Nevada news briefs

Nevada Makes big jump for Reaching Uninsured Kids

LAS VEGAS — Nevada made more progress than any other state in the U.S. in a new report that documents each state’s track record when it comes to dropping its population of uninsured children.

Nevada’s statewide legal services advocacy coordinator Jon Sasser says Medicaid expansion was the biggest factor driving the Silver State’s progress in reaching more kids with health insurance coverage.

“Gov. Brian Sandoval, to his credit, was the first Republican governor in the United States to adopt Medicaid expansion,” says Sasser. “States that brought adults into the system brought children with them at a much higher rate than states that did not.”

Nevada still has a long way to go. The report from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families ranks Nevada 48th in the nation for percentage of uninsured children. The good news is the state saw the biggest improvement in 2015, with a drop of nearly 35 percent in the number of uninsured kids.

Denise Tanata Ashby, executive director with the Children’s Advocacy Alliance in Las Vegas, says plenty of good things happen when tens of thousands of children gain access to coverage.

“As kids have health insurance, they’re more likely to see a doctor on a regular basis and get preventive care,” she says. “Not only does it save the state and families money in the long run, but it also makes sure that these kids are healthy and active.”

Sasser says it’s worth noting just how many kids Nevada was able to reach out to over the past year.

“In terms of numbers of children, in 2013 we had 98,509 children uninsured, and within just one year we dropped that to 63,000,” he says. “So we’re very happy about this progress.”

The report also notes that children in rural areas, raised in Hispanic families, and those on the edge of poverty are the most likely to be uninsured.

Judges Across U.S. Look to Reno for Help

RENO — It is an issue that is gaining plenty of national attention this month, and odds are few Nevadans know Reno is the place many judges across the U.S. turn to when they need expert advice on domestic-violence cases.

Eryn Branch, program director for domestic relations with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, says her group has spent the past two decades helping more than 60,000 judges and professionals who deal with domestic-violence issues.

“Our main mission is to make sure our Juvenile and Family Court Judges are so competent around the issues of domestic violence, children exposed to domestic violence, and helpful interventions,” says Branch.

The group was founded in 1937 and started educating judicial officers on domestic violence in 2004. The group recently received 10 awards totaling more than $4 million in funding for their work on domestic violence.

Branch says the group provides expert help to judges and judicial officers in Nevada and many more across the nation.

“You have a tendency to kind of overlook people who are in your backyard and yet we have judges that are in Minneapolis and San Antonio and Naples, Fla., asking, ‘Can you help?,’” she says. “So, we are here to help everyone.”

Branch says the funding will help the group get the word out in Nevada and the nation for those in the justice system who deal with issues such as teen-dating violence, elder abuse, child protection, firearms and children exposed to domestic violence.