State officials identify priorities for Medicaid reform, By John Lyon, August 22, 2011, Arkansas News: “State officials working on revamping Arkansas’ Medicaid program have identified nine priority areas for reform. In an Aug. 10 letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, Gov. Mike Beebe said the nine areas ‘appear to hold significant potential for early success and impact in moving from fee-for-service to episodic payments,’ or payments based on an entire course of treatment for a single health issue. The areas are pregnancy and neonatal care; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; type 2 diabetes; back pain; cardiovascular disease; upper respiratory infections; developmental disabilities; long-term care; and prevention…”

• Tennessee kids’ well-being up, but poverty is, too, By Adam Tamburin, August 17, 2011, The Tennessean.
• Louisiana ranks 49th nationwide in child welfare survey, By Katy Reckdahl, August 17, 2011, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
• Report: Arkansas ranks 47th in nation in well-being of children, By John Lyon, August 17, 2011, Arkansas News.
• Alabama ranks 48th for child health, well-being in Annie E. Casey Foundation 2011 Kids Count data, By Jeff Hansen, August 17, 2011, Birmingham News.
• State last in child welfare, By Ellen Ciurczak, August 17, 2011, Hattiesburg American.
• Oklahoma ranks 43rd in child well-being, By Mike Averill, August 17, 2011, Tulsa World.
• Study finds one of every four Texas children lives in poverty, By Gary Scharrer, August 17, 2011, San Antonio Express-News.

Children in poverty worsens, By John Lyons, June 11, 2010, Fort Smith Times Record: “More Arkansas children are living in poverty now than a generation ago, according to a report released Thursday. Based on 2008 data, 24.9 percent of Arkansas children live in poverty, compared to 22.6 percent 31 years ago, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families reports in ‘Child Poverty in Arkansas 2010: A Deepening Problem.’ The report draws on U.S. Census data and uses the federal poverty level. In 2008, a family of four earning less than $21,000 a year was considered to be living in poverty. In 1979, a family of four earning less than $7,412 was considered poor. The report notes that Arkansas’ child poverty rate is higher than the national rate of 18.2 percent…”

Poorer girls not getting HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, By Liz Szabo, March 18, 2010, USA Today: “A cervical cancer vaccine is not getting to many of the girls who need it the most, a new study shows. Mississippi and Arkansas, two of the nation’s poorest states, also have the highest death rates from cervical cancer - a result of poor access to basic screenings and health care for a large number of women, says Peter Bach of New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Yet in Mississippi, where the vaccine could perhaps save the greatest number of lives, only 16% of teen girls in 2008 received the shot, called Gardasil, according to Bach’s paper in Saturday’s The Lancet. About 22% of Arkansas girls ages 13 to 17 got the vaccine, which costs $390 for three shots…”

Tax refund loans cost Arkansans millions, By John Lyon, November 3, 2009, Fort Smith Times Record: “Arkansans spend about $100 million a year obtaining loans against anticipated tax refunds, according to a report released Monday by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. The report also estimated that Arkansans miss out on as much as $110 million a year by failing to claim the federal earned income tax credit. ‘Low-income tax filers are paying tax preparation fees, in many cases exorbitant tax preparation fees to have their taxes done, when in fact most low-income families could receive free tax assistance through an existing VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site,’ Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates, said at a news conference to announce the report…”