Sharing Web Resources: Education Across the Map

NCCP

National Center for Children in Poverty Mailman School of Public Heath ..Columbia University......

http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_968.html 

"The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is the nation’s leading public policy center dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and well-being of America’s low-income families and children. NCCP uses research to inform policy and practice with the goal of ensuring positive outcomes for the next generation. We promote family-oriented solutions at the state and national levels.

Our vision:

• Family economic security
• Strong, nurturing families
• Healthy child development

Founded in 1989 as a division of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, NCCP is a nonpartisan, public interest research organization."

Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Young Children in the Child Welfare System

What Every Policymaker Should Know

Authors: Janice L. Cooper, Patti Banghart, and Yumiko Aratani

Publication Date: September 2010more: This is one of the website/resources I am following and i chose to look in on the issue of "Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Young Children in the Child Welfare System".  It is noted that children who experience abuse and neglect early own, have great change of experiencing some sort of mental health issues as adults.   This particular article speaks about the children who are in the social service program, and how though it aims to meet the needs of the children it serves; in most cases very few of the social services programs have met the goals of addressing the mental Health areas affecting children.  This was important to me, because just to today i was sadden by some of the articles surfacing about the mom who took her two  kids into social service and shot them and herself , after being repeatedly denied social service.  I cannot even imagine what those children thought as their own mom, who loved them proceeded to take their lives.  If they had survived their mental state would have been in question, because they endured a horrible journey to death.  Children are being used as scapegoats for reason of poverty, and failure, and their lives are being destroyed daily, some even killed.  There is a major break down and our children need us to do more listening than talking, because if we open our ears and we open our eyes, then we will see the horrible pictures that surround them on a daily bases.

Actual Story

Mother denied welfare benefits shoots her children then kills herself

December 7, 2011  A US woman denied welfare benefits has killed herself and shot her two children after a seven-hour stand-off at a government social services office.  The children, a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, are in a critical condition, Texas police investigator Joe Baeza said.  The stand-off began about 5pm on Monday.  Mr Baeza said the woman was speaking to two employees when she pulled out a gun and said she wanted to speak to a supervisor. When the supervisor arrived, he convinced her to let the employees go in exchange for keeping him.  Meanwhile, about 25 other people were moved to safety, police said.  Police negotiators stayed on the phone with the woman throughout the evening, but she kept hanging up. She let the supervisor go unharmed about 7.45pm, but stayed inside the office with her children.  After hanging up the phone about 11.45pm, police heard three shots, and a SWAT team entered the building. Inside, they found her body and her two wounded children.  The 38-year-old woman had recently moved to the area from Ohio. She told negotiators about a litany of complaints against state and federal government agencies. It sounded as if she had been denied services several months ago, Mr Baeza said, but it wasn't clear what triggered Monday's stand-off.  "This wasn't like a knee-jerk reaction," Mr Baeza said, adding that the woman felt she was owed restitution of some sort.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/mother-denied-welfare-benefits-shoots-her-children-then-kills-herself-20111207-1ohqy.html#ixzz1jU

The Harlem Children's Zone

Harlem Children's Zone, Inc. has experienced incredible growth - from the number of children we serve to the breadth of our services. But one thing has stayed the same: the agency's "whatever it takes" attitude when it comes to helping children to succeed.

The organization began 1970 as Rheedlen, working with young children and their families as the city's first truancy-prevention program.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the crack epidemic tore through Harlem; open-air drug markets flourished while families disintegrated. While many inside and outside Harlem gave up hope, HCZ's staff believed that new approaches were necessary.

In 1991, the agency was among the first in the city to open a Beacon center. Our Countee Cullen Community Center turned a public school that used to shut its door at the end of the school day into a community center offering a range of services and activities on nights, weekends and summers.

In the 1990s, to help keep local schools safe, the Peacemakers program began placing AmeriCorps participants in classrooms. These young people were a welcome presence assisting teachers during the school day and then running programs after school.

The beginning of the Children's Zone^®

In the early 1990s, HCZ ran a pilot project that brought a range of support services to a single block. The idea was to address all the problems that poor families were facing: from crumbling apartments to failing schools, from violent crime to chronic health problems.

HCZ created a 10-year business plan, then to ensure its best-practice programs were operating as planned, HCZ was in the vanguard of nonprofits that began carefully evaluating and tracking the results of their work. Those evaluation results enabled staff to see if programs were achieving their objectives and to take corrective actions if they were not.

In 1997, the agency began a network of programs for a 24-block area: the Harlem Children's Zone Project. In 2007, the Zone Project grew to almost 100 blocks. Today the Children's Zone^®serves more than 8,000 children and 6,000 adults. Overall, the organization serves more than 10,000 children and more than 7,400 adults.  The FY 2010 budget for the agency overall is over $75 million.

This organization really touched my heart, because it reaches out to all that are need to advance the family, the children and provide them with the skills needed to succeed.  I especially liked the video insert about "Transforming Public Housing".  Basically the founder, sought to educate herself and return to do the work in the Harlem communities.  Dissatisfied with the outcome of children seeking much needed services, she decide to bring the services to them. The children get help with homework, they educate them on issues affect them today, they have access to art, music, cooking etc, all of which is free.   What makes this organization  unique,  is that it did not accept failure, but rather, met the needs of the children/families head on.  The Harlem Children's Zone goes the extra mile, to save America's children.

I think all the Harlem Children's Zone, and the NCCP are direct example of the topic for this week, which is:  Changing Demographics and Diversity.  The organizations are trying to transform the mind, the environment and opportunities for children and families it serves/educates.

The Mission Statement of the CAYC:

"The CAYC exists to provide a voice on critical issues related to the quality of life of all young children and families.

What is the CAYC?

"The Canadian Association for Young Children (CAYC) was granted it's Federal Charter in 1974. To this day, the CAYC is the only national association specifically concerned with the well being of children, birth through age nine - at home, in preschool settings and at school.

Members of this multi-disciplinary association include parents, teachers, caregivers, administrators, students and all those wishing to share ideas and participate in activities related to the education and welfare of young children.

The Aim of CAYC:

 To influence the direction and quality of policies and programs that affects the development and well being of young children in Canada.

 To provide as forum for the members of Canada’s early childhood communities to support one another in providing developmentally appropriate programs for young children.

 To promote and provide opportunities for professional development for those charged with the care and education of young children.

 To promote opportunities for effective liaison and collaboration with all those responsible for young children.

 To recognize outstanding contributions to the well being of young children.

 To recognize outstanding contributions to the well being of young children."

Recent issues of interest to me are their educational links which cover everything from child abuse, to eduating parents and childcare providers on how to teach and invest in children.