Adopting a cat can make a big difference for kids with autism, new research suggests.

Children with the developmental disorder showed increased empathy and experienced fewer problem behaviors after welcoming a pet cat into their homes. They also displayed less separation anxiety, externalizing, bullying and hyperactivity or inattention.

The findings come from a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing looking at 11 families with children with autism ages 6 to 14. Four of the families adopted a cat from a shelter right away and were followed for 18 weeks. The remaining families were monitored for the initial 18-week period at which point they adopted shelter cats and were followed for another 18 weeks.

A small private airplane landed at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks on Wednesday night, and delivered sweetness, joy and hope to nine families waiting on the tarmac.

Nine 8-week-old puppies, which were flown from California, were carried off the plane one by one and handed over to the people who will begin their training to become assistance dogs for the disabled.

The fluffy little golden retriever-Labrador retriever mixes, some golden and some black, were bred by Canine Companions for Independence. CCI, based in Santa Rosa, California, has trained and placed 6,741 assistance dogs to homes all over the country since it was founded in 1975.

When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line.

Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will remain largely flat, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark.

Because both of the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are two-dose regimens, the Trump administration’s initial policy was to hold back second doses to protect against the possibility of manufacturing disruptions. But that approach shifted in recent weeks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

These officials were told that Operation Warp Speed, which is overseeing the distribution of vaccines, stopped stockpiling second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of last year. The last shots held in reserve of Moderna’s supply, meanwhile, began shipping out over the weekend.

The shift, in both cases, had to do with increased confidence in the supply chain, so that Operation Warp Speed leaders felt they could reliably anticipate the availability of doses for booster shots — required three weeks later in the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech product and four weeks later under Moderna’s protocol.

But it also meant there was no stockpile of second doses waiting to be shipped, as Trump administration officials suggested this week. Azar, at a Tuesday briefing, said, “Because we now have a consistent pace of production, we can now ship all of the doses that had been held in physical reserve.” He explained the decision as part of the “next phase” of the nation’s vaccination campaign.

Federal funding to support respite care for families of those with disabilities and other special needs will increase dramatically under legislation signed by President Donald Trump this month.

The measure known as the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act increases funding for the Lifespan Respite Care Program to $10 million annually through the 2024 fiscal year. The program supports a system of community-based respite care services across the country.

Previously, funding for the effort stood at just $2.5 million per year.

With Trump’s signature, the bipartisan legislation renews a law that dates back to 2006. Since that time, 41 states have received grants to create resources and help ensure that respite care is available to family caregivers, according to lawmakers behind the bill.

With just a dozen days left in power, the Trump administration on Friday approved a radically different Medicaid financing system in Tennessee that for the first time would give the state broader authority in running the health insurance program for the poor in exchange for capping its annual federal funding.

The approval is a 10-year “experiment.” Instead of the open-ended federal funding that rises with higher enrollment and health costs, Tennessee will instead get an annual block grant. The approach has been pushed for decades by conservatives who say states too often chafe under strict federal guidelines about enrollment and coverage and can find ways to provide care more efficiently.

But under the agreement, Tennessee’s annual funding cap will increase if enrollment grows. What’s different is that unlike other states, federal Medicaid funding in Tennessee won’t automatically keep up with rising per -person Medicaid expenses.

TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, said the block grant system would give it unprecedented flexibility to decide who is covered and what services it will pay for.

Under the agreement, TennCare will have a specified spending cap based on historical spending, inflation and predicted future enrollment changes. If the state can operate the program at a lower cost than the cap and maintain or improve quality, the state then shares in the savings.

Trump administration officials said the approach adds incentive for the state to save money, unlike the current system, in which increased state