DIVISION OF CHILD HEALTH POLICY

Division Highlights 

The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities was established in 1995 with the primary mission of fostering interdisciplinary, collaborative research and service programs focusing on children and family health services and systems, and providing technical assistance to policy-makers, community-based health and related service organizations, and researchers. Founding Center goals are to improve the health of children and families, to improve the efficiency, equity, and effectiveness of prevention and health promotion, and to develop child and family sensitive models and standards of health and human services. The UCLA Center is designed to increase communication between academics and community providers, work with managed care organizations and other emerging delivery systems to improve health care for children and families, and to link research, community-based interventions, and training in child and family health. The Center provides expertise and facilitates collaboration in service delivery improvement, child, family, and health needs appraisal, and policy analysis located in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA. Center faculty includes members of the Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCLA as well as faculty from the Schools of Education, Law, Public Policy and Social Research at UCLA and the RAND Corporation.

Faculty Profiles

HALFON, NEAL
Faculty Member Since: 1991
Degrees: MD, University of California, Davis
MPH, University of California, Santa Cruz
Rank: Professor
Research Interests: The provision of developmental service to young children, access to care for poor children, brain development of infants and young children, longitudinal health financing of young children, and delivery of health services to children with special health care needs with particular interest in children who have been abused and neglected and are being cared for by the foster care system.
Grant Support: 7/94-6/00 MCH Training Program. Bureau of Maternal and Child Health
10/96-9/01 National Center for Infancy and Early Childhood Health Policy. Bureau of Maternal and Child Health
3/97-12-99 Improving the Health and Well-Being of Children in Los Angeles: Program for Integrated School and Community Solutions. The California Endowment
5/97-9/00 Analysis of the Commonwealth Fund Survey of Parents with Young Children. The Commonwealth Fund
9/97-9/00TIES for Adoption. County of Los Angeles/Department of Children's Services
1/98-12/03Hope Street Family Center: Early Head Start Program Evaluation. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
2/98-3/00 CIGNA Evaluation: Working Well Moms Lactation Support Program. CignaFoundation
3/98-3/00 Meeting on Longitudinal Financing Options for Children's Health Care: Supporting Investment and Developmental Care. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
4/98-3/01TIES for Adoption. Stuart Foundation
5/98-12/99 Medicaid and Early Childhood Development Services Project. The Commonwealth Fund
9/98-9/03 UCLA Center for Adolescent Health Promotion. (Co-Principal Investigator) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
10/98-10/00American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Children in Foster Care Health Care Assessment. Indian Health Services>
1/99-12/00 National Survey of Parents and Pediatricians. (Co-Principal Investigator) American Academy of Pediatrics
1/99-12/99 Expanding Access and Improving Benefits for California's Children Under Title XXI/Healthy Families. California Policy Seminar
6/99-5/00 Brain Development, Early Childhood and Implications for Parenting and Public Policy. Children's Planning Council
6/99-10/99 Expanding Access and Improving Benefits for California's Children Under Title XXI/Healthy Families. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
7/99-1/00The Future of California's Healthy Start Initiative. California Policy Seminar
9/99-9/00 A Resource Guide for Improving Community-Based Services for California's Youngest Children, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
10/99-9/00 Assisting Schools and Communities, The Stuart Foundation
Teaching: Child Health, Programs, & Policies, UCLA, Winter/Spring
University Service: Community Educational Resource Center (CERC) Advisory Board Office of the Chancellor
Health Services Research Advisory Committee, Office of the Provost UCLA School of Medicine
Community and Alumni Relations Committee, UCLA School of Public Health
Master's Committee, UCLA School of Public Health
UCLA Leadership Training Program in Public Health Nutrition Advisory Committee
Vulnerable Populations Committee, UCLA School of Medicine
Educational Policy & Curriculum Committee, UCLA School of Public Health
Research Advisory Committee, UCLA Robert Wood Johnson Clinical
Scholars Program
Professional Committees: National:
Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the School of Public Health
Advisory Group
Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, Expert Panel, Leading Health Indicators for Year 2010 Objectives
Managed Care & Early Childhood Development Initiative Advisory Board, Children Now
Health Plan Assessment Task Force, Children's Health Measurement Initiative; FAACT, NCQA, AHCPR, HCFA
Council on Child Health and Financing, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI)
Martha May Elliot Award Committee, APHA
MCH Council, Association of Schools of Public Health
Committee on Child Health Financing, American Academy of Pediatrics
Public Policy Committee, Ambulatory Pediatric Association
National Council on Research in Child Welfare, Child Welfare League of America
Policy Advisory Board, Children Now
State:
Los Angeles Educational Partnership, Board of Directors
City of Los Angeles Public Health Task Force: Tobacco Settlement
Expenditure
CCS Pilot Project Advisory Board of the CCS Medi-Cal Managed Care Pilot Project
County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, Strategic Planning Advisory Group
Children 0-5 Task Force, LA County Department of Health Services
Children's Health Initiative, Local Governance Option Working Group, LA County Department of Health Services
CCS Pilot Project Evaluation Steering Committee, California Department of Health Services
ADHOC Advisory Committee on CCS Pilot Project Financing, California Department of Health Services
Advisory Board, California Tomorrow
Los Angeles Roundtable for Children
Steering Committee, Family Impact Seminar, California Research Bureau, California State Library
Board of Directors, Westside Children's Center
Steering Committee, Children & Youth Policy Project, UC Berkeley

Division Publications

  1. Halfon N, Inkelas M, DuPlessis H, Newacheck PW. Challenges in securing access to care for children.

  2. Health Affairs, 18(2):48-63, March/April, 1999.
  3. Halfon N, Newacheck PW. Prevalence and impact of parent-reported disabling mental health conditions among U.S. children. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(5):600-609, 1999.
  4. Halfon N, Inkelas M, Newacheck PW. Enrollment in state child health insurance program: Strategies for evaluation and continuous quality improvement. Milbank Quarterly, 77(2):181-204, 1999.
  5. Fielding F, Sutherland C, Halfon N. Community report cards: Results of a national survey. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 17(1):79-86, 1999.
  6. Hughes DC, Brindis C, Halfon N, Newacheck PW. Integrating children's health services: Lessons from a national demonstration project. Maternal and Child Health Journal (in press) 1999.
  7. Schuster MA, Franke T, Bastian A, Sor S, Halfon N. Gun storage patterns in homes with children in the United States. Archives in Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (in press) 1999.
  8. Sugerman S, Halfon N, Fink A, Anderson MM, Valle L, Brook RH. Duplicating resources in a changing health care system: The case for family planning clinics. Journal of Adolescent Health (in press) 1999.
  9. Newacheck PW, McManus M, Fox HB, Halfon N. Access to health care for children with special health care needs. Pediatrics (in press) 1999.
  10. Newacheck PW, Halfon N, Inkelas M. Monitoring expanded health insurance for children. Journal of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (in press) 1999.
  11. Halfon N. Gonzalez R, Hochstein M. Building bridges for California's children: A 12-point agenda to enhance Proposition 10. UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. Berkeley, CA: California Policy Research Center. March 1999.
  12. Halfon N. Sutherland C, Inkelas M. Life course health development: A model for measuring health and selecting indicators. UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. March 1999.
  13. Chrvala CA, Bulger RJ (eds.). Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2010: Final Report 1999.
  14. Halfon N. Committee Member on Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2010. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences 1999.

Division Presentations

  1. Halfon N. "Integrated, Community-Based Service Delivery Models," Proposition 10 Conference: The California Children and Families First Act, University of California and the California State Association of Counties, Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, CA, 3/5/99.
  2. Halfon N. "Parents as First Teachers," Excelencia en Educación: The Role of Parents in the Education of Their Children, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, Woodrow Wilson High School, Los Angeles, CA, 3/6/99.
  3. Halfon N. "Community Health Report Cards," Population Health: Investing in Prevention, California Wellness Foundation, Omni Hotel, Los Angeles, CA, 3/18-3/20/99.
  4. Halfon N. "Improving Children's Health and Development by Linking Services to Schools," 1998-99 Colloquium Series: Building Research and Practice, UCLA Urban Education Studies Center, Seeds University Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA, 5/20/99.
  5. Halfon N. "Commitments for the Future of Families and Communities," The Eighth Annual Family Re-Union Conference: Family and Community, The Children, Youth & family Consortium & The Child and Family Policy Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 6/22/99.
  6. Halfon N. "Building Bridges for California's Children," Putting the Pieces Together for Young Children and Their Families Conference, Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services (DHS) and Mental Health (DMH), Hyatt-Regency Hotel, Los Angeles, CA, 6/25/99.
  7. Halfon N. "Improving Children's Health Through Health Services Research: Wrap-up and Next Steps," 1999 Children's Health Services Researchers Meeting, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, Chicago Hilton and Towers, Chicago, IL, 6/26/99.
  8. Halfon N. "Proposition 10 and Prospects for Supporting Development of Young Children" for C. Earl Fox, MD, MPH, Administrator, Senior Staff Briefing, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD, 8/9/99.
  9. Halfon N. "Life Course Health Development" for Peter Van Dyck, MD, MPH, Associate Administrator, Senior Staff Briefing, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Rockville, MD, 8/9/99.
  10. Halfon N. "Life Course Health Development: The Role of Early Life Factors on the Development of Adult Health Conditions and Disabilities," Festschrift, UCSD School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Wyndham Emerald Plaza Hotel, 10/2/99.
  11. Halfon N. "Investing in Children," Rochester Child Health Congress, The 1999 Health Conference of the Dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 10/23/99.

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