covering Kids web site: http://coveringkidsandfamilies.org 3. New Law Provides Opportunity to Use School Lunch Program Information to Conduct Child Health Insurance Outreach The following information was provided by Donna Cohen Ross, Director of Outreach, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: On 20 June 2000, President Clinton signed into law a provision introduced by Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Julia Carson to allow for more effective use of the school lunch program in identifying uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP and helping them enroll in these health insurance programs. The provisions of the Lugar/Carson bill were included in the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 2599), which was passed by the House and the Senate on 25 May 2000. Effective 1 October 2000, the legislation will allow states and school food authorities the option to share information from school lunch applications with a person directly connected with the administration of the state Medicaid or CHIP program for the purpose of identifying children eligible for benefits and enrolling children in these programs. The legislation will reduce the administrative burden currently associated with sharing information from school lunch applications with Medicaid and CHIP, while still protecting families' confidentiality. To protect confidentiality, school food authorities in states exercising the option are required to inform families that school lunch information will be shared with child health agencies only to enroll children in coverage, as well as to provide families with the opportunity to elect not to have the information disclosed. To take advantage of the new option, states also must have a written agreement in place between school food authorities and state or local child health agencies to assure that shared information actually facilitates enrollment, an assurance that does not exist now. Some provisions originally included in the Lugar/Carson legislation were not adopted. For example, a small (one state) WIC demonstration project established by the legislation would have been available to more states. In addition, provisions to establish grants to school lunch programs, child and adult care food program sponsors, and local WIC agencies to test and evaluate outreach and enrollment strategies were dropped from the bill. 4. Why Are Eligible Families Losing Public Health Insurance? Marilyn Ellwood, senior investigator at Mathematica, visited five states, California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, to find out why families are losing their Medicaid coverage for their children when they leave welfare. In recent testimony before Congress, she summarized her findings: incredibly complicated eligibility rules, burdensome application and renewal procedures, and administrative difficulties from delinking welfare and Medicaid. More details are at http://www.kff.org/uninsured/3006-Public-Opinion-Update.cfm 6. Holding States Accountable for Health Coverage for Kids When eligible children and families have lost or been inappropriately denied health coverage, states must take steps to make it right. In this PDF document ("What States Must Do to Delink Medicaid and Welfare Programs,") Families USA explains the 7 April 2000 guidelines from HCFA (Health Care Financing Administration) so advocates can monitor their state's compliance.