Approximately 50% of LDC families access care using Medicaid. Many of these families are at risk of losing coverage under the latest legislation – let’s look at why that is.
Under the new rules individuals need to work or volunteer for at least 80 hours per month to qualify for coverage; while many people think this seems reasonable at first glance it is highly discriminatory of many different vulnerable populations including (but not limited to) seniors, differently abled people, and caregivers supporting children with additional needs. LDC families accessing Medicaid fall into the latter category, and for parents and guardians managing children with significant mental health challenges these new rules are incredibly concerning.
When a child is struggling with their mental health their ability to attend school, daycare, or aftercare programs is often significantly impacted, leaving their guardians scrambling to find appropriate care to enable them to attend and maintain their employment. The Kids Mental Health Foundation’s 2022 study, The Great Divide, found:
- A majority of working parents and caregivers said their work is affected by their children’s mental health and behavior;
- A meaningful portion of working parents and caregivers are significantly disrupted, including feelings of stress, distraction and even hopelessness;
- Half of those parents who need help the most are afraid of losing their jobs or facing other negative consequences if these concerns interfered with their work.
Families in lower socio-economic brackets are especially at risk of losing their job due to family responsibilities; the majority of these caregivers are working one or more minimum wage jobs that rarely have flexibility for their personal situations and often consider them easily replaceable. Many caregivers in this situation can end up unemployed in order to manage their child(ren)’s daily needs, which often includes attending services or appointments multiple times per week. LDC works closely with families to provide the therapeutic intervention services they need, and with time and consistency we have an excellent track record of mitigating mental health challenges and helping families return to a more typical schedule that includes regular school attendance and uninterrupted work hours. While all children respond to treatment at different rates, the average timeline we expect to see is between 9-18 months. Medicaid has been a lifeline for these families as it ensures that their child can get the treatment they need even when finances are tight due to interrupted employment; with treatment most of these individuals are able to return to work within a year of having to step away, without they will be stuck in a cycle of worsening mental health and ongoing un- or under-employment.
LDC Story – Maria and Marisol
Maria (not her real name) found herself a single parent of three children aged five, three, and eighteen months after her husband’s immigration status was revoked. All the children were deeply affected by the separation from their father, but five year old Marisol had an especially hard time. LDC originally met Maria and Marisol through our SecurePath program when Marisol was identified at age three as not achieving the expected milestones to be on track to be kindergarten ready; with the help of her SecurePath therapist, a Speech Therapist, and an Occupational Therapist she began to catch up and was able to enter Kindergarten on time alongside her peers. After losing her father, however, Marisol became incredibly withdrawn, clingy, stopped talking, and refused to go to school on a daily basis. On days when Maria was able to get her daughter to school it would be a matter of an hour or two before she received a call from administration asking her to collect her.
Maria’s employer was sympathetic during the early days of her becoming a single parent, but as time went on and she had to miss more and more work due to Marisol’s needs they apologetically informed her that they had to let her go. Maria reached out to her old SecurePath therapist and helped connect her with a member of LDC’s Farley Manning Family Guidance team where Marisol began to see her clinician twice a week. Over the next six months Marisol slowly began to communicate again and work on the extreme separation anxiety that manifested after her father left, and eight months later she was able to return to return to a full day of school and Maria was able to start looking for a job. Having access to Medicaid during her unemployment allowed Maria to secure appropriate treatment for her child, focus on her healing and growth, and ensure that this challenge was a temporary problem rather than a chronic one. Maria was able to return to work, and has also begun an online course of study in Early Childhood Education following her experiences with Marisol.
According to 2023 numbers from a Georgetown study 28.2% of children in Wake County rely on Medicaid for their health insurance; based on census data from the same year that would be more than 335,000 minors, with almost 143,000 of those being aged 0-9. In 2022 KFF polled State Medicaid programs to get a better understanding of what they covered and how many providers would accept Medicaid as part of their practice. While almost all intervention therapies are covered under pediatric Medicaid, only 36% of psychiatrists accepted new Medicaid patients, leaving children in need with long wait times and at high risk of negative outcomes. LDC does not discriminate on the basis of insurance and aims to never turn a child away due to finances. Last year we provided over $170,000 in financial aid to our families and we expect this number to rise sharply based on the new legislation.
Mental health issues and poverty go hand in hand and the cycle of poverty is incredibly hard to break. The best indicator of future success for a child is to graduate high school, yet the graduation rate for children with mental illness is just 40%; for those already in a lower socioeconomic situation their chances of finding success as adults is depressingly slim. Early intervention is key to helping these children succeed in school, develop meaningful relationships, and have the chance to earn a living wage in the future while parents being able to attend work or school while their children work towards graduation is key to helping families ultimately break the poverty cycle within a generation.
These cuts will hurt families and children working hard to create a new path for themselves. LDC is committed to making sure that families are given their best chance to thrive rather than just survive, please help us by supporting our work by donating, telling your network about us, and advocating for children in need.
