Sarah Boden

Public funding for child care, home services for older adults, and disability support will increase under Pennsylvania’s latest budget, but caregivers and business leaders expect longstanding pay and staffing problems...

Pennsylvania maintains a registry of people convicted and suspected of child abuse and neglect to protect kids. But people get added to the database without a chance to defend themselves.

The Shapiro administration and the Legislature have been slow to act on recommendations from a state-commissioned report that found the commonwealth needs a consistent system for determining when children have...

Access to paid leave in Pennsylvania is generally determined by where residents live and work. This includes the legislature, which grants paid parental leave to House staffers but not Senate...

The funding helps Pennsylvania purchase and administer vaccines, monitor the spread of infectious diseases like measles, and contact people who might have been exposed to dangerous pathogens.

A bill under consideration in the state House would establish a program in the Pennsylvania Health Department to pay off medical debt balances that have been sent to collections.

Federal meal programs still waive costs for the state’s poorest children, but nearly 50,000 Pennsylvania kids live in households with incomes just outside the range to qualify for even reduced...

Thousands of workers who care for children, older adults and Pennsylvanians with disabilities would receive higher wages under the budget proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro.