CFK Reports From: Senate Subcommittee Hears Testimony About SCHIP Reauthorization
Event: Hearing
Organized By: Senate Finance Subcommittee on Healthcare
When: July 25, 2006

The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Healthcare met to discuss the future reauthorization of the State Child Health Insurance program (SCHIP).

CFK Reports From: The Impact of Meth on Foster Care, Children, and Families
Event: Panel Discussion
Organized By: Generations United
Where/When: June 8, 2006; Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC

The discussion at this congressional briefing on the impact of methamphetamine abuse on foster care, children, and families paid special attention to the role being played by grandparents who step forward to become legal guardians for children who are removed from their homes due to a parent's methamphetamine abuse.

CFK Reports From: Child Welfare and Well-Being: Building a 21st-Century System for Kids
Event: Panel discussion
Organized By: The Urban Institute and Chapin Hall Center for Children
Where/When: June 8, 2006; Urban Institute, Washington, DC

This event, the last in a series, was a useful discussion of one of the central tensions within the child welfare field: between the imperative to keep children physically safe from harm and the understanding that removing children from their parents, homes and neighborhoods damages them.

CFK Reports From: Oversight Hearing on Suicide Prevention Programs and their Application in Indian Country
Event: Hearing
Organized By: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Where/When: 485 Russell Senate Office Building; May 17, 2006

The statistics are grim: American Indian youth have the highest suicide rate among all ethnic groups, a rate that is almost twice the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To address this issue, youth suicide prevention programs have been created to better serve the community. Two panels presented written testimony about their experiences, findings, and goals on suicide prevention programs to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

CFK Reports From: Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids
Event: Author presentation and discussion
Organized By: Cato Institute
Where/When: Cato Institute, Washington DC, April 20, 2006

Maia Szalavitz, the author of Help at Any Cost (Riverhead, 2006), spoke about what she learned in the process of researching and writing her book, which looks at the continued reliance by some states and parents on a "tough love" form of addiction treatment for adolescents that relies on physical intimidation, humiliation and isolation.

CFK Reports From: Release of the Ten Point Plan To End Childhood Hunger In The Nation's Capital
Event: Press Conference
Organized By: DC Hunger Solutions, The Food Research and Action Center, and Share Our Strength
Where/When: Kennedy Recreational Center; April 18, 2006

Hunger advocates, politicians, students, teachers, parents and bureaucrats from Washington D.C. gathered to witness the public presentation of the city's plan to end childhood hunger in the nation's capital. Kim Perry, founding Director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, kicked of the event by questioning the crowd, "Guess what?" She answered her own question, "We are going to end childhood hunger in D.C."

CFK Reports From: The Future of Children: Childhood Obesity
Event: Forum
Organized By: Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and The Brookings Institution
Where/When: Faulk Auditorium - The Brookings Institution, March 14, 2006

A panel of four policy makers discussed their approaches to the problem of childhood obesity in the U.S., at an event marking the release of the third volume in The Future of Children series on the issue.

CFK reports from: The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living
Event: Release of research report; panel discussion
Organized by: Girl Scout Research Institute
Where/When: National Press Club, Washington DC, Wednesday, January 25, 2006

This latest report by the research arm of the Girls Scouts of the U.S.A. takes a look at the attitudes of girls aged 8 to 17 towards healthy living, weight, body image and exercise. It's based on focus group interviews in four communities, an online survey of more than 2,000 girls and their mothers, and a separate survey of 400 African American, Latina and Asian girls.

CFK reports from: The Library of Congress
Event: The Education Policy Forum
Organized by: The American Educational Research Association, and The Institute for Educational Leadership
Where/When: Washington DC, Friday, September 9, 2005

Members of various child advocacy organizations congregated at a monthly forum hosted by The American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) to discuss the findings and implications of Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being, 2005.

CFK reports from: The Cannon Office House Building
Event: The Face of Medicaid
Organized by: American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Children's Hospitals, March of Dimes, and Family Voices.
Where/When: Washington, D.C., April 12th, 2005

The American Academy of Pediatrics, The National Association of Children's Hospitals, March of Dimes and Family Voices joined forces today in the nation's capital to call on Congress to protect Medicaid from prospective budget cuts, and to advocate for the establishment of a commission to evaluate the program.