Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center - Family Income

KIDS COUNT 2008: A CFK Overview

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:47:35 -0500

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.

How Kids Fare in the Federal Budget: the Lowlights

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:15:00 -0600

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.

Paul Krugman and the "P Word"

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:19:12 -0600

To be poor "is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child's brain," writes Paul Krugman in a recent New York Times op-ed. In his CFK/CA360 column, Hershel Sarbin wrestles with the often-daunting task of communicating about child poverty—and why a renewed, solutions-based focus on child poverty may be around the corner.

The Real Math of Child Poverty In America

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:40:19 -0500

I was somewhat surprised when I recently came across the following paragraph on the Voices for America’s Children Website: “As a society we pay a steep price for allowing one in five of our nation’s children to live in poverty. Economists estimate the annual national cost of persistent childhood poverty due to lost adult productivity and wages, increased crime, and higher health expenditures is massive: approximately $500 billion or four percent of the nation’s gross domestic product”...

New Data Show Extraordinary Jump in Income Concentration in 2004

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:23:00 -0500

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.

Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:21:36 -0500

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.

Getting Punched: The Job and Family Clock...It�s Time for Flexible Work for Workers of All Wages

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:08:44 -0500

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.

Score More: Championing our Youth

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:19:29 -0500

Start: Jun 21 2006 - 9:00am

End: Jun 23 2006 - 5:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT+5

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) hosts Score More: Championing our Youth in Atlanta, Georgia.

Child Poverty on the Rise

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:35:31 -0600

Of the more than 73 million children in the United States, 40 percent—or 29.2 million—live in low-income families. After nearly a decade of decline, this number has been steadily rising since 2000.

Clear Vision for Low-Income Kids

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:31:46 -0500

Early detection can be the key to quick and effective treatment of many common eye problems � but often, low-income children don�t have vision screening until kindergarten. In Alabama, FocusFirst has organized a statewide corps of volunteer college students to catch vision problems early. Gin Phillips explains how it works.

Newark, NJ KidsCount

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:14:50 -0600

Investments in preschool for Newark's youngest students are paying off, with fewer fourth graders failing statewide tests, according to Newark Kids Count 2005, an annual snapshot of the state of children growing up in New Jersey's largest city. The state�s preschool programs are helping address academics and overall well-being according to the report.

2005 North Dakota KidsCount

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:10:58 -0600

North Dakota releases 2005 KidsCount data, offering several new reports, including an Overview of Children�s Well-Being, Head Start fact sheets, and a 2005 Data Guide.

2005 State of Opportunity Report (Colorado)

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 13:29:38 -0600

The Bell Policy Center in Colorado has a �Cycle of Opportunity� concept that goes something like this: if someone gets a good education, he or she is more likely to get a job that pays well. Getting a job that pays well means he or she is likely to be economically self-sufficient, which in turn makes this person more likely to own a home and provide for children. These children are thus more likely to be born healthy and get a good education themselves -- and the cycle repeats.

Legislative Report Card on Policies Affecting Kids

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:29:34 -0500

The Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego law school has released its 2005 Children's Legislative Report Card, which describes the year and examines several child-friendly bills in the areas of economic security, nutrition, health and safety, child care, and child protection.

Policymakers in Seven States Walk a Mile in the Shoes of Low-Wage Workers

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:46:32 -0500

60 policymakers and numerous low-income constituents in Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, and West Virginia are spending a month together "walking a mile" in each other's shoes to learn from one another about poverty, public policies and politics. It's part of the national Walk a Mile (WAM) project based in Seattle. Among the object lessons: policymakers will try to feed their family on the amount of money they would receive in food stamps for their family size.