CFK Weekly -- June 7, 2004
Connect for Kids.org: Better Policies for Kids
The TABLE OF CONTENTS is now hyper-linked to take you quickly to areas of interest inside the newsletter. Please send any comments or suggestions to jan@connectforkids.org.
NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
**For Teens, Phonics Isn't Enough
**Take the Kids & Politics Poll
**Critical Connections
KIDS & POLITICS
**House Budget Bill Threatens Adequate Funding Serving Children and Families
**Tools for Advocates: the Federal Budget and Families
**Tax Cuts: Ordinary Families are the Losers
**Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Reauthorization Moving in House
**Young People Ask the Candidates
CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS
**Mentally Ill Kids Adrift in System
**Mental Health Treatment Works for Those in the Juvenile Justice System
**Foster Care: No Cure for Mental Illness
**New York Attorney General Sues Glaxo
**Pediatricians Update Policy on School-Based Mental Health Services
**How Informative are Parent Reports of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms?
MOVING YOUTH FROM RISK TO OPPORTUNITY
**2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book
**Alternative Pathways for Finishing High School
**Arresting Gang Violence by Investing in Kids
STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
**Sick Leave for Low-Paid Workers on the Table
**Working? And Poor
**Children in the Middle: Tools for Divorcing Parents
**Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Annual Report to Congress
**Birth Parents Retaining a Voice in City Foster Model
**Capital One Campaign to Engage More People to Strengthen Foster Families
**AdoptUSKids Launches Campaign
IMPROVING TEEN LEARNING
**How to Know a Good Adolescent Literacy Program When You See One
**Condition of Education 2004
**Changing Formula Shifts Winners and Losers in Higher Education
IMPROVING EARLY LEARNING
**The State of Preschool in the States
**States Putting Preschool High on the Agenda
**School Readiness: A Pathway to Success
DEFINING QUALITY IN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
**Learning After School
**Schools and Extended-Day Learning
**Research and Practice: A Two-Way Street
BETTER FOOD MEANS BETTER HEALTH
**Breastfeeding Public Awareness Campaign
**Harkin Amendment to Help Schools Improve their Food Choices
**Blueprint to End Hunger in America
CONNECT FOR YOUTH
**$5000 Brick Awards
**June is National Safety Month
FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News
Louisiana
New Jersey
Texas
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PRIVACY POLICY
We encourage distribution of this information! If reprinting in whole or part, please attribute it to Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org).
NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
**For Teens, Phonics Isn't Enough
America's teens lag behind much of the world when it comes to reading skills—jeopardizing their academic performance, college success, and civic engagement. Most efforts to boost reading achievement take place in the early elementary grades. But Caitlin Johnson reports that some middle and high schools are taking on the more complex challenge of improving teen literacy.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Take the Kids & Politics Poll
When you vote, how much weight do you give to a candidate's stance on kids'
issues? Use our interactive poll to let us know.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Critical Connections
For many kids, the transition to adulthood is tumultuous. For others, it's downright
dangerous — teens in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, teens
with children, and those who don't finish high school. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's
annual "Kids Count" data book looks how these kids are faring.
http://www.connectforkids.org
KIDS & POLITICS
**House Budget Bill Threatens Adequate Funding Serving Children and Families
This week, the House will likely vote on a Budget Committee bill (HR 3973) that
would cap discretionary spending for five years in education and special education,
child welfare, child care, nutrition, health research, and other areas. Child
advocates say the move will make it harder for Congress to increase spending
on programs for low-income families. For example, by exempting tax cuts from
"pay-as-you-go" rules, the bill provides no limits on expanding tax
cuts but puts greater limits on spending for programs like Medicaid, the Earned
Income Tax Credit, the Children's Health Insurance Program, or food stamps.
http://www.house.gov/budget/spendcontrolsum031704.htm
**Tools for Advocates: the Federal Budget and Families
The Coalition on Human Needs "Opportunity for All" campaign offers a sample letter for organizations to complete and send to lawmakers. If you send a letter to Capitol Hill, please send a copy to Jen Beeson at jbeeson@chn.org.
http://www.communitychange.org/docs/CCC328-BudgetProcess-SampleLetter.doc
The Children's Defense Fund has an e-mail to send lawmakers opposing budget changes that, if enacted, would force more than $100 billion in cuts in services over the next five years including those for children, ranging from health care, to child care, to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit.
http://capwiz.com/cdf/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5967116
**Tax Cuts: Ordinary Families are the Losers
A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis finds that households with income below about $76,400 are likely to be worse off from the Bush administration's tax cuts. Net tax cuts for the top 20 percent of households are essentially being financed by net tax increases or benefit reductions for the remaining 80 percent of the population.
http://www.cbpp.org/6-2-04tax.htm
**Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Reauthorization Moving in House
On June 3, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced a bill, HR 4496, to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. The Perkins program -- one of the largest federal investments in America's high schools -- provides youth and adults with academic and technical training for better jobs or higher education. Advocates say some of the legislation's proposals are good, while some are worrisome.
http://www.acteonline.org/members/news/legislative_news/legalert060404.cfm
**Young People Ask the Candidates
The Campaign for Youth wants young people to have a larger voice in the civic and political decisions that define their world. The Campaign is organizing a candidates' forum where the major Presidential candidates can answer questions posed by young people struggling to find their place in the nation's schools, communities and workforce.
http://www.campaignforyouth.org
CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS
**Mentally Ill Kids Adrift in System
Families seeking services for their children who suffer from mental illness find themselves in a world where good care is hard to find and even harder to afford. USA Today reports on the badly frayed safety net of care for children with mental disorders.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2004-06-01-mentally-ill-main_x.htm
**Mental Health Treatment Works for Those in the Juvenile Justice System
Numerous research studies point to the success that certain types of treatment and services can have on youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The National Mental Health Association offers a review.
http://www.nmha.org/children/justjuv/treatment.cfm
**Foster Care: No Cure for Mental Illness
For parents of children with serious mental health needs, the high cost of treatment and gaping holes in insurance coverage create agonizing choices—including deciding to give up custody of their children to make them eligible for services through the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Connect for kids' Robert Capriccioso spoke with parents and advocates on the issue in May.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=224824
**New York Attorney General Sues Glaxo
The New York state attorney general has filed a lawsuit alleging pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline concealed data from its trials that showed the anti-depressant Paxil was no more effective in adolescents and children than a placebo, and in some cases was more likely related to suicidal thoughts than the placebo, reports the Kaiser Family Fund.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=24035
**Pediatricians Update Policy on School-Based Mental Health Services
With rising rates of diagnosed mental illness among children, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that mental health programs should be an integral part of a school's environment, and should work closely with a child's primary care physician.
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/pediatrics;113/6/1839?fulltext=Mental+Health&searchid=QID_NOT_SET
**How Informative are Parent Reports of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms?
Parents of children being treated for ADHD can accurately detect changes in their children's functioning, according to new research reported in Pediatrics. Parent reports can be combined with teacher reports to assess treatment for an individual child, and aid defining treatment protocols for children with ADHD.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/113/6/1667
MOVING YOUTH FROM RISK TO OPPORTUNITY
**2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Although economic growth and the expansion of public programs between 1996 and
2001 led to big gains on many key indicators of well-being for America's kids,
there are still enormous differences among the states. The Annie E. Casey foundation's
15th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, released this week, finds that incidents of
low birth weight and the number of single parent families have risen, and the
sluggish economy is forcing cutbacks in child care, health coverage and other
programs that could undercut future gains. This year, Kids Count focuses on
youth at risk—teens aging out of foster care, dropping out of high school,
becoming parents, or entering the juvenile justice system. Between 2000 and
2003, the number of youth at risk rose 19 percent. While state and community
services often fall short of reaching kids in need, the Kids Count essay highlights
several programs that are effective in improving the odds. The online data book
is interactive, allowing you to create state and community profiles using any
of the 10 indicators measured.
http://www.kidscount.org
**Alternative Pathways for Finishing High School
In a recent newsletter, the Alliance for Excellent Education highlighted some programs that are working to help youth at risk make a safe and successful journey to adulthood.
The nonprofit Jobs for America's Graduates collaborates with states to offer work-based learning experiences that keep kids on track for career advancement or higher education. Begun as a program for high school seniors, the model is being used as a dropout-recovery program for students in grades 9 through 12.
http://www.jag.org
YouthBuild programs give unemployed young people, aged 16 to 24, a chance to re-establish their lives by rebuilding their communities. In addition to onsite construction training, programs provide one-on-one attention, academic opportunities to earn a high school diploma or GED, and life skills learning.
http://www.youthbuild.org
**Arresting Gang Violence by Investing in Kids
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids reports that gangs have spread into suburbs and rural areas, and that gang homicides across the country increased 50 percent from 1999 to 2002. Programs in cities like Boston and Philadelphia show that combining close supervision and swift consequences for violence with community services that help young people fight addiction, stay in school, or find a job can cut gang crime dramatically. But without resources, these programs won't get off the ground. Law enforcement officials are calling on Congress to reject a 40-percent cut in federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention funding ? a move that would compound the 44 percent overall reduction in delinquency-fighting and anti-gang funds since 2002.
http://www.fightcrime.org
STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
**Sick Leave for Low-Paid Workers on the Table
Close to half of low-wage women workers get no paid sick days to allow them to care for themselves or a sick child. The Healthy Family Act would require that all public and private employers with at least 25 or more employees provide 7 days of paid sick leave annually for full-time employees. For more information, e-mail Richelle Friedman at the Children's Defense Fund rfriedman@childrensdefense.org. The National Partnership for Women and Families has an on-line action alert.
http://capwiz.com/npwf/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5920646
**Working? And Poor
Business Week reports that in today's cutthroat job market, the bottom rung is as high as most workers will ever get. The new economy fails to reward low-paid workers for their hard work, while rewarding higher-educated workers at a time when college is increasingly out of reach for moderate- and low-income families.
http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_22/b3885001_mz001.htm
**Children in the Middle: Tools for Divorcing Parents
"Children in the Middle" gives divorcing parents skills to reduce family conflict and help their children deal with divorce. The Center for Divorce Education program has just received "Model Program" status from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.
http://www.divorce-education.com/CIM.pdf
Information about the program and other resources is available from the Center for Divorce Education.
http://www.divorce-education.com
**Child Welfare Outcomes 2001: Annual Report to Congress
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau reports that inadequate risk assessments and monitoring of families, and insufficient services mean that most state child welfare programs fail to prevent the recurrence of child maltreatment in at-risk families -- but states appear to be doing better in preventing maltreatment of children in foster care.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cwo01/
**Birth Parents Retaining a Voice in City Foster Model
Here's a news-behind-the-news story: the Circle of Support program, profiled by Robert Capriccioso in a May 3, 2004 Connect for Kids home page article, made it to the front page of the New York Times last week in this article describing the effects on kids of a new approach connecting birth and foster parents.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/nyregion/03FOST.html
The Connect for Kids article on effective ways to recruit and retain foster parents -- "Marketing Parenting" -- is still available online.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=223997
**Capital One Campaign to Engage More People to Strengthen Foster Families
The National Foster Care Coalition, Connect for Kids, and Capital One are launching a new public awareness initiative to encourage Capital One customers and employees to support kids in foster care in their own communities ? from volunteering to tutor a foster child, helping decorate a bedroom in a teen group home, to providing school supplies or birthday gifts.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1563/index.htm
The transcript from Connect for Kids' Talktime online chat on recruiting and supporting foster parents has good information, as well.
http://www.connectforkids.org/usr_doc/onlinechat_recruiting_retaining_foster_parents.html
**AdoptUSKids Launches Campaign
This month, AdoptUSKids will be launching a public service announcement campaign to recruit adoptive families for those children in foster care who need them. To find out more about how to raise awareness or promote this campaign in your community, contact Rebecca Jones Gaston, AdoptUSKids National Recruitment Campaign Manager jonesgaston@adoptuskids.org.
IMPROVING TEEN LEARNING
**How to Know a Good Adolescent Literacy Program When You See One
Twenty-five percent of the nation's secondary school students read considerably below grade level, putting them at risk of dropping out of high school or graduating unprepared for college or work. This new Alliance for Excellent Education issue brief offers guidance for middle and high school administrators and teachers looking for effective adolescent literacy programs.
http://www.all4ed.org/press/pr_060204.htm
**Condition of Education 2004
The National Center for Education Statistics report, "The Condition of Education," summarizes important trends in enrollment, student achievement and public and community supports for learning. The report includes a special analysis of student financial aid in the face of a growing gap between tuitions/fees and family income, despite increases in aid authorized in the 1993 Higher Education Act.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004077
**Changing Formula Shifts Winners and Losers in Higher Education
Congress is considering changes to three key student-aid programs, the Federal Work-Study, Perkins Loans, and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. Public four-year colleges could bear the financial burden of such changes, as more federal dollars flow to community colleges and for-profit institutions, reports the Chronicle for Higher Education.
http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i39/39a00101.htm
IMPROVING EARLY LEARNING
**The State of Preschool in the States
More states are investing in preschools, but per-pupil spending is still too low to ensure quality in most areas, reports the National Institute for Early Education Research. Georgia, New Jersey and Oklahoma are meeting key benchmarks for quality and/or access, but ten states do not yet invest in public preschool at all. (Scroll to page 8 for a summary).
http://nieer.org/resources/printnewsletter/April2004.pdf
In 1960, few children went to preschool.
Now more than half do, and many states are investing to give more families access
to affordable preschool programs. The Center for 21st Century Schools summarizes
the National Institute for Early Education Research State of Preschool report
in its June 1004 newsletter.
http://www.yale.edu/21c/pdf/Spring2004.pdf
The181-page State of Preschool report, with state-by-state data from 2001-2002,
is available from the National Institute for Early Education Research.
http://nieer.org/yearbook/
**States Putting Preschool High on the Agenda
States are seeing quality preschool as a good investment, but the economy has not been kind to funding for state preschool efforts. Recent state funding for preschool dropped or remained flat in 16 out of 19 states where data was available, cutting the numbers of children served and/or money for efforts to improve quality in the programs. Linda Jacobson's brief for the Education Writers Association provides an overview and questions reporters can ask to explore preschool funding and programs in their own states.
http://www.ewa.org/offers/publications/earlychildhoodreform.pdf
**School Readiness: A Pathway to Success
What does it take to ensure all young children enter school ready to learn? It takes good health and nutrition, quality child care, cognitively stimulating homes, affordable safe housing, schools ready to receive children, and more. Follow the pathway to good outcomes and learn what your community and you can do to make the case for improved circumstances to give young children the best shot at school success.
http://www.pathwaystooutcomes.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=294
DEFINING QUALITY IN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
**Learning After School
The right kind of after-school programs can make a big difference for kids and communities. The best programs incorporate self-directed play and time to "dawdle and daydream" as part of the learning process. The good news is, Congress and state governments are allocating more for out-of-school time programs -- but programs' quality varies widely, with two-thirds of those observed in a recent study earning only poor to fair ratings on three quality indicators: facilities, staffing, and funding. The American School Board Journal looks at the research on what works.
http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html
**Schools and Extended-Day Learning
Is your school board a champion of your district's extended-day or after-school programs? Does your board collaborate with other local organizations and agencies to promote student success beyond the traditional school day? The National School Boards Association is looking to share the profiles of school districts with strong school board leadership and collaboration practices that support extended-day programs. Deadline for nominations: June 25, 2004.
http://www.nsba.org/edlo
**Research and Practice: A Two-Way Street
When it comes after-school programs, what elements are important to reach kids of different ages, and how can impact be measured? What kind of evidence should guide funding and programmatic decisions? Researchers and practitioners shared their ideas, questions and findings at the February School-Age Care Alliance conference. A summary of the proceedings with links to presentations has just been made available from the Harvard Family Research Project and the Forum for Youth Investment.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool/conference/nsaca-2004.html
BETTER FOOD MEANS BETTER HEALTH
**Breastfeeding Public Awareness Campaign
"Babies are born to be breastfed" is the slogan for the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' campaign that encourages first-time mothers to breastfeed exclusively for at least six months. The National Women's Health Information Center's free breastfeeding help line is at 1-800-994-WOMAN.
http://www.4woman.gov
**Harkin Amendment to Help Schools Improve their Food Choices
Parents' efforts to encourage healthy eating choices can be undermined when their kids are in school and faced with vending machines that offer food high in calories and low in nutritional value. The Center on Science in the Public Interest has an action alert to support Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) amendment to help states and localities improve the nutritional quality of foods available in schools. Harkin is expected to introduce the amendment when the Senate debates the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill soon.
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/HarkenAmendmentCNR/xwsxib2zjb8et7
**Blueprint to End Hunger in America
Thirteen million children are hunger or on the edge of hunger in America, but we can cut hunger in half, or end it altogether by 2015, says NAHO (National Anti-Hunger Organizations). This blueprint outlines strategies to improve the benefits and reach of Food Stamp, child nutrition, WIC and emergency feeding programs.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/Press_06.04.04.html
CONNECT FOR YOUTH
**$5000 Brick Awards
It's time once again for young people to apply for the Do Something BRICK Awards, which honor and fund the efforts of dynamic leaders age 18 and under who have devised and implemented innovative solutions to problems in their local communities in the areas of community building, health, and the environment.
http://dosomething.org/brick-awards.htm
**June is National Safety Month
Accidents are the leading cause of fatalities for children and teens. National Safety Month provides an opportunity to focus on community problems and offer programs, solutions, and safety tips to help keep Americans safe and healthy.
http://www.nsc.org/nsm/index.cfm
FOCUS ON THE STATES
Louisiana
After ten years of controversy and investigations by the U.S. Justice Department,
the state of Louisiana is permanently closing the Tallulah youth prison. State
legislators noted that Louisiana's juvenile offenders wind up back in prison
at a rate of about 60 percen—far higher than the national average, reports
the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana.
http://www.jjpl.org
New Jersey
Every year, about 300 children under state supervision "age out" of the state foster-care program when they turn 18 -- and many become homeless, say advocates. State child welfare officials are now making an effort to keep in contact with these children until they turn 21, enrolling them in the Medicaid program to cover their health-care costs, offering advice on college and career decisions and providing housing assistance and a clothing allowance. (See the May 25 article, "DYFS to Help Teens Leaving State's Care.")
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-1/108547236760980.xml
Texas
State changing rules on SCHIP mean cutbacks in health coverage for child in low-wage families, reports the Kaiser Family Fund.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=24040
Single Moms Can is seeking endorsements from organizations for its "Walk a Mile"
initiative, which pairs policymakers with low-income women to share experiences.
Contact singlemomscan@yahoo.com
for more information.
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
Jan Richter, Policy and Outreach Specialist, and the Connect for Kids team
Jan@connectforkids.org
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