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En español: Children's Advocates Roundtable
en español |
This article originally appeared in the November-December 2007 issue
of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.
Use the Children's Advocate in your work! Feel free to reprint this article, as a handout or in your own publication -- just credit us (see above) and be sure to send us a copy.
Children's Advocates Roundtable
New laws in 2007
- Ban on toxic products, AB 1108: would have banned the sale of toys, teethers, and other baby products containing phthalates, a type of chemical that has been shown to disrupt the body’s hormone system.
- Tax credit notification, AB 650: creates a program to mail notices to taxpayers who are eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Handgun “fingerprinting,” AB 1471: requires all semiautomatic handguns to be equipped to put a unique identifying “fingerprint” on each cartridge case when the gun is fired, to make it easier to solve handgun crimes.
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Passed by legislature but vetoed by governor
Health
- Nutritional information on menus, SB 120: requires chain restaurants to put nutritional information about the foods they serve on their menus.
Work/family
- Expanded family leave, AB 537: allows workers to take job-protected leave to care for seriously ill adult children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law.
- Expanded paid family leave, SB 727: allows workers to receive partial pay when they must miss work to care for their siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law.
- Equality for caregivers, SB 836: outlaws employment discrimination based on “family status,” barring discrimination against employees with responsibilities for caring for children or sick or elderly family members.
Poverty/welfare
- Study time for CalWORKs, AB 314: allows parents on CalWORKS to count structured study time in an approved educational program as a work activity.
- Food stamp application, AB 1382: ends the fingerprinting requirement for food stamps.
- Food stamp eligibility, AB 508: would have allowed people who have been convicted of a drug felony to receive food stamps.
Child care
- Family child care organizing, AB 1164: allows family child care providers statewide to choose to be represented by an organization.
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Advocates call for more food stamp funds
Action: The California Association of Food Banks and other anti-hunger organizations are leading a push for an increase in federal food stamp funds.
Background: Congress is now considering a new farm bill, which includes the food stamp and emergency food assistance programs. According to the California Association of Food Banks, food stamp cuts since 1996 have cut the average family’s benefits by $37 a month. The average benefit now provides just $1 per person per meal. More than 2 million people in California now receive food stamps.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would increase funding for food stamps and make other improvements, but the increase is not enough to restore the value of food stamps to what it was in 1995.
The California Association of Food Banks is asking people concerned about nutrition for low-income people to call their senators and representatives (find the numbers of their district offices in the blue section of your phone book under U.S. Government) and leave them a message asking for:
- A $5.6 billion increase in food stamp funding, to restore benefits to the 1995 level
- An increase in the amount of benefits per family
- An increase in the amount of assets families can have and still receive food stamps
- An increase in funds for emergency foods
For info: Kim Wade, California Association of Food Banks, 510-274-4435, www.cafoodbanks.org
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Kids’ needs penciled out
At the September meeting of the Children’s Advocates Roundtable, convener Ed Howard, policy advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Institute, presented a list of budget items that Governor Schwarzenegger had “blue-penciled”—eliminated or reduced—and pointed out that many were for programs that benefit kids. A few examples:
- $15 million for outreach for county health insurance programs
- $15.4 million for a program that would allow Medi-Cal applicants to “self-certify” their eligibility
- $12 million for Medi-Cal mental health programs
- $10 million from Expanded Access to Primary Care, funds for safety-net health care providers
- $5 million from extended day programs for children attending state preschool
- $2.8 million for foster kids to locate their siblings and to prevent ID theft.
Those items add up to about $60 million.
“Unique among almost every interest represented in Sacramento, children cannot vote and cannot give to campaigns,” Howard said. “Thus, in the power politics that determine what gets cut, children come out the losers.” By contrast, for example, the state provides about $45 million in tax breaks for yacht purchases.
The conclusion: Advocates for children need to build a stronger movement capable of making sure that kids’ needs are met.
For information about the Children’s Advocate Roundtable: Children’s Advocacy Institute, 916-444-3875, www.caichildlaw.org
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Grassroots survey on CA schools
Action: Four leading educational justice organizations surveyed 5,600 people in low- and moderate-income communities in California to help create an agenda for public schools.
Background: Last spring, Stanford University issued a comprehensive report detailing the serious problems in California public schools. Governor Schwarzenegger says he will make 2008 the “year of education reform.”
To make sure the voices of parents, students, and community members are heard in debates over education, Parents and Students for Great Schools, a coalition of California ACORN, PICO California, Californians for Justice, and Public Advocates, conducted a survey in 25 counties from San Diego to Colusa. They found that:
- Almost all (86%) of the people who responded said they would be willing to pay more taxes to improve public education
- Almost all (90%) of the parents and 62% of the students said they were concerned about high dropout rates among low-income students and students of color
- The two most important spending priorities people listed were
- providing qualified and effective teachers
- providing more support for students, such as counseling and tutoring.
For info: Corina Vasaure, ACORN, 510-866-5117, caaisj@aisj.org; Solomon Rivera, 323-899-6794, solomon@caljustice.org; Roberta Furger, PICO, 510-703-6357, roberta@picocalifornia.org; John Affeldt, 415-595-9563, jaffeldt@publicadvocates.org.
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Tools for advocacy
The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics
This new book by UC Berkeley professor David Kirp tells the story of the movement for universal preschool by describing classrooms, interviewing experts, activists, and political leaders. Kirp presents evidence that preschool helps all kids, not just those from poor families, achieve their potential and provides backup for the economic argument—that paying for quality preschool can help save us from paying for unemployment, crime, and emergency rooms later. Published by Harvard University Press. $26.95.
U.S. Justice Department report: Quality after-school program reduces crime
A new report prepared by UCLA’s National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST), shows that children who attend afterschool with LA’s BEST are less likely to commit juvenile crime. The study also found that for every $1 invested in the LA’s BEST program, Los Angeles saves $2.50 in crime-related costs. To find the report, go to www.calsac.org, click on “News and Events,” and scroll down to Sept. 7.
NCCP’s Family Resource Simulator
is now available for California. The simulator shows the impact of federal and state work support policies—such as child care assistance and public health insurance—on the budgets of low- to moderate-income families in California cities and counties. www.nccp.org/tools/frs
Preschool Services Under the IDEA
The National Center on Learning Disabilities has published a “parent advocacy brief” with questions and answers for parents about getting help for preschool-age children with disabilities. It describes services available and children’s and parents’ rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Download at www.ncld.org/images/stories/
downloads/parent_center/preschool_brief.pdf or call 212-545-7510.
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