by Paul Dworkin, M.D.
Founder, Help Me Grow; Executive Vice-President, Community Child Health Director, Office for Community Child Health, Connecticut Children's Medical Center
May 20, 2013
Reducing the Burden of Adversity
In sharing the Help Me Grow story with diverse audiences, we always acknowledge the influence of the explosion in knowledge of early brain and child development during the 1990s, the so-called “Decade of the Brain.”
Indeed, key concepts in early brain development and early child development yield profound implications for our services, programs, and systems as we strive to promote children’s optimal healthy development.
A recent symposium at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Washington, Read More >>
May 13, 2013
Finding Inspiration at the 2013 Help Me Grow National Forum
Against a backdrop of majestic mountains and big blue skies, Help Me Grow leaders from all 18 HMG affiliate states gathered in Provo, Utah, in early April with the HMG National team for three days of networking, learning, and planning — and inspiration.
The 2013 National Forum kicked off on Wednesday, April 10, with a welcome dinner and team introductions. The next day, Thursday, April 11, participants met over breakfast and — appropriately for professionals working on behalf of children — colorful building blocks.
“For this activity,” says HMG Utah on its blog, “we played a little game of Jenga, stacking blocks and answering the questions taped to them.” Each table received questions related to different topics, including Family & Community Outreach, Physician Outreach, Collecting & Using Data, and Marketing & Social Media... Read More
May 20, 2013
Help Me Grow and Medicaid
Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center and presenter at the 2013 Help Me Grow National Forum, has prepared a three-page summary (pdf) that covers the existing and potential opportunities for Medicaid financing for Help Me Grow. This summary includes salient information from his 2013 Forum presentation, "Policy Implications."
"Given the different structures of state Medicaid programs, there is no one way to modify state Medicaid reimbursement systems to secure Medicaid financing for Help Me Grow," Bruner writes. "Instead, there are different options that states can pursue and that have precedent within prior approvals of state plan amendments or Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) guidance."
The summary details the Help Me Grow services that can and should be covered by Medicaid, including developmental surveillance and screening; the training and support to enable child health practitioners... Read more
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