CFK Update April 23, 2009

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Bringing you relevant news, research and policy updates
affecting children, youth and families.

April 23, 2009

In This Issue

Kids & Politics: Taking Stock [1]

Spotlight on Early Learning [2]

Improving the Odds for Older Youth [3]

On Capitol Hill: DREAM Act, Mitigating Homelessness... [4]

Opportunity in America: A Closer Look [5]

Struggling Families: What We Know, What Works and What's Changing [6]

Grants & Funding Resources [7]

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Forum for Youth Investment [10]

Youth Policy Action Center [11]

Editor's Note

To read Jan's full blog post, visit the CFK Web site [12].

I have finally figured out why people think we're wiser when we get older. It's only because we've been through it all before! My first political memory is President Kennedy's first 100 days. As a high school student, it seemed like our country was all of a sudden dealing with all kinds of problems we didn't even know we had. I remember the direct and local support that Johnson's War on Poverty gave to my community-organizing efforts.

And here we are nearing another 100-day mark. What better time to reflect on how far we've come and examine the echoes from the past may help us do a better job from this point forward.

First, there's new research adding to our understanding of the long-term impacts of severe child poverty, especially, if good parenting isn't available to mitigate the effects.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report that says that the income gap has tripled in the last three decades is bad news, especially for children.

But Timothy Smeeding, expert on child poverty rates in the industrialized world, sees shifting priorities that could mean a sea change in our societal commitment to providing a strong safety net for our children. To him the new administration seems like a breath of fresh air, like another administration 50 years ago...

Yesterday was Earth Day and this year, we reached a new frontier in the fight to preserve our planet: the EPA just passed an endangerment ruling authorizing it to regulate greenhouse gases. What does that mean for child advocates? Read Jan's blog [13].

Janis Richter, editor emeritus
jan@connecforkids.org [14]

CFK gathers, synthesizes and promotes the best news, research, and stories from the child and youth field. To suggest content, email weekly@connectforkids.org [15]

Kids & Politics: Taking Stock

100 Days/100 Voices [16] AECF

[17]
What's the most important thing that the Obama administration has done for children and families so far? What should be next on the agenda? To mark the Administration's first 100 days, the Annie E. Casey Foundation is launching a 100Days/100Voices initiative, inviting all concerned community members to weigh in using 100 words or or a two-minute video clip. Responses will be displayed beginning April 30.

[18]Spotlight on Early Learning

Pre-K to Third: What's the Price Tag? [19]
The Foundation for Child Development offers a framework for figuring the costs of core elements in moving to full-time pre-K and kindergarten in the primary school.

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[20]Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School [21]
Contrary to some adult opinions, children at play are not wasting time. Children work hard at their play, developing fundamental social and learning skills. This Alliance for Childhood report says the loss of play time in early education and kindergarten programs is compromising children's healthy development and their long-term prospects for success in school.

Improving the Odds for Older Youth
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[22]
Strengthening School Attendance [23] | View PDF [24]
We know that good in-school programs and relationships can help prevent students from leaving high school early. But what can schools do to address the problems of students with poor attendance, those most likely to end up dropping out? The New York-based organization Student Advocacy has some answers.

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[25]Learning Around the Clock: Benefits of Expanded Learning Opportunities for Older Youth [26]
In its review of 22 high-quality after-school programs, the American Youth Policy Forum finds that strong out-of-school time learning opportunities can improve academic performance, college and career prep, social and emotional development and health and wellness.

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[27]What Works: Curriculum-Based Programs that Prevent Teen [28]Pregnancy [29] | View PDF [30]
With teen birth rates on the rise [31] after an historic decline, this pamphlet from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reviews what we know about effective prevention based on careful evaluation studies.

The Case for School-Based Integration of Services [32] CFK Banner

[33]
The movement for schools as community centers just got a boost from this Public/Private Ventures brief, which finds that one-stop shopping for health care, out-of-school-time learning and family supports makes sense -- and schools can be a good hub.

To learn more about community schools, visit the Coalition for Community Schools [34].

Capitol Hill Watch: DREAM Act, Mitigating Homelessness

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The DREAM Act is Back in Congress
The bipartisan DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act would give undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children a six-year path to citizenship if they graduate from high school and attend two years of college or military service.

The National Immigration Law Center has a round-up [35] of the bills, statements from the Congressional sponsors and more.

The National Council of La Raza has an Action Alert [36] in support of the DREAM Act.

"Students Storm the Hill. [37]" The youth-written WireTap Magazine, chronicles a recent youth march on Washington in support of the DREAM Act.

McKinney-Vento Reauthorization Introduced in House and Senate [38]
Proposed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs, now dubbed The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, would increase help for families with children and unaccompanied youth, adding incentives and funds for more prevention and re-housing, in addition to emergency shelters.

In a new brief [39], the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says more housing vouchers would provide flexible and cost-effective rental assistance for homeless families with children.

Opportunity in America: A Closer Look

Getting Ahead or Losing Ground [40]
PEW

[41]Getting a college degree helps children of low-income parents gain ground, but it is far harder for low-income and middle-income offspring to move up the economic ladder now than in the decades after World War II. The hope that increased opportunity can offset the effects of greater inequality is, unfortunately, not supported by the facts.

Rich-Poor Income Gap Hits Record [42]
The income gap between the richest and poorest in the U.S. tripled in the past three decades. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that in 2006, the top 1 percent of households had a larger share of the nation's after-tax income and the middle and bottom fifths of households had smaller shares than in any year since the data collection began in 1979.

WIRETAP

[43]YOUTH VOICES
Unemployment Blues: Advice You Can Use [44]
Young workers have been hit hard by the current recession -- 2.2 million young people between the ages of 16 and 29 have lost their jobs. The youth-written Wiretap has an overview and ideas for how to stay afloat during tough times.

Struggling Families: What We Know, What Works, and What's Changing

Children and youth benefit from strong families and supportive communities, regardless of their family income level. But children in lower-income families face particular challenges. What we know about these families -- and what supports are effective -- is constantly growing.

New Information on the Realities of Family Poverty

Childhood Poverty Can Impair Memory in Young Adults [45]. Rockefeller University researchers have found that poverty and chronic stress during childhood is adversely associated with working memory in young adults.

Children in Immigrant Families - Economic Need beyond the Official Poverty Measure. [46] Is our poverty measure short-changing immigrant families because it doesn't include expenses like formal child care and transportation to a job? Child Trends reports that the poverty rate among immigrant children reaches 47.9 percent -- much higher than the official rate -- when basic household expenses are included in the analysis of census data.

[47]The Thinking on Children, Poverty and IQ [48]. In 2003, I interviewed Eric Turkheimer, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, about his research on twins and the consequences on children's brain power of the chaotic lives of families in severe poverty.

What Works for Vulnerable Children

Exploring the Links between Family Strengths and Adolescent Outcomes. [49] Child Trends finds that while poverty has real consequences for children, good parenting and family strengths -- caring parents, parental supervision and monitoring and positive role modeling can make a difference for adolescent outcomes.

[50]Center for the Developing Child [51]. A feature about Harvard's Center for the Developing Child explains how classroom practices can apply what we know about child development to improve vocabulary and early reading skills. It also includes a research review on the impact of excess stress on the developing child's brain.

Changing Policy to Change Poverty

Promoting Effective Preschool Programs [52]. The RAND Corporation finds that disadvantaged children often lack access to the preschool programs that are high-quality enough to produce strong benefits. Reconfiguring federal Head Start, Title I and CCDBG dollars could help states build on their efforts to improve access and quality.

The Stimulus and Poverty: First Steps toward a Strong Antipoverty Policy. [53]Timothy Smeeding, an expert on how government programs reduce poverty rates in different countries, says the stimulus package and the proposed budget in Congress may indicate a major shift toward policies that reduce poverty and inequality gaps in the United States, where poverty rates, especially among families with children, are far higher than in other industrialized countries.

In 2004, CFK's Susan Phillips interviewed Smeeding [54] about his book "Poor Kids in a Rich Country."

IDEA FOR ACTION
Zero to Three Says May is the Time to Educate [55] | Read PDF [56]. Zero to Three is challenging child development experts and others to have coffee on May 7th with three people who work with young children to talk about early emotional development and how to help policymakers recognize and support good mental health for infants and toddlers.

Grants and Funding Resources GRANTS

2009 MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Opportunity Awards [57]
The Encore Opportunity Awards are for creative nonprofit or public organizations that engage people over 50 in encore careers -- doing work that combines continued income with personal meaning and social impact. Winners will receive $2,500 and be showcased for their leadership and human resource expertise. Deadline June 1.

Literacy Grants from Dollar General [58]
Receive up to $3,000 for literacy projects to help kids reading below grade-level. Deadline May 22.

Do Something [59]
Every week, Do Something awards a $500 grant to a young person with a sustainable, community project.

National Endowment for the Arts Grants [60]
NEA will be granting some 600 grants, ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 for participatory learning and student engagement with artists and the arts. Deadline: June 11

Target Grants [61]
Target Stores are accepting applications for Arts, Literacy and Family Violence Prevention grants of up to $3,000. Grants will be awarded to agencies working to improve the lives of children and families. Deadline: May 31

Find more on the Connect for Kids Funding Resources [62] topic page!

Janis Richter and Thaddeus Ferber
Connect for Kids and the Forum for Youth Investment

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