March News: Our 2024 Children’s Health Equity Policy Agenda
Our 2024 Children’s Health Equity Policy Agenda is out! This budget and legislative season, we’re focusing on whole child health, including policies that would improve access to Medi-Cal coverage for families; timely mental health care for youth; equitable broadband internet services; fair wages for community health workers, promotoras and representatives; housing justice; and more.
To kick off the season, Angela M. Vázquez, TCP’s policy director for mental health, served as master of ceremonies of the Care4All press event on March 12 in Sacramento. As part of Care4All’s legislative and budget priorities package, TCP is supporting four items:
- AB 2956 (Boerner), Protecting Medi-Cal Coverage for Californians
- AB 2466 (Carrillo), Timely Access to Medi-Cal Mental Health Services for Children, Youth
- Budget: Continuous Coverage for Children 0-5 on Medi-Cal
- Budget: Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rate for Community Health Workers/Promotoras/Health Representatives (CHW/P/Rs)
TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez and Interim Vice President of Policy Maddie Ribble attended the Care4All event as well. While in Sacramento, they also met with staff from Assembly and Senate budget committees, relevant subcommittees, and influential legislators to advocate for TCP’s priority issues.
This is The Children’s Partnership’s 30th year of fighting for children’s health equity. California is stronger in its commitment to children because of work we have accomplished together over the past three decades.
At the same time, our state is at a critical juncture in our commitment to children. We recommit ourselves to the work needed to ensure the healthy development of all children as we look to the next 30 years and beyond. Our 2024 policy agenda is a statement of where we are headed.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Fact Sheet Now Available
We are excited to introduce the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Fact Sheet! The 988 Lifeline provides compassionate, accessible care and support for people experiencing mental health-related distress.
The fact sheet is a valuable resource for community-based organizations and schools:
- Outlining the importance of shifting from a discipline response to a care-and-compassion response for students struggling with stress, depression or suicidal behaviors;
- Providing information on how 988 can be utilized by anyone experiencing mental health challenges, as well as by third parties concerned about a friend, student or loved one;
- Offering practical guidance on how schools can implement 988 as part of their suicide prevention and mental health policies and protocols.
Use this fact sheet to raise awareness about the 988 Lifeline!
Thank you to our partners in this effort – California Black Women’s Health Project, Didi Hirsch, and The California Alliance of Child and Family Services.
ALL IN Educational Videos
California families will need to renew Medi-Cal coverage over the next year. The process can be confusing, and deadlines are approaching. But families don’t have to navigate this alone.
In partnership with five talented and diverse community health workers from across California, ALL IN to #KeepKidsCovered created an educational video in five different languages to help families navigate the Medi-Cal renewal process.
For more information about how you can help uplift the CHW/P/R workforce in California, visit the California CHW/P/R Coalition webpage.
TCP Shared Early Child Educator Resources at Head Start Conference
The Children’s Partnership joined our partner Head Start California at their annual Parent & Family Engagement Conference in Long Beach, CA. Oscar Sandoval and Liza Davis from our community engagement and advocacy team tabled the event, linking early child educators with our ALL IN to Keep Kids Covered toolkit. This toolkit was specifically created to provide educators with the tools and resources they need to inform children and families about the Medi-Cal renewal process, the recent expansion of Medi-Cal, and other resources essential to their health and overall well-being.
To get a copy of our educator toolkit, click here.
Angela M. Vázquez Speaks on Youth Mental Health Panel for Latina History Day
Angela M. Vázquez, TCP’s policy director for mental health, joined hundreds of Latine folks for Latina History Day, hosted by Hispanas for Political Equality (HOPE) at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Los Angeles on March 8.
Vázquez spoke on a panel that focused on the mental health challenges of students, with a particular focus on Latine women and gender-expansive youth. She uplifted the shifting burdens of cultural stigma around mental health, where young people find it easier to engage with peers about their mental health than with their families or other adults, especially if issues around gender and sexual orientation are present. Vázquez discussed the intersection of education equity and mental health and highlighted the opportunities presented by the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, as well as California’s recent investments in youth peer support to address these systemic issues – including a historic $8 million to fund a Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health High School Pilot Demonstration, administered by TCP.
Vázquez left the audience with a call to action for adults in the room to proactively break down stigma in their schools and family networks to ensure all young Latine people can be well and thrive.
Mayra E. Alvarez Gives Testimony on CHW/P/Rs, Policy Agenda Released
On March 12, TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez shared moving testimony in Sacramento at a joint informational hearing, “Bright Spots and Remaining Barriers to Realizing the Potential of Community Health Workers, Promotoras, and Representatives (CHW/P/R) to Improve Health in California,” for the Assembly Health Committee and Budget Sub No. 1 chaired by Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Dr. Akilah Weber.
You can watch a recording of the testimony here.
“Investing in and using a community health workforce to support child and family health is an opportunity to begin to undo generations of injustice and repair the harm that continues to impact the health and well-being of historically marginalized communities,” Alvarez said. “The current lack of racially and ethnically diverse providers makes this workforce even more critical.”
Alvarez’s testimony not only shed light on the historical context and deployment of CHW/P/Rs in California but also resonated with the urgent priorities outlined in the newly released 2024 CHW/P/R Policy Agenda.
On March 12, TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez shared moving testimony in Sacramento at a joint informational hearing, “Bright Spots and Remaining Barriers to Realizing the Potential of Community Health Workers, Promotoras, and Representatives (CHW/P/R) to Improve Health in California,” for the Assembly Health Committee and Budget Sub No. 1 chaired by Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Dr. Akilah Weber.
You can watch a recording of the testimony here.
“Investing in and using a community health workforce to support child and family health is an opportunity to begin to undo generations of injustice and repair the harm that continues to impact the health and well-being of historically marginalized communities,” Alvarez said. “The current lack of racially and ethnically diverse providers makes this workforce even more critical.”
Alvarez’s testimony not only shed light on the historical context and deployment of CHW/P/Rs in California but also resonated with the urgent priorities outlined in the newly released 2024 CHW/P/R Policy Agenda.
Eva Rivera, WCEP present at First 5 Summit
Eva Rivera, policy director for early childhood development, represented TCP as part of the Whole Child Equity Partnership (WCEP) at the Child Health, Education, and Care Summit. Hosted by First 5 California and the State Commission, this biennial summit brings together the state’s 58 county commissions and staff to participate in professional development, information sharing and inspiration to create conditions where children ages 0-5 and their families thrive.
This year’s event took place at the Oakland Marriott City Center March 25-27. TCP along with several partners from WCEP – including Keisha Nzewi from Black Californians United for Early Care & Education and Raena Granberry from the California Black Women’s Health Project, pictured above – presented on the following topics:
- Whole Child Equity Agenda: Making California the Best Place to Have, Raise and Be a Child
- Prenatal and Postpartum Supports: Expanding Services for Birthing People
- Healing for California’s Black Families: Reparations in an Early Childhood Context
- Advancing Racial and Economic Justice in the Early Learning and Care System
You’re Invited! A Child’s Right to Thrive
TCP is excited to continue celebrating our 30th anniversary with another installment in our For Our Children’s Future speaker series. On Tuesday, April 23 at 12 p.m. Pacific, TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez will host a fireside chat with Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will be discussing some of the most pressing topics in child health equity today: How can children grow up healthy without access to culturally competent and linguistically appropriate care? How can parents of queer and transgender children support their children’s well-being amidst increasing homophobic and transphobic attacks? Will today’s children grow up with fewer rights than their parents?
We hope you can join us for this conversation!
Parenting While Black Webinar Series
The Parenting While Black series – Believe, Liberate, and Behold: Beautifully Brilliant Black Babies and Children – returns this spring. This free, engaging webinar series will offer real conversations for and between Black parents. Join the open and unapologetic conversations with inspiring guests. The series will provide a welcoming space for sharing strength-based and culturally affirming ideas, narratives and mindsets.
The five-part series began March 18 and continues through June 24. Each webinar is one hour followed by a 30-minute Q&A session with parent panelists.
Family Voices of California 2024 Virtual Health Summit
Each year, Family Voices of California hosts a statewide health summit to bring together families, youth, providers, policymakers, advocates, state agencies, insurers and other stakeholders to identify and address the health challenges that affect one of California’s most vulnerable populations: children and youth with special health care needs.
This year’s event will be held online April 24-25 and will feature keynote, plenary and breakout sessions with topics including:
- Medi-Cal updates and strategies for families
- Legislative advocacy
- Transitioning to adult care: Preparing youth with special health care needs
- In-Home Supportive Services and WPCS waivers
We’re proud to work alongside Family Voices to support access to care and coverage for children with special health care needs. Learn more about what families need to keep children with special health care needs healthy and thriving.
TCP Co-Sponsored Bills, Budget Priorities Mentioned as Part of Care4All Package Launch
TCP is co-sponsoring several bills and budget priorities included in the Care4All package, whose launch on March 12 was covered by Public News Service and CalMatters.
Mayra E. Alvarez Profiled on The David & Lucile Packard Foundation Blog
A profile of TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez is now available on the website of The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, a longtime funding partner of TCP. The profile explores how Alvarez’s upbringing and education influence her passion for helping children and families, especially those who come from marginalized communities.
TCP Research Mentioned on Health Affairs Journal Blog
Health Affairs journal mentioned TCP research in a blog post about Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded research projects that focused on social drivers of health and Medicaid-managed care plans. TCP collaborated with the California Children’s Trust and Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality to undertake the Equity Through Engagement project, which examined how health equity necessitates shared power for communities and families in Medi-Cal’s managed care system.
