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Mental illness is a growing problem among young people in Wyoming.
One third of survey responders said lack of healthcare providers was the most pressing healthcare problem in their Wyoming community.

REPORT: Wyoming's physician shortage is a serious concern

Everybody knows that Wyoming is a rural state, and so we can’t expect to have every kind of specialist. But we should be able to expect better than what we’ve got.
Wyoming politicians hoard money instead of offering market rates to state workers. As a result, we all pay.

Stingy lawmakers leave Wyoming stranded

Dozens of snowplow driver positions remain vacant because the Wyoming Legislature refuses to fund WYDOT enough to pay competitive wages. Thanks to their stinginess, we can all expect closed roads as winter approaches.
Older people are Wyoming's fastest growing demographic, and many communities don't have the resources to care for them.

Can Wyoming care for its aging population?

A new report demonstrates the healthcare and other challenges Wyoming’s seniors face, showing a rapidly aging state without the infrastructure needed to care for our 65+ residents. But the report also offers boatloads of data that can help policymakers find solutions.
Before threatening to strike, some ambulance workers earned less than fast food employees.

Fremont Co. EMS workers show the power and benefits of organized labor

Tired of dismal pay and awful conditions, workers for the company that provides ambulance services to Fremont County organized and took action. Their success winning better pay and jobs can be an inspiration for others around Wyoming.
Losing health coverage can mean interrupting care for life-threatening illness.

SAVE OUR CHILDREN: Wyo. lawmakers allow thousands of kids to lose healthcare coverage

Wyoming lawmakers—many of whom often claim to want to “save our children”—are standing by as a bureaucratic boondoggle strips 7,500 kids of their Medicaid health insurance.
Gillette library director Terri Lesley and Cheyenne superintendent Margaret Crespo were both recently removed from their positions by officials promoting book bans and other national agendas.

Book-banning officials begin removing Wyoming public agency leaders

Wyoming’s public sector has struggled to retain quality workers in recent years as lawmakers have slashed wages and the political climate has grown toxic. Now, officials driven by radical religious agendas are removing experienced local leaders, including a longtime public library director and an award-winning school superintendent.
Why should politicians care?! Preschoolers don't vote!

Why is getting support for public preschool in Wyoming like pulling teeth?

The benefits of preschool are clear, but middle-class and rural Wyoming families face huge hurdles enrolling their kids. Most states have public preschool, but not Wyoming—and trying to encourage lawmakers who are busy arguing over hot-button national issues to do something about it is an exercise in frustration and disappointment.
"No money of the state shall ever be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution." — Wyoming Constitution

“Voucher” proposal would give Wyo. parents money to enroll children in private, religious schools

So-called “school vouchers” or “education savings accounts” hand over taxpayer money to parents who pull their kids out of public schools and instead enroll them in private, religious, or home schools. The Legislature’s Joint Education Committee will hear such a proposal this week, despite the fact that the Wyoming Constitution prohibits public money from being spent at religious institutions or given to schools that have zero oversight.
Worker hours have been cut as Starbucks profits soar thanks to "efficiencies."

Cheyenne Starbucks baristas poised to unionize for better schedules and workplace

Workers at a Starbucks in Cheyenne will vote on Monday whether to join more than 340 other stores across the U.S. and become the first unionized location in Wyoming. The baristas allege a hostile workplace and erratic scheduling, but also are part of a new uptick of organized labor in Wyoming.
Childcare in Wyoming is both expensive and hard to come by.

Wyoming barriers: Young families struggle to find childcare

More than one third of Wyoming's population lives in a "childcare desert," and the cost for those who can find it can equal a second mortgage. While other states take steps to address this nationwide issue, Wyoming lawmakers drag their feet finding solutions.
We all pay more when students can't attend preschool

Wyoming barriers: The high cost of neglecting preschool

Early childhood education sets kids up for success. Children who go to preschool do better in K-12—requiring less help and driving down overall education costs—and they go on to earn more and require less government assistance. But two-thirds of Wyoming kids don’t attend preschool, and the state does not invest a dime in it, creating an early-life hurdle for many children that is both costly and difficult to overcome.
Mental illness is a growing problem among young people in Wyoming.

Wyoming barriers: Suicidal students don’t learn much

In the first of a three-part series on barriers to opportunity that young people and families face in our state, Better Wyoming looks at the Legislature’s recent efforts—and failures—to address the growing problem of mental illness among Wyoming K-12 students.