Groups fighting for children’s rights say they are disappointed that Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget revision in May did not include more money for the children’s hearing aid coverage program. Newsom has proposed about $16 million, but supporters want lawmakers to increase another $5 million in the final budget.
Mike Odeh, senior director of health for the nonprofit Children Now, said hearing loss in babies and toddlers leads to serious delays in speech and learning.
“It’s a developmental issue, and it’s not appropriate for children to be sent to school without the proper supports like hearing aids,” Odeh argued.
At a 2019 legislative hearing, experts testified that only 1 in 10 children in California had hearing aid coverage through a private health plan, and each month behind hearing aid initiation correlates with a decrease in long-term linguistic potential.
The state Department of Health Services estimates that 7,000 low-income children in California need hearing aids, but only about 68 children are actually enrolled.
Odeh pointed out that this is because the program only covers people who have no other insurance options.
“Some children are rejected because they don’t meet the income criteria,” Odeh noted. “And so they would probably be eligible for MediCal, some are rejected because they have partial coverage that provides maybe $500 coverage for hearing aids. But hearing aids are around $6,000 for kids and have to be replaced every three years.
Proponents argued that with more money, the program could be expanded to help families struggling with high copayments and deductibles.
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North Dakota is seeing greater diversity among its youth population, but researchers say they face a tougher road to securing a brighter future. A new report details those results and how they were shaped.
According to Kids Count, a research arm of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, nearly one in four children in North Dakota is a person of color. However, due to discriminatory policies in areas such as housing, their families are less likely to achieve economic security.
Kids Count regional coordinator Xanna Burg said those decisions, made decades ago, still have repercussions today.
“It made it harder for families of color to qualify for loans to buy a home,” she said, “and when you think about the kind of legacy that racist policy has had today, we see disparities in ownership rates.”
North Dakota has the third-lowest child poverty rate, but when measured by race, it has the highest poverty rates for Native American and black children. The report’s authors recommended more energy investment in tribal areas to reduce utility costs, as well as raise the minimum wage.
Burg acknowledged that those goals could be difficult with a conservative legislature, but said recent victories gave hope. She highlighted the passage of a bill updating the Native American history curriculum and noted that a more culturally relevant education helps Native students succeed.
Burg said there are also disparities in health outcomes, including access to prenatal care early in a pregnancy.
“We really see some of the lowest rates for Native American families,” she said, “and when you think about part of the story, the federal government had this trusted responsibility to provide health care Unfortunately, India’s health service is chronically underfunded.”
The report recommended that the federal government fund the Indian Health Service at the same per capita rate as Medicaid. He also called on the state to ensure that all children eligible for Medicaid are enrolled. North Dakota is second to last in the nation for Medicaid uptake among children, at 83%.
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Connecticut parents can apply for the state child tax refund until July 31. Anti-poverty advocates say the money will serve as additional relief for families struggling with the pandemic and inflation.
State residents with children 18 or younger can apply for the tax refund, which was created as part of the fiscal year 2023 budget. Families within a certain income threshold can receive up to $250 per child for three children, a maximum of $750.
Deb Polun, executive director of the Connecticut Association for Community Action, said everything is more expensive right now and stressed the importance of putting money back in the pockets of low-income people.
“Even though we raised the minimum wage here in Connecticut, it’s still not enough to help people meet their daily needs,” Polun observed. “It will really help people to clothe themselves, feed themselves and house their families.”
Checks will be sent directly to people’s homes, probably around the end of August until mid-September. Residents can apply online and will need to share their current address, social security number and adjusted gross income, as shown on their 2021 tax form.
The Child Tax Refund, a one-time program for 2022, builds on the success of the Federal Child Advance Tax Credit, which provided monthly payments of up to $300 per child to families last year.
Elizabeth Fraser, policy director for the Connecticut Association for Human Services, said she hopes to see Connecticut make the tax refund permanent.
“Raising kids in Connecticut is expensive,” Fraser argued. “It’s very optimistic that the Legislature and our Governor realize this and really work to alleviate, in some way, the cost of raising a family in Connecticut.”
Research estimates that the Advanced Child Tax Credit reduced poverty by almost 30%.
Connecticut residents who need help applying for reimbursement can find a list of organizations offering statewide assistance on the 211 website.
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Child Protective Services in Oregon will no longer use an algorithm that helped social workers decide which families to investigate.
The Oregon Department of Social Services made the announcement after The Associated Press investigated a discriminatory algorithm used in Pennsylvania that inspired the state to use a similar tool.
By shutting down the technology, Oregon officials cited their desire to reduce disparities when determining which families should be investigated for abuse or neglect.
Lia Holland, Portland-based campaigns and communications director for digital rights group Fight for the Future, said governments need to understand the effects of their actions.
“The way they work and apply to communities of color across this country has been incredibly damaging,” Holland said. “And really showed that these algorithms need a lot more scrutiny before they’re used in these life-changing decisions that our government and our institutions make.”
Holland pointed out that algorithms are often trained on race-biased data, which makes their results discriminate against people of color. She noted that the technology has been used in schools and for predictive policing models.
The Department of Social Services said it would stop using the algorithm at the end of June.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has been among the technology’s most vocal critics and is the sponsor of a bill to bring more transparency and oversight to the sector.
Holland added that federal data privacy protections would provide more security over the use of collected data in our daily lives.
“Congress could and should take drastic measures to curb this kind of abuse,” Holland explained. “And the data that these algorithms use to discriminate against us in the first place.”
Holland thinks the country should take a step back and assess how we use and trust algorithmic technology, especially given the consequences.
“Children of color are not guinea pigs for these big tech companies to test their new software,” Holland pointed out.
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