VIEW BY DATE: 2008
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State’s New Managed Health Care Model for Foster Children (11/17/2008)
Senate Bill 6 in 2005 directed HHSC to create a new health care delivery model to provide foster children with comprehensive services, a "medical home," and coordinated access to care. HHSC worked with the DFPS to develop STAR Health, a new Medicaid managed-care model for foster children, which was implemented on April 1, 2008. This report explores the initial implementation of the program and STAR Health's potential to improve health outcomes for foster children.
Filed Under: Child Protection
A Child Alone and Without Papers (11/13/2008)
A Child Alone and Without Papers, released today by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), reveals what happens to more than 43,000 undocumented, unaccompanied children removed annually from the United States and repatriated to their home countries. Policy analysis and interviews with adults and children in the system revealed the U.S. often compromises children's rights, safety, and well-being, contrary to international law and U.S. child welfare standards.
For more information, including a two-page summary, backgrounders and appendices, visit www.cppp.org/repatriation.
Filed Under: Child Protection
New Federal Foster Care Legislation: What It Means for Texas (11/3/2008)
On October 7, 2008, the President signed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (H.R. 6893). The act overhauls the federal child welfare structure for the first time since the Adoptions and Safe Families Act in 1997. The law contains new requirements, changes federal financing for adoptions, and provides additional financial assistance for various optional programs. For Texas, none of the changes require new legislation, though the state must appropriate additional funding to fully benefit from the provisions of the new act. This policy paper discusses provisions of the federal legislation and the potential for helping Texas children.
Filed Under: Child Protection
Texas Health Care 2008: What Has Happened and What Work Remains (10/23/2008)
CPPP's new report provides an update on major actions on health care access in the 2007 legislative session and the important issues and challenges that remain as we approach the 2009 session.
Filed Under: Public Benefits : Health Care Access
New Report Shows Need for Stronger Policies to Support Low-Income Working Families (10/14/2008)
The Center for Public Policy Priorities today pointed to a new report by the Working Poor Families Project as evidence of the need for Texas to improve public structures that serve low-income working families. According to the report, 37 percent of Texas working families are low-income. Nearly two-of-three Texas low-income working families lack a parent with any postsecondary education, ranking us 48th in the nation. The report also shows that 57 percent of Texas low-income families have at least one parent without health insurance in 2006. The center cited modest improvements in need-based state financial aid since publication of the last similar report, but urged continued improvement to public structures to ensure prosperity for all Texans.
Filed Under: Family Economic Security
2010-11 State Budget Developments (10/13/2008)
This brief analysis highlights some of the major demands for additional General Revenue spending in the biennial
budget for 2010 and 2011, which state legislators will write during the regular legislative session in 2009.
Filed Under: Budget
Policy Development in Texas: The Fiscal Realities (10/11/2008)
This brief document, prepared for the John B. Shepperd Public Leadership Institute, provides some very general information about the state budget and fiscal note process in Texas, as well as the major categories of spending and revenue by level of government—-local, state, and federal.
Filed Under: Budget
CPPP Applauds Presidential Signing of Legislation to Shore Up Foster Care and Adoptions in The U.S. (10/8/2008)
The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) today applauded presidential signing of the Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act. The Act contains substantial improvements to the U.S. foster care system. Without this legislation, our nation's current federal adoptions incentives program would have expired this month.
Filed Under: Child Protection
The Texas Tax and Budget Primer (10/7/2008)
A presentation on "Building Texas: The Tax and Budget Primer, 2008."
Filed Under: Taxes
CPPP Hails U.S. Senate Passage of Adoption Incentives Bill, Urges Quick Presidential Action (09/23/2008)
The Center for Public Policy Priorities today announced that the U.S. Senate passed the Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, which contains sweeping and comprehensive improvements to the U.S. foster care system. Without this legislation, our nation's current federal adoptions incentives program would expire on September 30.
Filed Under: Child Protection
CPPP Honors Methodist Healthcare Ministries' Kevin Moriarty with 2008 Hobby Visionary Award (09/17/2008)
Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) Chief Executive Officer Kevin C. Moriarty is this year's recipient of the Hobby Visionary Award. CPPP selected Moriarty for the award because of his strong record of charitable service and advocacy for good public policy, particularly for access to health care. Former Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, for whom the award is named, presented the award on September 19 at the 2008 William P. Hobby Policy Conference in Austin.
Filed Under: Public Benefits
:
Health Care Access
CPPP Associate Director Anne Dunkelberg Honored with LBJ School Alumni Association's Distinguished Public Service Award (09/17/2008)
The Center for Public Policy Priorities today announced the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Alumni Association has honored CPPP Associate Director Anne Dunkelberg with their Distinguished Public Service Award. Dunkelberg is an LBJ School graduate and a long-time advocate for better policies for low- and mid-income Texans.
Filed Under: Family Economic Security
Emergency Food Stamps for Hurricane Ike Victims (09/16/2008)
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) received approval today from the federal government to provide Emergency Food Stamps to victims of Hurricane Ike. Families must have limited income to qualify, but will only need to provide proof of identity and residence in one of the 29 counties declared a federal disaster area.
Filed Under: Family Economic Security
CPPP Statement on "Competitive States" Report Comparing Texas and California (09/9/2008)
The Center for Public Policy Priorities today released the following statement in response to a report, "Competitive States -- Texas vs. California: Economic Growth Prospects for the 21st Century," published this afternoon by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The report badly misreads the likely outcomes of Texas'
inadequate investment in vital public structures, including our education and transportation systems
Filed Under: Taxes
Drawing the Line between Public and Private Responsibility in Child Welfare: The Texas Debate (09/4/2008)
Protecting children and strengthening families is difficult, complicated work. Doing it well requires successfully engaging the entire community—both the public and private sectors. In this report, we explore the issues raised by how a state draws the line between public and private responsibility, and we make specific policy recommendations. The report compares Texas to the two states that have most completely privatized, Kansas and Florida.
Filed Under: Child Protection
A Labor Day Review of Our Unemployment Insurance System (08/29/2008)
Texans are losing jobs and taking longer to find work in today's tough economic environment, reminding us this Labor Day of the importance of Unemployment Insurance (UI). Unemployment checks enable Texans to buy groceries, pay rent, and meet basic needs, helping both Texas families and the Texas economy. Unfortunately, Texas state policies prevent four of every five jobless Texans from collecting UI. This paper recommends common-sense, affordable changes to shore up this vital public structure that protects Texans in tough economic times. Our recommendations include new definitions for eligibility, modern infrastructure to process claims, and a smarter, sustainable funding plan.
Filed Under: Workforce/Economic Development
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Labor Market/Wages
Texas Poverty 101 (08/26/2008)
The term "poverty" is used to describe a condition of economic hardship, but it has a technical definition as well: a specific low-income level for various family sizes. Many social services in Texas use this technical measure of poverty to determine program eligibility. This brief report describes the official federal poverty measure, how it is used, and the extent of poverty in Texas. Shortcomings of this methodology and alternative measures of economic hardship are also discussed.
Filed Under: Family Economic Security
:
Eligibility/Enrollment Delivery
Census Bureau Data Shows Economic Expansion Left Many Texans Behind in 2007 (08/26/2008)
New data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that many Texans did not share the benefits of economic expansion in 2007 and still cannot meet their basic needs. Hard work for Texans was rewarded in far too many cases with very low wages and no employer-sponsored health insurance. While Texas poverty and income improved slightly in 2007, poverty rates remain worse than during the last recession, and Texas still has the worst uninsured rate in the U.S. The data suggest that Texas state policies make it harder, not easier, for hardworking Texans to get out of poverty and to get health insurance.
Filed Under: Family Economic Security
:
Health Care Access
Statement of F. Scott McCown on the Bohac-Patrick Plan (08/20/2008)
At a hearing of the Texas House of Representatives Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform, chaired by Representative John Otto, in Houston on August 18, Representative Dwayne Bohac and Senator Dan Patrick presented a plan that they say would allow the Legislature to create a 5 percent annual appraisal cap on residence homesteads rather than the present 10 percent cap without a constitutional amendment. But their plan is based upon a misunderstanding of what the constitution says after its most recent amendment in 2007. Lowering the cap does require a constitutional amendment.
Filed Under: Taxes
More Outreach Needed: More than 400,000 Texans Yet to Claim Stimulus Checks (08/8/2008)
More than 400,000 Texans may be eligible to receive economic stimulus checks but have not yet made a claim, according to the IRS. Employers, nonprofits, and state and local governments ought to consider helping locate eligible Texans and encourage them to file for stimulus payments. These rebates can still be claimed by filing a 2007 tax return before the October 15 deadline. Veterans, retirees, and others who typically are not required to file tax returns are at the highest risk of not receiving their share of the stimulus. As of late June, Texans are missing out on more than $124 million in unclaimed rebates.
Filed Under: Workforce/Economic Development
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Labor Market/Wages