Association between Child Tax Credit advance payments and food insufficiency in households experiencing economic shocks.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought increases in economic shocks due to poor health and lost employment, which reduced economic well-being, especially in households with children. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments to include eligibility for the lowest income households, boosted benefit levels, and provided monthly advance payments to households with children. Using Census Household Pulse Survey respondent data from January 2021 to July 2022, we evaluated the association between these advance CTC monthly payments and food insufficiency among households with children experiencing health- or employment-related economic shocks (defined as missed work due to COVID-19/other illness or COVID-19-related employer closure/layoff/furlough).

Reduced health care utilization among young children of immigrants after Donald Trump's election and proposed public charge rule.

Widespread fear among immigrants from hostile 2016 presidential campaign rhetoric decreased social and health care service enrollment (chilling effect). Health care utilization effects among immigrant families with young children are unknown. We examined whether former President Trump's election had chilling effects on well-child visit (WCV) schedule adherence, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits among children of immigrant vs US-born mothers in 3 US cities.

Child Care Feeding Programs Associated With Food Security and Health for Young Children From Families With Low Incomes.

Background: The Child and Adult Care Food Program is the primary national program that enables child-care settings to provide healthy meals for children. Associations between Child and Adult Care Food Program participation and child health and development and health care utilization are understudied.

Objective: To assess associations between children's health, development, health care utilization and food security by meal source (child-care-provided vs parent-provided) among children from low-income families with a child care subsidy attending child-care in settings likely eligible to participate in Child and Adult Care Food Programs.

Association Between Material Hardship in Families With Young Children and Federal Relief Program Participation by Race and Ethnicity and Maternal Nativity.

Importance: Even brief periods of hardship during early childhood may have lifelong consequences. Prior cross-sectional research limited to respondents with English proficiency and internet access during the COVID-19 crisis documented families with young children that struggled to afford basic needs like food and rent. Few studies have examined experiences of families with young children by race and ethnicity and maternal nativity.

Changes in Economic Hardships Arising During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences by Nativity and Race.

Hardships in early childhood impact health. Few longitudinal studies have examined pandemic-related hardships among families with young children by race/ethnicity or nativity. We used prospective longitudinal data from 1,165 caregivers of children < 4 years surveyed in English and Spanish face-to-face in 5 urban hospitals 1/2018 to 3/2020 (pre-pandemic) and again by telephone 9/2020 to 3/2021 (during pandemic).

Association of the Expiration of Child Tax Credit Advance Payments With Food Insufficiency in US Households.

Importance: Advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) monthly payments administered to more than 35 million households with children in the US between July and December 2021 were associated with a substantial decrease in food insufficiency. These monthly payments expired in January 2022 after Congress failed to extend the policy, and the subsequent impact on food insufficiency is currently unknown.

Objective: To assess whether the expiration of monthly CTC payments in January 2022 was associated with changes in food insufficiency in US households with children.

Eviction and Household Health and Hardships in Families With Very Young Children.

Background: Families with versus without children are at greater eviction risk. Eviction is a perinatal, pediatric, and adult health concern. Most studies evaluate only formal evictions.

Prenatal WIC Is Associated with Increased Birth Weight of Infants Born in the United States with Immigrant Mothers.

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) improves health outcomes for participating mothers and children. Recent immigration policy changes increased chilling effects on WIC access and utilization. Associations between WIC participation and neonatal outcomes among infants born to immigrant parents-23% of all births in the United States-are understudied.

Association of the Implementation of Child Tax Credit Advance Payments With Food Insufficiency in US Households.

Importance: A key component of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included an expansion of the Child Tax Credit with advance payments beginning in July 2021, a "child allowance" that was projected to dramatically reduce child poverty. Food insufficiency has increased markedly during the economic crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, with disparities among marginalized populations, and may be associated with substantial health care and social costs.

Objective: To assess whether the introduction of advance payments for the Child Tax Credit in mid-July 2021 was associated with changes in food insufficiency in US households with children.

Housing and Neighborhoods as Root Causes of Child Poverty.

Understanding how housing inequities among families with children are rooted in structural racism is important for identifying opportunities to engage in ongoing and collective work as pediatricians to lift children out of poverty. This article discusses the complex mechanisms between housing and child and family health outcomes, and offers potential solutions linking housing, health programs, and policy solutions. Beginning with a review of historical antecedents of housing policy and their impact on health inequities, the authors outlines policies and structures directly linked to disproportionate housing instability and inequities in health outcomes among children.

Housing Intervention For Medically Complex Families Associated With Improved Family Health: Pilot Randomized Trial.

The effects of housing instability and homelessness on child and adult health are well documented. However, few studies have explored health and housing interventions for families with children with the objective of health improvement. Housing Prescriptions as Health Care is a randomized controlled trial that is investigating the impact on physical and mental health of integrating priority placement in affordable housing and the provision of services (case management, financial, and legal), compared to the standard of care (providing resource guides and hospital-based social work or care navigation services).

SNAP, Young Children's Health, and Family Food Security and Healthcare Access.

Introduction: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutrition assistance program in the U.S. This study's objective was to examine the associations between SNAP participation and young children's health and development, caregiver health, and family economic hardships.

Constructing Invisible Walls through National and Global Policy.

Worldwide 37,000 people are forced to flee their homes every day due to conflict and persecution. The factors that lead people to leave their home countries often originate with economic deprivation and violence, escalated to a level that becomes a struggle for survival. Climate change, as it has accelerated over the last three to four decades and negatively impacted natural resources, contributes to a parallel increase in strife and migration.

Housing Instability Among Families With Young Children With Special Health Care Needs.

Background And Objective: Children with special health care needs (SHCNs) have significant medical and educational expenses affecting household finances. Housing instability can be detrimental to family well-being. Our objective was to evaluate housing instability in households of children with and without SHCNs.

Implementing an EHR-based Screening and Referral System to Address Social Determinants of Health in Primary Care.

Background: Social determinants affect health, yet there are few systematic clinical strategies in primary care that leverage electronic health record (EHR) automation to facilitate screening for social needs and resource referrals. An EHR-based social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and referral model, adapted from the WE CARE model for pediatrics, was implemented in urban adult primary care.

Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) understand the burden of SDOH among patients at Boston Medical Center; and (2) evaluate the feasibility of implementing a systematic clinical strategy to screen new primary care patients for SDOH, use EHR technology to add these needs to the patient's chart through autogenerated ICD-10 codes, and print patient language-congruent referrals to available resources upon patient request.

Loss Of SNAP Is Associated With Food Insecurity And Poor Health In Working Families With Young Children.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps working families meet their nutritional needs. Families whose earned income increases in a given month may have their SNAP benefits abruptly reduced or cut off in the following month. Using sentinel sample data from 2007-15 for families with children younger than age four, we investigated how SNAP benefit reductions or cutoffs resulting from increased income were related to economic hardships (food and energy insecurity, unstable housing, forgone health and/or dental care, and health cost sacrifices) and to caregiver and child health.

Trends in Food Insecurity and SNAP Participation among Immigrant Families U.S.-Born Young Children.

Immigrant families are known to be at higher risk of food insecurity compared to non-immigrant families. Documented immigrants in the U.S.