child poverty

A toddler adjusting his mortarboard in a graduation gown

Nurse-Family Partnership programs guide first-timers through transition to motherhood

January 10, 2020 by Yen Duong

Nurse-Family Partnership programs guide first-timers through transition to motherhood - North Carolina Health News

Nurse Family Partnership programs support low-income pregnant women with home nurse visits across the nation. In 2019, the Mecklenburg program won national recognition for its outcomes.

By Yen Duong When Denise Ward first moved to Charlotte in the summer of 2017, she was pregnant, jobless and homeless. She found a landing spot at the Florence Crittenden residential program for homeless pregnant women. Soon after, Ward joined the Nurse-Family Partnership program offered by the community health nonprofit Care Ring. From that point, […]

shows child foods on a shelf labeled WIC

WIC benefits help improve child, maternal nutrition, but fewer families are accessing it

July 15, 2019 by Sarah Ovaska

WIC benefits help improve child, maternal nutrition, but fewer families are accessing it - North Carolina Health News

The program serves expecting and new mothers, as well as their children under five-years old, who live in households with low-incomes.

By Sarah Ovaska-Few Fewer women and children in North Carolina are taking part in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a federal program designed to ensure low-income women, babies and children get needed nutrients in their diet. The slide is worrisome, given that the WIC program has long only captured […]

four girls on a swing suspended by chains, they all smile at the camera

Report shows worrisome trend of suicides among N.C. youth increasing

February 22, 2019 by Sarah Ovaska

Report shows worrisome trend of suicides among N.C. youth increasing - North Carolina Health News

An annual report card finds kids dying by suicide at twice the rate of a decade ago, making it second only to motor vehicle accidents as a leading cause of death.

By Sarah Ovaska-Few Child health experts are startled by the steady increase of adolescent suicides in North Carolina, with the state experiencing twice the rate of deaths among older children as it did a decade ago. Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death of children from age 10 to 17, topped only by motor […]

shows children looking frightened as they tumble down a slide

Advocates See Potential for Child Death Prevention in Connecting State Data

December 11, 2018 by Rose Hoban

Advocates See Potential for Child Death Prevention in Connecting State Data - North Carolina Health News

Child welfare advocates say that to improve North Carolina’s child death rate, there’s a need for better coordination and data collection on deaths that do occur.

By Rose Hoban Any time a child dies it’s a tragedy, but in 2017, 1,313 children younger than 17 in North Carolina died. For each of those tragedies, local and state health officials, medical examiners and child health experts review the circumstances around each child’s death in an attempt to learn how to prevent the […]

State Health Officials Seek Input on Early Childhood Action Plan

November 19, 2018 by Yen Duong

State Health Officials Seek Input on Early Childhood Action Plan - North Carolina Health News

The plan is aimed at producing better health and social outcomes for children in the state. DHHS is taking public input on the plan until the end of November.

By Yen Duong The Department of Health and Human Services has a vision for all North Carolina children to be on track by 2025 for healthy, stable lives. DHHS needs public input for how to get there from here. Among other goals, they want to decrease the inequity in the high infant mortality rate between […]

N.C. Officials to Set Goals to Improve Child Health Outcomes

August 31, 2018 by Taylor Knopf

N.C. Officials to Set Goals to Improve Child Health Outcomes - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Roy Cooper directed the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to write a plan to improve child health outcomes among children from birth through age 8.

By Taylor Knopf The infant mortality rate in North Carolina has remained stubbornly high in recent years and is one of the worst in the nation. About half of the children in the state live in poverty. And more than 20 percent of kids live in households that are food insecure. These are some of […]

shows a smiling little girl at a table with flowers, a little boy is in the background, just out of focus. they're both at a summer school lunches program. School lunch programs were suspended because of COVID-19, but school districts across North Carolina came up with alternatives.

Local, National Barriers Leave Millions of Child Feeding Dollars on the Table

August 3, 2018 by India Mackinson

Local, National Barriers Leave Millions of Child Feeding Dollars on the Table - North Carolina Health News

As the Summer Food Service Program wraps up its 50th summer, participation rates remain low. Here’s why that matters.

By India Mackinson Every day in Charlotte, an air-conditioned school activity bus full of free lunches turns into a church parking lot. Within minutes, 60 children cross the street from a mobile home park with their friends and neighbors to receive a meal. “It was just miraculous to see,” said Tamara Baker, communications and project […]

shows a winding mountian road, only one car ahead, leaves changing color, blue skies

Three N.C. Counties Named ‘Bright Spots’ of Health in Appalachia

July 31, 2018 by Taylor Knopf

Three N.C. Counties Named ‘Bright Spots’ of Health in Appalachia - North Carolina Health News

Contrary to the stereotypes of troubled mountain communities, several western counties have good health outcomes, in part because of strong community ties.

By Taylor Knopf Rural Appalachian counties are known to struggle to keep up with the rest of the United States, especially when it comes to health outcomes. Infant mortality is 16 percent higher in Appalachia than other areas of America. There are higher rates of diabetes and child poverty. In general, rural North Carolina has […]

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