RI Kids Count honors legislators for supporting children and caregivers
STATE HOUSE — Rhode Island Kids Count honored legislators today for their work to support children in crisis and provide paid time off for parents and caregivers.
RI Kids Count recognized Senate President Valarie J. Lawson and Rep. Joshua J. Giraldo for their work expanding paid parental and caregiving leave for Rhode Island workers over the last two legislative sessions and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Reps. Julie A. Casimiro and Teresa A. Tanzi, and Sens. Alana M. DiMario and Jacob E. Bissaillon for their work to provide stable funding for mobile youth crisis response teams.
“I am honored and humbled to accept this award alongside Representative Giraldo and all my colleagues in the Senate and House,” said President Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence). “We were once a national leader in providing paid time off, and thanks to the hard work of these legislators, and many advocates, Rhode Island is getting closer to regaining that position. By strengthening our paid time off program, we’re making an investment in our workforce and in our children that will pay off many times over for generations to come. A society in which people have the time to bond with their babies and care for their loved ones is a healthier society, in every sense of the word.”
Said Speaker Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), “I am honored to share this award from our friends at RI Kids Count with my colleagues, Representatives Casimiro and Tanzi and Senators DiMario and Bissaillon, who have advocated vigorously for pilot funding and now full insurance coverage for mobile youth crisis response services in Rhode Island. Mobile crisis response and stabilizations services are the gold standard for anyone in crisis, and these services are now available to Rhode Island children no matter what type of insurance they have. And of course, I cannot forget to thank Tides Family Services and Family Service of Rhode Island, who are also being awarded today, for carrying out this vital work that does so much for the wellbeing of our youth.”
Senate Majority Whip David P. Tikoian accepted the award and spoke on behalf of President Lawson. U.S. Senator Jack Reed and U.S. Representatives Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo also spoke at the event.
Over the last two sessions, President Lawson and Representative Giraldo (D-Dist. 56, Central Falls) successfully sponsored legislation both extending Rhode Island’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance program from six weeks to eight and increasing the wage replacement rate from 60% to 75% by 2028.
TCI, which is paid for through payroll deductions, allows new parents to paid leave to bond with and care for their child. It also allows individuals to take this time to care for a seriously ill family member. That can prove vital for a working adult who needs to care for their spouse after surgery or a terminally ill parent.
Speaker Shekarchi, Representatives Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter) and Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett), and Senators DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown) and Bissaillon (D-Dist. 1, Providence) ensured that the state budget has sufficient funding to continue running mobile crisis response and stabilization services (MRSS) for youth in Rhode Island who are covered by Medicaid or are uninsured, and successfully passed legislation to require that private insurance cover these services so that all Rhode Island children, no matter their insurance, have access to these services.
MRSS provides trained behavioral health clinicians in response to behavioral health crisis calls, who are better able than local emergency medical services to deescalate crises and provide the crisis counseling and follow-up needed to keep youth out of emergency rooms. This provides better patient outcomes for youth in crisis and reduces the strain on overburdened emergency departments.