The news you read makes a difference

Dear Reader,

Thank you for being a subscriber to The Hechinger Report. Without your readership and dedication to education, our newsletters wouldn’t exist.

A recent story by my colleague Sarah Carr inspired a state representative to act. This reminded me why we do this work, and I wanted to pass it along to you.

Sarah’s reporting focused on a critical gap in our health care system: Despite major advances over the past 50 years in the medical field’s ability to save the lives of premature babies, the support these babies receive after leaving the neonatal intensive care unit is severely lacking.

As Sarah showed in her story on parents of premature babies in Illinois, families are entitled to a range of therapies but most struggle to connect to that early intervention support.

After reading our article, Illinois state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr proposed legislation that would require hospitals to:

- Distribute materials informing parents of premature and low birth weight babies about their qualification for early intervention therapies.
- Make a nurse or physical therapist available to explain these rights to families.

Sarah’s reporting, the early childhood newsletter and all of our journalism would not be possible without support from readers like you.

If you can, please chip in today. Every contribution — $5, $10, $25 or whatever amount works for you — makes a difference. Your support will power our next education story.

In gratitude,

Nirvi Shah
Executive editor, The Hechinger Report
 

Prefer to give by check or DAF?

Please make payable to "Teachers College, Columbia University" and note 'The Hechinger Report' in the memo field. Send to: The Hechinger Report, Attn: Ruby Franzen, 525 W 120th Street, Box 127, New York, NY 10027

The Hechinger Report accepts donations via our fiscal sponsor, Teachers College/Columbia University. As such, we use their TAX ID (13-1624202)— for all donations.