Action Connection
Action Connection Volume 2 Number 1 Action Connection Volume 1 Number 1
Action Connection Volume 1 Number 2
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1 NUMBER 2 |
December 17, 2007 |
Children’s Campaign ACTION CONNECTION
“All Things Kids Around the State and Nation”
December 2007
The Action Connection is one of several Children’s Campaign on-line publications. It is our goal to provide the most up-to-date information while taking into account the busy schedules of our readers. We hope that you will enjoy these updates - stay tuned to your email account for Breaking News, Front Burners, and more.
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Prenatal, Infant and Child Health Care |
What’s Up With SCHIP?
Congress again sent a bi-partisan proposal to the George Bush administration only to see it vetoed for a second time. As reported by the Center for Children and Families (CCF), an independent, nonpartisan policy center based at Georgetown University, the veto will result in an expected loss of health insurance by 62,000 children nationally during the month of December, or nearly 2,000 each day. CCF wrote, “ Before lawmakers leave to begin their holiday recess, they will need to act to minimize the damage caused by the president’s SCHIP veto. To prevent children from losing SCHIP coverage, lawmakers must adopt a long-term and fully funded extension of SCHIP that allows states to continue operating their programs until this stalemate can be resolved. In addition, they must suspend the directive the Bush administration issued late in the summer, which is already thwarting state efforts to cover children.”
VOICES Grant Engages Children’s Campaign
Children’s Campaign, Inc. was able to expand its efforts in federal and state policy on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization and Children’s Health Coverage thanks to a grant from Voices for America’s Children. As a result, Florida’s federal delegation receives uninterrupted information and advocacy on the issue. Thank you, Voices.
Publications Focus on Vulnerable Youth
A recently released report from Child Trends, commissioned by the Eckerd Family Foundation, provides data on eight different categories of vulnerable youth and the challenges they face. Policymakers, foundations, government agencies and practitioners will find this data helpful in targeting their resources and outreach strategies. Read the report
As sent previously by the Children’s Campaign and important enough to draw attention to it again, Florida Children’s First (FCF) has released a publication entitled “Frequently Asked Questions for Foster Youth Transitioning to Adulthood,” aimed at youth in foster care. The Department of Children & Families (DCF) has released the publication “Rights and Expectations for Children and Youth in Shelter or Foster Care.” To read both publications click here.
Investigators Mishandle Child Abuse Cases
The Miami Herald reported that scores of Miami-area children that had been reported as victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment to Florida child welfare caseworkers had their cases closed prematurely, sometimes without the caseworkers ever seeing the victims.
A state report details the early findings of the Department of Children & Families (DCF) Inspector General investigation into a complaint that child welfare investigators in Perrine and central Miami-Dade County were encouraged by supervisors to cut corners in order to improve their rankings on a county-wide “leader board” that ranked 12 performance areas.
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High Quality Child Care and Early Learning Opportunities |
It’s Been a Long Time Coming….
President Bush has signed into law the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, passed by the House and Senate by overwhelming bi-partisan margins. The bill focuses on serving younger children, including provisions to boost the quality of services provided, and also encourages collaboration between state and federal early childhood programs.
The bill rejected the Administration’s proposal to turn Head Start over to state governments and put a stop to a controversial annual assessment of four-year-olds participating in the program.
As reported by the D.C. based Pre-K Now, thanks to this legislation, Head Start will achieve a higher level of quality by requiring more teachers with bachelor’s degrees; receive funding to deliver the benefits of a quality pre-kindergarten program to more low-income children; and reach children most in need of comprehensive services because of better coordination provided by the new state early learning councils.
Grantees of Pre-K Now across the country, including Children’s Campaign, Inc., actively supported passage of the improved language of the reauthorization bill.
How Illinois Neighborhoods are Growing Their Own Teachers
An October article in U.S. News and World Report details a program in Illinois that's enabling neighborhoods — especially those with large ethnic concentrations — to lend a helping hand to individuals desiring to be teachers. Grow Your Own Illinois is enabling candidates without college degrees to get them through forgivable college loans in exchange for a minimum 5-year commitment to teach in under-served schools. Among the advantages: teachers are familiar with the native language of many students and they’re more likely to stay in the neighborhoods rather than migrate to the suburbs. To read about the program click here.
Maryland Child Care Providers Vote for Union
Three-quarters of Maryland's nearly 6,000 home-based child care providers voted this year to join the Service Employees International Union. According to the Baltimore Sun, the push to unionize child care workers in the state began three years ago but gathered steam this year when the state switched payment systems, resulting in late payments for subsidized child care. Home-based providers held a rally at the state department of education and the state subsequently offered loans to bridge the crisis. The union says it will provide better training and reimbursement rates for home-based providers. Child care providers in Illinois, Oregon and Washington State have been organized previously by the union.
New Jersey Governor Credits State Pre-K for NAEP Gains
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine credited full-day state pre-k (provided primarily through the Abbott Preschool Program) for gains the state's fourth graders made in reading and math on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Garden State fourth graders ranked second behind Massachusetts in reading and were in the top five nationally in math. Scores on NAEP were up across the nation.
In Other News
Children’s Campaign, Inc. has launched an updated Pre-K web site! Qualityprek.org focuses on achieving the constitutional mandate that every four-year-old have access to a high-quality, free pre-kindergarten program as envisioned by Florida voters.
The web site offers a variety of avenues for citizens to learn about the importance of quality pre-k and take an active role. The site includes a link to the Picture the Future web site which provides information about the Children Campaign’s largest statewide event that is designed to stress the importance of degreed teachers in every pre-k classroom in the state of Florida. Feel free to visit the sites and tell a friend!
To visit the Quality Pre-K web site click here.
To visit the Picture the Future web site click here.
Before and After School Programs: A Safe and Positive Reinforcement
Before and After school programs are a great avenue for children to interact with one another in a positive environment. In Florida, 27% of children K-12 are responsible for taking care of themselves after school, and more than 29% of youth in self-care would participate in an after school program if it were available in their community. Research has shown a high satisfaction level for kids that currently participate in an after school program. Unfortunately, there is only one federal funding program dedicated to the provision of these services. It is not surprising then that a study completed in October 2006 revealed that after school programs in Florida are serving a high-need population and struggling with funding.
To take a closer look at Florida, Children’s Campaign, Inc. proposed and advocated for a study to be undertaken by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). According to Larry Pintacuda, an after school consultant, OPPAGA is currently working diligently to complete the study and is in the data collection phase. Pintacuda projected that the study is expected to be completed and published in early 2008.
To find out more about Florida’s after school statistics click here.
Successes Documented
The National Juvenile Justice Network has released “Successes in the Field”, a booklet documenting a sampling of advances in juvenile justice reform across the country. To read it, click here.
New Report Published by CDC: Prosecuting Youths as Adults Creates Younger Repeat Offenders
A study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), produced by a task force they staffed on Community Preventive Services has found that transferring youth to the adult criminal justice system significantly increases crime and rather than improve public safety, produces the opposite effect. Youth who have been previously tried as adults are 34% more likely to commit crimes than youth retained in the juvenile justice system.
Liz Ryan, executive director of the Campaign for Youth Justice, urged Congress to close loopholes allowing children to be placed at risk in adult jails. She also called on state and local officials “to reverse their policies that send more and more youth to adult courts, jails and prisons every year.”
To read the full CDC report, click here.
Our Children Are Becoming Victims to the System
The University of San Francisco’s Center for Law and Global Justice has just published a report on Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP); “Sentencing our Children to Die in Prison.” The report puts our national JLWOP policies in an international perspective. It also gives a good cross-state comparison.
To read the full report click here.
Juvenile Life Without Parole was once also the subject of debate, until this past year, in California. A recent study showed that the state had 227 inmates serving such sentences for crimes committed before they were 18 years old. As a result, a bill cleared the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee this past year ending JLWOP in California.
To read the full LA Times story click here.
The Action Connection is brought to you by:
Christen Smiley, Communications Coordinator
Roy Miller, President
Children’s Campaign, Inc.
www.iamforkids.org
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