Apr 17, 2014
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), beginning on January 1, 2014, states must now provide Medicaid coverage for individuals under age 26 who were in foster care at age 18 and receiving Medicaid. This provision parallels one that allows all young people to stay on their parent’s health insurance until age 26. For youth who have spent time in foster...
Mar 25, 2014
By Rricha Mathur, First Focus Policy Research Associate and Program Manager, and Shadi Houshyar, First Focus Vice President of Child Welfare Policy The current federal child welfare financing structure is out-of-date and ineffective. It has not had a significant overhaul since 1996 and fails to recognize best practice findings from the field or to incentivize...
Mar 11, 2014
This chart authored by John Sciamanna details the federal budget in key children’s and child welfare areas. Federal Fiscal Year 2015 President’s Request
Mar 7, 2014
By Shadi Houshyar, Vice President, Child Welfare Policy, First Focus, and Carrie Fitzgerald, Senior Policy Advisor for Health, First Focus On February 19, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett submitted his Healthy Pennsylvania Medicaid Waiver proposal to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius. While the proposal affirms Pennsylvania’s commitment to ensuring access to coverage for all...
Mar 5, 2014
By Shadi Houshyar, Vice President, Child Welfare Policy, First Focus Yesterday, the White House released President Obama’s FFY 2015 budget proposal. Though some historical tables will be released later this month, the proposal released yesterday highlights several new initiatives important to children, including one specifically aimed at improving behavioral health outcomes for foster children. Foster youth...
