NC Child produces publications that document trends in child well-being and the impact of public policy decisions on children and families.
In collaboration with Medicaid members and systems advocates, NC Child believes that solutions are needed to incentivize, modernize, and simplify access to oral health care under Medicaid, particularly for children and families with special health care needs.
North Carolina provides dental benefits for children and adults enrolled in Medicaid, but access to dental care is not uniform throughout the state as all counties, metro and rural, are designated shortage areas for dental care.(1)
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.
Parents need choices for child care. Across the state, parents face a shortage of quality child care options, which has been made worse by the pandemic. Increasing the subsidy rates to the most recent statewide average rates can help child care centers stay open, or reopen, to serve more children & families who need care to go to work.
Increasing access to affordable health care is critical to ensuring healthy kids and families in North Carolina.
In North Carolina, 1 in 6 children struggle with hunger, which means they aren’t able to get enough food or they aren’t able to get enough healthy food. That’s over 400,000 children in our state. Yet 29% of those children do not qualify for free or reduced-price school meals because their family’s income is too high. Providing no-cost school meals can help.
NC Child's 2023 Legislative Agenda is leading with four policy priorities that build family economic security, and safeguard youth mental health.
Every year, tens of thousands of young children from low-income families benefit from North Carolina's early learning and care programs. This system supports the care, education, and healthy development of children living in poverty, prioritizing parental choice and children's individual needs. Unfortunately, due to funding rates & levels, the programs only reach a fraction of eligible children—putting child care and early learning out of reach for thousands of families who want to work and support their children. Learn about the various early care and learning programs that serve kids and families.
This tool empowers NC Child Child Advocacy Network (CAN) members by affording a greater understanding of the NC General Assembly, the legislative process, and the power brokers on Jones Street. Use these modules to educate yourself as an advocate in the civic engagement process on behalf of North Carolina children and their communities.