1. Announcements Kyle Steven Contreras was born to Karen Lim, our administrative assistant, on November 3. He is healthy, happy, and yes, he has health insurance! Welcome to Aileen Hiramatsu who is the new Med-QUEST Division Administrator. We look forward to working with her to strengthen our partnership helping children and families. Our next State Coalition meeting on 4 December will focus on children's health issues. Go to http://www.coveringkids.com/calendar/ for more details. 2. A Profile of Low-Income Working Families What is a working low-income family? A family with an adult working at least half-time but whose family income falls below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, according to the Urban Institute. Data from the "1997 Snapshots of American Families" finds that substantially lower hourly earnings ($7.55 on average, compared with $16.67), fewer secondary workers in the family and fewer work hours among secondary workers are the key determinants that explain the major differences in income between working low-income families and higher-income families. 3. Marketing Medicaid and CHIP Based on interviews of state officials and analysis of television, radio and print ads from states, "Marketing Medicaid and CHIP: A Study of State Advertising Campaigns" provides a nationwide analysis of states' advertising campaigns to enroll eligible children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Included in this report is information about how states developed their campaigns and the common messages states are trying to convey about their health insurance programs. To open a PDF version of the report, go to A Study of State Advertising Campaigns. 4. Model TANF Plan If you could fashion a state welfare reform program that put the needs of children first, what would it look like? Would it have a "one-stop shop" application procedure for all benefit programs for low-income families? Would it require states to track income levels of families leaving welfare rolls? The Grass Roots Innovation Policy Program of the Applied Research Center has put together a model TANF state plan that includes these strategies and more. 5. Helping Working Families Drawing from two Working Families Roundtables, a HandsNet White Paper looks at the principles and key action recommendations to make sure that welfare reform efforts support and strengthen families. 6. Making It Simple: Medicaid for Children and CHIP Income Eligibility Guidelines and Enrollment Procedures Findings from a 50-State Survey by Donna Cohen Ross and Laura Cox, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, for The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, October 2000. 7. Medicaid Enrollment in 50 States by Eileen R. Ellis, Vernon K. Smith, PhD and David M. Rousseau for The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, October 2000. 8. States Spending on the Rise Three Years into State Children's Health Insurance Program The report "Three Years Into SCHIP: What States Are and Are Not Spending" by Urban Institute researchers Genevieve Kenney, Frank Ullman, and Alan Weil offers analysis data from the Health Care Financing Administration and states. Information on the September 2000 report as well as text and PDF versions are available at http://www.urban.org/publications/309707.html.