Child Health Information Project
Children's Defense Fund
September 15, 2000
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In this issue:

* NATION NEEDS MORE CHRONIC DISEASE TRACKING, NEW REPORT SUGGESTS

* HUD ISSUES NEW REGULATION TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING

* NEW REPORT OUTLINES BARRIERS TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE

* NEW STATE-BY-STATE REPORT DOCUMENTS THE CONDITION OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

* CHANGE IN CHILD HEALTH CONFERENCE CALL REPLAY NUMBER
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NATION NEEDS MORE CHRONIC DISEASE TRACKING, NEW REPORT SUGGESTS

September 6 - The nation is failing in its efforts to provide timely and accurate information about chronic diseases to public health professionals, concludes a new report from the Pew Environmental Health Commission at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Information about where and when chronic diseases occur and what links there may be to environmental factors is key to mounting effective prevention efforts for these health problems, says the report. The lack of information is evidenced by the fact that 27 states have no ongoing tracking and monitoring of asthma, less than half of the nation's population is covered by birth defect registries, only eight states and the District of Columbia track developmental disabilities, and only four states track autoimmune diseases such as Lupus.

The report calls for the creation of a Nationwide Health Tracking Network to monitor the incidence of chronic diseases and what links, if any, these diseases have to environmental factors.

For a copy of the report, go to: http://health-track.org/news/releases/090600.php3  or call 202.828.9762.

Source:
Pew Environmental Health Commission Press Release, September 6, 2000, www.health-track.org 
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HUD ISSUES NEW REGULATION TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING

September 15 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a new regulation, effective today, establishing requirements to control lead-based paint hazards in housing units that are financially-assisted or sold by the government. This regulation, aimed at housing owners and state and local agencies, was issued to ensure that children living in these housing units are not exposed to lead-based paint. Ingestion of dust containing lead-based paint by a child can cause brain and kidney damage and can affect a child's learning capabilities and behavior.

HUD estimates that during the first five years of the regulation, about 2.8 million housing units will be affected and close to 2 million children will be protected.

For more information on the regulation and other HUD initiatives, visit HUD's Web site: www.hud.gov/lea. 

Sources:
HUD Sets New Requirements to Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning in Housing Assisted or Being Sold by the Federal Government, September 2000, www.hud.gov/lea/1012fs.pdf. 
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NEW REPORT OUTLINES BARRIERS TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE

A new publication from the Children's Health Fund documents transportation and workforce barriers to children's health care. To research the report, the Children's Health Fund organized a National Child Health Caravan to travel through nine states to analyze barriers to access to children's health care. The Caravan made stops in the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. 

The three major barriers to quality health care in these areas, the report concluded, were insufficient outreach on the availability of health care, lack of adequate transportation to medical facilities in both urban and rural areas, and a shortage of health professionals, especially in rural areas.

The report recommends:

*joint federal, state, and community efforts, as well as public/private partnerships, to create more outreach efforts to enroll and keep children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP);

*that funding be made available to support the development of transportation infrastructure in communities where lack of adequate transportation is a barrier to health care; and

*that initiatives and incentives be supported that ensure the nation's primary care and pediatric resources are equally distributed.

To order a copy of the report entitled "Getting There, Getting Care: Transportation and Workforce Barriers to Child Health Care in America," call the Children's  Health Fund at (212) 535-9400.

Source:
"Getting There, Getting Care: Transportation and Workforce Barriers to Child Health Care in America," Children's Health Fund, 2000
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NEW STATE-BY-STATE REPORT DOCUMENTS THE CONDITION OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

"Children in the States," an annual publication from the Children's Defense Fund, provides comprehensive information about the condition of children and their families.

The profiles for each state include updated information on the status of children in a variety of areas. Children's health is examined through data on uninsured children, state-specific information on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), prenatal care, low birthweight, infant mortality, child immunizations and the teen birth rate. Also profiled is the number of families receiving child care assistance in each state compared to the number eligible, the average cost of child care  compared to that of public college tuition in the state, and state-specific child care regulations.

State-specific family income is explored through recent information on the number of poor children in each state, along with participation rates in the food stamp program, Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), School Lunch and Breakfast programs and Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP). 

The safety of children is assessed by reports of total firearm deaths, Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws and Trigger Lock Laws, as well as numbers of children reported as victims of abuse and neglect in each state. Education in each state is compared to the national average in terms of class sizes, 4th grade reading proficiency, high school completion rates and expenditures per pupil.

To order a copy of the report, email mkugelman@childrensdefense.org  or download a copy at: www.cdfactioncouncil.org/childrensdatahome.htm 
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*CHANGE IN CHILD HEALTH CONFERENCE CALL REPLAY*

The Children's Defense Fund/Families USA sponsored call, held on Friday, September 15th at 12:00, has had a change in the replay PIN number.

To hear the replay, call 1-800-677-6200. The correct PIN number is 2045. The replay may be accessed through 5:00 PM September 29th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Cindy Mann, Director of Children's and Families Health Programs Group, discussed the guidance issued by HCFA this summer that allows Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds to be used to cover parents through a waiver. 

Mara Youdelman, Staff Attorney from NHeLP, reviewed the proposed changes to the Title VI program from the Department of Health and Human Services on language access requirements in health care settings.
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