CFK Weekly: February 28, 2005
Connect for Kids.org: Better Policies for Kids
Feb 28, 2005
Table of Contents. Click on heading to jump to that section.
NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
**Connect for Kids has a New Look!
**First Things First
**Calling All Organizations
MARCH HAPPENINGS
**Read Across America: March 2
**Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Summit: March 11-13
**National Service-Learning Conference: March 16-19
**Heads Up: Index of Child and Youth Well-Being Coming Soon
KIDS AND POLITICS
**Justifying the Cuts in Bush’s Budget Proposal
**CFK’s Action Central Has Budget Action Alerts and More
**House & Senate Budget Committees to Act: Know the Impact in Kids in Your
State
**TANF Reauthorization Moves Forward
**TANF Sanctions Put Kids at Risk
**United Way Examines the CARE Act
**GAO Calls for Stronger Processes for Issuing Social Security Numbers to Children
**Bipartisan Panel Calls for Big Changes to NCLB
WORKING FAMILIES
**Leaving the Street: Young Fathers Move from Hustling to Legitimate Work
**More High School Seniors Working Their Way Through School
**Households Led by Single Moms and Displaced Homemakers on the Rise
**Rising Personal Bankruptcies – What’s Behind the Numbers?
A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS, FOOD ON THE TABLE
**Hunger, Homelessness on the Rise as Federal Help Declines
**Affordable Housing in America -- Closing the Doors on Working Families
**Participating in School Meals Gets Easier
**Grants Available to Improve Child Eating and Health
HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA
**More Middle-Class Families Enrolling Children in Public Health Insurance
Programs
**Racial, Ethnic, Socio-Economic Disparities Persist in U.S. Health Care System
HEALTHY PARENTS, HEALTHY KIDS
**CDC Urges Parents to Watch Children for Developmental Problems
**Moms' Health Prior to Pregnancy Affects Risk of Preterm Delivery
**Big Moms, Big Problems: Overweight and Obesity During Pregnancy
MAKING THE GRADE – EDUCATION NEWS
**Nation's Governors Convene in Washington for Education Summit
**One-Third of the Nation: America’s Escalating High School Dropout Crisis
**Connect for Kids Background on the High School Dropout Crisis
**School-Based Mentoring: A Closer Look
JOB OPPORTUNITY
**Afterschool Alliance
FOCUS ON THE STATES
**Correction
**State-by-State News
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**Connect for Kids has a New Look!
Notice anything different? This week, we’re launching our redesigned
Connect for Kids Web site. All of our content and features remain, but improved
site navigation and search capabilities will make it easier to find what you
need. Explore on your own, or take our guided tour.
http://www.connectforkids.org/
**First Things First
Are today's teenagers indifferent to such keystone First Amendment rights as
freedom of speech and freedom of the press? A recent report from the John
S. and James L. Knight Foundation raised concerns that they might be. Caitlin
Johnson, however, isn't so sure.
http://www.connectforkids.org/articles/first_things_first
**Calling All Organizations
Here’s your chance to tell the world about your wonderful work on behalf
of kids. You are invited to add your organization to the Connect for Kids’ Organizations
section, even if you were listed on our old Web site. We’re starting
this section from scratch!
http://www.connectforkids.org/organizations/submit_your_organization
**Read Across America: March 2
March 2 is Dr. Seuss’ birthday – it’s also when the National
Education Association (NEA) celebrates Read Across America, its national event
to promote reading. Learn more about the celebration and what’s happening
in communities near you, and find resources to get involved on the NEA’s
Web site.
http://www.nea.org/readacross/index.html
**Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Summit: March 11-13
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a national coalition concerned
about the harmful effects of marketing on children, is holding their 4th annual
summit, “Consuming Kids: How Marketing Undermines Children's Health,
Values & Behavior” at Howard University in Washington, DC on March
11-13.
http://www.commercialexploitation.org/events.htm
**National Service-Learning Conference: March 16-19
The National Youth Leadership Council will hold their 16th annual National
Service-Learning Conference from March 16-19, 2005 in Long Beach, California.
http://www.nylc.org/conference
**Heads Up: Index of Child and Youth Well-Being Coming Soon
On March 30, 2005 the Foundation for Child Development and Duke University
will release an update on a new index on the well-being of American children.
http://www.ffcd.org/
**Justifying the Cuts in Bush’s Budget Proposal
A Bush administration report explains the rationale for cutting or eliminating
99 programs -- including vocational education, GEAR UP, and Smaller Learning
Communities -- in the FY2006 budget proposal and substantially reducing funding
for 55 programs, including adult education, housing for people with disabilities,
job training, and juvenile justice.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/pdf/savings.pdf
EdWeek has details on President Bush’s plan to eliminate the entire
$1.3 billion federal vocational program in his budget.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/02/23/24voced.h24.html
**CFK’s Action Central Has Budget Action Alerts and More
If you want to join the budget debate or take action in your community, you’ll
find the timely alerts and tools you need at Connect for Kids’ Action
Central.
http://www.connectforkids.org/action_central
**House & Senate Budget Committees to Act: Know the Impact in Kids in
Your State
The House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to begin their budget work
the week of March 8, 2005. The Center for Budget & Policy Priorities can
help you learn how the budget proposal would affect child care assistance and
Head Start enrollment in your state. Child care numbers are in Table 7; Head
Start numbers in Table 9; and elementary and secondary (including special education)
data are in Table 1.
http://www.cbpp.org/2-22-05bud-tables.pdf
**TANF Reauthorization Moves Forward
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides cash assistance,
child care subsidies, and other work supports to very low-income families.
Slated for reauthorization in 2001, it was instead extended eight times --
the current extension expires March 31, 2005. Bills reauthorizing the program
have been introduced in both houses, but advocates say neither gives states
enough flexibility to include adequate education and training opportunities
or the necessary resources (particularly child care) to help parents get
and keep good jobs. Concerned that funding cuts are in the offing, advocates
are urging Congress to bring a TANF bill to the Senate before the budget
reconciliation process.
http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/TANF/default.asp
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the ranking Democrat, are in serious negotiations
to finalize a bipartisan Senate bill. You can find contact information for
your Senator (including e-mail) online or by calling the Capitol Switchboard
at 202-224-3121.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
The Workforce Alliance action alert can also help you make your voice heard.
http://www.workforcealliance.org/news/alerts.shtm
The National Center for Children in Poverty has information on TANF, including
a searchable database of state-by-state profiles.
http://nccp.org/policy_index_12.html
**TANF Sanctions Put Kids at Risk
Children in poor families forced to lose cash assistance are at greater risk
of food insecurity and hospitalization. That’s according to Congressional
testimony delivered by Dr. Deborah Frank, principal investigator of the Children's
Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Project. Children facing food insecurity --
inadequate or uncertain access to quality food -- are 30 percent more likely
than their peers to be hospitalized before age 3, have deficits in cognitive
development, face behavioral and emotional problems, and to be overweight
or obese.
http://www.chn.org/dia/organizations/chn/issues/tanf/testimony.html
**United Way Examines the CARE Act
Congress is expected to act soon on federal legislation that would provide
several billion dollars in new tax incentives for charitable contributions,
rework existing federal law governing charities, and provide increased funding
for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), the Compassion Capital Fund,
and the Social Services Block Grant. This analysis reviews the Senate and
House versions of the legislation and indicates United Way of America's position
on individual provisions.
http://national.unitedway.org/publicpolicy/docs/UWA_Analysis_of_the_CARE_Act.pdf
**GAO Calls for Stronger Processes for Issuing Social Security Numbers to
Children
The General Accountability Office says the Social Security Administration can
do more to safeguard new and replacement birth certificates and SSN cards --
and help curb the likelihood of fraud or misuse.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-115
**Bipartisan Panel Calls for Big Changes to NCLB
After a yearlong study on the effectiveness of President Bush's No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) law, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers called the law a flawed
and unconstitutional initiative that had usurped state and local control
of public schools.
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/press/2005/pr050223.htm
**Leaving the Street: Young Fathers Move from Hustling to Legitimate Work
While evaluating the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s Fathers at Work
program -- a three-year national demonstration program to help young, non-custodial
fathers boost their employment, earnings, and involvement in their children’s
lives -- researchers at Public/Private Ventures discovered that more than three-quarters
of the participating dads had been convicted of a crime. Using in-depth interviews
with 27 men who had relied on "hustling” (selling drugs and other
illegal activities) as a source of income, researchers examined factors that
led fathers to choose this lifestyle and then change paths – and identified
supports that can help dads stay on track. Download a free PDF version, or
order a hard copy for $10.
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/workforce_development/workforce_development_publications.asp?section_id=5#pub181
**More High School Seniors Working Their Way Through School
More than half (56 percent) of high school seniors said they were working in
the spring of their senior year, according to a University of Washington
survey. Most worked minimum-wage jobs. Whites were slightly more likely to
have jobs, have higher-paying “good” jobs, and to work 15 hours
or less a week than minorities.
http://admin.urel.washington.edu/uweek/archives/issue/uweek_story_small.asp?id=2531
**Households Led by Single Moms and Displaced Homemakers on the Rise
In 2003, there were 20.9 million single mothers and displaced homemakers in
the United States, according to the US Census (that’s up from up from
15 million in 1994). Greatly over-represented in the nation's low-paying
service jobs, these parents tend to be poor or near poor, even though they’re
working. Authors of the study, "Chutes and Ladders: The Search for Solid
Ground for Women in the Workforce," recommend that businesses and the
government support family-leave policies, flexible schedules for all workers,
benefits for part-time employees, and more federal and state funding for
education and training. For more information, call 202-467-6346.
http://www.womenwork.org/issues/chutes.htm
**Rising Personal Bankruptcies – What’s Behind the Numbers?
Why did the personal bankruptcy rate reach a record high in 2003? Economists
at the Center for American Progress conducted a state-by-state analysis and
found that slow income growth and a weak labor market are closely connected
to economic distress. Increasing disposable income through better long-term
unemployment benefits, higher minimum wages, and improved health insurance
coverage could reduce personal bankruptcies.
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=369011
A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS, FOOD ON THE TABLE
**Hunger, Homelessness on the Rise as Federal Help Declines
Hunger and homelessness are increasing while government support is falling
across the country, according to a National Student Campaign Against Hunger
and Homelessness survey of 900 emergency food and shelter providers. The
report’s authors expressed concern that the Bush administration's FY
2006 proposed budget could worsen the shortages by cutting many of the programs
that help the needy, including food stamps, Medicaid, and the Community Development
Block Grant.
http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/hunger.asp?id2=15761
**Affordable Housing in America -- Closing the Doors on Working Families
A new Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report finds that outdated, exclusionary,
and unnecessary regulations continue to block the construction or rehabilitation
of affordable housing in some parts of America.
http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=2377
**Participating in School Meals Gets Easier
The Food Research and Action Center says that changes under the Child Nutrition
and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 are helping more kids take part in free
and reduced-price school meal programs. Changes include extended student
eligibility for free and reduced price school meals, streamlined application
processes for school meals, focused selection of households for verification
of eligibility, and the easing of the process of verifying families' eligibility.
http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/cnreauthor/School_Meals_Eligibility.html
**Grants Available to Improve Child Eating and Health
Training grants to assist state agencies to improve children's lifelong eating
and physical activity habits are being offered through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/USDA/FNS/FNSGMD/USDA-FNS-CNTN-05/Grant.html
**More Middle-Class Families Enrolling Children in Public Health Insurance
Programs
An increasing number of middle-class families are enrolling their children
in public health insurance programs instead of employer-sponsored health coverage
in order to save money on premiums, says the Wall Street Journal as reported
by the Kaiser Network. SCHIP has seen the biggest rise in enrollment, which
rose by 9 percent in 2003 to total 5.8 million children nationwide. A study
by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the proportion of U.S.
workers with employer-sponsored health insurance fell from 74.4 percent in
2000 to 71.5 percent in 2003. http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=28174
**Racial, Ethnic, Socio-Economic Disparities Persist in U.S. Health Care System
Despite improvements in treatment, mammogram usage, and medication errors,
health care disparities among Americans persist. The 2004 National Healthcare
Disparities Report found that the quality of and access to care for blacks
and Hispanics was lower than that for non-Hispanic whites. In 2002, black
children and American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) children had death
rates about 1.5 to 2 times higher than white children. Black infants were
more than twice as likely to die during their first year than white infants.
During the period from 1999 to 2001, the proportion of children with health
insurance was lower among AI/AN and Hispanic children than non-Hispanic white
children, and among poor, near poor, and middle-income kids compared with
high-income children. Black-white differences were not significant
http://www.qualitytools.ahrq.gov/
Several national sites offer updated information on health care disparities.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=28226
**CDC Urges Parents to Watch Children for Developmental Problems
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campaign launched this week
encourages parents to monitor young children's social, emotional and physical
development. Recognizing possible early signs of developmental disabilities
including mental retardation, ADHD, and autism means that parents can seek
early treatment for their children.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/
**Moms' Health Prior to Pregnancy Affects Risk of Preterm Delivery
When it comes to the health of their babies, moms’ habits before getting
pregnant may be as important as those during pregnancy, say researchers from
Harvard Medical School, University of California in San Francisco, and Kaiser
Permanente Medical Care Program.
http://www.kidshealth.org/research/pregnancy_health.html
**Big Moms, Big Problems: Overweight and Obesity During Pregnancy
Although the United States' obesity epidemic has gained a lot of attention
in recent months, few major public health efforts have focused on the increasing
number of overweight and obese pregnant women, the Washington Post reports.
Experts estimate that approximately half of the six million U.S. women who
are pregnant at any given time are overweight or obese -- putting them at
increased risk of developing preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, giving
birth prematurely, and delivering infants who are stillborn or have birth
defects
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42583-2005Feb21.html
MAKING THE GRADE – EDUCATION NEWS
**Nation's Governors Convene in Washington for Education Summit
Governors from across the country recently met to discuss improving graduation
rates and high school quality at their National Education Summit on High
Schools. The NGA has released its Action Agenda for Improving America's High
Schools.
http://www.nga.org/cda/files/0502actionagenda.pdf
Connect for Kids, the Campaign for Youth and over 236 organizations sent the
governors a policy memo on re-connecting the “other 32” – the
students who fail to complete high school with a degree.
http://www.nyec.org/Reconnecting_Our_Youth.pdf
**One-Third of the Nation: America’s Escalating High School Dropout
Crisis
As Congress, governors, and state education officials turn their attention
to high school reform, a new report from ETS warns that little is being done
to address rising dropout rates and declining earnings for dropouts in the
job market.
http://www.ets.org/research/pic/onethird.pdf
**Connect for Kids Background on the High School Dropout Crisis
Connect for Kids has compiled the recent data on graduation and dropout rates.
http://www.connectforkids.org/taxonomy/term/539
**School-Based Mentoring: A Closer Look
School-based mentoring is a promising and increasingly popular approach to
bringing communities and schools together, and fostering students’ academic
growth. This report from the nonprofit Public/Private Ventures provides more
information.
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/youth/youth_publications.asp?section_id=7#pub180
**Afterschool Alliance
The Washington, DC-based Afterschool Alliance -- a nonprofit working to raise
awareness and investment in afterschool programs for children and families
-- is seeking an executive director. Candidates should have experience in
advocacy or policymaking, an ability to raise money from foundations and
corporations, and a strong belief in the importance of education and youth
development.
http://www.slesingermanagement.com/execsearch/pdf/AfterschoolAlliance.pdf
**Correction
Last week, we incorrectly listed information on the Sioux Falls Head Start
program in our North Dakota section. We apologize to South Dakotans and readers
everywhere for the error -- rest assured that Sioux Falls remains in South
Dakota, where it belongs.
**State-by-State News
Alabama
Shelter agencies will send teams into parks, highways, alleys, soup kitchens
and back roads this week in the first attempt to count Alabama's homeless
population outside its major cities.
http://www.wpmi.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=57A12413-1A5E-4827-9361-5FE6653A8FD6
Alaska
To help young Alaskans leave the foster care system with the resources they
need to transition to adulthood, Representative McGuire (R-Anchorage) introduced
HB 140 -- a tuition waiver and voucher program for eligible foster care students
to attend college or vocational training programs.
http://www.interiorchronicle.com/..._Foster_Care_Kids_20050216.htm
Arkansas
The state’s House of Representatives approved a measure that would make
the children of undocumented immigrants eligible for state college scholarships.
Governor Mike Huckabee (R) endorses the measure.
http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2005/February/24/news/10_house_approves_college.html
California
Class-size reduction remains immensely popular throughout the state, but its
hefty costs have forced some trade-offs. Dozens of school districts have
been forced by budget constraints to pare down their own class-size spending
-- even as it has meant giving up state funding.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/02/23/24size.h24.html
District of Columbia
Nearly one out of every four D.C. public school students was chronically truant
last year -- meaning that more than 15,000 of its about 65,000 students were
absent without an excuse at least 15 days during the year, according to statistics
that school officials have submitted to the federal government. The District's
truancy rate is more than four times the national average of 3 percent to
5 percent.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20050214-104619-1543r.htm
Florida
The state’s community college system will become a major provider of
education and training for teachers and paraprofessionals under an innovative
alternative-certification program expected to be up and running this summer.
http://www.ecs.org/00CN2383
Georgia
The state’s House of Representatives approved legislation that could
create a powerful incentive for highly skilled teachers to work in some of
the state's most troubled schools -- or, say opponents, discourage teachers
from seeking national certification. The "master teacher" bill will
require teachers who get national board certification to work in a poor-performing
school to collect a 10 percent raise that Georgia now provides as reward to
all teachers who attain that status.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/legis05/0205/24legteach.html
In other news, state Senate has approved a bill allowing employers to pay
teenage workers less than the minimum wage -- teens 20 and under could get
$4.25 an hour for up to 90 days. (Minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, but since
1996, federal law has allowed a lower “training wage” for young
people.)
http://www.ajc.com/
Massachusetts
A coalition of business, community and education leaders recently launched
the Great Schools Campaign -- a statewide initiative to raise learning expectations,
improve teacher preparation, and focus more attention and money on low-performing
schools.
http://www.massinsight.org/docs/GreatSchoolsBackgrounder.pdf
Michigan
On March 15 and 16, Alliance for Justice staff will be conducting workshops
in Detroit and Lansing on Worry-Free Advocacy: Do's and Don'ts for Nonprofits.
These workshops can give advocates a better understanding of rules governing
participation in the policy process. See the Voices Leadership Academy page.
http://www.michiganschildren.org/page.cfm/108/
New Jersey
New Jersey's schools do better than most in graduating their students on time,
according to a national study
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1109225610264190.xml
Oregon
Research shows many Oregonians aren’t using food stamps and other services
because they don’t know about them. The Oregon State University Committee
on Hunger and Poverty is working to develop a human services resource center
where students and others can connect with social service agencies and get
information on subjects ranging from child care to free and low-cost health
care. http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2005/02/08/news/community/tueloc02.txt
Texas
A new Texas study punctures the commonly held notion that high levels of teacher
turnover in poor, urban schools result from an exodus of the profession's "best
and brightest." The National Bureau of Economic Research found the teachers
who left inner-city schools between the 1989-90 school year and the 2001-02
school year were no better at raising their students' scores than those who
stayed behind. In some cases, the analysis showed, the departing teachers
may have even been worse.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/02/23/24teach.h24.html
Washington
Chances are you had someone -- maybe parents or teachers -- who helped guide
you through the transition from childhood to adulthood. But kids aging out
of the foster care system and finished with high school often find themselves
alone and unsupported when they turn 18. Janis Avery, guest columnist, offers
her take on how the issue affects residents of Washington state.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/213293_treehouse24.html
Be sure to check out the redesigned CFK Web site: http://www.connectforkids.org
Caitlin Johnson, Senior Contributing Writer and the CFK team
weekly@connectforkids.org
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