Child Health Care and Related Info... Governor Paterson... Child Health Plus... Federal Stimulus Package... Federal Reinvestment... More

["Whitney Houston - Greatest love of all"; as submitted to You Tube by savorations on August 22, 2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KjpyHX7X-o]

Sleepless night, so I though I would do some research and pass some information on:

"Governor Paterson Establishes Task Force to Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning..."

"Governor David A. Paterson... announced the issuance of an Executive Order to establish the Governor's Task Force on the Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning to further the State's efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in New York State. Lead continues to be the leading environmental poison of young children in New York State. The creation of the Task Force, together with the dedication of additional funding to support targeted prevention efforts, demonstrates the Governor's continued commitment to forever eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the State" [New York State Department of Health and Human Services; "Health News"; 6/2/09; http://www.health.state.ny.us/]

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"Child Health Plus... [New York State] Who is eligible?"

"To be eligible for either Children's Medicaid or Child Health Plus, children must be under the age of 19 and be residents of New York State. Whether a child qualifies for Children's Medicaid or Child Health Plus depends on gross family income. Children who are not eligible for Medicaid can enroll in Child Health Plus if they don't already have health insurance and are not eligible for coverage under the public employees' state health benefits plan. Some children who were covered by employer-based health insurance within the past six months may be subject to a waiting period before they can be enrolled in Child Health Plus. Determining whether your child is subject to a waiting period will depend on your household income and the reason your child(ren) lost employer-based coverage. Check the... income charts [at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/chplus/who_is_eligible.htm] to see whether your child will most likely qualify for Children's Medicaid or Child Health Plus." [New York State Department of Health; http://www.health.state.ny.us]

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"What the Federal Stimulus Package Means [I selected the items that focus on child health issues and programs - and/or low income family health initiatives and funding] for New York State Department of Health Programs..."

"Early Intervention Program (EIP)..."

"The Early Intervention Program provides speech, hearing, and other therapies to developmentally delayed children from birth to the age of 3. It is run by the Department of Health and local health departments. Services are provided by agencies and individuals in local communities who have been approved by the Department. Over 70,000 children and their families are served by the Early Intervention Program.

New York State's Early Intervention Program received $11.8 million in funding and will receive an additional $11.8 million later in 2009.

What this means for New Yorkers...

The added funding will be used to pay for improvements to the information systems and operations of the Early Intervention Program. This will help to better coordinate the services families receive.

ARRA national funding: $250 million in each of next two years...

NYS share: $11.8 million per year..'

Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)...

Medicaid is a health insurance program for people with limited income or who are elderly or disabled. It is paid for by a combination of federal, state, and county dollars. Until December 31, 2010, the federal government will increase its Medicaid contribution by a minimum of 6.2%. For New York State, that increase is expected to total $11.1 billion. States qualify for this increase if they had increasing unemployment after October 31, 2008. This will mean that the state and county governments will contribute a smaller percentage as their shares to fund the costs of Medicaid..

What this means for New Yorkers...

Medicaid services will not be cut or limited. The state and counties will be able to afford their share of Medicaid costs without increasing taxes or cutting programs. This will be true even if more people need Medicaid because they have become unemployed. People who are moving from welfare to employment will be able to stay on Medicaid for a longer time while they are waiting for employer-sponsored health insurance to start.

WIC...

The Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, provides coupons for nutritious food for lower-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to the age of 5. WIC is run by the Department of Health in partnership with over 100 local agencies, such as county health departments, clinics, and hospitals. Funding for WIC comes from both the state and federal governments.

For New York State, the increase in federal funding for WIC from the stimulus package is currently estimated at $28.6 million. To date, $5.5 million has been awarded to meet food costs related to increased WIC caseload.

What this means for New Yorkers...

It's expected that more women and children will become eligible for WIC as more families face unemployment. The increase in federal funding will help cover the costs of food and of administering the program for a larger number of people. The state may also apply for up to $4 million for upgrades to the WIC computer system, which would lead to more efficient processing of benefits."

"ARRA national funding: $500 million..."

"$400 million for cost due to increased caseload or food costs over budgeted levels...

$100 million for competitive MIS improvement grants...

NYS share: $28.6 million estimated..." [New York State Department of Health; "What the Federal Stimulus Package Means for New York State Department of Health Programs"; http://www.health.state.ny.us/regulations/arra/department_of_health_programs.htm]

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In general, New York States portion of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (in regard to child health care, safety, housing, education and related items...) has been laid out like this [The following report (shortened and modified for placement here; bold print mine] is from recovery.ny.com / Governor David Paterson... New York State Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet...]:

"New York's Share... [Major Spending Provisions That Impact New York (preliminary state/local two year estimates, $ in thousands)]

State Fiscal Relief New York Medicaid - FMAP Increase... $11,100,000
State Fiscal Stabilization - Education Restoration... $2,469,000
State Fiscal Stabilization - Other Government Services... $549,000
State Fiscal Stabilization - Education Incentive Grants... TBD

Sub-total... $14,118,000..."

"Health and Human Services..."

"Public Health Programs... $60,000
IDEA for Infants & Families... $23,400
Food Stamp Benefit Increase... $1,289,000
Food Stamp Administration... $25,000
WIC Program Administration... $28,600
Senior Nutrition Program... $6,000
Homeless Assistance... $142,000
Child Care Block Grant... $97,000
Child Support Administration... $34,000
Title IV-E Programs (Foster Care/Adoption Assistance)... $107,000
Community Service Block Grant (CSBG)... $87,000
SSI - One-time Payment... $166,000
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)... $169,000...
Employment Services... $23,000...
Vocational Rehabilitation (Title I)... $26,000
Rehabilitation Services & Disability Research... $7,600...
HOME Investment Partnerships-Tax Credit Assistance... $253,000
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)... $92,400
Public Housing Capital Fund... $502,000...
Project Based Rental Assistance (Section 8)... #235,000
Lead Hazard Reduction... $2,000
Native American Housing Grants... $2,672
Community Health Centers... $19,000
Commodity Assistance Program... $9,000
TANF Block Grant - Emergency Fund... $7,000"

"Education"

"Title I... $1,168,000
IDEA/Special Education... $794,000
Head Start & Early Head Start... $130,000
Pell Grant Increase... $180,000
Federal Work Study... $20,000
Enhancing Education Technology... $55,500
Education for Homeless Children & Youth... $6,000...
National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance... $6,000"

"Public Safety..."

"Violence Against Women Prevention... $7,400
Crime Victims Compensation and Assistance... $4,600
Internet Crimes Against Children... $1,600"

[Please note that this is not an all inclusive listing; for additional information please visit the site]

"* Does not include certain federal spending items included in the Act which do not impact New York or cannot be quantified..." [http://www.recovery.ny.gov/DirectAid/aidnewyork.htm]

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Respectfully submitted [Mostly copied and pasted / Please visit respective sites for more information] by N.S.