Immigration is a hot-button issue right now. In Congress, the House has passed legislation to impose new controls and tougher penalties for illegal immigrants, and the Senate is wrestling with the issue. Meanwhile 14 western-state governors have endorsed President Bush’s plan for guest-worker visas. Often lost in the discussion: the question of whether and how to integrate the children of long-term illegal immigrants fully into U.S. society – for many of them, the only society they have ever known. Connect for Kids offers some resources to put this issue into perspective.

Children need access to comprehensive medical care to grow up healthy, do well in school, and become productive adults. Because Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) provides comprehensive medical care, any changes in Medicaid must preserve children’s access to EPSDT.

Many young people in the juvenile justice system have serious mental health problems that need treatment; and many young people with such problems end up in juvenile justice facilities because they lack access to treatment in their communities. CFK has compiled information on the challenges and effective solutions.

Nationally, 30 percent of 9th graders fail to finish high school with their peers -- an estimated 1.2 million U.S. students from the class of 2006. The situation is especially dismal for students in many of the nation's high-poverty urban and rural districts. Only half of all students of color attending public high schools graduate. The consequences for these students, their communities and the nation's economy are grave.

Provocative new research shows a link between children's IQ scores and their families' socio-economic status, offering scientific support for the view that reducing poverty will help kids succeed. CFK has compiled a list of more research and links centered on kids and IQ.