Some ACA costs are offset by societal savings linked to fewer home delinquencies

June 13, 2017 Low-income people who gain health insurance are much more likely to make their rent and mortgage payments, according to a new Washington University study of families living near the poverty line. Lead researcher Emily Gallagher, with the Center for Social Development (CSD), says “the spin-off benefits to the community may offset a substantial share […]

Senate plan is biggest cut yet to health-care safety net

June 26, 2017 Timothy McBride, professor at the Brown School and co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy, expects that the bill will lead to over 24 million people being uninsured and very large, perhaps devastating, cuts to the Medicaid program, which currently covers about 75 million children, disabled, aged and other adults. Source: https://source.wustl.edu/2017/06/washu-expert-senate-health-care-plan-will-dramatically-increase-uninsured/

Parker Leads Community Discussion on Communications and Social Justice

Gary Parker sitting on a stage moderating a panel

On January 20, 2018, Gary Parker, Associate Dean of External Affairs and Director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School, moderated a panel discussion hosted by the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC) titled Aligning Our Work with Action: Communicating During Times of Unrest and Uncertainty. Parker led the group through a conversation […]

Three questions on economic insecurity with Mark Rank

August 21, 2017 Rank and Hirschl are the authors of Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes, which uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics — the longest-running longitudinal household survey in the world — to paint a picture of income inequality in the United States. Using the same data, the two created a poverty risk calculator that […]

School health clinics are growing in number in St. Louis region 

August 23, 2017 Research has shown that poor health is a barrier to student learning, is associated with lower grades and is a common reason why students miss school or drop out. School-based health clinics such as Normandy’s are one of a number of ways educators are seeking to address not just their students’ educational needs, […]

Missouri Children’s Leadership Council advocacy efforts bring policy efforts to federal attention

August 30, 2017 Last week, Rep. Kathy Swan (R-147, Cape Girardeau) wrote an OpEd urging Congress to reauthorize and fund the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV). You can read Rep. Swan’s OpEd here. Additionally, Dana Carroll, Springfield’s Child Advocate, had a letter to the editor published asking congress to act before CHIP funding expires […]

Sheretta Butler-Barnes: Equity in Education

September 12, 2017 In summer 2017, Assistant Professor Sheretta Butler-Barnes continued her work with the Girls Inc. Eureka! Program, which exposes high school girls of color to an intensive STEM-based curriculum. Her research addresses structural racism and inequalities in education and youth development.

Disparities in educational experiences of black youth

September 20, 2017 A more comprehensive picture of mental health that includes subjective well-being and other positive mental health characteristics could lead to more successful educational experiences among black youth, finds a recent study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “We demonstrated the need to use a dual-factor model of mental health […]

WashU Expert: CHIP demise devastating to millions of American children

October 5, 2017 An estimated 9 million children are now covered by the CHIP program across the U.S. In Missouri, more 624,000 children are covered by a combination of CHIP and Medicaid, though most children are covered by Medicaid. “CHIP has led to a substantial reduction in the uninsured rate for children, to the point […]

Washington People: Sheretta Butler-Barnes

October 25, 2017 Sheretta Butler Barnes, assistant professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, focuses her research on structural racism and inequalities in education. In this video, she talks about her motivation and her work, including a program to encourage girls of color in STEM subjects.

Congressional briefing on human trafficking includes Washington University presence

A photo of a class in front of the capitol building in DC

November 16, 2017 The Clark-Fox Policy Institute (CFPI) at the Brown School and the Human Trafficking Collaborative Network (HTCN), a multidisciplinary group housed in the university’s Institute for Public Health, brought to Capitol Hill a delegation of Missouri researchers, advocates, law enforcement representatives, service providers and survivors to bring attention to the dehumanizing industry of […]

Legislator files bill aimed at protecting Missouri kids receiving CHIP

December 4, 2017 State Rep. Cora Faith Walker, D-Ferguson, has filed legislation that would require the Missouri Legislature to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, if the federal government fails to budget money towards the program. Congress has not reapproved CHIP funding, which provides health coverage for nearly 90,000 Missouri kids. The Show-Me […]

The misunderstood social safety net

December 4, 2017 Few topics are more misunderstood than the U.S. social safety net. From Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queen” to current HUD Secretary Ben Carson’s caricature of a comfortable life in public housing, the safety net and those who use it have been routinely vilified. Research conducted by Mark R. Rank, professor of social welfare […]

Members of Missouri Medicaid panel see more cuts coming

December 13, 2017 The Missouri Medicaid Oversight Committee is facing the tall order of trying to keep ever increasing costs under control in a state with limited resources. Committee Chairman and Washington University Health Economist Timothy McBride noted state revenue gains this year of $300 million are equal to Medicaid cost increases. He told Missourinet that […]