Due to a significant rent increase at WCPCAN's Pioneer Square location, we will be moving to new offices in the next few months. The move may cause some communications issues for a few weeks as we get our phone, internet and mail services sorted out. Watch for information about our address change in the near future. Our email addresses will stay the same, however. Thanks for your patience as we sort through this process!

Conferences

Website Helps Professionals Connect Youth with Disabilities to Workforce Opportunities

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWDY) has launched a new webpage providing information about the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) Initiative and offering training resources to professionals. This site includes information about KSA competency areas, development tools, and other resources to connect youth to better workforce development opportunities. For more information, go to: www.ncwd-youth.info/ksa/.

Brain’s Fear Center is Abnormally Small in Severely Impaired Cases of Autism

Research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Mental Health, and Child Health and Human Development has indicated that the part of the brain triggering fear or danger first grows, then shrinks abnormally in the most severe cases of autism. A related study found that well siblings of people with autism might share some behavioral and neural features with their siblings. For more information, go to: www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/autismmenu.cfm.

Guide Provides Better Understanding of Legal Rights to People with Disabilities

A unique new guide from The Arc of the United States offers guidance to people with intellectual disabilities who are involved in the criminal justice system as victims or as defenders. The guide summarizes the criminal justice system and provides advocates the knowledge and understanding to help people with disabilities under these circumstances. For more information, go to: www.thearc.org/AAdvocacyGuide.pdf.

Free Tax Preparation and Electronic Filing available

January 16 – April 15, 2007

Free, quality tax preparation is available at 15 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Taxes are prepared by IRS certified multilingual volunteers and electronically filing for quick refunds. Working families and individuals may be eligible for a larger refund by claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit and Telephone Tax Refund. For more   information dial 2-1-1 or 1-800-621-4636 or visit: www.uwkc.org/taxcampaign.

Earned Income Tax Credit Information

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for eligible individuals and families who have worked and earned income for all or part of a calendar year. This credit is currently available to those individuals and families whose income does not exceed certain limits. Eligible taxpayers can get cash back as a refund from the IRS, even if they earned too little to owe income tax. There are currently more than four million families who have not applied for Federal EITC, and nearly three billion dollars available in unclaimed credits. The EITC generally does not affect eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, or low-income housing. In addition, grandparents who work and are raising children may qualify for EITC. Finally, taxpayers can file amended returns to claim any credit due to them for up to three previous years. The IRS has a new website for governments and organizations to review information on the EITC and ways to assist those persons who are eligible to receive the tax credit. Please visit: http://www.irs-eitc.info/.

State Child Welfare Factsheets

A collaboration between the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the Children's Defense Fund has resulted in a series of factsheets—one for each State and one for the nation—on child welfare statistics. Each two-page State factsheet provides essential statistics on the child population, children living in poverty, foster care, permanency, relative caregivers, and sources and amounts of child welfare spending. The factsheets provide quick and useful background information for policymakers, professionals in related disciplines, and the public on child welfare issues and spending. Access the factsheets through a map on the CLASP website: http://clasp.org/publications/statefactsheetsonchildwelfarefunding06.htm.

Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community: 2007 Resource Packet

The Children’s Bureau’s Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, along with Child Welfare Information Gateway and the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention, are pleased to invite you to preorder bulk quantities of Promoting Healthy Families in Your Community: 2007 Resource Packet. The 2007 packet is intended for service providers and others who work to promote healthy families and prevent child abuse and neglect. Each packet also includes five tip sheets for providers to share with parents. Although the packet is being released in preparation for Child Abuse Prevention Month, the packet is meant to be used as a resource to promote healthy families throughout the year. Most of this year’s packet is in English only. The five tip sheets are in English, with an adaptation of each tip sheet in Spanish. Packets do not include posters. Posters will be available to order separately in March 2007. For more information, or to order, go to: http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preorder/.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Out-of-School Time

Applications Due: February 2^nd, 2007

Social Venture Partners is an international network of accomplished individuals who combine professional skills and passion for philanthropy. They bring their collective expertise and resources to promising nonprofits, collaborating with them to positively impact communities. SVP believes that strong management, systems and infrastructure result in stronger organizations that can more effectively achieve their programs and fulfill their mission. To achieve this, SVP works in partnership with nonprofits. SVP matches our Partners’ professional skills with the needs of our Investees to help them build organizational capacity and meet their strategic goals. The Out-of-School Time Grant Committee expects to award two grants of approximately $35,000 each. SVP makes initial single-year grants with the intent of establishing longer term partnerships with its Investees (typically 3-5 years). At the end of the first year of funding, the grant outcomes and relationship potential with each Investee are evaluated to determine further support. For more information, or to apply, go to: http://www.svpseattle.org/.

Grants…Start the Process with the Easy Sections

You’ve done the research, found grants to apply for, assessed your organization’s ability to complete a competitive proposal. Now it’s time to actually start writing your grant proposal. What’s the first thing you should do? Don’t panic, according to Alexis Carter-Black, author of “Getting Grants: The Complete Manual of Proposal Development and Administration. “It looks a lot more intimidating than it actually is, particularly if you are staring down at a federal application package that’s about an inch thick,” Carter-Black said. She suggests breaking up the proposal into smaller sections and writing one section at a time, starting with the one you find easiest – it doesn’t even have to be in order until you send it in. To read the full article from the NonProfit Times, go to: http://ga0.org/nptimes/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=4862045#1.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Relatives as Parents Program

The Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) was initiated in 1996. It is designed to encourage and promote the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting due to the absence of the parents. The program awards seed grants of $10,000 over a two-year period in two categories: local agencies and state public agencies. The RAPP Local Initiative enables local agencies to: provide accessible support groups and other supportive services to relative caregivers and the children in their care; encourage cooperation and collaboration among various service delivery systems (i.e., child care, mental health, aging, family services, education, legal and health care); ensure the development, expansion and future continuity of local services; and create replicable models of service. The deadline for the submission of local proposals is Thursday, January 11, 2007. For more information, go to: http://www.brookdalefoundation.org/relativesasparents.htm.

Preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome

A hospital-based parent education program has shown compelling results in reducing the incidence of abusive head injuries among infants and toddlers. Materials are shared with parents by nurses before the parents check out of the hospital with their new baby. The program materials include an informational brochure and a videotape that describe the dangers of shaking a baby and how best to handle infant crying. The program also asks parents to sign a commitment statement saying that they understand the materials. The program was first tested in Western New York State, where abusive head injuries were reduced by 47 percent after the program. Building on that success, the program was expanded throughout the rest of New York. Phase II added a second commitment form for parents, which they signed at their first pediatrician visit. This has resulted in an additional 9 percent reduction in the incidence of shaken baby syndrome. Advantages of the program are its low cost, ease of administration, and effectiveness in reaching fathers, who are historically the most likely perpetrators of violent shaking. To read the original New York study, "Preventing Abusive Head Trauma Among Infants and Young Children: A Hospital-Based, Parent Education Program," by Mark Dias et al., which appeared in Pediatrics, visit the journal's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2004-1896.

A Variety of Early Childhood Interventions Have Generated Favorable Economic Returns

This article from the Rand Corporation shows that effective early childhood programs can bring about favorable economic returns. The article finds that, among other strategies, a focus on home visiting or parent education, particularly when coupled with early childhood education, produces positive outcomes. For more information, go to: http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/fall2005/cpiece.html.

Chapin Hall Report on Home Visitation Programs

The purpose of this paper, published through a collaboration between Chapin Hall and the Ounce of Prevention Fund and entitled “Home Visitation: Assessing Progress, Managing Expectations”, is to promote analytic thinking and use of evaluative research. The paper reviews the evolution of home visitation programs and the research evaluating this intervention, discusses improvements that have taken hold in home visitation programs, and outline reasonable expectations for home visitation programs moving forward. To download this report written by Deborah Daro, go to: http://www.ounceofprevention.org/downloads/publications/Home%20Visitation.pdf.

New American Academy of Pediatrics Report Underscores Importance of Play

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a new report highlighting the importance of free and unstructured play in the healthy development of children’s social, emotional and cognitive abilities. "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds" notes that that a loss of free time and a hurried lifestyle can cause stress, anxiety and depression in children. For more information, go to: http://www.aap.org/stress/.

Saving Lives, Saving Dollars: Mitigating the Impact of Child Maltreatment

This briefing report focuses on the physical, psychoemeotional and behavioral impact of child maltreatment, estimated direct and indirect financial costs to society, the long-term socioeconomic impact of abuse and neglect and strategies for prevention and intervention. For more information, go to: http://familyimpactseminars.org/statereports/nmfis2.pdf.

What Advocates Should Know about Child Malnutrition and Neglect: An Interview with Dr. Goulda Downer

In this question-and-answer, the President of METROPLEX Health and Nutrition Services explains the link between malnutrition and child neglect and offers strategies for intervening for children and parents to ensure their diet and nutrition needs are addressed. Physical and behavioral signs of malnutrition, underlying causes of malnutrition, malnutrition in older children, and short and long-term effects of malnutrition are discussed. A list of questions is included that advocates should pose to physicians who are evaluating children for malnutrition, as well as prevention strategies. For more information, click here.

Parenting Support Information Available in New CWLA Guides

CWLA recently posted a series of “design guides” to its website that contain readily accessible information about parent supports. Developed under CWLA’s Creating Parenting-Rich Communities Initiative, the design guides connect users with current online research information for education decision makers about topics related to parent support, and for helping program developers draft informed grant proposals or policy statements. The design guide parent support information is organized under eight key areas: child care and afterschool activities; education; employment; family structure and support; financial security; health; housing; safe neighborhoods and environments. Subtopics under each are help visitors find information quickly and contain information and links to collections of evaluated programs and policies, research resources, and specific programs, practices, and polices. To view this resource, go to: http://www.cwla.org/WeR4Kdz/issue.asp?ISSUEID=306.