Network News

New Learning Platform Provides Guidance on Implementing the National Research Agenda  

It's exciting to see more and more research focusing on improving health systems for children and youth with special health care needs. To ensure research and projects are well-coordinated, we developed an interactive learning platform based on our national research agenda on health systems.

The online learning platform describes and provides guidance on how to implement elements of the national health systems research agenda developed by CYSHCNet in 2019-21. It is easy to navigate and provides challenges you may face, tips on organizing the study, and examples of potential projects.

Please share this link with anyone in your network who is interested in taking a deeper dive into the research agenda.

Member Spotlight

How Katie Freundlich, MD, Aims to Help CYSHCNet Move its Research Forward

“Really good ideas need help along the way to reach their full potential, so it’s about getting the information in the hands of people who can also carry the baton for the next step.”

Katie's superpower is organization. As lead of the dissemination committee, she intends to harness her organizational skills to get CYSHCNet research into the hands of those who need it and can implement it. Read more about Katie and how she is improving lives for children and families in clinical care and beyond. 

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LANGUAGE: This project is supported by CYSHCNet, which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under UA6MC31101 Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Research Network. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, and the U.S. Government.

In the News

• More Children Have Gained Health Insurance During Pandemic. In an unusual piece of good news, a new analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey that was conducted by researchers at Georgetown University suggests that child uninsurance rates have actually dropped slightly since before the pandemic. The researchers attribute this “small but significant” change (from 5.7% in 2019 to 5.4% in 2021) to a congressional provision that states cannot drop individuals from Medicaid during the pandemic. This positive change is likely only temporary, as the aforementioned provision is set to expire in January.
• Shattered Dreams and Bills in the Millions: Losing a Baby in America. In the United States, more than 300,000 infants per year require a stay in the NICU after birth due to medical complications. This being the U.S. health care system, the cost to families of these services is often ridiculously high, and there are insufficient resources available to help families pay the bills. When the unthinkable happens and an infant dies, these costs don’t go anywhere. Families are left having to manage astronomical medical bills along with their grief. This article briefly unpacks the broken system that allows this to happen, and also highlights three cases in particular.
• Launch of the WHO Guide for Integration of Perinatal Mental Health in Maternal and Child Health Services. Mental health problems are not uncommon among women prior-to and following childbirth. Left untreated, this can have long-term impacts on the mental and physical health of mother and child alike. In order to help respond to this on a global scale, the World Health Organization has released a new guide for integrating perinatal mental health into regular maternal/child health health care. This article briefly outlines this release, and also includes a link to the guide itself.
• Pediatric Mental Health Crisis: Propelling the Surgeon General’s Advice to Action. In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General declared a national youth mental health crisis. Along with raising awareness of the problem, this declaration outlined five recommendations for providers/health care systems. This editorial from the Families, Systems, and Health seeks to place and expand upon these recommendations within the context of pediatric integrated care. 

CYSHCNet is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under UA6MC31101 Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Research Network. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, and the U.S. Government. Website

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