Children's Alliance News

Linda Stone Recieves Cynthia F. Shurtleff Award

The Children's Alliance is proud to announce that Linda Stone, Eastern Washington Director and long time advocate to end hunger, will recieve the Cynthia F. Shurtleff Leadership Award from Within Reach. Since 1996 Within Reach has honored extraordinary individuals with this award.

"The Cynthia F. Shurtleff award honors an individual who has shown leadership and  significantly contributed to the health and well-being of women, children and families in Washington State.  This award honors an individual who has shared a vision to improve his/her community, has taken initiative to bring this vision into reality, has created innovative ways to make an impact or difference in their community, understands partnerships and is continually building them to sustain the effort and realize the vision."

Anyone who has worked with Linda has been amazed by her breadth of knowledge of policy, her commitment to make sure all kids can eat three nutritious meals a day, her tenacity, her vision and her accomplishments. Please join the Children's Alliance in congratulating Linda and expressing our gratitude for her continuing work. Linda will recieve the award at the Within Reach Luncheon on May 14th in Seattle. You can read a recent article in the Spokesman Review about Linda's work, or send her a congratulatory note.

2008 Legislative Session Review: Keep Our Promises to Kids

Want to know where kids stand after the legislative session? A lot happened in just 60 days.

Kids in foster care saw long-awaited promises finally kept (in part), the legislature made a commitment to start connecting farms to schools and legislators opened the door for 23,000 families to get food stamps.

Meanwhile kids are still waiting for the legislature to cut out the co-pay on school meals for kids grades 4-12 and early learning investments for home visiting were put off for another year.

The Children's Alliance 2008 Legislative Session Review contains an understandable explanation of what happened this session and an easy to read list of bills and budget items impacting kids and families

Read the full report, the Executive Summary or quick issue pullout sections.

Children's Alliance Testifies in Legislative Briefing in California

Children’s Alliance Deputy Director Jon Gould (pictured at right) is in Sacramento, the state Capitol of California, today April 29th, to participate in a legislative briefing in opposition to proposed children’s health budget cuts. California’s Governor has proposed instituting six month eligibility reviews which are predicted to result in half a million children losing health coverage.

Invited by child advocates in California, Jon discussed the harmful effects on children’s health of Washington State’s budget cuts five years ago. At that time Washington instituted the same burdensome six month eligibility reviews that California is considering. Jon told the story of how advocates and policymakers worked to restore those cuts in 2005 and begin working on coverage for every child. He ended his testimony by saying:

“We learned the hard way about the harmful affects of shortening eligibility review cycles. I don’t want children in California to suffer from the same mistakes we made.”

Is Washington reducing inequities in health care?

A new report from the Opportunity Agenda and Families USA examines five states - including Washington - to identify state policies that promote equitable health care access and quality. The report, "Identifying and evaluating equity provisions in state health care reform," recommends strategies for ensuring that people of all racial and ethnic groups have access to high quality medical care. The report notes that:

"Millions of people in the United States—principally racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and those who lack proficiency in English—face barriers to high-quality health care.Such problems derive largely from the high rates of uninsurance among these groups, but it persists among them even when they are insured. They simply tend to receive a lower quality of health care. But by expanding health insurance coverage and addressing issues of access, quality, and cost, state-level health care reforms have the potential to address inequality—that is, to achieve equity."

To learn more about the Children's Alliance's health policy work, please visit our policy page.

Cost of insurance far outpaces income

Americans who get health insurance for their families through their jobs have seen their premiums increase 10 times faster than their income in recent years, according to a new analysis of government data. The study, "Squeezed: How Costs for Insuring Families are Outpacing Income," was released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It shows that a growing share of workers’ earnings is being absorbed by the increasing cost of health insurance. In Washington state, the amount employees pay for family coverage increased 37 percent from 2001 to 2005, while family policyholders’ income increased 6 percent over the same period.

“This study makes plain what every working parent knows—that providing insurance coverage takes a bigger bite from the family budget every year,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Children's Alliance is working to ensure that every child in Washington can get comprehensive, affordable health insurance through effective implementation of the state's Cover All Kids law. For more information, visit our health policy page.

State's Department of Early Learning paying dividends

An editorial published Friday in the Longview Daily News highlights our state's growing commitment to early learning. The Editorial Board noted the recognition our state received in the recent report released by VOICES for America's Children, the Children’s Alliance’s national partner in advocating for kids. We recently highlighted the report in this blog. Among other things, the editorial said:

"We editorialized in 2006 that the state's new Department of Early Learning could amount to the legislative session's most far-reaching accomplishment. This national report and developments witnessed during the past two years strengthen that belief."

The Children's Alliance is coordinating a strategic planning process to develop a shared, long term vision for early learning in our state. For more information contact Early Learning Policy Coordinator Leslie Dozono.

2008 Champions for Children

The Children's Alliance has named six state legislators as 2008 Champions for Children. These legislators stand out in their leadership for children. They joined with the Children's Alliance this legislative session to advance policies that improve the well-being of vulnerable children in Washington.

The 2008 Champions for Children are:

• Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown
• Speaker of the House Frank Chopp
• Representative Roger Goodman
• Representative Ruth Kagi
• Senator Jim Hargrove
• Representative Eric Pettigrew

From standing up for foster kids, to expanding access to nutritious food, to making sure our youngest learners arrive at kindergarten ready to learn, these lawmakers championed policies and investments for children. Read the full profiles of the 2008 Champions for Children on our website.

Hunger's Adversary

The Children's Alliance's very own Eastern Washington Director, Linda Stone, is profiled today on the front page of the Spokesman Review, Spokane's daily newspaper.

The article recounts Linda's more than two decades of effective advocacy to end hunger in Washington. The article brings out what anyone who works with Linda knows; that she possesses the unique pairing of extensive knowledge of policy details along with a grassroots, real-life perspective on what people need to live healthy, successful lives.

Asked how she stays focused and motivated in such a long term effort, Linda summed up the struggle to feed kids in Washington.

"Well, it can be frustrating at times, especially since it really isn't a complicated problem: Children are hungry, you give them food three times a day. Somehow, in this country, we've chosen to address hunger through this hodgepodge of safety-net programs, most of them do wonderful work, but they are all very narrowly focused. In this country there is no universal vision on how to end childhood hunger."

The article shines a spotlight on both Linda and the Children's Alliance. Kids, advocates, parents, legislators and the Children's Alliance are all in Linda's debt for her amazing work.

Read the full article.

New Report: Urban Indian America

More than half of the Native people who live in the United States live in urban areas. A new report authored by the National Urban Indian Family Coalition and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation uses statistics, history and the knowledge of grassroots organizations to paint a vivid picture of the experiences and challenges of Native people living in urban areas around the United States.

The report, “Urban Indian America: The Status of American Indian and Alaskan Native Children and Families Today”, highlights many issues affecting the well-being of Native American children and their families which are also at the core of the values and practice of the Children’s Alliance.

In Washington State Native American and African American children are disproportionally represented in the child welfare system, and according to the report, the trend holds for Native children nationwide.

“While the removal rates of Native children have decreased since the passage of ICWA [Indian Child Welfare Act], Native children continue to be disproportionately over-represented at all levels of the child welfare system.”

The report highlights successful efforts to create culturally sound child welfare practices around the country, including a successful program of the Seattle-based United Indians of All Tribes Foundation.

In 2007 the Children’s Alliance helped to pass legislation establishing a Racial Disproportionality Advisory Committee to review disparities in Washington State’s child welfare system and develop recommendations to create an equitable system that serves all communities. Executive Director of the Children’s Alliance Paola Maranan is serving on the committee. This report offers essential research and recommendations to help inform the work of the Committee and other efforts across the country.

Read the full report.

VOICES for America's Children Report Showcases Washington

VOICES for America's Children released a report today that showcases the work of the Children's Alliance, along with our local partners, to gain new investments in early learning. The report, "Increasing State Investments in Early Care and Education: Lessons Learned from Advocates and Best Practices", provides detailed analysis of early learning advocacy successes in 10 states, including Washington.

Although the stories from each state are different, the authors identified five underlying best practices:

1. Create accountable early childhood education investments.
2. Build and sustain broad-based coalitions.
3. Small steps over time create big change.
4. Understand politics and play the game as it is - not as you wish it would be.
5. Create strategies for long-term success.

Read the full Press Release.

The Children's Alliance is a member of VOICES which is a national, non-partisan child advocacy organization. The full report is available on the VOICES website.

For more information regarding the Children's Alliance's work on Early Learning, please contact Leslie Dozono, Early Learning Policy staff.