Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children’s (PPC) work leading the Pritzker Children’s Initiative Prenatal-to-Age-Three state planning grant continues, with a full policy agenda expected by the end of the year.

The leadership team of the initiative recently traveled to Atlanta with the nine other states and the District of Columbia who are part of the planning grant process. The PA team was joined by various state officials, showcasing the partnership of advocates and the administration in this initiative. The group worked on refining the policy agenda and compared notes with Pritzker and other states on best practices moving forward.

Currently the agenda is comprehensive and ranges in topic from child care to prenatal/maternal health, and from home visiting to children’s health, including lead exposure, nutrition, insurance coverage and infant and toddler mental health.

Keep an eye out in the next few weeks, as our subgroups will continue meeting to finalize the agenda and the full table of advocates and state partners will meet again in person in November. In the meantime, PPC is partnering with the United Way of Pennsylvania to conduct a series of community engagement events throughout the state to gather parent and provider input. Next up on the calendar is an event in Johnstown on November 7, 2019.

At the conclusion of the planning grant process, PPC will be eligible to apply for an implementation grant to execute the policy agenda currently being developed. Of the ten states in the planning process, up to five will be selected for this phase of the work. We will keep you posted on our progress as we move closer to early 2020!

Did you know children are the most undercounted group in the census? In fact, 10 percent of all children under age 5 were missed in the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) is the sole voice for young children in both the Keystone Counts coalition and as an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State Data Center, which is represented in the governor’s Complete Count Committee.

In the coming weeks and months, PPC will be producing a variety of print and digital deliverables our partners can use to get the word out the importance of a complete count and the serious consequences that would result from an undercount of young children.

In the meantime, check out these resources to help you with your advocacy efforts. You’ll find helpful fact sheets in English and Spanish, data and statistics, and more!

Harrisburg, PA – On October 9, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s Administration announced that, under the guidance of the Department of Human Services (DHS), it is expanding home visiting supports to first-time mothers and mothers of children with special needs covered by Medicaid. The expansion, made possible in collaboration with physical health Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), will guarantee at least two home visits to new parents and families with children with additional risk factors across Pennsylvania, expanding access to evidence-based models that promote and support healthy child and family development.

“There is no more important focus of my administration than giving all children and families a strong start,” Gov. Wolf said. “By expanding access to evidence-based home visiting programs, we will put more kids, parents and families on a path to a healthy, happy future.”

Since 2015, investments totaling nearly $16.5 million in state funds have helped increase the number of children and families who can receive home visiting supports in communities around Pennsylvania. Guaranteeing a minimum of two home visits to all first-time mothers and mothers of children with special needs through Medicaid continues this work.

“Being a parent can be a challenge for anyone,” said Secretary Miller. “Because children don’t come with an instruction manual home visiting programs create support systems for families to learn to better understand children’s needs, monitor milestones, and identify other opportunities for support that can continue to facilitate healthy long-term growth. A home visitor can be a major resource for parents to bond with their child(ren) and create bridges to success in early childhood and primary education.”

The home visiting expansion is effective January 1, 2020 through the MCOs’ 2020 agreement. Under the new agreements, MCOs will be required to establish an evidenced-based, standardized maternal, infant and early childhood home visitation program for all first-time parents and parents of infants with additional risk factors. All parents and children identified through this effort will receive at least two home visits at no cost, and depending on need, may be referred to other established home visiting programs to continue these services. DHS expects that these programs will be in place with eligible new parents receiving home visiting services s by July 1, 2020.

Evidence-based home visiting family support programs have a family-centered focus and strength-based approach that works with both the child and parent. A home visitor can help parents gain the skills and connect to resources necessary to improve their family’s health, safety, economic security, and success in early childhood education. Studies of various nurse-family partnership programs have shown positive impacts for the mother and baby during pregnancy and after birth, such as a decrease in domestic violence and smoking during pregnancy, a significant decrease in pre-term births, and a majority of babies being born at a healthy weight.

Home visiting can also improve parents’ child development knowledge and skills, help develop social support systems, and improve access to education, health, and community services. Examples of services include:

• Regularly scheduled home visits with trained family development specialists;
• Monthly parent meetings; and
• Routine screenings to identify post-partum depression and detect potential problems with vision, hearing, growth, and learning age-based milestone

Gov. Wolf is committed to helping the youngest Pennsylvanians. In September, his Ready to Start Task Force released its report, including two priorities tied directly to home visiting: to “increase availability of high-quality childcare and home-visiting service slots” and to “promote education, engagement, and support of parents and families as children’s first teachers.”

“This significantly expanded access to home visiting truly helps to fulfill our mission for increasing the ways to help our youngest residents get a strong, focused beginning,” Gov. Wolf said.

Read the Ready to Start Task Force report.

For more information on home visiting programs, visit dhs.pa.gov.

CDC last week released new guidance for clinicians to use to evaluate and treat patients with a lung illness officials believe is linked to e-cigarette use and vaping—and gave the illness a new name. CDC dubbed the illness EVALI, which stands for “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury,” and stressed that clinicians should closely follow up with patients experiencing symptoms of the illness, as symptoms in some cases can progress rapidly or overlap with symptoms of influenza and other viral respiratory illnesses. (Source: STAT News, 10/11)

HHS last week released a guide outlining the steps clinicians should take to taper patients off of opioid prescriptions without causing patients harm. Brett Giroir, HHS’ assistant secretary for health, said the guidelines reflect “a very large body of data across the scientific and medical literature that would say that abrupt discontinuation or abrupt reduction in [opioid] dosage can be harmful to patients.” (Source: STAT News, 10/10)

Medscape last week released its annual RN/LPN Compensation report, which highlights trends in nurse compensation over the last year. The report showed that 49% of registered nurses and 58% of licensed practical nurses do not feel fairly compensated. (Source: Medscape, 10/11)

A federal judge ruled on Oct. 2 that a Pennsylvania nonprofit’s plan to open a safe-injection site, where drug users can inject under medical supervision, does not violate federal drug laws. The Department of Justice had sued to stop Philadelphia’s Safehouse operation, which features medically supervised injections to prevent overdoses and easy referrals to treatment. The Justice Department is expected to file an appeal. Read More.

The Wolf Administration announced this week that, under the guidance of the Department of Human Services (DHS), it is expanding home visiting supports to first-time mothers and mothers of children with special needs covered by Medicaid. The expansion, made possible in collaboration with physical health Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), will guarantee at least two home visits to new parents and families with children with additional risk factors across Pennsylvania, expanding access to evidence-based models that promote and support healthy child and family development. The home visiting expansion is effective Jan. 1, 2020 through the MCOs’ 2020 agreement. Read more.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Oct. 9, that the Department of Human Services (DHS) will implement a single preferred prescription drug list for all companies that manage pharmacy benefits under Medicaid, starting Jan. 1, 2020. DHS estimates the change will save the state $85 million per year, at least in part by allowing the state to take full advantage of federal Medicaid drug rebates. Managed care organizations (MCOs) are not eligible for federal rebates. The companies affected, loosely organized as the Pennsylvania Coalition of Medical Assistance MCOs, assert the proposed change would cost the state $81 million more in the first year and make life harder for doctors. Read More.

This toolkit from the National Academy for State Health Policy highlights state initiatives to help older rural adults age in place by increasing services that help people remain in their homes, expanding and professionalizing the caregiver workforce, and making delivery system reforms within Medicaid programs.  According to research referenced in the toolkit, more than 85 percent of older adults prefer to remain in their own homes and communities, and serving older adults in their homes is usually less expensive than housing people in facilities. This resource was funded by the Geriatrics Program in the Bureau of Health Workforce at the Health Resources and Services Administration.   The Toolkit can be accessed here.