In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Glenn Flores, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Glenn Flores explains that the most important lesson in child health research and policy is that children are not little adults - they have vastly different anatomy and physiology depending on their age, which requires taking a developmental perspective. Dr. Flores also discusses several pressing health inequities that children face, caused by racial, financial, and geographic disparities. There is also a discussion of the current most pressing concerns facing child health, such as medicaid unwinding and the rise in mood disorders.

Learn more about current challenges in children’s healthcare:

Blog: Children Are Not Little Adults: Ensuring Adequate Pediatric Emergency Care in U.S. Hospitals, By Bruce Lesley

Webinar: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline - One Size Does Not Fit All, By Averi Pakulis and Elaine Dalpiaz

Blog: Nearly 5 Million Children Have Lost Health Care Due To “Unwinding,” By Abuko Estrada and Tim Smith

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here.

To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Cynthia Osborne, founder and executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, about the importance in investing in our youngest: infants and toddlers. Bruce and Selley also highlight the recent vote on the child tax credit and their disappointment with the bill failing, despite the credit previously cutting child poverty in half.

Cynthia shares that the earlier we invest in children, the better the impact is for both our children and society as a whole. This includes efforts like child care, home visiting programs, and paid family leave. In fact, she found that every dollar invested in a paid family medical leave program has an $18 benefit back to the community. Throughout the episode, Cynthia emphasizes that economic stability is the crux for the well-being of families.

Learn more about the importance of investing in our youngest:

Resource: Babies in The Budget 2024, by First Focus on Children

Report: Early Investment, a Lifetime of Returns: Articulating the Value of Early Childhood Investments in Virginia, By Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center

Resource: Community-Based Home Visiting: Fidelity to Families, Commitment to Outcomes by Averi Pakulis and Nadia Gronkowski

Blog: Babies in the Budget: The Case for Investing Toward a Brighter Future by Bruce Lesley

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here.

To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a nonprofit watchdog for Kentucky's kids. Dr. Brooks has successfully worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to make necessary improvements for the lives of children across the state, such as supporting kinship caregivers and kids in foster care. Dr. Brooks tells our hosts that Kentucky’s children, like those around the country, are at a crossroads. Society has accepted issues such as child poverty as normal, he says, and he shares his efforts to press

policymakers to focus on issues such as child care and child poverty, rather than on distractions like the culture wars. Dr. Brooks also discusses the complexities of a Kentucky ballot initiative that would allow the general assembly to use public money for private schools.

Learn more about Kentucky Youth Advocates:

Resource: Kentucky KIDS Count, By Kentucky Youth Advocates

Podcast: The American Rescue Plan & Efforts to End Child Poverty, By Kentucky Youth Advocates, Featuring Bruce Lesley

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here.

To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.