Children's Health Links

Federal Government:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
www.ahrq.gov/child/

Description: AHRQ (formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) research provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use and access. Information from AHRQ's research helps people make informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. AHRQ was formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Information Available: Children's health highlights, tools for improving quality in child and adolescent health, conferences and workshops, news, research projects by topic, SCHIP, Child Health Insurance Research Initiative, fact sheets, selected publications, additional resources and links.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Office of Children's Health
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/child/ochchildhlth.html

Description: ATSDR, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. ATSDR's Child Health Program emphasizes the ongoing examination of relevant child health issues in all of the agency's activities, and stimulates new projects to benefit children.

Information Available: Child health reports; pediatric toxicology references; links to child-focused work in ATSDR's organizational divisions: i.e. Division of Toxicology, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Division of Health Studies and the Division of Health Education and Promotion; the agency roundtable on child health and a link to ATSDR's materials for children and parents.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
www.cms.hhs.gov/schip

Description: Operating within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS runs the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In conjunction with the Health Resources and Services Administration, CMS also operates SCHIP.

Information Available: SCHIP state health plan, enrollment, outreach, reports and evaluations, Title XXI legislation, SCHIP regulations and allotment notices, related White House and department information as well as frequently asked questions regarding SCHIP.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP)
yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/

Description: The EPA established the OCHP in May 1997 to make the protection of children's health a fundamental goal of public health and environmental protection in the United States. OCHP supports and facilitates EPA efforts to protect children's health from environmental threats.

Information Available: Background and activities of the OCHP; potential environmental hazards; related health topics; tips to protect children (available in Spanish); news stories; relevant EPA activities; a searchable database on the potential hazards that exist in the places where children live, learn and play; publications; grants management activities; links to federal task forces and committees on environmental topics that impact children's health.

Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics,
ChildStats.gov
www.childstats.gov

Description: The Forum, created in 1994 by the Chief Statistician at OMB and the leaders of six agencies, has participants from across government as well as partners in private research organizations. The Forum works to foster coordination, collaboration and integration of collection and reporting of Federal data on child and family issues and conditions.

Information Available: Federal and state statistics and reports on children and their families including: population and family characteristics, health, behavior and social environment, economic security and education. Also includes reports such as, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, the annual Federal monitoring report on the status of the Nation's children, Nurturing Fatherhood and Counting Couples.

MEDLINEplus-Health Information
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childrenshealth.html

Description: MEDLINEplus, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, includes a vast amount of health information on over 600 diseases and conditions. The site offers authoritative, up to date and appropriate health information for both health professionals and consumers.

Information Available: Latest news concerning children's health, publications from the National Institutes of Health, general information, alternative therapies, diagnosis and symptoms, nutrition, prevention and screening, research, specific conditions, treatment, law and policy, statistics and links to other MEDLINE related topics.

Missouri Government:

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS),
Division of Environmental Health and Communicable Disease Prevention,
Section for Environmental Public Health,
Missouri Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP)
www.dhss.mo.gov/ChildhoodLead/

Description: The mission of CLPPP is to assure the children of Missouri a safe and healthy environment through the detection, treatment and primary prevention of lead exposures that may cause illness or death.

Information Available: Blood lead screening data, lead poisoning laws, lead manual, testing and risk assessment tool, educational materials and related links including the Bureau of Lead licensing.

Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS),
Division of Family Services (DFS),
Children's Services
www.dss.mo.gov/pr_family.htm

Description: DFS maintains responsibility for administering four program areas: 1) Early Childhood Programs, 2) Family Support Program, 3) Children's Services and 4) Rehabilitation Services for the Blind.

Information Available: Adoption services, blind services, child abuse and neglect, child care/early childhood services, child-support, foster care programs, hotline numbers, parental stress help line, residential program unit, task force on children's justice and treatment services.

National Organizations:

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
www.childrensdefense.org

Description: CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. The organization pays particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school or suffer family breakdown.

Information Available: Issue specific: Child Care and Head Start, Child Health, Child Welfare and Mental Health, Violence Prevention, Youth Development and Family Income; The Black Community Crusade for Children; Child Watch Visitation Program; CHIP; Tax and other assistance for families; key facts about uninsured children, The State of America's Children Report; child and family data; Youth Violence Resource Center; fact sheets and a CDF listserve.

March of Dimes,
PeriStats: An Interactive Perinatal Data Resource
www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/

Description: PeriStats, developed by the March of Dimes, provides maternal, infant and child health-related data at the state-level and for many indicators at the county-level.

Information Available: State data by topic and interest, health data overviews by state, state data in various formats, county data, other links to data sources and the ability to compare data to another state, all the states or the national data.

National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH)
www.ncemch.org

Description: The NCEMCH offers national leadership to the maternal and child health community in three key areas: 1) program development, 2) education and 3) state-of-the-art knowledge, in order to improve the health and well-being of the nation's children and families.

Information Available: Maternal and Child Health library, publications, knowledge paths (electronic resource guides that point to recent, high-quality resources for health professionals, program administrators and policymakers to provide and strengthen services in specific topic areas), Family Resource Centers, databases, bibliographies and policy alerts.

Policy:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation,
KIDS COUNT
www.aecf.org/majorinitiatives/kidscount.aspx

Description: Since 1948, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.

Information Available: KIDS COUNT project, KIDS COUNT data book, state and county level data, initiatives and projects, census data and reports, policy magazine, Casey Connects newsletter and other AECF publications.

Child Trends
www.childtrends.org

Description: Child Trends, a nonprofit children's research organization, collects and analyzes data; conducts, synthesizes and disseminates research; designs and evaluates programs; and develops and tests promising approaches to research in the field.

Information Available: Issue and policy briefs, research projects and publications, The Child Indicator newsletter, facts at a glace and the Child Trends databank.

Families USA,
Medicaid & Children's Health
www.familiesusa.org/issues/medicaid

Description: Over the past 20 years, Families USA has earned a national reputation as an effective voice for health care consumers. The organization works at the national, state, and community level to achieve high-quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans.

Information Available: A media center, Families USA publications, fact sheets, tools for advocates, an action center, state specific data, clearinghouse for publications and reports through related agencies and organizations, partnerships and related links.

Institute for Child Health Policy
www.ichp.edu

Description: The Institute for Child Health Policy focuses its attention on issues of access, utilization, cost, quality and family involvement in both their policy and program development and health services research. The goal of the Institute is to research, evaluate, formulate and advance health policies, programs and systems that promote the health and well-being of children and youth.

Information Available: Institute publications and presentations, research in organizing and financing care for children and youth with special health needs, health services research, policy and program affairs, communications and information technology, program evaluations and technical assistance.