Strategies

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Adjust and monitor fluoride levels in public water supplies to reach and retain optimal fluoride concentrations

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Provide outreach and support to assist those whose employers do not offer affordable coverage, who are self-employed, or who are unemployed

Regulate mental health insurance to increase access to mental health services, including treatment for substance use disorders

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Offer a refundable tax credit to working families with qualifying children or other dependents that receive care outside the home (e.g., a spouse with disabilities)

Establish transportation services for areas with low population densities using publicly funded buses and vans on a set schedule, dial-a-ride transit, volunteer ridesharing, etc.