CFK Weekly— June 16, 2003
Connect for Kids Weekly - June 16, 2003
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
**A Place at the Policy Table
**Advocacy Toolkit
**A Battle of IDEAs
KIDS AND POLITICS
**CBO Forecasts $400 Billion Deficit
**House-Approved Tax Cuts are Bad for Families, Says CBPP
**AmeriCorps Under Seige
**Media Consolidation and Kids' TV
CONTROVERSY OVER HEAD START
**Head Start Moves to Full Committee
**Administration Warns Programs about Speaking Out on Head Start Proposals
**OMBWatch: HHS Memo "Ill-Judged"
**National Head Start Association Asks for Injunction
**HHS Report: Strengthening Head Start --What the Research Shows
**National Head Start Association Calls HHS Report Misleading Rehash
BETTER HIGH SCHOOLS
**Transforming High Schools
**Closing the Graduation Gap
**Status and Trends in the Education of Hispanics
**Student Financial Aid Calculations Changed?
**Policies in Sync: Appropriations, Financial Aid and Financing
**The Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board of Education
CONNECT FOR YOUTH
**Shaping the Future of American Youth: Youth Policy in the 21st Century
**Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention
EARLY CARE HAS PERMANENT IMPACT
**Leaving Too Many Children Behind: A Demographer's View on the Neglect of America's Youngest Children
**Preschoolers' Malnutrition Linked to Lower Cognitive Ability at Age 11
**Maternal Care Affects Adult Levels of Stress
**Nicotine Exposure Similar to Illegal Drugs for Newborns
RESOURCES FOR BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES
**GrantsAlert for Nonprofits
**Free Books from Larkin's Little Reader Series
**Back to School: Time to Plan "Covering Kids and Families" Events
**Communicating With a Critically Ill Child
**Screening Volunteers to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
**Summer Food Service Map Machine
**Food Stamp Map Machine: Local Data
**A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect
**A Community Action Guide to Teacher Quality
**Daddying Project Launched
**CLASP AudioConference on the Community Services Block Grant
KEY REPORTS AND DATA
**KIDS COUNT National Data Book
**State Developments in Child Care, Early Education, and School-Age Care 2002
**Most Kids Live with Two Parents
**Participation in Food Stamp Program Jumps above 21 Million
CHILD OUTCOMES IN WELFARE PROGRAMS: A REFRESHER
**A User-Friendly Refresher on Kids and Welfare Reform
FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News
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NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**A Place at the Policy Table
No one has better insight into the needs of children with developmental disabilities than those children themselves, and their families. Leanna Skarnulis reports on a Texas program that trains family members and individuals with disabilities to be persuasive and persistent advocates.
http://www.connectforkids.org/
**Advocacy Toolkit
Whether you're writing a letter to an elected official or drafting an action
alert for people in your community, we've updated our Advocacy Toolkit with tips and resources that can help you to be a more effective advocate.
http://www.connectforkids.org/
**A Battle of IDEAs
From every public school student to the governor of every state, there's a wide world of people with a stake in IDEA, the primary federal law governing special education. Congress is in the late stages of rewriting the law, with a House version already passed and a Senate version unveiled last week. Connect for Kids' Susan Phillips says time is short for weighing in on the proposed changes.
http://www.connectforkids.org/
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KIDS AND POLITICS
Connect for Kids keeps you up to date with news and views from the child advocacy community on federal decisions affecting families. As Congress reauthorizes major programs serving kids and families, advocates are working to maintain adequate funding and fight efforts to restructure social programs and limit the federal government's role. Tax cuts also remain a concern, as conservative leaders in Congress want to expand tax benefits for the wealthy again - a move that is likely to force cuts in social programs for working families. Finally, Congress begins the appropriations process for fiscal year 2004 with the largest federal deficit in over a decade.
**CBO Forecasts $400 Billion Deficit
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) increased its May estimate of this year's deficit by $100 billion -- $61 billion of which is a result of the federal tax cut package approved in late May. The CBO also based its revisions on "continued weakness in revenue collections" due to the sluggish economy. The $291 billion deficit for the first eight months of fiscal 2003 tops the record of $290 billion in red ink in fiscal 1992.
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4310&sequence=0
**House-Approved Tax Cuts are Bad for Families, Says CBPP
Last week, in response to the Senate's action to restore the refundable child tax credits to minimum-wage families dropped from the tax cut package, the House of Representatives took the opportunity to pass, by a largely party-line vote, a much more expensive package that also extends credits to more affluent families but lacks offsets to pay for the increased costs. In, "Possible House Approach To Child Credit Issue Would Not Be Fiscally Responsible," the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) argues that in the long run, this approach would likely harm rather than help low-income families and children, by cutting public resources and programs.
http://www.cbpp.org/6-9-03tax.htm
**AmeriCorps Under Siege
In the June 14 Washington Post article, "AmeriCorps Officials Are Told of Cutbacks," David Broder reports that local AmeriCorps programs across the country have received letters notifying them of deep cuts as a result of funding shortfalls.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56976-2003Jun13.html
Youth Serve America reports that as a response to the AmeriCorps funding crisis, U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Evan Bayh (D-IN), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) have introduced the Call to Service Act of 2003, designed to reform and expand service opportunities for all Americans.? http://bayh.senate.gov/~bayh/releases/2003/06/05JUNE03pr.htm
**Media Consolidation and Kids' TV
Children Now reports that in the June 2, 2003 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling that paved the way for broad media consolidations prohibited companies owning multiple stations in one market to air the same shows on more than one channel to meet their educational/informational obligations under the Children's Television Act. While this stipulation offers some protection for children's programming, it is but a small rowboat for children to navigate the coming tidal wave of media consolidation. On June 19, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider legislation to reverse much of the FCC's decision.
http://ga1.org/campaign/fcc_06_12_03
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CONTROVERSY OVER HEAD START
Head Start? -- a successful federal program that addresses the developmental needs of preschool children, birth to age 5 -- is up for Congressional reauthorization this year. As Congress redefines the program's goals, requirements and funding, controversy over proposed changes has increased in intensity. Connect for Kids is tracking this debate.
**Head Start Moves to Full Committee
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce's Subcommittee on Education Reform made some changes in the administration's controversial proposals for reauthorizing Head Start. The subcommittee approved a version of the "School Readiness Act of 2003" that keeps Head Start in the Health and Human Services Department, limits "block granting" the program to eight states, and makes some changes urged by child advocates to protect the full-service approach and funding for the program.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/06jun/headstartedrmu061203.htm
**Administration Warns Programs about Speaking Out on Head Start Proposals
On May 8, 2003 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent an official letter to Head Start programs across the country warning that Head Start staff and parent/volunteers who participate in advocacy efforts against the Bush administration's proposals could suffer serious penalties. The letter is available online.
http://www.saveheadstart.org/Bush_Administration_letter_to_HS_officials.pdf
**OMBWatch: HHS Memo "Ill-Judged"
OMBWatch puts the Administration's memo in context, warning that such ill-judged and disturbing actions should not be used to silence criticism or limit the Constitutionally protected right of nonprofits to join in public debate using private money or volunteers.
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/1560/1/18/?PHPSESSID=66ef7d0d4c5d8da7b031800f6f45c066
**National Head Start Association Asks for Injunction
Calling the HHS letter an effort to "chill" the First Amendment free-speech rights of Head Start staff and volunteers, the National Head Start Association (NHSA) has filed a lawsuit asking the federal district court to enjoin any action related to this official letter.
http://www.nhsa.org/News/index_news_052803.htm
**HHS Report: Strengthening Head Start --What the Research Shows
This Health and Human Services research summary says Head Start children do make gains on key components of school readiness but they are still not adequately prepared for school and enter kindergarten lagging behind. The review blames the "fragmentation" and "uncoordinated responses" and argues President Bush's plan will strengthen the program.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/StrengthenHeadStart03/report.htm
**National Head Start Association Calls HHS Report Misleading Rehash
National Head Start Association President Sarah Greene characterized the Bush administration's Strengthening Head Start paper as a "highly selective and misleading document...a stale rehash of convenient slivers of information thrown together in an attempt to confuse unwitting lawmakers long enough to move a bill that, in fact, is in serious trouble in the U.S. House of Representatives."
http://www.nhsa.org/News/index_news_060903.htm
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BETTER HIGH SCHOOLS
**Transforming High Schools
Many reform efforts to improve schools have not yet reached high schools, which are "the weakest link in a troubled education system," according to the Research for Democracy project. This set of High School Issue Papers gives an overview, summarizes national data, reviews education research, presents examples of successful organizing efforts and lists resources for groups.
http://www.temple.edu/cpp/hs_issue_papers.htm
**Closing the Graduation Gap
Largely left behind by education reform, America's high schools face graduation rates that hover around 70 percent, and are closer to 55 percent for African American and Hispanic youth, says the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation presents an agenda for creating small, high-quality high school environments that offer solid student-teacher relationships and rigorous preparation to help more students graduate ready for college, work and active citizenship.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/policy.pdf
**Status and Trends in the Education of Hispanics
This National Center on Education Statistics data summary finds that Hispanic students have made gains in scores on reading and math tests, credits completed, Advanced Placement courses taken and college enrollments -- but gaps remain, with Hispanics less likely to finish high school or college than White or Black students.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/hispanics/
**Student Financial Aid Calculations Changed?
The Washington Post reports that a calculation change in the complex formula for federal financial aid to college students could result in hundreds of dollars less for current and future students, beginning in Fall 2004.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57965-2003Jun14.html
**Policies in Sync: Appropriations, Financial Aid and Financing
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education says more students could have access to college if state policy makers improved the alignment between the interrelated finance policies - appropriations, tuition, and financial aid.
http://wiche.edu/Policy/Changing_Direction/documents/Exchanges5-03.pdf
**The Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board of Education
College prep is no longer just for the best students. In, "A New Core Curriculum for All," the Education Trust finds that a rigorous course schedule is key to preparing students for college or work. But many minority students lack adequate access to upper-level classes. A companion publication, "Education Watch: Achievement, Attainment, and Opportunity from Elementary School through College," documents the continuing segregation of low-income and minority students in lower level classes, with less qualified teachers, through state-by-state reports.
http://www.edtrust.org/main/news/05_13_03_brownvboard.asp
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CONNECT FOR YOUTH
**Shaping the Future of American Youth: Youth Policy in the 21st Century
How can high schools give students flexibility in courses and hands-on learning opportunities at the same time accountability efforts are restricting the coursework that "counts"? How can schools give all kids the skills and knowledge they need? How do we target youth in trouble before it's too late and still tap individual and community assets to reach all youth? In its 10th anniversary celebration publication, the American Youth Policy Forum examines these issues and looks at where we are and where we've been.
http://www.aypf.org/publications/shaping_future_youth.pdf
**Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention
More children under age 13 are coming before juvenile courts? -- these youth are at greater risk of becoming chronic juvenile offenders than those whose initial contact occurs at a later age. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention bulletin describes promising interventions to improve the odds for these children.
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/delinqsum.html#186162
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EARLY CARE HAS PERMANENT IMPACT
**Leaving Too Many Children Behind: A Demographer's View on the Neglect of America's Youngest Children
Analyzing 2000 Census data on poverty, race and class gaps, Harold Hodgkinson warns that too many students are disadvantaged from the start. Poverty puts many young children behind during their earliest years. Hodgkinson argues that kids' invisibility in the lives of adults and in the political process explains why we've cut the elderly poverty in half since the 1970s, while the percentage of children in poverty has grown. Low-income children who need preschool the most are the least likely to be enrolled. In addition to calling for a Governors' Summit, this report calls for full funding for Head Start, quality universal child care, competitive wages for child care providers, and health care resources for all children.
http://www.iel.org/manychildren.pdf
**Preschoolers' Malnutrition Linked to Lower Cognitive Ability at Age 11
A study of children in Mauritius that controls for many socioeconomic factors has found that malnourished 3-year-olds not only have poorer cognition, but their deficits persist through age 11. Children with three indictors of malnutrition had a 15.3-point deficit in IQ at age 11. (See, "Malnutrition at Age 3 Years and Lower Cognitive Ability at Age 11 Years" in the June 2003 issue of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.)
http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/157/6/593?etoc
**Maternal Care Affects Adult Levels of Stress
A study of rats provides important insight into the nature vs. nurture debate.? The study found that although all the pups were well cared for and got ample milk from their mothers, those who received more licking were less fearful and, as adults, had more receptacles to absorb stress hormones in their brains. Researchers say the mechanism for humans may differ but the principle is likely the same: how much mothers soothe their babies and reduce stress hormones in the brain can produce permanent changes in the genetic code, laying the physiological foundation for stress responses throughout life.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/parenting/06/09/stressed.babies.ap/
**Nicotine Exposure Similar to Illegal Drugs for Newborns
Women who smoke just six or seven cigarettes a day give birth to babies who are more jittery, stiffer and more difficult to console, behavioral changes akin to those seen in drug-exposed infants, report Brown University researchers in the June Pediatrics article, "Smoking During Pregnancy and Newborn Neurobehavior." Abstract available online.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/111/6/1318
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RESOURCES FOR BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES
**GrantsAlert for Nonprofits
GrantsAlert has a searchable database to help nonprofits, especially those involved in education, find sources for the funds they need.
http://www.grantsalert.com/education.cfm
**Free Books from Larkin's Little Reader Series
Every U.S. kindergarten and first grade classroom can receive free books by Bruce Larkin for their students through the "Books from Bruce" program.
http://www.colorcodedbooks.org/lef/freebooksorderform.htm
**Back to School: Time to Plan "Covering Kids and Families" Events
Get planning and promotional materials to piggyback your local back-to-school events to expand insurance for low-wage kids and families after the national Covering Kids and Families launch, set for July 31.
http://www.coveringkids.org/communications/bts/
**Communicating With a Critically Ill Child
This site - part of the PBS Caring for Critically Ill Children online series -- has practical suggestions for parents and teachers on talking to critically ill children about what is happening to them, including a section with tips for different aged children.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/childrenshospital/parents/caring/sub1/communicating.html
**Screening Volunteers to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
This community guide for youth organizations offers detailed information on policies to screen and select volunteers who work with children in order to prevent child sexual abuse - it's now on sale at 75 percent off.
http://www.nassembly.org/nassembly/html/prod_you.html#screening
**Summer Food Service Map Machine
The USDA "Summer Food Service Program Map Machine" finds summer food program sites by zip code or other locators, detailing the characteristics of the local neighborhood and schools.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/sfsp/
**Food Stamp Map Machine: Local Data
The Food Stamp Map Machine gives you a snapshot of food stamp participation in your county, and over time in your region, using 1999 data.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/foodstamps/
**A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect
This user manual from the federal Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, along with "Child Protective Services: A Guide for Caseworkers," has been updated and posted online.
http://www.calib.com/nccanch/pubs/usermanual.cfm
**A Community Action Guide to Teacher Quality
Research shows that teacher quality is key to improving student performance -- but what's a community to do to recruit and keep good teachers? This Public Education Network manual offers community-based organizations practical tips, tools and strategies, from gathering key data to assess teacher quality to engaging the community and developing a concrete action plan to support teacher quality.
http://www.publiceducation.org/tqguide.asp
**Daddying Project Launched
Kids do better when they have good dads, but what does it mean to be a good dad? Dads Unlimited, a new initiative shaped by educator and father Allan Shedlin based on the results of thousands of hours of interviews with dads and kids, hopes to support good "daddying" beginning with parenting consulting and school-home liaison services. He is offering pro bono consulting at local family clinics.
**CLASP Audio Conference on the Community Services Block Grant
The Community Services Block Grant provides $7 billion in federal dollars to fund a network of local agencies serving low-income communities. This Center on Law and Social Policy audio conference covers prospects for funding and programmatic changes in this year's reauthorization.
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KEY REPORTS AND DATA
**KIDS COUNT National Data Book
The 14th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book was released on June 11, 2003. The findings show that national trends in child well being have been positive over the past decade, but there is still wide variation among states. In addition to state-by-state data on key indicators of child and family well-being, this year's introductory essay describes the special hurdles families in low-income rural and urban areas face in trying to "get by and get ahead" - from paying higher prices for food than families in more affluent neighborhoods, to paying a higher chunk of their budget for housing and higher fees for financial services like cashing a check or getting a car insured.
**State Developments in Child Care, Early Education, and School-Age Care 2002
Children's Defense Fund outlines what states did and did not do in 2002 to give children the strong start they need. Areas include overall funding, tax credits, training and compensation, business involvement, child care facilities (including odd-hour and special needs care), Head Start, prekindergarten and early literacy.? While some states have been able to take small steps forward, most are cutting child care assistance for working families and limiting or eliminating infant and toddler, prekindergarten and school-age programs, as well as investments in basic health and safety.? (Scroll down for this report.)
http://www.childrensdefense.org/head-resources.htm
**Most Kids Live with Two Parents
The Census Bureau reports that about seven in ten children lived with two parents last year, leaving some 19.8 million living with only one parent -- 16.5 million with their mother and 3.3 million with their father. Children living with a single father were more likely to live in a household that included a live-in unmarried partner than those living with their single mother - one in three compared to one in ten.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html
**Participation in Food Stamp Program Jumps above 21 Million
Food Stamp Program participation jumped above 21 million in March 2003, according to this Food Research and Action Center analysis of preliminary USDA data.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/03mar.html
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CHILD OUTCOMES IN WELFARE PROGRAMS: A REFRESHER
**A User-Friendly Refresher on Kids and Welfare Reform
The data and findings are not new, but the presentation is: the Manpower Demonstration Research Project (MDRC) has launched a five-minute Web video that explains the impact on children of different welfare-to-work strategies. Only those programs that raised family income had a positive effect on children between ages 2 and 9 when participation in the program began; other strategies like mandatory work or time-limited welfare had no discernable effect on kids' welfare. On the other hand, teens whose moms participated in welfare to work programs showed troubling negative effects in poorer school performance and other measures.
http://www.mdrc.org/announcement_hp_25.html
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FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News
Connecticut
The Legislative Collaborative for Early Care and Education says support for the Care4Kids program is waning as the General Assembly and Governor Rowland debate the state's budget.? Although the state spent $121.5 million for child care subsidies last year, current proposals allocate only $94 million for SFY 2004-05 and only $88 million for SFY'05-06.? Those interested in meeting with key legislators can contact Jude Carroll jcarroll@cahs.org?
Illinois
"Transitioning from Poverty to Self-Sufficiency" looks at how over 450,000
Illinois low-wage families with children meet their basic needs. Illinois' system of services and supports is able to reach many families and improve their well-being, but the system is neither comprehensive nor coordinated enough to enable low-wage workers to move to a sustained subsistence level.
http://www.workwelfareandfamilies.org/PDF/Illinois%20200Profile.pdf
Massachusetts
In "Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Massachusetts: Failures in Assessing and Addressing Overrepresentation of Minorities in the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice System," the American Civil Liberties Union documents overrepresentation and disparate treatment of youth of color in juvenile justice, consistent with national findings. The report charges that state officials have chosen to ignore the issue by blaming the overrepresentation on poverty and high crime rates in poor neighborhoods, and have continually failed to take meaningful action to address inequities in the juvenile justice system.
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/statebystate/mass_aclu.html
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