Latest news with #Mama'sMarch
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Data-informed budget priorities: the key to success for Michigan's kids
Moms and their kids line up for a picture on the Michigan State Capitol Building steps after the annual "Mama's March" on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Good decisions start with good data. These are the opening words of the 2025 KIDS COUNT® Data Book released this month to give us a broad overview of how children are doing across the country. And right now, the data is telling us that we need to do more to meet the needs of kids in Michigan. Each year, the Data Book ranks states along four domains — economic security, education, health, and family and community — using 16 indicators of child well-being from trusted state and federal data sources. This year's data shows that progress is happening in Michigan. More children have access to health insurance, fewer children live in high-poverty areas and fewer children are being born to teens. But other areas highlight the need for urgent policy action. By far the area of greatest concern in Michigan is in education. Michigan is ranked 44th nationally — in the bottom ten states and the lowest in the Midwest. Academic performance has worsened nationally, but Michigan's outcomes are particularly concerning, as the vast majority of students are not proficient in basic skills. Michigan ranks 33rd for child well-being in annual report with education among the nation's worst The poor ranking is driven primarily by the worsening trend in fourth-grade reading proficiency, where we outperform only three states. Just 1 in 4 students in Michigan is proficient in fourth-grade reading. This trend highlights the unprecedented learning loss during and after the pandemic and the extreme toll chronic absenteeism is taking on academic performance. Some of this is a reflection of how we invest in students and schools. In a recent report, EdTrust-Midwest demonstrated how Michigan's education revenue growth has not kept up with other states, leading to persistent underfunding for at-risk students for many years. Although Michigan's new Opportunity Index provides a roadmap to addressing these inequities, legislators in Michigan have failed to provide adequate funding. The challenges facing schools, teachers and students will only grow in the coming months as Michigan House leadership has willfully refused to lay out a budget proposal, threatening the ability of districts to plan for the upcoming school year. Meanwhile, both the Senate and governor have proposed a budget that fails to provide increased funding for weights for students at the highest risk: students who are economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities and English-language learners. Addressing the needs of students also extends beyond the classroom, including ensuring children have access to a warm bed at night, healthy food to eat and a safe way to get to school. All children deserve to have their needs met, and policymakers have a responsibility to meet those needs by making smart policy choices guided by data and evidence. In 2023, 18% of children in Michigan — more than 365,000 young people — were living in poverty. One in 4 children (more than half a million in total) lived in a household where the family spent more than 30% of their income on housing, a financial burden that makes it difficult for families to afford other essentials. Unfortunately, right now many of the most successful programs to meet the needs of children and young adults are being threatened in Congress. Access to health care, food assistance, and the Child Tax Credit are all under attack from lawmakers who care more about providing tax breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations than the well-being of the children living here in our state. If we want to give our kids the best chance to thrive in adulthood and in the workforce, we need to position them for success now by supporting family economic security and access to programs and services that are essential for children's healthy development. As our state and federal lawmakers work on passing their respective budgets this summer, we call on leaders to act boldly where needed and rely on what we know works. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Michigan moms call attention to threats to Medicaid and health care during annual ‘Mama's March'
Moms and their kids line up for a picture on the Michigan State Capitol Building steps after the annual "Mama's March" on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Waving back at her young daughters in the crowd, Lansing-area birth and postpartum doula Kendra Smith told attendees of the annual 'Mama's March' outside the Michigan State Capitol Wednesday that in order to promote healthy families, Medicaid and systems of support need to be preserved. There's a lot of concern from different advocacy and service groups at the moment as Republicans in Congress have floated proposals for cutting hundreds of billions of dollars to Medicaid which funds services and care for individuals who have low incomes or disabilities. Medicaid is not a line item easily crossed out without grave repercussions, Smith said. Medicaid often means the difference between a mother going to a postpartum check-up appointment to determine if she needs medical attention, or not going to that check-up appointment, Smith said, adding that those appointments provide access to prenatal vitamins, lactation support and birth in a hospital. 'For Black and brown moms who are already navigating higher risk and barriers, Medicaid often makes the difference between life and death, and that's not hyperbole. That's reality,' Smith said. National data reflects that Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregancy-related causes than their white counterparts and Michigan state data reflects the same reality where Black mothers were nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white mothers. In order to comply with the spending plans and priorities of President Donald Trump's administration, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which regulates Medicaid amongst other governernment programs, is currently looking at how to save $880 billion, with Medicaid on the chopping block. For the last decade, typically more than 40% of births in Michigan have been funded, at least in-part, through Medicaid programs, according to reporting from the Michigan League for Public Policy. Medicaid provides care to those most vulnerable in Michigan, who might not have access to quality housing, nutrition or prenatal or postnatal educational resources, Smith said. Attendees listen to speakers at the annual "Mama's March" outside the Michigan Capitol Building on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Attendees listen to speakers at the annual "Mama's March" outside the Michigan Capitol Building on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Bridget Leonard, a Michigan-based nurse, speaks at the annual "Mama's March" outside the Michigan Capitol Building on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Moms and their kids line up for a picture on the Michigan State Capitol Building steps after the annual "Mama's March" on April 30, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols 'So when that funding is cut, we're not pulling access, we're pulling care from the very families that need it most. We're making it harder to close the gap and easier for preventable tragedies to continue,' Smith said. 'I'm asking you to stay loud, call your lawmakers, share your stories and fight for your families, because every parent deserves to be helped. Every child deserves to be born into a system that's ready to care for them, not cut them loose.' As the approximately 100 attendees headed off to seek out state lawmakers to urge preservation of Medicaid-funded services, Aisha Wells, deputy director of organizing for Mothering Justice, which sponsored the rally, told the Michigan Advance that she hopes state lawmakers in the predominately white Legislature remember their districts all have moms and people of color and residents who rely on Medicaid. As the mother of a teenage son and baby boy, Wells said she remembers not being listened to as a Black woman during her first pregnancy, dealing with doctors who shut down her concerns, but later determined her oldest son had obstructive congenital hydrocephalus which impacts the brain. And though mothers of color in the Michigan state Legislature like Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) and Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) are leading the charge in combating adverse health outcomes for moms of color, Wells said, all lawmakers should be fighting to preserve health care for families in their district. 'Everybody in your community is important. They matter. If one of us is being harmed, we're all being harmed,' Wells said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mothering Justice's Mama's March 2025 begins today at State Capitol
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)– Grassroots policy advocacy organization Mothering Justice has held marches for over a decade to champion mothers of color. Today at noon, they'll be at the state Capitol for Mama's March 2025. Organizers say the event is for everyone, even those who don't think they're affected. After the march, people will have the chance to stay for activities. Aisha Wells, the deputy director of campaigns, notes that the marches are important because people don't always realize that they have the power to compel change; lawmakers are elected officials who are accountable to their constituents and not the other way around. The Mama's March is typically held around this time of year in order to coincide with Mother's Day. Mothering Justice's advocacy agenda includes affordable child care, earned and/or paid sick time, and reproductive justice. These issues affect working parents and caregivers as well as moms. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
