Research Publications and Reports
Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief – Factors Affecting States’ Ability to Respond to Federal Medicaid Cuts and Caps: Which States Are Most At Risk?
This analysis examines 30 factors in five groups that could be high risk factors affecting states’ ability to respond to federal Medicaid cuts and caps and identifies states ranked in the top five for each factor as high risk.
ChildTrends Report – Improving Measurement of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Among Middle and High School Students
Understanding the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth is critical to promoting their healthy development and creating safe and supportive environments. This publication details our process in developing measures for surveys of middle- and high-school students, to assess their sexual orientations and gender identities, and lists the measures themselves.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report – Medicaid Works for Women – But Proposed Cuts Would Have Harsh, Disproportionate Impact
Republican leaders in Congress and the White House have proposed to deeply cut Medicaid by effectively eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion. These cuts would have devastating consequences for millions of Americans, including the nearly 40 million women who rely on Medicaid. Women would bear a disproportionate share of the burden because they make up a majority (53 percent) of Medicaid beneficiaries, are the primary utilizers of family planning and maternity care benefits, and are much more likely to use Medicaid’s long-term services and supports as they age.
Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief – The Role of Medicaid in Rural America
This brief describes Medicaid’s role for 52 million nonelderly children and adults living in the most rural areas in the United States and discusses how expansions or reductions in Medicaid could affect rural areas.
American Hospital Association (AHA) Fact Sheet – Emerging Strategies to Ensure Access to Health Care Service: Indian Health Services Strategy
The AHA Task Force on Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities examined ways in which the access to and delivery of care could be improved. For American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes that receive health care services from the Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the AHA recommends a multi-step strategy to promote care coordination between IHS facilities and other health care providers. Doing so would increase access to, and the quality of, care provided for this population.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Fact Sheet Series – Medicaid Works: How Cuts Would Harm States
This series provides fact sheets specific to several states that outline the impact of funding cuts on state Medicaid programs.
National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families Report – Developing Culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations
The Commonwealth Fund Report – ACA Repeal Debate
Read research and analysis on Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment and people’s experiences with their new health plan options, as well as evidence on the estimated impact of repeal and select replacement ideas.
Demos Report – The Asset Value of Whiteness: Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap
Institute for Research on Poverty Focus
Rural Health Information Hub Toolkit – Access to Care for Rural People with Disabilities
Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation Report – Confronting Racial Bias at Work: Challenges and Solutions for 21st Century Employment Discrimination
Surgeon General’s Report – Facing Addiction in America
ChildTrends Report – Intimate Inaccuracies: Young Couples Don’t Always Agree About Contraceptive Use
Brookings Institution Report – Time for justice: Tackling Race Inequalities in Health and Housing
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report – Veterans and Their Family Members Gain Coverage Under the ACA, but Opportunities for More Progress Remain
Office of Minority Health Profile: American Indian/Alaska Native
OPRE Welfare Rules Databook: State TANF Policies as of July 2015
This annual publication, using information from the Welfare Rules Database, provides tables containing key Temporary Assistance for Needy Families policies for each state as of July 2015, as well as longitudinal tables describing various state policies for selected years between 1996 and 2015.
ChildTrends Report – Building Bridges: How to Share Research about Children and Youth with Policymakers
Institute for Research on Poverty Fact Sheet – Which Families Are Poor and Why?
ChildTrends Report – A National Portrait of the Health and Education of Hispanic Boys and Young Men
Center for the Study of Social Policy Report – Aligning Resources and Results: Increasing Equity Through the Budget
OPRE Brief – Using Administrative Data in Social Policy Research
ChildTrends Report – Moving Beyond Trauma: Child Migrants and Refugees in the United States
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Health System Performance for the High-Need Patient: A Look at Access to Care and Patient Care Experiences
This brief compares the health care experiences of adults with high needs-those with three or more chronic diseases and a functional limitation in the ability to care for themselves or perform routine daily tasks-to all adults and to those with multiple chronic diseases but no functional limitations.
Commonwealth Fund Report – Latinos and Blacks Have Made Major Gains Under the Affordable Care Act, But Inequalities Remain
According to the most recent Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act tracking survey, the uninsured rates for blacks and Latinos dropped from 2013-2016.Still, Latinos are significantly more likely than any other racial and ethnic group to be uninsured.
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Brief – Incarceration and CPS involvement
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Women’s Health Coverage Since the ACA: Improvements for Most, But Insurer Exclusions Put Many at Risk
Since enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many more women have health insurance than before the law, in part because it prohibits insurer practices that discriminate against women. However, gaps in women’s health coverage persist. Insurers often exclude health services that women are likely to need, leaving women vulnerable to higher costs and denied claims that threaten their economic security and physical health.
Special Issue of the Journal of Men’s Studies – Intersections of Race, Gender, and Class in the Wake of a Crisis: The State of Boys and Men of Color Post-Ferguson
Faces of the Newly Insured Multimedia Article
This article features 12 individuals who have gained insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The Commonwealth Fund Rising to the Challenge Scorecard
Health and Medicine Division Report – Advancing Health Equity for Native American Youth: Workshop Summary
National Institute on Aging Report – Aging Well in the 21st Century: Strategic Directions for Research on Aging
ASPE Issue Brief – Impact of the Affordable Care Act Coverage Expansion on Rural and Urban
Commonwealth Fund Report – Evaluating the CARE Act: Implications of a Proposal to Repeal and Replace the Affordable Care Act
The Promises and Perils of Digital Strategies in Achieving Health Equity: Workshop Summary
Safety of Transgender Youth in Foster Care
AHRQ Report – Improving Cultural Competence to Reduce Health Disparities
ASPE Issue Brief – Benefits of Medicaid Expansion for Behavioral Health
Children’s Rights Report – Children Unseen: Personal Accounts of Life in Foster Care
ONC Data Brief – Disparities in Individuals’ Access and Use of Health Information Technology in 2014
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Developing a Framework for Evaluating the Patient Engagement, Quality, and Safety of Mobile Health Applications
ChildTrends – Black History Month 2016: It’s Time to Treat Racism as a Target for Intervention
Kaiser Family Foundation Report – Health and Health Coverage in the South: A Data Update
New Dataset Available – General Social Survey, 1972-2014
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Policy Brief – Living on the Periphery: Poor Urban Men
The Commonwealth Fund Report – The Affordable Care Act and the U.S. Economy
RAND Health Report – Current and Projected Characteristics and Unique Health Care Needs of Patient Population Served by the Department of Veterans Affairs
2015 White House Conference on Aging Final Report
IOM Report – Achieving Health Equity via the Affordable Care Act: Promises, Provisions, and Making Reform a Reality for Diverse Patients: Workshop Summary
Department of Justice Brief – Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Programs: Implementation Challenges and Lessons Learned
Designed to meet the multiple challenges facing former inmates upon their return to the community, the Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Programs (AORDP) programs provide an array of pre- and post-release services, including education and literacy programs, job placement, housing services, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. Risk and needs assessments, transition case planning, and casemanagement are key elements of grantees’ SCA projects.
Supporting Change in Child Welfare: An Evaluation of Training and Technical Assistance
A recently released report, Supporting Change in Child Welfare: An Evaluation of Training and Technical Assistance, presents findings from an evaluation funded by the Children’s Bureau that examined Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) delivered by 10 National Child Welfare Resource Centers (NRCs) and 5 Child Welfare Implementation Centers (ICs). Conducted by James Bell Associates and ICF International, this cross-site evaluation advances what is known about the delivery of T/TA to child welfare agencies and courts. A series of evaluation briefs, tip sheets and a topical paper are also available that summarize the implications and lessons learned about measuring, delivering, and participating in T/TA.
Commonwealth Fund Report – Aiming Higher: Results from a Scorecard on State Health System Performance
Echoing the past three State Scorecards, the 2015 edition finds extensive variation among states in people’s ability to access care when they need it, the quality of care they receive, and their likelihood of living a long and healthy life. However, this Scorecard-the first to measure the effects of the Affordable Care Act’s 2014 coverage expansions-also finds broad-based improvements. On most of the 42 indicators, more states improved than worsened.
OPRE Brief – The Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) Approach to Evaluation
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Policy Briefs – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
The IRP has released four new policy briefs on SNAP, which draw from a comprehensive new book, SNAP Matters: How Food Stamps Affect Health and Well-Being, edited by the authors of these briefs:
- The Basics of SNAP Food Assistance
- SNAP Trends and Antipoverty Impacts
- SNAP, Food Security, and Health
- SNAP and the Low-Income Safety Net
AHRQ Report – 2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report: Chartbook on Health Care for Hispanics
This chartbook highlights progress for Hispanics on pririoties of the Heckler Report and summarizes trends in health care disparities by Hispanic ethnicity related to access to health care and priorities of the National Quality Strategy (NQS).
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – How High Is America’s Health Care Cost Burden? Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Affordability Tracking Survey, July-August 2015
One-quarter of privately insured working-age adults have high health care cost burdens relative to their incomes in 2015, according to the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Affordability Index, a comprehensive measure of consumer health care costs. When looking specifically at adults with low incomes, more than half have high cost burdens. In addition, when privately insured adults were asked how they rated their affordability, greater shares reported their premiums and deductible costs were difficult or impossible to afford than the Index would suggest. Health plan deductibles and copayments had negative effects on many people’s willingness to get needed health care or fill prescriptions. In addition, many consumers are confused about which services are free to them and which count toward their deductible.
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – How High Is America’s Health Care Cost Burden? Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Affordability Tracking Survey, July-August 2015
One-quarter of privately insured working-age adults have high health care cost burdens relative to their incomes in 2015, according to the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Affordability Index, a comprehensive measure of consumer health care costs. This figure, which is based on a nationally representative sample of people with private insurance who are mainly covered by employer plans, is statistically unchanged from 2014. When looking specifically at adults with low incomes, more than half have high cost burdens. In addition, when privately insured adults were asked how they rated their affordability, greater shares reported their premiums and deductible costs were difficult or impossible to afford than the Index would suggest. Health plan deductibles and copayments had negative effects on many people’s willingness to get needed health care or fill prescriptions. In addition, many consumers are confused about which services are free to them and which count toward their deductible.
HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Implementation Progress Report 2011 – 2014
The HHS Disparities Action Plan represents an ongoing commitment by HHS to coordinate
Institute for Research on Poverty Brief – Reducing Health Disparities by Poverty Status
Institute for Research on Poverty Brief – The Basics of SNAP Food Assistance
Commonwealth Fund Brief – Models of Care for High-Need, High-Cost Patients: An Evidence Synthesis
ChildTrends Report – Parents Behind Bars: What Happens to Their Children?
Latino Commission on AIDS Report – The State of HIV/AIDS among Hispanics/Latinos in the US and Puerto Rico. En Español.
ChildTrends Research Brief – What Works for Bullying Programs: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions
Institute for Research on Poverty Focus on Poverty – Reducing Health Disparities by Poverty Status
Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report – Opportunities to Promote Children’s Behavioral Health: Health Care Reform and Beyond
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Publication – Violence and Victimization Research Division’s Compendium of Research on Violence Against Women, 1993-2014
University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Social Policy Issue Brief – Although Child Poverty Declined in 2014, Persistent Racial and Ethnic Disadvantages Remain
Economic Foundations for Creative Ageing Policy, Volume I
NIJ Report – Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults
IOM Report – Mental Disorders and Disabilities Among Low-Income Children
Institute for Research on Poverty New Issue of Focus
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – How Strong Is the Primary Care Safety Net? Assessing the Ability of Federally Qualified Health Centers to Serve as Patient-Centered Medical Homes
Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Paper – Income Volatility in U.S. Households with Children: Another Growing Disparity between the Rich and the Poor?
National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families Brief – Integrated Data Systems: An Emerging Tool to Support Services for Low-Income Hispanic Families with Young Children
Rural and Remote Health Report – Grandparent Caregiving Among Rural African Americans in a Community in the American South: Challenges to Health and Wellbeing
Center for Poverty Research Policy Brief – Reducing the Effects of Incarceration on Children and Families
Department of Veterans Affairs Report – American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans: 2013 American Community Survey
NIJ Report – Research Designs in the Real World: Testing the Effectiveness of an IPV Intervention
ChildTrends Blog – How are Students with Disabilities Performing in School?
DOJ Report – Tackling Urban Inequalities: A Process Evaluation of the Boston Defending Childhood Initiative
IOM Report – Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards
Center for the Study of Social Policy Report – Strategies to Reduce Racially Disparate Outcomes in Child Welfare
OPRE Report – In Their Own Voices: The Hopes and Struggles of Responsible Fatherhood Program Participants in the Parents and Children Together Evaluation
Indian Health Service Report – Trends in Indian Health, 2014
Office of Minority Health Data Brief – Demographic Characteristics and Health Behaviors of among a Diverse Group of Adult Hispanic/Latino Males (Ages 18-64 Years) in the United States
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report – Understanding the Uninsured Now
National Institute of Justice Report – Police and Public Discourse on “Black on Black” Violence
AHRQ – National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report Chartbook on Care Coordination
OPRE Report – An Integrated Stage-Based Framework for Implementation of Early Childhood Programs and Systems
IRP Fact Sheet – No Place to Call Home: Child & Youth Homelessness in the United States
The Commonwealth Fund Brief – The Problem of Underinsurance and How Rising Deductibles Will Make It Worse
2015 Health Equity Research Snapshot – Focus on Mental Health Research
Health and health care inequities affect various populations across a wide range of diseases and health outcomes, including mental health and psychiatric illnesses. Various influences including genetic, familial, cultural and environmental factors contribute to group differences in the prevalence of mental illness and the outcomes of treatment. The 2015 health equity research snapshot spotlights seven new federally funded research projects underway at AAMC-member institutions. We solicited these videos from researchers and their teams to demonstrate the diverse research efforts that aim to understand and eliminate mental health inequities.
Society for Research in Child Development Brief – Evidence-Based Social Policy: Recommendations for Programs that Fit Communities’ Needs
SAMHSA Report – Racial/Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use among Adults
Department of Education Report – State and District Implementation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
Commonwealth Fund Brief – Affordable Care Act at Five
Just over five years ago, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. While it is too soon to fully assess the law’s effects, a Health Policy Report in the New England Journal of Medicine by The Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., Melinda Abrams, and Rachel Nuzum reflects on the ACA’s initial impact on Americans and the nation’s health system. The article focuses on the law’s two main sets of provisions: the expansion of health insurance and other coverage reforms, and changes to the delivery system, with particular emphasis on the latter.
Be The Evidence International Report – An Analysis of United States Compassionate and Geriatric Release Laws: Towards a Rights-Based Response for Diverse Elders, Their Families and Communities
OPRE Report – Understanding Data Use for Continuous Quality Improvement in Head Start: Preliminary Findings
Center for Poverty Research Policy Brief – Unaccompanied Migrant Children: A Humanitarian Crisis at the U.S. Border and Beyond
White Paper – Social Work & the Affordable Care Act: Maximizing the Profession’s Role in Health Reform
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Brief – States Expanding Medicaid See Significant Budget Savings and Revenue Gains
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Health Care Coverage and Access in the Nation’s Four Largest States
The State of Black America
ChildTrend Report – Late or No Prenatal Care
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Strategic Plan for Research
In this new Strategic Plan for Research, with the goals of helping individuals living with mental illnesses and promoting both prevention and cure, NIMH has four, high-level Strategic Objectives: define the mechanisms of complex behaviors; chart mental illness trajectories to determine when, where, and how to intervene; strive for prevention and cures; strengthen the public health impact of NIMH-supported research.
Institute for Research on Poverty Fast Focus Brief – Unaffordable America: Poverty, Housing, and Eviction
This brief explores the crisis faced by poor families in finding and maintaining affordable housing. It outlines the trends that led to the current situation: rising housing costs, stagnant or falling incomes among the poor, and a shortfall of federal housing assistance. As a result of these trends, most poor renting families now devote over half of their income to housing costs, and eviction has become commonplace in low-income communities. Poor single mothers with young children, particularly African Americans, are at especially high risk of eviction.
ChildTrends Brief – Preventing Violence: Understanding and Addressing Determinants of Youth Violence in the United States
OPRE Briefs – LGBT Populations: A Snapshot of the Knowledge Base and Research Needs
Children’s Bureau Report – Child Maltreatment 2013
Commonwealth Fund Brief – Closing the Gap: Past Performance of Health Insurance in Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to Care Could Be an Indication of Future Results
This historical analysis shows that in the years just prior to the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of health insurance coverage, black and Hispanic working-age adults were far more likely than whites to be uninsured, to lack a usual care provider, and to go without needed care because of cost. Among insured adults across all racial and ethnic groups, however, rates of access to a usual provider were much higher, and the proportion of adults going without needed care because of cost was much lower. Disparities between groups were narrower among the insured than the uninsured, even after adjusting for income, age, sex, and health status. With surveys pointing to a decline in uninsured rates among black and Hispanic adults in the past year, particularly in states extending Medicaid eligibility, the ACA’s coverage expansions have the potential to reduce, though not eliminate, racial and ethnic disparities in access to care.
Institute for Research on Poverty Fall/Winter 2014-2015 Issue of Focus
Brookings Institution Report – Sex, Contraception, or Abortion? Explaining Class Gaps in Unintended Childbearing
U.S. Department of Agriculture Report – Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2013
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves as the foundation of America’s national nutrition safety net. It is the nation’s first line of defense against food insecurity and offers a powerful tool to improve nutrition among low-income individuals. SNAP is the largest of the 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This report describes the characteristics of SNAP households and participants nationwide in fiscal year 2013 (October 2012 through September 2013). It also presents an overview of SNAP eligibility requirements and benefit levels in fiscal year 2013. The appendices provide detailed tabulations of household and participant characteristics for the nation and by State, as well as a brief description of the sample design and the sampling error associated with the estimates presented in the report.
NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health National Institutes of Health Women of Color Health Data Book
This report provides information about factors affecting the health of women of color, as well as health outcomes and access to health care services among women of color.
Society for Research in Child Development Report – Opportunities and Challenges in Evidence-based Social Policy
Since 2010 the federal government has invested in evidence-based social policy by supporting a number of new evidence-based programs and grant initiatives. These initiatives prioritize federal funding for intervention or prevention programs that have evidence of effectiveness in impact research. The increased attention to evidence in funding decision making is promising; however, to maximize the potential for positive outcomes for children and families, communities need to select programs that fit their needs and resources, the programs need to be implemented with quality, and communities need ongoing support. Drawing on experiences scaling evidence-based programs nationally, the authors raise a number of challenges faced by the field to ensure high-quality implementation and discuss specific proposals, particularly for the research and university communities, for moving the field forward.
ChildTrends Research Brief Summary – Early Care and Education Choices, Quality, and Continuity for Low-Income Families: New Findings from the Maryland-Minnesota Child Care Research Partnership
The purpose of the Maryland-Minnesota Child Care Research Partnership is to collect information about low-income families’ experiences with early care and education for their young children that can be used to improve state policies and practices. Child care subsidies that provide financial assistance to eligible low-income families are a focal topic of the research conducted by the Partnership and a subject of four new research briefs, summarized here.
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – State Trends in the Cost of Employer Health Insurance Coverage, 2003-2013
From 2010 to 2013-the years following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act-there has been a marked slowdown in premium growth in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Yet, the costs employees and their families pay out-of-pocket for deductibles and their share of premiums continued to rise, consuming a greater share of incomes across the country.
Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report – Applying a Health Lens to Decision Making in Non-Health Sectors
Health is influenced by a variety of factors, many of which fall outside the health care delivery sector. These determinants of health include the characteristics of where people live, work, learn, and play. Decision and policy making in areas such as transportation, housing, and education at different levels of government, as well as in the private sector, can have far-reaching impacts on health. On September 9, 2013, the IOM Roundtable on Population Health Improvement held a workshop to foster cross-sectoral dialogue and to consider the opportunities for and barriers to improving the conditions for health in the course of achieving other sectors’ objectives, such as economic development and efficient public transit. This document summarizes the workshop.
Department of Justice Fact Sheet – Highlights of the 2012 National Youth Gang Survey
This fact sheet provides an overview of the nation’s gang problem. In 2012, there were an estimated 30,700 gangs (an increase from 29,900 in 2011) and 850,000 gang members (an increase from 782,500 in 2011) throughout 3,100 jurisdictions with gang problems (down from 3,300 in 2011). The number of reported gang-related homicides increased 20 percent from 1,824 in 2011 to 2,363 in 2012.
Kaiser Family Foundation Report – Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Programs: 2011 Data Update
As states continue to implement various aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), developing and expanding home and community-based alternatives to institutional care remains a priority for many state Medicaid programs. This report summarizes the key national trends to emerge from the latest (2011) participant and expenditure data for the three main Medicaid HCBS programs: (1) the mandatory home health services state plan benefit, (2) the optional personal care services state plan benefit, and (3) optional § 1915(c) HCBS waivers. It also briefly discusses the provision of Medicaid HCBS through § 1115 demonstration waivers and highlights findings from a 2013 survey of Medicaid HCBS participant eligibility, enrollment, and provider reimbursement policies.
Urban Institute Research Report – Racial/Ethnic Differences in Uninsurance Rates under the ACA
This report is the first state-level projection of ACA coverage gains for racial/ethnic groups. Absent ACA coverage provisions, Latinos, blacks, and American Indian/Alaska Natives are overrepresented among the uninsured. With the ACA and current state Medicaid expansion decisions, uninsurance rates are projected to fall for each racial/ethnic group, narrowing coverage differences between whites and each minority group, except for blacks. If all states were to expand their Medicaid programs, we project that uninsurance rates would fall further for all racial/ethnic groups, with blacks experiencing a marked reduction. Effective outreach can further reduce uninsurance rates for all racial/ethnic groups.
NC Rural Health Research Program Brief – Rural-Urban Differences in Continuity of Care among Medicare Beneficiaries
In response to the Affordable Care Act and other reforms in the health care market, new models of care are being tested and implemented across the country. Care and payment models such as patient-centered medical homes, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and bundled payments depend on linkages between different types of health care providers to ensure continuity of care. To address concerns that health care in rural areas may be more fractured and thus a difficult place for these models to succeed, we measured continuity of care using detailed data on a sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 2000-2009.
ChildTrends Research Brief – What Works for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions
The United States continues to have one of the highest teen birth rates in the developed world and adolescent rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are also high. These factors highlight the need to identify effective evidence-based programs to improve adolescent reproductive health. This brief synthesizes findings from 118 experimental evaluations of 100 program models. These were evaluations measuring reproductive health of youth and adolescents to determine how frequently these programs work to improve behavioral sexual outcomes such as sexual initiation and activity, number of sexual partners, anal/oral sex, sex under the influence of drugs/alcohol, condom and contraceptive use, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and pregnancies or births. These programs used a range of program approaches and served a variety of populations in many different settings.
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Why a National High-Risk Insurance Pool Is Not a Workable Alternative to the Marketplace
The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) was a national high-risk pool established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions who had been uninsured for at least six months. It was intended to be a temporary program: PCIPs opened in 2010 and closed in April 2014. At that point, those with preexisting conditions could shop for health insurance in the marketplaces, where plans are prevented from using applicants’ health status to deny coverage or charge more. This issue brief draws on the PCIP experience to outline why national high-risk pools, which continue to be proposed as policy alternatives to ACA coverage expansions, are expensive to enrollees as well as their administrators and ultimately unsustainable. The key lesson-and the principle on which the ACA is built-is that insurance works best when risk is evenly spread across a broad population.
USDA Report – Measuring Access to Healthful, Affordable Food in American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Areas
American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) populations have about twice the rate of
nutrition-related health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity, as non-Hispanic White Americans. The authors found likely sources of healthful, affordable food to be limited in many tribal areas, a factor that may influence diet and food choices.
Center for Advancing Health Research Brief – Depression and Dementia in Older Adults Increase Risk of Preventable Hospitalizations
New research in the Journal of General Internal Medicine finds that mental health conditions in older adults such as depression, cognitive impairment and dementia are risk factors for hospitalization for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) – conditions that can often be managed effectively on an outpatient basis.
ChildTrends Hispanic Institute Fact Sheet – State of Young Hispanic Children
The fact sheet includes information about demographics, education, the family, and the health of Hispanic children.
ChildTrends Research Brief – The Family Environment and Adolescent Well-Being
In this brief, the findings from the 2006 publication, “The Family Environment and Adolescent Well-being: Exposure to Positive and Negative Family Influences,” are updated and several key areas of interaction between the family environment and adolescent well-being are highlighted, using national data sources.
Healthy People 2020 Social Determinants of Health
Our health is determined in part by access to social and economic opportunities; the resources and supports available in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the cleanliness of our water, food, and air; and the nature of our social interactions and relationships. The conditions in which we live explain in part why some Americans are healthier than others and why Americans more generally are not as healthy as they could be.
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Too High a Price: Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs in the United States
Whether they have health insurance through an employer or buy it on their own, Americans are paying more out-of-pocket for health care now than they did in the past decade. A Commonwealth Fund survey fielded in the fall of 2014 asked consumers about these costs.
OPRE Report – Disconnected Youth Involved in Child Welfare
This is the 21st in a series of National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) briefs focused on children who have come in contact with the child welfare system. This brief looks specifically at a subgroup of youth who have been identified as disconnected youth, defined here as 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in school and not employed three years after being reported as a victim of child maltreatment. The brief reviews characteristics of youth identified as disconnected, along with risk factors for being disconnected.
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Revisiting the ACA’s Essential Health Benefits Requirements
The Affordable Care Act broadens and strengthens the health insurance benefits available to consumers by requiring insurers to provide coverage of a minimum set of medical services known as “essential health benefits.” Federal officials implemented this reform using transitional policies that left many important decisions to the states, while pledging to reassess that approach in time for the 2016 coverage year. This issue brief examines how states have exercised their options under the initial federal essential health benefits framework.
Child Trends Report – Culture Counts: Engaging Black and Latino Parents of Young Children in Family Support Programs
This report provides an overview of family support programs and aims to identify the features and strategies that may be most effective for reaching and engaging black and Latino families, with the ultimate goal of supporting young children’s development.
AHRQ Statistical Brief – Comparing Health Insurance Coverage and Costs for Employees in Lower-Wage versus Higher-Wage Establishments, Private Sector, 2012
This Statistical Brief compares 2012 employer-sponsored health insurance offers, enrollments, and costs for those employees working at private-sector establishments where 50 percent or more of employees were low-wage (referred to as “lower-wage establishments”) versus those working where less than 50 percent of employees were low-wage (referred to as “higher-wage establishments”).
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Issue Brief – In States That Don’t Expand Medicaid, Who Gets New Coverage Assistance Under the ACA and Who Doesn’t?
Millions of women, minorities, young adults and those with low incomes are ineligible for any health insurance assistance because their state opted not to expand Medicaid.
Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) Review Results
The HomVEE review has just released the results of the 2014 review, as well as other content.
ChildTrends Research Brief – Profiles of Adolescents Who Are Not in Good Health
This brief uses data from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to describe adolescents who are in poor health and compare their personal, family, and neighborhood characteristics to those of healthier adolescents.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report – Health Care: Necessary But Not Sufficient
Will improved access to health care remove the health disadvantages faced by people with less education? Will health care reform make high school dropouts as healthy as college graduates? Not necessarily.
Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Catching Up: Latino Health Coverage Gains and Challenges Under the Affordable Care Act
For decades, Latinos have had the highest uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. Less than one year after the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces opened for enrollment, the overall Latino uninsured rate dropped from 36 percent to 23 percent, according to the Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey.
US Census Bureau Report – Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013
This report presents statistics on health insurance coverage in the United States based on information collected in the 2014 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS).
US Census Bureau Report – Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013
This report presents data on income and poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2014 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Community Catalyst Fact Sheet – Making the Case for CHIP: Why CHIP Is Still Crucial in a Post-ACA Environment
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a partnership between the federal government and states to provide health insurance for children of low- and moderate-income families who are not eligible for Medicaid. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ensured funding for the federal share of CHIP costs would be in place through 2015; it also extended the authorization for the program until 2019. The ACA was designed assuming CHIP would continue, so reforms-such as the essential health benefits package-that make comprehensive private coverage more accessible to millions of Americans were conceived with adults, not children, in mind.
UC Davis Center for Poverty Research Policy Brief – Family Planning Programs Lift Children out of Poverty
Arguments for family planning often appeal to their potential benefits for women’s reproductive health, but its benefits for children may be among their most important.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Brief – Trends and Projections in U.S. Hospital Costs by Patient Age, 2003-2013
Timely information on trends in costs for various types of hospitalizations provides health care payers and policymakers with baseline information that can be used to help evaluate the impact of health care improvement efforts. A novel initiative from
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) is used in this Statistical Brief to produce timely, current inpatient statistics on the cost and utilization of hospital care by patient age for specific types of conditions (e.g., medical, surgical).
Youth Advocate Programs Policy and Advocacy Center Report – Safely Home
This report highlights cost-effective, community-based alternatives to incarceration for high-needs youth.
The Commonwealth Fund Quality Matters Report – Behavioral Health Integration: Approaches from the Field
Even without a direct source of reimbursement, several health systems, hospitals, and community health centers are working to integrate behavioral health services into primary and specialty care practices, emergency departments, and hospital units in an attempt to improve outcomes and reduce costs. This report provides a snapshot of these efforts.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Issue Brief – Early Childhood Experiences Shape Health and Well-Being Throughout Life
During the last 15 to 20 years, accumulated knowledge has revealed that family income and education, neighborhood resources, and other social and economic factors affect health at every stage of life, but the effects on young children are particularly dramatic.
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief – Arkansas: A Leading Laboratory for Health Care Payment and Delivery System Reform
As states’ Medicaid programs continue to evolve from traditional fee-for-service to value-based health care delivery, there is growing recognition that systemwide multipayer approaches provide the market power needed to address the triple aim of improved patient care, improved health of populations, and reduced costs. Federal initiatives, such as the State Innovation Model grant program, make significant funds available for states seeking to transform their health care systems. In crafting their reform strategies, states can learn from early innovators. This issue brief focuses on one such state: Arkansas. Insights and lessons from the Arkansas Health Care Payment Improvement Initiative (AHCPII) suggest that progress is best gained through an inclusive, deliberative process facilitated by committed leadership, a shared agreement on root problems and opportunities for improvement, and a strategy grounded in the state’s particular health care landscape.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report – Are the Children Well? A Model and Recommendations for Promoting the Mental Wellness of the Nation’s Young People
The mental health challenges our country’s young people face call for shifting the focus of policy and practice from illness, to promotion of wellness and flourishing. This requires using evidence-based strategies with both children and parents, and improving the quality of the environments where children and youth live, learn, play, and grow.
Commonwealth Fund Report – Two Courts, Two Strategies: A Guide to the Recent Decisions on the ACA
Much hangs in the balance in the four cases brought by opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In each, the plaintiffs have challenged the power of the IRS to issue a rule that extends premium tax subsidies to all who are eligible, regardless of where they live.
AHRQ Guide – Engaging Stakeholders to Improve the Quality of Children’s Health Care
This Implementation Guide includes suggested steps and tips for implementing initiatives for improving child health care quality from the CMS-funded national evaluation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration Grant Program.
Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Data Brief – Persistent Poverty Dynamics: Understanding Poverty Trends over 50 Years
This paper provides an update of 2003 RUPRI analysis of persistent poverty dynamics across U.S. counties.
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Discussion Paper – Is WIC Reaching Those in Need? Children’s Participation in Nutritional Policy during the Great Recession
Though it is established that more mothers and children enrolled in the nutritional safety net during the Great Recession, it is unclear whether this increase was experienced equally by all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this paper examines whether exposure to the early childhood nutritional safety net has remained steady or
increased as economic need increased during the Great Recession.
OPRE Report – Head Start CARES for Migrant and Seasonal Families: Adapting a Preschool Social-Emotional Curriculum
The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) CARES case study was designed as a companion study to the overall Head Start CARES (“Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion”) demonstration. MSHS CARES studied the adaptation and implementation of an existing evidence-based, social-emotional curriculum. MSHS CARES selected Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum to meet the needs of children and families of migrant and seasonal workers and the inherent features of MSHS programs.
Action for Health Justice Report – Improving the Road to Coverage: Policy Recommendations for Enrollment Success
This brief highlights some of the major barriers Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities faced during the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) first Open Enrollment Period, followed by recommendations to build upon and improve outreach, education, and enrollment efforts in the future.
National Partnership for Action Data Brief – Using Data to Advance Health Equity for Men of Color
Using data from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS), an annual ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the data brief highlights several factors that impact health and access to health care for minority men.
US Census Bureau Report – Changes in Areas With Concentrated Poverty: 2000 to 2010
This report largely compares Census 2000 poverty estimates with those based on the 2008-2012 5-year American Community Survey (ACS).
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Conference Volume – Family Complexity, Poverty, and Public Policy
Of all the ways in which family life in the United States has changed over the past 50 years, an increase in family complexity is one of the most important demographic shifts. High rates of cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, divorce, and repartnering present challenges for policymakers as well as for families, especially children. Particularly notable is an increase in multi-partner fertility, or the proportion of adults who have biological children by more than one partner. These changes and trends in family life are important for understanding both the causes and consequences of poverty. As the reach and effects of many antipoverty policies vary with family structure, changes in family life pose challenges to the effective design of antipoverty programs and policies.
Office of Minority Health Data Brief – Characteristics of Uninsured Adult Males by Race and Ethnicity (Ages 19 to 64 Years)
Racial and ethnic minorities have lower estimates of health insurance coverage than the national average. Sex differences in health insurance coverage have also been documented.Lack of health insurance coverage (uninsurance) limits access to the health care system, which reduces preventive service utilization and potentially increases the risk for adverse health outcomes. Despite the extensive literature on the consequences of not having health insurance coverage (4), only a few reports have documented the uninsured population by race/ethnicity and sex. To gain further insight into the various factors that may influence health insurance coverage and outcomes, this report examines demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics by race and ethnicity among uninsured adult males (ages 19 to 64 years).
West Coast Poverty Center Research Flash – Self-Affirmation Among the Poor: Cognitive and Behavioral Implications
In addition to material deprivation, researchers have been exploring various ways in which poverty can exert a psychological toll. Evidence is growing that poverty-related stigma may cause psychological stress and consume cognitive resources. WCPC Affiliate Crystal Hall and colleagues show how a self-affirmation intervention might help interrupt these processes and improve participation in anti-poverty programs.
National Rural Health Association Policy Brief – HIV/AIDS in Rural America: Disproportionate Impact on minority and Multicultural Populations
HIV is of particular concern to rural America because lack of resources can lead to gaps in detection of the infection and in treatment maintenance. Further, traditional norms and conservative values in rural areas often translate into high prevalence of HIV-related stigma and low rates of disclosure resulting in reluctance to come forward for HIV screening and treatment among rural individuals.
AHRQ National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports
For the 11th year in a row, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has produced the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR). These reports measure trends in effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of care. The reports present, in chart form, the latest available findings on quality of and access to health care.
The Commonwealth Fund Report – Mitigating the Effects of Churning Under the Affordable Care Act: Lessons from Medicaid
Through a combination of three needs-based public programs-Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and tax credits for purchasing private plans in the new marketplaces-the Affordable Care Act can potentially ensure continuous coverage for many low- and moderate-income Americans. At the same time, half of individuals with incomes at less than twice the poverty level will experience a form of “churning” in their coverage; as changes occur in their life or work circumstances, they will need to switch among these three coverage sources. For many, churning will entail not only changes in covered benefits and cost-sharing, but also in care, owing to differences in provider networks. Strategies for mitigating churning’s effects are complex and require time to implement. For the short term, however, the experiences of 17 states with policies aimed at smoothing transitions between health plans offer lessons for ensuring care continuity.
AHRQ Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2014 User Comparative Database Report
Comparative results are provided for the items and patient safety culture dimensions on the AHRQ Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture to allow medical offices to compare their survey results against the results from 935 medical offices and 27,103 staff respondents.
OPRE Report – Family Strengthening Research: FY 2013
This report provides detailed summaries of major research investments by OPRE’s Division of Family Strengthening (DFS) along with brief overviews of past projects. The featured projects cover topics that include strengthening relationships within families, supporting fatherhood, nurturing children through their families, reducing teen pregnancy, and supporting youth in their transition to adulthood. The report also describes DFS’s investments in activities to disseminate rigorous research on family strengthening topics to a diverse range of stakeholders including federal and state policy-makers, program administrators, researchers, and intermediary organizations.
Special Issue of Studies in Family Planning – Unmet Need for Family Planning
Studies in Family Planning, a leading journal published by the Population Council, released “Unmet Need for Family Planning”-a special issue featuring ten articles from some of the leading researchers in the field of family planning, including a comprehensive introduction to the topic of unmet need. The issue explores trends and proposes solutions to ensure that sexual and reproductive health programs and policies are structured to meet the changing needs of women and men over the course of their reproductive lives. All articles in Unmet Need for Family Planning are available online, free of charge.
The Commonwealth Fund Report – Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally
The United States health care system is the most expensive in the world, but this report and prior editions consistently show the U.S. underperforms relative to other countries on most dimensions of performance. Among the 11 nations studied in this report-Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States-the U.S. ranks last, as it did in the 2010, 2007, 2006, and 2004 editions of Mirror, Mirror. Most troubling, the U.S. fails to achieve better health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions, the U.S. is last or near last on dimensions of access, efficiency, and equity.
Office for Victims of Crime Guide – Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault
This guide helps practitioners deliver culturally sensitive, respectful care when working with transgender victims and their loved ones.
UC Davis Center for Poverty Research Policy Brief – Low-wage Work Uncertainty often Traps Low-wage Workers
A new study interviewing 25 low wage immigrant workers by Center for Poverty Research Affiliates Vicki Smith and Brian Halpin finds that while many of these low-wage workers recognize the need to enhance their skills and educational credentials, the conditions of their employment trap them, making it nearly impossible to escape.
OPRE Report – Understanding the Dynamics of Disconnection From Employment and Assistance
The study, Understanding the Dynamics of Disconnection from Employment and Assistance, used interview data from a sample of 51 unmarried mothers from Southeast Michigan and Los Angeles, California, to learn more about their experiences related to work, benefit receipt, and material hardship, their overall well-being, and the economic coping strategies and sources of support they use to manage. This report is based on these qualitative interviews. Analysis of the interview data showed some differences between the samples due to age, location, and immigration status of the respondents, but also striking similarities.
Commonwealth Fund Report – The Patient-Centered Medical Home, Electronic Health Records, and Quality of Care
Physician practices that adopt the patient-centered medical home model can achieve modest improvement on quality-of-care measures compared with more traditional practices. Although electronic health records play a central role in the medical home, the new roles and relationships of providers and staff may be even more important in driving quality improvement.
Community Catalyst Report – The ACA and Former Foster Youth: Opportunities and Challenges for States
Foster youth face many callings throughout their lives, with on particularly difficult period being the transition to independent living after reaching the maximum age for foster care, which varies by state. During this time, one of the biggest challenges is maintaining good health. Former foster youth face significantly higher rates of mental and physical illness than their non-foster youth peers. They are also much more likely to be uninsured. Consequently, many former foster youth go without the health care they need. To address this issue, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extended Medicaid eligibility for former foster youth up to age 26.
New Issue of Advances in Social Work – Special Issue: Eyewitnesses to History: First-Hand Accounts of Sages of the Profession
This newly published issue brings together 17 original, invited articles written by individuals who are generally recognized as “sages of the profession,” intellectual and professional pioneers in the field of social work. The intent of this special issue is to capture the rich heritage of the social work profession and its educational initiatives as seen through the eyes of those who have actually lived and contributed to that heritage.
The Commonwealth Fund Report – Addressing Patients’ Social Needs: An Emerging Business Case for Provider Investment
Extensive research documents the impact of social factors such as income, educational attainment, access to food and housing, and employment status on the health and longevity of Americans, particularly lower-income populations. These findings attribute as much as 40 percent of health outcomes to social and economic factors.
Understanding Urban Indians’ Interactions With ACF Programs and Services: Final Report
This report presents the results of an exploratory study to better understand Urban Indians’ interactions with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) programs and services.
HealthHIV Report – Third Annual State of HIV Primary Care National Survey
This report identifies significant training needs and barriers to quality HIV care.
Administration on Children, Youth & Families (ACYF) Report – Promoting Protective Factors for In-Risk Families and Youth: A Brief for Researchers
This report explores the factors that make children and young people more able to cope with the trauma they face.
Building A Beloved Community: Strengthening the Field of Black Male Achievement
Based on interviews with fifty leaders in the social, academic, government, and business sectors, this report maps the landscape of work in the area of black male achievement and offers recommendations for strengthening the field going forward.
The Commonwealth Fund Updated Data on WhyNotTheBest.org
Compare the health of residents in counties across the United States with newly updated information now available on WhyNotTheBest.org. Users can compare rates of preventable hospitalizations, percentages of adults reporting fair or poor health, and many other health measures. The data, drawn from the County Health Rankings set, also provide information on the health care supports available to residents, such as the supply of dentists and primary care physicians.
Behavioral Health Coaching for Rural Veterans with Diabetes and Depression: A Patient Randomized Effectiveness Implementation Trial
This randomized controlled trial evaluated the Healthy Outcomes through Patient Empowerment (HOPE) intervention, which seeks to simultaneously address diabetes and depression for rural veterans in Southeast Texas.
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Discussion Paper – Housing Voucher Receipt and the Quality of Schools Available to Recipient Children
Using data on housing voucher recipients with school-aged children residing across the state of Wisconsin, this paper analyzes the relationship between voucher receipt and the educational opportunities of children in recipient households.
West Coast Poverty Center Research FLASH – Refugees and Public Housing Redevelopment
This brief explores how immigrants and refugees are faring with public housing redevelopment.
US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Issue Brief – Data Snapshot: School Discipline
This brief includes information on disparities in school Discipline, restraint, and seclusion.
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) Brief – Survey Data Elements to Unpack Diversity of Hispanic Populations
The grouping “Hispanic” often makes it challenging to observe important social experiences that relate strongly to the needs, service experiences, and outcomes of interest to ACF for various Hispanic subgroups. Existing federal surveys do not consistently collect data to sufficiently examine how Hispanic ethnicity interacts with other socio-cultural experiences or how it relates to specific outcomes. Because current measurement is inadequate to differentiate characteristics within the Hispanic population, this brief presents ten additional data elements that will improve understanding of the diversity within low-income, Hispanic populations in the U.S., if included alongside demographic items that are typically collected in federal research surveys.
National Partnership for Women and Families Updated Wage Gap Map
This interactive map shows the wage gap in all 50 states plus DC and links to fact sheets on the wage gap in each state.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report – Two Decades of Investment in Substance-Use Prevention and Treatment
RWJF’s 20-year investment to reduce harm from alcohol and other drugs in the U.S. is examined in this latest retrospective.
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Report: Healthy Communities May Make Safe Communities: Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention
Police chiefs, public health directors and researchers are establishing innovative public health/public safety collaborations to fight crime.
Double Discrimination Impacts Physical and Mental Health
Adults who are members of two or more disadvantaged groups – a cultural or racial minority; a woman; gay, lesbian or transgender; or obese – report experiencing more forms of discrimination than singly disadvantaged or privileged adults. Multi-disadvantaged adults are at greater risk for mental distress and poor physical health.
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Fast Focus Issue: Less-Educated Workers’ Unstable Employment: Can the Safety Net Help?
Since the 1980s, U.S. workers with less than a college education have faced increasing job instability at the same time that the safety net has become increasingly contingent on employment. This issue of Fast Focus reviews the evidence on employment instability and explores the challenges and opportunities of promoting employment stability in the current economic and political climate.
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) Report – Child Care Subsidy Literature Review
This literature review summarizes recent research on topics related to child care subsidies with the intent to provide a foundation of empirical knowledge for state administrators, program developers, and policymakers as they choose among and implement subsidy policies.
NIJ Report – The Impact of Victimization on Residential Mobility: Explaining Racial and Ethnic Patterns Using the National Crime Victimization Survey
Criminal victimization is known to influence decisions to move, but theories suggest that
the processes leading to a moving decision may vary across racial and ethnic groups depending on household socioeconomic characteristics as well as housing market conditions. This study used a longitudinal sample of 34,134 housing units compiled from the National Crime Victimization Survey for the forty largest metropolitan areas in the United States (1995-2003) to study racial/ethnic differences in household moving behavior after victimization.
The Discipline Disparities Research to Practice Collaborative Discipline Disparities Briefing Papers
The Discipline Disparities Research to Practice Collaborative, within a national context of troubling disparities and promising solutions, has used information from stakeholder groups, as well as knowledge of the current status of research in the field, to craft this series of informational briefs and supplementary research papers with targeted recommendations customized for different audiences.
ChildTrends Research Brief – A Fifteen Year (1997-2012) Profile of Children’s Overall Health: National and State Estimates, by Family Income Level
Here we estimate the proportion of children reported by parents to be in “very good” or
“excellent” health, between 1997 and 2012. We examine trends in health status for children ages birth through 17, nationally and across states, and across family income-levels.
University of Michigan Study: Women’s Rights are Good for Men’s Health
A new study from researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and colleagues shows that, in societies where women are equal to men, males stand a better chance of living longer.
The University of Montana Rural Institute Fact Sheet: Disability in Rural America
Newly released data on disability in America show that the prevalence of impairments leading to disability is significantly higher in non-metropolitan counties than in metropolitan counties. This fact sheet provides preliminary analyses of these new US census data.
Cost Analysis in Program Evaluation: A Guide for Child Welfare Researchers and Service Providers
Motivated by a growing need for accurate and comparable information about the costs of child welfare programs and services and by the lack of a standard methodology for calculating costs across its grant-funded demonstration and evaluation projects, the Children’s Bureau brought together experts to address this need. The result is a guide for conducting cost analysis that can be integrated into and informed by a program evaluation. The guide and companion video shorts demonstrate how cost analyses, when integrated within a program evaluation, can promote better understanding of a program from initial implementation through full-scale roll out by requiring and defining key service components. In this way, cost analyses become an important piece of the conceptual framework for program planning and implementation and are viewed as another set of key evaluation measures.
Guttmacher Institute Study: Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2011
A new study from the Guttmacher Institute shows the US abortion rate at its lowest level since 1973. This decline is partly due to increasing use of long-acting, reversible contraceptives like the Population Council-developed IUD, from 2% of contraceptive users in 2002 to 9% in 2009.
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) Poverty Fact Sheet – Young Dads and Disadvantage
Fathers can play an important role in children’s lives. Involved fathers contribute economically, engage in child rearing, act as role models, and provide indirectly through supporting the mother. Young, disadvantage dads face challenges in all these areas.
The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality National Report Card on Poverty and Inequality
This report covers seven domains: labor markets, poverty, the safety net, income inequality, wealth inequality, health inequality and education. Authored by the country’s top experts, the report provides key data at both the state and national levels on efforts to reduce inequality and equalize opportunity.
Alcohol Research: Current Reviews – Measuring the Burden: Alcohol’s Evolving Impact on Individuals, Families, and Society
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) Portfolio of Research in Welfare and Family Self Sufficiency: Fiscal Year 2013
This portfolio of research provides detailed summaries of OPRE’s ongoing welfare and family self-sufficiency research efforts along with brief overviews of past projects. The featured projects cover topics that include TANF, the safety net, employment, education and training. The report also describes OPRE’s efforts to disseminate rigorous research on welfare and family self-sufficiency. This year’s portfolio covers OPRE-funded projects for Fiscal Year 2013.
Institute for Research on Poverty Focus on Poverty Brief – Family Change: It’s Complicated
This policy brief is the first in a new series released by The Institute for Research on Poverty and focuses on family complexity and how family structure has changed in the past 50 years.
American Journal of Preventative Medicine Article: Widening Rural-Urban Disparities in Life Expectancy, U.S., 1969-2009
This study examined trends in rural-urban disparities in life expectancy at birth in the U.S. between 1969 and 2009.
The Commonwealth Fund Interactive Data Tool – Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey
The Commonwealth Fund’s Affordable Care Act Tracking Surveys measure public awareness of the new marketplaces and what Americans are experiencing as they shop for health plans.
Inaugural Issue of New NIH Newsletter – The Health Disparities Pulse
The Health Disparities Pulse is a quarterly newsletter on minority health and health disparities produced by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).
Institute of Medicine (IOM) Workshop Summary – Leveraging Culture to Address Health Inequalities: Examples from Native Communities
On November 14, 2012, the IOM Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities held a workshop in Seattle, WA, to explore the ideas at the heart of the medicine wheel. The workshop brought together stakeholders to discuss the sizable health inequalities affecting Native American, Alaska Native, First Nation, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander populations and the potential role of culture to help reduce those inequalities. This document summarizes the workshop.
Children’s Bureau Report: Child Maltreatment 2012
This report presents national data about child abuse and neglect known to child protective services agencies in the United States during federal fiscal year 2012.
The Commonwealth Fund 2013 Annual Report
The Fund’s 2013 interactive Annual Report provides highlights of the past year from the Fund’s programs and points to new directions for the future.
The Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research (JSSWR) Special Issue: The Science and Practice of Research Synthesis
This special issue was dedicated to enhancing the accumulation and dissemination of scholarly knowledge by presenting papers that explore innovative research synthesis methodologies and reports examining the results of systematic reviews. This special issue presents an overview of the principles and methods of research synthesis, four reports on systematic reviews, and two papers on novel research synthesis methodologies.
Kaiser Family Foundation Interactive: A State-by-State Look at How the Uninsured Fare Under the ACA
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes coverage options for people across the income spectrum, but there are big differences in eligibility for coverage depending on whether a state expands Medicaid or not. This interactive tool shows how many currently uninsured people are estimated to be eligible for Medicaid or tax credits, or in the coverage gap in each state.
Health Services Research Study: More Funding for Community Health Centers Improves Access to Care
Increased federal funding for community health centers since 2000 has helped low-income adults get access to primary care and dental care.
Using Data to Understand Your Community
This brief compiles a list of resources that community stakeholders can explore to use data to understand the community and population.
Center for Poverty Research Policy Brief – Immigrant Mothers, Community
Organizations and Poverty
Community-based organizations (CBOs) serve low-income immigrants who face significant barriers to public aid. An increasing proportion of these populations includes families with children who live in poverty. In ongoing research, Faculty Affiliate Dina Okamoto, Valerie Feldman and Melanie Jones Gast find that Latin American immigrant mothers in high-poverty areas rely on CBOs to meet their diverse needs.
AHRQ Statistical Brief – The Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2008-2011 (Selected Intervals): Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65
Using information from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC) for 2010 and 2011, this Statistical Brief provides detailed estimates for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized non-elderly (under age 65) population that was uninsured for the entire 2008-2011 period and identifies groups most at risk of lacking any coverage during that four-year period.
Justice Center Policy Brief: Medicaid and Financing Health Care for Individuals Involved with the Criminal Justice System
People in prisons and jails often have complex and costly health care needs, and states and local governments currently pay almost the entirety of these individuals’ health care costs. This failure to link individuals involved with the criminal justice system to health coverage and services upon release from incarceration is especially costly to state and local governments. The appropriate use of federal Medicaid dollars to help pay for health care provided to this population can save states and localities money, in addition to minimizing health and public safety concerns associated with reentry following incarceration.
Report to the U.S. Department of Justice: Highlights and Lowlights of Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations in the Criminal Justice System
Toward the aim of learning through the lessons and experiences of others, researchers and practitioners from the United States and Canada were asked to share their personal “highlights” and “lowlights” of collaborating. The information shared can be useful to researchers and practitioners new to collaborating as well as those who have substantial experience collaborating. The purpose of this brief is to communicate those high- and lowlights so that they can inform the development of future research collaborations and contribute to their likelihood of their success.
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) Data Brief – Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say: Terminology Agnosticism in Child Care Questionnaires
Child care survey data and analyses can be improved by stepping away from terminology which may have unclear or multiple meanings to different audiences. This brief, which draws from the Design Study of the National Survey of Early Care and Education, reviews the importance of child care data, as well as some of the pitfalls of misinterpretation of survey items.
Center on Adherence and Self Determination (CASD) Research and Practice Brief
CASD conducts research aimed at promoting choice and full engagement in services that help people with serious mental illness achieve their recovery goals. This Research & Practice Brief describes various economic evaluations into mental health services research.
New Issue of Advances in Social Work: A “Seasonal Stew” – Food for Thought; Fuel for Action
This newly published issue brings together 21 original articles covering a wide range of topics, including general conceptual articles, papers focusing on special populations, results of original empirical research, and articles related to social work education.
SAMHSA Report: Customizing Health Homes for Children with Serious Behavioral Health Challenges
This resource paper provides a rationale as to why health homes under the ACA should be customized for children and youth with serious behavioral health challenges. Click here to read the full report.
Bipartisan Policy Center Report: Immigration Reform: Implications for Growth, Budgets and Housing
At the heart of the ongoing immigration reform debate is the question of the anticipated costs and benefits of reform. Assessing the impact of various reform proposals on economic growth, wages, and federal and state budgets is critical to making an informed judgment as to whether enactment of reform is in the best interests of the country.
Data Quality Campaign (DQC) Annual Report – Data for Action 2013: Right Questions, Right Data, Right Answers
States have more capacity than ever to use secure education data, but they need to place a greater focus on using the right data to answer the right questions to improve student success. In DQC’s annual report, find out more about: Data for Action 2013 key findings; the national landscape of education data and policy; examples from leading states; and information on how states are serving the data needs of teachers, parents, school and district administrators, policy makers, and the public.
Study of Asian Americans identifies subsets of socially disadvantaged workers at risk of poor mental health
A well-documented finding is that individuals of the highest socioeconomic status (SES) have better health, particularly mental health, than those at the bottom and all intermediary levels. Yet, there is increasing evidence from studies of racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants in the United States showing more complex links between SES and health. In an effort to understand whether such a phenomenon exists in the fast-growing, heterogeneous Asian American population, researchers investigated the associations of nativity and occupational class with subjective health and 12-month mental disorders. They found that occupational class was not strongly associated with subjective health and mental disorder for Asian Americans, including immigrants.
Commonwealth Fund Report: International Profiles of Health Care Systems, 2013: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States
This publication presents overviews of the health care systems of Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Each overview covers health insurance, public and private financing, health system organization and governance, health care quality and coordination, disparities, efficiency and integration, use of information technology and evidence-based practice, cost containment, and recent reforms and innovations.
University of Arizona Study: Community Health Workers Can Serve Vital Advocacy Role
Community health workers perform a vital role in advocating for underserved populations, and with advocacy and leadership training they can effectively combat health inequality across demographic lines, according to a new paper from University of Arizona public health researchers.
ChildTrends Report – The Youngest Americans: A Statistical Portrait of Infants and Toddlers in the United States
America’s youngest children are more diverse with respect to race/ethnicity, country of origin, language, and family type than at any time in our recent history. Most of our youngest Americans, according to their parents, have at least some of the important characteristics associated with optimal development. At the same time, they are a generation characterized by marked inequalities, with disturbing proportions facing sever disadvantage that imposes both immediate and lasting threats to well-being.
Rural Health Research and Policy Centers Policy Brief – Perinatal Health in the Rural United States: Low Birth Weight Rates Among Racial and Ethnic Groups in the Rural United States, 2005
This report is one in a series of briefs, which cover the issue of perinatal outcomes in rural areas across the United States in 2005. Low birth weight, a key indicator of the health of the U.S. population, and adequacy of prenatal care, a critical indicator of access and quality of health care, are explored to discover how they are related to rural or urban location, race, and ethnicity.
SAMHSA Report – Behavioral Health United States 2012
NCHS Data Brief – Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2011-2012
This brief provides key findings from analyses of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2012.
The Alliance for Early Success Publication: The Research Base for a Birth through Age Eight State Policy Framework
This report outlines a framework that emphasizes three important messages: 1. There is an evidence base for the policy areas and policy foundations identified in the Birth through Age Eight State Policy Framework; 2. The years starting at birth and continuing through age eight are a critical time for achieving good health, strong families, and better learning outcomes in early childhood and later in life; and 3. The supports and experiences that children receive have a cumulative effect-each experience influences the next and sustains previous growth and development.
University of Alabama Studies How Stigma Affects Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV
GW Study Found Health Center Patients Remain Uninsured and Left Out of Health Reform
Medicaid Family Planning Expansions and Related Preventive Care
Since 1994, 22 states have expanded Medicaid coverage of preventive health services for women aged 21-44 years. These services included screening for breast and cervical cancer and testing for sexually transmitted infections. This article examines the impact of expanded Medicaid coverage on use of preventive services by young women.
Housing Assistance Council Report on Rural Poverty
This report provides an overview of the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual report: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012.
SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings
This report presents the first information from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older.
SAMHSA Medicaid Handbook: Interface with Behavioral Health Services
This handbook should prove useful to anyone wishing to learn the fundamental principles of Medicaid and apply them to their existing knowledge of behavioral health services.
USDA Economic Research Service Report on Household Food Security in the United States in 2012
Carsey Institute National Issue Brief on National Child Poverty Rate
The Commonwealth Fund Report: New U.S. Census Data on the Uninsured Underscores Need for Expanded Coverage
This report outlines new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau regarding uninsurance and the early impact of some ACA provisions.
The Commonwealth Fund Report: Health Care in the Two Americas: Findings from the Scorecard on State Health System Performance for Low-Income Populations, 2013
The report identifies opportunities for states to improve their health systems for economically disadvantaged populations and provides state benchmarks of achievement. Analyzing 30 indicators of access, prevention and quality, potentially avoidable hospital use, and health outcomes, the Scorecard documents sharp health care disparities among states.
Maryland Center for Health Equity New Online Educational Program: Building Trust Between Minorities and Researchers
This program seeks to close the gap in racial and ethnic health disparities. The program does so by providing culturally tailored information and skills to minority communities on how to become an informed decision maker for participation in research, including clinical trials.
National Institute of Justice Report: Sex Offender Management, Treatment, and Civil Commitment: An Evidence Based Analysis Aimed at Reducing Sexual Violence
This study was designed to provide a comprehensive exploratory examination of the program management, treatment, and recidivism of sexual offenders in New Jersey.
Journal of Adolescent Health Supplement on Child Maltreatment
The papers in this supplement investigate the role of safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) and social contexts in the lives of children and their caregivers, as well as provide insight into relational factors that influence the inter-generational cycle of child maltreatment.
Advances in Social Work 2013 Special Issue
The Impact of Socio-Economic, Cultural, Political, and International Factors on Latinos/Latinas in the US
HHS Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings
This report summarizes findings from the National Survey on Drug Use and health by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.
Child Welfare Information Gateway Fact Sheet: Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect
This factsheet explains the long-term physical, psychological, behavioral, and societal consequences of child abuse and neglect.
The Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief: In States’ Hands: How the Decision to Expand Medicaid Will Affect the Most Financially Vulnerable Americans
Between 2010 and 2012, nearly one-third (32%) of U.S. adults ages 19 to 64, or an estimated 55 million people, were either continuously uninsured or spent a period of time uninsured. Data from the 2011 and 2012 Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Surveys of U.S. Adults show that people with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level (i.e., the level that will make them eligible for Medicaid in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act) were uninsured at the highest rates. Yet, fewer than half the states are currently planning to expand their Medicaid programs, because the 2012 Supreme Court decision allows states to choose whether to expand eligibility. In those states that have not yet decided to expand, as many as two of five (42%) adults who were uninsured for any time over the two years would not have access to the new coverage provisions in the law.
Michigan Finds Access to Mental Health Care Lacking For Children, Teens Across U.S.
A survey from the University of Michigan reveals that many adults across the U.S. believe children and teens have extremely limited or no access to appropriate mental health care services. Survey participants were asked how much availability there is in their communities for children and teens to receive healthcare services. More than half of all respondents note that there is “lots of availability” for teens to have hospital care (55 percent) and primary care (56 percent) in their communities, but across all health care services, only 30 percent of respondents reported “lots of availability” for mental health care. Health care availability for children was very similar.
Iowa’s RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis Releases Study on Rural Pharmacy Closures
The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis at the University of Iowa recently released “Causes and Consequences of Rural Pharmacy Closures: A Multi-Case Study.” The Center completed case studies in six rural communities that lost their only remaining retail pharmacy since 2007. In five of the six communities, residents now either drive to the nearest pharmacy or use mail- order to receive their prescriptions and, in some instances, receive their prescriptions through a courier service from a pharmacy in a nearby town.
New Child Welfare Outcomes Report
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the twelfth in a series of reports designed to inform Congress, the States, and the public about State performance on delivering child welfare services. Child Welfare Outcomes 2008-2011: Report to Congress provides information about State performance on seven national child welfare outcomes related to the safety, permanency, and well-being of children involved in the child welfare system.
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report
This month, new statistics were released from the Children’s Bureau on the numbers of children involved with the child welfare system. The AFCARS report provides preliminary estimates for fiscal year (FY) 2012.
Disparities in Child Welfare: Considering the Implementation of Differential Response
By: Heather Allan and Michelle Howard
Can the use of differential response in child protection help reduce the disproportional representation of certain racial/ethnic groups in the child welfare system? A new issue brief from the National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services (QIC-DR) explores the intersection between differential response and disproportionality.
Using Data to Improve Outcomes
The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (NRC-CWDT), in collaboration with several child welfare data managers in the field, developed a framework to help agencies better work with data in order to inform practice and performance and improve child welfare outcomes. The tool is intended to help agencies refine their data-collection process and focus their efforts so that the data collected are more useful and easily incorporated into business processes.
National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW): Adverse Child Experiences
More than half of the children in the NSCAW II sample report four or more adverse childhood experiences. This finding is from a brief that uses the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II) to examine rates of adverse childhood experiences among children who have been reported for maltreatment to the child welfare system. It also compares this sample’s adverse experiences to those reported in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES).