Webinar: Guiding principles for strengthening Medicaid

Monday, November 26
11 a.m. to noon

Medicaid has become so politicized it's been hard to have a productive conversation on how to fix things. Now the elections are over, and Iowans are asking for solutions. Join Child and Family Policy Center staff for highlights from new brief that aims to help elected officials—and the Iowans who elect them—understand the issues at play in Iowa's Medicaid program. You'll hear how we got here, guiding principles for making Medicaid work and why it matters so much that we get it right.

Register here.

Fostering Youth Transitions: New data on Iowa foster youth

All young people—regardless of their race, ethnicity, location or background—deserve the relationships, resources and opportunities to successfully transition to adulthood. But many young people in the foster care system, including many in Iowa, lack this kind of stability, according to a first-of-its-kind data set from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The new data brief Fostering Youth Transitions is a first-ever look at young people transitioning out of the foster care system and the challenges and consequences they face moving forward. It includes data from all 50 states to assess how young people fare as they move from foster care to adulthood.

For more information, including Iowa-specific info, check out our blog post.

ICYMI: Child-care closure leaves Iowa town asking questions

Iowa families continue to grapple not only with rising child care costs but also the shortage of options, especially in rural areas. Iowa Falls saw its only day care center close its doors earlier this month, according to the Des Moines Register.

The Register's piece quoted an editorial in the Iowa Falls Times-Citizen. "How can we expect a business to choose our community if we can't provide its employees with care for their children while they're at work?" editors wrote. "As long as we fail to provide care that's accessible and affordable for all families, we can't say we're meeting the needs of our community."

Read the article from the Register here.