Children and Families

The Aging and Adult Services Agency at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has announced the launch of CV19 CheckUp in Michigan, a free, anonymous, personalized online tool that evaluates someone’s risks associated with COVID-19. BellAge developed the tool to help people be safer & healthier, and ensure their individual needs are met during the pandemic. CV19 CheckUp uses artificial intelligence to analyze data each person provides by completing an online questionnaire.

The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Advisory Council has released a new resource guide for grandfamilies during emergencies. There are an estimated 2.7 million children living in grand family or kinship households in the U.S. today. This guide includes key information related to health care, social services, staying connected, and important helplines, among others.

The updated supplemental information is intended to help states strategically think through how they explain and clarify to telehealth providers and other stakeholders which policies are temporary or permanent. It also helps states identify: • Services that can be accessed through telehealth • Which providers may deliver those services • Ways providers may use in order to deliver services through telehealth, • Circumstances under which telehealth can be reimbursed once the PHE expires

The Juanita C. Grant Foundation, in partnership with the National Council on Aging, is convening for a virtual Town Hall Meeting to develop strategies and initiate a Call to Action for communities of color to connect at the local level through trusted sources, in preparation for a COVID-19 vaccine prioritizing older adults. This flyer offers helpful resources for advocates in preparing communities of color for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP released an update version of the Caregiving in the US report for 2020. The report contains updated data from research conducted since the report’s last release in 2015. Included in the report are data about caregiver prevalence and demographics, care recipient demographics, types of care caregivers provide, caregiver training and information needs, and other results from the research.

CMCS has released the FFY 2018 Child Core Set data. This data set provides information on 23 child measures voluntarily reported by states. Recently released publications include an overview of 2018 findings, a core set chart pack, a summary of performance on measures, and the 2018 quality measures dataset.

On July 31, Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced, by an executive order, an overhaul of the state services and systems to protect the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians. The executive order establishes an Office of Advocacy and Reform, Child Advocate, and Council on Reform. The executive order also lists responsibilities of the state agencies and the Governor’s Office of Performance through Excellence.

CMS published a proposed rule to revise the current federal nursing home regulations and a final arbitration rule. Consumer Voice has released a side-by-side comparison chart of the current and the newly released proposed rules, as well as the final arbitration rules.

The National Academy of Social Insurance released a report on potential designs for universal family care. The report highlights state program design proposals for early child care and education, paid family and medical leave, and long-term services and supports. The LTSS section of the report proposes four design issues states may face in developing a social insurance program for LTSS.

The Leavitt Partners released a report reviewing the Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit, focusing on the program integrity of the benefit. . The report examines challenges and opportunities for Medicaid directors in improving Medicaid NEMT program integrity.