|
|
Dates
to Watch
|
Sept. 1-4, 2009
National Independent Living Conference
Nashville
Sept. 16, 2009
Children and Youth Cabinet
Meeting
Kissimmee
Sept. 24-27, 2009
Early Childhood
Conference
Orlando
Oct.
12-14, 2009
Florida Coalition
for Children Annual Conference
Orlando
|
|
Send Me More
|
|
|
|
CSCs
strategically invest in primary prevention and early intervention
programs and services.
|
|
|
|
|
TOP STORIES
|
Children's
Cabinet Meeting Brings Good News for Prevention and Program Quality
Improvement
After months of study and deliberation, the Governor's
Children and Youth Cabinet adopted a set of indicators last week that
will guide implementation of the goals outlined in its strategic plan.
An important means for improving child well being in Florida, the
Cabinet prioritized concrete measures that made clear its commitment to
a high-quality early childhood and prevention agenda. Cabinet members
also took a strong stance on supporting families, improving program
quality, and professionalizing the work force that works with young
children. The key indicators by strategic plan goal/outcome are:
Goal/outcome: Every
Florida child is healthy
- Mothers
beginning prenatal care in the first trimester
- Children
with health insurance
- Children
with a medical home or primary health care provider (a primary
care practice that provides them with accessible, continuous and
coordinated care, including preventive dental services
Goal/outcome: Every
Florida child is ready to learn and succeed
- Children
read to by their parents and relative caregivers
- Early
childhood staff with bachelor's degrees
- Births
to mothers with less than 12 years of education
- High
quality early learning settings
Goal/outcome: Every
Florida child has a stable and nurturing family
- Children
living in families with income below the poverty threshold
- Number
of substantiated cases of
child abuse/neglect
- Teen
births
Goal/outcome: Every
Florida child lives in a safe and supportive community
- Domestic
violence
- Homeless
children
- Children
in supportive neighborhoods
At the next Children's Cabinet meeting -- Sept. 16, 2009
-- a training session has been scheduled with Mark Friedman, nationally
recognized expert on results-based accountability. He will assist the
Cabinet in establishing a formal process for coordinating investments,
monitoring, and for measuring progress toward each goal/outcome desired
across the priority indicators. The Florida CSC congratulates the
Cabinet for its visionary approach, as well as Dr. Kate Stowell of the
Policy Group who did the research, and the many advocates who
contributed to this red letter day.
President Clinton to Address the Next Generation
of Florida's Leaders This Weekend
 President Bill Clinton is scheduled to be the keynote
speaker before more than 300 student leaders from around Florida this
weekend. The future leaders will convene in Orlando Aug. 8-9 as the
inaugural class of the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps. The student
leadership program is designed to inspire and train the next generation
of Florida's leaders. Organized by The Lawton Chiles Foundation, and
co-chaired by Sen. Mel Martinez, Sen. Bill Nelson, and former Sen. Bob
Graham, the program will mobilize Florida's high school and college
students to improve the way Florida educates and cares for its
children. After the leadership conference, the students will lead
a yearlong effort to gather the signatures of one million Floridians on
the "Pledge for Florida's Children." More information
about the program is available online at www.lawtonchiles.org/LCLC.html
and www.WorstToFirst.org.
President Clinton will deliver the keynote address to students and
other attendees on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the University of Central
Florida. Other speakers at the two-day event will include Rhea
Chiles, wife of late Gov. Lawton Chiles; John Kelly, strategic advisor
for the Corporation for National and Community Service; David Lawrence
Jr., former Miami Herald publisher and founding chair of The Children's
Trust; former State Rep. Dick Batchelor, and former State Rep. Loranne
Ausley.
Video Highlights Need to Include Children in Health
Reform Debate
The Children's Defense Fund has released a new video that
emphasizes the need to include children's access to health care in the
bigger debate on health care reform. The video, "Lottery of
Geography," points out that the criteria used to determine whether
a child qualifies for the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) or
Medicaid vary from state to state. Additionally, the enrollment
process, the benefits covered and the availability of doctors that will
accept children enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP can also be different
depending on the state. The result is a confusing health care system
where a family moving to another state can mean a child losing health
coverage. Watch the video.
|
|
FEDERAL WATCH
|
Early
Learning Challenge Fund Needs Your Support
Two weeks ago, the U.S. House Education and Labor
Committee passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (HR
3321), which included the Early Learning Challenge Fund. Advocates'
phone calls and emails made the difference. Unfortunately, time ran out
before the full House was able to vote on the bill, and now Congress is
in August recess. However, advocates have a rare opportunity in the
next few weeks to contact their Florida House and Senate congressional
members in their home districts. Now is the time for supporters to call, email or
personally visit with their congressional members and urge them to support
this worthwhile early learning legislation when they return to
Washington in September.
KEY POINTS
The Early Learning Challenge Fund will increase the number
of low-income children in high-quality early learning settings by
investing nearly $10 billion over 10 years in competitive grants. The
grants would challenge states to build a comprehensive, high-quality
early learning system for children birth to 5 that includes:
- Early
learning standards reform;
- Evidence-based
program quality standards;
- Enhanced
program review and monitoring of program quality;
- Comprehensive
professional development;
- Coordinated
system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and
mental health needs;
- Improved
support to parents;
- Process
for assessing children's school readiness; and
- Using
data to improve child outcomes.
Find your U.S. House Representative
- Find Your U.S. Senator
|
|
CSC NEWS
|
Florida CSC CEO Appointed to Early Learning Advisory
Council
House Speaker Larry Cretul recently appointed Vivian
Alarcon, CEO of the Florida CSC, to the Early Learning Advisory Council
(ELAC). Established by Florida Statute, the ELAC was created to provide
advice to the Agency for Workforce Innovation Office of Early Learning
on development of a comprehensive early learning system. Specifically,
the Council provides guidance in the administration of Voluntary
Prekindergarten, School Readiness, and Child Care Resource and Referral
programs. "I am honored to accept this appointment by Speaker
Cretul," said Alarcon. "There is exciting work ahead for the
Council, state agency officials, and early childhood advocates. I'm
thrilled to join these state leaders at this point in history when
interest in and funding for a comprehensive systems approach to early
childhood is on the horizon."
Lights
on Afterschool Date Set, Mini Grants Now Available
The date has been set for this year's Lights on
Afterschool (LOA) event. Afterschool programs and supporters in Florida
and across the nation will celebrate the event on Thurs., Oct. 22,
2009. LOA serves to recognize the critical importance of quality
afterschool in the lives of children, their families and communities.
In Florida, the Florida Afterschool Network (FAN) has allocated $10,000
in mini-grants that will be awarded to local programs seeking financial
assistance to plan a local event celebrating the national LOA day.
Grant applications are available on the FAN web site. Go to www.myfan.org
for details, or download the
application here.
Children's Board Begins Public Awareness Campaign
The Children's
Board of Hillsborough County (CBHC) has begun a series of education and
awareness ads to inform members of the community how the agency is
working to improve the lives of children and families in Hillsborough
County. Two recent ads featured local families who have benefitted
from services funded, in whole or in part, by CBHC. Learn more at www.DreamsWorthGrowing.com.
~ Source: CBHC newsletter, Just Dream
|
|
IN OTHER NEWS
|
Florida
Shifts Child-Welfare System's Focus to Saving Families
A recent New York
Times article highlights "Florida's transformation of its
child-welfare system," saying the state has made a wholesale shift
in spending. According to the article, "instead of spending large
sums for foster care, the state is focusing on providing in-home
counseling, therapy for the children and cash aid to help families
remain intact and even thrive." Read the article.
"Doing What Works" Initiative Seeks
Nominations for Successful Afterschool Programs
As part of the
U.S. Department of Education's "Doing What Works" initiative,
the American Institutes for Research is looking for nominations of
sites that have implemented afterschool programs or supplemental
educational services successfully. Selected sites will be recognized on
the federal Doing What Works website. Eligible programs
should target elementary or middle school students in low-income
neighborhoods or low-achieving schools, and should have demonstrated
success in promoting the academic achievement of the students enrolled.
Other nomination criteria include:
- Aligns services to the local population
needs in terms of opening hours, location/transportation, snacks,
enrichment activities, and monitoring of attendance.
- Program director or instructors maintain
regular communication with school staff to be informed about the
student needs and provide academic support that is aligned with
state and district standards and with the school's curriculum.
- Strong academic focus includes assessment of
student skills, instruction tailored to individual students'
needs, and professional development to instructors.
- Program instructors increase students'
interest and engagement in academic learning on site through
strategies such as connection to students' interests, connections
to the real world, hands-on projects, collaborative learning, and
supportive adult-student relationship.
- Program director collects student
performance data and quality of program implementation data and
uses those data for program improvement.
For more
information, or to request a nomination form, email Connie Conroy at cconroy@air.org.
Trust for America's Health Executive Urges Prevention
Strategy in Health Reform
Jeff Levi,
executive director of Trust for America's Health (TFAH), offers a
frontline assessment of the opportunity to integrate an effective
prevention strategy into health reform. "In this year's health
reform debate, addressing prevention is actually not contested,"
says Levi. "The commitment to prevention, the recognition that
prevention has to be a fundamental part of health reform, is
there."
Watch the video interview
with Levi.
Planning Begins for 2010 Children's Week
Dates, times and
activities for the 15th Annual Children's Week have been confirmed -
April 11-13, 2010. Committees will begin meeting in August
and September to start planning. To prepare, partners and volunteers
are invited to participate in a Children's Week Statewide conference
call on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. During the call, Children's
Week Coordinator Jason Zaborske will review 2010 Children's Week
committees, dates, times, and events, and also discuss new ideas with
partners and volunteers. Please use the following information to
join the call: Ph: (517) 417-5200. Passcode: 90907#. Interested
participants are asked to send an email to info@childrensweek.org
to confirm participation. For more information about the 2010
Children's Week, visit www.childrensweek.org.
|
|
NET DATA
|
Florida
Sinks Further in 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book
The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book shows Florida slipping a
notch the past year from 35th to 36th in overall
rankings among the 50 states. Each year, the Data Book, produced by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, profiles the well-being of America's
children on a state-by-state basis and ranks states on 10 key measures
of child well-being. National and Florida specific materials can
be found on the web site at: http://cscf.fmhi.usf.edu/flkc/KC09release.htm.
Graduating America: Meeting the Challenge of Low
Graduation Rate High Schools
While high schools with low graduation rates exist in every state, they
are concentrated in a subset of 17 states that produce approximately
70% of the nation's dropouts. Of these 17 states, Florida is among 5
that researchers deem to be in statewide crisis category. The other
four states are Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and South Carolina. In
these states, high concentrations of schools with low rates are
widespread. Data from these states are used to develop new analytic
tools for examining the characteristics of schools, districts, and
states that make certain approaches more likely to succeed in certain
places. Read the full report.
|
|
EVENTS
|
|
TONIGHT: Webinar on Early Brain
Development
The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral
Agencies is hosting a free webinar tonight, Aug. 5, for parents and
practitioners to learn about early brain development. Join specialist Deborah McNelis at 8:30 p.m. (EST) for an
informative session to learn how simple, enriching activities can make
a positive difference in the connections made among a child's 100
billion brain cells. This session will be interactive, and participants
can ask questions. Register now.
Early Childhood Association Conference Coming to Orlando
The Early
Childhood Association of Florida will hold its 54th Annual
Conference Sept. 24-27, 2009, in Orlando at the Rosen Centre Hotel.
Anyone interested in early care and education should attend this
conference, which features more than 100 sessions. Early registration
is available until Aug. 12. To register, or for more information, go
to: www.ecaoffl.org.
Florida DOE Encourages Kids to "Read for the
Record" on Oct. 8
The Florida
Department of Education is encouraging families to take part in this
year's Read for the Record campaign. This international campaign
encourages children to read the same book, on the same day, in
communities all over the world. Sponsored by Jumpstart, the campaign
began in 2006. Last year, nearly 700,000 readers shared the classic
children's tale, Corduroy. This year, the selected book is The Very
Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and the chosen date is Oct. 8, 2009.
To learn more, visit www.readfortherecord.org.
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.
Conference Focuses on "Meeting the Needs of Young
Children and Families"
The Early
Childhood Council (ECC) and the Florida Association for Infant Mental
Health (FAIMH) will be co-hosting a conference, "Meeting the Needs
of Young Children and Families," November 18-20, 2009, at the
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. Early registration is $125 for ECC or FAIMH
members (deadline is September 15), which includes the pre-conference
event on Nov. 18 and the full conference program Nov. 19-20 with a
reception Thursday night. For more information, call (813)
837-7753 or visit www.ecctampabay.org.
National Afterschool Association Convention Set for
April 2010, Seeking Workshop RFPs
Join thousands of
afterschool professionals for outstanding learning and networking
experiences at the National Afterschool Association Convention in
Washington, DC, April 19-21, 2010. The event will feature hundreds of
workshops from across the afterschool field. Early registration is
available through Aug. 31, 2009. For details, or to submit your
workshop proposals through an online RFP process, visit www.naaconvention.org/workshop.html. Proposals will
be accepted until Sept. 25, 2009.
|
|
|
|
