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SFTS December 2004 Newsletter

NEW SPECIAL NEEDS RESOURCE

Prevalence of Children with Special Health Care Needs
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs: Chartbook 2001. The chartbook reports the results of a 2001 survey on the prevalence of special health care needs among children and adolescents ages 17 and younger. It includes information on prevalence, health and functional status, insurance coverage, health care needs and access to care, care coordination, family-centered care, and impact on families.

To view this chartbook, check out http://mchb.hrsa.gov/chscn/pages/prevalence.htm

NEW RESEARCH

The Community Guide
The Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) provides recommendations on interventions to promote health and prevent disease, injury, disability and premature death. One of the recommended interventions is early childhood home visitation. A review of published studies, conducted on behalf of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, found that early childhood home visitation programs are effective in reducing child maltreatment among high-risk families.

For more information, check out http://www.thecommunityguide.org/violence/viol-int-homevisit.pdf

Violence in the Lives of Children
Violence in the Lives of Children, from the Child Trends DataBank, examines the prevalence and types of violence in children's lives, as well as its effect on children by age, gender, and ethnicity.

For more information, check out http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/PDF/Violence.pdf

The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study, conducted by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, studied the effects of high-quality early care and education on three- and four-year-olds living in poverty. By the time the children in the study turned 40, those who had participated in a preschool program in their early years had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school. Overall, the study documented a return to society of more than $17 for every tax dollar invested in the early care and education program.

For a copy of "The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40: Summary, Conclusions, and Frequently Asked Questions,” check out http://www.highscope.org/Research/PerryProject/PerryAge40SumWeb.pdf

NEW RESOURCES

Free Web Hosting
Grassroots.org is a nonprofit organization that is looking to change the world through use of the Internet at the local, national, and international level. By offering nonprofit groups free Internet service, Grassroots.org hopes to save organizations money that can be used to help their constituents.

For more information about this organization, check out http://www.grassroots.org
To submit an application for web hosting, go to http://www.grassroots.org/do/Tools

State of the World’s Mothers
This year’s State of the World’s Mothers report from the Save the Children Network focuses on the tens of millions of girls around the world who marry and have babies while they are still children themselves. The results are often tragic: many girls die in childbirth, even greater numbers of their babies die, and young mothers and babies who do survive often struggle to overcome poor health, limited education and grinding poverty. The report addresses issues such as “Children Having Children: Where Young Mothers are Most at Risk,” and “The Perils of Early Motherhood.”

To view this report, check out http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2004/facts_figures.asp

New York Court Limits Removing Child When Mother Is Abuse Victim
New York State's highest court ruled recently that child welfare authorities cannot take children from parents and place them in foster care merely because they have been exposed to domestic abuse at home. The court formalized specific standards for removing children from homes where domestic abuse occurs, requiring that authorities exhaust alternatives and insisting that the possible threat to the child’s health or welfare be imminent.

For two different newspaper articles on this ruling, check out http://www.ncdsv.org/images/CourtLimitsRemovingCHildWhenMother.pdf and http://www.ncdsv.org/images/PolicyAlteredTakingCHildrenfromVictims.pdf

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Read Now, Read for Life
Tulare County Read for Life is hosting a community awareness event entitled "Read Now, Read for Life" on April 5 and 6, 2005. In collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and four other county agencies, they are bringing in Dr. Bruce Perry, who will present information for service providers, as well as an evening event for parents. Additionally, Dr. Perry will provide valuable information to teen parents on the impact of exposure to chronic violence on children's developing brains.

For more information contact Joy Sakai, Pharm.D. at (559) 624-6060.

FUNDING NEWS

Healthy Start Grants
Healthy Start assists schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, and their collaborative partners to develop and expand comprehensive, integrated, school-linked services and support. The deadline to apply for funding is January 28, 2005.

For more information, check out http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/cf/profile.asp?id=514