Several states, including Ohio and Michigan, have recently released study results that show Medicaid Expansion continues to improve health and support employment of their states’ residents. This research showed significant benefits, such as: Michigan has seen financial benefits from its expansion, which now covers more than 650,000 residents. In a paper released by Economist Sarah Read More

America’s health insurers – in partnership with state- and federal-programs – have begun to address the non-medical, social, and physical environments which affect a person’s overall health – also called the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH or SDH). Research continues to show that these factors, such as housing, access to healthy food, education, and employment Read More

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) issued a policy update about the Early Childhood Education Workforce and its ongoing collaboration with the National League of Cities (NLC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The policy brief details successful statewide collaborations with state school boards in Michigan and Read More

Infant Mortality – the death of a child before his or her first birthday – has been a serious crisis since well before the advent of modern medicine. But it’s come into a new light in the last few years, particularly regarding African American children, because these children die at an alarmingly higher rate than Read More

In 2019, a new requirement in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)* will require schools to report per-pupil spending data. Currently, school districts allocate their resources however they see fit – evenly across every school, more in schools with higher need, or less in schools with higher need. Requiring schools to share this data will Read More

Voters in three states, Utah, Idaho and Nebraska, passed Medicaid expansion in yesterday’s midterm elections. Thirty-one states, plus the District of Columbia, have already expanded Medicaid in the last few years. This expansion broadens coverage to Americans with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, roughly $17,000 for an individual and $35,000 for a Read More

The Brookings Institute recently did a deep-dive analysis of the 2018 Farm Bill and how it will affect the work requirements of Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – formerly food stamps – benefits. The House version of the bill would expand work requirements and could cause close to 400,000 households to lose Read More

Bright Horizons Family Solutions®  – a leading provider of high-quality early education and preschools, employer-sponsored child care, back-up care, educational advisory services and other work/life solutions – recently announced that it would provide free college tuition for all full-time employees in the company’s early education centers and preschools. Bright Horizon’s Early Education Degree Achievement Plan Read More

With the 2018 midterm election less than 70 days away, many electoral advocacy efforts are in full swing. There are many electoral activities that non-profit organizations CAN organize or engage in legally. Here are a few resources to help you reach out, take action, and bring your issue into the limelight. The Town Hall project Read More

Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS) is pleased to share that both its President Lori McClung and Vice-President Scarlett Bouder have been nominated for separate Excellence in Advocacy Awards. They join 20 other nominees in the Excellence in a State Issue Campaign award category, which is described as an effort wherein the advocate(s) successfully impacted Read More