Children - Research and Data from KFF

A Look at State Efforts to Ban Cellphones in Schools and Implications for Youth Mental Health

Sep 5, 2024

Issue Brief

Education leaders and policymakers are turning to cellphone bans in schools to help address youth mental health concerns and improve learning, an idea that has largely received bipartisan support. Cellphone ban legislation has had a resurgence following advisories from the U.S. Surgeon General on youth mental health and the impacts of social media. Research on the effectiveness of these bans, however, is limited, and challenges with implementation and enforcement remain.

Well-being of Children and Parents: Highlights from the KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health

Aug 1, 2024

Poll Finding

Amid growing concerns about the mental health of children, about one in ten parents say their children are in fair or poor mental health. Rates of mental health treatment and access for children vary by factors such as race and ethnicity, as do experiences with unfair treatment or discrimination.

Addressing Youth Mental Health with Social and Emotional Learning in Schools

Jul 31, 2024

Policy Watch

Schools can play a role in promoting mental health and connecting youth to treatment. One approach that many schools have implemented is social and emotional learning, which teaches skills such as emotional management, resilience, and relationship building. This policy watch discusses how common these programs are in schools, how they are integrated, and what supporters and critics say about social and emotional learning.

States Adopted Changes to Expand Medicaid Eligibility and Streamline Renewal Processes That Will Continue Beyond the Unwinding, Though Challenges Remain

Jun 20, 2024

News Release

The unwinding of pandemic enrollment protections in Medicaid helped accelerate states’ expansion of eligibility for key groups and adoption of policy and system changes to streamline renewal processes for enrollees, according to findings from a new KFF survey of state Medicaid officials.

A Look at Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, and Renewal Policies During the Unwinding of Continuous Enrollment and Beyond

Jun 20, 2024

Report

The 22nd annual survey of state Medicaid and CHIP programs officials conducted by KFF and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in May 2024 presents a snapshot of actions states have taken to improve systems, processes, and communications during the unwinding, as well as key state Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and renewals policies and procedures in place as of May 2024. The report focuses on policies for children, pregnant individuals, parents, and other non-elderly adults whose eligibility is based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) financial eligibility rules.

Examining New Medicaid Resources to Expand School-Based Behavioral Health Services

Apr 23, 2024

Issue Brief

In light of worsening mental health among youth, strategies have been implemented to improve access to behavioral health services in recent years, including expanding school-based care for students. Leveraging Medicaid to improve and address gaps in school-based behavioral health services has been a key strategy in recent years as youth mental health concerns have grown. Provisions from the Safer Communities Act of 2022 utilize Medicaid to expand both school-based health care and other mechanisms of youth behavioral health care. This issue brief explores the implementation of these provisions from the Safer Communities Act thus far, with a focus on the guidance issued from CMS.

The Impact of the Pandemic on Well-Child Visits for Children Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP

Mar 18, 2024

Issue Brief

This issue brief examines well-child visit rates overall and for selected characteristics before and after the pandemic began and discusses recent state and federal policy changes that could impact children’s preventive care. More than half of children under age 21 enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP received a well-child visit in 2019, but the share fell to 48% in 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Parents Haven’t Heard Misinformation About the Measles Vaccine though Significant Shares Are Uncertain About the Validity of Claims

Mar 14, 2024

News Release

As rates of childhood vaccination decline and with measles on the rise again, a KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll, fielded in late February, examines the extent to which adults have heard and believe misinformation about the measles vaccine.

Measles Vaccines and Misinformation in the Courts: A Snapshot From the KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll

Mar 14, 2024

Feature

The latest KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll examines misinformation related to the measles vaccine and the public’s views of the U.S. government and social media companies’ role in moderating false claims online.

Recent Increases in Firearm Deaths of Children and Adolescents Have Been Driven by Gun Assaults, Black Youths Are Disproportionally Affected

Feb 22, 2024

News Release

A new KFF analysis of provisional 2022 data from the Centers for Disease Control shows that the recent increases in firearm death rates among children and adolescents ages 17 and under were driven largely by gun assaults, which accounted for 66% of firearm deaths among young people in 2022, up from 54% in 2019.

Topics

Policy Research

Polling

Health News

Data & Features

For Media

About

View the Latest: Children

Filter