“Children could suffer if Pa. doesn’t get Medicaid money”

As Voices advocate Joan Benso says, summer is a carefree time for children, but this summer, some of their parents and guardians have a lot to worry about.  The president and CEO of Voices member group Pennsylvannia Partnerships for Children, Benso explained in an op-ed this week that we’re running out of time to boost to federal-state programs like Medicaid, and the results could be dire:

“This likely will mean the reduction of basic education funding resulting in the layoffs of thousands of teachers statewide; cuts to child welfare funding and programs that serve children with mental disabilities; and damaging reduced support to early childhood programs, including Pre-K Counts, the state’s preschool program for at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds; the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program; Child Care Works, the program that helps low-income working parents pay for child care; Keystone STARS, the state’s quality improvement and rating system for child care centers, and Nurse Family Partnerships that provides low-income, first-time moms with the care and support they need to raise safe, healthy babies.”