[Weekly Wonk] Oklahoma ranks 40th for child well-being | Medicaid expansion and reentry for justice-involved | New OK Policy board leadership

The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser Sunday, August 14, 2022 Subscribe  //  View latest headlines This Week from OK Policy 2022 KIDS COUNT Report Shows Oklahoma Ranks 40th for Child Well-Being, Still Lags Nation Oklahoma ranks 40th nationally in child well-being and in the bottom half of nearly all the health and well-being metrics included in state rankings for the 2022 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how children and families are faring. [OK Policy] Improving future for Oklahoma children will require long-term investments today [Gabrielle Jacobi / OK Policy] Oklahoma 2022 KIDS COUNT Fact Sheet Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Data Map dashboard  Read More Medicaid expansion is a vital piece of reentry for Oklahomans leaving incarceration Most people leaving incarceration have little to no income, making them eligible for Medicaid upon release. Therefore, Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma plays a key role in ensuring continuity of care leaving prison and jail, contributing to healthier communities and reduced recidivism. [David Gateley / OK Policy] Read More OK Policy announces new board leadership, interim executive director Learn More Policy Matters: Oklahoma's children deserve better Read Update Numbers of the Day 21% — Percentage of Oklahoma children who live in poverty. The national average is 17%. [KIDS COUNT] 14% — Percentage of Oklahoma households with children that sometimes or often did not have enough food to eat in the past week (June 29-July 11, 2022) [KIDS COUNT] 36 — The child and teen death rate in Oklahoma per 100,000 children. The national average is 28 child and teen deaths per 100,000 children. [KIDS COUNT]  8.4% — Percentage of Oklahoma babies born with low birth-weight. The national average is 8.2%. [KIDS COUNT] 16 months — The amount of time that mothers had to work in order to make as much as fathers were paid in 12 months. This equates to 75 cents on the dollar. [National Women's Law Center] Weekly What's That Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events experienced before age 18. They include all forms of child abuse, having a household member who is incarcerated, exposure to domestic violence, neglect, and having a parent with an untreated mental illness or substance use disorder. ACEs can disrupt brain development causing social, emotional, and cognitive problems throughout an individual's life, which increase the likelihood of risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, difficulty functioning at school/work, and even early death. Look up more key terms to understand Oklahoma politics and government here. Quote of the Week "We are here every single day for kids who don't have parents, who don't have a community, who … the only consistency they have is school. Those are the people that teachers show up for every single day. Those are the people that are being left out of this conversation. We are worried about the people who have, and we're leaving out the people who have not. And that's why we do what we do. That is why teachers do what they do… We have babies who every night they go somewhere different every day. They go somewhere different, and they show back up to do well. That's why we do what we do. That's why public schools are important. That's why the dismantling of public schools is wrong because the people that lose out are brown, poor, and they don't speak English." -Millwood Public Schools Superintendent Cecilia Robinson-Woods speaking at a State of Our Schools roundtable [KOCO] Editorial of the Week Stillwater News Press Editorial: Time to toss out House Bill 1775 House Bill 1775 is a failed experiment. It needs to be repealed. If not by the legislature, then by voter referendum. What began as a method for lawmakers to pander to partisan extremism as a kind of hard-right litmus test is being exposed as nonsensical and problematic. HB 1775 is the school bill that prevents any teachings that might somehow lead to racial shame or guilt, or teach that one race is superior or that anyone is inherently racist. The law is vague in how it should be administered and interpreted, and that's a big part of the problem. A story published Wednesday in The Oklahoman cites several teachers saying they are now closely monitoring their lessons and curriculum lest they run afoul of the HB 1775. For example, one teacher wanted to introduce to her class the popular novel "Killers of the Flower Moon" which details the murder of Osage landowners. You might say, "What's the problem? That's history." How are they supposed to know if what they say or teach might shame someone? They can't. So they overcompensate, which was probably part of the goal. Teachers aren't going to want to cost their schools accreditation. For one thing, the state school board, in penalizing Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang Public Schools didn't seem to have any metrics for how the law violated, and ruled almost arbitrarily. As parents and grandparents, are there that many of us who honestly think our children are less equipped emotionally to deal with social and racial issues than we were? We were taught about slavery. We were taught the Trail of Tears. We were taught about Jim Crow laws. We were taught about Japanese internment camps. Most of us read "To Kill a Mockingbird." Some of us read "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Did guilt or shame emotionally cripple us? Did learning these things radicalize us? Would we have been better off being sheltered? Why can't this generation of children be allowed the same choices? The public school system is not a place where you can light a match and walk away. Some might think they are celebrating the removal of "indoctrination," but they're really celebrating the obstruction of critical thinkers. [Editorial Board / Stillwater News Press] This Week We're Reading... 2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book: State Trends in Child Well-being [KIDS COUNT / Annie E. Casey Foundation] Addressing Youth Substance Use through School Services and Supports [Urban Institute] Investing in Families Prevents Child Welfare Involvement [Center for the Study of Social Policy] Opportunities to Support Maternal and Child Health Through Medicaid's New Postpartum Coverage Extension [Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute]  Why Supporting Working Moms Can Benefit Families, the Economy, and All of Us [St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank] What's up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know. Your support makes this possible. OK Policy is here to cut through the noise and look at the bottom line for what this means for everyday Oklahomans. Tax-deductible donations from individuals like you makes our work possible. Support with Donation Contact Oklahoma Policy Institute 907 S. Detroit Ave. #1005 | Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120 918-794-3944 | info@okpolicy.org Connect with us: Unsubscribe or Manage Your Preferences