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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Welcome to the Child Advocate Insider!
Legislative session is over for this year in Kansas & Missouri, but we all know that children’s issues don’t stop when legislators leave the state capital!
Partnership for Children is pleased to announce our new e-newsletter called “the Child Advocate Insider” that will be sent out bi-weekly on Wednesdays during the summer and fall months. The Child Advocate Insider will provide updates on federal children’s policy issues as well as local events and opportunities for advocacy in Kansas & Missouri.
NATIONAL NEWS
Health: President Signs Moratoria on Six Harmful Medicaid Regulations
As reported to you throughout the winter, Partnership for Children has been tracking 7 detrimental regulations issued by the Center for Medicaid & Medicare Services that would have resulted in the loss of $1.4 billion dollars over 5 years in Missouri and $22.4 million in Kansas. Recently, a moratoria on these regulations, was included in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, which included funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. PFC is happy to report that President Bush signed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 (H.R. 2642) on Monday morning, ensuring moratoria until April 2009 on six administration-sponsored Medicaid regulations!
On June 26, the Senate approved the measure by a vote of 92-6. Missouri Senators Bond and McCaskill and Kansas Senators Brownback and Roberts all voted for the bill. The House passed a similar amendment to the war supplemental the previous week by a vote of 416-12. Both the Missouri and Kansas delegations voted to support the bill except for Rep. Kenny Hulshof (MO-9) and Rep. Todd Tiahrt (KS-4) who were absent.
There was heavy concern that the moratoria on Targeted Case Management (TCM), a provision that would greatly impact foster children, was to be stripped from the final package in order to gain White House approval. However, due to strong outreach and effective advocacy, TCM stayed in the final a package.
In order to preserve the agreement, the regulation on Hospital Outpatient Services was stripped from the package.
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Child Protection: House Passes Fostering Connections to Success Act
On June 24, the House of Representatives passed the Fostering Connections to Success Act (H.R. 6307) by a voice vote. Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jerry Weller (R-IL)—the chair and ranking members of the Subcommittee on Income Support and Family Security—introduced the bipartisan bill the week before. The legislation compromises from an earlier bill McDermott introduced, the Invest in KIDS Act (H.R. 5466).
The Fostering Connections to Success Act aims to improve connections to services, family, health care, and education for children in foster care and those who “age out” of the system. Provisions include:
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Expanded incentives to states for placing children from the foster care system with adoptive families;
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Required notification of grandparents and other relatives when a child enters foster care;
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Extended federal support that helps children in foster care be raised permanently by relatives;
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Authorized funding for initiatives that help relative caregivers navigate the system of available services, support, and resources;
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Promoting the placement of siblings together when in foster care;
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Improved attention to the health and mental health needs of children in foster care;
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Promote greater educational stability for children in foster care;
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Providing more support and protection to Indian children in foster care by increasing tribes’ access to federal foster care and adoption assistance programs;
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Expanded funding for training of child welfare workers;
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Giving states the option to extend assistance to youth in foster care up to the age of 21, provided that they are living in a supervised setting and are participating in school, work, or a related activity.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it will be referred to the Senate Finance Committee. A Senate companion bill has not yet been introduced, though there are several bills circulating in the Senate with content very similar to various portions of this legislation. The ranking Republican member of the Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), introduced the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008 (S. 3038) last month. This bill includes several incentives for adoption and additional resources for kinship care families.
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Child Protection: House Passes Legislation Regulating Boot Camps and Boarding Schools
On June 25 the House passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 6358) by a vote of 318-103. This legislation would better regulate boot camps and other "alternative placement facilities" and bring transparency to the policies and practices of such programs. The legislation responds to numerous studies documenting the ineffectiveness of these programs and, in several instances, the tragic deaths as a result of child abuse and neglect as reported by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in October 2007. GAO issued a new report in April examining selected cases of abuse, death, and deceptive marketing.
H.R. 6358 provides much-needed management over programs and facilities that have for too long operated without adequate regulation or licensing by state or federal law. The legislation would prevent corporal punishment, physical abuse, and mental abuse. Programs would be prohibited from using disciplinary techniques that involve withholding essential food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Programs could physically restrain children only if necessary for their safety or for the safety of others, and they would have to provide children with reasonable access to a telephone, and train staff in what constitutes child abuse and neglect and how to report it.
The legislation requires programs to disclose to parents the qualifications and responsibilities of all current staff and notify parents of any onsite investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect, or violations of health and safety laws.
The bill also includes an increase in authorized funding for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act from $120 million to $235 million for states to institute these initiatives. Similar legislation has not yet been introduced in the Senate.
From Missouri, voting in favor: Reps. Clay, Carnahan, Skelton, Cleaver, Graves, Emerson, and Hulshof. Voting in opposition: Reps. Akin and Blunt. All members from the Kansas delegation voted in support of this measure.
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Child Protection: Supreme Court Bans Death Penalty for Child Rapists
The Supreme Court declared Wednesday that executions are too severe a punishment for raping children. The court’s 5-4 decision struck down a Louisiana law that allows capital punishment for people convicted of raping children under 12. The ruling also invalidates laws on the books in five other states that allowed executions for child rape that does not result in the death of a victim. Justice Anthony Kennedy, wrote in his majority opinion, “However, devastating the crime to children, the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.”
Throughout legislative session, Partnership for Children tracked two pieces of legislation in the Missouri Senate that would make child rape a capital offense punishable by the death penalty. While Partnership for Children agrees that this is the most heinous crime that could happen to a child, we had several concerns regarding this legislation, including the negative consequence of suppressing children from reporting sexual abuse. The majority of children who are sexually abused are done so by someone in their circle of care. By making this act a capital offense, it could prevent children from reporting their abuse out of fear that a family member or family friend could be put to death. In addition, those who have been given the death penalty often go through years of appeals. Putting children who have been victimized through a capital punishment case could make them relive their victimization for many years to come.
Although the bill never advanced to the Senate floor, strong support by the Governor led to an amendment being offered by Speaker Pro-Tem Bryan Pratt in the House onto SB 976. The amendment passed by a voice vote but was stripped out of the bill in conference committee.
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Early Care & Education: House Committee Passes Home-Visiting Legislation
On June 18th, the House Education and Labor Committee passed the Education Begins at Home Act (H.R. 2343) by a voice vote, marking an important step forward for this priority legislation supported by child advocates. The bill would provide federal funding to states to establish or expand early childhood home visiting programs, like Parents as Teachers and the Nurse Family Partnership, that collectively serve an estimated 400,000 children each year nationwide. Research shows that home-visiting programs strengthen families and reduce instances of child abuse and neglect.
An amendment requiring proof of citizenship before a parent and child could receive services sparked contentious debate but was ultimately defeated in committee. The revised version of the legislation authorizes $150 million in the first year for state grants and $40 million per year to serve military families and families with English language learners. The committee also compromised on criteria to prioritize serving high-need communities indicated by low student achievement; high rates of teen pregnancy of low income families, high incidences of child abuse, high rates of children with development delays or disabilities, and large concentrations of individuals who serve or served in the Armed Forces.
A new definition of “High Quality” that passed in the committee could potentially exclude the St. Louis-based Nurses for Newborns program from receiving grants under the bill. The new language requires home visiting programs to be associated with a national organization or institution of higher education and that evaluations of the program be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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Early Care & Education: House Committee Approves Federal Grant Program for State Pre-K
On June 26th, the House Education & Labor Committee voted 31-11 to pass legislation creating the first-ever federal grant program to improve the quality of state pre-k programs The Providing Resources Early for Kids Act (H.R. 3289) was first introduced by U.S. Rep. Hinoro (D-HI) in August of 2007.
The Pre-K Act authorizes $2.5 billion in matching grants over the next five years for states to increase the number of early childhood educators with bachelor's degrees, reduce student-teacher ratios, implement research-based curricula, and provide comprehensive services such as health screenings and nutritional assistance. The grant program will give states like Kansas & Missouri an incentive to build high-quality pre-k programs before expanding to serve more children and will prevent states from supplanting existing pre-k investments with federal dollars.
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National Kids Count Data Book Released
Each year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation publishes the annual National Kids Count Data Book, documenting the well-being of children throughout the 50 states. This year, the report ranks Kansas 18th in the nation – down from 16th last year and 12th in 2006. Missouri ranks, 32nd up from 34th last year and 30th in 2006. Of the 10 key indicators collected by the Foundation, nationally five improved, four got worse and one stayed the same. Here is a summary of how Missouri and Kansas fared.
§ Percent of low-birth weight babies (Backsliding)
Kansas: rose from 6.9 percent in 2000 to 7.2 percent in 2005
Missouri: rose from 7.6 percent in 2000 to 8.1 in 2005
§ Infant mortality (Backsliding)
Kansas: rose from 6.8 deaths per 1,000 in 2000 to 7.4 in 2005
Missouri: rose from 7.2 deaths per 1,000 in 200 to 7.5 in 2005
§ Child death rate (Improved)
Kansas: declined from 25 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1-14 in 200o to 23 deaths per 100,000 in 2005
Missouri: declined from 27 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1-14 in 2000 to 21 deaths per 100,000 in 2005
§ Teen death rate (Improved)
Kansas: declined from 78 deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15-19 in 2000 to 66 deaths per 100,000 in 2005
Missouri: declined from 90 deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15-19 in 2000 to 84 deaths per 100,000 in 2005
§ Teen birth rate (Improved)
Kansas: declined from 46 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19 in 2000 to 41 births per 1,000 in 2005
Missouri: declined from 49 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19 in 2000 to 42 births per 1,000 in 2005
§ High school drop-out rate (Improved)
Kansas: declined from 1o percent for teens between 16-19 in 2000 to 4 percent in 2005
Missouri: declined from 11 percent for teens between 16-19 in 2000 to 6 percent in 2005
§ Percentage of idle teens (KS: Same; MO: Improved)
Kansas: remained at 6 percent between 2000 and 2005
Missouri: declined from 9 percent of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 not attending school and not working in 2000 to 7 percent in 2005
§ Rate of children living in families where no parent has a full-time, year round job (Backsliding)
Kansas: rose from 22 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2005
Missouri: rose from 31 percent in 2000 to 32 percent in 2005
§ Children living in poverty (Backsliding)
Kansas: rose from 12 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2005
Missouri: rose from 16 percent in 2000 to 19 percent in 2005
§ Percentage of children living in a single-parent household (KS: Backsliding; MO: Same)
Kansas: rose from 26 percent in 2002 to 28 percent in 2006
Missouri: remained at 32 percent between 2000 and 2005
For more information, visit www.aecf.org or the local Kids Count grantees, Citizens for Missouri’s Children, www.mokids.org or Kansas Action for Children, www.kac.org.
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MISSOURI NEWS
Missouri Pre-K Panel to Develop Recommendations for the State
The MO Coordinating Board for Early Childhood convened a statewide panel of educators, community & business leaders, state department directors, legislators, and family service providers for the first time on May 29-30 to examine the specific issue of pre-k in Missouri and to develop recommendations for the state’s incoming Governor by November of this year.
Nearly every state surrounding Missouri has increased investments in early learning to expand access to state-funded pre-k programs, but flat funding for Missouri’s Preschool Project has resulted in the state serving a smaller percentage of 4-yr-olds than six years ago. Meanwhile, the landscape for early learning in Missouri is changing as more school districts join Head Start agencies, family child care, and center-based programs in providing pre-k opportunities to the state’s youngest Missourians, all with different standards of quality and access.
In developing recommendations relating to the state’s role in providing pre-k education, the panel will discuss the purpose of state-funded pre-k, whether state programs should serve 3 or 4-yr-olds and if programs should be targeted for at-risk children or universally available, which programs should be eligible to receive state funding and whether all programs should meet similar standards, and how programs should be held accountable for state investments.
The Pre-K Panel will meet two more times, on July 22nd and Oct 7th, before producing its final recommendations to the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood on November 11th.
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Sincerely,
Emily Smith & Carrie Shapton
Partnership for Children
infopfc@pfc.org
816-531-9200 | 
