Ensure Health
No matter where we live or what we look like, we all deserve to live safe and healthy lives. However, over decades, Wisconsin lawmakers have chosen the wealthy few over our communities. This has resulted in unprecedented disparities in education, income, housing and more—the social determinants of our communities’ health. And, some lawmakers have chosen to play politics instead of providing the health care that our communities desperately need. When we work together and address the root causes of health inequities, we give everyone the opportunity to live happier, healthier lives.
With partners at the Noble Community Health Center’s Children’s Health Day, August 2024, in Wautoma.
Badgercare vs Medicaid
Medicaid provides health insurance for more than one million people in Wisconsin. BadgerCare, one of several Medicaid programs, is health insurance for kids, parents, and adults with low incomes who typically don’t have access to coverage through their job. Medicaid also offers long term care for people with disabilities and older adults who need support to stay independent in their communities.
Learn more about Medicaid vs BadgerCare here.
Advocating for Health Care Coverage for All Wisconsin Residents
Physical and mental health care is a human right and access to care is essential for a just society. No matter someone’s race, how much money they make, or where they were born we all deserve comprehensive, affordable, quality health care. We are working for that future, but we know we have a long way to go.
Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act provides health care for one in four people living in Wisconsin. Through community and partner informed research, data-analysis, advocacy, and education we work to strengthen, protect, and improve Medicaid and access to affordable health coverage and care.
We team up with providers, patients, workers, advocates, and other stakeholders to push for policies such as extending postpartum Medicaid coverage, fully expanding Medicaid, and making it easier for people to get the care they need Medicaid and insurance providers covering care provided by doulas, community health workers, and other trusted sources of care close to communities.
Sharing personal stories that we can bring to the state capital is one of the most powerful ways to join the fight for a just healthcare system.
Proposed State Legislation for Short-term Health Insurance Has Many Shortcomings
A bill in the Wisconsin state senate expanding short-term health insurance plans would make things worse for Wisconsinites. Short-term Health Insurance Plans, which currently offer limited health coverage for periods of less than a year, are being marketed more...
2020 Poverty Guidelines Shed Light on Health Policy Debates
The new federal poverty guidelines, which are adjusted for inflation each January, provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by low-income working families, and they help illustrate why state and federal policymakers ought to help more Americans gain...
BadgerCare Changes Move Health Care Backwards in Wisconsin
Beginning in February, Wisconsin will start implementing changes to BadgerCare (Wisconsin’s Medicaid program for low-income families) that make health care less accessible for low-income Wisconsinites who do not have children. Medicaid helps people with disabilities,...
Healthy Food & Active Kids
Nourishing food and safe, inviting physical activity are a basic need for every child in Wisconsin. But, some lawmakers choose to line the pocketbooks of Wisconsin’s wealthy few instead of reinvesting our tax dollars back into our communities. Both Wisconsin’s urban and rural communities are too often in food deserts where healthy food is expensive and hard to access. Many communities and neighborhoods don’t have safe, inviting playgrounds and outdoor spaces. Mental health is suffering.
Kids Forward helps lead two statewide coalitions that work to improve nutrition security and physical activity, as well as opportunities for outdoor learning and play. Learning where our food comes from: gardening and cooking are essential as we “Grow Healthy Kids”.
Together we have developed resources and trainings, provided financial support, and partnered with state agencies and local organizations to get kids outside and eating locally grown food.
Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub
We have partnered with the USDA and Illinois Public Health Institute to launch the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub. We’re funding collaborations with farmers, food suppliers, food service directors, community-based program leaders and more to strengthen the K-12 food supply chain.
Healthy Early
A statewide, cross-sector partnership, Healthy Early is working to create equitable opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity for Wisconsin kids and families. Kids Forward currently serves as a convener for the coalition.
To learn more, contact Daithi Wolfe.
Healthy Early leaders at their first in-person retreat in April 2024.
Improving Language Access in Wisconsin
In 2024, Kids Forward and the Multicultural Coalition launched our Language Access Awareness Campaign. This partnership grew out of a need to address language barriers not only at the direct service level, but also at the systems and policy level. To ensure families can access services and meet their basic needs, communities must work collectively to provide meaningful language access services up front, not just translations by request.
Wisconsin currently does not have a statewide language access plan, although some counties and state agencies have prepared their own. Now is the time for local and state governments to get proactive about creating robust language plans and ensuring that all families, regardless of language, can access the critical resources they need. Contact your legislators and Governor Tony Evers to ask them to support the implementation of a statewide language access plan.
To learn more, contact Amanda Martinez.
With the Multicultural Coalition Inc, in October 2024 we brought together advocates and service providers in the Fox Valley to share challenges and solutions around language access.
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Research & Publications
Mental Health: A Behavioral Health System that Better Supports Counties and Schools
Everyone in Wisconsin, regardless of what county they live in, deserves to live in a community that supports their health and wellness, including access to quality, affordable mental health and substance use disorder services. Governor Evers’ proposed budget expands access to behavioral health care, strengthens schools’ abilities to provide mental health supports to students, invests in peer support, and provides millions in funding to county behavioral health services.
Guns Are Now Killing More Young Adults in Wisconsin than Cars
More young adults in Wisconsin have been killed with guns than with cars in recent years, a grim trend that demonstrates the degree to which state and national leaders lack the political will necessary to address gun violence in our communities. In 2016, 201 young...
Lives Cut Too Short: Kids Killed by Guns and Our Failure to Protect Them
PDF of this report. Written by Tamarine Cornelius with contributions from Michelle Robinson and other staff members from Kids Forward. In order for every child in Wisconsin to thrive, we must protect them from things that will harm them and cut their lives short....
Proposed Farm Bill Will Leave Millions of Kids and Families Hungry
The following blog, written by Jon Peacock, Research Director for Kids Forward, was originally published on the Wisconsin Budget Project website. Congress is expected to vote sometime this month on a bill that will leave millions of children and families hungry. If it...
2017-2018 Legislative Summaries
Wisconsin state lawmakers wrapped up the 2017-2018 legislative session in March. During the session they passed several bills affecting K-12 education, health care, taxes, and public assistance. To learn more about specific bills, please read our legislative...
Public Assistance: 2017-2018 Legislative Summary
PDF of this summary. Advocates were surprised this year when a sweeping package of changes to public assistance was introduced late in the legislative session and was quickly approved by the legislature. Within just a few weeks of when they were introduced, the...
Health Care: 2017-2018 Legislative Summary
PDF of this summary. The Wisconsin State Legislature considered a very wide range of bills relating to health care during the 2017-2018 legislative session. This overview summarizes a small but significant portion of that legislation, specifically bills related to...
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