Sharing Web Resources

              According to the National Institute of Early Education research- The state of Preschool 2013, there have been a decrease in funding since 2002. NC-Pre K classrooms statewide that are private like the facility that I work in, are required to have high quality ratings under the state child care star-rated licensing system to qualify for state subsidy. Lead teachers are mandated to have bachelor’s degree and an NC Birth-Kindergarten license. In the 2013/2014 year, all teachers must meet the minimum BA/BS degree as well as hold, or be working toward the BK licensure requirement. Most of the staff at our facility have degrees, there are only a few with no degrees. We are a private 5 star rated development center as well but we still have some issues with getting more funding. I hope that this situation can be resolved in the future for more private child care facilities.

                I looked into the child welfare tab and have noticed that there are more than 6 million children living in kinship families in which grandparents or other relatives are raising the child when the parents are unable to do so. Children live with relatives without the involvement of child welfare agencies, or children may be “diverted” to relatives by the courts.  The caregivers may need financial or other help to appropriately meet the children’s needs. The organization is working to ensure the needs of these kinship families are met to ensure children are kept safe, healthy, in loving families, and reaching their full potential. Kinship care has been found to help children maintain family, and oftentimes community, connections. There is also strong evidence that children placed in kinship care experience greater stability, have fewer behavioral problems, and are just as safe-if not safer-than children in non-relative care. I personally did not know that there were that many children in the US living in kinship families. A lot of grandparents can only do but so much but yes I do believe that they need more help in terms of finances. I hope that CDF do as much as they can for these families.

                On the Children’s Defense Fund website, I found under the Early Childhood Development & Learning tab another website called growamericastronger.org. The website showed national polls that show overwhelming support for early childhood education in pushing Congress within 2 years to ensure that America’s children get a strong start in life. 83% of North Carolina voters say that investments in early childhood education would help NC’s economy. Investing in early childhood not only helps the children and the state’s economy but it can help us as professionals to get better training to help be highly qualified as professionals.

References

Demand, V. (n.d.). 83% of North Carolina Voters. Retrieved from Voter Demand: http://growamericastronger.org/poll/

Education, R. S. (2013). The State of Preschool 2013. In R. S. Education, North Carolina School Profile (p. 104). National Instutute for Early Education Research.

Fund, C. D. (n.d.). Kinship Families. Retrieved from Children's Defense Fund: http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/welfare/

Child Poverty In Egypt

From listening to the podcast with Dr. Grace, according to census I learned that the US has the highest percentage of poverty among children. Poverty sucks the life out of people and causes them to have no energy. Poverty can come in many forms now. It no longer represents those who have no jobs or are homeless. Food instability is a term among families with no food in the home due to having to pay bills. There are even those in poverty who work several jobs but are only working low paying jobs and are barely making ends meet. As EC professionals, it is important for us to really get to know our communities. It is up to us to dedicate and invest our time to get to know the children and their families because we will never know what goes on behind closed doors. As we get to know the children and their families, we can help better serve them to ensure greater success within the child. (Laureate Ed, 2011)

Children of Egypt of all ages generally indicate that children are more likely to view poverty in non-monetary terms than their parents and interestingly define poverty along with the many dimensions of social exclusion and as obstructions of their rights as children. Children defined poverty as having parents who are unemployed and lacking income; living in a mud house; not being able to go to school or hospital when sick; being separated from friends; and not being given the right to be heard and participate in decision making. Children under the age of 18 are more than one-third of Egypt’s population. 12.3 percent are children under 5 years. Egypt’s economic and social indicators have improved significantly. However, economic growth has not yet translated into sustainable improvement of Egyptians’ well-being, and poverty persists. The Government has adopted several important measures aimed at accelerating economic growth, creating job opportunities and better targeting of social safety nets. (UNICEF, 2010)

References

UNICEF. (2010). Child Poverty and Disparities in Egypt: Building the . Cairo: UNICEF/Egypt2005/Pirozzi.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Issues and trends in the early childhood field: The effects of poverty on the early childhood community.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I decided to research was the “Children’s Defense Fund”.  The website for this organization is http://www.childrensdefense.org/. The Children’s Defense Fund is a non-profit child advocacy organization that has worked more than 40 years to ensure a level playing field for all children. Their policies and programs lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. Supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations, CDF advocates nationwide on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority.

 To survive and thrive, all children need access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage that is easy to get and keep. Unmet health and mental health needs can cause children to fall behind developmentally and have trouble catching up physically, socially and academically. Poor children and children of color have the worse access to health care compared to their wealthier and healthier White peers. More than 5.2 million children under age 18 were uninsured in 2013. The over- whelming majority live with working parents and are citizens. More than a third live in three states California, Texas, and Florida. Uninsured children are more likely to be children of color, children ages 13-18, and children who live in rural areas. More than half 3.7 million are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but not yet enrolled.  

The Children’s Defense Fund works to ensure that all children have access to child-specific health coverage that is affordable for families. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are a big help to decreasing that number. It is now at a low status. The organization is working to expand health coverage for the remaining uninsured children, keep all children enrolled in coverage, and ensure timely access to appropriate care. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, it has a significant impact on children with private insurance coverage too. Insurers are no longer able to refuse to cover children with pre-existing conditions, revoke coverage when a child gets sick or place annual or lifetime caps on coverage.

Reference

Fund, C. D. (n.d.). Children's Health. Retrieved from Children's Defense Fund: http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/health/