News

October 3, 2024

Thriving Children Research Series

Did you miss this one? View a recording of the webinar plus additional materials here.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families’ child care subsidy program is one of the most important tools used to address child care affordability in the state.

However, just 12% of eligible families are participating in the program. Family participation in the program is tied to provider availability and provider participation in the program.

To gain insight as to why providers participate or not, the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund partnered with Kansas State University to survey Kansas child care providers to better understand their perception and experience with DCF’s child care subsidy program.

Join this webinar to discuss key findings from this important survey, “Child Care Providers: Perception of Child Care Subsidies in Kansas.”


The years from birth to age five are critical for a child’s development, with rapid brain growth and increased neural connections laying the groundwork for cognitive, emotional and social skills that last into adulthood.

In Kansas, there has been progress in recognizing the importance of infant and early childhood mental health and expanding access to services for young children and their families.

However, challenges remain.

The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model presents a framework to address these gaps — emphasizing comprehensive, person-centered care through strategic partnerships, workforce development and targeted interventions.

Kansas has an opportunity to strengthen its system for delivering infant and early childhood mental health services, leveraging the model’s services and payment structure to ensure that all children and families can benefit from timely and effective support.

The Health Fund recently partnered with the Kansas Health Institute to research this opportunity. Learn more about this during our upcoming webinar, “Leveraging the CCBHC Model to Enhance Childhood Mental Health.”


Social-emotional development in young children is a critical factor related to later-life outcomes, such as school success, social interactions and mental health.

A growing body of research demonstrates that investing in science-based, short-term early interventions pays off over both the short and long term, delivering lasting results that not only change lives for the better but also produce substantial returns on that investment.

The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) program is an evidence-based, home visiting intervention for caregivers of infants and toddlers who have experienced early adversity. It is designed to buffer the harmful effects of toxic stress and help support normal early childhood development.

To explore the effectiveness of ABC with Kansas families, the KU School of Social Welfare (supported by multiple Kansas philanthropies, including the Health Fund) worked with several early childhood and mental health organizations across the state to research this program. Now, seven years later, the Kansas ABC Early Childhood Initiative concludes.

Join us as we discuss the promising results from Phase II of this project, which continued researching the program’s effectiveness with infants and expanded to include toddlers with their caregivers.


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