NC Pre-K

Legislators race to get COVID information as they start drafting bills

April 10, 2020 by Rose Hoban

Legislators race to get COVID information as they start drafting bills - North Carolina Health News

Advocates for child care and aging issues, along with EMS workers, delivered dense presentations for lawmakers to sort through as they rush to create legislation for COVID pandemic relief.

By Rose Hoban In response to the coronavirus pandemic, North Carolina lawmakers are rushing to hear presentations and line up priorities for how the state legislature can augment the federal funding flowing from the $2 trillion CARES Act, which passed late last month. In the third meeting of the health care working group of the […]

2019 Health & Human Services Budget – House & Senate

June 24, 2019 by Rose Hoban

2019 Health & Human Services Budget – House & Senate - North Carolina Health News

Just in time for the conference committee budget, here are how the Senate and the House of Representatives each proposed to spend on health and human services.

By Rose Hoban After 2018’s unusual budget process this year’s budget has unfolded in a more “traditional” way. The House unveiled it’s proposal to spend $5.569 billion on health and human services priorities in early May. The Senate finished it’s work on the budget in early June, asking for a total appropriation of $5.552 billion […]

shows four children sitting at a kiddie table, one is dishing out food to the other three.

Proposed rule would require licensed daycares to test for lead in their water

January 29, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Proposed rule would require licensed daycares to test for lead in their water - North Carolina Health News

Child advocates will request that the state Commission for Public Health approve a rule requiring day care centers to test for lead in their water, remove it if found at high levels and notify parents.

By Greg Barnes Jennifer Hoponick Redmon worried about lead in drinking water as she sought a new childcare center for her children in the Raleigh area. Hoponick Redmon knows all about the dangers of lead. She’s an expert in environmental health science and chemical risk assessment for RTI International, a nonprofit research institute in Research […]

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.

School Lunch Programs Becoming More Essential for North Carolina Families

August 22, 2018 by Carolina Public Press

School Lunch Programs Becoming More Essential for North Carolina Families - North Carolina Health News

School nutrition experts say that parents' lack of knowledge about the school lunch program, or simply forgetting to reapply are the biggest reasons that children miss out on school lunches.

By Nick Haseloff Carolina Public Press A majority of North Carolina parents lack the financial resources to provide school lunches for their children without assistance, according to federal data, a situation that has worsened in recent years. Most children in North Carolina participate in the National School Lunch Program, which provides free and reduced-price school […]

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FINAL – 2018 Health & Human Services Budget

June 12, 2018 by Rose Hoban

FINAL – 2018 Health & Human Services Budget - North Carolina Health News

This year's budget featured an unusual process, and millions in earmarks for constituents back home.

By Rose Hoban and Jared Weber In years past, North Carolina Health News has published a table tracking the progress of the state budget as it makes its way through the General Assembly, first in one chamber, then to the other and finally, to the negotiated conference budget in the third column. This has happened […]

N.C. Legislators Do the Budget Boogie

June 1, 2018 by Rose Hoban

N.C. Legislators Do the Budget Boogie - North Carolina Health News

Every budget includes a little soft shoe and the occasional side step.

By Rose Hoban This year’s N.C. Health and Human Services budget includes pages and pages of notations reading “no direct change.” But digging into the numbers often reveals complicated budget two-steppin’ that sometimes can involve tens of millions of dollars. Take federal Child Care and Development Block Grant dollars, for example, where lawmakers did the […]

a little boy walks away from the camera with an enormous backpack on his back

Eliminating Pre-K Waiting Lists Proves a Knotty Problem

July 18, 2017 by Leah Asmelash

Eliminating Pre-K Waiting Lists Proves a Knotty Problem - North Carolina Health News

Lawmakers promise to eliminate the waiting lists for North Carolina's state funded preschool program, but it's tougher than at first glimpse.

By Leah Asmelash In each version of the North Carolina budget presented this year, from Gov. Roy Cooper to leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, lawmakers crowed about how they were chipping away at waiting lists for the state’s subsidized NC Pre-K program. “Over the next two years, we’re adding $27 million […]

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FINAL – 2017 Health & Human Services Budget Comparison

June 30, 2017 by Rose Hoban

FINAL – 2017 Health & Human Services Budget Comparison - North Carolina Health News

By Rose Hoban, Leah Asmelash and Taylor Knopf Just a day after the General Assembly overturned Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto, lawmakers wrapped up their work and headed home for an entire month. With a number of bills left incomplete and issues such as Supreme Court-ordered redistricting ahead of them, legislators left Raleigh on June […]

Final 2017 Health and Human Services Budget – First Look

June 20, 2017 by Rose Hoban

Final 2017 Health and Human Services Budget – First Look - North Carolina Health News

Some years, budget negotiations between the NC Senate and the House of Representatives takes months. This year, however, the two chambers found agreement quickly.

By Rose Hoban Late Monday evening, members of the General Assembly rolled out their final version of the 2019-20 budget, which includes some notable expansions in health and human services for the coming biennium. Probably the most HHS notable item in this year’s $23 billion budget document is $27 million in new funding to increase […]

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Education Bright Spot in Annual Ranking of Child Well-being

June 14, 2017 by Leah Asmelash

Education Bright Spot in Annual Ranking of Child Well-being - North Carolina Health News

In the annual KIDS COUNT survey, North Carolina children fared better in the classroom, even as they experienced more poverty at home.

By Leah Asmelash North Carolina kids continue to struggle with financial and economic well-being, but saw improvements in overall health, while making leaps in education, according to a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The annual report examines four parts of children’s lives – health, education, economic well-being, and family and community – […]

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