Beyond the Rankings: What Four Decades of KIDS COUNT Have Taught Me About Why Data Matter

For more than three decades, through the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® project, decisionmakers and communities have had access to reliable national, state, and local data to improve outcomes for all children, young people, and families in this country. KIDS COUNT comprises the foundation’s national KIDS COUNT publications—the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book and periodic reports such as Race for Results; the KIDS COUNT Data Center, a resource for year-round national, state, and local data; and the KIDS COUNT Network of state-based partner organizations that help policymakers, advocates, journalists, and community leaders understand and use data to make informed decisions.

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Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy: Countering Bias and Promoting Care

Most pregnancy-related deaths in North Carolina are preventable. Yet mental health conditions, including overdose and suicide, remain the leading cause of pregnancy-related death. For health care leaders, that reality demands a closer look at how we identify, treat, and support pregnant and postpartum patients with opioid use disorder.

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Preventing Domestic Violence by Reaching People Who Cause Harm

The research involved a landscape scan of Cook County, Illinois’ policies, funding, and services for people who cause harm with a goal of engaging the stakeholders and providers doing this work as well as survivors and those who receive services to identify barriers, challenges, and strengths of domestic violence prevention programs. The research examined Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (PAIP) in particular, a standard intervention for people who cause harm that is overseen by the Illinois Department of Human Services.

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Post-Overdose Response Teams: A Community-Based Approach to Public Safety

Recent changes in the federal policy landscape have created new questions for communities working to address substance use disorder (SUD), mental health needs, and housing instability. In this evolving environment, philanthropy, in collaboration with community-based organizations and local governments, has an important role to play in supporting evidence-based responses to overdose and mental health emergencies that improve access to care, strengthen community wellbeing, and uplift public health while avoiding unnecessary criminal legal outcomes.

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GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners

The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partners and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.

Views from the Field by Heather-Flaherty

Eight Ways to Build a Healthier Tomorrow as a Small Foundation

But we know that making a dent in deep societal issues and in drivers of health outcomes and health equity—like systemic oppression, institutionalized racism, and generational poverty—takes a lot more than writing a check.

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The Urgent Need for Nature During and After COVID-19

Mounting research, combined with our personal and professional experience, suggest that improving equity in access to greenspace may help combat health inequities. Access to safe, nearby nature must be prioritized as critical public health infrastructure and not just an amenity for a few.

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Hiding in Plain Sight: Care Challenges for Older Adults Living with HIV

Unless you fund an AIDS-serving organization or have a personal connection, this may surprise you, but HIV/AIDS has quietly undergone a metamorphosis, and it is time for health funders to take a fresh look.

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Health Affairs: COVID-19: It’s Time For Foundations To Be The Life-Saving Difference

In this Health Affairs blog post, Elizabeth Ripley shares the strategies Mat-Su Health Foundation is using to support health and human service nonprofits during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as how the foundation is doing its work differently during this “philanthropic emergency.”

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Candid: Directory of Funds for Coronavirus Relief

A significant number of health foundations are contributing to response and recovery funds. Candid is compiling a list of funds specifically established in the wake of Coronavirus. The list focuses on funds hosted at US-based foundations that serve nonprofits, though others outside of this criteria may appear as well.

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Achieving Health Equity is Possible, and Philanthropy Can Help Lead the Way

Philanthropy has a critical role to play in ensuring that health disparities are acknowledged and addressed during this crisis and throughout the recovery process. Health foundations are uniquely positioned to respond to COVID-19 and can deploy a wide range of resources in their communities.

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