With the Regular Session of the 91st General Assembly coming up in just weeks, it’s time to shine a spotlight on the critical issue of child poverty in Arkansas and what we can do to improve the lives of hardworking families and build stronger communities. AACF’s newest report, Child Poverty in Arkansas, details the consequences of […]

The annual Finish Line report provides a look at the status of health coverage for Arkansas children and their families. The report unveils key data on the progress we’ve made over the years and recommends additional solutions to ensure every child in Arkansas has a healthy start. Since the inception of ARKids First in 1997, we’ve made […]

Today, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is releasing a health insurance toolkit and website to help Arkansans get the care they need and navigate the complex health care system. Last summer, we held focus groups with in-person assisters, who help enroll people in coverage, about how to improve health outreach and enrollment. The results of […]

Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the Kids Count Data Book, a comprehensive, 50-state look at child welfare. This year, Arkansas made gains in economic well-being, but we lost ground in health, becoming one of the bottom five states in that category. What would it take for Arkansas to climb all the way up […]

This November, elections are critical to the well-being of Arkansas’s children and families and to the future of this great state. Arkansas voters will help decide which candidates win a number of important public offices, including the U.S. Presidency, a U.S. Senate seat, and House and Senate seats in the Arkansas General Assembly. The winners […]

For the first time in our country’s history, 95 percent of children have the health care coverage they need to be healthy and thrive, according to a new report by the Urban Institute and funded by the Packard Foundation. As impressive, 97 percent of children ages 0 to 5 have access to health coverage, which […]

What if Arkansas were a national leader in children’s education and health? What if we had one of the lowest rates of child poverty in the nation instead of one of the highest? What if our abused and neglected children received the attention they deserved from caseworkers who weren’t overloaded? It’s not impossible. We can […]

Next week, during a special session on Medicaid, Arkansas lawmakers will vote on Governor Asa Hutchinson’s version of expanded health care, Arkansas Works. Much like the Private Option has, Arkansas Works will ensure continued access to coverage for hundreds of thousands of hard-working Arkansans. However, Arkansas Works also includes changes that tend to appeal to […]

In 2013, one out of four Arkansans did not have health insurance. Arkansas faced a looming Medicaid budget shortfall, all while more than 500,000 Arkansans were without health coverage. That year, Arkansas made history by passing bipartisan legislation called the Health Care Independence Act, creating the Private Option. It’s an innovative model for expanding coverage that uses Medicaid […]

Open enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace ends on January 31. The end of open enrollment provides an opportunity for lawmakers and health stakeholders to celebrate the success Arkansas has had in covering the uninsured, but it also provides time to eliminate the challenges consumers still face when enrolling in affordable health coverage. The enrollment […]