CFK Weekly—Apr. 23, 2001

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

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NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Peer Tutors Give Kids a Chance
**Faces of Change: Personal Experiences of Welfare Reform in America
**Connect for Kids Offers Ideas for Action
**National Volunteer Week 2001

DOES BUSH BUDGET LEAVE MANY CHILDREN BEHIND?
**OMB Watch Charts Proposed Bush Budget
**United Council of Churches Opposes Tax Cuts
**Disadvantaged by the Digital Divide
**Anti-Hunger Advocates on Proposed Bush Budget
**PTA Opposes Budget Blueprint for Education
**Bush's Education Budget Has Winners, Losers

PROTECTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN
**The Cost of Protecting Vulnerable Children II: What Has Changed since 1996
**Securing Foster Parents' Access to Low-Interest Home Loans
**Federal Role in Child Protection
**Do Children have a Right to Health Care Coverage?
**Female Gangs: A Focus on Research

RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY BUILDERS
**Strategies for Training Volunteers
**Lesson Plans for Engaging Youth in Community Planning
**Call for Public Comment on EPA Pesticide Rules
**KaBoom Getting Started Kit Updated
**Children's Advocates Bring New Voices to the Table
**Fundraising for Dummies

TRAINING LOW-SKILLED WORKERS
**GAO Reports on ?Hard-to-Employ? Welfare Families
**Improving the Odds: Increasing the Effectiveness of Publicly Funded Training
**Schooling in the Workplace: Increasing Work-Based Learning
**Work/Welfare Programs: What's the Payoff for Families? AudioConference

EARLY LEARNING
**Early Speech Struggles Can Hamper Children in Poor Families
**Federal Report Evaluates Early Childhood Programs

IMPROVING SCHOOLS
**Action for All: The Public's Responsibility for Public Education
**Advancing Standards: A National Call for Midcourse Correction and Next Steps
**Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment
**?It's the Teachers, Stupid?
**Condition of Education 2000
**Setting Up a Public Conversation on Improving Education

POVERTY TOUR
**The State of America's Children Yearbook 2001
**Take the 2-Minute Poverty Tour
**The Family Self-Sufficiency Program

FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS

**Peer Tutors Give Kids a Chance
One-on-one peer tutoring can make a big difference for struggling students. Give Every Child a Chance, a volunteer, community -- based tutoring program in California is helping kids turn bad grades -- and dim futures -- around. Caitlin Johnson looks at how. http://www.connectforkids.org

**Faces of Change: Personal Experiences of Welfare Reform in America
A new book from the Alliance for Children and Families has over 100 authors -- all of them sharing their personal stories of what the 1996 welfare reform meant for them and their families. Caitlin Johnson looks at a new initiative that gives voice to the people behind the statistics
http://www.connectforkids.org

**Connect for Kids Offers Ideas for Action
Ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference for kids and families. Learn about successful programs and how you can get involved on behalf of kids near you.
http://www.connectforkids.org

**National Volunteer Week 2001
"Change the World -- VOLUNTEER!" is the theme for the 28th annual National Volunteer Week, April 22-28, 2001. Lend a hand for kids in your community this week and all year round.
http://www.connectforkids.org

DOES BUSH BUDGET LEAVE MANY CHILDREN BEHIND?

**OMB Watch Charts Proposed Bush Budget
OMB Watch offers an overview of President Bush's proposed budget increases including an easy-to-read pie chart that shows clearly the high priority on defense and other spending and low priority on spending for young families and children.
http://www.ombwatch.org/ombwatcher/current.html#bud

**United Council of Churches Opposes Tax Cuts
Religious leaders are calling President Bush's proposed tax cuts too inequitable and too large at a time when millions of families must seek charity to meet basic needs. According to the National Council of Churches, leaders are ?appalled that the focus of attention in this Congressional session is not on meeting their needs; rather, it is on tax cuts that will mostly benefit the affluent."
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/01news33.html

**Disadvantaged by the Digital Divide
Charles Benton, the Benton Foundation's chairman of the board and long-time communications analyst and advocate, argues that President Bush's proposed FY 2002 budget represents a step backward in efforts to provide digital opportunities for all Americans.
http://www.benton.org/Policy/Budget.html

**Anti-Hunger Advocates on Proposed Bush Budget
The Food Research and Action Center finds that President Bush's budget proposal underfunds the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, leaving out about 100,000 low-income women, infants and children. Contact Scott Hendrick (shendrick@frac.org; 202-986-2200, ext. 3017) for details.

**PTA Opposes House Budget Blueprint for Education
The National Parent Teacher Association strongly opposes the House of Representatives version of the federal budget blueprint because the increase for education programs is not sufficient to allow for inflation and expansion to cover more eligible children in any of the underfunded U.S. Dept. of Education programs. The measure places an increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in competition with increases in all other, critical education programs, and would rescind the $1.2 billion that was appropriated last year for emergency school repairs. http://www.pta.org/programs/washup.asp?x=1&q=Budget

**Bush's Growing Education Budget Has Winners, Losers
Education Week finds that Bush's education budget would boost spending in selected areas, but put many other programs on a fiscal diet.
http://www.educationweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=31budget.h20

PROTECTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN

**The Cost of Protecting Vulnerable Children II: What Has Changed Since 1996
Using 1998 data, this Urban Institute report analyzes how the parameters of federal funding programs may be affecting state policies and programs for children in need of protection. The report finds that although states spent at least $15.6 billion on child welfare services in FY 1998, child welfare funding is unstable and volatile. States seem to be maximizing their claims on federal title IV-E funds for out-of-home placements (which are uncapped), but lagging behind in claims for prevention services through Title IV-B (which is capped).
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/op46/occa46.html

**Securing Foster Parents' Access to Low-Interest Home Loans
When a foster parent in Washington State was denied a low-interest housing loan because the state housing office claimed foster care is a business, she went to her state child advocacy organization for help. Washington's Children's Alliance succeeded in changing state policy so that thousands of low-income foster parents would be eligible for help in finding stable housing for their families, according to this ?Making a Difference? brief from the National Association of Child Advocates.
http://www.childadvocacy.org/camad.htm

**Federal Role in Child Protection
This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Bulletin describes the rationale for their work in the areas of missing and exploited children and child protection.
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/general.html#186158

**Do Children have a Right to Health Care Coverage?
Children have a right to health care coverage under Medicaid, but not necessarily under the separate children's health insurance programs that many states have established. The findings of this George Washington University report suggest that the decision to create a right to health care coverage must flow from a national commitment to do so, not from separate state decisions.
http://www.gwhealthpolicy.org/

**Female Gangs: A Focus on Research
This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention review of the research underscores the wide variety of circumstances, motivations and consequences for girls who join a gang. For some fleeing abuse or trying to provide for themselves in neighborhoods with limited job opportunities, the illegal drug dealing of the gang provides income and independence.
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/gang.html#186159

RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY BUILDERS

**Strategies for Training Volunteers
The Northwest Regional Education Library has a wealth of resources for developing a community tutoring or mentoring program, including a set of ready-to-use lesson plans for training volunteers -- from getting beyond first impressions when they enter schools to tutoring strategies.
http://www.nwrel.org/learns/

**Lesson Plans for Engaging Youth in Community Planning
The American Planning Association has resources for community planners who want to inform and engage young people in decision-making and community building. Detailed lesson plans are ready to use with young people to explore the strengths and gaps in their own community.
http://www.planning.org/ResourcesZine/display_category.asp?CatType=Category&Cat=19

**Call for Public Comment on EPA Pesticide Rules
A January, 2001 court settlement ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to follow the requirements of the Food Quality Protection Act -- to review the most dangerous pesticides in the food supply to make sure they are safe for infants and children and to establish a testing program to determine whether pesticides harm humans and the environment. Environmental and child advocates report that pesticide and chemical manufacturers have mounted a coordinated industry campaign to pressure the agency to withdraw from this settlement.
http://www.panna.org/panna/resources/panups/panup_20010417.dv.html

**KaBoom Getting Started Kit Updated
If you or someone you know wants help in getting a community playground project off the ground, now is the time to put in your order for KaBoom's new version of their Getting Started Kit. If your group sends KaBOOM! a response to the GSK (refer to page 34), your group will be eligible for support from KaBOOM! during your planning process.
http://www.kaboom.org

**Children's Advocates Bring New Voices to the Table
Even when your cause is just and your message is right, it helps to have the support and spokespeople beyond the usual suspects -- full-time child advocates ? to improve policies for kids in your community or state. The Action Alliance for Children offers ideas that have worked in California.
http://www.4children.org/childadv.htm#advo

**Fundraising for Dummies
This Indiana Youth Institute publication uses bullet points and clever clip art to deliver useful descriptions of key fund development principles and activities. For a hard copy call 800-343-7060.
http://www.iyi.org

You'll find more toolkits and manuals by looking up ?community building in Connect for Kids' Topics A-Z.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm

TRAINING LOW-SKILLED WORKERS

**GAO Reports on ?Hard-to-Employ? Welfare Families
States face serious challenges in helping hard-to-employ recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) find and keep jobs, according to this U.S. General Accounting Office report. Barriers include substance abuse, poor mental or physical health, disability, low educational attainment and limited English proficiency. States are hampered in planning effective services for their TANF caseloads because they lack good data, and some states, uncertain about the legal limits, are reluctant to allow recipients to participate in the full range of activities they may need to get and keep jobs.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01368.pdf

**Improving the Odds: Increasing the Effectiveness of Publicly Funded Training
This Urban Institute book examines the evidence for the kinds of training and employment programs that will help welfare-to-workers and unskilled youth achieve financial self-sufficiency in an economy that offers little to low-skilled labor. One conclusion is that low-cost, ?work-first? programs that emphasize quick employment may produce positive short-term results, but more intensive programs are required to make a significant difference in low-skilled participants' financial viability. Cost: $24.00
http://www.uipress.org

**Schooling in the Workplace: Increasing Work-Based Learning
This Mathematica report finds that brief worksite observation opportunities like job shadowing are increasing, while extended internships are reaching fewer students. Female students, vocational concentrators and students with low levels of academic achievement are benefiting the most from the advantages of school-initiated positions as opposed to placements students find on their own.
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/PDFs/schooling.pdf

**Work/Welfare Programs: What's the Payoff for Families
Some "work pays" welfare programs have been shown to improve family well being. What are the differences in outcomes for adolescents compared to children? How much does income matter? What steps can other states and communities take to achieve similar outcomes? These are the focus of discussion for the April 27 audioconference presented by the Center on Law and Social Policy. Visit their site for registration details.
http://www.clasp.org/audioconference/brochure.html

You'll find reports on preparing low-performing students for a productive adulthood in the ?Kids At-Risk? section in the Kids and Learning feature on Connect for Kids.
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1556/content.htm

EARLY LEARNING

**Early Speech Struggles Can Hamper Children in Poor Families
According to new research, by age 3 children from impoverished circumstances can fall way behind their peers in spoken vocabulary development. Even though they learn at the same rate as their peers when they are in first grade, they are unlikely to catch up from their initial deficit and thus face long-term difficulties in school and poor employment prospects as adults.
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/childrenvocabulary.html

**Federal Report Evaluates Early Childhood Programs
In addition to a quick course on evaluation research, this U.S. General Accounting Office report reviews the impact evaluation studies currently under way to assess two major early intervention programs funded with federal dollars: Head Start and Even Start.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-01-542

IMPROVING SCHOOLS

**Action for All: the Public's Responsibility for Public Education
Want to improve your local schools? Become an Education Voter, says Public Education Network in this report that argues public education has the potential to unite our diverse population in a common cause.
http://www.publiceducation.org/pubs/

**Advancing Standards: A National Call for Midcourse Correction and Next Steps
Are standardized tests measuring the right things, and measuring them accurately? This National Education Association report and complementary toolkit is designed to help states and school districts ?chart a course that not only measures student progress, but also provides the rigorous curriculum and extra resources needed to improve the achievement of all students."
http://www.nea.org/nr/nr010404.html

**Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment
While public debate is narrowly focused on how to use standardized, paper and pencil tests to measure student performance, this new book describes what we know about how people learn and what we are learning about how to assess student progress. It explores how the cognitive and measurement sciences can work together to improve classroom learning, and how new technologies are opening up new vistas for individualized assessment and teaching.
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10019.html

**?It's the Teachers, Stupid?
In this op-ed from the Christian Science Monitor, Marguerita Roza argues that federal Title I funding has had little impact in narrowing the achievement gap between wealthy and disadvantaged schools because it has not yet helped narrow the gap between the seasoned, quality teachers available to affluent schools and the inexperienced, poorly paid teachers rotating through poverty schools.
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/04/19/p11s2.htm

**Condition of Education 2000
If you want to know what language is spoken at home for Hispanic students, or about how many first-time kindergarteners seem able to persist at a task, this annual National Center for Education Statistics publication is for you. You'll find 30 charts on indicators for student achievement, enrollments, student use of the Internet and more.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001045

**Setting Up a Public Conversation on Improving Education
Want to improve the level of public discussion with your local school board? This five-step guide from the Public Education Network offers tips for convening, structuring and facilitating a successful conversation between community leaders, concerned parents and its school board.
http://www.publiceducation.org/resources/public_conversation.htm

Learn more about high-stakes testing and improving schools in the ?Three R's? section of Connect for Kids' feature on Kids and Learning.
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1556/content.htm

POVERTY TOUR

**The State of America's Children Yearbook 2001
This annual Children's Defense Fund report gathers the most current data on the state of the nation's children and reviews developments in child health, child care, education, family income, youth development, juvenile justice, families in crisis and other key topics. According to this year's report, one in six children remains in poverty even with working parents.
http://www.childrensdefense.org

**Take the 2-Minute Poverty Tour
How far does $17,184 go for a family of four in America today? Far enough to cover rent, food, transportation, health coverage and child care? Take the 2-minute tour and find out, compliments of the U.S. Catholic Conference.
http://www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour2.htm

**The Family Self-Sufficiency Program
The Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), an underutilized program that helps families in Section 8 housing secure stable employment and save money, could be a boon for families leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the agencies that serve them, says this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report.
http://www.cbpp.org/4-12-01hous.htm

FOCUS ON THE STATES

**State-by-State News
Check out news about kids in your state in the ?state-by-state? section of the Connect for Kids Web site. Here's a sample of this week's additions to our state pages.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1576/index.htm

Arkansas
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has released "The Next Generation," a state Kids Count data book that puts data from many sources under one cover. http://www.aradvocates.org/kidscount

California ? San Jose
?The Bay Area Fatherhood Initiatives: Portraits and Possibilities? explores fathering programs and policies in the San Francisco Bay Area.http://www.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu/bayfids/bayfids-intro.htm

Connecticut
The Covering Connecticut's Kids project has posted its latest news on outreach for the state's HUSKY health insurance program. http://www.childrenshealthcouncil.org/covering/

Georgia
The Model Atlanta Regional Commission engages youth in helping to plan the city's future in key areas. http://www.planning.org/ResourcesZine/display_article.asp?article=249

Nevada
New Kids Count reports for Nevada explore services for families with infants and toddlers with developmental delays, teenagers transitioning out of foster care and families adopting children with special needs.
http://kidscount.unlv.edu/

New York
Education Week explores the success of three outstanding schools serving disadvantaged students in New York City.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues168.shtml

Virginia
The ban on corporal punishment against kids in foster families will stand, according to a new state ruling issued April 19, 2001. Read a Connect for Kids profile of Virginia foster care activists who fought hard to keep the ban in place. http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=42804
 
 

Keep in touch, everyone!

Jan Richter, Outreach and Policy Analyst, and the Connect for Kids team
Jan@benton.org