Public Policy
Policy Priorities to Support Children with Special Health Care Needs and Disabilities and Their Families
Our Strategic Policy Priorities
Children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities, and their families, face systemic barriers and biases that impede their ability to experience their best possible lives. Systems of care do not respond to their needs holistically or facilitate access to supports that enhance their quality of life.
To make the most impact, we focus our policy actions across all levels of government – federal, state, and local. We work with our family and organizational partners to lean on the various levers of policy change through education and advocacy.
Our current policy agenda includes:
- Expand access to peer-to-peer support for families of children and youth with special health care needs
- Support and expand Medicaid coverage for children and youth with special health care needs and their families and caregivers
- Improve the transition to adult health care for youth and young adults with disabilities and their caregivers and families
- Eliminate language access barriers
Family Voices collaborates with national child health and disability organizations, such as the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, The Arc, Autism Speaks, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other groups.
Recent Policy Briefs
Recent Policy-Related News
Webinars from the Field (Washington Update, January 19, 2019)
Integrating Nurses into Complex Care Teams Thursday, January 17, 1:00 pm ET Better Care Playbook NEW CLC Peer Learning Exchange: Building Health Equity in Systems of Care by Engaging Diverse Families, Youth, and Community Organizations Thursday, January 17, 2:00-3:00...
The “Shut-Down” (Washington Update, January 19, 2019)
As most readers probably know, a partial government “shut-down” has been caused by a stand-off between congressional Democrats and President Trump over whether to fund a “wall” on the nation’s southern border. At this point, it is not clear how or when the situation...
Maternal and Child Health Bureau Announces Phase 1 Winners of the Challenge
Maternal and Child Health Bureau Announces Phase 1 Winners of the Challenge The Maternal and Child Health Bureau has selected 7 winners from Phase 1 of the Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs Challenge. Each Phase 1 winner was awarded a share...
Congress (Washington Update, January 19, 2019)
The New Congress For information about the new Congress, see last week’s Update. WORTH REPEATING: Connecting With New and Returning Members of Congress The beginning of a new Congress presents a great opportunity to establish contact with new Representatives and...
Medicaid/CHIP News, Information, and Resources (January 19, 2019)
Medicaid’s Future Last week, the publication Politico reported that the administration is exploring how it might be able to implement some sort of “block grant” concept in Medicaid without legislation. See Trump Wants to Bypass Congress on Medicaid Plan - Block Grants...
Legislation
The legislation tracked below is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to be an endorsement for or against the legislation. Action updates may occur daily, if actions are taken by Congress. Newly introduced legislation will be added weekly.
The legislative tracker is sorted by latest action. To navigate this page, you can scroll through just as you would a normal webpage. You can also click Ctrl+F on your keyboard and type in the search box.
For additional information and to read the full text (if available), click the highlighted bill number. You can also navigate to Congress.gov and search using key terms or phrases, or the bill numbers listed below.
Encourage confidence to act