Age, Gender & Gender Identities

The United States (U.S.) faces urgent health challenges, including poor maternal and childhood health outcomes, childhood obesity, opioid use disorder, cancer, and chronic conditions, which require personalized care tailored to each patient’s unique circumstances.

KEY POINTS

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-432) requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare an annual report to Congress on indicators and predictors of “welfare dependence.” That Act requires the report to include three programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

Patients, clinicians, decision makers, and other stakeholders depend on robust, evidence-based information to make informed health care decisions. Linking Medicaid data to other sources enables a deeper understanding of how Medicaid services and interventions influence health outcomes.

The Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP): Use of Guardianship is Growing, but Lags Adoption Assistance and is Unevenly Used Across States May 2026 Administration for Children and Families & Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation 

Background. Accurately estimating the prevalence of intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in the United States remains a challenge, with reported rates varying widely (3%-17%) based on the definitions and data sources used.

This brief address the HHS programs that fund evidence-based home visiting models. It provides a high-level comparison of the primary federal funding streams supporting home visiting. Key points are:

Behavioral health (BH) conditions are rising among older adults, who are less likely to receive mental health (MH) or substance use disorder (SUD) treatment compared to younger adults. This study examined the availability of care for older adults in outpatient BH facilities across the United States both quantitatively and qualitatively.

In the U.S., about 11 percent of people ages 18 to 64 living in the community have a disability. Health conditions that cause disability can negatively affect the human capital development of children and the ability of adults to engage in the labor force.

Children, youth, and families have unique health needs, which set the foundation for health across the life course; chronic conditions now affect nearly one in three U.S. children, with disproportionate prevalence in those enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.