CFK Weekly—Nov. 25, 2002

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

**Challenging the Stigma of Bipolar Disorder
**Helping Kids with Depression

ALL KINDS OF WAYS TO HELP ALL KINDS OF KIDS
**Across the Nation
**State-by-State Efforts
**Helping Sites

KIDS AND POLITICS
**Washington Politics Leave Unemployed Families in the Lurch

IMPROVING SCHOOLS
**Are Schools Serving All Our Kids?
**Schools Bend Under Tight Budgets
**Achievement Gaps—Not a Matter of Attitude
**Education Scholars Finding New 'Value' in Student Test Data
**No Parent Left Behind?
**Children’s Readiness for School: Toward a Strategic Policy Framework

PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS
**Building Strong Families
**Grandparents’ Guides to Child Care and Resources
**The Status of Women in the States

BETTER POLICIES FOR VULNERABLE YOUTH
**Ten Reasons to Keep the Focus on Teen Childbearing
**Almost Home
**Families on the Edge: Homeless Young Parents and Their Welfare Experiences

FOCUS ON THE STATES
**Failing Our Families
**State-by-State News

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS

**Challenging the Stigma of Bipolar Disorder
In the teen years, just wearing the wrong jeans can spell social disaster. So it's no surprise that young people diagnosed with bipolar disorder struggle with well-founded fears of being ostracized by their peers. Lisa Rhodes profiles Lizzie Simon, a young woman who is working to overcome the stigma.
http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=134462

**Helping Kids with Depression
Children diagnosed with depression can be treated through medications and therapy. But Skip Corsini, a parent who has struggled with depression since childhood, says parents and others can help by paying careful attention to the social environment their children inhabit.
http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=134463

ALL KINDS OF WAYS TO HELP ALL KINDS OF KIDS

Many community-based organizations ask for donations to make the holidays special for the kids and families they serve, or to support their work throughout the year. Here are opportunities for you to help out, submitted by fellow readers of the Connect for Kids Weekly!

**Across the Nation
For many children in foster care, the holidays compound the sadness and loneliness brought on by absent parents, siblings, pets and friends. FosterClub.com has designed a holiday greeting card for the children in foster care on your list. All proceeds benefit FosterClub, the national network for youth in foster care.
http://www.fosterclub.com/grownups/index.html

RESULTS is a grassroots citizens' advocacy organization working to end hunger and poverty. Volunteer groups create systemic change by working directly with their Members of Congress to support programs and policies that alleviate hunger and poverty, both nationally and internationally. E-mail Gwen Garcelon (gghighlife@earthlink.net) if you want to help with a donation.
http://www.results.org

The nonprofit Congressional Award Foundation recognizes and encourages service, initiative and achievement in young people ages 14 to 23. The Foundation does not receive federal funds, so it depends on charitable contributions. Please contact Captain William E. Kelley at Kelley@congressionalaward.org or (202) 226-0130 for information about how you can help.
http://www.congressionalaward.org

For a limited time, you can receive the America’s Second Harvest calendar for a donation of $50 or more to this organization that represents food pantries around the country. http://www.secondharvest.org

Your donation can help CARE bring lasting victories over poverty in the world's poorest communities.
https://ssl.charityweb.net/careusa/?Custom15=dlhtmldp1

**State-by-State Efforts

Arizona
A Weekly reader writes, “Our Arizona elementary school has many special needs children whose families struggle on the holidays to provide gifts and food for the family. Any donations for food or gifts would be appreciated.” Please contact Rosemary Drigan at rdrigan@cw.wesd.k12.az.us for information about how you can help.

California
Community Counseling Service is a nonprofit mental health organization serving impoverished families and children in downtown Los Angeles. They are seeking donations of new toys, games or books for their 2002 Holiday Toy Drive, which will provide gifts to the over 500 children they serve. For more information, please call (213) 481-7464.

Yolo County Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (a program of the nonprofit Grandparents Advocacy Network of Northern California, Inc.) is asking for donations for children ages 3 to 16, to be given at their Holiday Potluck on December 18th. The donations should be in the form of gift certificates or gender- and age-free items. Contact Sandy Weiss (WeissSBK@cs.com).

The Lyon Street Community and the City of Santa Ana are sponsoring a neighborhood Christmas party on December 21, 2002, and would like to provide a toy for every child who lives in the apartment complexes. This is a low-income area with two or three families living in each apartment, most of whom are Spanish speaking. To donate toys, please Contact Maria Halverson at LYONCENTER@aol.com.

The Community Partners Program in Orange County, California matches different organizations within the community with social workers to help clients with food, clothing, shelter and other needs. For more information on this program, please contact Pam Hope at phope@oc-cdc.org.

Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services (W.O.R.K.S.) is a nonprofit social service agency that operates two housing developments for low-income families and children in Pomona and the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, CA. The developments serve 150 families. W.O.R.K.S. seeks gifts and cash donations to support the operating budget. Please contact Nancy Gomez at chemujer@yahoo.com for more information about how you can help.
http://www.worksusa.org

Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
Carter Seminary, a Native American Boarding School operated by the Chickasaw Nation is home to approximately 70 students. None of these students have stable homes and all are extremely disadvantaged. The Seminary can receive tax-deductible donations through the Chickasaw Foundation. They are also looking for school supplies and holiday gifts. Please contact Shannon Campbell at 580-310-6620 for more information.

Connecticut
Youth-United for Survival is collecting holiday toys and gifts for children ages 8 to 16 in Connecticut who have experienced abuse or trauma. The toys will be distributed at two holiday parties serving over 120 children.
http://www.y-us.org

District of Columbia
The Children's Law Center makes sure that abused, neglected and marginalized children in the District of Columbia have toys and new clothes at Christmas. Please contact Amy Miller at amiller@childrenslawcenter.org for information about how you can help.

The Good Samaritan Foundation, a youth development program for high school students in Washington, DC, seeks donations of gift cards from local retailers (e.g., Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Tower Records) for students in the program. Cash, checks or credit card donations are welcome, as are gift certificates. E-mail tbrower@gsf-dc.org for more information.
http://www.gsf-dc.org

Florida
The Children's Home, Inc. works to provide holiday gifts to over 2,000 special needs children in Florida's Hillsborough County. For more information on how you can help this holiday season please contact Mark VanMeter at mvanmeter@tampachi.org or at 813-855-4435, extension 2235.
http://www.thechildrenshomeinc.com/

Here’s a gift that keeps on giving: sponsor a child for $50, and that student will receive a year's worth of incentives for good grades, attendance and conduct. Call Communities In Schools of Miami at 305-252-5444, ext. 302. Thank you for helping kids prepare for life!

Marion County Children's Advocacy Center in Florida provides free therapy to children and families who have experienced abuse and/or have witnessed domestic violence. They’re looking for gift bags, birthday candles, cake mixes and frosting. Please contact Laura Amatea at LauraAmatea@aol.com for more information.

Friends Together, Inc., is seeking Christmas gifts and school supplies for the families living with HIV/AIDS who will be attending their Christmas Party and Empowerment Retreat. Learn more about how you can help online.
http://www.friendstogether.org

Illinois
On December 14, the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center will hold its Second Annual Children's Holiday Party. Children who have been sexually abused and who come to the Center for help will be treated to an afternoon of holiday festivities including dancing, eating and a visit with Santa. Each child will leave with three new, wrapped holiday presents. Contact John Peller at Info@ChicagoCAC.org.

Spoon River College in Canton, Illinois provides books to the libraries for the annual Family Reading Night in November. Their budgets have been decreased, and they appreciate donations to buy the books. Please contact Phyllis Aicklen at paicklen@src.cc.il.us or at 309-649-6204 to find out how you can help.

Southern Seven Head Start serves 652 children in the southernmost seven counties of Illinois—some of the poorest in the state. They are looking for children's toys, cash contributions and gifts for their annual "Parent Appreciation Nights" held in April. Please contact Kathy Reagor at s7kreagor@hotmail.com to find out more about how you can help.

A special education program in the south suburbs of Chicago provides gifts for youth from birth to age 5, who have significant disabilities. Any holiday assistance would be welcome. For more information on how to help, please contact Cynthia Skelly at BIGSNOWE@aol.com.

Kansas
KVC Behavioral HealthCare, a nonprofit organization working to enrich and enhance the lives of children and their families through educational, mental health and social services, is seeking donors for its annual holiday giving program. KVC will provide gifts to over 500 children and youth from Eastern Kansas who have been removed from their home due to abuse and/or neglect. For information on how to support this effort contact Debra Burnham at dburnham@kvc.org.
http://www.kvc.org

Maryland
The TASK Program at the Resource Parents Project provides training, advocacy and support for formal and informal relative caregivers of Baltimore City, MD, children who cannot live with their birth parents. These caregivers struggle to meet the needs of their kin and often cannot afford holiday celebrations and gift giving. For more information on how you can help please contact Angela Rave at Arave@catholiccharities-md.org or (410) 385-0967.

Success By 6 of Calvert County, an initiative of the United Way, works to boost school readiness. They are assembling gift baskets for families with young children, which will be distributed through the public libraries and medical centers, and would like to include a hardbound, age-appropriate books. Please contact them at successby6@chesapeake.net if you can help.

Michigan
Youth Education and Activities services 4,000 youth in seven counties in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Please contact Allison Krebs at akrebs@saulttribe.net or (906) 635-7010 for more information about how you can help.

Minnesota
The North Star Binky Patrol is a Minnesota chapter of the national nonprofit Binky Patrol. Volunteers make handmade blankets and give them to children who have experienced trauma and illness, or are in foster care.
http://www.binkypatrol.org

Missouri
Putting Families First is a faith-based mentoring program working to help families transition from welfare to work. The families they serve need help making Christmas special for their children. Please contact Larry Billingsley at pff@iland.net or at 660-829-3122 for more information.

New York
FRIENDS, Inc., is a community-based, nonprofit organization serving children with serious emotional disturbances and their families in the South Bronx. They are looking for gifts for the holidays. Please e-mail jordana@medscape.com.

North Carolina
Franklin-Granville-Vance Partnership for Children in Henderson, NC seeks donations to replace reduced state funds for Kinder Camp, a summer extension of Project Family Read, which serves preschool children who are not in regulated day care. The program has shown substantial impact on children's readiness for kindergarten. Please contact David J. Irvine at dairvine@vance.net for information on how you can help.
http://www.fgvpartnership.org

Oregon
Head Start of Lane County in Springfield is looking for unwrapped, new and non-violent toys, clothes for boys and girls sizes 3-6, and new books for children ages 4 to 6. Please contact Nancy Maniago at nmaniago@head-start.lane.or.us for information about how you can help.
http://www.head-start.lane.or.us

Pennsylvania
The Children's Home of Easton—which serves over 140 children ages 9 to 18—is running their 2002 Holiday Fund.
http://www.thechildrenshome.org

Texas
Community Services YMCA Teen Parent Education Programs assist young moms and dads in developing effective parenting skills, achieving educational goals and initiating plans for continued personal growth and economic security. The programs seek to instill the six character values of the YMCA: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, caring, fairness and citizenship. Please contact Liz Duncan at lizd@ymcadallas.org or at (972) 560-3892 for information on ways you can help this holiday season.

The M. D. Anderson Family YMCA serves over 1,700 participants annually through after-school, holiday and summer camp child care and youth sports programs. The programs are subsidized and scholarships are provided to the families. This holiday season, the group needs assistance with toys/books and gift certificates for families or children ages 18 months to 17 years. For information, please contact Marie D. Arcos at 713-697-0648 or mariea@ymcahouston.org.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth would be delighted to receive warm coats, shoes and toys this holiday season for the more than 7,000 kids they serve who are living below poverty. Please contact Barb Reynolds at (817) 834-4711 or at breynolds@fortworthkids.org for information on how you can help this holiday season.

Washington
Treehouse, a group dedicated to giving foster kids a childhood and a future in the greater Seattle area, seeks gift items and clothing for kids from birth to age 18. It is easy to help with funds or gifts!
http://www.treehouse4kids.org

Vashon Youth And Family Services, Vashon Island's nonprofit mental health agency, sponsors an annual Holiday Toy Drive to serve more than 200 children and teens. Please contact Susan Bingham at BinghamC@msn.com or at (206) 463-6239 if you can help fill the many requests for coats, clothes and toiletries.

TLC Children's Center, Inc., runs three group homes for children age 6 to 10, with a focus on 13- to 18-year-old girls who are pregnant or have babies. Learn how you can help this holiday season by contacting tlcchildrenscenter@yahoo.com.

**Helping Sites
Here are some resources for online activism and giving, this holiday season.

If you want to give a gift that helps a family achieve self-sufficiency in the developing world, think about giving a goat! Find out why this donation makes sense, and a difference.
http://www.heifer.org

The igive.com website is a secure online shopping mall that donates up to 25% of every purchase to nonprofit organizations.
http://www.igive.com

The hungersite.com is an easy way to help fight hunger—just a click a can make a difference!
http://www.hungersite.com

KIDS AND POLITICS

**Washington Politics Leave Unemployed Families in the Lurch
In the recession in the early 1990s, the federal government kept a temporary federal benefits program in place for 30 months, providing unemployment benefits to help stimulate the economy and give families a safety net. In this recession, the government has not extended the current unemployment program, meaning that for many jobless workers, benefits are cut off after less than a year—830,000 people will receive their last unemployment check on December 28. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that number will climb to 2.1 million by the end of March.

The Senate passed a bipartisan bill that would have provided a three-month extension to the program, but the leadership in the House of Representatives failed to approve a matching bill before Congress adjourned on November 22.
http://www.cbpp.org/11-20-02ui.pdf

IMPROVING SCHOOLS

**Are Schools Serving All Our Kids?
Latino children have grown into the largest minority group in public schools, but they lag in academic achievement and some say schools have no strategy for teaching them. National Public Radio’s All Things Considered begins a series on Latino kids and education on November 25.
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/index.html

**Schools Bend Under Tight Budgets
There was a time when schools balanced their budgets through bake sales. Now they are relying more heavily on parents as the worst fiscal crisis in 10 years hits the schools. Alabama school districts are being forced to enlarge classes, cut sports teams and charge for busing, according to the Christian Science Monitor. "There isn't enough money being collected [by taxes] to operate the state, but nobody wants to deal with it," says John Dolly, the dean of education at the University of Alabama.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1120/p01s03-usec.html

**Achievement Gaps—Not a Matter of Attitude
Achievement gaps are not a matter merely of attitude or effort, according to this Minority Student Achievement Network report. Academic aspirations and attitudes toward school differ little among all students, but there are critical gaps in the resources available at home to support minority pupils’ achievement. Black, white and Hispanic students also report spending comparable amounts of time on their homework, but forty-eight percent of African American students said they “understand the teacher’s lesson about half the time, or less” compared with 27 percent of white students.

What works to motivate students also differs by race. White students were almost twice as likely to say they work hard in response to “teacher demands” as their African American counterparts, while the latter were reported that they work hard in response to “teacher encouragement.”
http://www.msanetwork.org/research.asp

**Education Scholars Finding New 'Value' in Student Test Data
Education Week reports that schools are using sophisticated analyses of test scores to track individual student progress over time. The data can help pinpoint a school's strengths and weaknesses, and identify improvements in an individual teacher’s classroom. The information can provide a fairer way to judge schools, based on how well they "add value" to a student's knowledge and skills.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=12value.h22

**No Parent Left Behind?
The No Child Left Behind education bill explicitly set parental involvement as one of the cornerstones of the Bush administration’s plan for reform. This ACORN report looks at two of the ways parents can participate—by arranging for supplemental services for their kids in schools that are “in improvement” and knowing more about teacher qualifications.
http://www.acorn.org/acorn10/betterschools/BetterSchoolsReports/parents/index.php

**Children’s Readiness for School: Toward a Strategic Policy Framework
What does it take to make sure that all young children coming through the kindergarten door are ready to learn? This National Center on Children in Poverty (NCCP) newsletter examines what’s needed for school readiness—including supports to promote infant and toddler well-being and increase income security, giving families hope and access to quality services.

Infancy is not too early to start planning for school success. NCCP recommends reaching out to very young children by expanding services through such federal programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children and Early Head Start, or enhancing services in pediatric offices and child care centers. Parents also help promote school readiness when they share reading, rhymes and routines with their young children. http://www.nccp.org/news/fall02/Fall02.pdf

PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS

**Building Strong Families
Parents expect a lot from themselves and little from others, according to this survey from the YMCA of the USA and the Search Institute. A majority of parents surveyed feel they are successful despite the challenges of jobs, sibling rivalry, overscheduled kids and financial pressures. Fifty-three percent report they don't often seek support from extended family, friends and community resources, but that talking with other parents and professionals and having trusted adults spend time with their children would be helpful.
http://www.abundantassets.org

**Grandparents’ Guides to Child Care and Resources
Grandparents raising grandchildren can get the basics about child care programs—including how to choose the right program and get help paying for it—in the Children’s Defense Fund’s "The Grandparent's and Other Relative Caregiver's Guide to Child Care and Early Education Programs.” CDF also offers the “Grandparents’ Guide to Food and Nutrition Programs” and the “Grandparents’ Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities.” The first copy is free. Send your request to Della Hoffman (childwelfare@childrensdefense.org; 202-662-4568).
http://www.childrensdefense.org

**The Status of Women in the States
This Institute for Women’s Poverty Research report finds that despite gains—today’s women have more education, are better represented in the workforce and have made strides in narrowing the wage gap—women’s rights and status continue to lag behind men’s, and there remain wide differences among and within states based on race and earnings.
http://www.iwpr.org/states2002/index.htm

BETTER POLICIES FOR VULNERABLE YOUTH

**Ten Reasons to Keep the Focus on Teen Childbearing
The 2001 teen birth rate was the lowest it had been in 60 years, but is still higher than most wealthy nations. Child Trends examines the broader social implications of "kids having kids" in this special report. Cost: $10
http://shop.childtrends.org/onlinecart/product.cfm?id=877

**Almost Home
Nearly 20,000 teens leave the foster care system each year. Even the most motivated kids can leave the system unprepared: without jobs, stable homes, savings or people they can count on. This article from the National Housing Institute examines the challenges these teens face and programs that can help.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/125/fostercare.html

**Families on the Edge: Homeless Young Parents and Their Welfare Experiences
Despite being almost universally eligible for welfare, many homeless young parents are not receiving needed services, and many aren't even aware that the program exists, according to this new report released by the National Network for Youth and CLASP. Even when young parents know about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), they have trouble accessing or keeping benefits. The TANF living arrangement rule, which says that minors must live in a state-approved arrangement with a parent, guardian, or another adult can be a barrier to services, rather than a means to help young parents find safe housing. The report offers recommendations for federal and state policymakers.
http://www.clasp.org/Pubs/DMS/Documents/1037307884.75/edge_brief.pdf

FOCUS ON THE STATES

**Failing Our Families
This state-by-state report card on family supports under welfare reform finds many states have policies that shut the door to opportunity for welfare families.
http://www.ctwo.org/growl/pdf/Failing%20Our%20Families.pdf

**State-by-State News

Kentucky
The report, “Homelessness in Knoxville/Knox County: 2002” provides facts and an analysis to help the Coalition for the Homeless bring together the agencies and officials striving to solve this problem.
http://tinyurl.com/2spq

New Hampshire
In their first two years, New Hampshire’s education-finance reforms of 1999 dramatically leveled property tax rates across the state and reduced property tax payments in many of the less affluent school districts. But the reforms did not reduce disparities in the money school districts chose to spend on pupils, according to a report released by the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies.
http://www.unh.edu/ipssr/nhcpps/plumbing6.pdf

Oregon
In a referendum in January, Oregon voters are expected to reject a proposed $724 million temporary income tax hike, despite their selection of Democrat Ted Kulongoski, the state’s next governor, backs the tax increase.
http://www.stateline.org/story.do?storyId=272525

West Virginia
The Education Commission on the States reports that West Virginia educators and business leaders participated in the state's first-ever in-depth discussion on the importance of the high school senior year, focusing on combating “senioritis” through projects, seminars and internships.
http://wvde.state.wv.us/cover-stories/2002/senioryear.html

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PRIVACY POLICY

In an effort to better serve the subscribers of our electronic newsletters, the Connect for Kids Weekly and Connections, periodically we may employ tracking software that lets us know how subscribers move from the e-mail newsletter to our Web site. The information we gather is strictly intended for internal evaluation and will not be shared with any individual or organization.
http://www.connectforkids.org/information1537/information_show.htm?doc_id=9207

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Jan Richter, Advocacy Director, and the Connect for Kids team
Jan@benton.org