Publlic Policy Skillman Center for Children

Who Will Speak for the Children?

Though we often hear phrases like "Children are our most precious resource" and "Children are our best hope for the future", statistics show that many children in the United States do not have access to all-important resources that would enable them to become healthy, productive adults. Because children do not vote or make campaign contributions, they need advocates to speak for them. They need our voices speaking to the powers-that-be, encouraging them to invest in long-term solutions for the problems impacting children's well-being.

For Links to Advocacy Organizations click here.

Policy Issue Categories

The Children's Policy Information Center is a clearinghouse of information on public policies affecting children and families in Michigan. Subscribe to their Legislative E-Bulletin Service or view the latest edition, contact your legislator, locate existing legislative committees important to children's issues, and find out what you can do to advocate on behalf of children in Michigan.

Voting Web site Links:

What Does Government Spend on Children? Evidence from Five Cities - Are politicians putting their money where their mouths are? An analysis of government spending in the late 1990s shows that despite an economic boom and rising state spending, few public funds reached children in need in five economically distressed cities Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Philadelphia, and Richmond. In these areas, state per capita expenditures rose 12 percent -- but spending by all levels of government for services to children raised an average of 2 percent per child. For more information, click here.

CDF REPORT: "Robin Hood in Reverse: Bush Administration Budget Choices Take from Poor Children to Give to the Rich - "The Children's Defense Fund released an analysis showing how the Bush Administration's proposed budget puts millions of poor children at risk. Please visit http://www.childrensdefense.org/pdf/robinhood.pdf to view the entire Children's Defense Fund’s Report of the Bush Administration’s Budget.

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. helps state and federal officials get the information they need to make sound decisions about welfare and other publicly funded programs. Their Web site includes various reports and evaluations of welfare issues and the impacts of welfare reform.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. They also develop policy options to alleviate poverty, particularly among working families. In addition, the Center examines the short- and long-term impacts that proposed policies would have on the health of the economy and on the soundness of federal and state budgets.

The Manpower Demonstration Research a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization. Dedicated to learning what works to improve the well-being of low-income people. Through research and the active communication of their findings, |MDRC seeks to enhance the effectiveness of policies and programs. Their focus on children and families is in four broad types of social policy interventions: welfare, work and children; youth and teen mothers; strengthening families and child care.

2005 poverty guidelines and poverty thresholds are presented along with discussion of what the figures mean today as well as in an historical context.

Child Trends is a 26-year-old nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children by conducting research and providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs, and policies that affect children and their families.

Connect for Kids is a site that provides a wide variety of information including action alerts and field reports on issues impacting children and families. Children and Families
Children’s Defense Fund provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. They pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities.

CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown.

The Economic Policy Institute provides high-quality research and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy. The Institute stresses real world analysis and a concern for the living standards of working people, and it makes its findings accessible to the general public, the media, and policy makers.

Joint Center for Poverty Research in a national and interdisciplinary academic research center that seeks to advance the understanding of what it means to be poor in America. There are many reports and evaluations that examine poverty and its impact on policies.

Moving Ideas is an electronic policy resource that provides current information on a variety of topics. In addition, there are links to blocs, online news services, magazines/newspapers and public records.

New Federal Poverty Levels Announced- The 2004 Federal Poverty Guidelines for a family of four is $18,850 in gross yearly income; $1,571 in gross monthly income; and an hourly income of approximately $9.06 (based on 40 hours per week for a full year).

Right Start: Conditions of Babies and their Families across the nation and in America's Largest Cities (2002) from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Right Start for America’s Newborns, City and State Trends (1990 – 2002).This web site updates previous Right Start reports by providing a text and data update focused on cities and the nation as a whole. Updated data are available as profiles, line graphs, national maps, rankings, and raw data for the nation's 50 largest cities (plus 5 additional cities in which the Annie E. Casey Foundation has made a long-term investment) and the 50 states through 2002.

Skillman Center for Children, Census Fact Sheet Series based on 2000 data released for the area comprised of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. Besides looking at each individual county and the region as a whole, several key cities within the tri-county area were also identified. Tracking changing distributions across age, race/ethnicity, family structure, gender, and economic status by geographic unit shows how communities have been impacted differently by demographic change. In addition, timeline comparisons so that trends can be readily identified within specific locations are provided.

Trends in Parents' Economic Hardships - For many American families, there's often "too much month left at the end of the paycheck especially with a weak economy and rising costs of living. But even a strong economy doesn't guarantee stability. This Urban Institute snapshot compares food and housing hardships during economic boom of the late 1990s and the slow economy of the early 2000s. While family income improved somewhat between 1997 and 2002, parents' housing hardship did not diminish. For more information, click here.

The Urban Institute measures effects, compares options, shows which stakeholders get the most and least, tests conventional wisdom, reveals trends, and makes costs, benefits, and risks explicit on a wide variety of topics of interest to children and families.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) lists legislations and amendments.

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. Policy updates can be found on this page.

School Discipline Policies in Michigan -- Michigan's Children's Analysis Available. A new analysis by Michigan's Children looks at the origination of Zero Tolerance school discipline policies,some recent information about school expulsions in Michigan,and potential impacts of those policies. The brief also includes recommendations for policy change, including suggestions from young people themselves. Go to Michigan's Children's Web site.

Should Universal Education Begin with Universal Preschool? If public education is such a good idea, why not start earlier than age 5? In this Boston Globe article, "The Promise of Preschool,"reporter Carey Goldberg reviews the science and politics of efforts to expand universal preschool. For more information, click here.

All Together Now: State Experiences in Using Community-Based Child Care to Provide Pre-Kindergarten by Rachel Schumacher, Danielle Ewen, Katherine Hart, and Joan Lombardi. This brief is based on the 61-page report of the same name, which was commissioned by the Brookings Institution. It studies the emergence of the mixed delivery model, in which pre-kindergarten is delivered in community-based settings and schools. This policy brief, the fifth in the Child Care and Early Education Series, describes principal approaches to state implementation of the mixed delivery model but does not provide examples of state policies.

CLASP’s child care and early education work focuses on promoting policies that support both child development and the needs of low-income working parents and on expanding the availability of resources for child care and early education initiatives. CLASP examines the impact of welfare reform on child care needs; studies the relationships between child care subsidy systems, the Head Start program, pre-kindergarten efforts, and other early education initiatives; and explores how these systems can be responsive to the developmental needs of all children.

Preparing for Success: How Head Start Helps Children with Disabilities and Their Families by Danielle Ewen and Katherine Beh Neas. In 2004, 13 percent of the children in Head Start and Early Head Start (more than 134,000 children) were diagnosed with a disability. Without Head Start, some of these children might have gone undiagnosed, leaving their disabilities unaddressed for years. This paper, a joint venture between CLASP and Easter Seals, updates data from a 2003 paper of the same title. It details the requirements that Head Start grantees must meet to serve children with disabilities and provides data on how the programs are meeting them.

Title IX Clarifications: Bad News for Girls and Women? The U.S. Department of Education recently issued a policy clarification that the National Education Association says will reverse decades of progress women and girls have made under Title IX in sports and academics. (Title IX requires all education programs that receive taxpayer dollars to give girls and women opportunities equal to those offered boys and men.) Under the new policy, all a school has to do to show it is providing its female students with equal sports opportunities is to send each of its female students an e-mail survey asking whether they have the interest and ability to play additional sports. Failure to reply can be counted as a lack of interest. The Title IX information Web site, sponsored by the National Women’s Law Center, offers some background.

Weigh In on IDEA The U.S. Department of Education is asking for public feedback on proposed regulations to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). IDEA provides special education and related services for America's 6.8 million children with disabilities. For an overview of the regulations, visit the Ed Department Web site.

High Expectations for Secondary Ed These days, it’s all about high school–advocates and policymakers, educators and opinion leaders are shining the spotlight on high school, and calling for deep reform to address serious shortcomings such as high drop-out rates. Amid this flurry of attention, the Educational Testing Service set out to find out how the public feels about high schools in its latest public opinion poll.

Capitol Hill on the Dropout Crisis Paul Barton and others review policy recommendations send to the White House by some 250 organizations on how to improve the odds for youth at risk.

The Violence Policy Center provides an update on gun laws and current legislation under debate.

Food Stamp Receipt
View as PDF (Best for Printing)

In 2003, 10.6 million children received food stamps, increasing from 9.7 million in 2002. The number of children receiving food stamps dropped by nearly a third in the immediate years following the enactment of federal welfare reform in 1996, but has risen each year since 2000.

Importance

Eight out of ten children living in poor families receive food stamps, a benefit designed to increase the food purchasing power of low-income households. In 2004, benefit levels in 48 states and the District of Columbia were $371 per month for a household with three persons.¹ Benefits were higher in Alaska and Hawaii.

In 1996, as part of federal welfare reform, food stamp benefits were reduced, and eligibility for food stamps was barred for most legal residents who are not citizens.² However, children who were legally resident in the U.S. prior to August 1996 and families receiving TANF benefits retained their eligibility.³ In 2002, food stamp eligibility was restored to legal, permanent, resident, foreign-born children. The benefit cuts combined with substantial cuts in the food stamps caseload have led to a decrease in the contribution of food stamps as an income source for families with incomes below the poverty threshold. In 2000, food stamp benefits accounted for 19 percent of the disposable income for the poorest fifth of single-mother families with no other adults present, compared with 25 percent in 1995.⁴

Trends

The number of children receiving food stamps rose from 9.9 million in 1980 to 14.4 million in 1994 before falling to 8.7 million children in 2000. By 2003, this number had risen to 10.6 million children. Similarly, among all children, the percentage receiving food stamps fell from a peak of 21 percent in 1993 and 1994 to 12 percent in 2000 and 2001, before increasing to 15 percent in 2003. Similarly, among all children, the percentage receiving food stamps fell from a peak of 21 percent in 1993 and 1994 to 12 percent in 2000 and 2001, before increasing to 15 percent in 2003.

Related Indicators

Children in Poverty, Health Care Coverage, Long-Term Poverty, Long-Term Welfare Dependence, AFDC/TANF

State and Local Estimates

State estimates for the number of households with children receiving food stamps and the number of preschool and school age children receiving food stamps are available for 2003 from the Characteristics of Food Stamp Households: Fiscal Year 2003 report at
http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/FSP/FILES/Participation/2003Characteristics.pdf. (See Tables B-5 and B-10)

State estimates for all people receiving food stamps (though not for children alone) from 1977-2002 are available at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/indicators04/index.htm. (See Table FSP 6)

Local estimates for a few select counties in 2000 are available at:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DEC&_lang=en&_ts

Source: http://childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/56FoodStampReceipt.cfm

"Congress Ponders Food Stamp Program Cuts in September." In recent weeks, leaders of a U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee panel have held a series of discussions on reducing farm spending by $3 billion. Many lawmakers and advocates are worried that food stamps and other nutrition programs that support vulnerable families will appear high on the list of proposed areas to trim. This comes at a time where more families are relying on these programs to help put food on the table – especially during the summer, when fewer eligible children are accessing school nutrition programs. House Democrats are calling for protections of the program.

"Food Stamps are Good Medicine for Children." Pediatricians around the country are deeply concerned about the child health implications of potential funding cuts to the Food Stamp Program. Food Stamps are essential to ensure young children's nutrition and health. Even mild to moderate under-nutrition in infants and toddlers is linked to problems that last throughout the life span. A new C-SNAP research brief summarizes two findings: 1) Cuts in Food Stamp benefits are linked to food insecurity; and 2) Food Stamps reduce the harmful effects of food insecurity on child health.

"Bearing the Brunt of Cuts: What’s a Fair Share?" The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has issued a brief examining the upcoming Agriculture Committees cuts. The organization recommends that instead of a “proportional” approach, Congress should follow President Bush’s priorities and look to the Food Stamp Program to contribute 7 percent of the $3 billion reconciliation instruction, or $200 million over five years.

Child Welfare League of America provides policy updates on various topics impacting children and families. The site includes policy analysis of foster care policies state by state.
The Future of Children is a series of publications by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. There is a specific issue dedicated to issues of foster care and adoption policies.
Helping Foster Youth Succeed- Too many children who go into foster care emerge years later with few skills, no high school diploma, and serious educational deficits. Letitia L. Star reports on a Chicago program that helps. For more information from Connect for Kids, click here.

Health

"Covering Kids & Families Back-to-School Campaign Launch." The Covering Kids and Families Back-to-School Campaign aims to enroll uninsured children in Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). Learn more about what’s happening in your area.
"One-Third of Uninsured Children Go Without Medical Care for Entire Year, Despite Eligibility for Public Health Insurance." Despite Medicaid’s positive impact, 8.4 million American kids still lack health insurance (that’s a decrease of about two million between 1998 and 2003). What’s more, some 70 percent of these uninsured children qualified for public health insurance programs like Medicaid or SCHIP but were not enrolled, according to a new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"Recent Developments in State Medicaid Programs: A Round-Up ."
Get the scoop on Medicaid programs across the country in this summary by the Kaiser Network.

Housing

National Low Income Housing Coalition is an advocacy organization that has a policy agenda organized around four priority areas: resident issues, housing production, saving housing resources and other housing services. The organization works working in four program areas: public education, organizing, research, and policy advocacy.

Maternal and Child Health Research Center is a health policy group that provides federal and state policymakers, public health officials, and provider and family organizations with analysis of financing and service delivery issues affecting children and adolescents. Recent analyses have looked and public/private insurance programs, special need populations, and various public programs such as WIC.

National Academy of State Health Policy works to help states achieve excellence in health policy and practice. Topics include access to the uninsured, Medicaid, children’s health, cost containment, chronic care and many others.

National Public Health Policy Forum is a participant-driven, nonpartisan information exchange program that works to foster more informed policy decisions making Although targeting senior staff in Congress, information is available to the public as well.

The Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services ensures access to nutritious, healthful diets for all Americans. Through food assistance and nutrition education for consumers, FNCS encourages consumers to make healthful food choices. Today, rather than simply providing food, FNCS works to empower consumers with knowledge of the link between diet and health, providing dietary guidance based on research.

Choices, Challenges, and Options: Child SSI Recipients Preparing for the Transition to Adult Life, by Pamela Loprest and David Wittenburg. This paper examines the transition experiences of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients just prior to and after age 18. The authors find that only a minority of those ages 14 to 17 participated in training or rehabilitation activities and many had never heard of SSI work incentives. Among post-transition young people ages 19 to 23, those off SSI are in better health and more likely to be working than those on SSI. However, many are struggling with incomes below poverty, about half have dropped out of school, and a third have been arrested.

Advocacy Booklets from the Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee:

A booklet for girls to advocate for themselves: (Aimed at girls, but useful for boys too.) Arrested: Girls and the Law. A Guidebook to the Juvenile Justice System. 2003 (PDF)

A booklet for parents/guardians advocate for their daughters: (Aimed at girls' parents, but useful for boys' parents too.) Girls and the Law: A Guidebook to the Juvenile Justice System. 2003 (PDF)

A guide to girls' services to the people who help girls in our community. Directory of Services for Girls in Wayne County 2003 (PDF) To find more services to help kids in the juvenile justice system or at-risk, go to www.detroitkids.org

Child Welfare League of America provides the latest Congressional activity on juvenile justice; action alerts; sign-on letters; background data; and how to become involved in CWLA's Juvenile Justice Policy Network.

The Justice Policy Institute is a nonprofit research and public policy organization dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration and promoting effective and just solutions to social problems. Since 1996, JPI has worked to craft workable solutions to age-old problems plaguing our juvenile and criminal justice systems.

National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice assists in the development of improved polices and programs for youth with mental health disorders in contact with the juvenile justice system, based on the best available research and practice. The Center aims at providing a centralized national focal point that pulls together and links the various activities and research that are currently underway, maximizing the awareness and usefulness of new products and learnings, and using the best available knowledge to guide policy and practice

The Project for the Future of Equal Justice is a joint initiative of CLASP and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. The Project seeks to fulfill the promise of "equal justice under law" by ensuring that low-income people have meaningful access to a full range of civil legal assistance in an effort to secure better life opportunities and outcomes and racial and economic justice. We are working actively to help the civil legal aid community take a leadership role in achieving racial and economic justice across the United States. This will require building lasting partnerships with other organizations and advocates committed to social justice outcomes--especially those rooted in the affected communities. It will also require strategic shifting of resources toward targeted areas of injustice and the transformation of programmatic structures and priorities. Their work supports aggressive advocacy for racial and economic justice by focusing on: racial justice, community problem-solving approaches, and justice leadership.

Advocacy Publications from the Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee:

The Signs Are There: Girls and Juvenile Justice in Wayne County (2002) (PDF) This brief report, complied by the Skillman Center for Children, Wayne State University, with assistance from the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, and Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee members, is a first step in bringing to light the unique problems and issues faced by girls entering the justice system.

Parental Experiences with the Juvenile Justice System (2002) (PDF) This is a report of the interviews with 67 Wayne County parents whose children were involved in the Wayne County Juvenile Justice System. It is by the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Grandma and Grandpa Taking Care of the Kids: Patterns of Involvement - presents a statistical snapshot of grandparental care in the U.S. For example, the brief reports that close to half (47 percent) of grandparents with young children living nearby report providing some type of child care assistance to their adult children. And though grandmothers are more likely (54 percent) to provide this care, roughly one-third (38 percent) of grandfathers do so as well. Click here for a downloadable PDF of the brief from ChildTrends.

Spanish Resources

Spanish Resources for Parents For young families, time often seems in short supply! But this Zero to Three brochure can help you make the most of every moment you have with your baby! "The Magic of Everyday Moments" ("La Magia de la Vida Contidiana") shows how everyday routines can support babies' or toddlers' healthy emotional and cognitive development.

Teen Parenting

From Child Trends: Targeting High-Risk Siblings Helps Reduce Teen Pregnancy
A nine-month evaluation of a California program targeting siblings of teen parents found that group activities and one-on-one services reduced pregnancy rates by 43 percent and decreased truancy among females. Males enrolled in the program used contraceptives more consistently than their un-enrolled counterparts. Researchers conclude that programs targeting high-risk siblings can help keep teenage birthrates on the decline, and should be considered an integral component of a national pregnancy prevention policy.
Latino Youth and Teen Pregnancy Latinas are at highest risk for early pregnancy, according to this Prevent Teenage Pregnancy fact sheet. Six out of ten Latina girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once by age 20.
CLASP focuses on ways the child welfare and TANF fields can work collaboratively to help families and works to ensure a comprehensive range of services that low-income children and their parents need. In addition, CLASP conducts policy analysis and provides technical assistance on the implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to state and federal officials and administrators, advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, and research entities. focuses on ways the child welfare and TANF fields can work collaboratively to help families and works to ensure a comprehensive range of services that low-income children and their parents need. In addition, CLASP conducts policy analysis and provides technical assistance on the implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to state and federal officials and administrators, advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, and research entities.

The Skillman Center for Children Policy
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Children and Policy Who Will Speak for the Children? Though we often hear phrases like "Children are our most precious resource" and "Children are our best hope for the future", statistics show that many children in the United States do not have access to all-important resources that would enable them to become healthy, productive adults. Because children do not vote or make campaign contributions, they need advocates to speak for them. They need our voices speaking to the powers-that-be, encouraging them to invest in long-term solutions for the problems impacting children's well-being. For Links to Advocacy Organizations click here. Policy Issue Categories Advocacy Bullying Data Disabilities Education Food, Hunger Foster Care and Adoption Health Housing Infant and Maternal Health Juvenile Justice Parenting Education Spanish Resources Teen Parenting Advocacy The Children's Policy Information Center is a clearinghouse of information on public policies affecting children and families in Michigan. Subscribe to their Legislative E-Bulletin Service or view the latest edition, contact your legislator, locate existing legislative committees important to children's issues, and find out what you can do to advocate on behalf of children in Michigan. Voting Web site Links: Vote Smart Youth Vote Kids Voting USA Close Up Choose or Loose League of Women Voters Register to Vote on the Web What Does Government Spend on Children? Evidence from Five Cities - Are politicians putting their money where their mouths are? An analysis of government spending in the late 1990s shows that despite an economic boom and rising state spending, few public funds reached children in need in five economically distressed cities Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Philadelphia, and Richmond. In these areas, state per capita expenditures rose 12 percent -- but spending by all levels of government for services to children raised an average of 2 percent per child. For more information, click here. CDF REPORT: "Robin Hood in Reverse: Bush Administration Budget Choices Take from Poor Children to Give to the Rich - "The Children's Defense Fund released an analysis showing how the Bush Administration's proposed budget puts millions of poor children at risk. Please visit http://www.childrensdefense.org/pdf/robinhood.pdf to view the entire Children's Defense Fund’s Report of the Bush Administration’s Budget. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. helps state and federal officials get the information they need to make sound decisions about welfare and other publicly funded programs. Their Web site includes various reports and evaluations of welfare issues and the impacts of welfare reform. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. They also develop policy options to alleviate poverty, particularly among working families. In addition, the Center examines the short- and long-term impacts that proposed policies would have on the health of the economy and on the soundness of federal and state budgets. The Manpower Demonstration Research a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization. Dedicated to learning what works to improve the well-being of low-income people. Through research and the active communication of their findings, \|MDRC seeks to enhance the effectiveness of policies and programs. Their focus on children and families is in four broad types of social policy interventions: welfare, work and children; youth and teen mothers; strengthening families and child care. Bullying The State of Michigan, Department of Education provides the state’s policies on bullying. Data 2005 poverty guidelines and poverty thresholds are presented along with discussion of what the figures mean today as well as in an historical context. Child Trends is a 26-year-old nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the lives of children by conducting research and providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs, and policies that affect children and their families. Connect for Kids is a site that provides a wide variety of information including action alerts and field reports on issues impacting children and families. Children and Families Children’s Defense Fund provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. They pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. The Economic Policy Institute provides high-quality research and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy. The Institute stresses real world analysis and a concern for the living standards of working people, and it makes its findings accessible to the general public, the media, and policy makers. Joint Center for Poverty Research in a national and interdisciplinary academic research center that seeks to advance the understanding of what it means to be poor in America. There are many reports and evaluations that examine poverty and its impact on policies. Moving Ideas is an electronic policy resource that provides current information on a variety of topics. In addition, there are links to blocs, online news services, magazines/newspapers and public records. New Federal Poverty Levels Announced- The 2004 Federal Poverty Guidelines for a family of four is $18,850 in gross yearly income; $1,571 in gross monthly income; and an hourly income of approximately $9.06 (based on 40 hours per week for a full year). Right Start: Conditions of Babies and their Families across the nation and in America's Largest Cities (2002) from the Annie E. Casey Foundation Right Start for America’s Newborns, City and State Trends (1990 – 2002).This web site updates previous Right Start reports by providing a text and data update focused on cities and the nation as a whole. Updated data are available as profiles, line graphs, national maps, rankings, and raw data for the nation's 50 largest cities (plus 5 additional cities in which the Annie E. Casey Foundation has made a long-term investment) and the 50 states through 2002. Skillman Center for Children, Census Fact Sheet Series based on 2000 data released for the area comprised of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. Besides looking at each individual county and the region as a whole, several key cities within the tri-county area were also identified. Tracking changing distributions across age, race/ethnicity, family structure, gender, and economic status by geographic unit shows how communities have been impacted differently by demographic change. In addition, timeline comparisons so that trends can be readily identified within specific locations are provided. Trends in Parents' Economic Hardships - For many American families, there's often "too much month left at the end of the paycheck especially with a weak economy and rising costs of living. But even a strong economy doesn't guarantee stability. This Urban Institute snapshot compares food and housing hardships during economic boom of the late 1990s and the slow economy of the early 2000s. While family income improved somewhat between 1997 and 2002, parents' housing hardship did not diminish. For more information, click here. The Urban Institute measures effects, compares options, shows which stakeholders get the most and least, tests conventional wisdom, reveals trends, and makes costs, benefits, and risks explicit on a wide variety of topics of interest to children and families. Disabilities Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) lists legislations and amendments. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. Policy updates can be found on this page. Education School Discipline Policies in Michigan -- Michigan's Children's Analysis Available. A new analysis by Michigan's Children looks at the origination of Zero Tolerance school discipline policies,some recent information about school expulsions in Michigan,and potential impacts of those policies. The brief also includes recommendations for policy change, including suggestions from young people themselves. Go to Michigan's Children's Web site. Should Universal Education Begin with Universal Preschool? If public education is such a good idea, why not start earlier than age 5? In this Boston Globe article, "The Promise of Preschool,"reporter Carey Goldberg reviews the science and politics of efforts to expand universal preschool. For more information, click here. All Together Now: State Experiences in Using Community-Based Child Care to Provide Pre-Kindergarten by Rachel Schumacher, Danielle Ewen, Katherine Hart, and Joan Lombardi. This brief is based on the 61-page report of the same name, which was commissioned by the Brookings Institution. It studies the emergence of the mixed delivery model, in which pre-kindergarten is delivered in community-based settings and schools. This policy brief, the fifth in the Child Care and Early Education Series, describes principal approaches to state implementation of the mixed delivery model but does not provide examples of state policies. CLASP’s child care and early education work focuses on promoting policies that support both child development and the needs of low-income working parents and on expanding the availability of resources for child care and early education initiatives. CLASP examines the impact of welfare reform on child care needs; studies the relationships between child care subsidy systems, the Head Start program, pre-kindergarten efforts, and other early education initiatives; and explores how these systems can be responsive to the developmental needs of all children. Preparing for Success: How Head Start Helps Children with Disabilities and Their Families by Danielle Ewen and Katherine Beh Neas. In 2004, 13 percent of the children in Head Start and Early Head Start (more than 134,000 children) were diagnosed with a disability. Without Head Start, some of these children might have gone undiagnosed, leaving their disabilities unaddressed for years. This paper, a joint venture between CLASP and Easter Seals, updates data from a 2003 paper of the same title. It details the requirements that Head Start grantees must meet to serve children with disabilities and provides data on how the programs are meeting them. Title IX Clarifications: Bad News for Girls and Women? The U.S. Department of Education recently issued a policy clarification that the National Education Association says will reverse decades of progress women and girls have made under Title IX in sports and academics. (Title IX requires all education programs that receive taxpayer dollars to give girls and women opportunities equal to those offered boys and men.) Under the new policy, all a school has to do to show it is providing its female students with equal sports opportunities is to send each of its female students an e-mail survey asking whether they have the interest and ability to play additional sports. Failure to reply can be counted as a lack of interest. The Title IX information Web site, sponsored by the National Women’s Law Center, offers some background. Weigh In on IDEA The U.S. Department of Education is asking for public feedback on proposed regulations to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). IDEA provides special education and related services for America's 6.8 million children with disabilities. For an overview of the regulations, visit the Ed Department Web site. High Expectations for Secondary Ed These days, it’s all about high school–advocates and policymakers, educators and opinion leaders are shining the spotlight on high school, and calling for deep reform to address serious shortcomings such as high drop-out rates. Amid this flurry of attention, the Educational Testing Service set out to find out how the public feels about high schools in its latest public opinion poll. Capitol Hill on the Dropout Crisis Paul Barton and others review policy recommendations send to the White House by some 250 organizations on how to improve the odds for youth at risk. The Violence Policy Center provides an update on gun laws and current legislation under debate. Food and Hunger Food Stamp Receipt View as PDF (Best for Printing) In 2003, 10.6 million children received food stamps, increasing from 9.7 million in 2002. The number of children receiving food stamps dropped by nearly a third in the immediate years following the enactment of federal welfare reform in 1996, but has risen each year since 2000. Importance Eight out of ten children living in poor families receive food stamps, a benefit designed to increase the food purchasing power of low-income households. In 2004, benefit levels in 48 states and the District of Columbia were $371 per month for a household with three persons.¹ Benefits were higher in Alaska and Hawaii. In 1996, as part of federal welfare reform, food stamp benefits were reduced, and eligibility for food stamps was barred for most legal residents who are not citizens.² However, children who were legally resident in the U.S. prior to August 1996 and families receiving TANF benefits retained their eligibility.³ In 2002, food stamp eligibility was restored to legal, permanent, resident, foreign-born children. The benefit cuts combined with substantial cuts in the food stamps caseload have led to a decrease in the contribution of food stamps as an income source for families with incomes below the poverty threshold. In 2000, food stamp benefits accounted for 19 percent of the disposable income for the poorest fifth of single-mother families with no other adults present, compared with 25 percent in 1995.⁴ Trends The number of children receiving food stamps rose from 9.9 million in 1980 to 14.4 million in 1994 before falling to 8.7 million children in 2000. By 2003, this number had risen to 10.6 million children. Similarly, among all children, the percentage receiving food stamps fell from a peak of 21 percent in 1993 and 1994 to 12 percent in 2000 and 2001, before increasing to 15 percent in 2003. Similarly, among all children, the percentage receiving food stamps fell from a peak of 21 percent in 1993 and 1994 to 12 percent in 2000 and 2001, before increasing to 15 percent in 2003. Related Indicators Children in Poverty, Health Care Coverage, Long-Term Poverty, Long-Term Welfare Dependence, AFDC/TANF State and Local Estimates State estimates for the number of households with children receiving food stamps and the number of preschool and school age children receiving food stamps are available for 2003 from the Characteristics of Food Stamp Households: Fiscal Year 2003 report at http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/FSP/FILES/Participation/2003Characteristics.pdf. (See Tables B-5 and B-10) State estimates for all people receiving food stamps (though not for children alone) from 1977-2002 are available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/indicators04/index.htm. (See Table FSP 6) Local estimates for a few select counties in 2000 are available at: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DEC&_lang=en&_ts Source: http://childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/56FoodStampReceipt.cfm "Congress Ponders Food Stamp Program Cuts in September." In recent weeks, leaders of a U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee panel have held a series of discussions on reducing farm spending by $3 billion. Many lawmakers and advocates are worried that food stamps and other nutrition programs that support vulnerable families will appear high on the list of proposed areas to trim. This comes at a time where more families are relying on these programs to help put food on the table – especially during the summer, when fewer eligible children are accessing school nutrition programs. House Democrats are calling for protections of the program. "Food Stamps are Good Medicine for Children." Pediatricians around the country are deeply concerned about the child health implications of potential funding cuts to the Food Stamp Program. Food Stamps are essential to ensure young children's nutrition and health. Even mild to moderate under-nutrition in infants and toddlers is linked to problems that last throughout the life span. A new C-SNAP research brief summarizes two findings: 1) Cuts in Food Stamp benefits are linked to food insecurity; and 2) Food Stamps reduce the harmful effects of food insecurity on child health. "Bearing the Brunt of Cuts: What’s a Fair Share?" The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has issued a brief examining the upcoming Agriculture Committees cuts. The organization recommends that instead of a “proportional” approach, Congress should follow President Bush’s priorities and look to the Food Stamp Program to contribute 7 percent of the $3 billion reconciliation instruction, or $200 million over five years. Foster Care and Adoption Child Welfare League of America provides policy updates on various topics impacting children and families. The site includes policy analysis of foster care policies state by state. The Future of Children is a series of publications by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. There is a specific issue dedicated to issues of foster care and adoption policies. Helping Foster Youth Succeed- Too many children who go into foster care emerge years later with few skills, no high school diploma, and serious educational deficits. Letitia L. Star reports on a Chicago program that helps. For more information from Connect for Kids, click here. Health "Covering Kids & Families Back-to-School Campaign Launch." The Covering Kids and Families Back-to-School Campaign aims to enroll uninsured children in Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). Learn more about what’s happening in your area. "One-Third of Uninsured Children Go Without Medical Care for Entire Year, Despite Eligibility for Public Health Insurance." Despite Medicaid’s positive impact, 8.4 million American kids still lack health insurance (that’s a decrease of about two million between 1998 and 2003). What’s more, some 70 percent of these uninsured children qualified for public health insurance programs like Medicaid or SCHIP but were not enrolled, according to a new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Recent Developments in State Medicaid Programs: A Round-Up ." Get the scoop on Medicaid programs across the country in this summary by the Kaiser Network. Housing National Low Income Housing Coalition is an advocacy organization that has a policy agenda organized around four priority areas: resident issues, housing production, saving housing resources and other housing services. The organization works working in four program areas: public education, organizing, research, and policy advocacy. Infant and Maternal Health Maternal and Child Health Research Center is a health policy group that provides federal and state policymakers, public health officials, and provider and family organizations with analysis of financing and service delivery issues affecting children and adolescents. Recent analyses have looked and public/private insurance programs, special need populations, and various public programs such as WIC. National Academy of State Health Policy works to help states achieve excellence in health policy and practice. Topics include access to the uninsured, Medicaid, children’s health, cost containment, chronic care and many others. National Public Health Policy Forum is a participant-driven, nonpartisan information exchange program that works to foster more informed policy decisions making Although targeting senior staff in Congress, information is available to the public as well. The Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services ensures access to nutritious, healthful diets for all Americans. Through food assistance and nutrition education for consumers, FNCS encourages consumers to make healthful food choices. Today, rather than simply providing food, FNCS works to empower consumers with knowledge of the link between diet and health, providing dietary guidance based on research. Choices, Challenges, and Options: Child SSI Recipients Preparing for the Transition to Adult Life, by Pamela Loprest and David Wittenburg. This paper examines the transition experiences of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients just prior to and after age 18. The authors find that only a minority of those ages 14 to 17 participated in training or rehabilitation activities and many had never heard of SSI work incentives. Among post-transition young people ages 19 to 23, those off SSI are in better health and more likely to be working than those on SSI. However, many are struggling with incomes below poverty, about half have dropped out of school, and a third have been arrested. Juvenile Justice Advocacy Booklets from the Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee: A booklet for girls to advocate for themselves: (Aimed at girls, but useful for boys too.) Arrested: Girls and the Law. A Guidebook to the Juvenile Justice System. 2003 (PDF) A booklet for parents/guardians advocate for their daughters: (Aimed at girls' parents, but useful for boys' parents too.) Girls and the Law: A Guidebook to the Juvenile Justice System. 2003 (PDF) A guide to girls' services to the people who help girls in our community. Directory of Services for Girls in Wayne County 2003 (PDF) To find more services to help kids in the juvenile justice system or at-risk, go to www.detroitkids.org Child Welfare League of America provides the latest Congressional activity on juvenile justice; action alerts; sign-on letters; background data; and how to become involved in CWLA's Juvenile Justice Policy Network. The Justice Policy Institute is a nonprofit research and public policy organization dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration and promoting effective and just solutions to social problems. Since 1996, JPI has worked to craft workable solutions to age-old problems plaguing our juvenile and criminal justice systems. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice assists in the development of improved polices and programs for youth with mental health disorders in contact with the juvenile justice system, based on the best available research and practice. The Center aims at providing a centralized national focal point that pulls together and links the various activities and research that are currently underway, maximizing the awareness and usefulness of new products and learnings, and using the best available knowledge to guide policy and practice The Project for the Future of Equal Justice is a joint initiative of CLASP and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. The Project seeks to fulfill the promise of "equal justice under law" by ensuring that low-income people have meaningful access to a full range of civil legal assistance in an effort to secure better life opportunities and outcomes and racial and economic justice. We are working actively to help the civil legal aid community take a leadership role in achieving racial and economic justice across the United States. This will require building lasting partnerships with other organizations and advocates committed to social justice outcomes--especially those rooted in the affected communities. It will also require strategic shifting of resources toward targeted areas of injustice and the transformation of programmatic structures and priorities. Their work supports aggressive advocacy for racial and economic justice by focusing on: racial justice, community problem-solving approaches, and justice leadership. Advocacy Publications from the Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee: The Signs Are There: Girls and Juvenile Justice in Wayne County (2002) (PDF) This brief report, complied by the Skillman Center for Children, Wayne State University, with assistance from the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, and Wayne County Female Services Advisory Committee members, is a first step in bringing to light the unique problems and issues faced by girls entering the justice system. Parental Experiences with the Juvenile Justice System (2002) (PDF) This is a report of the interviews with 67 Wayne County parents whose children were involved in the Wayne County Juvenile Justice System. It is by the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan Parenting Education Grandma and Grandpa Taking Care of the Kids: Patterns of Involvement - presents a statistical snapshot of grandparental care in the U.S. For example, the brief reports that close to half (47 percent) of grandparents with young children living nearby report providing some type of child care assistance to their adult children. And though grandmothers are more likely (54 percent) to provide this care, roughly one-third (38 percent) of grandfathers do so as well. Click here for a downloadable PDF of the brief from ChildTrends. Spanish Resources Spanish Resources for Parents For young families, time often seems in short supply! But this Zero to Three brochure can help you make the most of every moment you have with your baby! "The Magic of Everyday Moments" ("La Magia de la Vida Contidiana") shows how everyday routines can support babies' or toddlers' healthy emotional and cognitive development. Teen Parenting From Child Trends: Targeting High-Risk Siblings Helps Reduce Teen Pregnancy A nine-month evaluation of a California program targeting siblings of teen parents found that group activities and one-on-one services reduced pregnancy rates by 43 percent and decreased truancy among females. Males enrolled in the program used contraceptives more consistently than their un-enrolled counterparts. Researchers conclude that programs targeting high-risk siblings can help keep teenage birthrates on the decline, and should be considered an integral component of a national pregnancy prevention policy. Latino Youth and Teen Pregnancy Latinas are at highest risk for early pregnancy, according to this Prevent Teenage Pregnancy fact sheet. Six out of ten Latina girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once by age 20. CLASP focuses on ways the child welfare and TANF fields can work collaboratively to help families and works to ensure a comprehensive range of services that low-income children and their parents need. In addition, CLASP conducts policy analysis and provides technical assistance on the implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to state and federal officials and administrators, advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, and research entities. focuses on ways the child welfare and TANF fields can work collaboratively to help families and works to ensure a comprehensive range of services that low-income children and their parents need. In addition, CLASP conducts policy analysis and provides technical assistance on the implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to state and federal officials and administrators, advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, and research entities.
Skillman Center for Children Wayne State University 100 East Palmer, Detroit, Michigan 48202 Phone (313) 872-7166 FAX (313) 872-7126 Email - skillmancenter@wayne.edu Click here for location and hours. Mission: The Skillman Center for Children acts as a catalyst of change for urban children, youth and families while contributing significantly to the preparation of professionals, the capacity of community organizations, and the generation and dissemination of research-based information and analyses that inform both practice and public policy.