Every family and each Arizonan should be able to afford health coverage, regardless of their zip code or income. Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans have helped make this a reality for many.  

However, Congress must take action now to preserve the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (EPTC’s) that make ACA plans affordable. Without immediate Congressional action, the tax credits will end, and low- and middle- income families with marketplace plans will quickly see skyrocketing health care premiums, forcing many to lose their health care.

In 2025, a record number of Arizonans, nearly 425,000, purchased health care through the ACA marketplace. Nearly 93% of enrollees also utilize premium tax credits, which make health care insurance more affordable. This includes many who are self-employed or own small businesses.

It’s important to understand the hit to a family’s budget if Congress fails to preserve these tax credits. Without the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, a family of four making $95,000 will see their annual premiums for a benchmark plan increase from $5,795 to $8,218. That is an increase of over $200 per month! Families cannot afford that type of increase.

Earlier this year, Congress made harmful changes and cuts in their 2025 budget reconciliation bill, formally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, forcing insurers to increase premiums in anticipation of expected increases in uncompensated care. 

The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions projects the cost for Arizona marketplace plans will increase 2.5% to 55% for 2026.

No one should have to forgo medical treatment or take on medical debt because they cannot afford health insurance. Enhanced Premium Tax Credits are essential because they reduce those hard decisions that families and small business owners must make. With this option, a parent could afford both groceries and health care, a child can see a doctor when they’re sick, and a small business owner can stay insured without going broke.

Congress took care of our country’s highest earners with large tax cuts earlier this year. Congress should end the year by supporting the rest of us.

Ask Congress to act now to make the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits permanent to protect health care for Arizonans!

Each year, Children’s Action Alliance gathers the community to celebrate the amazing work happening for children and families in Arizona.

We are proud to introduce the 2025 Champions for Children extraordinary honorees:

Honorable Mary Rose Wilcox, Lifetime Achievement Award 

Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, Jacque Steiner Public Leadership Award

The Vitalyst Health Foundation, Organizational Leader Award

And we are proud to announce our 2025 Outstanding Leader Awardees:

On October 9, starting at 11:30 AM, we will honor their bold and unwavering leadership and advocacy for families and children in Arizona at the Champions for Children Luncheon.

We are thrilled to celebrate these exceptional individuals and share good food and company together as we celebrate wins, big and small, and strengthen our resolve and commitment to make Arizona’s children a priority.

Buy a ticket to join us to celebrate!

This September, in recognition of National Kinship Care Month, Children’s Action Alliance honors the more than 57,000 kinship caregivers in Arizona – grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and extended family members who have stepped up to care for children when parents cannot.

Kinship caregivers are a stabilizing force in children’s lives. They help preserve family ties, cultural identity, and community connection. Yet, too often, these families take on full-time caregiving responsibilities with little to no preparation, support, or access to critical services.

The Caregivers' Message Is Clear: They Need Support.

At a January 2025 Kinship Caregiver Forum hosted by Children’s Action Alliance and Seeds Community Center in Tucson, families shared the realities they face of legal barriers, financial strain, and emotional trauma. Rural caregivers emphasized the urgent need for local access to mental health services, therapy, and specialists.

Too often, families are forced to choose between legal guardianship and accessing essential benefits. This creates unnecessary instability for families already doing everything they can.

Kinship Care Is a Solution That Can be Strengthened with Public Investment

Kinship care is proven to be one of the most stable, supportive, and effective options for children who cannot remain with their parents. We must ensure that caregivers are not penalized for doing the right thing. That means:

• Expanding access to financial support so more families can meet the needs of and care for their grandchildren, siblings, or other relatives—without falling into financial hardship. Children’s Action Alliance will continue to advocate for the restoration of support for kinship caregivers who are also raising children outside of the DCS system.

• Prioritizing trauma-informed, community-based mental health services in rural areas—so children and caregivers can access the support they need close to home.

• Protecting essential benefits when families pursue legal permanency—so they can provide long-term stability without losing the support that makes caregiving possible.

• Increasing public investment in kinship navigator programs—so families can easily connect to vital services like school enrollment, health care, and legal support.

Investing in Kinship Care Is Investing in Arizona’s Future

Kinship caregivers are raising the next generation of Arizonans. Their resilience should be met with meaningful support – legally, financially, and emotionally. The good news is that Arizona children are being placed with kinship caregivers at a much higher rate than the national rate.

Let’s ensure more kinship caregivers can survive and thrive when they take on the special duty of stepping in to care for children. This month, and every month, Children’s Action Alliance stands with kinship families.

Children’s Action Alliance (CAA) strives to create an Arizona where all children and families thrive. In our work at the state Capitol and in communities throughout Arizona, CAA is an independent voice for Arizona children. We work with elected officials, community partners, people with lived experience, and coalitions to advance the early care and education, health, safety, and economic stability of our state’s children and families.  

CAA believes every lawmaker is responsible for voting for kids and that our legislators should be held accountable.  

This 2025 Legislative Scorecard tracks votes on key bills CAA identified as priorities for children and that shape the education, health, safety, and well-being of Arizona children and families. 

Please check out the 2025 Legislative Scorecard, learn how your elected representatives voted, and let them know that you know who’s for kids and who’s just kidding.

State law requires that Arizona pass a budget by June 30 of each year. As the clock ticks towards this deadline, Children’s Action Alliance continues to advocate for priorities that will help grow strong and healthy children in Arizona.

We’ve laid out our priorities for children and families, and we’re seeing some positive investments in the bipartisan budget that the Senate Appropriations Committee passed yesterday. This budget framework was negotiated between Governor Hobbs, Senate Republican legislators, and Senate and House Democratic legislators. 

Investing in Child Care/Early Care – Child care in Arizona remains too expensive for too many families. CAA has made the elimination of the child care assistance waitlist a priority, so that eligible families in Arizona can receive the help they need to afford child care. Our ask is $120 million to help children get off the waitlist. The budget proposal doesn’t provide the full amount, but it does include an allocation of $45 million from the General Fund to cut the waitlist in half. This investment dwarfs any state investment in child care in the last decade, and is a must-pass item.

Preventing Child Hunger through School Meals – As the costs of groceries continue to rise, school meals are an especially important anti-hunger tool for children. The budget proposal includes $3.8 million to ensure that copays are not an obstacle for eligible children to eat meals at school. This is good news for Arizona’s children.

Protecting Access to Health Care and Nutrition – Arizona’s Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), and our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit Arizonans of all ages and benefit our state’s economy. This budget prevents cuts to these programs and recognizes that Arizona has already implemented safeguards in the eligibility process and avoids adding new red tape and costly administrative burdens. This budget preserves strong health and nutrition services, which is a smart policy for Arizona.  

Funding K-12 Schools – The vast majority of children in Arizona attend public K-12 schools, and our budget process should prioritize funding schools as required by the state Constitution. While Arizona still lags behind much of the nation in funding public schools for students, this budget proposal funds key provisions that are critical to quality schools, including poverty-weighted/opportunity funding for schools in communities with a high level of families with low incomes, and additional district assistance.

Supporting Youth Impacted by Foster Care and Kinship Caregivers – As youth transition to adulthood, supports that help them build economic stability are crucial, especially for youth who experienced foster care. This budget proposal solidifies $6.4 million in ongoing funding for young adults through Extended Foster Care services, promoting stable housing, career and educational advancement, and overall well-being. CAA also continues to seek greater support for kinship caregiver providers, including restoration of stipends for relative caregivers who are raising children outside of the foster care system.

Arizona’s state budget should be about making Arizona stronger for its children and families. These budget proposals are important steps in the right direction.

Last year, Arizona failed to invest enough funding in the Child Care Assistance Program, and a waitlist was implemented for families seeking financial assistance to afford child care. Sadly, that waitlist has now reached over 5K children! Alleviating the child care waiting list is Children Action Alliance’s top priority. 

This year, Arizona’s state budget is still being negotiated. The Arizona House of Representatives passed a budget last week that was not negotiated with Governor Hobbs or the Senate. Their budget does not include any state investment in child care.

This week, there are reports that Governor Hobbs is negotiating a budget with legislators, including in the Arizona Senate, and we may see movement this week. In her executive proposal issued earlier this year, Governor Hobbs included $112 million to help alleviate the waiting list. Children’s Action Alliance and our partners are encouraging community members to use your voice to advocate for the full $112 million appropriation so more children and families can access child care.      

We need funding for child care in the final budget, because every step for child care counts.  

5K kids locked out of affordable child care is too many. We can’t run the risk of leaving our kids behind.  

Send an e-mail today to Governor Hobbs and your state legislators with the link below and tell them we need to get the child care appropriation across the finish line! 

Father’s Day is more than just a time to celebrate the dads, grandfathers, and father figures in our lives—it’s also a timely reminder to spotlight men’s health and mental wellness. 

Approximately 29%¹ of men have no primary care doctor, and men die at higher rates than women from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, and diabetes. It's crucial for fathers to prioritize their physical health, as their well-being directly impacts their children's development and the overall health and well-being of the family. 

Fatherhood is an important role, and when mothers have their partners involved in their pregnancy, postpartum care, and overall health from the start, they tend to experience more positive outcomes. This involvement can lead to better birth results and increased overall participation from the father throughout the family's journey. Participation by fathers early on in maternal and child health also starts a conversation about their health, including the importance of having a primary care doctor and engaging in preventive services.  

June is also Men's Mental Health Awareness Month, and it serves as a reminder that mental health is important for everyone, and to raise awareness about the unique challenges men face when it comes to mental health². Mental health is just as crucial as physical health. Men are often conditioned to stay silent about their struggles and are less likely than women to seek help for mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or even routine health check-ups. This contributes to higher rates of undiagnosed illnesses and preventable deaths.  

Fathers carry immense responsibilities, and the pressure can be overwhelming. Being open to conversations around mental well-being helps break the stigma and builds a healthier, more supportive family unit.  

Outside of their own mental and physical health, research confirms the significant impact that dads have on a child’s life. Involved fathers improve their children’s overall physical, emotional, and social well-being. Healthy fathers serve as role models for their children, demonstrating healthy behaviors and values that positively influence their children's development. This can influence a child's own health choices, including their physical activity and healthy eating habits.³  

A father's health is intertwined with the health of the entire family. However, when there are discussions on maternal and child health, the father’s role and the significance of paternal impact are often overlooked. When fathers prioritize their health, they are more likely to engage in behaviors that benefit the family as a whole.  

This Father’s Day, as we celebrate dads, let us also commit to celebrating their health and wellness. Whether it's scheduling that overdue doctor’s appointment, reaching out to talk with a friend, or taking time to rest, it is essential to prioritize men’s mental and physical health, reinvigorating what it means to be a strong role model for their child.   

Please see the below citations and resources on men’s health and mental health supports: 

¹ National Healthy Start Association Fatherhood Fact Sheet 

² National Alliance for Mental Illness- Men’s Health Month 

³ American Heart Association- Hey dads: You play a big and important role in your kids’ health 

Arizona has the second-highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, according to the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in America.

This year, Arizona ranked 42nd overall in child well-being, the same ranking as in the 2024 Data Book.

Data Book findings for the State of Arizona include:

• 9% of children in Arizona are uninsured, a rate that is only worse in one other state, Texas
• The percentage of children in poverty decreased slightly from 2024 to 15%; however, over the past decade, this rate has dropped significantly from 26% in 2013
• The percentage of children who live in households burdened by the high cost of housing remains stubbornly at 29% when compared to the previous year.
• 390,390 children in Arizona received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to prevent hunger in 2024
• Four-year graduation rates increased from 76.6% the previous year to 77.5%
• 36% of children live in single-parent families, families that find it especially difficult to stretch their budgets to afford daily essential expenses

Children’s Action Alliance encourages lawmakers and officials at the state and federal levels to use this detailed information to unite across party lines and respond with initiatives that invest in young people in Arizona.

Children’s Action Alliance urges state and federal leaders to:

• Protect Medicaid, known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) in Arizona and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) program, KidsCare, while also ensuring children and families do not face new red tape that will cause eligible families to lose their health care coverage
• Increase affordable housing for children and families. Three in 10 households with children continue to be housing burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, leaving little for essential items such as groceries, child care, and transportation.
• Ensure access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school meals, and child care assistance for children in struggling families.
• Fully fund K-12 public schools

These policies are urgently needed today in state and federal policymaking and in crafting state and federal budgets. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget that robs children of access to health care, food assistance, and more. Children’s Action Alliance is counting on the U.S. Senate to oppose the federal bill and instead bring change that will help children have access to the basic building blocks they need be to be safe and healthy, and to reach their full potential.

Each year, the Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors — and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall. In its 36th year of publication, the KIDS COUNT® Data Book provides reliable statewide numbers to help leaders see where progress is being made, where greater support is needed and which strategies are making a difference. Data for all topics can be found at the KIDS COUNT® Data Center.