Latino Undercount in 2020 Census Could Cost States Billions in Family Assistance


Latino undercount in 2020 Census

An undercount of Latinos in the 2020 Census could cost 37 states hundreds of millions in federal funding. For example, a Latino undercount could cost Texas up to $14 billion of federal money for housing, child and foster care, and other family aid programs, according to a new brief from Child Trends. “The impact of any Census undercount will be felt in state budgets and communities throughout the country,” according to the Child Trends report. “At stake is federal funding for programs that help states improve the well-being of their residents, and their children especially.” Why Is a Latino Undercount Expected? Historically, the Census has undercounted Latinos. For the 2020 Census, even without a citizenship question, officials expect a 3% or more undercount of Latinos, ...

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Anchor It: Protect Kids from Dangerous Furniture Tip-Overs


Anchor it furniture tv tip-overs dangerous child

Sadly, a parent's worst nightmare can happen. One child dies every 11 days on average when a TV or furniture falls onto him or her, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which created the Anchor It! safety campaign. But there are ways to prevent this tragedy from becoming a reality. Why Do Tip-Over Incident Happen? Unsecured TVs, furniture, and appliances lurk in every room. The biggest problem is balance. "When someone pulls a dresser drawer open ... the furniture's center of gravity shifts outward along with it," according to a report by Popular Science. "A weight hung on an open drawer versus one hung on a closed drawer could have significantly different effects—the open drawers make it much more likely to tip." Tall furniture is required to come ...

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Future Research, Programming Efforts Should Focus on Latino Families’ Strengths



Early childhood experiences impact early-stage development, lifelong health, and overall wellbeing. There is an urgent need to conduct research on the early home experiences of Latino children, according to a new report from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families. Current research focuses more on families’ risk factors and deficits, rather than on protective factors and strengths. Moreover, much of the research that concentrates on early home environments to date has studied white, middle-class families. Little is known about how cultural norms, beliefs, values and expectations are embedded in Latino parenting and how Latino parenting practices promote development and cognitive and social competence. The National Research Center on Hispanic Children ...

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In Texas, 1 in 4 Women of Childbearing Age Lack Health Insurance



The rate of uninsured childbearing-age women in Texas (39.4% Latino) is more than double the national average. Over 25% of women ages 18 to 44 are not covered, according to a new study from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The national average? 12.3%. This disparity reflects the state's Medicaid expansion policy choices, Joan Alker, the center’s executive director, told KUT News. "Low-wage workers don’t have offers of affordable health insurance in a state like Texas, perhaps more so than other states," Alker said. Insurance Access and Overall Health Researchers set out to discover whether or not state Medicaid expansions through the Affordable Care Act would impact the rate of insured women. Their results illustrate a clear message: Where ...

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City Health Dashboard Provides New Innovative Features



Just two years after launching, the City Health Dashboard is adding new features to dig deeper into neighborhood- and city-specific data to guide local solutions to local health issues. Most data on urban areas focuses on the county, state, or national levels. The City Health Dashboard , however, pulls together local data from multiple sources to provide cities with a one-stop, regularly refreshed data center to help identify local gaps in opportunity and support decision-making to address factors that shape health. Now the Dashboard is adding new features and showcasing them at a webinar on June 5. What’s New? In June, the City Health Dashboard is giving cities additional data and new innovative features. The new data allow local leaders to dig deeper into neighborhood- ...

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Sesame Street Offers Hundreds of Bilingual Activities for Parents, Providers


Eating Colorful Fruits and Vegetables video from Sesame Street

Big Bird, Elmo, and friends have connected with children on TV for years—now Sesame Street is helping parents and community providers help kids and families grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Sesame Street in Communities provides hundreds of bilingual, multi-media tools to help parents and community providers engage kids and families in everyday activities to boost early childhood development.  All content is available for free in English and Spanish. Parents and Caregivers Parents and caregivers can find activities and videos for all age ranges on 28 topics. These go from healthy eating to traumatic experiences. Eating Well: Food insecurity can make things seem hopeless. But programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the National School ...

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Making the Case for Paid Family Leave


Pregnant Latina at work.

Paid leave reduces the use of public services, boosts employee productivity, and can help families better succeed—yet three in four Latinos are unable to take such time. Despite data that shows its benefits, there is no federal requirement to provide paid family leave. The 1993 federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), legislation most businesses follow, does not cover all workers and leave offers are unpaid. Lack of paid leave and other economic support contributes to health and economic disparities among Latinas, Latinos, and low-income families. Still, paid leave is gaining popular support, including a proposal for universal paid family leave. “If the [corporate officers and directors] gets paid leave, then the factory floor worker should also get paid leave,” ...

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51% of U.S. Babies are Children of Color, Struggle for Good Health


low income babies state of babies children of color

Today's children are more diverse than at any other time in U.S. history. More than half (50.4%) of babies are Latino and other children of color. These changing demographics have substantial implications for planning policies and services that best meet the increasingly diverse familial, cultural, and language needs of our youngest children, according to the new State of Babies Yearbook: 2019 from ZERO TO THREE and Child Trends. Yet children of color and their families face big barriers to health equity. The states where these children are born and live during their first three years makes a big difference in their chance for a strong start in life. "Opportunities to grow and flourish are not shared equally by the nation’s infants, toddlers, and families," according to the ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 2/5: Helping Kids Have Healthier Childhoods!


young hispanic latino kids playing clay classroom

“Children are our future.” You’ve heard this old saying before, but it’s never been truer. Childhood experiences set the physical, psychological, and social foundation as a child grows into adulthood. But Latinos and other communities lack support to meet children’s needs in opportunities for good health, education, and more, jeopardizing our nation’s future. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, to share innovative strategies and solutions to help Latino and all children have healthier childhoods and brighter futures: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: "From Birth to Graduation: Helping Kids Have Healthier Childhoods and Brighter Futures" TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: ...

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