Monthly Newsletter

November 2011

Social Media Campaign Tells Real Texas Stories

BTO Houston 2011.jpg

This month, as part of a "Thankful Thursdays" campaign on our website, Facebook and Twitter, we brought you real stories about children and families across Texas who rely on Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for needed health care. Each week a different story featured parents expressing their appreciation for the peace of mind and great value provided by Medicaid and CHIP. Those same moms and dads then encouraged readers to join them in taking action to protect these programs from cuts proposed by the Congressional Supercommittee.

While we're disappointed the Supercommittee process did not result in a balanced approach that protected and invested in children's programs, we believe no deal may be better right now than a bad deal for children.

In addition, we're grateful for the very visible actions taken by so many of you who "retweeted", "liked", "shared" and reposted the stories we shared using your own social media networks. Thanks to a number of faithful partners like MomsRising, First Focus, author Beth Kanter, and you, our "Thankful Thursday" stories were tweeted to more than 430,000 followers almost overnight.

 In case you happen to have missed it, check out the "Thankful Thursday" campaign series to understand the true value of Medicaid and CHIP for so many Texas families.

 


 

 

CDF-Texas: 1 of 10 Nationally Recognized for Excellence

ECHOES Award Presented by CMS

In an official announcement this month, the United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recognized CDF-Texas as one of ten organizations nationally (and the only one in Texas) for excellent and effective local efforts to connect eligible uninsured children to affordable health coverage through CHIP and Children's Medicaid.

In a statement to the press, CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D. said, "These honorees have not only helped to improve participation in health coverage, but also have enriched our understanding of the best ways to help consumers obtain and keep health coverage."

Also mentioned were Houston-based grocery chain Fiesta Mart, Inc. and the Texas Association of School Administrators for their partnership in CDF's efforts to help meet the needs of vulnerable children and families by implementing excellent child health outreach and enrollment strategies.

Check out the official press release announcing this prestigious honor.

Photo: (L-R) Donna Cohen Ross, Senior Policy Advisor, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, CMS; Kelli King-Jackson, CDF-TX Outreach Director; Victoria Wachino, Director, Children and Adults Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, CMS; Jennifer Ryan, Deputy Director, Children and Adults Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, CMS.


New Report Shows: Medicaid and CHIP Work

Although Texas still ranks highest among states in the rate of uninsured children, we have made good progress in increasing coverage for children and reducing the number of uninsured children over the past three years. That's really great news especially as we continue to see huge increases in the number of poor Texas children during these tough economic times. A new report released this week by our friends at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families (CCF), confirmed the reasons for this success.

In short: Medicaid and CHIP work for families even when our economy doesn't.

CDF-Texas works to remove barriers to coverage and has created innovative, nationally recognized strategies to increase enrollment for eligibile children. Learn more about our work for Texas kids and the statewide campaign ensuring Texas kids can see a doctor when they need to. 


Blogging for Change

Despite the increase in childhood poverty, our state and nation have managed to reduce the number of children going without health insurance during these tough economic times thanks to Medicaid and CHIP.   This is great news but there is much work to be done as too many children are still uninsured.


To highlight the importance of connecting uninsured kids with affordable health care coverage, MomsRising and Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families Say Ahhh! blogs recently co-hosted a blog carnival.  Never heard of a blog carnival?  Check it out here and see what our very own Kelli King-Jackson had to say in her blog-post, titled: Waiting on the World to Change.


 

Houston, Save the Date: Thurs 5/3/2012

 

Beat the Odds presentation

On behalf of our Houston event co-chairs Arvia and Jason Few and Ileana and J. Michael Treviño, we'd like to invite you to save the date for Houston's 2012 Beat the Odds awards – a celebration of extraordinary young people. The annual spring event will take place Thursday, May 3rd at the Hilton Post Oak in Houston.

Few events serve as such an inspiration, celebration and affirmation of the positive potential of young people as does the Beat the Odds luncheon.

The CDF Beat the Odds awards raise awareness of the many challenges facing Texas children and serves as a stirring reminder of the need for continued advocacy to improve and change the odds for more than 6 million children in Texas. We hope you'll join us and help to support our continued work.

If you've never witnessed a Beat the Odds ceremony, check out these moving videos to get a glimpse of the impact.

For advance reservations or underwriting opportunities, please contact Anat Kelman Shaw or visit the Beat the Odds page of our website.


It's Official, We're Moving!

After nearly ten years of working to improve the lives of Texas children from the corner of Bissonnet and Newcastle in Bellaire, TX we will be officially packing up our campaign gear and relocating our state office headquarters. But, don't worry we're not travelling far, or even out of the same zip code.

Effective December 12, 2011 our new physical address will be 5410 Bellaire St, Suite 203, Bellaire, Texas, 77401.  All other forms of contact including: phone, fax, email, and web will remain the same.  To reach CDF-TX by mail, you can still send letters to P.O. Box 819, Bellaire, Texas 77402-0819.

While we have thoroughly enjoyed officing in our current spot, situated directly upstairs from a neighborhood Head Start, and managed by an organization with a long history of changing lives and building vibrant communities, we have simply outgrown the functionality and limitations of our existing space.

Please consider a year-end tax-deductible gift to CDF-Texas to help support and grow our work to provide a strong, effective, and independent voice for all children in Texas who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. We need your support, stand with us today.

in this edition

Social Media Campaign Tells Real Texas Stories 

CDF-Texas: 1 of 10 Nationally Recognized for Excellence

New Report Shows: Medicaid and CHIP Work

Blogging for Change

Houston, Save the Date: Thurs 5/3/12

It's Official, We're Moving!

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Copyright © 2011, Children's Defense Fund–Texas. All Rights Reserved.
4500 Bissonnet St., Ste 260, Bellaire, TX 77401 | (877) 664-4080 cdftexas@childrensdefense.org

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