 Bringing you relevant news, research and policy updates
affecting children, youth and families. June 3, 2010 |
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Editor's Note
How do we reconcile short-term deficits -- say, the kind created by spending to address an economic slump -- and a
long-term
deficit caused by an imbalance between revenues and spending? And, how long do we continue to fund emergency assistance and economic stimulus before addressing the deficit?
It's a matter of timing.
Peter Orszag (Obama's current budget director) and the Obama administration are
trying to strengthen the economy and spur job growth with short-term
deficit spending while planning for a course that reduces the long-term deficit
over time.
As we put together this edition of the Update, we found evidence that the politics of deficits are shifting the priorities from
recovery to deficit reduction before jobs, families and their communities have
had a chance to recover. The Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities says last year's stimulus led to 2.8 million more jobs than there would have been without it. (See News from Washington and Budgets & Kids, below.)
Now, as states and families struggle with revenue shortfalls, advocates have a big job to do: nudge the
political will in Washington
back toward funding to save teachers' jobs, summer jobs for youth and
unemployment assistance and help states cover added Medicaid costs.
One way to make the case for spending is by having good data on what works. This week, there's a lot of great new information on using data to make better policy and program decisions. Of all states, California
seems to be making the greatest strides in reducing teen pregnancies -- in part by refusing
federal abstinence-only funding so students could get comprehensive sex
education. And Mathematica Policy Research concludes that counseling
programs failed to improve the longevity and quality of relationships between new, unwed parents.
Other things you need to know: the Youth Promise Act, the truth about college aid, Common Core Standards launch, the Condition of Education and more.
Keep up the good work, everyone!
Jan
Jan Richter, editor emeritus, and the CFK Team
CFK gathers, synthesizes and promotes the best news, research and stories from the child and youth field. To suggest content, email weekly@connectforkids.org.
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 News from Washington, DC
Youth PROMISE Act
Focusing on violence prevention and intervention strategies, the bipartisan Youth PROMISE Act (HR 1064/S 435) would help communities address youth violence issues to save lives and give every young person the opportunity to succeed. Watch the video, sign the petition!
Weekends without Hunger
During
weekends and extended school vacations, many low-income children no longer have
access to regular, nutritious food. Feeding America says to call on
Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Weekends Without Hunger Act as part of
the Child Nutrition reauthorization.
Jobs Bill Update
Before the Memorial Day recess, the House approved a jobs bill renewing unemployment benefits, but political calculations are shifting priorities from helping families in a tough economy to holding back spending. The Senate failed to find the 60 votes needed to pass its jobs legislation before the  recess.- Youth Today reports the delay in action on the jobs bill is holding up about $1 billion in summer job funding for youth.
- Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the unemployment rate for the 16-to-24 age group reached a record 19.6
percent in April, double the national average.
- The Center for Community Change uses a job application format to show Congress the importance of creating more jobs.
The Washington Post reports there aren't enough votes in the Senate to move
ahead with an emergency spending bill to prevent 100,000 teacher lay-offs.
The Recovery Act Created or Preserved 2.8 Million Jobs
The appetite for federal spending to help states,
communities and families recover from the recession has waned with the
unpopularity of the 2009 stimulus spending legislation (ARRA); one reason for it's
unpopularity could be because few see the benefits. The Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that, according to a new Congressional
Budget Office report, there were between 1.2 million and 2.8 million more
jobs in the economy in March than there would have been without the
Recovery Act.
Alliance
for Justice says public foundations and nonprofits can indeed get involved in
state redistricting procedures. For example, they can help to make sure that the minority
vote is not diluted or that communities of interest are not unnecessarily split
apart.
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What Works, What Doesn't
A Case Study of Michigan's Level of Functioning Project
The National Center for Children in Poverty says Michigan is a national leader in children's
mental health. Michigan's effective approach to accountability -- sharing data with providers, system leaders and the children and
families themselves enables the state to report on how well families are doing and what types of services are working for specific
conditions.
Section 8 Housing is Cost-Effective
The Section 8 housing voucher program subsidizes private
rental housing for nearly 2 million low-income families in the United States,
enabling low-income families to move to better homes and better neighborhoods. The
Institute for Research on Poverty finds that the Section 8 program reaps
greater social benefits than its costs.
The Academy: A Program for Older Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care
Research shows that teens who "age out" of the foster care system,
often abruptly, have high rates of homelessness, unemployment, incarceration
and other adverse circumstances. Vera Institute researchers suggest the answer
may lie in programs like The Academy that connect youth to community-based
providers while they are in foster care and allow them to return after
discharge if they need services.
Child Indicator Summarizes New Evidence-Based Federal Efforts
Several new federal initiatives emphasize performance measurement
and indicators of well-being to identify needs and document improvement. The Spring 2010 issue of The Child Indicator summarizes Race to the Top, the Investing in Innovation Fund, Promise
Neighborhoods and the Social Innovation Fund.
California's Sex Education Effective in Reducing Teen Pregnancies
The Alan Guttmacher Institute credits California's priority on teen pregnancy
prevention and the state's comprehensive sex
education efforts with the state's dramatic decline in teen pregnancies between
1992 and 2005. California
leads the states in reducing teen pregnancies.
Strengthening Unmarried Parents' Relationships: The Early Impacts of Building Strong Families
Mathematica Policy Research's evaluation of programs
for improving relationships between romantically-involved, unwed new
parents found the couples who received counseling were no more likely
to stay together or get married. Only one program out of 8 had
a positive impact on parental relationships, only 1 program had a negative effect.
The Evaluation Exchange: Scaling Impact
Even when you develop a program that shows good results, it is not easy to make
it work on a larger scale. This issue of The Evaluation Exchange explores the
promising practices and challenges associated with taking an enterprise to
scale, along with the role that evaluation can and should play in that process.
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Budgets & Kids
State Budget Woes Hitting Programs for Kids Hard
The Associated Press reports that from childhood
obesity to child abuse, from prenatal care to preschool inspections, programs
serving children and families are facing serious budget cuts. Fewer kids will
be served, families will face months of delay and some programs may just
disappear.
 June 26: National Conversation on Setting Federal Budget Priorities
It may make sense to carry a deficit now to help us emerge
from the recession, but eventually we must stabilize our deficit and national
debt. The Coalition on Human Needs urges activists to attend and speak up for a
balanced view about tax policies and spending at AmericaSpeaks town meetings across the country.
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Youth Voices
Opportunities & Awards for Young Journalists Abe Louise Young, What Kids Can Do Writing Facilitator,
offers useful, concrete ideas for creative writing workshops that prompt
cultural conversations and help children feel good about their diversity. If
you haven't yet read "We Real Cool" with your kids, here's a way to use the
poem as a prompt for writing and discussion.
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Standards: Common & Uncommon
Texas Board Approves Social Studies Standards to "Correct" Liberal Bias
The Texas state school board gave final approval to controversial social studies standards that many teachers, academics and politicians of both parties have condemned. - California may soon take a stand against proposed changes to social studies textbooks ordered by the Texas school board, as a way to prevent them from being incorporated in California texts.
- Opponents say the new standards eliminate the separation of church and state, minimize the contributions of leaders like Thurgood Marshall and Senator Ted Kennedy and emphasize contributions by the National Rifle Association and the Heritage Foundation. They are mounting a Facebook petition urging the textbook publisher to stop production.
 State Leaders and Educators Launch Common Core State Standards for English and MathAfter a
year-long effort, the National Governors
Association Center
for Best Practices and the Council of
Chief State School Officers have released a set of education standards,
the Common Core
State Standards, in English language arts and math. Now it is up to
the states to adopt and implement these standards; Alaska
and Texas declined participation in the project
last year and Virginia
has opted out.
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College Aid: Funding Down the Road but Not Now
Losing College Aid
The $36 billion Pell grant funding increase in the student aid reform legislation will fund increases over the next 10 years -- but right now, the Pell grant program is facing a $5.7 billion shortfall for FY2011. The U.S. Student Association says grants for current students in need could be cut by 50 percent.
- EdWeek reports on how colleges are gearing up for new rules of the road in student assistance. The health care legislation eliminated federal student loan incentives to banks and uses the estimated $60 billion in savings to expand Pell Grants in the next decade.
- Inside Higher Ed reports low-income community college students who do not apply for FAFSA assistance are missing out on millions of
dollars in federal financial aid.
Students Increasingly Turn to Private Loans for College
As
states cut college budgets and college costs rise,
students relying on private loans to help defray costs face risky terms
and
high interest rates. the U.S. federation of Public Interest Research Groups says the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau proposals in the House and Senate financial regulatory
legislation could
provide protection for students.
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Healthy Living
CDC Reports on States' Support of Physical Activity
Many
states lack policies and the space -- parks, playgrounds, community
centers, sidewalks and walking paths -- to help their residents meet the
recommended level of physical activity, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's State
Indicator Report on Physical Activity finds.
Active Kids Do Better in School
U.S. News and World Reports says kids in a Missouri
elementary school are showing better attention spans and have fewer discipline
problems after incorporating physical activity in their classrooms
with the adoption of the Active and Healthy Schools Program.
Most Children in Medicaid in Nine States are Not Receiving All Required Preventive Screening Services
A Department of Health and Human Services review of nine states found that in 2007, three out of four children were not receiving all the
medical, hearing and vision screenings required by Medicaid. Forty-one percent
of children did not receive any required medical screenings and more than half
did not receive any required vision or hearing screenings.
A Failing Grade for Indian School Safety
Broken fire alarms and other safety hazards plague Indian
schools, sparking outrage among Washington, DC politicians, Rob Capriccioso reports.
June 17 Webinar: School Food FOCUS
School Food FOCUS is a national initiative that will enable
participating school districts with more than 40,000 students to purchase and
serve foods that are healthier, more sustainably produced and more locally
sourced than is typically the case.
Childhood Asthma and Environmental Health
Controlling asthma triggers in the environment is an
essential battle for reducing serious asthma attacks that send children to the
ER and drive up costs, argues Floyd Malveaux. Local efforts to reduce school bus
idling on school grounds and notify neighborhoods about pesticides can
help reduce asthma triggers; so can federal efforts that address global warming
and climate change.
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Improving Schools & Learning
The 2010 Condition of Education
The Condition of Education 2010 covers all aspects of education, including enrollment trends, demographics and outcomes. This year's report projects
public school enrollment will rise from 49 million in 2008 to 52 million by
2019, with the largest increase expected in the South. Over the past decade,
more students attended both charter schools and high-poverty schools. The data
show a wide and persistent gap in educational achievement among students at
high-poverty schools.
 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009: Reading Results
Recent results from the NAEP in reading for the largest school districts in the U.S. show
that despite some improvement since 2002, reading
scores for fourth and eighth graders in most of these districts continue to lag
behind their peers nationwide. - In its 2010 Kids Count report, the Annie E. Casey
Foundation cites NAEP data: of the fourth-graders who took the reading test in 2009, 85 percent of low-income students who attend high-poverty
schools failed to reach the "proficient" level in reading. The Annie E. Casey
Foundation is launching a 10-year initiative to ensure that more children
become proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade, a time when kids typically
are expected to shift from learning to read to reading to learn.
The Obama administration is proposing an increase in funding
-- and some significant changes -- to federal literacy programs in the 2011
fiscal year. The New America Foundation reports.
Summer learning is a major
contributor to the achievement gap and an untapped resource for addressing the
nation's education crisis. This National Summer Learning Association briefing
will feature pioneering summer learning programs and provide recommendations on
how federal policy can help make summer programs an essential component of
education reform. RSVP by Tuesday, June 8.
June 8 Panel: Innovation & Improvement in Education This policy forum convened by Learning First Alliance and
Knowledge Alliance/Center for Knowledge Use will probe the relationship between
research, innovation and improving education. RSVP here.
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 Check out our new site!
CFK, the Youth Policy Action Center and National Youth Development Information Center are merging and relaunching as SparkAction: for children, for youth, for change this month. Want a sneak peek now? Visit SparkAction.org to get in on the action.
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Caitlin Johnson and Thaddeus Ferber
Connect for Kids and the Forum for Youth Investment
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