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June 2010
Kansas efforts recognized nationally
Bruce Bynum, PHP Coordinator for Kansas Children’s Service League, has been selected to be a member of the National Fatherhood Advisory Committee for the National Partners for Kids: United Hands Make the Best Families Project. Funding for the project is through the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families - Promoting Responsible Fatherhood.
The Kansas Parent Initiative was presented at the 12th Annual International Fatherhood Conference, in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 16th. The presentation featured results from the Kansas Parent Research Initiative.
The Kansas Parent Information Resource Center (KPIRC) was recently featured in The Education Innovator, Volume IX, No. 5 for its creative work with students, parents, and families. Read the following excerpt about KPIRC:
One evening last November, 59 students at Avondale West Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, with 68 parents accompanying them watched “The Tale of Despereaux,” but not just for its entertainment value. Joining them that evening were Avondale West teachers in grades three to five who worked with their students leading up to the movie night. In place of the regular Title I Parent Reading and Math Nights, they used the story of a small mouse with big dreams that discovers reading as a way to achieve those dreams. Students and parents estimated the number of spools of thread in a large container to win a personal copy of the movie. Teachers used portions of “The Tale of Despereaux” to develop math projects that students and their parents completed. A large word wall in the school’s front lobby greeted the participants with vocabulary from the movie.
This and similar creative strategies for engaging students, parents, and families are supported throughout Kansas and other states by the Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRC) network funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. The network, first established in 1995, is committed to building the capacity of schools and districts to use statewide delivery models to develop school, community, and family partnerships that contribute to student success.
For the rest of the article, click here.
Resources
Did you know that nearly 3 in 10 girls in the United States get pregnant by age 20? Although the rates for teen births and pregnancies are down nationally by about a third since the 1990s, the United States still has the highest rates in the industrialized world. In addition, half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.
PolicyforResults.org now offers policymakers strategies to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancies in their states. The federal government is currently investing in programs that address this issue. For example, the proposed federal 2011 budget includes $129 million in competitive funding for state and local organizations to support evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs and funding will be available to state agencies to educate youth on teen pregnancy and other issues.
To assist state policymakers, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, in partnership with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, has expanded content on PolicyforResults.org to include data, research, state examples, links to materials and recommendations for policy options that have demonstrated results in reducing teen and unplanned pregnancy.
Mental health is a key component in a child’s healthy development; children need to be healthy in order to learn, grow, and lead productive lives. The mental health service delivery system in its current state does not sufficiently meet the needs of children and youth, and most who are in need of mental health services are not able to access them. With the addition of effective treatments, services, and supports, the mental health system can become better equipped to help children and youth with mental health problems, or those who are at risk, to thrive and live successfully.
Read Children's Mental Health: What Every Policymaker Should Know.
The initial report, Unclaimed Children Revisited complements Unclaimed Children: The Failure of Public Responsibility to Children in Need of Mental Health Services (1982) by Dr. Jane Knitzer, served to rally the child and adolescent mental health field to take action towards policy reform.
The current national study is a multi-pronged initiative that generates new knowledge about policies across the United States that promote or inhibit the delivery of high-quality mental health services and supports to children, youth, and families.
Read Unclaimed Children Revisited: California Case Study.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events, Conferences & Training Opportunities in Kansas
Do you have an event, conference or training coming up that would benefit other KSF partners? Let us know, and we will promote it on the KSF website and in the newsletter, the KSF Update. Send information to hilharms@ku.edu or contact Hilary Harms Logan at (785) 864-6069.
Previous Kansas Strengthening Families Newsletters
March 2009 (ARRA, Parent Helpline, 211, eLearning)
December 2008 (Stakeholder Meeting)
July/August 2008 (Block Grant RFP, Parent Mutual Support Fact Sheet, Kansas Parent Initiative, KACCRRA's EXCEL program)
May 2008 (Background and Overview of the KSF Plan, Center for the Study of Social Policy)
