“Children could suffer if Pa. doesn’t get Medicaid money”

As Voices advocate Joan Benso says, summer is a carefree time for children, but this summer, some of their parents and guardians have a lot to worry about.  The president and CEO of Voices member group Pennsylvannia Partnerships for Children,…

Study: almost a third of kids lost coverage when their parents lost job

Among children whose parents suffered a job loss from 2000-2004, almost a third lost their health care coverage, according to a new study from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. And in children from low-income families, almost half lost insurance coverage.…

A victory for child care in Wisconsin

A new quality system for child care in Wisconsin scored a legislative victory recently, securing a unanimous vote by that state’s Joint Finance Committee.  The proposed program, known as YoungStar, would make it easier for parents to choose the best…

Black Administrators in Child Welfare Annual Conference Addresses Disproportionality

Disproportionality in child welfare occurs when a group is overrepresented in the system as compared to their proportion in the population. For example, Black children are 31 percent of the child welfare population but only 14.7 percent of the children…

The cost of the financial crisis: $108k per household

Between costs and losses in home value and stock, the financial crisis cost $108,000 per American household, according to a new report by The Pew Trust. From the report:

“U.S. households lost on average nearly $5,800 in income due…

Racial gaps in early learning

Early Ed Watch yesterday provided an excellent overview of the early learning listening tours being conducted now by the Department of Education.  As Congress considers renewing federal education programs, one issue we’d like policymakers to listen to is…

Where does your state rank on student reading?

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s comprehensive report, “Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters,” this week drew attention to the problem of student underperformance in reading. Now that data has been integrated with the Foundation’s…

Image and belonging: important to youngsters, but ingrained in alcohol ads

Alcohol advertisers have always sought to create an alternate reality for their products. With the advent of online social spaces, they literally have created these alternate realities, full of color and far from parental supervision. Utilizing Facebook, web forums, and…

Ohio Voices: Health Care Heroes

Using government advocacy, public awareness, and the trust of policymakers throughout the state, Voices for Ohio’s Children has helped that state meet its promises to its young. That’s why we’re pleased to congratulate them on their recent “Health…

Curbing the cost of child care

“Who knew that today’s parents would need a trust fund to pay for child care, let alone college? In 39 states, the cost of one year’s worth of infant day care exceeds the cost of one year’s tuition at a…