To make positive change for kids, you need to know where things stand, what’s working and what needs to be improved. The annual KIDS COUNT Data Book offers both data and context for 10 indicators of child well-being—and drills down to a state and local level. This year’s essay offers a “roadmap for reform” in juvenile justice. CFK summer intern Maria Allen attended the June 2008 launch event in DC and has this overview.

President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal includes $2.8 billion in cuts to programs that impact children—a 3 percent drop from last year's federal budget. First Focus, a bipartisan children's advocacy organization, takes a reader-friendly look at the numbers and what they say about our nation's priorities.

Finding quality, affordable child care can be difficult for any parent. For those with a special needs child, it can also be a very confusing and emotional experience. Rebecca Freshour looks at what the law says, and what parents need to know to find care for their children.

For the first time in 10 years, the federal minimum wage will get a boost—from $5.15 to $7.25 in 2009. It’s not enough to end poverty in America, but it is a start. Just ask Julie Smith, who took a job as cashier after dropping out of college to raise her daughter. The increase is also expected to benefit an estimated 6.4 million children whose parents earn minimum wage, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In an article for OneWorld, Caitlin Johnson reports.

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 Mathew, 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.

Low-income students who drop out—or are pushed out—of school without a high school diploma face long odds in their search for a path to a successful and stable adult life. In Birmingham, Ala., a former public school teacher is waging a fierce campaign to give such students a second chance. Gin Phillips reports on the World of Opportunity School.

Child poverty is changing, as more low-income parents enter the workforce yet remain impoverished. The Urban Institute has a team of researchers investigating why work is no longer a ticket out of poverty, what that means for kids, and what kinds of programs might help. UI�s Gregory Acs, a senior research associate in the Income and Benefits Policy Center, offers this overview.

College students (and their parents) need to brace themselves: interest rates on federally-subsidized student loans will go up dramatically this summer. Student aid has also been cut. Connect for Kids' Martha Pitts spoke to David Smith of Mobilize.org about the changes, and about the Mobilize.org campaign to raise awareness.

We like to think to that all kids, no matter their race or their family income, have a fair chance at getting ahead. Natasha Santos, one of the young writers at Youth Communication in New York City, doesn�t buy that. Santos has a lot to say -- about her anger at being one of the have-nots, and how meeting with some middle-class suburban teens helped. This story is reprinted with permission from Youth Communication.

Even Start is a federally funded effort to improve literacy in very low income families, so that kids will do better in school, and parents can participate in their children's educations and improve their own life prospects. Now, a 56 percent cut in fiscal 2006 and a proposal from President Bush to eliminate all funding in fiscal 2007 has Even Start on the ropes. Cecilia Garcia takes a look at the program, and at the Bush administration's claim that it doesn't work.