Advocating for kids

Ever since Senator Hatch founded the largest student college volunteer program as an undergraduate at Drake University - The Revitalization Corps, his highest public priority has always been on children.  Senator Hatch organized the first Hunger Hike in Iowa in 1969.  Two hundred Drake students marched and collected money for children’s breakfast programs in Des Moines and oversees.  His volunteer efforts at Drake mobilized over 700 Drake students (in one year) to become tutors, community workers, mental health counselors and big brothers and big sisters. The Revitalization Corps continued for years after Senator Hatch left Drake and it left a legacy of community outreach to thousands of kids and families in the Des Moines area.

His leadership in children’s health care, education, child care, foster care and family support programs has led every legislature to always provide more support and expanded programs than recommended by any of the three Governors.

Under his stewardship as Chair of the Senate Budget Committee on Health and Human Services,  Iowa have 98% of its children covered by public and private health insurance – the highest percentage of any state in America.  By passing legislation that made it easier for children to register for HAWK-I, increasing HAWK-I eligibility to 300% of the federal poverty level, allowing Iowa families to keep their children on their family policy until age 25 (enacted two years before the national policy through the ACA), Senator Hatch as moved Iowa to the forefront of children’s health policy.

As one of the first states to enact a comprehensive Child Abuse prevention program, Senator Hatch created the HOPES program when he as a member of the Iowa House.  Created after the horrible abuse of a young Ankeny, Iowa boy, Jonathan Waller, Senator Hatch worked with advocates and family members to establish the HOPES program that identifies families at risk in abusive relationships.  To date, the HOPES program continues to work directly with children and families as one of the best examples of how a government program saves children’s lives.

Senator Hatch established the Iowa Minority Education Act which created the largest minority public scholarship program per capital of any state in the country.  As of the end of 2011, IMAGES has provided over $42 million in tuition grants to attend ISU, UNI or the UI to qualified minority students.  The program also provides direct assistance for outreach into high schools to promote higher education to minority students.  It has been credited with increasing the enrollment level at our state universities.

Support for working families has also been one of Senator Hatch’s priorities.  As Senate budget chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, Senator Hatch has promoted, funded and expanded child care services for working families.  He has been one of the strongest supporters of Iowa’s family self sufficiency program – FaDSS.  Under his budget chairmanship, Iowa has become a national model on helping families on public assistance become self sufficient.

After the untimely death of a young man who aged out of Foster Care, Senator Hatch floor managed a bi-partisan bill to create one of the nation’s best “ageing out” Foster Care programs in the county.  This started a personal journey for Senator Hatch who became personally involved in foster care programs.  Knowing when a child reaches 18 years old and he or she still does not have a permanent family; it is one of the loneliest feelings in the world.  At that point in a child’s life, the state has been its guardian, not a person.  As a result, Senator Hatch felt that the state had an obligation to continue to support foster children for some time after they “aged out”.  He created the Higher Education Grant program for foster kids who want to go to college.  In four years, over 150 foster care kids have received scholarship grants to attend the Iowa College of their choice.  Senator Hatch initiated and continues to support funding for “aged out” statewide support program, ELEVATE where over 700 “aged out” young adults meet and continue counseling and related services.  And ever since 2005 when Youth and Shelter Services established their annual fundraiser “Reggie’s Sleepout” , named after Reggie Kelsey, the young man who died because there was no “age out” support, Senator Hatch has participated every year and has raised over $20,000 to support its youth programming for foster care kids.