The Weekly tracks and gives perspective on news, reports, and policy developments so you can make sense of issues affecting children, families, and communities.
Editor’s Note: A slow summer week? Not everywhere. The Senate moved to set spending for health and education programs, and acted to limit juvenile justice funds; a House committee passed a controversial bill to create “sunset commissions” that could affect programs for kids. Washington, DC, and other states began requiring families applying for Medicaid to prove U.S. citizenship. Meanwhile, new data on child poverty brings both bad news and room for improvement in public programs. Send your organization’s news, reports, and ideas for content to me, Caitlin Johnson, at weekly@connectforkids.org [14].
NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
Marriage as Anti-Child-Poverty Program [15]
Congress recently allocated $750 million over five years to promote marriage and fatherhood initiatives among low-income groups. As a result, federally-funded marriage promotion programs are springing up around the country, including in Washington, DC. Roshin Matthew, an Emerson Hunger Fellow working with Connect for Kids this year, wondered about the connection between marriage promotion and better lives for low-income children. Here are her findings, and her thoughts.
Food Companies Target Online Kids [16]
Over 85% of the top food brands that target children through TV advertising also used branded Web sites to market to children online. Experts wonder what will be the effects of online food marketing to kids, who are unaware of the inherent bias and exaggeration of advertisements, and to the growing childhood obesity problem. Martha Pitts summarizes a recent forum on a new report on this issue by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
FIELD REPORTS FROM CFK
Can’t make it to Washington, DC? Connect for Kids writer/reporter Martha Pitts attends key briefings and brings you the latest as part of our “Field Reports” series. Here are the most recent field reports on ConnectforKids.org
Ten Years of Leaving Foster Children Behind [17]
An outdated eligibility requirement for foster kids to receive federal assistance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is leaving out nearly 50,000 children per year, according to a report by the Child Welfare League of America.
Expanding the Envelope of Anti-Poverty Initiatives: State Innovations and Innovators [18]
This symposium focused on the often overlooked opportunities that public and private leaders have to assist lower income families by bringing down the prices for basic necessities in their everyday lives.
THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO GO: IN BRIEF
Family Strengthening in Community-Based Organizations: Survey [19]
The National Assembly's Family Strengthening Policy Center wants to know how family strengthening approaches in human service practices are being integrated at the community level. This week, subscribers to the Center’s email alerts will receive a note linking to a short online survey for the Annie E. Casey Foundation. You can sign up for the alerts online. For more information, contact Nathan Myers at nathan@nassembly.org [20].
Challenging Child Abuse and Neglect in Indiana Audio Conference (July 28) [21]
The Indiana Youth Institute is offering this free audio conference to help concerned adults learn about new state initiatives that address child abuse and neglect in Indiana. The conference is open to all interested, and will be held on July 28 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. EST. Registration is required.
Covering Kids and Families Back-to-School Campaign (August and September) [22]
There are nearly 8.3 million uninsured children in the United States – many of whom qualify for public health care coverage. This campaign, which kicks off next week, is designed to inform parents that their children might be eligible for low-cost or free health care coverage through Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Learn more, and get involved, online.
More on CFK: Calendars and Action Central
For more information on conferences and events, visit the Connect for Kids’ Celebrating Families Calendar [23] and Action Central, which has a state calendar and action alerts [24].
CHILD POVERTY AND FAMILY INCOME
U.S. Child Poverty Among the Worst, Government Support Less Effective [25]
This one-page Economic Policy Institute snapshot offers a look at child poverty in industrialized nations with similar economies before and after government support; it finds that without government assistance, the United States ranks among the top four countries with the highest rates of child poverty. More troubling is that after government assistance is considered, the United States has higher child poverty rates than other developed nations. That doesn’t mean government support should be tossed out with the bathwater; it means that the most effective programs need to be able to reach more children and families. The chart makes the picture hard to ignore.
When Work Doesn't Pay: What Every Policymaker Should Know [26]
One reason for the problem above is that while government work supports—like public health care, the earned income tax credit, child care assistance, and food stamps, to name a few—help millions, many families are caught in a Catch-22 of sorts: as their earnings rise, their eligibility for these programs drops. For some families, the net result is no gain, or even a loss, in overall economic security. This National Center for Children in Poverty fact sheet can help policymakers and advocates understand this imbalance.
Getting Punched: The Job and Family Clock...It’s Time for Flexible Work for Workers of All Wages [27]
More than ever, workers face dual and dueling responsibilities of work and family caregiving, and low-income families are the hardest hit. Businesses can help reduce this tension by allowing responsive scheduling and paid time off for employees; companies that do so typically benefit from cost savings. This Center for Law and Social policy report says it’s time for the government to take the lead and promote responsive workplaces for workers of all wages, and offers 10 steps to get started.
Understanding Changes in Child Poverty over the Past Decade [28]
Child poverty dropped dramatically from 1993 to 2000 and rose again from 2000 to 2004, especially among black children, according to a recent Urban Institute report. Why these ups and downs? Work, education, and family structure play a significant role, and economic factors like unemployment and the minimum wage can’t be ignored.
EXPOSING PREDATORY LENDING
Debt Matters: Raising the Profile of Household Debt and Corporate Responsibility [29]
For the first time, the total debt Americans owe exceeds the total income they earn, according to the Center for American Progress. Personal savings has fallen below zero percent -- levels not seen since the Great Depression – as credit companies reap record profits often at the expense of low-wage workers and military families. On July 19, the Center for American Progress hosted a one-day conference on household debt and predatory lending. The materials, presentations, and videos are now online.
As Predatory Lending Adapts to Weak Regulations, the Poor Pay [30]
More than a decade after the enactment of federal legislation to protect communities preyed upon by deceptive home-loan schemes, disadvantaged families and their advocates say they are facing even more challenging terrain in laying the foundations of home ownership, according to this July NewStandard article.
Connect for Kids has covered the issue, too. A two-part series of articles examined the real-world cost of predatory lending practices – by unscrupulous credit card companies, payday lenders, and mortgage brokers – on low-income working families. See our articles, Nickels, Dimes and Big Bucks [31] and The High Cost of the American Dream [32].
NO MORE MIDDLE: INEQUALITY IN AMERICA
Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America [33]
What’s happening to our ’hoods? Middle-class neighborhoods and housing is shrinking faster than the middle class itself, according to a new Brookings Institution report. City neighborhoods are increasingly segregated with low-income and very low-income families living in concentrated neighborhoods, and high- and very high-income families living together. Middle-income neighborhoods as a proportion of all metropolitan neighborhoods declined from 58 percent in 1970 to 41 percent in 2000. The resulting inability to move into middle-income neighborhoods may limit working families’ access to jobs, decent health care, safe neighborhoods, and adequate political representation, according to the report.
New Data Show Extraordinary Jump in Income Concentration in 2004 [34]
This Center on Budget and Policy Priorities brief looks at a new study that paints a more in-depth picture of American debt inequality than studies based on Census data alone. What it finds is that now more than ever, the richest one percent is getting richer, while the lowest-income Americans are making scant progress. From 2003 to 2004, the average incomes of the bottom 99 percent of households grew by less than 3 percent, while the average incomes of the top one percent of households jumped almost 17 percent (after adjusting for inflation).
KIDS & POLITICS
Senate Labor-HHS-Ed Spending Bill: It Matters for Kids [35]
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill, which affects several job training programs; Head Start; Community Services Block Grant, education programs like Pell grants and Title I for under-resourced schools; and other programs for families and communities.
The Coalition on Human Needs warns that the bill, which recommends $142.800 billion in spending, undercuts some important programs [36].
Juvenile Justice Spending Reduced in Senate [37]
The National PTA reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee also approved the Commerce, Justice, and Science spending bill, which cut $42.54 million (12.4 percent of fiscal year 2006 funding) from juvenile justice programs. The House voted in June to cut funds by 18.1 percent. No date has been set for full Senate consideration of the committee-approved legislation.
“Sunset Commisions” Not as Nice as they Sound [38]
On July 20, the House Government Reform Committee passed two bills that could establish “sunset commissions,” which are unelected commissions with the authority to recommend or enact cuts, terminations, or “realignments” to federal programs that would be fast-tracked in Congress, according to OMB Watch. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a fact sheet on the proposals, which could hit the House floor this week.
OMB Watch has an action alert on this legislation [39].
The Senate Line-Item Veto and Social Programs [40]
The Senate Budget Committee has approved a proposal (called the “Stop Over-Spending Act of 2006,” S. 3521) that would change the Congressional budget process and give the president line-item veto power — in other words, the president could approve spending bills while at the same time eliminating or slashing certain provisions and funds.
The Congressional Budget Office has a summary of the bill [41] .
A Capwiz action alert expresses concern over the impact of this proposal on programs like Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program [42] (SCHIP).
HEALTH CARE: MEDICAID UPDATE
Updated Fact Sheet: Medicaid Citizenship Documentation [43]
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has the latest on the Medicaid rules that have advocates concerned that eligible children and families will be denied access to the program.
In a related story, here’s a look at what’s happening as Washington, DC begins to implement the rules requiring applications to prove U.S. citizenship [44].
METH AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Methamphetamine Abuse and Child Welfare [45] [46]
Parents’s meth abuse is making headlines and creating problems for families, communities, and child welfare agencies, according to Generations United. This booklet offers recommendations on ways to integrate this issue into child welfare policies and practices to better support families and keep children safe.
First-Person Perspective: “Meth Mind Control” [47]
In this youth-written article in De-Bug, a former meth user (Amadeus) comments on the increasing number of young people using the drug, and ways to help them stop.
CHILD CARE POST-KATRINA
Need for Quality Child Care Grows in Gulf Coast [48]
As hurricane-affected states continue to rebuild and more families return home and to work, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) says that the need for child care is emerging as another barrier to recovery.
“Care owners and teachers are really seeing their importance to the community, and are experiencing a new sense of professionalism,” says Dr. Cathy Grace of Mississippi State University's Early Childhood Institute, quoted in a July 6 Child Care Exchange article.
RECONNECTING YOUTH
Paths to Success for Young African-American Men [49]
On July 18, the Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a forum, Paths to Success for Young African-American Men, which featured experts (and actor Bill Cosby) discussing findings from a major new survey by the Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University. A recap, a webcast of the event, and the related materials are available online.
Self-Study Guide for Managers and Staff of Primary Support Programs for Young People [50]
“Primary support programs” — community groups, clubs, after-school programs and others — make critical contributions to healthy youth development. This Chapin Hall guide is designed to help staff, managers, and volunteers evaluate the work and make it even stronger. It offers help setting goals and assessing how well programs succeed in the areas of (1) safety, comfort, and belonging, (2) positive social interactions and relationships, (3) activities and programming that promote healthy development, and (4) organizational and administrative competence.
JUVENILE JUSTICE RESOURCES
Youth in Adult Jails: Fact Sheet [51]
Youth serving time in adult prisons are more likely to receive harsher sentences and little or no rehabilitation services, be exposed to violence and victimization, and, ultimately, more likely to face future arrests than similar offenders in the juvenile system, according to research. “Adult time” is on the rise for young offenders. This National Council on Crime and Delinquency report finds that more than 7,000 children are currently in adult jails; in the early 1990s, that number was 2,000. In most cases (85 percent), youth are sent to adult court by the prosecutor or legislature, and not by judicial authority. The report also looks at the various ages at which children are tried as adults, either automatically by their charges, or by the discretion of the courts.
The Campaign 4 Youth Justice says the juvenile justice system offers more developmentally appropriate services and protects young people’s safety and potential for rehabilitation. The Web site has more info and ideas for action [52].
Preventing Gangs in Our Communities: Webcast [53]
A fairly consistent problem, the estimated number of young people involved in gangs neither rose nor declined significantly in 2004, the latest year for which there is data. A recent Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) webcast, “Preventing Gangs in Our Communities,” is now online. It looks at recent statistics and programs that are working to help curb gang activity in local communities. Larger cities and suburban counties accounted for approximately 85 percent of gang members in 2004, according to OJJDP.
GOOD READS: EDUCATION RESOURCES
Resource: American Indians in Children’s Literature Blog [54]
Debbie Reese teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her blog reviews Indian lit for young people, recommends stereotype-free resources, links to Native writer’s Web sites, and more.
Science Side Effects: Engaging Girls [55]
The Canadian Association for Girls in Science is now writing a special section in the acclaimed New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams. The “Science Side Effects” section aims to interest girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Keep up the good work, everyone!
Caitlin
Caitlin Johnson, senior writer, and the Connect for Kids team.
