Kindering Center Presents: 2006 Speakers Series for Families with Kids with Disabilities

6:30 – 8:30 pm, 16120 NE 8^th St., Bellevue, Washington

September 26^th – Julie Wood presents “Wading Through Uncharted Waters: Learning Your Child Has a Disability; October 10^th – Don Meyers presents “Brothers and Sisters of People with Special Needs: Unique Concerns, Unique Opportunities”; December 5^th – Dr. Chuck Cowan presents “Moving Forward: Diagnosis and Therapy for Children with Cerebral Palsy. For more information or to register, contact Jennifer Clark at: Jennifer.clark@kindering.org.

In Utero Exposure to DDT Linked to Developmental Delay

A research project at the University of California, Berkeley shows that the presence of DDT in a pregnant woman’s system can cause a significant decrease in her child’s mental development scores at 12 and 24 months. The study measured blood levels of DDT and DDE in 360 pregnant women who had recently emigrated from Mexico to California. For more information, go to: www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/07/05_ddt.shtml.

Early Marker for Autism May be Linked to Placental Abnormality

Researchers at Yale have discovered what might serve as a “clinical marker” for autism in children. Unusual prenatal foldings of the placenta known as “trophoblast inclusions” appear to be an early sign that a child may develop autism in the future. This characteristic was found to be three times more likely in children with autism than those without. For more information, go to: www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/06-06-26-01.all.html.

Study Provides Evidence That Autism Affects Functioning of Entire Brain

A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought. The study, conducted by scientists in a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that autism also affects a broad array of skills and abilities, including those involved with sensory perception, movement, and memory. The findings, appearing in the August Child Neuropsychology, strongly suggest that autism is a disorder in which the various parts of the brain have difficulty working together to accomplish complex tasks. For more information, go to: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/aug2006/nichd-16.htm.

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Online Parenting Class

Fall Quarter, 2006, South Seattle Community College, Washington

Would you like to learn ways to: Make parenting less stressful? Communicate better and yell less? Have more good times with your child? Consider utilizing this supportive, interactive class where parents and parents-to-be can explore the unique challenges of parenting in GLBT households while honing skills such as listening, discipline, stress management, and other aspects of family life. For more information or to register, go to: http://dept.seattlecolleges.com/apple/registration.htm.

Strengthening Families

The Parenting Place is about to begin their second year piloting the Strengthening Families curriculum. These workshops provide an evening of learning activities for parents and their children, ages 10-14 years old. There are 7 sessions that help families build bridges in communication, children learn about handling peer pressure & bullying and parents share their goals & dreams with their children. For more information call the Parenting Place in Bremerton at 360-473-2134 about bringing this program to your school or church.

The Parent Television Network (PTN)

The Parent Television Network is a new set of programming for parents. They are now broadcasting one half hour program per month, on educational cable channel 28 in Seattle and on Seattle’s Eastside. You can also watch their programs on-line! August’s program was: The Tricycle Solution: Teachable Moments for Parents and Preschoolers. Children and parents at Rocky Mountain Participation Nursery School in San Francisco receive gentle coaching from School Director Effie Kuriloff as they play, create, discover, cry, fight, and resolve their disagreements. For more information about the Tricycle Solution, or to obtain a copy or receive clock hour credit for watching, visit: http://www.patchworksfilms.net/. For more information on PTN, go to: http://www.ptvn.org/.

Physically abusive fathers and risk assessment

The purpose of this study is to identify factors that predict recidivism among families in which the father is the perpetrator of physical abuse and to compare these factors to the factors that investigators believe are related to higher risk. A case-comparison design was used to understand risk among 137 predominantly Caucasian families in which a father had injured a child. The analysis showed that families in which the father was unemployed, had younger children, was not the biological father of all of the children, did not take responsibility for his behavior, seriously injured a child, and maltreated a child in the past were more likely to re-abuse. These factors, along with whether the mother had a criminal history, correctly predicted recurrence for 83% of the families.

These results may be useful in adapting assessment systems that do not take into consideration the gender of the perpetrator. To order the full article, go to: http://www.ispcan.org/onlinejournal.htm. For a hard copy version of the article, contact Kristen Rogers at: kristen@wcpcan.wa.gov.

Raising a Child with Emotional or Behavioral Difficulties: Workforce Participation and Employment Support

This study examines the workforce participation of primary caregivers of children receiving mental health services. The authors discuss the results of a secondary analysis of data from 2585 participants in the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Families (CCMHS) program. The severity of the child’s symptoms and adequacy of child care are among the factors associated with workforce participation. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. For more information, go to: http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgDataTrends.shtml.

Senate Approves Bill Aimed at Prevention of Premature Births

Recently the U.S. senate approved a bipartisan bill (S 707) aimed at preventing premature births. Sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn), this legislation would expand and coordinate research through NIH and CDC on preventing preterm births and caring for preterm infants. It would also authorize grants for demonstration projects on treatments for prematurity, and would authorize additional funding for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Another outcome of the bill, should it become law: the creation of the Interagency Coordinating Council on Prematurity and Low-Birthweight, which would require HHS to report annually to Congress about their work on the issue. Similar legislation (HR 2861) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June, and is currently before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for consideration. To view the bill just approved by the Senate, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.oo.

Promising Practices in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

In an era of increased demand and reduced budgets for mental health and substance abuse services, states have been compelled to find ways to increase the efficiency of programs while simultaneously improving performance. A new Commonwealth Fund report, State Behavioral Health Innovations: Disseminating Promising Practices, identifies some of these promising state practices. For more information and to read the report, go to: http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=392669.

Evaluation Toolkit

Visit the 2006 Prevention Month website http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/topics/prevention/index.cfm for a variety of tools and resources on protecting children and strengthening families. A new resource on this year’s website is a link to a toolkit for evaluating the effectiveness of child abuse prevention programs. For more information, go to: www.friendsnrc.org/outcome/toolkit/index.htm.

Evidence Based Child Welfare

The Chadwick Center at Children’s Hospital-San Diego announces that the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) can now be accessed at the URL. For more information, go to: http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/.

Program Evaluation in Neglect Projects

Ten programs from across the country funded by the Children’s Bureau to address the needs of neglected children and their families reported on their best practices, challenges, and lessons learned in conducting their program evaluation. Their results are synthesized in a report from Child Welfare Information Gateway. While the programs differed in many aspects, they faced common challenges in their program evaluations, including identifying appropriate instruments, establishing comparison groups, collecting data, and analyzing service impact. Some of the strategies that helped them conduct useful evaluations included using detailed plans, allowing enough time and money, addressing staff turnover, and taking advantage of technical assistance. Program Evaluation: A Synthesis of Lessons Learned by Child Neglect Demonstration Projects is available on the Information Gateway website: www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/focus/evaldemo/index.cfm.

Promising Practices Network: A Source of Unbiased Information

PPN was born of a need to ensure access to high-quality information on child and family issues. It was launched by an innovative partnership between four state-level intermediary organizations—the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children, the Family and Community Trust (Missouri), the Family Connection Partnership (Georgia), and the Foundation Consortium for California's Children and Youth. Now operated by RAND, the site provides a one-stop source for unbiased information. This includes overviews of programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in rigorously conducted studies, as well as links to short summaries of the latest findings in the scientific literature and other helpful resources. Key to achieving the outcomes promised in the programs is “delivering” those programs effectively. PPN also includes information about coordinating service delivery, financing, and budgeting; monitoring outcomes; and other management practices. Finally, the site includes collections of research and information on specific priority areas of the Network's members, which include state organizations and other organizations focused on improving the well-being of children and families. For more information, go to: http://www.promisingpractices.net/.

Children of Immigrants

While Congress and the administration debate the future of the 11-12 million unauthorized immigrants, it is important to keep in mind that more than 5 million children live with unauthorized parents. Two-thirds of these children are U.S.-born citizens, a share that increases to 93 percent among those under age 6. To learn more about the children of immigrants, especially those with unauthorized parents, there is a new fact sheet from the Urban Institute. To read it, go to: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311182_immigrant_families_5.pdf.

Brighter Futures for Migrating Children: An Overview of Current Trends and Promising Practices in Child Welfare

Refugee, undocumented, and trafficked children from a broad range of countries represent a growing population in many of our state and county child welfare systems, and many service providers are facing challenges in meeting their unique needs. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which has specialized in serving migrating children for over 25 years, convened Brighter Futures for Migrating Children: An Overview of Current Trends and Promising Practices in Child Welfare to share key “promising practices”, or innovative strategies that have resulted in more effective services to these populations. This full report draws from the presenters’ notes together with the major comments made by presenters and audience members during the discussion that followed. For more information, go to: www.brycs.org/documents/BRYCSReport-BrighterFuturesForMigratingChildren-CWLA2006.pdf.

United Way Cuts Latino Group’s Funding

A Hispanic liaison says this move is punishment for immigration protests. A Hispanic advocacy and services group in North Carolina accuses the local United Way of pulling funding because the nonprofit participated in immigration protests. To read the full article in the Philanthropy Journal, click here.

Urban Institute: Child Care Patterns of Minority Families Differ from National Trends

The Urban Institute recently released a report on the child care patterns of white, black, and Hispanic children titled, Caring for Children of Color: The Child Care Patters of White, Black, and Hispanic Children Under 5. The report takes a deeper look at the national trends in child care arrangements to determine whether or not they hold true among children in different racial groups. The study confirms that the child care arrangement of white children drive the national patterns, masking different patterns among black and Hispanic children. For more information, go to: http://www.urban.org/publications/311285.html.

Referrals Among Asian and Pacific Islander Families

A recent study validates past claims that Asian Americans, as a whole, constitute relatively lower risk for reports of child maltreatment. However, the study also found that within this group, patterns of child maltreatment exist among different Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups. These findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive child welfare practices. As Asian and Pacific Islanders continue to be one of the fastest growing racial groups in the United States, the need for culturally competent services for this community also will expand. Service providers should be aware of the differences among the ethnic groups within the Asian and Pacific Islander population, including differences in their social and economic backgrounds, immigration history, and parenting practices. This article, "Patterns of Child Maltreatment Referrals Among Asian and Pacific Islander Families," by Y. Pelczarski and S. P. Kemp, appeared in the January/February 2006 issue of Child Welfare Journal and is available from the Child Welfare League of America: www.cwla.org/pubs/default.htm.

Resources on Cultural Competence

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Minority Health (HRSA) and Health Disparities has launched a website geared toward health care providers seeking more information on HRSA’s programs for improving culturally competent health care. The site highlights HRSA’s diverse approaches to assessment, culture and language, specific diseases, health professions, and more. For more information, go to: www.hrsa.gov/culturalcompetence.

New Issue of Protecting Children

The American Humane Association announces the release of the latest issue of Protecting Children, Migration: A Critical Issue for Child Welfare. It was presented at a recent roundtable in Chicago, Illinois, entitled Migration, A Critical Issue for Child Welfare: A Transnational Research and Policy Forum. The new issue of Protecting Children and the roundtable were both developed in partnership with Loyola University Chicago. The journal features articles on several important and timely topics on migration as it affects the child welfare system and child and family well-being. For more information, go to: http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pc_new.

Kids in the City: Indicators of Child Well-Being in Large Cities from the 2004 American Community Survey

Analysis of data from the Census Bureau's 2004 American Community Survey on the 50-largest cities in the U.S. reveals that: In 2004, the child poverty rate in the nation's 50 largest cities was 28 percent, much higher than the national child poverty rate of 18 percent; estimated child poverty rates in big cities ranged widely, however; cities like Virginia Beach and Wichita occupied the low end of the distribution, while cities like Atlanta and Detroit exhibited very high poverty rates. The child poverty rate increased significantly between 1999 and 2004 nationwide and in the 50 largest cities; sixteen cities experienced a statistically significant increase in their child poverty rates between 1999 and 2004, and only one—Los Angeles—saw a significant decline; and across large cities, the share of children with no parents in the labor force was very closely associated with child poverty rates. Cities that ranked high on child poverty also tended to have high proportions of children living in single-parent families. Parental education levels did not relate as closely to child poverty at the city level as either labor force participation or single parenthood. For more information, go to: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060810_KidsCity.pdf.

Preventing Crime with Pre-Kindergarten

Newly released briefs by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids focus on the research showing the crime prevention benefits of pre-kindergarten. The series of research briefs for the 50 states and DC note the importance of providing affordable, high-quality pre-k programs, and how inadequate funding denies access to pre-k for thousands of children in each state. The briefs call for increased federal and state funding so all families have access to quality pre-kindergarten programs. As two-page research briefs, these papers do not attempt to provide a comprehensive and detailed account of pre-k policy activities in each state. These briefs can be a valuable source of information for state policymakers and advocates about the law enforcement perspective in support of pre-k initiatives. The pre-k briefs for 50 states and DC are available at: www.fightcrime.org/issue_earlyed.php.

Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says

By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post

Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States. A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two. The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone. To read the full article, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201763_pf.html.

2^nd Annual South King County Latina Health Fair

The 2^nd Annual South King County Latina Health Fair is September 9^th at the Grace Community Church in Auburn. The fair is a collaboration between Grace Community Church, Public Health - Seattle & King County, the YMCA, the Komen Foundation, the Washington Breast & Cervical Health Program and Washington Health Foundation's Community Health Access Program. You or your organization is invited to share information and resources. This is a great way to reach Latina women and families in South King County. The primary focus will be Spanish-speakers. If you would like to provide resource materials and education at the fair, contact Cathy Aby to complete a registration form by August 4^th. For questions, call Cathy at (253)874-7642 or email her at cathy.aby@metrokc.gov.