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CSCs
strategically invest in primary prevention and early intervention
programs and services.
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TOP STORIES
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Two
Victories for Quality Child Care this Week
Child care advocates from around the state heralded
Monday's announcement that the
Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Duval County prevailed in defending
its authority to implement a quality rating and improvement system
(QRIS) known as "Guiding Stars of Duval." The original
administrative law challenge, mounted by the Florida Association of
Childcare Management (FACCM), was held in favor of the ELC earlier this
year. FACCM appealed. Monday it was learned that the 1st
District Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling. News about
the decision brought praise from Duval ELC Executive Director Susan
Main, "I am very pleased the original order was affirmed so we can
continue to work for quality early learning through our Guiding Stars
of Duval program. We are happy and we thank all who supported us in
this year-long ordeal."
Advocates banded together again this week in another
successful effort to shore up the quality of Florida's child care
system. The Florida CSC, Association of Early Learning Coalitions,
and the United Way of Florida testified at public hearings on
administrative rules proposed by the Department of Children and
Families. A portion of the proposed changes would have essentially
grandfathered existing Gold Seal accreditation standards, effectively
memorializing standards established in 1996.
The testimony focused on the need to strengthen rather
than preserve dated state requirements that do not capitalize on
advances in theory and practice in early childhood development.
Florida CSC CEO Vivian Alarcon said, "The science of brain
development has clearly substantiated the critical nature of a child's
first five years. These learnings, coupled with decades of rigorous
program evaluation research, offer a new understanding about what makes
for effective programs. As such, we strongly urge the Department
to reconsider the portion of the proposal that maintains old
standards."
The relevant provision has since been removed from the
proposed rules.
Youth
Leaders Wanted to Help Improve Florida's Education System
The Worst to First Initiative
is inviting high school and college students from around the
state to apply to become members of the Lawton
Chiles Leadership Corps (LCLC). The LCLC will train youth
advocates on ways to get involved in their communities to improve the
education system in Florida -- currently ranked among the lowest in
the nation. One thousand students will be selected for
the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps, and will be invited
to a gathering on Aug. 8-9 in Orlando (expenses paid except for transportation). The
youth training and gathering is part of the "Worst
to First" campaign, which seeks to build partnerships among a
broad constituency, including parents, teachers, businesses, advocates,
social service providers, school administrators and students.
Applications are due no later than July
10, 2009. To apply, or for more information, go to the Lawton
Chiles Leadership Corp at www.lawtonchiles.org/LCLC.html.
Survey Reveals Fewer Resources for Afterschool Programs
Afterschool
program leaders across Florida say they are being forced to increase
fees and reduce staffing, activities and hours to cope with budget cuts
and rising costs. In a recent national survey conducted by the
Afterschool Alliance, nearly all Florida respondents (97 percent) say
the recession is affecting their communities, and report that they are
seeing higher food prices and more families struggling to provide for
children. Yet, afterschool programs are unable to offer as much
help as children need because their budgets are down. The survey,
"Uncertain Times 2009: Recession Imperiling Afterschool
Programs and the Children They Serve," revealed that nearly 8 in
10 Florida programs report a loss in funding due to the recession, and
88 percent expect the recession to impact their budget for the coming
school year. See complete survey results.
Chiles Blasts State for Raiding Investment Fund,
Threatening Future of Children's Programs
In a June 15 blog on the Worst to First
web site, Lawton "Bud" Chiles wrote, "Today
was a sad day for Florida. Ten years of failed economic policies have
brought us to where we are. The state of Florida raided $700 million
from the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund today. More than $1 billion has
been taken in total from the fund that supports children's programs,
the elderly and cancer research. We aren't doing well in this state.
Too many sick children flocking to emergency rooms because they have no
insurance. Mothers without access to prenatal care. High school
graduates who aren't ready for college classes. We've lost sight of our
values." Read more.
Summer Learning Day Set for July 9
The fifth annual
National Summer Learning Day is scheduled for July 9, 2009. Many
Florida afterschool programs will be participating in the celebration.
Events will showcase summer programs and raise awareness about how summer
programs send young people back to school ready to learn, support
working families, and keep children safe and healthy. The Florida
Afterschool Network has requested Gov. Charlie Crist to proclaim July
9, 2009, as Summer Learning day in Florida.
Times Magazine Examines How
Obama Designed His Administration to Help Pass Health Reform
President Obama has "quietly but methodically assembled the most
Congress-centric administration in modern history," something that
he believes will help him pass a health care reform bill -- a
legislative goal that has eluded every Democratic president since Harry
Truman. According to the New York Times Magazine article, "Obama
seems to think that the dysfunction in Washington isn't only about the
heightened enmity between the parties; it's also about the longstanding
mistrust between the two branches of government that stare each other
down from twin peaks on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue." Read the full article.
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LEGISLATIVE WATCH
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Governor
Signs Retirement Bill and Others, Constitutional Amendment Filed on
Property Tax Limits
Florida CSC is continuing to monitor bills passed during
the 2009 Legislative Session that affect Florida's children and
families, as well as CSCs. Below is the latest bill activity since the
June 10 issue of FCSC News Update.
Signed by Governor
- HB 479
Relating to Retirement -- seeks to prevent "double
dipping," where employees leave to take retirement benefits,
and then get re-hired. The bill requires any person who retires
under the Florida Retirement System (FRS) after 2010 to forgo
retirement benefits as long as they are re-employed by an FRS
employer. Governor must act
by 06/24/09.
- HB 807
Relating to Florida KidCare Program -- Requires OPPAGA to study
outreach efforts of Florida KidCare program and provides
requirements for the study. Requires report to Legislature by specified
date. Governor must act by 06/24/09.
- SB 788
Relating to Gaming Compact - Outlines the Legislature's parameters
for a 15-year compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that will
maximize funding for K-12 public schools. The legislation
authorizes the Governor to negotiate a compact with the Seminole
Tribe of Florida by Aug. 31, 2009. The compact will guarantee a
minimum payment of $150 million annually.
Signed by Officers
and Filed with Secretary of State
- SB 532
Relating to Property Tax Limit/Additional Homestead - Proposes a
constitutional amendment to create an additional homestead
exemption for first-time homebuyers (25 percent of the just value,
capped at $100,000). Also allows the Legislature to provide an
assessment limitation for commercial or residential rental
property that is limited to the greater of 5 percent or the annual
average percentage of growth in revenues derived from the property
during the preceding three years if ownership of the property has
not changed. If approved by Florida voters, the amendment will
take effect Jan. 4, 2011.
Congressional Delegation Unites to Expand Afterschool
Meal Program to Florida
In a bipartisan
show of support, 13 members of Florida's congressional delegation
signed a letter to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Chair of the
Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee, seeking to expand the
Afterschool Meal Program to Florida. The signatories included
Allen Boyd, Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Mario Diaz-Balart, Alan
Grayson, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein, Susanne Kosmas, Kendrick Meek, Adam
Putnam, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Robert
Wexler. Despite their unified support, the Florida delegates were told
by the Congressional Budget Office that adding Florida would cost more
than $7 million. Sadly, the Subcommittee declined to add Florida (they only
added enough funding for the District of Columbia and
Connecticut). The good news is that Congress is set to begin the
process of reauthorizing the child nutrition and WIC
programs. With this reauthorization, Congress has a unique
opportunity to improve access, meal quality and nutrition for millions
of children through the Child and Adult Care Food, School Meals,
Afterschool Snack, Summer Nutrition and WIC programs.
Chapin Hall Researcher Delivers Testimony on Capitol
Hill about Home Visitation and Early Intervention
Chapin Hall Research
Fellow Deborah Daro testified recently before the U.S. House of
Representatives Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee about
research that shows home visitation programs can promote early
childhood learning and strengthen parent-child relationships. Chair
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), and Rep. Todd
Platts (R-PA) introduced the Early Support for Families Act on June 2,
2009. The Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee scheduled a hearing
to review proposals to provide funding for grants to states to provide
early childhood home visitation programs. Read Deborah Daro's full testimony.
(PDF)
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CSC NEWS
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Art Institute Student Creates New Logo for
Broward CSC
 The CSC of Broward County
announced that David Brunell, an honor student at the Art Institute of
Fort Lauderdale, won a school-wide competition to design the new CSC
logo. The redesign of the CSC logo coincides with our move to a new
building," said Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, President/CEO of the
CSC. "The new logo emphasizes our commitment to children and
we were pleased to involve young people in the creative
process."
This summer the new logo will be introduced and will
become official in October 2009 when the move to the CSC's new
community building is complete. Council members approved the new logo
at their April meeting and recognized Brunell and Artemis Design Group,
the in-house design agency run by Art Institute students, at their May
meeting. "Since our inception, we've wanted to project an image
that reflects the CSC's focus on children and families in Broward
County," said Ana Valladares, Chair of the Broward CSC. "We
believe the new logo is indicative of our collaborative and
forward-thinking nature."
Florida
CSC Makes It Even Easier to Stay Informed with RSS Newsletter Feed
 Now it's even easier to get timely
news and updates from Florida CSC with its new RSS newsletter feed for FCSC News Update. RSS (Rich Site
Summary) is a tool that can deliver regularly changing web content
right to your computer. RSS subscribers can easily stay informed by
retrieving the latest content from the web sites they are most
interested in. Best of all, subscribers save time by not needing to
visit web sites individually. The content comes to them. Sign up today for
the FCSC newsletter feed.
Florida Afterschool Network Welcomes New Board Members
The Florida
Afterschool Network (FAN) is pleased to announce the addition of three
new board members:
- Glen Gilzean, Jr., Executive Director,
Educate Today
- Dave McGerald, President, Association of
Early Learning Coalitions
- Alexis Gonzalez, Youth Board member
Funded in part by Florida
CSC, FAN advocates
for the development, enhancement and sustainability of innovative,
high-quality afterschool programs and policies statewide. The FAN
program is dedicated to the promotion and development of safe and
accessible afterschool learning environments for Florida's children.
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NET DATA
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Track Where Stimulus
Dollars Are Going in Florida
Onvia,
a Seattle-based, public company that tracks spending at every level of
government, has launched Recovery.org to
track all American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending by federal,
state and local government agencies. Onvia developed Recovery.org to
bring transparency and accountability to recovery spending. In Florida,
the web site is tracking 960 projects that have received Recovery Act
funds, totaling nearly $4 billion. See Florida projects.
Five Steps to Health Care System Savings
The Center for American Progress released a new report that identifies
five promising reform options that have the greatest potential for
controlling health care costs:
- increasing the amount Medicare pays for
primary care;
- paying for episodes of care instead of
individual procedures;
- encouraging Medicaid and private insurers to
adopt Medicare's payment methods;
- reforming the tax treatment of
employer-based health benefits; and
- expanding research that identifies best
practices in treating diseases effectively and affordably.
According to the
report, the current system results in government programs that pay too
little for primary care and too much for specialty care, which the
authors say leads to poor quality and higher costs. The report also
states that the current way in which health benefits are taxed results
in consumers using too much health care and suggests guidelines to curb
the over-use of new, expensive procedures that may not yet be proven to
be most effective. Read the report.
Foundation Launches Consumer Confidence in Health Care Index
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation has created a Health Care Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF
Index). The index reveals results from a monthly survey that evaluates
consumer confidence in American health care. The RWJF Index
is created from data collected by the Surveys of Consumers, a
monthly survey of 500 households conducted by the Survey Research
Center at the University of Michigan. Analysis of the data is provided
by the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance
Center. Learn more.
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EVENTS
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One
Goal Summer Conference Happens in July
The "One Goal: Building the Future Together"
conference is scheduled for July 22-24, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency
Tampa City Center. The conference brings together more than 1,000 early
education and care providers and leaders from around the state. It is
designed to share information on best practices in the field and to
build common frameworks of knowledge and understanding to assist in
unified planning for young children and their families. For more
information, go to www.onegoalsummerconference.org/
FAN Hosts Seminars on Florida Standards for Quality
Afterschool Programs
The Florida
Afterschool Network (FAN) has received a sponsorship from the Agency
for Workforce Innovation's Office of Early Learning to host 15 regional
seminars throughout Florida. The seminars will feature The Florida
Standards for Quality Afterschool Programs. Learn more, or register now.
22nd Annual National Independent Living Conference in
Nashville
The Daniel
Memorial Institute presents "Growing Pains 2009," on Sept.
1-4, 2009, in Nashville, TN. The conference is a must-attend event for
youth service professionals, independent living professionals and youth
ages 15 and older. Presenters include top leaders and experts in the
field of independent living. The national youth conference features
special sessions dedicated to the needs of youth who are currently in
care. These include training sessions, workshops, panel discussions and
leadership/team building activities. Visit the Daniel Memorial
Institute web site for more
information.
Florida Coalition for Children to Hold Annual Conference
in October
The Florida Coalition for
Children is holding its 2009 conference with a focus on
"Protecting & Preserving Florida's Most Valuable Resource -
Our Children and Families." The event will take place October
12-14, 2009, in Orlando at Rosen Shingle Creek. Register by Sept. 15
and save. For more information, visit the Florida Coalition for
Children web site.
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