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Dates
to Watch
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Early Learning Advisory Council Meeting
Tampa
FCSC
Executive Board Meeting
Tallahassee
April 30, 2010
Regular Legislative
Session Ends
Children and Youth Cabinet Meeting
June
17-18, 2010
Early Learning
Advisory Council Meeting
Orlando
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Send Me More
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CSCs
strategically invest in primary prevention and early intervention
programs and services.
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Early Learning Budget Faces Major
Shortfall
While the Governor develops his budget proposal for
2010-11, early childhood advocates should be aware that a very large
funding gap is in the offing for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) and
School Readiness programs. In fact, the legislature must potentially
find $146.8 million of general revenue to cover the gap created by VPK
growth and last year's move to replace general revenue with
non-recurring stimulus funds. The breakdown on various line items is
outlined here.
Timing is critical for advocates to reach out to the
Governor and legislators to educate them on the negative ramifications
of these programs not being protected from dramatic funding reductions.
The Governor's budget will be transmitted to the legislature by
February 1, 2010. Get the details on the early learning budget shortfall
summary prepared by Florida CSC.
Children's
Cabinet Welcomes New Members, Adopts Priority Indicators
The Governor's
Children and Youth Cabinet meeting, held Dec. 1 in Gainesville, opened
with the welcoming of new members recently appointed to the Cabinet.
The new members included House Speaker designee, Rep. Nick Thompson,
and gubernatorial appointee Steven Uhlfelder, who were in
attendance. Justice Barbara
Pariente was announced as Chief Justice Quince's designee, and AHCA
Secretary Thomas Arnold will succeed Holly Benson who recently stepped down.
The Cabinet also
heard a progress report from Gay Lancaster, JWB-CSC of Pinellas CEO and
chair of the Cabinet's Budget Committee. The Budget Committee is
undergoing an exercise to align state agency budgets to the Cabinet's
outcomes and indicators. During the meeting, the Cabinet also narrowed
its priority headline indicators of child well being, which will guide
work in each of the four outcome areas as follows:
Outcome:
Every Florida Child is Healthy.
Key Indicator:
Children with health insurance
Outcome:
Every Florida Child is ready to learn.
Key Indicator:
Children kindergarten entry assessment scores show they are ready for
school
Outcome:
Every Florida child lives in a stable and nurturing family.
Key Indicator:
Children in poverty
Outcome:
Every Florida child lives in a safe and supportive community.
Key Indicator:
Homeless Children
Toni Crawford and
Jim Kallinger announced that implementation of the Cabinet's Data
Sharing Initiative is under way. The group also heard budget
presentations from each of the cabinet agencies, which reflected very
austere proposals and serious cuts to important programs.
The Cabinet's next meeting
was rescheduled from Jan. 28, 2010 to Jan. 26, 2010. The meeting will
take place in Tallahassee.
Early Childhood Caucus Convenes to
Continue Talks on Investing in Children
 Rep.
Ari Porth (D-Broward) kicked off the second Early Childhood Caucus
meeting today in Tallahassee. The meeting included presentations by Jim
Kallinger, Florida's Chief Child Advocate, and Dawn Steward, Orange
County Healthy Start Coalition Community Relations. More than 35 people
attended, including legislators, advocates and members of the media.
Kallinger spoke
first, providing an overview of the work of the Child Abuse
Prevention and Permanency Advisory Council - a 32-member
council that serves as a
research arm to the Governor's Office to guide the promotion of
adoption and the prevention of abuse, abandonment and neglect. He said that the council has made progress in achieving
the 20 goals established in its 18-month plan
(January 2009 - June 2010). Additionally, the council is developing its
next five-year Plan on Prevention and Permanency, which will cover July
2010 - June 2015. He also provided highlights from the recent Children
and Youth Cabinet meeting last week (see story above). Kallinger
touched on the success of the Explore Adoption Initiative and the
continued increases in the number of children adopted across the state.
 Next,
Dawn Steward gave a brief overview of the work of Florida's Healthy Start
Coalitions. She provided compelling data to caucus members on the
leading causes of infant deaths in Florida, as well as the short- and
long-term costs associated with premature births. She explained that
first-year medical costs for a premature baby can be $32,325 compared
to the cost of a full-term baby at $3,325. There are also the long-term
ramifications of learning disabilities, increased risk of school
dropout, justice system involvement, and emotional/social costs. She
emphasized that for every dollar spent to prevent an unhealthy birth,
six dollars can be saved in areas such as neonatal expenses, child
abuse and neglect, and disability and dependency costs.
Caucus members and
advocates took advantage of the meeting opportunity to talk about some
of the issues presented and appeared eager to continue the dialogue
around making better investments in children. Of particular concern are the significant funding
cuts to early learning and Healthy Start that will be considered next
session.
Rep.
Porth thanked everyone for coming and announced that the next caucus
meeting will be in January during interim committee week.
Legislators in Tallahassee for Special Session
and Committee Week
Florida
lawmakers traveled to the capitol city this week for double duty -- a
Special Session on rail transit, and December interim committee
meetings. Yesterday, legislators approved a rail bill (HB 001)
that clears obstacles for construction of SunRail, a $1.2 billion
commuter rail project in central Florida, and shores up South Florida's
Tri-Rail with an extra $15 million in annual funding. The bill could
also help the state win a $2.5 billion federal grant to link Tampa and
Orlando with a high-speed rail line. At press time, Gov. Charlie Crist
had received the bill, and has until Dec. 24 to sign it into law.
VPK Estimating Conference
Increases Enrollment Projection
The VPK estimating conference also
met this week and increased the enrollment projection for VPK
concluding that the system will grow by 15,774 children in 2010-11. As
a constitutional entitlement program, the growth will require the
legislature to increase general revenue appropriations by an additional
$42.8 million or drastically reduce the per student allocation.
On the revenue side, the Revenue Estimating
Conference (REC) finalized its revisions to the General Revenue Fund
forecast, which will be used by the Governor to make his
recommendations to the legislature. The REC raised the General Revenue
(GR) estimates for FY 2009-10 by $338.4 million (1.64%), thus
increasing the non-recurring GR reserve to $1.05 million.
While the modest increase is
welcome, it is
not sufficient to offset the FY 2010-11
critical needs budget deficit, which was increased by the ad valorem
conference ($300 million) and the Medicaid conference
($250 million). The overall critical needs deficit approaches $2
billion.
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FEDERAL WATCH
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Casey Pushes for Full Funding of
CHIP
In October, Sen. Jay
Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) rescued the Children's Health Insurance Program
(CHIP) from oblivion in the Senate Finance Committee. Last week, Sen.
Robert Casey (D-Pa.) pushed to provide full funding (and then some) for
the popular program as the Democrats' health reform bill moved on the
chamber floor. Under Casey's proposal, CHIP would receive full funding
through fiscal year 2019 (Rockefeller's amendment authorized the
extension but didn't fund it), with extra federal dollars going to
those states that meet certain enrollment standards. The proposal would
also expand CHIP eligibility, requiring all states to cover kids in
families living below 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Read
the
full story online at The Washington Independent.
Federal
Funding for Replication of Harlem Children's Zone
The Chronicle
of Philanthropy cites $10 million in the federal budget for
planning grants for communities to begin to replicate the Harlem
Children's Zone Project across the country. Harlem Children's Zone is
one of the most lauded - and emulated - charities in the country.
Nonprofit groups and government agencies regularly send emissaries to
Harlem to study the organization's acclaimed poverty-fighting strategy,
which involves providing a comprehensive set of educational, medical,
and social services to children and their parents in a designated
neighborhood. President Obama has proposed spending $10 million in the
2010 fiscal year on planning grants to help nonprofit groups create
what he calls "Promise Neighborhoods" in 20 cities - a budget
request that is now working its way through Congress. To
read the article that appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, click here.
~ Source: Florida Ounce of Prevention newsletter
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CSC NEWS
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2010 FCSC
Legislative Program Now Available
 The Florida CSC Board of Directors
has approved its 2010 Legislative Policy Program, which is now
available on the Florida CSC web
site. Florida CSC leadership decided to include in its
legislative agenda many issues that are supported by other
organizations. This collaborative approach serves to help Florida move
toward an integrated early childhood system of care. Among some of the
critical priorities supported by the Florida CSC are: early childhood
funding, streamlining early learning, and continued improvement of
Florida Kidcare. View the complete policy program online at: http://www.floridacsc.org/advocacy/.
JWB-CSC
of Pinellas Launches New Web Site
After months of planning and development, the JWB-CSC of
Pinellas County has launched a new, interactive web site at
www.jwbpinellas.org.
The easy-to-navigate site features information for everyone, including
community partners, grant writers, students, parents and others.
Exciting new features include a direct link to the "Latest
News" affecting children and families, information on upcoming
board meetings, details of the programs funded by JWB, a search
function, and much more. The "Help for Parents" link in the
top navigation is designed to provide an array of options for parents
who need help with any number of problems or issues, from crime victim
services, to mental health counseling, to addiction services, to youth
development activities.
Learn more about
the JWB website by visiting the JWB YouTube page:
www.youtube.com/jwbpinellas, or
by watching the video directly, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIofiAdm-hg.
The site and content management system were designed and
built by the St. Petersburg creative firm of MityMo Creative Services
Agency (www.mitymo.com).
St.
Lucie CSC to Host Southeast Youth Development Seminar
The CSC of St. Lucie
County will host the first regional Kids at Hope Youth Development
Master's Seminar from Jan. 10 to 13, 2010. The seminar will feature a
terrific lineup of workshops, speakers and site visits to further
familiarize participants with the power of Kids at Hope. The mission of
Kids at Hope is to inspire, empower and transform schools,
organizations serving youth, and entire communities to create an
environment and culture where all children experience success. The
seminar will feature speaker Sara Truebridge, a WestEd Research
Associate with experience in the development of new schools, curriculum
development, character education, arts in education, resilience,
conflict resolution, special education, and parent education. Seminar
participants will also have an opportunity to network and exchange
ideas. Learn more at www.kidsathope.org/training_pd.html.
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IN OTHER NEWS
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Chamber's Economic Development
Forums Offer Chance to Emphasize Investments in Children
In October, hundreds of business, education, and government
officials gathered in Orlando for the Future of Florida Forum to
discuss and identify solutions to Florida's greatest challenges. Among
the top issues was the need to train, support, and recruit the world's
best talent. The work accomplished was targeted toward creating a
change management system involving collaboration among the Florida
Chamber, Enterprise Florida, and the Council of 100. As part of that
process, a series of regional economic development forums are being
held across the state. Early childhood advocates are encouraged to
attend the forums to establish partnerships with Florida's business
leaders and to promote the importance of investments in the state's
most valuable asset - its children. Remaining forum dates are:
- Friday, December 11: St. Petersburg Area Chamber
- Friday, December 11: Florida's Great Northwest
- Friday, January 15: Greater Miami Chamber
For more information, visit the Florida Chamber Foundation
web site.
Attorneys:
Florida Officials Lamented Medicaid Delays
Doctors and
advocates suing the state used Florida officials' own words against
them during opening arguments of a trial Monday by playing video clips
of top health officials lamenting health care delays for Medicaid
patients. The suit, filed four years ago against the Department of
Children and Family Services, the state Health Department and the
Agency for Health Care Administration, claims 390,000 children did not
get a medical checkup in 2007 and more than 750,000 received no dental
care as reimbursement rates are among the lowest in the country. Twenty
of Florida's 67 counties have fewer than two dental providers for
Medicaid patients, according to AHCA's 2007-2008 budget request to
increase reimbursement rates. Read the full story online at The New York Times.
Survey Shows Overall Drug
Use Down Among Florida Youth
Lt. Governor Jeff
Kottkamp yesterday announced significant long-term reductions in drug
use among Florida's middle and high school students as reported in the
2009 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. The annual survey
found that overall, Florida's school-aged children are making
responsible choices. The past 30-day abstinence rates for middle
school children revealed that 83 percent do not drink alcohol, 95
percent do not smoke cigarettes, and 95 percent do not smoke marijuana.
Among high schoolers, 61 percent do not drink alcohol, 87 percent do
not smoke cigarettes, and 82 percent do not smoke marijuana. Among the
survey's 20 measures of past 30-day drug use, 18 indicate long-term
reductions. The full report is available online at: www.dcf.state.fl.us/mentalhealth/publications/fysas/.
Miami Children's
Initiative Reports Substantial Progress
A newsletter from the Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida
recently reported that, "Thanks to the dedication and
involvement of the residents and community leaders in Liberty City, the
Miami Children's Initiative (MCI) has made substantial progress.
The draft MCI Community Strategic Plan is complete."
The Miami-Dade County
Board of Commissioners must review and approve the draft plan for it to
become final. The final plan will become the foundation for the
development of MCI's 10-year business plan. The MCI project steering
committee will meet Dec. 12 to develop the action steps and timeline
for the next six months. Tasks expected to be completed before the
end of this fiscal year include: development of a selection protocol
for board members, incorporation of MCI as a 501(c)3, design MCI agency
staffing composition and development of the 10-year business plan.
Additionally, a targeted media campaign will be launched in
Liberty City in January 2010 to educate the community on the Miami
Children's Initiative. The campaign will also encourage residents,
businesses and organizations to rally together in an effort to design a
system of service delivery that enhances the strength of the community.
Learn more about the MCI.
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States Safeguarding Public Coverage
In 2009, despite the bleakest economic picture in years,
states managed to safeguard and, in some cases, expand health coverage
for children and parents in their Medicaid and Children's Health
Insurance Programs. The positive
news is, in large part, due to the substantial help that states
received through the congressional reauthorization of CHIP and the
enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The
Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
recently released its annual 50-state survey and a package of related
reports that examine trends and key issues in the coverage of
low-income children and adults. Learn more.
Health
Reform Discussed in Washington, but Felt in States
With federal
health reform on the horizon, state governments will face new
opportunities and challenges to improve local health care delivery
systems-and ultimately, the health status of their residents. Exploring
the effects of health reform on states is essential, as states play
critical roles in financing, organizing, and regulating local health
care systems. Three documents released by the National Academy for
State Health Policy and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
identify the most challenging and pressing health policy issues that
states are currently addressing; describe the array of tools states
have to improve their health care systems and look at how federal
health reform may affect those tools; and examine the support states
will need to implement the changes contemplated in federal health
reform legislation.
> Read the documents
> Read the blog
posting
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EVENTS
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Families
USA to Host Health Action 2010 Conference in Washington
Every January, Families
USA, in conjunction with a wide range of national organizations,
organizes a health advocacy conference in Washington, DC. This year's
"Health Action 2010" conference will be
held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
in Washington, DC, from Jan. 28-30, 2010. Join
hundreds of other advocates to learn more about health care
legislation, share field strategies with others from across the
country, and gear up for the year ahead. Early-bird registration is $395. After Dec.
31, 2009, registration is $445. For more information, visit www.familiesusa.org/conference/ or write
or call Families USA: 1201 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20005,
202-628-3030, field@familiesusa.org.
Florida Philanthropic Network to Hold Statewide Summit
February 2010
The Florida Philanthropic Network (FPN) will host a 2010
Summit on Philanthropy Feb. 11-12, 2010, at the Peabody Hotel in
Orlando. The summit will bring together state leaders in philanthropy,
nonprofits, government and business to engage in a discussion and
exploration of how to work together in new ways. Discussions will also
focus on making adjustments to Florida's new realities - economic and
otherwise - both by overcoming new challenges and identifying new
opportunities. Learn more, and register
at the Summit
website.
Partnership for
America's Economic Success to Hold National Conference in March 2010
The Partnership for
America's Economic Success is planning to hold its National Conference
March 10-11, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This
conference is open to all business, finance and economic leaders,
advocates, policymakers and philanthropists interested in furthering
early childhood development. Learn more
about the conference. Register online
now.
National Afterschool Association Convention Set
for April 2010
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. Those who register before
Dec. 11 will be entered for a chance to win a Utah Vacation Package in
the Wasatch Mountains. For details, visit www.naaconvention.org/registration.html.
17th
Annual National Foster Care Conference Coming to Clearwater in May 2010
The Daniel
Memorial Institute will again be sponsoring the Annual National Foster
Care Conference, scheduled for May 12-14, 2010 in Clearwater. This
year's conference will address a variety of problems facing Foster Care
Specialists, Foster Parents and various Social Service Professionals
who desire to enhance their skills in order to create the best foster
home environment. Each general session and workshop will present
innovative ideas on how those working with youth can deal with these
ever-changing situations. Click here for more information.
23rd
Annual National Independent Living Conference - Growing Pains 2010
Scheduled for Sept. 7-10,
2010, in National Harbor, MD, "Growing Pains 2010" is a
must-attend event for youth service professionals, independent living
professionals and youth ages 15+. Presenters include top leaders and
experts in the field of independent living. The national youth
conference consists of 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. Click
here for more information.
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