As we enter Fall and our priorities begin to take shape for 2020, Kids Win team members spent a lot of time in August planning and meeting with key stakeholders to continue priority development and discussions around advocacy and implementation.
- Members from the Missouri Finish Line Collaborative (Kids Win Missouri, the Missouri Budget Project, and the Missouri Coalition of Children’s Agencies) attended the Georgetown Center for Children and Families Annual Conference in Washington DC. Presenters included national health care experts, House and Senate staff members working on health care issues, and other Finish Line grantee states sharing information about health coverage and access for children throughout the country. Brian Colby from the Missouri Budget Project also presented on behalf of the Missouri Finish Line Collaborative.
- During his trip to DC for the conference, Craig met with representatives from Senator Blunt and Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler’s staff to discuss child care development block grant funding, the Medicaid enrollment decline, and school-based health initiatives.
- Craig and Casey traveled to Springfield and Joplin to meet with members of these local communities. They provided a legislative debrief, discussed the children’s enrollment decline in Medicaid, and solicited feedback from community stakeholders. Some of the topics discussed included early childhood, youth who are homeless, and improving access to health coverage and care.
- The early childhood workgroup met in Jefferson City to discuss priorities and strategy for the 2020 legislative session. Leaders from DESE, DHSS, DSS, and the Governor’s Office provided updates on the various projects happening around the state, and stakeholders also heard from a guest speaker from the Bipartisan Policy Center.
- The Kids Win team began analyzing some of the responses from the relationship mapping project to develop a plan for engagement with members. This will be an ongoing project, so if you haven’t completed the Relationship Mapping survey, please do so here!
- We hosted our first Happy Hour on August 29 in St. Louis! We thank all of our members and new stakeholders who attended, and look forward to more opportunities to meet with you in your local communities this fall.
In case you missed it…
- Kids Win Missouri’s Craig Stevenson was featured on the Alliance for Early Success blog, highlighting our state’s successes (and challenges) in the early childhood policy arena. Read it here.
- The Missouri Budget Project, in partnership with the Missouri Finish Line Collaborative, released a new Medicaid and CHIP Chartbook that can be found here. This provides some great background information for understanding how the programs work, what they cover, and how they are financed.
What’s Coming Up?
- On September 12, Kids Win Missouri is teaming up with the other members of the Finish Line Collaborative to host the Child & Family Health Retreat. This event will aim to bring together advocates and stakeholders from throughout the state to discuss challenges and policy solutions around the Medicaid enrollment decline, Medicaid Expansion, and Medicaid transformation. Other topics will include ensuring an accurate count for the 2020 Census. Contact Casey Hanson for more details at chanson@kidswinmissouri.org.
- Kids Win Missouri members and stakeholders are invited to attend our 3rd Quarter Meeting on September 18 in Jefferson City. At this meeting, we will solidify our 2020 Policy Priorities and begin working on strategy for the upcoming legislative session.