Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center - Child Safety & Protection

A Medical Home for Kids in Foster Care

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:33:02 -0500

For kids in foster care, moving from home to home often results in lost medical records and a patchwork of health care providers. At Alabama's Family Place Pediatric Practice, Dr. Alisa Hoffman is working hard to change that.

Addressing the Health Care Needs of Foster Care Children

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:25:55 -0500

Children who have been abused or neglected often have a range of unique physical and mental health needs and developmental delays, far greater than other high-risk populations. In fact, studies suggest that nearly sixty percent of children in foster care experience a chronic medical condition, and one-quarter suffer from three or more chronic health conditions.

Foster Care 2008: What We Know, Where We're Going (a Q&A with Experts)

Mon, 19 May 2008 10:23:06 -0500

(2008) May is Foster Care Month, and for the 20th anniversary celebration of the campaign, Connect for Kids spoke with Candice Douglass, communications director with Casey Family Programs, to get the latest on foster care and child well-being, and emerging trends we should all know about. We also got the scoop the Kinship Caregiver Support Act currently in Congress and an innovative approach to permanency for teens in a Q&A with Celeste Bodner, executive director of FosterClub, the national network for young people in foster care. Find out what’s new, what’s working, and how you can make a difference no matter how much time you’ve got to give.

Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community: 2008 Resource Packet

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:03:00 -0500

This is an updated version of the 2007 Children's Bureau packet; it offers (1) guidance for service providers in exploring protective factors with families, (2) tipsheets in both English and Spanish,

Recommendations for Policy, Practice and Research on Youth Permanence

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:56:00 -0500

Casey Family Services has released a report from the research roundtable held during the last National Convening on Youth Permanence in 2006. The report offers an overview from national experts of how

Getting Beyond the Foster Care System: What Works for Teens

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:47:19 -0600

Could you have made it entirely on your own at 18 or 21? Each year, roughly 25,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system, many without family or economic supports. Without connection to a caring adult and support to plan and prepare, these youth face steep challenges, including higher rates of unemployment, poor educational attainment, health issues, incarceration, and homelessness. But those are the problems, the statistics—what about the potential of these teens, and their desire to succeed? We spoke with Betsy Krebs, co-director of the New York City-based Youth Advocacy Center, about what works to help teens aging out of foster care succeed. There’s room for the whole community...

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”...

In Mississippi: A Sweeping Legal Victory for Kids

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:04:48 -0500

Mississippi plans a serious overhaul of its child welfare system to do more to protect the approximately 3,400 abused and neglected children in its care. Here's an overview of the details of this comprehensive reform plan, developed as a settlement of a class action lawsuit brought against the state by Children's Rights.

NY Times' "A History of Neglect" Series: a Major Contribution on Issues Affecting Minority-run Foster Care Agencies

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:07:31 -0600

In November 2007, the New York Times ran a three-part series on the struggles of minority-run foster care agencies in New York City that found "a trail of scandals and disappointments, as well as a new commitment to better caring for the city’s vulnerable black and Latino children." The online version includes reader commentary and questions for reporters and experts. Connect for Kids will join and track these online conversations for our readers.

What Ever Happened to that Great Research We Did Last Year? And Why Do I Ask?

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:41:24 -0500

Because, on so many occasions during my Child Advocacy work in recent years—most recently as the founder and editor of the non profit Child Advocacy 360 News Network—I have witnessed such good research on children’s rights and child well-being, and such poor communication of the results, and such miserable follow up in leveraging the findings for the benefit of children that I have pledged to do my own “ What ever happened to….” research on this major area of underachievement, and report it in these blog-like writings. My challenge to Child advocacy researchers : Show us your battle plan post-press release and press notices. Show us the return on investment for children. It’s time for true accountability.

Surfing the Sites - Real People, Real Results in Child Advocacy

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:42:53 -0500

One of my great pleasures as an editor is to periodically "surf the sites" in child advocacy. I often find what to me, at least, are fresh stories of good works and good results that serve as an inspiration for my work at Child Advocacy 360 and Connect for Kids. RuralSuccess.org has several winning examples.

Who's Doing What That Works: Readers' Choice Stories

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:27:12 -0500

October 2007—Our partner Child Advocacy 360 brings you "Readers' Choice Stories," in which readers vote with their eyes, clicks and emails on the best of Who's Doing What That Works.

Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2006

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:02:05 -0500

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics released its latest annual report, America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-being 2006 on July 14th. The report is a compendium of statistics from 21 federal agencies with the latest available data on 26 key indicators related to children's economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education and on 9 background measures related to population and family characteristics.

National Crime Victims' Rights Week

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:46:41 -0600

Start: Apr 23 2006 - 12:00am

End: Apr 23 2006 - 11:59pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT+5

April 23-29 is National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Child Passenger Safety Week

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 09:05:29 -0600

Start: Feb 11 2007 - 12:00am

End: Feb 11 2007 - 11:59pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT+5

This is Child Passenger Safety Week.