CFK Weekly December 5

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Bringing you the most up-to-date and relevant news, research and policy developments affecting children, youth and families.

December 5, 2007

In This Issue

New on Connectforkids.org [2]

Foster Care News and Resources [3]

Kids & Politics: What to Watch in Congress [4]

Education News [5]

Health and Well-Being [6]

Immigrant Families [7]

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Quick Links

Connect for Kids [9]

Forum for Youth Investment [10]

Youth Policy Action Center [11]

Editor's Note

This week, child and youth organizations are watching to see how many items Congress will manage to cross off its To Do List before the scheduled adjournment on December 14. Will Congress extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to keep states from having to refuse eligible children? Will they reach a compromise with President Bush on domestic spending?

One thing Members of Congress can congratulate themselves on -- after five years of struggle, the Head Start reauthorization bill is done and ready for President Bush to sign into law!

Also this week: the U.S. ranks low on a new international comparison of science and math understanding among 15-year-olds. A separate global comparison found there are no gains (but no losses, either) among fourth-graders' reading comprehension skills.

Check out the health news, foster care resources and what's being done to reach immigrant families and children.

Keep up the good work, everyone!
Caitlin Johnson
weekly@connectforkids.org [12]

New on Connectforkids.org

"In the first place, why on earth is the city government involved with foster care?" [13]
December 5 -- In keeping with our promise to track the responses the New York Times had to its "A History of Neglect" series on foster care in New York (see below), CFK and our partner ChildAdvocacy360 have selected a core question from the fourth and final week of responses.

Next week, our Voices & Views feature will include an interview with Betsy Krebs of The Youth Advocacy Forum, on the "aging out" of foster care issues raised by the New York Times series.

Foster Care News and Resources

[14]CWLA Calls for a White House Conference on Child Welfare in 2010 [15]
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is calling for the next president to host a conference on child abuse and neglect, with the aim of establishing national goals for improvement in the subsequent 10 years. In addition, CWLA is circulating a sign-on letter and individual letters to presidential candidates.

Who Controls Foster Care Programs and Purse Strings? [16]
Who pays for foster care services? States cover roughly half of foster care costs, the rest comes from the U.S. government -- in the form of numerous funding streams under many jurisdictions. The Journalism Center for Children and Families at the University of Maryland offers an in-depth chart identifying the federal spending programs and the entities that oversee them.

foster care

[17]Foster Youth Career Development and Employment Summit (January 8-9, Sacramento, CA) [18]
California's first Foster Youth Career Development and Employment Summit will bring together representatives from all systems that touch the lives of foster youth to examine solutions and innovative work at the national, state and local levels. The focus is on programs that demonstrate specific outcomes in areas such as career development for foster youth, connection to education and workforce programs, and transition support. Register online by December 14. For more information, contact Lisa Elliott at lelliott@newwaystowork.org [19].

[20]Kids & Politics: What to Watch in Congress

Congress, newly back from its Thanksgiving recess, has quite a few items on the agenda before it adjourns on December 14. Here are just a few that youth-serving organizations are watching.

A Shift in the SCHIP Showdown? [21]
"Just because you can't fix it, doesn't mean you should break it more," might be the new motto of some child advocacy organizations. Several groups are calling on Congress to temporarily halt efforts to strengthen the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and instead try to pass a short-term extension that fully funds the program so that states won't have to make cutbacks. Right now, SCHIP has been extended through December 14 at last year's funding level, which falls short of what states need to cover eligible children currently enrolled -- $6.6 billion short of avoiding a 2008 shortfall in states, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Kaiser Network has the details.

See also:

First Focus has an action alert [22] to weigh in on this issue with elected officials.

Getting a little lost in all the debate? The Kaiser Foundation has a new brief [23] that outlines the differences between the latest SCHIP bill and the version President Bush vetoed.

Head Start Reauthorization Ready for President's Approval [24]
After nearly five years of debate to reauthorize Head Start -- the comprehensive early childhood program that has served more than 24 million children since 1965 -- Zero to Three reports that President Bush is expected to sign into law the Head Start for School Readiness Act (HR 1429). The bill strengthens quality, accountability, and workforce training and boosts funds for Early Head Start for infants and toddlers.

See also:

The Center for Law and Social Policy has resources and information [25] on the new bill.
Funding for Indian Head Start [26] remains a sticking point, according to Indian Country Today.

Also on Capitol Hill: A Round-Up from NWLC [27]
The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) has a great round-up of current Congressional battles and victories affecting children and families:

Millions of hardworking families could benefit from the Temporary Tax Relief Act [28], which passed the House last week.

The President vetoed a key appropriations bill [29] that increased funding for Head Start, child care, after-school programs, the Title X family planning program, low-income energy assistance and other vital services for families.

You can track more bills, get the latest news and sign up for legislative alerts on NWLC's Action Center homepage [30].

[31]Concerns for Key Nutrition Programs [32]
As Congress works to reach a compromise on the domestic spending bill, Second Harvest and other groups are concerned that nearly 500,000 low-income mothers and children could be cut from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). At the same time, lack of movement on the Farm Bill has left food banks feeling the pinch.

Education News

NCES

[33]U.S. Lags in Science and Math [34]
The results of the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) are in -- and the U.S. did not stand out. In science understanding, American 15-year-olds scored an average of 489 on a scale of 1 to 1000: the international average among industrialized nations is 500. Far from the top 10, the U.S. ranked 17th out of 30. In math, American students scored 24 points below the international average.

Education Week has a great article, U.S. Students Fall Short in Math and Science [35], that summarizes the results in context.

U.S. Fourth-Graders Hold Steady on International Reading Test [36]
A separate report from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that, on average, U.S. fourth-graders scored higher on reading comprehension than 22 of the 44 other countries and educational systems that participated in the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). The U.S. scored lower than 10 and about the same as 12 other countries or educational jurisdictions. That's statistically the same as our 2001 average score, despite hopes for gains.

Heads Up: Release of 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education (December 11, Washington, D.C.) [37]
The Brookings Institution Brown Center on Education Policy will release its Report on American Education. The 2007 report will examine how well American students are learning in math and reading, the enrollment patterns in private and public schools, and whether more time spent learning math increases achievement. RSVP online.

Health and Well-Being

UNL panel

[38]Where Do We Go From Here? Children's Mental Health Services in School and Community Settings (December 7, Lincoln Nebraska) [39]
Two million of America's youth experience significant social, emotional and/or behavioral needs that cause difficulties in their ability to learn and function in schools and other environments. This panel at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, will discuss evidence-based interventions and "what we know (and don't know) about how schools are addressing students' mental health needs." Limited seating; please RSVP to hsexton1@unl.edu [40].

Drops in Smoking Rates Stall; Rise Among Teens [41]
After 40 years of decline, smoking rates have stabilized over the past three years and are even rising slightly among high school students, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read the National Academies summary and then click to purchase the report, or skim sections online for free.

Early Childhood Vaccination Rates Have Stalled [42]
Preschoolers' vaccination rates have stalled since 2004, according to a Child Trends analysis of recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The proportion of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving the "combination series vaccine" increased from 69 percent to 83 percent between 1994 and 2004, but remained at 82 percent in 2005 and 2006.

Immigrant Families

[43]Reaching and Serving Immigrant Families AudioConference (December 13) [44]
Free AudioConference, 12:30 p.m. Eastern. This National League of Cities' YEF Institute call will highlight cities that are responding to demographic change by building more inclusive communities. Elected officials and senior municipal staff will discuss their work to connect immigrant residents and local government; forge partnerships to improve public safety; and support access to child care, educational opportunities, mainstream financial institutions and other services. Register by December 11.

Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children: Sign-On Letter
The recent National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Urban Institute report, Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children [45], found that for every two immigrants who are arrested in immigration raids, one child is left behind who is under the age of ten and usually a U.S. citizen. Despite the best efforts of schools, community organizations and churches, the data show that these children experience profound psychological distress and disruptions in their schooling.

NCLR has a sign-on letter calling for Congressional hearings to consider this impact. This letter will be sent to House and Senate leadership and the following committees' chairs: Education and Labor, HELP, Judiciary. For more information or if your organization is interested, contact Amy Goldwasser at agoldwasser@nclr.org [46]. Deadline to sign on: Thursday, December 6.

Caitlin Johnson and Thaddeus Ferber
Connect for Kids and the Forum for Youth Investment