The Finance Project and the Council of Chief State School Officers have released this strategy brief. It describes how six major funding streams included in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) can support extended learning opportunities. The brief provides important context for those seeking to access these funding streams, and includes a discussion of strategies, considerations and tips for accessing each source.

It's been two years since Connect for Kids first profiled the Dragon Slayers, an all-girl firefighting and emergency medical team in Aniak, Alaska. Since then, the girls have been growing up, and so has the program. Holly St. Lifer revisits the group.

Caring for a sick child or bringing home a newborn baby can be daunting responsibilities. Worries about lost income can add to the stress. Rob Capriccioso reports on how paid family leave programs can help.

Dorothy Rich, founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute, Megaskills Education Center reflects on her experiences as a child during World War II— and what she sees as the very different experience today's children are having of growing up in wartime.

CFK reports from: Child Well-Being: Their Present, Our Future
Event: A Briefing on America's Children: Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being, released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
Organized by: America's Promise
Where/When: Washington DC, Thursday September 22, 2005

Members from non-profit organizations and government agencies gathered at an annual policy seminar conducted by The Alliance for Youth to discuss the latest data on child well-being and how this data should be used to inform federal policy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The briefing was to discuss the biennial release of America's Children: Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being, a compilation of statistics gathered by a collaboration of 20 agencies collectively known as the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics that provides data on education, health status, social development and other measures of how children are faring.

As evacuees from Hurricane Katrina started pouring in to the Houston Astrodome, a youth development trainer from Washington D.C. named Charles Modiano found himself working side by side with energetic young volunteers to help the displaced. In those hours, Modiano decided that needs created and uncovered by the storm could be the focus of a new effort to strengthen youth volunteerism nationwide. He spoke to Rob Capriccioso about his vision.

The mission of this organization is to inspire girls with the highest ideals of character, conduct, patriotism, and service they they may become happy and resourceful citizens.

The First Years Institute is a catalyst to strengthen the community by building well-researched high quality support systems essential to enable children to be competently nurtured - physically, emotionally and cognitively - from gestation through the preschool years, and for families and caregivers to be valued and supported in accomplishing this task.

The mission of Community Association of Progressive Dominicans (ACDP) is to promote and develop the physical, emotional, social and economic well-being of the residents of Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, and New York City by facilitating community empowerment through education, provision of human services, and the development of individual skills and community leadership.