| Overview | Health and Nutrition |
State policies that promote health, education, and strong families can help the early development and school readiness of America's youngest citizens. This profile highlights Minnesota's policy choices alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children.
Trends1
Minnesota has maintained access to public health insurance for infants at 280 percent of the federal poverty level, and all other children and their parents at 275 percent of the federal poverty level. This remains the highest income eligibility criteria for working parents in the country. Income eligibility for child care subsidies has declined, from 289 percent of the federal poverty level in 2001 to 170 percent in 2006, and the waiting list for subsidies has grown to almost 5,000 eligible children.
Recent Developments1
In 2005, the legislature established the private, nonprofit Minnesota Early Learning Fund (MELF). The goal of the foundation is to identify cost-effective ways to improve the school readiness of children from birth to age 5. The foundation will raise private funds and leverage public funds to invest in and build support for cost-effective, research-based approaches to early learning.
| Health and Nutrition |
Data Notes and Sources
Last Updated: September 24, 2009
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- The trends and recent developments come from personal communications with state advocates, administrators, and policymakers. The following publications were also consulted:
Donna Cohen Ross, Aleya Horn, and Caryn Marks, Health Coverage for Children and Families in Medicaid and SCHIP: State Efforts Face New Hurdles: A 50-State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2008, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, January 2008 http://www.kff.org (accessed April 11, 2008).
W. Steven Barnett, Jason Hustedt, Allison Friedman, Judi Stevenson Boyd, and Pat Ainsworth, The State of Preschool 2007, National Institute for Early Education Research, 2007.
Karen Schulman and Helen Blank, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2007: Some Steps Forward, More Progress Needed, National Women's Law Center, September 2007.
National Center for Children in Poverty, Map and Track State Initiatives for Young Children and Families, 2000 Edition, 2000
National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Care and Early Education Legislation Highlights 2005, June 2006
National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Care and Early Education Legislation Highlights 2006, unpublished draft
National Governors Association, Front and Center education articles, 2006, http://www.nga.org
ZERO TO THREE, The Baby Monitor, 2006 Policy and Advocacy News Archive, http://www.zerotothree.org - State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2007, 2008, and 2009, representing information from calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2009 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.
- State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2006, 2007, and 2008, representing information from calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2008 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.
- National and state data were calculated from the 2007 American Community Survey.