SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Even during a time when the economy was notably strong, Illinois lost ground in ensuring children have access to health coverage. An annual report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families reveals in 2019, roughly 120,000 kids in Illinois were uninsured - a 46% increase from 2016.

Chi Chi Okwu, executive director with EverThrive Illinois, explained the increase mirrored national trends, which are not equal among demographics.

"Nationally, Latinx children are the most likely to be uninsured, and they have seen the largest increases in the uninsured rate over the last three years," Okwu said. "Additionally, children and families living near or below the federal poverty line are more likely to be uninsured than families with higher incomes."

Illinois ranks third among states for the largest increase in its number of uninsured children, adding roughly 38,000, and Cook County ranked among the top counties nationally for the number of kids without health coverage.

The report cited federal policies for much of the change.

Executive Director of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families Joan Alker said the jump in uninsured rates could be linked to efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. She explained without funding for outreach and 'navigators' to assist with enrollment, some parents don't even try to sign up.

"Families have been getting negative messages that coverage is going away, at the same time that community-based resources to help them find public coverage have shrunk," Alker said.

The data on uninsured kids was collected before the pandemic and is expected to increase due to the number of people who've lost employer-based health insurance since the economic downturn.

Okwu thinks Illinois needs to ramp up its outreach to ensure people have access to affordable coverage.

"Whether that's Medicaid or the ACA exchanges; these programs really help thousands of Illinois get insured and connected to care by providing free and unbiased support in completing applications and selecting insurance plans that work best for them," Okwu said.

She said research shows having health insurance improves health outcomes, academic achievement and economic security throughout a child's life.

Utah parents can expect to pay between $800 and $1,200 dollars a month for child care but a new program is expanding its reach into Summit County to help with affordability.

The nationwide child care network Upwards will offer need-based child care scholarships of up to $1,700 for preschoolers. The group is partnering with Summit County and Park City Municipal.

Starr Mastrodonato, program manager for Upwards, said to qualify, at least one parent must reside or work in Summit County, and the total family income cannot exceed 100% of the county's area median income. She pointed out removing barriers to child care also means parents can stay in the workforce.

"It really allowed them to make life decisions on, 'We both can continue to work and to contribute to our family,'" Mastrodonato explained. "And that obviously is just monumental in just overall well-being, not only for their household, their children. And it continues to help the economic workforce."

While cost is one factor, availability is another. Research shows no one county in Utah has the sufficient number of licensed care providers to meet demand. Summit County has the highest percentage of child care needs being met at 54%, according to Voices for Utah Children. Statewide, the number drops to 36%.

Mastrodonato explained expanding assistance to Summit County comes after their Park City pilot program was able to assist 34 working families and helped support 17 child care providers. For every child enrolled at a provider location, the provider receives an additional $300 per month. She added Upwards is excited to build on the program's success.

"We're hoping they take this model, to see how successful it has been," Mastrodonato noted. "And within six months, be able to identify that we can expand to reach more families."

Summit County scholarships and child care provider incentives became available earlier this month. They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis each month.


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More employers are offering benefits to adoptive parents, according to a new survey by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The amount of paid leave offered to foster parents is now nearly 10 weeks, up 3% from last year.

Jeremy Madden, a resident of Liberty Township, Ohio, and his wife relied on workplace adoption benefits through his employer, Fifth Third Bank, to adopt their baby daughter. He said the process was easy and the financial reimbursement was a game changer, as adoption can cost thousands of dollars. Now, they've settled into life as a family.

"She's fantastic, we wouldn't change anything," he said. "She's brought so much joy and happiness into our life. She's developing her own personality. She is super smart."

Companies that offer new adoption benefits include Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Inc. and Ziff Davis Inc. Highly ranked companies include Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Liberty Media Corp., American Express and MongoDB Inc. Ferring Pharmaceuticals topped the list for providing unlimited financial reimbursement for adoption costs and 26 weeks of paid leave to adoptive parents.

Rita Soronen, the foundation's CEO, cited a 10% increase on average in financial reimbursement for adoption.

"It tells the employees that we're a family-friendly organization, that there's equity if we're offering benefits for families that are formed through birth, we also want to give benefits to families that are formed through adoption," she said, "and it creates a sense of loyalty and retention and goodwill."

She said it's important for employers to consider foster and adoption benefits, not only for its employees, but the good of the community.

"It says to the community that we understand that there are lots of ways that our families are formed," she said, "and we can provide the kind of supports that a family might need to move to that next phase of being a unified and thriving family."

According to the National Council for Adoption, 2022 saw the fewest number of adoptions from foster care since 2015, around 53,000 children nationwide.


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It is the first day of summer and time for a global event called the "World's Largest Swimming Lesson."

Albuquerque's West Mesa Aquatic Center will offer 400 free lessons to build awareness about drowning prevention.

Julia Romero, swim lesson coordinator for the city, said nearly 60% of Americans have said they either cannot swim or don't have basic swimming skills. She noted participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning among children younger than 4 by up to 88%.

"What's really cool about this event is free swim lessons are happening across the whole world -- not just America, but different parts of the world too," Romero emphasized. "We're getting to play our part in it, too."

Romero noted New Mexico has the 11th highest drowning rate among states per 100,000 people, despite having only 292 square miles of water, compared with 40,000 in Michigan, which ranks 39th in the country. Since the World's Largest Swimming Lesson began, the organization said more than 380,000 children and adults in 53 countries on six continents have participated.

What it lacks in open bodies of water, New Mexico makes up in swimming pools. Accounting for population, Romero said the state has the third-highest number, behind Arizona and Florida.

"It's just not very frequent that you see an open body of water," Romero observed. "I don't think parents and other individuals -- grandparents, families -- know how accessible swim lessons actually are to them."

Romero frequently hears from older adults about a parent or grandparent who once threw them into a body of water as a kind of test, but swimming lessons were not a priority.

"They never actually learned how to properly save their own lives if they were ever in the water," Romero pointed out. "There's huge need on just education on water safety."

City swimming instructors will offer free 30-minute lessons from 9 a.m. until noon at the Aquatic Center on a first-come, first-served basis. Romero said swimming lessons will be offered by the city through July, with signups available in both English and Spanish at play.cabq.go.