ARVoices Blog Feed

Congress breaks promise, votes against working families

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:15:27 -0500

Leaders in the United States House of Representatives went back on their word last night.

Last summer, Congress and the President agreed on a deficit reduction deal that would force equal cuts in defense spending and domestic programs. But yesterday, while you were sitting down to dinner with your family, House leadership pushed a bill through that would dramatically cut feeding programs like SNAP and Meals on Wheels, eliminate hundreds of thousands of kids from basic health coverage, and ensure millionaires continue to enjoy record tax breaks while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet every month.

Congress broke its promise to you, to me, and to the people of Arkansas and the country by cutting programs that help working families in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy and connected. They cut out the middle class but maintained funding for defense contractors and private companies. Rather than splitting the cuts - $100 billion each - this House leadership saved defense completely and TRIPLED the cuts to domestic programs that support the middle class. That's right. They want you and me to shoulder a $300 billion burden and ask nothing of the defense department or the wealthiest corporations and families in the country.

As if breaking the deal wasn't bad enough, members of Congress have targeted programs that directly impact kids. With more than 20 percent of Arkansas children living in poverty and even more struggling with food insecurity, Congress decided to cut funding to programs that lift families out of poverty and create chances for economic security. More than 15,000 kids are on the waiting list for subsidized child care, but Congress decided to cut funding for that program. That means fewer options for working moms and dads, potentially taking them out of the workforce altogether.

Tell Congress that you believe a deal is a deal. In Arkansas we still put a premium on trust. A person's word is his or her bond. Unfortunately the House leadership doesn't believe that. They believe they can change the deal while you aren't looking.

Congressmen Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin, and Steve Womack all voted with their party leaders to violate the deal they agreed to in August of last year. Congressman Mike Ross voted to keep his word. They all need to know that you know how they voted. You need to make sure others in your own network know, too.

Please take time to share this with five of your friends today. Talk about it with your friends and family. And be sure to tell your Congressman that you know how he voted. If you agree that breaking a promise sets a bad example and violates your trust, let him know. If you live in Mr. Ross's district, take time to thank him for keeping his word.

Kellams Named Honorary Social Worker of the Year

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:15:54 -0500

AACF Northwest Arkansas Director Laura Kellams will be named Honorary Social Worker of the Year by the social work department at the University of Arkansas. Nobody works harder as an advocate for kids and families than Laura, and we could not be more proud. Below is the text of the letter from Leah Hamilton, PhD, MSW, a visiting professor at U of A.

In May, the Social Work department will host our annual ceremony for graduating MSW students. At this ceremony, we present student awards and we also honor an Honorary Social Worker of the Year. Each year, the faculty choose a non-Social Work community member who actively espouses our professional values and is a strong advocate for social justice. This year, our faculty has unanimously voted to choose you as our Honorary Social Worker. One faculty stated, "Although a journalist by training, Laura's heart is clearly that of a social worker. She exhibits the best of what social workers are: Caring, concerned, and committed to children and families who are the most vulnerable members of society. Laura has been a tireless and fearless leader on myriad issues affecting the citizens of Arkansas. She has raised awareness on many issues affecting our state, including poverty, income inequality and child maltreatment. She also has a strong interest in advocating for policy changes that would positively impact the citizens of our state."

We hope you are available to attend the awards ceremony on Friday May 11th from 5:30 to 6:30 in Giffels Auditorium.
Thank you for your commitment to Arkansans. Our department deeply appreciates our relationship with you and with Arkansas Advocates.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Arkansas should ensure every student has the resources needed to succeed

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:27:36 -0500

All children can learn and excel in school if they have the opportunity and the resources needed to be successful. A new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families urges the state of Arkansas to commit to making sure all children - no matter their background or zip code - have access to the same educational opportunities. These recommendations are part of what could become a Student Bill of Rights, guaranteeing every student the Opportunity to Learn. The Arkansas Public Policy Panel, the Arkansas Citizens First Congress, and the Arkansas Opportunity to Learn Campaign have endorsed the report.

See the full version, or the executive summary.

In Arkansas, as well as other states, an achievement gap - a marked difference in educational achievement and test scores - exists between white and minority students, and between affluent and low-income students. To close that gap, every child in this state should have access to high-quality preschool programs, experienced and effective teachers, college prep courses, and classrooms that give them all the tools they need to learn - computers, tutors, mentors, low student/teacher ratios, libraries, and guidance counselors.

"The expectations for our students are always really high," says Rich Huddleston, executive director of AACF. "If we're going to expect a lot from our students, and judge how well they perform based on standardized tests, then we need to make sure they have the tools and resources necessary to succeed. And there are certain things students and parents should be able to expect from the state when it comes to education."

Modeled after a 2002 proposal in the California legislature and the National Opportunity To Learn Campaign, an Arkansas Student Bill of Rights would define what parents and students could expect from their school districts:

• a clear statement of the academic standards that define what students are expected to know and the basic conditions for learning that students can expect from the educational system;
• adequate materials and resources;
• suitable learning facilities;
• high-quality teachers and counselors;
• a course of study that will enable all students who wish to attend a public university to do so;
• a safe school environment;
• fair and authentic assessment that is used to measure and improve the quality of education the students receive;
• instruction which incorporates students' home language (which research shows to be a worthwhile investment of time and resources);
• easily understood information on the performance of the school in delivering these things;
• regular public forums to allow students and parents to communicate about their experience;
• and increased access to high-quality early childhood education.

Sarah Argue, the report's author, says the idea behind the Opportunity To Learn campaign is that children from poorer communities should have the same opportunities and resources to achieve success as children from more affluent areas.

"More resources can make a difference," Argue says. "The state should do the best it can to make sure all children have equal opportunities. A Student Bill of Rights would formalize that commitment and build on improvements Arkansas has made in education in recent years."

The landmark Lakeview Case laid out a funding formula to make our education system more equitable. But that system is failing Arkansas kids as the achievement gap persists. As a result of Lakeview, the state constitution guarantees an adequate education to its citizens. Its courts have enforced that guarantee. Its legislature has committed to funding the formula. It is now time to be clear about what inputs are necessary to obtain an adequate education. A Student Bill of Rights communicates the assurance from the state that all students will be provided with the opportunity for academic success.

It's Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:43:08 -0500

"Prevention Works. Treatment is Effective. People Recover." So goes this year's slogan for Mental Health Awareness Month. May 9th is a special day in that month - it's Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. Today, advocates, families, children, and youth come together to show their support for comprehensive and effective approaches to children's mental health services. It's part of the greater effort throughout the month of May to raise awareness of mental illness and the need for services throughout the state.

In 2009, more than a quarter of Arkansas youth reported feeling sad or hopeless, and 12% attempted suicide. Efforts around the state to expand community-based services, establish family networks, and reform the children's mental health system are ensuring that children and their families receive the support they need. Arkansas's System of Care is helping facilitate coordinated, community-based team approaches to involve a range of partners in ensuring children and families receive the treatment and supports they need to recover.

The fact that this year's slogan mentions prevention and treatment is timely given some of the big changes going on in the health system in Arkansas. As entire families are able to access health coverage through the Medicaid expansion and Health Insurance Exchanges called for in the Affordable Care Act, whole families can receive preventive services and be treated together to improve long-term outcomes. The ACA also puts protections in place to make sure that mental health is covered equivalently to physical health conditions.

Despite these gains, potential challenges lie ahead. As the legislature debates how to manage a looming Medicaid budget shortfall in the upcoming 2013 session, advocates must work to make sure a full range of physical and mental health services for Arkansas's most vulnerable children and youth are maintained.

You can come out to show your support for mental health awareness this Friday, May 11th at 11 a.m. on the Capitol steps as Governor Beebe declares that day "Mental Health Awareness Day" in Arkansas. The Mental Health Council of Arkansas, the Division of Behavioral Health Services, and other behavioral health partners will be there showing their support. Hope to see you there!

Health Care Advocacy Having a Positive Impact on Kids

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:45:39 -0500

According to a new report from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Mathematica Policy Research, advocacy organizations in twelve states have reduced the number of uninsured children over the past four years.

You can read the full report here or get a good summary here, thanks to the Georgetown Center for Children and Families.

Despite a severe recession, ever-more polarized government, and a country divided over the idea of health care reform, organizations including Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families have rolled with the punches to continue the push for all children to have health coverage. With the help of grants from the Packard Foundation, Arkansas moved toward the Finish Line by helping thousands more children get coverage through ARKids First.

This evaluation highlights some of the strategies that were successful when navigating an unpredictable path to policy change. With the help of technical assistance from the policy wonks at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families and communication experts at Spitfire Strategies, "grantees adapted their advocacy techniques to respond effectively to the unprecedented changes seen in the children's coverage policy landscape over the past several years. The findings confirm the continued importance of the strategies described in the two briefs developed earlier in this project and highlight the ways advocates effectively adapted these strategies to navigate the changing environment."

Strong relationships, new partnerships, expanded policy research, new areas of expertise (such as the Affordable Care Act), unique strategies for driving policy change, and effective communication helped Arkansas and other states highlight the importance of covering all kids. Check out the report to see great stories and quotes about AACF's work!

Child Poverty Rate in Chicot County over 50 percent

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:20:54 -0500

Earlier this spring we released a report that tracked our state's frustratingly-high child poverty rate. For years we have been struggling in Arkansas to make sure more kids are raised in an environment that provides them with a chance to succeed. Unfortunately, children raised in poverty don't fare as well as their more affluent peers who are raised in more stable environments.

To say that our 2012 Arkansas Child Poverty Update did not contain much good news would be a charitable description. According to the report, the child poverty rate in Arkansas has grown by over two-percent during the past ten years. For minority children and single-parent households it is astronomical, further weakening a class of children that has historically struggled to establish wealth and prosperity on a large scale.

There was one particular stat in that report that should leave all of us shaking our heads in shame, embarrassed that we cannot do more. In Chicot County, an area right in the heart of the Delta that is consistently struggling to create sustainable jobs, a little over half the children live in poverty. Remember, there's a big difference between living in poverty and being poor. Living in poverty means that a family of four must sustain itself on less than $24,000 per year. And half the kids in Chicot County live in those conditions.

If that isn't troubling enough, consider this: if you take a look at children under the age of five, more than SEVENTY percent of them live in poverty in Chicot County.

This is quite shocking, even in a state that struggles with poverty.

Child poverty affects us all - not just the ones dealing with it every day. The entire state does better if the child poverty rate in every county falls. There is a compelling argument to be made that our financial prosperity and economic development as a state depend on all 75 counties producing families with higher incomes. But 70% of children under five years old living in poverty is a moral failure. Each of us bears some responsibility for this. The good news is that we all have a chance to help right this wrong.

Please join Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families this summer in our 2012 Kids Campaign. Learn about what it's like to be a low-income kid in Arkansas. Find out how you can be a better advocate for them. And ask your lawmakers and candidates for office this year how they plan to address these alarmingly high poverty rates.

Get involved. Be a voice for these kids that have no vote.

If you would like to get involved in the 2012 Kids Campaign, please email our Outreach Director, Brett Kincaid, at bkincaid@aradvocates.org.

Invest in Children, Invest in the Future

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:47:35 -0500

Growing up is difficult. Questions abound while answers seem scarce. Virtually every decision a child makes is dependent in some form or fashion upon the willingness of an adult to grant permission. From what clothes to wear to what food to eat, kids need guidance - even if they don't believe they do - from adults in their lives.

But what about the kids that have very little guidance? What of the kids who, rather than complain about having to eating their vegetables, simply hope for a warm meal at the end of the day? Who care more about having clean clothes that won't embarrass them rather than the latest designer jeans? Who speaks up for those children that have no voice?

You do. I do. A community of caring adults does.

During the month of May we want to take time to focus on children. We always say we work on their behalf, but sometimes as adults we get so lost in arguments with other adults that we fail to remember why we really argue in the first place. For advocates like us the saying isn't trite: it really is about the kids.

Each of us has a mind full of childhood memories. As adults, though, it's often impossible to fully understand what it's like to be a kid in Arkansas right now. The schools we attended are no longer the same. The neighborhoods where we were raised have undergone significant changes. Statistically speaking, it's likely you no longer live in the same town where you were raised. What about the community where you currently live? What do you really know about being a kid there? About being poor, minority, or marginalized in some way because of social status?

For the next 30 days we hope to take you on a journey down Memory Lane while pointing out the current plight of the average low-income Arkansas child. As we settle into the summer and hear politicians of all stripes talk about what he or she wants to do "for the children" let's be sure to understand what exactly it is to be one of those kids. By putting ourselves in their shoes we may actually be able to ask the right questions and propose some good ideas that may benefit the children politicians profess to want to help.

Please join us this summer and through the fall on our 2012 Kids Campaign. We need to come together and provide a strong voice on behalf of the kids in Arkansas. Each of us have benefited from investments made by adults while we were kids. Those investments allowed us to grow up to be the people we are today. The kids in Arkansas need us to provide that same leadership and planning on their behalf. Let's all commit to speaking up on their behalf and to Vote for Kids in the 2012 elections.

If you would like to get involved in the 2012 Kids Campaign, please email our Outreach Director, Brett Kincaid, at bkincaid@aradvocates.org.

Budget Cuts Mean More than Politics to Abused Children

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:55:03 -0500

LITTLE ROCK - Today, the Arkansas Department of Human Services announced cuts to state programs that help abused children. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families says the cuts, resulting from a $2.2 million cut in federal Temporary Assistance For Needy Families funding, prove once again that budget cuts - the talk of the town among some in Washington, D.C. - mean cuts in services for those who need them most.

According to DHS, the cuts would affect funding for the DHS Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) used to conduct child maltreatment investigations. Two vital child welfare programs that will prevent more children from entering foster homes will be eliminated. The Human Services Workers in Schools Program, which provided family and student counseling, parent training and crisis intervention services to 15,249 students last year is now gone. Funding for Family Resource Centers, which educate parents about child development and teach them how to deal with their children's behavior, will be eliminated as well. Family Resource Centers served over 11,448 families last year.

The State Police Crimes Against Children Division will also lose some funding although the agency intends to fill the gaps by shuffling around funds from elsewhere in the State Police budget, potentially leaving other programs at risk. The cuts will take effect July 1, 2012.

Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF), says that as we reduce prevention services like the two programs eliminated by DCFS today, we will begin to see even more children enter the foster care system.

"As funding becomes tight, we need to look at the state budget, including the TANF budget, and make sure we protect our top priority - the health, well-being and safety of our children," Huddleston said. "The state has very tough choices to make in the short-term as funding is cut that will affect the long-term needs of our children. As caseloads of DCFS workers increase, the safety of our children will be in jeopardy."

DCFS Director Cecile Blucker said in the DHS release that these programs have played an important role in preventing child abuse. The release also said that more cuts are anticipated in 2014. If that were to happen, DCFS would not be able to manage the 34,000 child maltreatment investigations it currently handles. If DCFS were to sustain further cuts in the future, the outlook for children suffering from maltreatment is not good. According to the release, "DCFS likely would request state legislators to remove some lower risk allegations from the Child Maltreatment Act to cut down on the number of investigations. Those would include inadequate food, clothing and shelter for children age six and older, inadequate supervision of children age 9 and older, environmental and educational neglect, and some cases of medical neglect." Some categories might be removed completely.

"We saw this happen 10 years ago with a budget shortfall and DCFS has only begun to recover from it recently as they have been able to hire more workers and put new programs in place that addressed prevention of child maltreatment," Jennifer Ferguson, deputy director for AACF said. "We need to make sure that children remain our top priority and see that their needs are adequately addressed in the next legislative session."

Public safety - Funded by our tax dollars

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:06:56 -0500

There are probably a lot of things that are funded by our tax dollars that you wouldn't want to give up. One of those things is public safety, and, in particular, your local fire department. In this video, Little Rock Fire Department Public Information Officer Randy Hickmon talks about the things LRFD is able to do with your tax dollars: namely, keep you safe.

For a related point of view, check out this editorial in the Detroit News. It was penned by the president of the Michigan League for Human Services, Gilda Jacobs.

While there's much disagreement about taxes, we can agree that we need clean drinking water, we need to know fire trucks will come when called and we need safe highways. These are all possible because of tax dollars. So as we near April 17, please pause to appreciate those firefighters, police officers and teachers who are helping us and all the services we enjoy all year.

Head Start - Funded by our tax dollars

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:02:30 -0500

As Tax Day approaches (it's the 17th this year), it's important to remember all the things that are done with our tax dollars to make our communities stronger. In the video above, Arkansas Head Start Collaboration Director Jackie Dedman talks about the importance of early child care, health, and education.