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6 Policy Strategies
Pages 187-212

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From page 187...
... While much remains to be learned about how policies influence the environments in which MEB development occurs, increasing attention to the possibilities for using scientific evidence about the effects of policy on public health and other social objectives has strengthened the foundation for policy strategies (see, e.g., Brownson, 2011; Catalano et al., 2012; Rajabi, 2012; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016)
From page 188...
... FIGURE 6-1 How laws influence child development and health. SOURCE: Adapted from Komro, O'Mara, and Wagenaar (2013)
From page 189...
... It also specified essential health benefits whose coverage was mandatory for all individual and small-group health plans. Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment, are among these essential health benefits (Davies, Morriss, and Glazebrook, 2014)
From page 190...
... The MHPA, passed in 1996, prevented large group health plans from imposing annual lifetime limits on mental health benefits that are less favorable than the limits imposed on medical or surgical benefits. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 built on the MHPA by adding new protections, including the extension of parity requirements to substance use disorders.
From page 191...
... It reduces food insecurity among children, enables families to purchase healthier food, and is associated with improved child health and fewer low-weight births. Moreover, exposure to the program during early childhood is linked with improved health in adulthood (Carolson and Keith-Jennings, 2018)
From page 192...
... Such policies include minimum wage laws, paid family leave, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
From page 193...
... . Substantial evidence indicates that paid leave for families with a newborn is beneficial: it is associated with decreases in maternal depression, improvements in infant health, increases in breastfeeding, a higher likelihood of infant immunization and well-baby visits, and improvement in children's cognitive outcomes (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016; Wilson-Simmons, Setty, and Smith, 2018)
From page 194...
... Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) The EITC is a tax benefit for low- to moderate-income working people (Sawhill and Pulliam, 2019)
From page 195...
... Whereas such subsidies have been shown to increase maternal employment (Herbst and Tekin, 2016) , some evidence indicates that children who receive subsidized child care in the year before kindergarten score lower on tests of cognitive ability and show more behavioral problems (Johnson and Ryan, 2015)
From page 196...
... Limiting Harmful Behaviors and Exposures Policies that discourage harmful behaviors or exposures -- especially to alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, opioids, and lead -- have pronounced benefits for preventing harm to children and promoting healthy MEB development. Children's healthy MEB development can be fostered by policies that discourage substance use by parents and youth, and that protect fetuses and children from toxic exposures.
From page 197...
... . Evidence shows further that comprehensive smoke-free legislation is associated with reductions in preterm births and pediatric hospital admissions for respiratory tract infections and asthma, both of which pose risks for adverse MEB development (Faber et al., 2016, 2017)
From page 198...
... . Opioids Current evidence on the value of policies aimed at restricting prescriptions for opioids is limited, but some work suggests that prescription drug monitoring programs may have a beneficial effect.
From page 199...
... . Evaluations of state laws designed to increase use of booster seats have found increases in child restraint and correct restraint and reductions in traffic injury rates, injury hospital expenditures, and motor vehicle fatalities among covered children following the laws' implementation (Eichelberger, Chouinard, and Jermakian, 2012; Farmer et al., 2009; Mannix et al., 2012; Pressley et al., 2009; Sun, Bauer, and Hardman, 2010)
From page 200...
... . Given increased attention to the long-term consequences of repeated traumatic brain injuries, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have passed legislation requiring medical attention for head injuries among young athletes.
From page 201...
... In the long term, students experiencing suspension and expulsion have a moderately higher likelihood of dropping out of school and failing to graduate on time. Prevention interventions may be more effective than zero tolerance policies as a means of achieving school discipline (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008)
From page 202...
... Under IDEA, more than 6.9 million children with disabilities receive special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs. More than 62 percent of children with disabilities now spend at least 80 percent of their school day in a general classroom.
From page 203...
... For some programs of long standing, such as Medicaid and the Earned Income Tax Credit, there is evidence of benefits for children and families. Additional research is needed to provide a basis for redirecting current policies and developing new policies to support healthy MEB development in children and youth more effectively.
From page 204...
... . State earned income tax credits and the production of child health: Insurance coverage, utilization, and health status.
From page 205...
... . Policy basics: State earned income tax credits.
From page 206...
... . Effect of tobacco control policies on perinatal and child health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
From page 207...
... . Income, the earned income tax credit, and infant health.
From page 208...
... . Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on hospital admissions for pediatric abusive head trauma, 1995–2013.
From page 209...
... . Effects of state-level earned income tax credit laws in the U.S.
From page 210...
... . USDA's national school lunch program reduces food insecurity.
From page 211...
... . Effects of prenatal poverty on infant health: State earned income tax credits and birth weight.
From page 212...
... . Improving population health by reducing poverty: New York's earned income tax credit.


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