NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Parenting from Behind the Walls
**Donate to Connect for Kids
**Invention Can Be a Kids' Game
**EIC Eases Tax Time Pressures for Working Parents
**Going to the Library Means Going Online and More
CONNECT TODAY
WHERE WILL YOUR TAX DOLLARS GO? IT'S UP TO YOU!
**Blueprints for Federal Spending Differ Widely
**Get What You Pay for -- Lobby for Kids
**Sharpen Your Advocacy Skills
**Care about Foster Care ? Who You Gonna Call?
EDUCATION -- WHAT DO TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND VOTERS WANT?
**What Teachers Say
**Women, Men Put Education at the Top of the Public Agenda
PROTECTING THE HEALTH CARE SAFETY NET
**Health Safety Net Providers Facing Unparalleled Uncertainty
**?Dr. Solomon's Dilemma?
**Public Wants Better Care for Public Health Care System
**Take a Stand
KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS FACE SPECIAL BARRIERS TO CARE
**Failure to Meet Children's Mental Health Needs Results in Relinquishing
Custody
**Children's Access to Medicaid Mental Health Services
**Challenges in Implementing Safeguards for Children with Special Needs
**Access to Health Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs
**Take a Stand
PROTECTING KIDS FROM LEAD AND BULLETS
**HUD releases Federal Strategy to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning
**Gun Accidents Waiting to Happen
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
**Funding for Rural Community Schools
**Funding to Reduce Lead Poisoning
**Grants for Mental Health Programs
**Foundations for Mental Health Initiatives for Children
**Progressive Technology Project
REPORTS IN BRIEF
**Partners in Transition: Adolescents and Managed Care
**Vocational Education in the U.S.: Toward the Year 2000
**What has Welfare Reform Accomplished?
**Community Health Centers Must Adapt to Changing Health Care Environment
**Can An Elementary School-Based Health Clinic Reduce Medicaid Costs?
**Medicaid in Schools
**Long-Lasting Effects from Iron Deficiency in Infancy
**Anxiety Disorders Understudied
BUILDING COMMUNITIES
**Connect for Kids Focuses on Three Communities
FOCUS ON THE STATES
THINGS TO DO! PLACES TO GO!
NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Parenting from Behind the Walls
by Julee Newberger
Through a family literacy program, books become links between incarcerated
parents and children. And learning together becomes a part of families'
everyday lives.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**EIC Eases Tax Time Pressures for Working Parents
by Caitlin Johnson
For many low-income families, tax time can actually bring relief-in
the form of the Earned Income Credit. Learn more about the most powerful
anti-poverty program for families with children.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Invention Can Be a Kids Game
by Julee Newberger
Inventor Ronald Riley created a Web site to bolster kids' natural creativity,
and to encourage kids who feel like they don't belong.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Going to the Library Means Going Online and More
At Library Connection @ Manassas Mall in Virginia, computers replace
book stacks and training classes for families replace traditional reading
hours. Learn more from the Benton Foundation's Communications Policy program.
http://www.connectforkids.org
CONNECT TODAY
**School Safety Chat Round-Up
Read the full text of Connect for Kids' e-chat about making classrooms
safe and supportive learning environments for kids.
http://www.connectforkids.org
WHERE WILL YOUR TAX DOLLARS GO? IT'S UP TO YOU!
**Blueprints for Federal Spending Differ Widely
Congress and the President have produced overall blueprints for federal
spending, each emphasizing different proportions of spending for tax cuts,
education, defense and other domestic programs. Find out how these budgets
would impact children's programs from the Children's Defense Fund. http://www.childrensdefense.org/budget/
The Coalition on Human Needs updates budget news daily, focusing on
services and programs that benefit children and families. http://www.chn.org/status/
**Get What You Pay For -- Lobby for Kids
Remember -- one constituent voice can help tip the scales in favor
of ordinary families. A handwritten letter to your Congressional office
is the most effective citizen lobbying tool, but you can find instant letter-writing
help on education issues from the National PTA. <http://www.pta.org/programs/BeAdvocate.htm>
You may also try a new instant e-mail system to voice your opinion on education,
health care or gun control issues. http://www.lobbyforme.com/default.asp
**Sharpen Your Advocacy Skills
The Children's Defense Fund offers the 2000 Congressional Workbook,
a primer about how a bill becomes a law and how you can work the process
for kids. Cost: $8.00, plus S&H. Contact Amy Judge (202-662-3576 or
ajudge@childrensdefense.org).
**Care about Foster Care -- Who You Gonna Call?
The Institute for Educational Leadership's ?Foster Care: A Guide to
Who Controls Federal Programs, Policies and Purse Strings? tells you who
has the power in Washington to improve funding for foster care programs
and how to reach them.
http://www.policyexchange.iel.org/pubs/Foster_Care_A_Guide_Who_Controls_Federal_Programs.html
Connect for Kids took a look at shifting ground rules and their importance
for changing the terms of federal budget debates in the ?Follow the Money?
section of our January 3, 2000 Weekly. http://www.connectforkids.org/newsletter-url1571/newsletter-url_show.htm?doc_id=22752
EDUCATION ? WHAT DO TEACHERS, PARENTS AND VOTERS WANT?
**What Teachers Say
According to the latest Phi Delta Kappa poll, teachers want parents
to be more involved with their kids' learning, including reading to their
toddlers, while parents want teachers to do a better job at discipline
in school. An analysis <http://www.pdkintl.org/edres/resbul26.htm>
and a summary <http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/klan0004.htm>
are both online.
**Women, Men Put Education at the Top of the Public Agenda
Education is gaining even more saliency as a key issue on voters' minds,
and women in particular want the federal government to play a larger role
in improving schools, according to polling conducted in March for Emily's
List. Women voters are enthusiastic about keeping schools gun and drug
free, supporting all-out national literacy programs through third grade
and reducing class size.
http://www.emilyslist.org/el-research/monitor/3.3.pdf
Learn how the public feels about a broad range of issues affecting children
and families in the Public Opinion section of the Connect for Kids Reference
Room.
http://www.connectforkids.org/info-url1559/info-url.htm
PROTECTING THE HEALTH CARE SAFETY NET
**Health Safety Net Providers Face Unparalleled Uncertainty
Public hospitals, publicly funded community health centers and public
health departments have carried the burden of caring for low-income and
uninsured families in the current health care environment, but mounting
fiscal pressures threaten their existence, according to a new National
Academy Press publication.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9612.html
**?Dr. Solomon's Dilemma?
Frontline's close look at health care systems in Boston reveals that
even the best health care plans are susceptible to crippling financial
pressures that threaten the viability of health care everywhere. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/doctor/
**Public Wants Better Care for Public Health Care System
A 1999 Pew Charitable Trust poll shows that a majority of American
voters believe the nation's public health system has been neglected and
is more deserving of additional funding than are highways, a missile defense
system or tax cuts.
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0331-106.html
**Take a Stand
The National Association of Children's Hospitals has taken a stand
on how to protect and strengthen the health care safety net for children.
Take a look at their agenda.
http://www.childrenshospitals.net/nach/federal/federal_index.html
Find more resources on the health of our nation's children and families
by looking up ?Health? in Connect for Kids' Topics A-Z.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm
KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS FACE SPECIAL BARRIERS TO CARE
**Failure to Meet Children's Mental Health Needs Results in Relinquishing
Custody
This Bazelon Center report analyzes the flaws in the system that force
parents to give up custody of their children in order to maintain essential
services for their children's mental health needs.
http://www.bazelon.org/custodyrls.html
**Children's Access to Medicaid Mental Health Services
Children with serious emotional disturbances face unique difficulties
in accessing mental health care not encountered by adults. According to
this federal report, these long-standing systemic problems are being intensified,
not alleviated, by state changeovers to Medicaid managed care.
http://www.hhs.gov/progorg/oei/reports/a429.pdf
**Challenges in Implementing Safeguards for Children with Special Needs
GAO reports that some children with special needs are not being identified.
States also face serious challenges in safeguarding health care services
for those who are enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00037.pdf
**Access to Health Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs
Children with special health care needs who lack any kind of insurance
have more unmet health needs than their peers who are covered by public
or private health plans. http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/4/760
**Take a Stand
The ?Family Opportunity Act,? designed to help parents of children
with severe disabilities and special health needs through Medicaid expansion,
was introduced in the Senate March 22. Contact the National Parent Network
on Disabilities (202-463-2299) for details. NPND also has information on
a recent Government Accounting Office report on Medicaid reimbursements
for school-based services, which includes testimony about the importance
of maintaining Medicaid support for such services for kids with special
needs. http://www.npnd.org
Visit Connect for Kids' feature on Children's Mental Health for background
information. http://www.connectforkids.org/content1551/content.htm
PROTECTING KIDS FROM LEAD AND BULLETS
**HUD releases Federal Strategy to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning
Acknowledging the continuing danger of lead poisoning, the U.S. Dept.
of Housing and Urban Development's "Federal Strategy" sets a clear national
goal to protect all children by 2010, and shows how this can be achieved
through housing rehabilitation and targeted hazard controls. 800-424-5323.
http://www.hud.gov/lea/leadhaz.pdf
Sounds good, but according to the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning,
the strategy makes clear that money is still the missing ingredient. The
Alliance is calling on cities and states to hold the lead paint manufacturers
accountable for paying the costs to protect children at risk decades after
the dangers were known. http://www.aeclp.org/5/ma2000.html
**Gun Accidents Waiting to Happen
In America 11 million homes house both guns and children. Of these,
43 percent report keeping one or more firearms in an unlocked place without
a trigger lock. In 1.4 million homes, where 2.6 million children live,
firearms are stored unlocked and with ammunition loaded or nearby.
http://www.rand.org/hot/Press/guns.3.30.html
For more information on keeping kids safe from lead and bullets, look
up ?Safety and Injuries? in the Connect for Kids Topics A-Z. http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
**Funding for Rural Community Schools
Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota and Texas are the lucky pilot
states for the Rural Community Schools Rebuilding Initiative, encouraging
lenders to offer interest-free loans for school repairs, new equipment,
development of course materials and teacher training in Rural Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities. Call your USDA Rural Development State
office (in the blue pages of your phone book) for more information.
**Funding to Reduce Lead Poisoning
Grant applications for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Program,
the primary purpose of which is to reduce the exposure of young children
to lead-based paint hazards in their homes, are due May 17, 2000. http://www.hud.gov/lea/leagrant.html
**Grants for Mental Health Programs
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Youth Violence Prevention Grant Program funds programs to promote healthy
development, enhance resilience, and prevent violence and substance abuse.
Scroll down to item SM-00-005. http://www.samhsa.gov/GRANT/0100titles.htm
**Foundations for Mental Health Initiatives for Children
The National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth has posted a list
of foundations with a history of supporting mental health initiatives for
children. Scroll to page nine.
http://www.ncfy.com/factmh.htm
** Progressive Technology Project
Spring 2000 guidelines are now available for grants to support the
technology efforts of nonprofits. Deadline: May 5, 2000. http://www.progressivetech.org
REPORTS IN BRIEF
**Partners in Transition: Adolescents and Managed Care
Children Now identifies ways that health plans can address teen concerns
about confidentiality, embarrassment and other barriers to better health
care.
http://www.childrennow.org/health/partners/index.html
**Vocational Education in the U.S.: Toward the Year 2000
The National Center for Education Statistics reports on the status
of vocational education in the new millennium.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000029
** What has Welfare Reform Accomplished?
This paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research evaluates
the effectiveness of recent welfare reforms, investigating the effects
of both state-specific waivers in the early 1990s and the 1996 federal
reform legislation.
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7627
** Community Health Centers Must Adapt to Changing Health Care Environment
Community health centers may be the only clinics in some areas with
underserved populations, but the shifting health care environment is putting
them at risk.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00039.pdf
**Can an Elementary School-Based Health Clinic Reduce Medicaid Costs?
Research published in Pediatrics found no significant reductions in
Medicaid expenses as a result of an elementary school-based health clinic
in Atlanta, but did find improved care and reduced emergency room expenses.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/4/780
**Medicaid in Schools
The Government Accounting Office reports poor federal oversight and
improper payments that divert funds from their intended purposes are compromising
the benefits of Medicaid funding for school-based health care.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/h600087t.pdf
**Long-Lasting Effects from Iron Deficiency in Infancy
This Pediatrics article documents poorer behavioral and developmental
outcomes for kids more than 10 years after treatment for iron deficiency
in infancy.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/4/e51
**Anxiety Disorders Understudied
With all the attention to attention deficit disorders, the equally
troubling and prevalent childhood anxiety disorders lack clear definition
and research.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n13/full/jmn0405-2.html
Find more key reports in the Connect for Kids Reference Room. http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm
BUILDING COMMUNITIES
**Connect for Kids Focuses on Three Communities
With the help of the Knight Foundation, Connect for Kids is taking
our project to the community level. We have begun working with community
partners in metro Charlotte, N.C., Detroit, Mich., and San Jose, Calif.
(in the heart of Silicon Valley) to show how the Internet can weave a better
community of support for families and children.
Soon we will have a special online home for each community on the appropriate
Connect for Kids state page to serve as an information and communications
hub. Here's some news from our ?Knight communities.?
Charlotte -- Mecklenberg County, North Carolina, is using extra Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) money for after-school programs based
on the successful outcomes for kids participating in last summer's program
using the Voyager Success City, USA curriculum. For more information, call
Jake Jacobsen, Director of Mecklenberg County Department of Social Services.
704-336-5253. [Thanks to ?Tapping TANF for Youth? from the Center for Law
and Social Policy for this information. http://www.clasp.org]
Charlotte, Detroit and San Jose -- Tens of thousands of families with
incomes below the local median in Detroit, San Jose, and Charlotte are
being priced out of the housing market, according to the community profiles
from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development report ?Rental Housing
Assistance: The Worsening Crisis.?
http://www.hud.gov/pressrel/pr00-63.html
Detroit -- Detroit and Oakland joined the Communities for Safer Guns
Coalition, in support of
manufacturers that adopt safe gun & dealer responsibility standards.
http://www.hud.gov/pressrel/pr00-68.html
If you're a community builder, you'll find helpful manuals on how to
implement successful community-level programs on the Connect for Kids ?Community
Building? topic page.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm
FOCUS ON THE STATES
Check out your Connect for Kids state page for these and other new postings.
http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1576/index.htm
Arizona -- A bill to establish a substance abuse treatment program for
families reported to Child Protective Services is stalled in the state
legislature. Contact Jschrade@azchildren.org
for details.
Connecticut -- A newly appointed Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health
is charged with developing a blueprint for adult and children's mental
health services in the 21st century.
E-mail cheryl@ctkidslink.org
for details.
Illinois -- Illinois Voices for Children reports that the Great START
Child Care bill, increasing child care worker salaries and encouraging
less staff turnover in child care centers, has passed the state legislature.
http://www.voices4kids.org
?Focus on Quality? reports on Chicago's aggressive efforts to improve
the city's child care centers and facilitate their accreditation. What's
next? Focusing on staff turnover and training problems. Order the report
from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation (rrmtf@tribune.com).
http://www.ecnewsnet.org/
Kentucky -- Preschoolers score victory in new Kentucky plan for tobacco
revenues. http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=30ky.h19&keywords=Kentucky
Louisiana -- According to a recent survey, Louisiana physicians are
seeing fewer Medicaid
patients than two years ago, and the trend could be accelerating. This
article in the Advocate suggests that not all policymakers see the value
of health care coverage for cutting emergency room costs and the burdens
of untreated or preventable diseases (i.e., Rep. Rodney Alexander, D-13th
District, who claims, "Some people go to the doctor because they
have nothing else to do. It [a higher Medicaid co-pay] will deter people
from going because their soap opera is not on today.?
http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=11918
Maryland -- Learn more about the success of Maryland's EITC for working
families and more.
http://www.marylandpolicy.org/
Minnesota -- The state Kids Count Databook explores the successes of
community-based efforts to improve outcomes for kids. http://www.cdf-mn.org/PDF/Publications/PR2000.PDF
A longitudinal study of families leaving welfare in Minnesota shows
financial progress for many, but also significant and persistent barriers
to employment and financial security.
http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/ecs/welfare/LSSUMM.htm
?Watching Welfare? summarizes insights from interviews on the frontlines
of welfare reform in the Minnesota Family Investment Program, published
by Minnesota Kids Count. Contact Diane Benjamin (612-870-3670; benjamin@cdf-mn.org)
for details.
http://www.cdf-mn.org/PDF/Publications/watching.PDF
North Carolina -- Governor James Hunt proclaimed April 6th as Guardian
ad Litem Child Advocate Day to recognize the important work these volunteers
do to help children in court proceedings.
http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/aoc/GALhome.html
Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania Kids Count reports on the 258,000 kids
in Pennsylvania without health insurance in ?Uninsured Children in Pennsylvania.
Contact Martha Bergsten (717-236-5680; bergsten@papartnerships.org)
for more information.
Vermont -- Vermont schools and communities are making use of Vermont's
statewide Community Assets mapping initiative to improve individual school
action plans and community-wide efforts, according to the latest Child
Trends newsletter. http://www.childtrends.org/PDF/issue2.pdf
Virginia -- Get a directory of information about children and families
in Virginia from Lisa Wood at Virginia Kids Count (804-649-0184;
lisa@vakids.org). http://www.vakids.org/data%20directory.htm
Wisconsin -- By placing a much greater emphasis on work than on education,
Wisconsin's W-2 welfare program may be telling parents in poverty ?You
Don't Need No Book Larnin',? according to a Wisconsin Kids Count report.
Contact Martha Cranley (608-284-0580; mcranley@wccf.org)
for more information.
THINGS TO DO! PLACES TO GO!
Celebrate The Big Help, National Library Week, and the Week of the Young
Child this week. For these and more events, check the Connect for Kids
calendar. http://www.connectforkids.org/calendar1569/calendar.htm
Connect for Kids offers a gateway to information on children's health,
education, safety and financial security. Find a report or background information
through the search engine, Reference Room and Connect for Kids Features.
Check out success stories and inspiring ideas for community action in the
Ideas for Action section. http://www.connectforkids.org
Have a great week, everyone!
Jan Richter, Outreach Specialist and the Connect for Kids team.
Jan@benton.org
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