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Keeping Kids Healthy

Improving Access to Health Insurance

More than 1 out of 4 Westchester children depend on State sponsored health insurance for their health care. Since 1998, WCA has spearheaded efforts to enroll over 10,000 eligible children in New York’s health insurance programs.

According to the 2000 Census, 6% of Westchester’s children had no health insurance during any part of the previous year. Research indicates that there were probably twice as many children (more than 27,500) who were uninsured for at least a portion of that same year.

As organizer and chair of the Child Health Advocacy Coalition (CHAN), WCA led the effort to enroll eligible children in Medicaid and Child Health Plus. WCA was a leader of Westchester County’s Facilitated Enrollment project, which sent workers into neighborhoods to help parents enroll their children. WCA coordinated the public-private partnership that was the backbone of the Facilitated Enrollment program. WCA took the lead in sponsoring educational forums, and training community workers on the new insurance programs’ requirements.

Through CHAN, WCA leads Westchester’s effort in advocacy for continued improvements of the Child Health Plus and Medicaid programs, including Federal reauthorization of the State Child Health Insurance Program, (SCHIP), program expansion, adequate funding and administrative simplification of children's health insurance.

WCA successfully spearheaded special outreach efforts for hard to reach populations, such as undocumented and other immigrants, underserved minorities and newly qualified families who are unfamiliar with health insurance programs. A targeted effort aimed at families in northern Westchester resulted in a 36% increase in enrollments over a 6 month period in 2004.

Promoting Social and Emotional Wellbeing for Young Children

Research has clearly demonstrated the connection between young children’s healthy emotional development and their lifelong cognitive and social functioning. According to a 2005 study, No Time to Lose: Rethinking Mental Health Services for Westchester's Children, by WCA, increasing numbers of young children in Westchester are showing signs of behavioral and emotional problems. At the same time, mental health clinics serving young children have waiting lists for treatment.

In 2006, WCA successfully advocated for the creation of Early Step Forward, a non-traditional behavioral health program in which mental health specialists work directly with low income children, families and staff in day care and Head Start programs. They teach everyone at the centers how to recognize, understand and express difficult feelings, improve social and emotional skills and offer intervention and referrals for children and families with greater difficulties. In 2008, the program served about 1,000 children in ten centers.

In that same year, WCA published and distributed Pay Attention! / Preste Atencion!, a bilingual booklet that shows parents how to nurture early emotional development and how to recognize warnings of possible problems.

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