DENVER -- As Congress considers making significant investments in the nation's child-care system, children's advocates say now is the time to make nature-based, high-quality outdoor learning available for all children in Colorado, regardless of their ZIP code.

Sarah Konradi, director of the Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) program for the National Wildlife Federation, said kids need regular access to spaces where they can play, run and climb.

"We also want them to be able to explore, to imagine, to pretend, to create," Konradi outlined. "And so that may look like a little digging area in the shade of a tree, where they can explore worms and bugs."

ECHO has published new recommendations, calling for broadening investments in playgrounds to include outdoor extensions of the classroom; areas where kids create rules for new games, learn how to work together to build pirate ships, and other activities that help boost cognitive learning and social skills in natural settings.

Konradi pointed out child-care providers also see benefits from outdoor learning environments. Instead of monitoring recess on a traditional playground, educators can engage with kids as they explore winding pathways, plant pollinator gardens and create "mud kitchens."

Konradi noted building outdoor learning spaces does not necessarily require a lot of money or effort.

"Changes that we are advocating for can be extremely cost-effective; they can be done very incrementally," Konradi explained. "This doesn't have to be an extreme playground makeover to be successful."

When children get to spend a part of their day in natural settings, Konradi added, there is also an opportunity to pause, and take a deep breath.

"And spaces where children can just observe, contemplate," Konradi stated. "And with nature around us, we know that as adults going out into those kinds of environments is very restorative, and it can be for children as well."

PIERRE, S.D. -- A new study links premature deaths in adulthood with people who experience abuse as children, and South Dakota groups say it reinforces the need for prevention work.

Researchers in England found adults who were sexually abused by age 16 are more than twice as likely to die in middle age. In cases of physical abuse, the risk is 1.7 times higher.

Tifanie Petro, director of advocacy and prevention at the Children's Home Child Advocacy Center, said the findings align with past research. She added the state is doing more to raise awareness about the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

"The Adverse Childhood Experiences curriculum is designed so that it can be consumable by somebody with a lot of 'letters' behind their name, or no letters behind their name," Petro explained.

She pointed out groups spreading the message are reaching many stakeholders, including schools and law enforcement. Petro, also a board member for the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, cautioned community buy-in is sometimes hard, if people think the issue does not affect them.

Data show 24-percent of South Dakota children are in families with at least one qualifying ACE event.

Training rooted in Adverse Childhood Experiences was brought to South Dakota by the two centers in 2018. Petro described the movement as a way for people to be more open about their past, and know they have support to help overcome any trauma.

"We're trying to move from, 'Why do you keep doing what you're doing?' and move into how we understand how we got here," Petro emphasized. "'I want to walk alongside with you.'"

Outreach groups noted there is a particular concern among Indigenous communities, with the historical trauma tied to Native American boarding schools.

Katie Edwards, associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, added no matter a child's background, an abusive situation can shorten their lifespan in a variety of ways.

"Mental health consequences, suicidality, substance abuse problems that we know lead to early death," Edwards outlined. "There's also a growing body of literature showing that individuals who experience child maltreatment are at greater risk for diabetes, hypertension."

As for tribal communities, Edwards is involved in a program working to prevent adverse childhood experiences in the Rapid City area. She said it's a culturally-grounded approach shared by Native leaders.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- As the pandemic wanes, hunger and food insecurity are also on the decline, but the need is still far above pre-pandemic levels, especially for people of color.

Ami McReynolds, chief equity and programs officer for Feeding America, said despite recent decreases, the amount of food being distributed by the organization's partner food banks remained more than 55% above pre-pandemic levels.

"The pandemic seemed to worsen the conditions for people of color in this country. African Americans went from 2.5 times to 3.2 times more likely to be food insecure."

McReynolds added Latinos went from 2.0 to 2.5 times more likely to be food insecure during the same time period.

Feeding America reports 38 million people were food insecure before the pandemic, and almost 60 million people turned to a charitable feeding system for assistance in 2020. Feeding America works with more than 200 food banks across the country.

She is confident various interventions allowed people to have enough to eat, but worries food insecurity could increase all over again if more setbacks occur, such as the expiration of eviction moratoriums and expanded unemployment benefits.

"The racial wealth gap just really continues to widen for people of color who are seeing higher rates of unemployment, limited learning potential and continued lack of homeownership," McReynolds outlined.

In addition to food banks, the government-led Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, saw an increase of seven million users between 2019 and 2021.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Children's advocacy groups are making the case that school-based health centers are a worthy investment for Ohio's kids.

Tracy Najera, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund-Ohio, said being able to get health-care needs met at school gives children and families a "medical home" for primary care and other services. She said a child's physical and mental wellness is foundational for success in academics and life.

"Especially during this pandemic, children and families have been struggling and truly suffering," she said. "Behavioral-health issues have reached crisis levels - and many children, in general, haven't been receiving their well-child visits."

Ohio has at least $3 billion in recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act not yet allocated, and the Ohio Children's Budget Coalition is asking the governor's office to invest $25 million per year over two years to help school districts around the state expand or establish school-based health programs. Najera said that investment could fund between 15 and 30 projects.

The convenience of a school-based health center not only helps improve access to care, Najera said, but it also reduces absenteeism.

"That's one less day of work that the parent misses, and one day less of school that a child is missing," she said. "So, really bringing the services to where the children are makes a whole lot of sense."

Najera added that the centers are a part of a "whole-child" agenda being promoted by the Ohio Children's Budget Coalition.

"Children need food, they need housing, they need education, they need health care - they need all these things to really thrive and flourish," she said. "Children don't come in pieces, and neither should our budget and policy decisions."

A new American Academy of Pediatrics report said the number of school-based health centers has more than doubled in the United States since 1998. There are more than 60 in Ohio schools.