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JANUARY 2012
US
The Worst States for Kids
Oh, children. When will they learn? Never, it turns out, if they happen to
live in one of the states in the U.S. with a poor record of quality of life
for kids. In the Foundation for Child Development's latest Child and Youth
Well-Being Index, the group looked at 28 indicators (most focusing on
children under 18 but some including young adults in their 20s) in seven
categories to calculate its state-by-state index. The seven areas include
family economic well-being, health, safe/risky behavior, educational
attainment, community engagement, social relationships and
emotional/spiritual well-being, which were given specific weights to
calculate the index, on a scale of -1 to 1.
This report shows that a strong relationship exists
between children's well-being and state policies that drive investments in
children," the report says. "The gap between public opinion and public
investments in children remains large."
The study's findings paint a wide spectrum of childhood well-being in the
U.S., indicating that "a child's well-being is strongly related to the state
where he or she lives."
Among the other key findings:
¦Higher state taxes are better for children. The report found that states
with higher tax rates have higher CWI values than states with lower tax
rates.
¦Public investments in children matter. Researchers also concluded that the
amount of public investment in education and social programs targeted at
children is strongly related to CWI values.
In terms of regional differences, the report found that the best states for
children tend to be in the Northeast (New Jersey tops the list), while those
at the bottom of the list are almost exclusively in the South. Here we count
down the 10 worst.
10th-worst state for
kids: Kentucky (tie)
Child well-being index
score: -0.47
Kentucky leads off the list in a tie for 10th-worst state for children, due
in large part to the state's less-than-stellar record in supporting
children's health programs. In 2007 state legislators decided to do
something about the state's poor record in this area and created the
"Blueprint for Kentucky" to promote legislation that better supports young
people. After four years in action progress is incremental, and Kentucky
Gov. Steve Beshear has made it a priority to expand health coverage to the
"over 67,000 Kentucky children who are qualified to receive care through the
Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid but are not yet
enrolled."
10th-worst state for
kids: Alaska (tie)
Child well-being index
score: -0.47
Tied with Kentucky at number 10, Alaska turns out to be a somewhat
inhospitable place for kids. The Foundation for Child Development's report
calls out the state for its sixth-lowest education levels for young adults
(21.4% of Alaskans ages 25-29 have a bachelor's degree, compared with the
national average of 30%), and the state itself is trying to promote better
family behaviors to support children in all aspects of their development.
Greg Emerson
27 January 2012
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11386708/1/the-worst-states-for-kids.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN
___
FLORIDA
'Mister Rogers' nonprofit helps officers guide youth
The village will be the first municipality in the state to host the Connecting Cops and Kids program, training that teaches law enforcement how to interact with children and teenagers.
Juvenile crime is a focus for the Wellington team of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, said Capt. Jay Hart, the District 8 commander.
An estimated 90 percent of the village's vandalism and burglaries are committed by youths, Hart said.
"We don't have those hardened criminals," he said. "But we have juveniles with time on their hands. If we can stop those kids from going the wrong way at a young age, it will make them more productive citizens."
Developed by the Fred Rogers Co., a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh that produced Mister Rogers' Neighborhood TV show, the one-day video training discusses how children see police and helps officers understand their options during encounters with at-risk youth.
The program, provided by grants through the National League of Cities and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, also discusses how officers can make use of nonprofit social service agencies.
"When they are making an arrest or called to an abuse situation, they know what is out there," said Meredith Tuckwood, Wellington's neighborhood advocate coordinator. "Instead of just making an arrest, how can you better facilitate a referral for the child?"
It costs Wellington nothing to host the program, which about 60 people will participate in at Wellington's municipal complex on Feb. 9.
Representatives from the Children's Services Council, Boys & Girls Club and the security firm for the Mall at Wellington Green are invited, along with about 45 members of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office and Palm Beach County school resource officers.
Mitra Malek
24 January 2012
___
Foster care child-turned-NASA
engineer to speak
at JSU child welfare conference
NASA engineer and child advocate Terry Morris will be the opening speaker for Jackson State University’s 10th annual Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference Jan. 25-27 at the Jackson Marriott Hotel, 200 E. Amite St., in Jackson, Miss.
Sponsored by the JSU College of Public Service School of Social Work, the three-day conference will focus on “Building Bridges for a New Decade of Transformational Services with Children and Families.” The event will feature local and national experts who will provide the latest information on issues affecting vulnerable children and families.
Morris endured an abusive childhood before entering the foster care system as a youth. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mississippi State University and went on to earn a master’s in electrical engineering at Old Dominion University and a Ph.D. in systems engineering at the University of Virginia. He now works as the manager for integrated hazard analysis within the safety-critical avionics systems branch at NASA.
The conference will begin with a youth empowerment session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25. Morris will lead the opening plenary session at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.
Other speakers will include Juli Alvarado, president and owner of the personal and professional development firm Coaching for LIFE!; Anton J. Gunn, Region IV director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Rowena Wilson, associate dean, professor and director of the Ph.D. program at Norfolk State University’s School of Social Work.
Jean Gordon Cook
23 January 2012
http://presszoom.com/story_171277.html
___
UK
More foster parents plea in Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council is asking people to make a difference to children’s lives by becoming a foster carer.
There are almost 400 young people in care in Wiltshire and the council needs more foster carers.
Bea Meadows, a mother-of-four from Royal Wootton Bassett, has been a foster carer for more than ten years and loves it. She has fostered 130 children, ranging from young children, siblings and older teenagers.
She said: “Sometimes it’s hard but there’s an awful lot of pleasure in it. The real reward for me is watching them blossom. There are quite a few who are in contact with me after they have left and to hear they are doing well is the biggest reward you can have.”
Mrs Meadows, 50, got involved after seeing an exhibition about fostering at Wootton Bassett Library 13 years ago. She initially provided ‘supported lodgings’, a scheme where young people aged over 16 stayed with her and gained life skills.
After two years of doing that she decided to become a foster carer. She said the training provided by the council prepared her well for the role.
At the time three of her children were still living at home but now just 18-year-old daughter Freya remains and she has ensured that her children were happy for her to take on each foster case. She said fostering has had a positive impact on her children.
Gill Burtwell, fostering service manager at the council, said: “During 2012 we want to recruit 50 new fostering families who can care for local children. We particularly need more foster carers for teenagers, for two or more brothers and sisters so that they can stay together and for children with disabilities.”
Anyone interested can contact the council at fostering@wiltshire.gov.uk
Jill Crooks
21 January 2012w3
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/9481801.More_parents_plea_in_Wiltshire
___
AUSTRALIA
Bullying website a hit online
A new website has been launched to tackle cyberbullying and help more young people stay safe online.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Easy Guide to Socialising Online website had been developed in partnership with industry and young people to help parents, children and educators combat cyberbullying and inappropriate content online.
“The Easy Guide website is part of the Government’s $125.8 million Cybersafety Plan and has been developed following advice from the Government’s Youth Advisory Group on Cybersafety,” Ms Gillard said.
“The new website provides cybersafety information for 26 social networking sites, search engines and online games, and gives step by step instructions on how to report cyberbullying, abuse and inappropriate content on these sites.”
She said it also provided clear information for parents, educators and young people on how to adjust safety and privacy settings on websites as well as tips on how to stay safe when using any social media site.
Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy said members of the Government’s Consultative Working Group on Cybersafety (CWG), including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, NineMSN, Yahoo!7 and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association had worked closely with his Department to develop the website.
“Cyberbullying is a serious matter,” Senator Conroy said.
He said the Cybersafety Plan involved a number of important initiatives, including the Easy Guide, to combat online risks to children.
“The Cybersmart website this PS News link launched two years ago, has received well over a million visits and provides access to KidsHelpline for confidential online counselling,” he said.
“It also provides access to the Government’s Cybersafety Help Button which is a ‘one stop shop’ for practical information and tips on how to deal with cyberbullying, unwanted contact and offensive or illegal content.”
News feature
19 January 2012
http://www.psnews.com.au/Page_psn296f4.html
___
TEXAS
Lubbock transition center aims to assist at-risk youth
Local leaders joined together at the Lubbock BCFS Health and Human Services' Transition Center on Monday, introducing the facility to the community and explaining its positive affect on at-risk youth.
Local leaders joined together at the Lubbock BCFS Health and Human Services’ Transition Center on Monday, introducing the facility to the community and explaining its positive affect on at-risk youth.
Transition centers are “one-stop shops” providing easy and efficient access to counseling, educational and employment assistance, life skills training and other services.
Lubbock Mayor Tom Martin gave remarks at the grand opening and said the Making a Change Center, or MAC Center, will be a great addition not only to Lubbock, but the entire region of Texas.
Martin welcomed state and local leaders on-site at the facility, including Lubbock County Judge Tom Head, 9th District of Texas Judge Kelly Moore, 72nd District Court Judge Ruben Reyes and Lubbock City Council District 6 candidate Randy Sanders.
“There is no higher duty that we have as a community, that we have as a state, that we have as a country, than to take care of children, especially children in need,” Martin said.
Terri Hipps, executive director of teen and youth services with BCFS Health and Human Services, said the transition center will serve foster youth and alumni of foster care, as well as youth in the juvenile justice system and at-risk youth, such as homeless or struggling young adults.
In addition to BCFS, other agencies and programs serving the same population also will be housed in the facility, including Court Appointed Special Advocates, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Texas Workforce Commission, she said.
At the transition center, staff assists young adults ages 14 to 25 with education, employment, housing services, financial aid, high school diplomas, GEDs and services for their children, Hipps said.
The transition center model has been successful in San Antonio since it opened 12 years ago, Hipps said, and young adults seem to be more successful with all the services housed in one location. The programs seem to focus on the larger cities, she said, and smaller communities were left out.
“The state realized they wanted transition centers all over the state, and there are (now). Lubbock was identified as one of those communities that really needed a transition center and could support a transition center,” Hipps said.
The transition center was funded through a variety of grants offered by local, state and federal agencies, as well as private foundations and donations, according to a news release from BCFS. The center aims to teach teens and young adults the skills they need to grow into self-sufficient, law-abiding adults. Ultimately, the center aims to lessen at-risk youth’s likelihood of dependence on government programs in the future.
Jeremy Taylor, associate executive director for statewide transition services with BCFS, said the facility also is meant to be a welcoming place for youth to spend time. The center features bright colored carpets and couches and inspirational messages on the walls, and there’s a stocked kitchen and a laundry room, he said.
The facility offers computers, copy machines and fax machines, and youth may have their mail delivered to the center, Taylor added.
“We try to make it a very inviting place,” he said. “A lot of the youth don’t have a home, so we try to make it a very homey place where they can come hang out. ... We try to make all those things available for them, because you never know their situation.”
Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance served as the keynote speaker at the event. Hance’s motto at Texas Tech is to “Dream no little dreams,” he said.
The center will ensure the young adults excel in life, he said.
Five hundred young adults will be assisted by the transition center in its first year, he said, and 377 have been helped since the center opened in August.
“For the students here today, the people going through the transition, it’s a great program,” Hance said. “You get to deal with some people that are highly successful that can give you advice and be there as a friend. ... That’s the thing BCFS does. They want to help you.”
Stevaughn Williams, a Texas Tech student, was in foster care for about a year and half, and shared his story at the opening.
He lived in emergency shelter for two months before living with a foster family in Mansfield for a year. When he turned 18, he moved to Lubbock.
Williams spoke about slacking off in his school work and partying too much when he first enrolled.
Now Williams, 21, is a junior at the university studying exercise sports sciences and helps out at the transition center and mentors other youth.
He said the strong adult guidance and camaraderie with other foster youth at the transition center will help those coming out of foster care to stay on track and avoid the bad choices he made his first college year.
“The transition center will offer lots of things, like we have coordinators that will help transition you from foster care to living on your own,” he said. “You’ll get career training. They’ll also have mentors, and that’s the biggest thing is to have a mentor, somebody in your corner that can guide you in the direction you should go.
“I’ve tried to be a mentor to other kids coming up so that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes I did in school and in life.”
Hipps said the transition facility is a drop-in center, so those interested in the services may stop by at any time from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Interested young adults also may call Kami Jackson, the director of teen and youth services for the Lubbock facility, at 792-0526.
News item
17 January 2012
http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2012-01-16/lubbock-transition-center-aims-assist-risk-youth
___
UK
Shelter for our grieving children
A lighthouse is traditionally seen as a beacon of hope, a guide in a raging environment, leading travellers to safety — and that’s just what an Oakville-based support group offers grieving children in Halton and Peel.
“There is a darkness in death; children need the light to be brought back in,” said Britta Martini-Miles, the new executive director at the Lighthouse Program for Grieving Children. “We hope our program can serve as a beacon of light to grieving families so they can safely navigate through the difficult waters of grief and rebuild their lives with renewed hope and meaning.”
Modelled after The Dougy Centre for Grieving Children and Families in Portland, Oregon, the Lighthouse Program provides peer-support groups for children aged three to 12, their primary caregivers and teens from ages 13-18.
“We do not provide counselling or therapy,” Martini-Miles said. “We’re not here to fix things. We’re not here to make it all good for the little ones. We cannot do that. We can only be here for them… We’re providing them a space in which they can meet others who understand them… so that they come to terms with the death; not that they get over it, but come to terms with it.”
As a registered non-profit charitable organization, the Lighthouse Program was founded by Jo Fallon in 1999.
Fallon, who lost her own mother when she was 12 years old, understood the impact of death on the development of a young child and the help they ought to receive afterwards, said Martini-Miles.
After being in touch with The Dougy Centre, Fallon founded the Lighthouse Program with the belief that every child deserves to grieve in a supportive and understanding environment.
Thanks to grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, The United Way of Oakville, Halton Hills and Milton, individual donors and private foundations, the Lighthouse Program is able to provide its $250,000-a-year service at no cost to the families.
A bereaved child is something adults are uncomfortable about, said Martini-Miles, noting, “We don’t want the child to grieve, we want the child to be better.”
So, adults tend to cover traces of the death and make the world all right again for the child.
“What we don’t recognize is the child does need to grieve and the grieving is an important part before you can heal and start rebuilding your life.”
According to Martini-Miles, clinical research in child bereavement shows society instinctively tends not to speak to young children about death and tries to protect them from the grieving process — but she explains children still recognize a loss and when they don’t get a proper explanation, the results could be more severe.
She said telling children a person who has died has gone to sleep or is on vacation can cause the child to be afraid of sleeping at night or develop a false sense the deceased will one day return.
“The child understands there’s a loss, a death, but doesn’t understand death is final when they’re young and they don’t understand the implications of a death but they do realize they have lost a person close to them,” Martini-Miles said.
She notes two things could happen if adults shield children from the grieving process: no one talks to the child and they end up losing the memory of the deceased, which could cause them deep guilt; and second, they become excluded from the family when the adults gather to grieve.
“We (the Lighthouse Program) come from the belief that you cannot take the death away from the child. The death is a reality, but you can provide the child with a support system that can help them understand the death, grieve, heal and then begin to build a life without that person physically there in their daily lives, but with their memory,” Martini-Miles said.
“The death will always stay with the children, but they should not stay with the death. They need to move on, but they can only do that when they’ve come to terms with it (and) they accept it for all it is.”
Entering its 13th year, the Lighthouse Program has tripled over the last two years, offering support to more than 250 children, teens and adults in 2010 and 2011 combined.
Located at 82 Wilson St. in Oakville, the facility resembles a family home.
All peer-support groups meet on weekday evenings with sessions running 90 minutes, every other week, during the school year.
After orientation, the youth and parents/caregivers are assigned a group.
The groups are facilitated by extensively-trained volunteers.
“All information that is exchanged or discussed is strictly confidential, unless there’s a fear or danger of suicide or harming self or others,” Martini-Miles said.
For more information or to volunteer, visit www.grievingchildrenlighthouse.org
John Bkila
12 January 2012
http://www.insidehalton.com/community/article/1278631--shelter-for-our-grieving-children
___
NORTH CAROLINA
Group blasts legislature for budget cuts, failure to care for disabled kids
Disability Rights North Carolina is calling on state officials to provide necessary services to North Carolina’s mentally ill children who also have other disabilities. The advocacy group’s appeal follows an investigation that revealed a lack of available mental health services, leading to long waits in emergency rooms, hospitalizations, and institutionalization out-of-state.
Vicki Smith, Executive Director with Disability Rights N.C., notes that “debilitating” funding cuts by the General Assembly’s have only made matters worse for families trying to find adequate treatment for these children.
Here’s an excerpt from the report released Wednesday:
“These funding cuts and lack of necessary and appropriate community services mean North Carolina’s children increasingly face institutionalization, many in other states. While most children still receive mental health services in a private residence (e.g. their home, a relative’s home), a significant number of children receive services in out-of-home settings, including psychiatric residential treatment facilities, community residential homes, foster homes, youth development centers (e.g. training schools) and state psychiatric hospitals. While the percentage of children treated in out-of-home residential treatment facilities has fallen nationally, statistics suggest that North Carolina’s children are not experiencing the same trend.North Carolina more than quadrupled the number of locked residential placements from 117 in 2005 to 494 in March 2010.
The State recently presented a plan that requires community-based services be tried before a more restrictive out-of-home placement is used. This plan uses a model called the System of Care, which is built on the involvement of children and families, the development of individualized treatment plans that meet the unique needs of each child and family, and the coordination of services among multiple providers of services. Yet each of these provider systems is facing devastating budget cuts. The System of Care may be a great model, but where are the funds to pay for the staff to implement it?
Reduced spending for North Carolina’s children
with disabilities will only increase the pressure on an already strained
system of care — resulting in more costly outcomes for everyone. Cuts to the
system have been counterproductive.”
Clayton Henkel
12 January 2012
___
IRELAND
The clothes that are too sexy for our pre-teens
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has reportedly consulted with the National Consumer Agency about developing a new code of conduct that would prevent Irish stores from selling padded bras and high heels to pre-teens and other suggestive material.
The Herald discovered that such inappropriate items were available in a number of high street shops, notably Dunnes, Penneys, Accessorize and New Look.
Although chiropodists have warned that wearing heels from a young age could cause long-term health problems, shoes with a one-inch heel which would fit three-year-old toddlers were available in Accessorize.
The footwear, which was made popular by Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's daughter Suri (5), offers three types of heeled "party shoes" for €26.50.
The three styles include a flamenco-type strappy gold pair of shoes, a similar item in pink glitter, and silver peep-toes.
The outlet has previously justified selling these size 7 and above heels, by claiming that they were clearly not for everyday wear. A spokeswoman for the retailer told the Herald: "All styles of footwear within the Angels Collection -- a range of accessories created for girls up to 12 years old -- are designed and sold solely as dress-up / party shoes. They are not intended in any way for prolonged wear or to be worn as a regular daytime shoe... Through packaging and in-store merchandising, it is made very clear to consumers that all products in this collection are for purely dressing-up occasions only."
Parents have expressed concerns that these heels were not age-appropriate, while Dr Joe Kelly, the Chairperson of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists in Ireland, has repeatedly warned that wearing heels from a young age could cause problems in later life.
He remarked that in heel wearers, weight is distributed unevenly -- more so on the fall of the foot -- which can lead to shorter calves and muscles and increase the likelihood of deformity and falling over.
Meanwhile, two-inch heels were available in New Look in their nine to 15-year-old 'Generation' section.
Peep-toe gold heels were available from size 1, which would fit a seven or eight- year-old according to the size guide of online school uniform store Simmonds.
New Look was unavailable for comment.
Parents and children's agencies have also expressed concerns over the many ranges of padded bras available in high street stores.
The worst offenders appeared to be Penneys and Dunnes, which both offer padded bras for sizes that would fit a nine year old, that is to say 28A or 140cm.
One particular item sold in Penneys had white padded triangular cups and read 'Cheeky Monkey'.
While this bra did not mention an age, it was advertised for girls who reach 140cm in height or 29 to 30 inches around the chest, and sport bras which were placed nearby read "140cm, 9-10 [years old]".
Tops for five to six-year-old kids were also brought to the attention of the Herald.
These items are advertised as "girls' crop tops" but they are clearly designed in the same style as women's sport bras with demarcations around the chest area.
They are also only available in the underwear section of the shop -- next to the girls' padded bras.
A Penneys spokesman insisted yesterday: "Primark takes great care to sell age appropriate clothing.
"The company's bras are sized from 28A with no reference to age. The bras are not padded, they are lined for comfort and more importantly for modesty.
"Primark's policy is that no bra sold in Primark/Penneys should be advertised or labelled by age," the spokesman added.
"Crop tops for girls, which are soft, unstructured items and which are classed as vests, are labelled by age."
Dunnes Stores was unavailable for comment .
Adelina Campos
9 January 2012
http://www.herald.ie/lifestyle/the-clothes-that-are-too-sexy-for-our-preteens-2983055.html
___
CANADA
Regina child services project to improve damaged
care system
...
Treatment Foster Care models pilot project
after successful Manitoba child care program
A new pilot project in Regina called Treatment Foster Care is hoping to improve the lives of children with special needs after reports that the province’s foster care system is in “crisis” according to government reports.
The pilot project follows recommendations issued by the government after a comprehensive review on child welfare stated that “child welfare workers are stressed and frustrated” and “the foster care system is in crisis.”
For the last several months, child and family services has been working in partnership with the Ranch Ehrlo Society on the project, which is modelled after a successful program already in use in Manitoba.
Andrea Brittin with Child and Family Services says they are looking at new and innovative ways to support children and families.
Many of the children are considered high-risk, with behavioural and emotional issues.
Brittin says that the project provides individualized treatment by professionals at the ranch while the child is in their family home. She says these kids would otherwise end up in a group home for treatment.
Two of these specialized foster homes are already done the training. Ranch Ehrlo is currently recruiting for more.
The pilot will be evaluated after six months, at which point the province will decide if the services will be expanded to the rest of the province.
The decision is expected to come sometime after March 2012.
Samantha Maciag
6 January 2012
http://ckom.com/story/regina-child-services-project-improve-damaged-care-system/38649
