CFK Weekly—October 9, 2000

We encourage distribution of this information! If reprinting in whole or part, please attribute it to Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org).

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Rising Star in Denver
**The Early Years: Science and Sense
**Resources for Adults Concerned About Young Children
**What Grown-Ups Understand About Child Development

CONNECT TODAY
**Connect for Kids Spreads Its Word

TAKE A STAND
**Bipartisan Push to Extend Health Coverage to Immigrant Children
**Call for Funding to Support Housing Improvements
**Protect Children, Not Guns
**Pediatricians Take a Position on Mental Health Coverage
**National Education Association on High-Stakes Testing
**Public Opinion on Standards Reform

FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
**$10 Million for Child Care Research
**Juvenile Mentoring Program: A Progress Review
**Improving School Environments for Students
**Grants Help Shrink Schools
**Children's Hospitals Receive Added Funding for Training Physicians

RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING
**Catch the Spirit Calendars
**Early Head Start Funding

HEALTH -- WHAT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT CAN HURT KIDS
**Sex Education in America
**HIV Epidemic Hitting Women, Minorities, Adolescents Harder
**Drug Dependence, a Chronic Mental Illness
**Primary Caregivers and Psychological Problems of Children

IMPROVING POLICIES FOR VULNERABLE FAMILIES
**Eligible Children Not Enrolled in Medicaid
**Getting There, Getting Care
**A Look at Poor Dads Who Don't Pay Child Support
**Protecting Affordable Housing for the Poor
**Emerging Neighborhoods for Affordable Housing
**City House or Country House Makes a Difference

BY THE NUMBERS
**CHIP Enrollment Up 50 Percent
**Gun Related School Expulsions, 1998-1999

REPORTS IN BRIEF
**Pediatrics Beyond the Office
**Online Victimization: A Report to the Nation's Youth
**Early Drinking Increases Lifetime Injury Risk
**Making Up Your Mind to Learn

FOCUS ON THE STATES
**Food Stamp Participation Rates Vary Widely by State
**State Tax Policies and Low-Income Families
**Use It or Lose It? Follow-Up on State CHIP Funding
**State by State News

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS

**Rising Star in Denver
by Cecilia Garcia
By transforming a neighborhood blight into a nurturing pre-school for
Latino children, a group of parents and teachers in Denver, Colorado have shown that community effort can improve the lives of children and brighten a whole neighborhood. Connect for Kids' director Cecilia Garcia explains how the Family Star Community Center was born.
http://www.connectforkids.org

**The Early Years: Science and Sense
a Connect for Kids summary
Very young children can't tell us what they need. But new scientific
research into the developing brain provides strong clues. "From Neurons to Neighborhoods," a new report from the National Research Council, says we now have the know-how to promote healthy development -- next, we must find the political will to build programs and policies to match. Learn more in this Connect for Kids summary.
http://www.connectforkids.org

**Resources for Adults Concerned About Young Children
From brain development and early learning to discipline and the effects of the media on very young children, the Connect for Kids Early Years feature is your resource on issues affecting children under age three.
http://www.connectforkids.org

**What Grown-Ups Understand About Child Development
Zero to Three surveyed 3,000 adults-many of them parents-on their knowledge about child development and specific policies affecting children and families. Though most respondents had a grasp on the basics, there is some room to grow. Many do not understand that even very young infants have long-term memory, are affected by witnessing violence, and can become depressed. Read the summary or full study on zerotothree.org. (You will need to dowload the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
http://www.connectforkids.org

CONNECT TODAY

**Connect for Kids Spreads Its Word
To help inform parents about the latest issues on children and families, Connect for Kids sponsors Newsedge -- a section of Kidsedge.com, Knowledge Kids Media's Web site for parents and kids.
http://www.kidsedge.com

TAKE A STAND

**Bipartisan Push to Extend Health Coverage to Immigrant Children
The proposed Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2000 would allow states to cover legal immigrant children and pregnant women who came to the U.S. after August 22, 1996. Currently these children and mothers are subject to a five-year ban on eligibility for Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The House Commerce Committee has approved a version of this bill, and Families USA has taken a stand supporting it.
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/alertpr.pl?dir=familiesusa&alert=6

**Call for Funding to Support Housing Improvements
Many low-income families rely on Section 8 vouchers to find affordable housing in their community. A new administration proposal would significantly improve this program, argues the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), but additional funds are needed for services to help families obtain housing and to recruit landlords to participate in the voucher program.
http://www.cbpp.org/9-21-00hous.htm

**Protect Children, Not Guns
After peeking in 1994, youth firearm deaths dropped 35 percent between 1994 and 1998, according to this annual report from the Children's Defense Fund. In 1998, nearly three times as many children under 10 died from gunfire as the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, and more children and teens died from gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma and HIV/AIDS combined.
http://www.cdfactioncouncil.org/children_and_guns_release_10_2_00.htm

**Pediatricians Take a Position on Mental Health Coverage
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new guidelines (October, 2000) on child and adolescent mental health and substance abuse services, calling for more comprehensive public and private insurance aimed at increasing access to treatment to address the needs of increasing numbers of children with psychosocial problems.
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/octmental.htm

Watch for the Surgeon General's national Action Plan for Children's Mental Health to be released soon. http://www.gwu.edu/~mtg/ejournal/october_2.htm

Connect for Kids' feature on Children's Mental Health has information about child and adolescent development and serving kids with special emotional and mental health needs.
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1551/content.htm

See also Susan Phillip's article on the National Research Council's ?From Neurons to Neighborhoods? report on the science of early childhood development.
http://www.connectforkids.org/

**National Education Association on High-Stakes Testing
Noting the gap between ?noble ideals? and ?ignoble results? in high stakes testing, Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association, argues that the one high-stakes test that adults dare not flunk is whether they can improve the learning opportunities for children being left behind.
http://www.nea.org/publiced/chase/bc000910.html

**Public Opinion on Standards Reform
New public opinion polls from Public Agenda <http://www.publicagenda.org/aboutpa/standardsbacklash.htm> and the Business Roundtable <http://www.brt.org/press.cfm/453> suggest the overwhelming majorities support raising academic standards and linking high-stakes tests to high school graduation and elementary school promotion.

Read about the history and dangers of high-stakes testing in a Connect for Kids commentary. http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=22409

FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

**$10 Million for Child Care Research
Parents worried about affordable, high-quality child care may soon find some answers. On September 21, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala announced $10 million in discretionary grants and contracts for research on child care and its effects on child development and family well-being, and for the development of community strategies to meet the early child care needs of low-income families. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/20000921.html

**Juvenile Mentoring Program: A Progress Review
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP) has helped communities to establish youth mentoring projects and supported research to enhance understanding of the dynamics of mentoring relationships. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Bulletin finds that both mentors and youths in JUMP report positive results from their experiences. http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/delinq.html#182209

**Improving School Environments for Students
The U.S. Dept. of Education announced grants to 58 school districts to establish or expand elementary school counseling programs staffed by school counselors, psychologists and social workers.
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/09-2000/0915.html

**Grants Help Shrink Schools
The U.S. Dept. of Education has also announced the award of $42.3 million in grants to help large high schools create smaller, more personalized learning communities.
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/10-2000/100400a.html

**Children's Hospitals Receive Added Funding for Training Physicians
Almost a third of all doctors who specialize in caring for children train at independent children's hospitals, but children's hospitals currently receive less than $2 million annually in federal support for their continuing education programs, compared to $7 billion that annually goes to other teaching hospitals through Medicare. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services announced that 56 children's hospitals across the nation will all together receive about $38 million to help ensure that pediatric residents in those institutions receive top-quality training.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/20001005.html

RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING

**Catch the Spirit Calendars
It's not too late to get your ?Catch the Spirit? calendars (September 2000 ? August 2001), featuring a young volunteer community builder each month and marking the days of the year significant for improving kids' lives. Calendars come with a lesson plan booklet for teachers and mentors. Contact the Points of Light Foundation for ordering information <polfcat@aol.com>.

**Early Head Start Funding
The Administration for Children, Youth and Families is accepting applications from local public and private nonprofit and for-profit organizations interested in carrying out services under the Early Head Start program. Grants are available in 83 communities in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Deadline: November 13, 2000. For an application, call 800-351-2293.

HEALTH -- WHAT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT CAN HURT KIDS

**Sex Education in America
Parents say they want more in-depth sex education in schools, including practical issues like resisting pressures to have sex or how to use condoms as well as more attention to controversial topics like sexual orientation and abortion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
http://www.kff.org/content/2000/3048/

**HIV Epidemic Hitting Women, Minorities, Adolescents Harder
Over the last fifteen years the AIDS epidemic in the United States has shifted considerably, with the number of new AIDS cases among women, minorities and adolescents increasing. A new report from the Institute of Medicine calls for greater emphasis on prevention measures, including routine services for at-risk and infected individuals in all clinical settings.
http://www.nationalacademies.org/webextra/hiv/

**Drug Dependence, a Chronic Mental Illness
The social consequences of drug dependence have cast it as a ?social problem,? but it has all the earmarks of a chronic illness. Treating it as a chronic mental illness can lead the way to better prevention and treatment, according to this Journal of the American Medical Association article, which argues that ?drug dependence should be insured, treated and evaluated like other chronic illnesses.?
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v284n13/abs/jsc00024.html

**Primary Caregivers and Psychological Problems of Children
What are the factors that influence a physician's willingness and ability to talk to parents about their children's emotional and psychological problems? According to research in the journal Pediatrics, the key factor in pediatricians providing counseling or referrals was the relationship between physician and parents. Unfortunately, visits don't often last long enough to create bonds.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/106/4/e44#Conclusion

IMPROVING POLICIES FOR VULNERABLE FAMILIES

**Eligible Children Not Enrolled in Medicaid
Medicaid-eligible uninsured children were almost three times as likely to have an unmet health care need during the year as Medicaid-enrolled children, and more than four times as likely to delay care due to cost, according to the Urban Institute report. Almost one-quarter (23 percent) of these uninsured children lacked a regular source of care, compared with about 6 percent of the Medicaid-enrolled.
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/anf_a41.html

**Getting There, Getting Care
When the Children's Health Fund sent its Child Health Caravan to nine states, it learned a thing or two about the shortage of health professionals in rural areas, insufficient outreach efforts, and inadequate transportation options for getting kids to medical facilities. Read what the Caravan learned in the Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia. E-mail <amwalker@chfund.org> for a copy.

**A Look at Poor Dads Who Don't Pay Child Support
The 2.6 million fathers who do not live with their children, are poor and owe child support may face barriers to employment and financial security similar to poor custodial mothers. This Urban Institute report asks what can be done to improve programs to help these fathers meet their obligations to their children.
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/discussion00-07.html#intro

**Protecting Affordable Housing for the Poor
The National Housing Law Project reviews the implications of new welfare reform policies and a changing housing market to identify what local communities and advocates can, and must, do to protect affordable housing options for the desperately poor entering the workforce. The report also identifies services to help those living in public housing who are still on welfare to find sufficient employment.
http://www.nhlp.org/pubs/other.htm

**Emerging Neighborhoods for Affordable Housing
Even in some of the hottest real estate markets in the country, working families can still find modestly priced homes in ?just right? neighborhoods, like the ?Seven Trees? neighborhood in San Jose, according to the Fannie Mae Foundation. Innovative public policies are essential to maintain such islands of affordability before they are submerged by rising housing costs, if working families are to be able to secure a toehold in the housing market.
http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/news/release/justright092600.htm

**City House or Country House Makes a Difference
Families leaving welfare and trying to find gainful employment in rural areas face different, and sometimes more persistent, barriers than urban families, according to a series of reports from the Joint Center of Poverty Research.
http://www.jcpr.org/newsletters/vol4_no5/index.html

BY THE NUMBERS

**CHIP Enrollment Up 50 Percent
As of June 30, 2000 approximately 2.5 million children have enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a 50 percent increase over the last nine months, according to new data from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. A full annual enrollment report will be released in February.
http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/2000/9/29/16.text.1

**Gun-Related School Expulsions, 1998-1999
The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 required states to pass laws forcing school districts to expel any student who brings a firearm to school. The third state-by-state look at implementation of the federal law found a decline in the number of students expelled for carrying guns to school.
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/10-2000/100300.html

REPORTS IN BRIEF

**Pediatrics Beyond the Office
The October 2000 issue of Pediatrics has a number of articles on children's exposure to harmful elements in their environment, including television commercial violence, tobacco smoke from non-parental smokers in inner city households and lead exposure despite dust control.
http://www.pediatrics.org

**Online Victimization: a Report to the Nation's Youth
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that one in five young people online were exposed to unwanted sexual solicitations. Learn how these youngsters and their families responded. (800-843-5678)
http://www.missingkids.com

**Early Drinking Increases Lifetime Injury Risk
Adults who began drinking before age 14 are more likely to drink heavily and are at greater risk for unintentional injury during adulthood than those who began drinking at or after age 21.
http://silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/releases/injury.htm

**Making Up Your Mind to Learn
The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation offers ?So I Made Up My Mind,? an overview of adult learning in library literacy programs.
http://www.mdrc.org/Reports2000/MDRCLibLit.pdf

FOCUS ON THE STATES

**Food Stamp Participation Rates Vary Widely by State
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture found wide variations in food stamp participation rates by state, from 45 percent of those eligible in Nevada to 92 percent in West Virginia. Nationally, participation rates fell at a rate three times faster than poverty.
http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2000/09/0337.htm

**State Tax Policies and Low-Income Families
This Urban Institute report concludes that some states impose ?substantial burdens? through income taxes with low thresholds or sales taxes that do not exempt necessities, while others provide generous subsidies through Earned Income Tax Credits similar to the federal version. A few states go beyond the federal model and provide refundable child care credits as well.
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/op38/occa38.html#conc

**Use It or Lose It? Follow Up on State CHIP Funding
The new fiscal year (October 1, 2000) means that unspent Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds in 41 states are subject to redistribution to states that have depleted their CHIP dollars. <http://www.gwu.edu/~mtg/ejournal/october_1.htm> The Urban Institute reports on state CHIP spending patterns and explores options for reallocating unused funds.
http://www.urban.org/news/pressrel/pr000927.html

**State by State News
Check out news about kids and the upcoming elections in your state in the ?state by state? section of the Connect for Kids Web site.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1576/index.htm

Here's a sample of this week's additions to our state pages.

Connecticut.
Connecticut Voices for Kids' Shelley Geballe will speak at the Yale Bush Center Social Policy Luncheon Series on October 20, 2000.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=383

Colorado.
New report offers recommendations based on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=382

Florida.
Florida will be piloting a new electronic application process targeting minority children served by day care centers to boost Medicaid/CHIP enrollments.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=386

Georgia.
Jane Fonda, the actress and founder of the Georgia campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, writes about supporting adolescent girls and helping them break the cycle of early pregnancy.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=387

Hawaii.
The state Department of Health and Human Services announced approval of an expansion plan for Hawaii's CHIP program.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=388

Iowa.
Research shows that most welfare recipients trying to find work in small, remote Iowa towns do not own a car, essential for finding work, and face poorer access to jobs and support services.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=392

Maryland.
The Board of the Baltimore City public schools is ending social promotion without providing adequate help to low-achieving students to meet the new standards, according to Advocates for Children and Youth.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=392

Massachusetts.
Massachusetts will simplify their renewal procedures for Medicaid/CHIP.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=398

Minnesota.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a pilot program to help kids visit their moms -- in prison.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=400

Mississippi.
Mississippi is using federal School-to-Work dollars to support a Web site to help children ages four and up learn about higher education and career opportunities.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=401

Ohio.
Ohio will eliminate burdensome income verification requirements for families applying for Medicaid/CHIP coverage in a federally support effort to boost enrollments.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=412

Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children reports that 82 percent of Pennsylvanians believe that the state should guarantee every child adequate food, shelter and health care.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=415

Texas.
Children with mental illness suffer, but the state where they happen to be born can make a difference, according to a news report in the Austin American-Stateman.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=421

Utah.
The Primary Children's Medical Center and Utah Children have conducted a survey of candidates in the state on issues important to children and families.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=422

Washington.
Washington will increase its efforts to link children receiving school lunch subsidies with Medicaid/CHIP health care coverage with the help of a new federal grant.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1667/index.htm?state_id=424

Have a good Columbus Day holiday, everyone!

Jan Richter and the Connect for Kids team
<mailto:jan@benton.org>