CFK Weekly�April 10, 2000

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 [1]

**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 [2]

**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 [3]

**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 [4]

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 [5]

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/ [6]

The Coalition on Human Needs updates budget news daily, focusing on services and programs that benefit children and families. http://www.chn.org/status/ [7]

**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 [8]> 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 [9]

**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 [10]).

**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 [11]

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 [12]

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 [13]> and a summary <http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/klan0004.htm [14]> 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 [15]

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 [16]

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 [17]

**?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/ [18]

**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 [19]

**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 [20]

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 [21]

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 [22]

**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 [23]

**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 [24]

**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 [25]

**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 [26]

Visit Connect for Kids' feature on Children's Mental Health for background information. http://www.connectforkids.org/content1551/content.htm [27]

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 [28]

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 [29]

**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 [30]

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 [31]

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 [32]

**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 [33]

**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 [34]

** 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 [35]

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 [36]

**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 [37]

** 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 [38]

** 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 [39]

**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 [40]

**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 [41]

**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 [42]

**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 [43]

Find more key reports in the Connect for Kids Reference Room. http://www.connectforkids.org/homepage1543/index.htm [44]

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 [45]]

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 [46]

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 [47]

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 [48]

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 [49]

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 [50] 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 [51] 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 [52]). http://www.ecnewsnet.org/ [53]

Kentucky -- Preschoolers score victory in new Kentucky plan for tobacco revenues. http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=30ky.h19&keywords=Kentucky [54]

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 [55]