Summer Meals 2006: New York City Failed Again. Tens of Thousands of Children Underserved, Millions of Federal Dollars Lost.
The Report in PDF Format)

This report examines the decline in the number of children who participated in the Summer Meals Program in 2006 in New York City. Despite efforts made to increase participation, nearly 2,100 fewer children were served daily. The report highlights the underutilization of the Summer Meals Program with just 12 percent of the city’s estimated 1.5 million eligible children participating.

Keeping What They Earned: The High Cost of Tax Preparation and Refund Anticipation Loans (December 2006)
( The Report in PDF Format)

The report investigates the high fees New York's lower-income families pay for tax preparation and high-interest Refund Anticipation Loans. The report looks at dollars lost at tax time to working families who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit. The report offers legislative and programmatic recommendations to protect lower-income communities from these predatory and high-cost practices.

Coordinating New York’s Medicaid and Food Stamp Programs: Making It Easier for Families to Access the Benefits They Need (December 2006)
( The Report in PDF Format)

This report explores the potential for coordinating and aligning New York’s Medicaid and Food Stamp Programs in order to make it easier for families to access critical public benefits. The report provides a side-by-side programmatic analysis of public health insurance and food stamp eligibility, enrollment and renewal pathways, highlighting points of alignment and areas of disconnect. Based on this analysis, the report makes systematic and legal recommendations necessary in order to best achieve alignment and coordination.

Did Your Members of Congress Protect Children? The 2006 Children’s Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard
( The Report in PDF Format)

The 2006 Congressional Scorecard grades every member of the House and Senate based on 10 key votes that directly impact the lives of children. While many individual members passed with flying colors, the 109th Congress as a whole failed to implement major legislation that would have improved the lives of millions of America's children. Children are our nation's most cost-effective investment, yet, the 109th Congress continued to cut funding for vital programs and failed to make crucial child investments while lavishing tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans.

A Guide to Federal Food Programs: For Community Groups and Social Services Providers
( The Report in PDF Format)

This booklet was developed for organizations, agencies and community groups that serve low-income children and families in New York City to provide information on government food programs. Most of the programs described in the guide are government entitlements designed to help those in need access to nutritious food. Benefits are free to eligible participants and most are entirely federally funded. This guide intends to ensure all eligible New York City residents receive the nutritional benefits of these programs.

Hunger in the Midst of Plenty
( The Report in PDF Format)

KEEPING WHAT THEY EARNED: Working New Yorkers And Tax Credits
( The Report in PDF Format)

Summer Meals for Children 2004: A Failing Grade for New York City
( The Report in PDF Format)

This report describes the federal summer meals program, a free "entitlement" program that is available to provide nutritious food to children during the summer months. Unfortunately, the program has failed to reach the vast majority of New York City children. This report focuses on the summer of 2004, during which participation in summer meals reached its lowest point in more than a decade. During 2004, the Department of Education had 138 fewer school sites serving breakfast and lunch than in 2003. Consequently, 24,000 fewer children in New York City received the nutritional benefits of these daily meals. Our aim is to prevent a repeat disaster in 2005.

Community-based Facilitated Enrollment: Meeting Uninsured New Yorkers Where They Are
( The Report in PDF Format)
In 1998, Governor Pataki and New York legislators created one of the country's most innovative programs for enrolling uninsured children and teens in public health insurance. Launched in 2000, the facilitated enrollment program uses community-based organizations and health plans to find and enroll "hard-to-reach" New Yorkers who have historically been left out of public health insurance. In 2001, the program was expanded to include adult-focused outreach and enrollment.

This report focuses on the highly effective work of the more than 100 community-based facilitated enrollment agencies funded by New York State to conduct locally tailored outreach and enrollment in New York's public health insurance programs. These multi-service agencies, health and human service providers, immigrant service organizations and local government agencies meet the uninsured where they are - where they live, work, go to school and carry on everyday activities.

Beyond Coverage
( The Report in PDF Format)
While research has shown that health insurance coverage increases a child's access to health care, insurance alone does not guarantee care. A host of barriers can stand between an insured child and adequate health care services, ranging from a lack of accessible and appropriate providers to trouble navigating the health care system.

In Thier Own Voices
( The Report in PDF Format )
Adolescence marks the transition from childhood to adulthood, a time of dramatic physical, social and emotional change. As adolescents progress through the teenage years, they take on new independence and responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. They make more choices about friends, behavior and health care. Adolescence is a time when new issues emerge and when risks for some long-term adult health problems become evident.

Health Insurance in New York City: Is it Working for Immigrant Families? (2003)
( PDF Format )
Immigrants are a large and growing segment of New York City residents. Despite recent expansions in public health insurance coverage for immigrants in New York, immigrant families face many barriers to adequate health care. Non-citizens in New York are more than twice as likely as citizens to be uninsured. Children of immigrants are nearly two and one-half as likely to be reported in fair or poor health and more than three times as likely to lack a usual source of health care. This report examines the immigrant perception of public health insurance programs and health care services. Specifically, it seeks to gauge the relative priority health insurance takes within the families' hierarchy of needs; the level of awareness about immigrant eligibility; the extent to which immigrants fear immigration-related consequences for accessing public health insurance programs; and overall perceptions about immigrant access to health care services.

Barriers to Enrollment in Children's Health Insurance Programs ( 2003)
( PDF Format /// Word Format)
This study is the first systematic examination of the experiences of families trying to enroll in children's health insurance in New York through facilitated enrollment.

Immigrant Child Health Project: Experiences of Immigrant Children in Public Health Insurance Programs (2002)
( PDF Format /// Word Format)
The Immigrant Child Health Project (ICHP) was developed to improve the health and wellbeing of immigrant children in New York City through a combination of public awareness and education, outreach and training, policy development and advocacy, and the Family Advocate Project. CDF-NY's family advocates worked with 107 Latino and Chinese immigrant families, documenting and addressing the barriers encountered by immigrant children in trying to access needed health care services through public health insurance programs. While immigrant families represented a broad range of countries of origin, they experienced similar difficulties navigating through health care and health insurance systems. In our study, eight in 10 of the families had experienced some sort of "barrier" that impeded or could impede access to appropriate care. Issues reported by families most commonly reflected problems with getting and keeping health insurance coverage. Barriers associated with the annual renewal process for health insurance coverage were experienced more than any other type of problem. Other problem categories included difficulty navigating health insurance rules post-enrollment and problems with the quality of care.

Lessons Learned from 9/11: Helping Children and Families (2002)
( PDF Format)
Since September 11, 2001, rebuilding and recovery discussions have focused almost exclusively on the physical rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, on emergency services and on management initiatives to retain businesses and jobs. Because New Yorkers who live, work and raise their children here have not had the opportunity to weigh-in on redirect the City’s priorities for urban revival or on issues that affect their everyday lives, on June 25, 2002, Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Inc. and the Children’s Defense Fund-NY sponsored a hearing entitled Lessons Learned from 9/11: Helping Children and Families. At the hearing, New Yorkers gave and heard testimony to better understand how the City’s nonprofit, government and private sectors responded to the events of 9/11 and how the lessons learned from these experiences can be applied to improving the ongoing organization and management of services needed by New York City children, youth and families. Most importantly, it provided an opportunity for New Yorkers to present community needs, personal concerns and perspectives to policymakers so that these experiences are considered in public and private efforts to plan and rebuild New York City.

Disaster Relief Medicaid: Lessons Learned (2002)
( PDF Format /// Word Format)
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 tragedy, the computer system used to manage the New York City Medicaid program suffered extensive damage, adversely affecting New York's ability to enroll new Medicaid beneficiaries and to roll out the new Family Health Plus program for uninsured adults. In order to help ensure ongoing access to health care coverage for low-income individuals and families in New York City and to provide assistance to the thousands of New Yorkers affected by the tragedy, Disaster Relief Medicaid (DRM) was established. This report presents the findings from surveys with 701 DRM applicants at Medicaid offices during the last month of enrollment. Applicants were asked about their motives for applying, their past experience with the Medicaid program, their experiences applying for DRM and their plans for coverage after DRM's expiration.

Creating a Seamless Health Insurance System for New York's Children (2001)
( PDF Format )
A seamless child health insurance system is one that allows children to easily enroll and remain in health insurance without experiencing disruption in their care because of changes in family circumstances. New York’s two health insurance programs for children were created and historically have been implemented separately, resulting in a fragmented public health insurance system for New York’s children. This report documents steps taken after the passage of the federal SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) legislation to integrate New York’s two programs. The report also documents remaining disparities;, analyzes the source of the disparities in law, policy or practice; and makes recommendations for a more effective and efficient health insurance safety net for New York’s children.

"Using Community Groups and Student Volunteers to Enroll Uninsured Children in Medicaid and Child Health Plus" (2000)
( PDF Format)
In December 1998, the Children’s Defense Fund – New York (CDF–NY) began to pilot test a model for this new enrollment system that sought to accommodate the need for widespread opportunities for enrollment with the need for quality. SHOUT placed 25 student volunteers from Columbia University in seven community organizations in Northern Manhattan for six months. SHOUT students educated families about the availability of Medicaid and Child Health Plus for their uninsured children, assisted families with the application forms and documentation requirements, and conducted any necessary follow-up with families. CDF–NY served as the quality-control unit, reviewing all applications prior to their submission to Medicaid or Child Health Plus.

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