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Voices for Ohio’s Children and American Academy Of Pediatrics Ohio Chapter Give Legislative, Media Awards

Columbus Today at a luncheon held to highlight children’s issues in the current state budget debate, Voices for Ohio’s Children and the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics gave awards to four legislators and one reporter for their work on behalf of Ohio’s children.

Citing the awardees’ commitment to “the well being of our most precious resource—children,” leaders from both organizations presented awards to:

Columbus Dispatch reporter Cathy Candiskey, for her coverage of Ohio’s SCHIP program and the modest investments required to cover all uninsured Ohio children;

Senator Tom Niehaus-R, New Richmond, for his work to strengthen Ohio’s child welfare system;

Representative Mike Skindell-D, Lakewood, for his bipartisan work to support increased investments in early care and education and health care expansion for children and parents

Representative Jimmy Stewart-R, Albany, for introducing House Bill 6 to expand Medicaid coverage to 300% of the federal poverty level and for his work leading the Health and Human Services Subcommittee

Representative Fred Strahorn-D, Dayton, for his work to ensure that every child in Ohio has access to a first rate public education including preschool and all day kindergarten

The luncheon’s keynote address, “The Importance of Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Ohio’s Children,” was given by Dr. Robert Needlman, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland and an associate professor of pediatrics at Case School of Medicine.

In his remarks to the group of more than 100 advocates and child-serving professionals gathered in the Statehouse Atrium, Needlman emphasized the importance of maintaining the strong foundation for children laid in Governor Strickland’s proposed budget and the House budget passed on May 1 as well as advocating for the final state budget to support the Medicaid premium participation program that would give all of Ohio’s uninsured children access to affordable health care; allow children aging out of the foster care system to keep Medicaid coverage until age 21; restore Medicaid for working parents from 90% to 100% FPL; provide additional funding for behavioral health treatment for young children; and reinstate $2.5 million for early childhood mental health consultation.

In response to Needlman’s remarks and the awards presentation, Voices Executive Director Amy Swanson said, “Given the tough economic picture and the difficult tasks our state leaders face, I can’t think of a better place for people who care about Ohio’s children to be than here with us today. I know that everyone has been working hard to encourage our leaders to invest in programs and services for Ohio’s children and their families, but our job is far from complete. We still have 51 days left until the budget must be signed on June 30th. We need to be diligent in reminding our elected officials that we need to make smart investments in Ohio’s future—our children.”

Voices for Ohio’s Children is the non-partisan voice of nearly 3 million Ohio children. Voices works collaboratively with more than 100 partners to make changes in public policy that improve the health, safety and education of all Ohio children and their families.

The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics promotes the well being of children and adolescents so they may reach their full potential. The Ohio AAP accomplishes this by addressing the needs of children, their families, and their communities, and by supporting Chapter members through advocacy, education, research, service, and improving the systems through which they deliver pediatric care.

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Amy Nicholls Swanson
Executive Director
330-472-4350
aswanson@vfc-oh.org