NC Child produces publications that document trends in child well-being and the impact of public policy decisions on children and families.
Parents need choices for child care. Across the state, parents face a shortage of quality child care, which has been made worse by the pandemic. Increasing the subsidy rates to the 2018 statewide average rates can help child care centers stay open, or reopen, to serve more children & families who need care to go to work.
Newly available data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services about children and pregnant adults enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program uncover the increased barriers to oral health care faced by people of color and people in rural parts of the state.
More than 1 in 5 children in North Carolina have special health care needs – including chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, and emotional conditions. For many parents, grandparents, and foster parents, caring for a child with special health care needs can be a full-time job. Unfortunately, that job is one that does not usually involve a salary or health benefits.
This issue brief from NC Child explores the role that affordable health insurance could play in supporting families of children with special health care needs.
2020 was one of the toughest years for kids and families in recent history. Thanks to your support, NC Child pivoted quickly to focus on urgent and emerging needs. And your feedback continues to guide our policy priorities and legislative agenda. Here's an update on that important work.
State leaders have a huge opportunity to get affordable health care to hard-working, low-income families. Expanding Medicaid is a cost-effective solution that would bring coverage to more than 100,000 North Carolina parents with children at home.
School nurses are on the front lines of protecting our children’s physical and mental health. They save school districts money by keeping teachers focused on education, and play a key role in ensuring students are well enough to thrive in the classroom.
In North Carolina, many low-income women qualify for Medicaid coverage during their pregnancy. Unfortunately, this life-saving coverage ends just 60 days after delivery – when many new parents and babies are at their most vulnerable. We can help prevent maternal and infant deaths by ensuring continuous coverage throughout the first year after a child’s birth. Download this fact sheet to learn more.
The North Carolina Child Health Report Card, published biannually by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and NC Child, tracks key indicators of child health and well-being in four areas:
Healthy Births
Access to Care
Secure Homes & Neighborhoods, and
Health Risk Factors
The report provides data on such health concerns and risk factors as asthma, teen births, infant mortality, poverty, and child deaths.
Ending childhood lead exposure is a proven strategy to protect young children’s long-term health and development. Even low-level exposure to lead can reduce IQ, harming children’s long-term health, success in school, and earning potential over their lifetimes.
As detection improves and we learn more about the harmful effects of lead on the developing brain, it is critical that the NC General Assembly keep the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention statute up to date.