Child Care Providers Have Experienced Additional Strain During Pandemic
View the recorded webinar for a discussion of the survey results and the state of child care in Kansas.
Every Kansas child deserves a strong start.
Prior to the pandemic, Kansas child care was in crisis. Child Care Aware of Kansas reported that only three Kansas counties met or exceeded demand—97% of counties did not meet desired capacity. Low-income communities, rural communities, and communities of color faced persistent child care challenges. It’s gotten worse because of the pandemic.
To understand how child care providers have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Child Care Aware of Kansas and the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (Health Fund) partnered to survey providers from across the state. The timely survey focused on which precautions were being implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as well as what challenges child care providers have faced throughout the pandemic.
28.9% of licensed providers responded. They represented day care homes, group day care homes, and day care centers, as well as 102 counties (97%).
A key finding is that although virtually all Kansas child care providers are taking precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19, fewer than half are relying on proven public health measures, such as masking, social distancing or vaccinating staff.
Most providers (70%) shared that financial support or incentives would help them implement COVID-19 precautions, while 43% said mandates or requirements would help.
Most programs reported that this time has been extremely stressful and has even caused many to consider closing their centers or home-based programs and seeking other forms of income. Many common themes emerged about the impacts of the pandemic, roadblocks they have faced, and ways they have adapted.
To ensure high-quality child care remains available across Kansas, policymakers and funders can provide financial support tied to specific and proven public health mandates, such as masking, testing or vaccination, in conjunction with educational materials and discussion guides to help maintain positive relationships between providers and families.
We need to work together on an integrated plan encompassing both short-term and long-term outcomes to prevent inequities in access to safe, high-quality child care among people of color, low-income communities, and rural and frontier counties.
New Health Fund Research Reveals that Kansas Providers See Future for Telehealth
After moving to temporarily expand access to telehealth early in the pandemic, its future is uncertain. A special committee will examine telehealth in preparation for the 2022 legislative session.
As the Legislature begins its discussion of telehealth and its impact on Kansans, the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (Health Fund) is releasing new qualitative research focused on provider experience with telehealth.
To better understand how Kansas providers experienced telehealth, the Health Fund commissioned in-depth interviews with health care providers and administrators throughout Kansas that indicate that telehealth is here to stay—if reimbursements remain equivalent compared to in-person visits.
The interviewees represented a cross-section of urban, rural, and multi-site health care providers. Most of them had not offered telehealth services prior to the pandemic. Providers have since invested in equipment and technology. A key finding, mirroring previous research, is that for telehealth to remain viable, future financial support is needed for system upkeep and visit reimbursement.
Summary of Providers’ Perspectives
A summary of the providers’ perspectives on telehealth includes:
Telehealth increases access to care for specific populations such as those who are homebound or without transportation
Telehealth provides important access to services from home, cutting down patients’ travel time and making it easier for patients to balance work and raising family with accessing care
Technology (telehealth platforms, internet connectivity, device availability) is a large barrier to implementation
Telehealth is well-suited for many kinds of care, such as chronic care management, patient education and 1-on-1 counseling by mental health or substance use disorder providers
Most want to continue reimbursement for telehealth services or other public policies
Kansans want telehealth to continue beyond the pandemic. Kansas providers have invested in infrastructure and training. Our state has an opportunity to sustain telehealth beyond the pandemic. An initial provider survey, a statewide poll of voters, co-funded by the Health Fund and REACH Healthcare Foundation, and this set of in-depth interviews are evidence that telehealth can play a significant role in improving health care access for Kansans.
Is your organization eligible for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds? Is your organization prepared to apply for the ARPA funds and grants? What types of projects qualify for funding? This webinar presented by Julie Assel will help prepare your organization to best utilize ARPA resources. The webinar slides are available here.
Assel covers questions relating to hospitals, units of government, educational organizations, and nonprofits as well as information for new and seasoned grant writers.
Julie Assel is the President and CEO of Assel Grant Services. Assel is a professional grant writer with more than 15 years of experience. Her expertise is in federal level grants with the Department of Education, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Assel holds a Grant Professional Certification from the Grant Professionals Certification Institute and a Fundraising Certificate from the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership.
Q: How do you register for the System for Award Management (SAM)? A: Please view the Quick Start Guide for New Grantee Registration.
Q: Where is ARPA money going in Kansas? A: Money will be available at the state, county, and local levels. $500 million which was given to the state is expected to be allocated by the end of 2021 with another $834 million expected to be allocated by the state in 2022.
Testimony presented by Health Fund President David Jordan to the KanCare Oversight Committee on Thursday, September 23, 2021.
Chair Hilderbrand, Vice Chair Landwehr, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment regarding maternal and child health issues in Kansas. I want to focus on the importance of extending postpartum coverage for new mothers enrolled in KanCare.
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (Health Fund) is a 35-year-old, $70 million health philanthropy located in Hutchinson. Our mission is to improve the health of Kansans. We focus on three strategic areas – access to care, early childhood development, and Healthy Congregations, a program aimed at addressing community health by engaging churches throughout Kansas. Over the last three decades we have provided more than $75 million in funding to improve the health of Kansans.
We support and invest in early childhood initiatives because research shows investing early creates the best health outcomes and the greatest return on investment.
One maternal and child health issue that has emerged during the pandemic that ties together our interests and investments is extending postpartum coverage for Kansas mothers enrolled in KanCare.
In 2018, Medicaid covered 39% of the 36,268 births in Kansas – 14,145 newborns. Prior to the public health emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of new mothers enrolled in KanCare would have lost their coverage 60 days after giving birth.
As a result of the ongoing public health emergency, Kansas cannot discontinue coverage for new mothers after 60 days. Kansas, like other states, has seen the benefits of this temporary policy change. Extending Medicaid coverage postpartum to 12 months enabled mothers to access critical health care and mental health services, ensuring mothers and babies have the healthiest start to life.
Recent federal policy change creates the opportunity for Kansas to extend coverage. Already, other states like Indiana and Tennessee are taking advantage of this opportunity.
Healthy mothers are important to building healthy families, which is why we need to act before the public health emergency ends. Otherwise, new mothers may lose their current health coverage to the detriment of their health, their children’s health, and long-term family stability.
Coverage Ends Too Soon: Maternal Mortality and New Mothers
Before the pandemic, pregnant Kansans were eligible for Medicaid coverage through the duration of their pregnancy and 60 days postpartum if their household income was at 171% or less of the federal poverty level. Although their newborn remained covered by Medicaid through their first year of life, the postpartum mother lost coverage on day 61 unless her household income was at 38% or less of the federal poverty level (FPL). A married woman with a single child would lose coverage on day 61 if her combined household income was above $8,345.
Before coverage was extended during the pandemic, each year in Kansas approximately 9,000 postpartum mothers lost Medicaid coverage 60 days after the end of pregnancy.
The Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee found that between 2016 and 2018 nearly one-quarter of all Kansas pregnancy-related deaths occurred between 43 days and one year postpartum. Nearly half of all pregnancy-associated deaths occurred in the same period.
According to a Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Impact paper on postpartum coverage, “Findings from 2016-2018 cases revealed that women covered by Medicaid during pregnancy and delivery were more than three times as likely to die within one year of pregnancy when compared to women covered by private insurance. Among non-Hispanic Black women in Kansas, a greater proportion of pregnancy-associated deaths occurred during pregnancy (62.5%). Extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months creates opportunities to improve access to quality health care for high-risk populations, before, during, after and between pregnancies, potentially reducing pregnancy-associated deaths and closing the disparity gap . With many of the pregnancy-associated deaths involving health care and occurring months after delivery, these data suggest that a Medicaid postpartum coverage extension will help more women access care necessary to address critical, potentially fatal health concerns. National data published in February 2019 by the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) reveals that extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum is associated with 1.6 fewer maternal deaths per 100,000 women compared to rates for states that only provide coverage for the required 60-day time period.”
Having coverage and access to routine and preventive health care can help prevent these deaths that occur largely after coverage ends. Ending Medicaid eligibility for postpartum mothers after 60 days is too soon. We urge the state to take action to extend access to health care for Kansas mothers to prevent deaths and to reduce disparities.
Expanding Postpartum Coverage to 12 months Will Improve Health Outcomes in Kansas
The emergency extension of postpartum coverage during the pandemic has affirmed the value of extending a mother’s coverage. Mothers have been able to access critical health and behavioral health services.
Extending Medicaid coverage for a continuous 12 months postpartum can improve health outcomes for mothers, children, and families across the state. It is important to note that a child’s health is tied closely to their parent’s health and access to health care. Parental enrollment in Medicaid is associated with a 29% higher probability that a child will receive an annual well-child visit. Therefore, it is important for the health of the mother and child during the critical twelve-month period postpartum that both mother and child can access health care.
Nearly 20% of Kansas women below 200% of the federal poverty level experienced postpartum depression in the year after giving birth. It is vital that mothers have access to mental health and substance use services during this period because the postpartum period is a time when mothers are particularly susceptible to substance use relapse. Recognizing that according to KDHE, between state fiscal years 2012 and 2017, parental substance use was the primary reason that 70% of children under the age of one entered foster care, extending coverage to enable mothers to get substance use services can prevent interaction with the child welfare system.
Beyond improving health outcomes new mothers and children, extended postpartum coverage is also predicted to lead to a decrease in long-term Medicaid costs through the provision of early medical interventions and coordinated care, preventing postpartum complications and worsening chronic conditions due to a delay in early identification and intervention.
We can all do our part by having open and empathetic conversations with family, friends and neighbors about the vaccine and encouraging them to make a plan to get vaccinated. To help faith leaders do just that, the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund created a Faith in Vaccines toolkit and sermon series to help faith leaders support positive conversations about vaccinations.
The guide, informed by conversations with lay faith leaders across Kansas and research conducted by the de Beaumont Foundation and Missouri Foundation for Health, also can help prepare you to have meaningful, impactful and highly personal conversations about the benefits of vaccinations.
During these conversations, it’s normal for questions to arise. Faith leaders and medical professionals are trusted sources who can provide helpful information. Enlist them to help share the message about the importance of vaccines. We did. (Please feel free to use and share the videos linked below or on our YouTube page as resources.)
Bob Kraft, of Salina Family Medicine, reminds Kansans the COVID-19 vaccines are safe, tested, and free – and that vaccines are the best way to get back to normal.
Father Robert Schremmer reminds us that being vaccinated is an act of charity – making of love of neighbors real – and that “vaccines protect life: ours and others’.”
To reduce the spread of the delta variant and to help us get back to life, we all have a part to play. Commit to having open, honest conversations with loved ones about the importance and safety of vaccines. Help address their concerns and encourage them to make a plan to get vaccinated. Your time and these conversations can save lives. Together, we can increase vaccination rates and enjoy a return to normal.
Our Faith in Democracy initiative aims to improve health by increasing civic participation. Research highlights that the more engaged a community is in the democratic process – voting and engaging locally in policy discussions – the healthier the community.
As a result, our vision is to ensure the democratic process in Kansas is as open and inviting as possible.
Redistricting, the once-in-10-years process of creating new districts from which we elect our representatives in Congress, the State Legislature, and local governing bodies (city council, county commission, school board), plays a critical role in ensuring each person is represented equally (one person, one vote) and that communities with similar interests have a voice in policymaking.
Next week, Kansas legislators who are leading the redistricting effort are hosting a listening tour at communities throughout the state and we wanted to share information with you to equip you to participate in the process if you’re interested.
Our Faith in Democracy Program partners at the Voter Network have partnered with groups like the League of Women Voters to develop important background information to help you understand the redistricting process in Kansas and provide tools for how you can be engaged in the process to ensure redistricting results in the best and fairest districts being created, based on input from the people who reside in them. To access the tools, visit https://www.ksfairmaps.org/ and to register for the August 6 webinar on redistricting and the role you can play, please RSVP here.
We’re pleased to announce the recent presentation of our 2019 Janet Sevier Gilbreath Special Project Recognition Award to Prairie View, Inc., Newton, for its Tri-County Children’s Mental Health Project (The Children’s Project).
The award, in honor of the Fund’s first Board chair, is presented each year to one outstanding project selected by the Health Fund Board of Directors from among all current funded projects. Prairie View, the community mental health center serving Harvey, Marion, and McPherson counties, was chosen for the award in 2020 but presentation was postponed due to COVID-19.
Health Fund President David Jordan presents the 2019 Janet Sevier Gilbreath Special Project Recognition Award to Prairie View, Inc. at a June 29, 2021 celebration in Newton.
Background
Research shows that early childhood, starting from before birth, is the time most important for the healthy social-emotional and brain development which provides the foundation for readiness to learn in school and success throughout life. Research also shows that supporting healthy development from the earliest ages, including identifying and addressing concerns before they become problems, achieves both the best outcomes and best return on investment.
In 2011 the Health Fund launched its Young Children’s Mental Health pilot program in a challenging environment. More children were being expelled from preschool than from the K-12 education system. Stigma issues and concerns about ‘labeling’ often prevented seeking mental health support. And there was limited individual and research focus on the interplay between nurturing caregiver relationships, healthy development, and school readiness.
The pilot program was one of the Fund’s early strategies to address these issues, through community-level approaches supporting integration of social-emotional screening for children 0-6 and maternal depression screening into medical and local community systems, along with timely referrals to effective early interventions.
Prairie View’s Tri-County Children’s Mental Health Project
In 2015, with a four-year grant under that pilot program, Prairie View began The Children’s Project to improve accessibility of screening and early treatment for young children in frontier and rural regions.
Prairie View staff worked with local physician groups to incorporate the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE) for children through age 6, along with Edinburgh maternal depression screenings, into office visits and to assist with referrals to services. Project staff sponsored local ASQ:SE training led by Dr. Pam Shaw, a pediatrician associated with the University of Kansas Hospital, and consistently followed up with providers to facilitate continued integration of ASQ-SE and maternal depression screening and referrals within their region.
The program collaborated with the local early education center to use the screening and referral process to better serve children identified with social-emotional needs. During the four-year grant period, The Children’s Project completed an average of 1,099 ASQ:SE screenings of children ages 0-5 annually – representing 33% of the children in the three counties.
“We don’t want to screen the children for social-emotional development, identify they are in need of services and then have no place to send them.”
Faced with pushback from some local physicians concerned about screening children, identifying social-emotional concerns, then having no place to refer them to for needed services, Prairie View listened to those concerns and acted – hiring and training additional therapists and support staff to accommodate the increasing need.
Prairie View’s commitment to supporting the community led to continued work with community partners which resulted in availability of summer programming and evidence-based, affordable parent training and education. Further integrating early childhood social-emotional support within the community, Prairie View developed a therapeutic preschool which has had tremendous success in supporting children’s social-emotional needs to help them transition back to their early education programs – and is even housed at their early education center.
The number of children screened through this grant and development of community supports demonstrates the quality of Prairie View’s work and commitment to young children and their families. For these accomplishments and for their leadership and service to expectant mothers, infants and young children, Prairie View, Inc. is presented the 2019 Janet Sevier Gilbreath Special Project Recognition award for their work in the Early Childhood Mental Health Project.
Representing the project at the June 29, 2021 awards ceremony in Newton were Elizabeth Guhman, PhD., Vice President, Clinical Services; Diane Peltier, Vice President, Advancement, and Nicole Stevenson, Clinician. Prairie View was chosen to receive the award in 2020 but the presentation celebration was delayed due to COVID-19.
Breastfeeding plays a crucial role in the overall health of babies and mothers and demonstrates hospitals’ and birthing centers’ commitment to improving infant and maternal health.
However, one of the biggest obstacles hospitals face in working to improve maternity care and lactation support practices is staff education. Research shows that the level of lactation education provided in medical school and nursing schools falls short of that necessary to equip their graduates to confidently support breastfeeding parents.
Hospitals often are aware of this gap and seek to address it by providing staff education, but expense and logistical challenges present significant barriers.
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, through our High 5 for Mom & Baby program, is committed to promoting breastfeeding best practices and to supporting hospitals’ efforts to ensure their staff are prepared to support parents’ breastfeeding needs and goals.
Like many hospitals, the Health Fund sees online education as an ideal solution to hospital staff achieving adequate breastfeeding training, which is why the Health Fund developed a series of online breastfeeding education modules that are available for free on Kansas TRAIN.
The online courses can be completed at the pace and time best suiting each participant and can be done either in the facility or at home with no special space or equipment required.
The online courses were developed following requests from hospitals and hearing from doctors and nurses about the impact of these education gaps. The good news is that High 5 for Mom & Baby was prepared to act due to a partnership with the University of Kansas and Hays Med, which offered their in-person education classes as a foundation for the online training.
Using those existing classes as a base, High 5 for Mom & Baby program coordinator Gwen Whittit created a series of virtual educational modules developed for the Kansas Train platform.
These modules follow the WHO outline for educating staff on the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Each of the fifteen modules provides one hour or more of CNEs and all are available at no cost, accessible any time online through the Kansas TRAIN platform.
The modules are available to any hospital staff or community member. Though geared especially toward those having basic knowledge of breastfeeding, the classes are suitable for any health professional desiring to increase their knowledge of lactation and how to support successful breastfeeding.
A list of the classes and links to Kansas TRAIN are available at https://www.high5kansas.org/resources-for-hospitals. The first step is to create a Kansas TRAIN account at https://www.train.org/ks/welcome, which also provides a short video explaining the process. Once logged in, go to “search courses” and enter “Kansas Breastfeeding Education” to view all fifteen modules including complete titles.
We hope this new training series will help care providers more confidently address the questions and needs of breastfeeding parents throughout Kansas to help infants get the best possible start in life.
A Guide for Talking to Your Congregation: Supporting Empathetic Congregational Conversations on COVID-19 Vaccination
Widespread vaccination is the key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and enabling a return to normal life. The Health Fund supports vaccination as a safe and highly effective way to prevent diseases including COVID-19 but also recognizes that the decision to be vaccinated is a personal one, influenced by many factors and complicated by the difficulty of discerning truth amid fear and misinformation.
Research shows that Americans trust their own doctors and faith leaders for information about COVID-19 and vaccines. Through our dedication to health and the faith community, we developed a sermon guide and toolkit – Faith in Vaccines – to help faith leaders create an open and empathetic space to start a discussion and answer questions about the effectiveness and importance of the vaccine.
The guide and toolkit includes sermon materials, resources on how to share messages about vaccine effectiveness, resources on how to connect with medical providers to share scientific data, and actions faith leaders and congregations can take to discuss the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines and promote vaccination.
The development of the sermon guide and toolkit was informed by regional discussions held with faith-based leaders across Kansas, along with input from several organizations and individuals who shared their expertise, research and resources as part of this project. In the event it is not possible to give a two-part sermon series on the topic, we hope congregations will still find the standalone toolkit provides helpful approaches, language, and resources to use in conversations about choosing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Please share this site and information with others in the faith community who may benefit from these resources, and contact us with any questions.
We’d love to hear from you! Did you use the sermon guide and/or toolkit? Would you be willing to share your feedback and experiences? Would you consider recording a brief video to share? Questions or suggestions?
This form is currently closed for submissions.
Faith in Vaccines Social Media Tiles
Faith in Vaccines Social Media Tiles – click to view or download all (zip) #FaithInVaccines #HealthFund
Many factors drive or determine health – how safe you feel in your community, access to parks, healthy food, high quality early learning and education, and, availability of health care providers and good paying jobs. These social factors will impact how healthy your community is and how healthy you are.
Now, more than ever, health is a life or death issue and decisions about your health are being made by elected officials. In some cases these are officials who have been elected at the local level by a very small portion of the population.
At the Health Fund, we are passionate about improving the
health and wholeness of Kansans. Our work focuses on access to care, early
childhood development and improving community and congregational health through
the Healthy Congregations program. To
achieve these goals we’ve funded programs, worked on policy and systems change
and regularly convene partners, policymakers and community members.
However, we’re increasingly learning that the more civically engaged a community is, the healthier the community. Unfortunately, Kansans are not voting in local elections at healthy levels. According to the Civic Health Index of 2016, authored by the Kansas Health Foundation and the National Conference on Citizenship, Kansas ranks just 41st in the country in adults who report they vote in local elections. The report highlights: “Even more concerning is that certain population groups in Kansas exhibit even lower levels of political involvement, including Kansans with lower levels of income, education, and those from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds.”
With the understanding that civic participation is tied to community health and that Kansans are not politically active – especially at the local level – we see an opportunity to improve community health by improving civic engagement. That’s why we are excited to launch Faith in Democracy, an initiative dedicated to ensuring that every Kansan is able to be an informed, enthusiastic, engaged voter.
The Faith in Democracy Project is being led by the Voter Network – a nonpartisan nonprofit whose approach to boosting engagement includes supporting one voter in making the case to another voter that they need to be engaged in the process.
The project is aligned with our Healthy Congregations program, which aims to support congregations’ efforts to improve health through providing tools, resources and coaching.
As part of the Faith in Democracy initiative, we will provide tools to support our Kansas Healthy Congregations in ensuring their members are able to access the polls. The Voter Network will be providing digital resources, a sermon kit and regular information on how to support members in registering to vote, finding their polling place (or even better, in light of COVID-19, voting by mail), and knowing who is on their ballot.
The United Methodist Church has a long history working
toward social justice and a deep commitment to fostering healthy communities.
We know the way to ensure healthy communities is for each person to be engaged
and to have a voice. And we believe voting is at the core of that engagement.
We know many of you are already incorporating voter engagement through your
ministry and we hope the resources available through the Voter Network and the
Faith in Democracy Project will elevate your efforts.
