TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Learning to drive, playing a sport and going on sleepovers, they're all part of what many consider a "normal" childhood, but that's not always the case for the nearly 14,000 Florida kids in foster care.

A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows how the federal Strengthening Families Act can help remove some of the barriers to typical adolescent activities. The Foundation's senior policy associate Todd Lloyd says prior to the law, which was passed last year, child welfare practices did not always allow kids in foster care to just be kids.

"Because it has been a system oriented toward safety, protecting children, that it's very easy to create policies that are overly restrictive out of concern for safety and also the liability," says Lloyd.

The report emphasizes the importance of implementing all requirements in the Strengthening Families Act, including engaging young people in their own case planning starting at age 14 and reducing group placement for children.

Many of those features already are written into Florida's Quality Parenting for Children in Foster Care Act, which has been in place since 2013 and served as a model for the federal legislation.

Diane Zambito, CEO with the CBY25 Initiative, which works with the state's providers serving at-risk youth, and she says there is still plenty of red tape when it comes to the community-based agencies that the state contracts with.

"We can put it into law all we want," says Zambito. "Young people can get drivers' licenses, young people can go to football, young people can take music. But if within that organization there are liability rules and insurance coverage and all of these things, then we have to overcome that."

Zambito adds that breaking down those barriers will require all those who work with kids in foster care, from the courts to the case workers to the foster parents, to focus on the overall goal: to give kids a normal life, keeping in mind that will take different forms.

"So it's not like there can be a statewide edict that says from now on we're going to do x, x and x, and this is how we're going to measure it," says Zambito. "Because the whole point of community-based care is doing what works within your community."

According to the report, a lack of funds or transportation, frequent moves and restrictive child-welfare policies can inhibit a child's relationships, decision-making skills and emotional well being. The report recommends that kids in foster care be able to participate in after-school activities and camps, get school pictures, have access to a telephone, and be able to learn to drive a car and travel with other youth and adults.



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More than 300,000 children have been dropped from Medicaid and Peach Care for kids since the pandemic ended.

A report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families pinpoints a nationwide trend: More than 4 million kids were left uninsured, soon after the COVID public-health emergency ended.

Georgia ranks third-highest for the number of children who have lost coverage.

Judy Fitzgerald, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children, said many lost coverage because of procedural reasons rather than eligibility.

"They're not ineligible, but there was missing or incomplete paperwork, or what we know from families is, they felt like they didn't receive the notification, they didn't know," she said. "And so, there are a large number of children who are still eligible."

Fitzgerald said the repercussions of disenrollment can be dire, as when children can't get timely access to health-care services, they're more vulnerable to illnesses and developmental delays. The report also found parents with access to employer-sponsored health plans can't always afford the cost of adding their dependents.

While parents face higher income requirements for Medicaid, many children who lost coverage during the pandemic are still eligible. Fitzgerald said Voices for Georgia's Children is advocating for ways to increase enrollment for children, including a more simplified enrollment process and assistance from state agencies to expedite screening.

"So, we're asking the state to expand the kinds of organizations that could screen kids for eligibility, and enroll them in coverage temporarily while the state processes an official enrollment," she added, "and this is something called presumptive eligibility."

She said programs such as SNAP, and information through the Department of Labor, could be used to facilitate renewals. For families who don't qualify, she said, alternative coverage options are available through the insurance marketplace. Navigators through Georgians for a Healthy Future can help find them.

The Medicaid and Nevada Check Up programs had more than 13,000 fewer children enrolled last year than during the pandemic, according to new research from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

States have been reexamining Medicaid benefits since the pandemic ended, and disenrolling families based on their head-of-household's eligibility. Carissa Pearce, health policy manager for the Children's Advocacy Alliance, said this means some children were also dropped from coverage who are still eligible.

As a result, she said, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told states to stop disenrolling and ensure they were looking at individual eligibility.

"Meaning that children would be screened separately from their parents, and that was a really important change," Pearce explained. "Specifically in Nevada, every person who had been disenrolled up to that point in August and September of 2023 were reinstated for their coverage, so that they could fix their system and then proceed with disenrollments."

Pearce said Nevada didn't start disenrolling children again until January of this year, giving families more time to check the requirements and submit the documentation to keep their coverage. But from January to February, about 1,500 Nevada children were dropped. She said it's important for families to see if their child is eligible for Nevada Check Up or consider a state marketplace insurance program at nevadahealthlink.com.

Tara Raines, deputy director of the Children's Advocacy Alliance, said her message to families is to not avoid medical appointments if they suspect their child may not be covered. She said there are other programs that families can be directed to, and thinks the state could do more to reach and inform families.

"I think a campaign that lets people know, 'Hey, you were disenrolled from Medicaid, here are your options,' would be incredibly helpful," she said, "and I don't know if that looks like partnering with school districts."

Raines said families' living conditions and circumstances vary in the Silver State. This could mean some may not have a permanent address, but should not mean they go without health coverage.


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More than one million children in Texas no longer have health insurance through Medicaid, despite being eligible for coverage, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, states were not allowed to cancel coverage - then last year, state health departments were tasked with rechecking the eligibility of Medicaid recipients.

Brittney Taylor-Ross, senior policy analyst with the advocacy group Every Texan, said despite the option to slowly complete the task, Texas chose to do it in one year's time.

"We didn't take up a lot of the flexibilities that were offered, so that was a state choice at the leadership level. We also chose to go through this unwinding process pretty quickly. Other states have paused their process when they've seen that things don't look right," Taylor-Ross said.

The report shows Texas has disenrolled more children than any other state. Anyone who lost coverage must reapply. Taylor-Ross said as of April, the median amount of time to process a new Medicaid application is 95 days. Federal law requires this number to be 45 days or less.

Most families don't realize they no longer have coverage until they go to the doctor's office.

Joan Alker, research professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, and executive director, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said the problem affects not only families, but the pediatricians and clinics that treat them.

"Kids are going to miss out on those well-child visits, they're going to miss out on getting the medications they need - be it an inhaler for their asthma or an ADHD medication. And that really sets them back, both in their health and their success in school," she said.

Because of the unwinding, more than 4 million fewer children are enrolled in Medicaid. One out of four of those children lives in Texas.