It is time for families to prep kids for the school year and Wyoming experts said sleep and social media hygiene are key.

Children's health experts said routine physicals, comprehensive eye exams and dental appointments can keep kids healthy during the school year and prevent them from missing classes for unexpected appointments.

Dr. Michael Sanderson, a pediatrician and president of the Wyoming Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said sleep is among one of the more challenging routines to reestablish during the school year.

"Parents tend to let kids' sleep routines and their screen time restrictions go during the summertime," Sanderson observed. "Five or six hours or more per day, which is definitely not their usual routine while school is in session."

Sanderson added if their screen time is on social media, children are likely feeling the stressors of bigger issues. He pointed out with a big election coming up, kids of certain age groups are 'very in tune' with politics, which are increasingly extreme. He reminded parents to monitor kids' social media use and be mindful of what kinds of materials kids are seeing.

After a 2023 2023 Wyoming House Bill to provide grants to assist K-12 public schools in providing mental health services died in committee, attention to kids' mental health at home continues to be vital.

Dr. Rhonda Randall, chief medical officer and executive vice president of UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual, said there are other ways to establish good routines, including having scheduled family dinners when possible.

"You know, I recognize that you can't do that every night," Randall acknowledged. "Everyone's busy and sometimes running in different directions, but doing that as often as possible really does create a routine that's predictable and healthy for the child."

Randall added routines at home can help children feel more confident and stable in school, too.

Foster families will have free access to Idaho state parks under a new initiative.

The Idaho State Park Foster Family Passport program will give families annual passes to the state's 30 parks. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Department of Parks and Recreation are partnering on the program, which is funded by Regence BlueShield of Idaho and the Idaho Business for the Outdoors.

Laura Denner, division administrator of family and community partnerships for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, explained the motivation behind the program.

"We really know that outcomes are better for the families and children when they're engaged in extra activities and Idahoans really love the outdoors," Denner pointed out. "We thought this was a great opportunity to help those families get out and be together in our Idaho wilderness."

Denner noted there are about 1,400 foster children in Idaho but only about 1,100 foster families, about half the number the state needs. Denner hopes additional benefits like the passport program will help attract more families to fostering.

Along with passes, Denner said the Department of Parks and Recreation is offering classes throughout the state so foster kids and their families can learn outdoor skills.

"It might be cooking over a campfire, building a campfire, setting up a tent and a camp space," Denner outlined. "It could be things like paddleboarding."

Denner added the state is finding other ways to retain and attract foster families as well. Starting in October, state employees who become foster parents will be eligible for eight weeks of parental leave when they welcome a child into their home.


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Some Tennessee parents now have access to monthly supplies of free diapers under the state's Medicaid program.

TennCare provides coverage for expectant mothers, seniors, and people with disabilities - including one in five Tennesseans, and half of all births and children in the state.

Allexa Gardner - a research fellow with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families - said children under age two enrolled in TennCare or Coverkids are eligible, and the new benefit covers four major diaper brands.

"You are now able to receive up to 100 diapers per month per child, without any prescription and at no cost to you," said Gardner. "Diapers can be obtained at the pharmacy counter at participating pharmacies, which are now listed on the TennCare website. Importantly, this will not count against a child or a mother's limit of five prescriptions a month."

Gardner emphasized that the need to provide information about the benefits in multiple languages to reach all eligible families. She added the diaper allowance is limited up to 200 diapers per 60 day period.

Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, said diaper accessibility for low-income families is a huge economic benefit that will also mean healthier kids.

But she added that right now, the new program has a few barriers, as only a limited number of locations are providing the free diapers.

"Huge counties - like Murray, Dixon, Sumner - have no pharmacies that are providing diapers," said Johnson. "Population areas, like Memphis and Nashville, there's only three pharmacists in all of the city that do this. Unfortunately, there's been more focus on the media than on the actual implementation and execution."

TennCare says more pharmacies will be added as the program rolls out. Johnson said her organization is reaching out to low-income families across the state to let them know about the diaper program.

Health insurance prospects for Florida kids are not improving, despite pushes to increase coverage rates in the state.

Florida continues to deny and unenroll children from programs meant for low-income families - despite a federal law prohibiting states from canceling insurance for kids, even if families don't pay the premium over a 12 month period.

Executive Director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families Joan Alker said this is part of a pattern for Florida.

"Unfortunately," said Alker, "the state is distinguishing itself these days with being one of the most hostile states in the country, if not the most hostile state, to the notion that children should have access to health insurance."

Florida challenged the continuous coverage law but a federal judge dismissed the case in May. The state had argued that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid went too far with the law.

The state has also denied coverage in other ways.

During the Medicaid unwinding in 2023, when COVID-related coverage protections were lifted, Florida saw the second-largest decline in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program - at a drop of nearly 600,000.

The state's coverage program for families that don't qualify for Medicaid is called KidCare.

During the Medicaid unwinding period, families struggled. Mandi Rokx's two kids were kicked off Medicaid during the unwinding, and she said it took six months to get them coverage from KidCare.

"I tried calling the Department of Children and Families, and I tried calling the health care provider that they were with previously," said Rokx. "And nobody could give me any answers. And it was kind of one those things where when I would finally get a human being on the phone, I was told that they couldn't do anything for me. And I spent literal hours on phone calls, which is not easy when you have toddlers."

Alker said there is a built-in gap in coverage for families who have to switch from Medicaid to KidCare, and that's unique to Florida.

"This is truly terrible," said Alker. "You do not want a baby to be uninsured. You do not want any child to have a gap in coverage. It doesn't matter how long it is - things happen to kids all the time. Parents know this."