November 2024

November 2024 Newsletter 

Attention Monroe County adults! Healthi Kids and the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities invite you to participate in a brief play survey. If you live in Monroe County and care about healthier kids and opportunities for play, we want to hear from you.

We are looking for people who care about, and want to improve, opportunities for play in Monroe County. The survey is in English and Spanish. Share your thoughts today.

Kids are invited to speak at a town hall

Kids are invited to share what they are thinking about and feeling at a Kid's Town Hall from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at Phillis Wheatley Library. At the town hall, kids can share concerns about the future and meet people who make decisions and support the community. They will get a chance to tell decision makers what kids need to be and feel safe. To sign up, email kidsadvocating@gmail.com.

A Win for Kids: CHP and Medicaid continuous enrollment approved

New York has been approved to offer continuous health insurance coverage for children younger than six in Child Health Plus and Medicaid, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Nov. 22. This change will ensure more than 800,000 children and their families do not have gaps in Medicaid and Child Health Plus coverage.

As of September 2024, more than 2.5 million children younger than 18 years old are enrolled in Medicaid and Child Health Plus. These programs provide comprehensive health benefits for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including low-income families with children, seniors, children in foster care, pregnant women and people with disabilities. Learn more. 

ADA Transition Plan Survey Open Until Nov. 27

Healthi Kids has been participating in the City of Rochester's Americans with Disabilities Act Sidewalk Plan Steering Committee. The project will be looking at all of the sidewalks and pedestrian curb cuts in the City of Rochester for ADA compliance. The city will develop a plan to bring them all up to code. As part of this effort, the city is encouraging people to take this public survey.

This survey will close on Nov. 27, 2024.

Professional development for courts focuses on early childhood mental health

Sarah Fitzgibbons, clinical infant mental health mentor with the Society for the Protection and Care of Children, Stephanie David, Healthi Kids' director of early childhood policy, and Julie Gordon, a retired family court lawyer, introduced infant and early childhood mental health at Monroe County Family Court for family court professionals in November.

The event offered professional development credit for attorneys and social workers and was organized by The Monroe County Child Welfare Court Improvement Project. They spoke about why it is important to consider infant and early childhood mental health during family court/welfare proceedings. The professional development also generated interest from other counties. To learn more about infant and early childhood mental health, click here.

Thank you to our Healthi Kids fall interns

Join us in thanking fall semester interns from Madison “Maddie” Shiuh and Selena Davis from the University of Rochester and Heather Hoyt from Nazareth University. Shiuh is serving as a Healthi Kids Change Agenda “Refresh” Intern, and Davis’ role is as a Healthi Kids Healthy Learning Environments and Equitable Communities Initiatives Intern.

Shiuh brought to the role a strong research background and a social justice orientation with a demonstrated commitment to closing disparity gaps in maternal and child health. She has experience with hospital patients as an emergency department volunteer, a patient discharge volunteer and as a children’s camp counselor. With Healthi Kids, she is conducting research to ensure that Healthi Kids’ policy goals are informed by current research and best practices and identify potential gaps and opportunities in our work. 

Davis, a junior with a career goal of an MPH, has community outreach experience, having previously worked in the Equity and Community Health Department at Massachusetts General Hospital. At Healthi Kids, she is assisting in parent recruitment for RCSD wellness initiatives. She is providing research support for advocacy for state public health initiatives. Also, she is getting an up-close view of Food Policy Coalition and statewide food policy coalitions.

Hoyt, a Project RISE fellow with Nazareth University, is studying for her Speech Language Pathology Master's degree. Project RISE is the Rochester Scholars for Early Intervention is designed to strengthen the early childhood workforce and to promote the development and well-being of young children (ages 0-8) and children with different abilities.

Thank you to all three of our interns!

Learn more about Indigenous cultures this month

November is Native American Heritage Month. Learn more about the Indigenous cultures through these kid-friendly resources:

•    PBS Kids' show Molly of Denali, which was co-created with Alaska Natives communities and is full of cultural representation and Native language. It is the first kid’s show to feature a Native person as the lead character. Watch it on PBS Kids, Amazon, and YouTube. 
•    Netflix has a show for children called Spirit Rangers. Not only does Spirit Rangers have an all-Native writers' room, the show's actors, artists, composers, choreographers, sound designers and more are Indigenous. Spirit Rangers showcases multiple tribal stories, languages and imagery, with the permission 

Upcoming event

Native Made Market - Indigenous artists, entrepreneurs, educators, speakers and supporters will take part in the Native Made Market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 30 at High Falls, 60 Brown's Race, Rochester.