Studies in the News: Children and Family Supplement is a service provided to the California Children and Families Commission (CCFC) by the State Library's Research Bureau and State Information and Reference Center. The service features weekly lists of current articles focusing on Children and Family policy. Prior lists can be viewed from the California State Library's Web Catalog by selecting the Special Resources link on the opening page at www.lib.state.ca.us.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• Items in the State Library collection can be checked out to state officials and staff.

• Access to all materials listed will be provided by the State Information Reference Center, either by e-mail to cslsirc@library.ca.gov or by calling 654-0261.

ECONOMY

MEDIA

Fall Colors 2001-2002: Prime Time Diversity Report. By McCrae A. Parker and others, Children Now. (Children Now, Oakland, California) April 2002. 48 p.

Full Text at: www.childrennow.org/media/fc2002/fc-2002-report.pdf

["Despite stated commitments for greater on-screen diversity, this annual study of television diversity shows that the broadcast networks have made minimal progress in presenting a more diverse prime time picture. In several key areas, networks lost ground, particularly in sitcoms and the 8 o'clock hour."]

[Request #S5062]

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EDUCATION

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Low-Performing Schools. By Kirstin Craciun and Ravay Snow-Renner. No Child Left Behind Policy Brief. Education Commission of the States (The Commission, Denver, Colorado) 2002. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/35/19/3519.pdf

["This brief explores strategies states can use to help improve the lowest performing schools including requiring an improvement plan from the school, district, state or a designated entity; providing onsite expertise to schools, encouraging data use, identifying promising practices or promoting early learning." Connect for Kids (May 13, 2002).]

[Request #S5063]

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"Accountability" versus Science in the Bilingual Education Debate. By James Crawford, Education Policy Studies Laboratory, Arizona State University. (The Laboratory, Tempe, Arizona) 2002. 9 p.

Full Text at: www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/LPRU/features/article3.htm

["In this age of tying accountability to standardized test scores, it has been difficult to determine that the test scores of students with limited English proficiency accurately reflect how well they have mastered their academic subjects. A bilingual education expert says LEP students' scores on English-only tests are misleading and that the goals of quick accountability and rigorous science are on a collision course, with the potential to do serious harm." Connect for Kids (May 20, 2002).]

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A "Noble Bet" in Early Care and Education: Lessons From One Community's Experience. By Brian P. Gill and others. (RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California) 2002. 146 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1544/

["The Early Childhood Initiative (ECI), an ambitious effort launched in Pittsburgh in 1996 to provide high-quality early care and education services to at-risk children, failed to achieve its goals, although participating children may have derived substantial benefits from it. This report summarizes ECI's organizational history, analyzes and explains its critical weaknesses, and articulates lessons to inform the design and implementation of future large-scale reform initiatives."]

[Request #S5065]

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Connections and Commitments: A Latino Based Framework for Early Childhood Educators. By Costanza Eggers-Pierola, Center for Children and Families, Education Development Center, Inc. (The Center, Newton, Massachusetts) 2002. 40 p.

Full Text at: www.edc.org/CCF/latinos/HTMLobj-136/Connections_and_Commitments.pdf

["This framework is organized around four values in Latino culture: familia (family), pertenencia (belonging), educación (education), and compromiso (commitment). It discusses the implications of these values on early childhood practice, and is intended to generate conversations among practitioners, trainers, and support systems about culturally and linguistically responsive practices for working with Latino families."]

[Request #S5066]

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A Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development; Ready to Read, Ready to Learn: A Call to Leadership. Little Rock, Arkansas, April 30, 2002. Sponsored by the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation Little Rock, and others. (U.S. Department of Education, Bethesda, Maryland) 2002. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/earlychildhood/summit/index.html

["The premise behind the summit is the belief that the way to reduce and eliminate the achievement gap and to prepare all young children for school is not to attempt to bring what works or what we think works for older kids into preschool environments. Rather a major goal is to gather and disseminate the best evidence about the social interactions and educational strategies that lay the most solid cognitive, social, emotional, and motivational foundations that prepare all kids to undertake the challenging tasks of learning that will meet them upon entry into school."]

[Request #S5068]

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Teaching Our Youngest: A Guide for Preschool Teachers & Child Care & Family Providers. Prepared by the Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force, U. S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy Start, Grow Smart Series. (U.S. Department of Education, Bethesda, Maryland) 2002. 48 p.

Full Text at: www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/teachingouryoungest/teachingyoungest.pdf

["This booklet draws from scientifically based research about what can be done to help children to develop their language abilities, increase their knowledge, become familiar with books and other printed materials, learn letters and sounds, recognize numbers and learn to count."]

[Request #S5069]

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Title I in California: Will the State Pass the Test? Report of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights. Edited by Dianne M. Piche and William L Taylor. (The Commission, Washington, DC) 2002. 74 p.

Full Text at: www.cccr.org/California.pdf

["California's failure to comply with several Title I laws ... puts the state in jeopardy of losing $1.5 billion in annual funding .... [The report] cites problems with the STAR program because of its reliance on the SAT 9 ... [and] calls into question the state's exclusion of about 900,000 students and the state's noncompliance with Title I laws that require non-English speaking students be tested in their native language if appropriate ... officials say information in critique is outdated." Contra Costa Times (May 16, 2002) A4.]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

TAXES

Making Care Less Taxing: Improving State Child and Dependent Care Tax Provisions. By Elisabeth Hirschhorn Donahue, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, and Nancy Duff Campbell, The National Women’s Law Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) 2002. AND, Making the Grade for Care. By The National Women's Law Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) 2002.

["This report outlines how state policy makers and advocates can develop the best tax policies for families who must pay for costly child and adult dependent care in order to be gainfully employed."]

The Report, 45 p. :
http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/MakingCareLessTaxing2002.pdf

["This report card grades states on the tax assistance they provide to families with these care expenses. Although nine states improved their child and dependent care tax assistance since 1998, the majority of states still fail to provide the support that families need to remain in the labor force and care for children, aging parents or other dependents."]

The Report Card, 4 p. :
http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/MakingTheGradeForCare2002.pdf

[Request #S5072]

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HEALTH

ACCESS TO CARE

Women's Health in the United States: Health Coverage and Access to Care. By Alina Salganicoff, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and others. Kaiser's Women Health Survey. (The Foundation, Menlo Park, California) (May 2002). 63 p.

Full Text at: www.kff.org/content/2002/6027/Womens_Survey.pdf

["[This report] presents key findings from a ... survey on women's health. This nationally representative telephone survey, administered to 3,966 women ages 18 to 64 in the spring and summer of 2001, examined women's experiences with their health plans and providers, with an emphasis on the experiences of low-income women, racial and ethnic minorities, and women in poor health. A smaller survey of 700 men was conducted for comparison purposes." National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, MCH Alert (May 17, 2002).]

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Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes in the United States: A Blueprint for Policy Action. By Marielena Lara and others. (RAND Health, Santa Monica, California) 2002. 114 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1330/MR1330.pdf

["This report describes a set of policy recommendations to promote the development and maintenance of communities in which children with asthma can be swiftly diagnosed, effectively treated, and protected from exposure to harmful environmental factors. The intent of this blueprint is to provide inspiration for innovative ways to strengthen the collaboration among local and national leaders in order to translate national policies into local practices."]

[Request #S5074]

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The Multiple Dimensions of Child Abuse and Neglect: New Insights into an Old Problem. By Rosemary Chalk and others. Child Trends Research Brief (Child Trends, Washington, DC) May 2002. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.childtrends.org/PDF/ChildAbuseRB.pdf

["This research brief points out serious gaps in our knowledge base of abused and neglected children and recommends ways to improve the scope and quality of information on some of the nation’s most vulnerable children. With information on key aspects of child development, decision-makers are better-equipped to improve long-term prospects for abused and neglected children."]

[Request #S5076]

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Preventing Teenage Pregnancy, Childbearing, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: What the Research Shows. By Jennifer Manlove and others. Child Trends Research Brief. (Child Trends, Washington, DC) May 2002. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.childtrends.org/PDF/K1Brief.pdf

["This brief is based on an extensive review of research studies on adolescent reproductive health to identify the specific strategies that contribute to delay teen sexual activity, reduce the likelihood of adolescent pregnancy and birth and lower the chances of teens acquiring sexually transmitted diseases."]

[Request #S5079]

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County Health Status Profiles 2002. By the California Conference of Local Health Officers, Department of Health and Human Services. (The Department, Sacramento, California) 2002. 80 p.

Full Text at: www.dhs.ca.gov/hisp/chs/phweek/cprofile2002/Profile2002.pdf

[The rate of teenagers giving birth in California dropped 4.2% from 1999 to 2000 and 31.3% during the last decade, mirroring a national trend of teenagers having less sex and using more contraceptives, health officials said.... There were 56,268 births to California mothers under the age of 20 in 2000." Los Angeles Times (April 4, 2002) A1.]

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HUMAN SERVICES

CHILD CARE

Getting and Retaining Child Care Assistance: How Policy and Practice Influence Parents' Experiences. By Gina Adams and others, The Urban Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) March 2002. 129 p.

Full Text at: www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310451.pdf

["This report looks beyond funding and eligibility issues to examine what additional factors might affect whether eligible parents who know they can get a subsidy actually use one. It examines those subsidy policies and practices that may affect the utilization patterns of eligible parents who want to apply for, or who already receive, subsidies. It also touches on some of the ways that these policies and practices may affect the willingness or the interest of parents to try to get subsidies."]

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The State of Children in America's Union: A 2002 Action Guide to Leave No Child Behind. By the Children's Defense Fund. (The Fund, Washington, DC) 2002. 100 p.

Full Text at: www.childrensdefense.org/pdf/minigreenbook.pdf

["This report assesses the state of children in the United States, how well the Bush administration has kept its promises to 'Leave No Child Behind®'; and calls for the increase in funding for quality child care to help more families work and 2 million more children get ready for school." HandsNet (May 10, 2002).]

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Kids Count 2002 Data Book Online: State Profiles of Child Well-Being. By the Annie E. Casey Foundation (The Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland) May 2002. 204 p.

Full Text at: www.aecf.org/kidscount/kc2002/pdfs/entire_book.pdf

["According to the data, more than 10 million children in America live in families that are having trouble making ends meet, let alone get ahead, despite the fact that at least one parent works all year. Overall, the Data Book shows significant progress in the well-being of American children in the 1990s. Of the 10 measures used to rank states, seven improved, two deteriorated, and one did not change."]

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Add It Up: Teen Parents and Welfare... Undercounted, Oversanctioned, Underserved. By Janellen Duffy and Jodie Levin-Epstein, Center for Law and Social Policy. (The Center, Washington, DC.) April 2002. 48 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/pubs/teens/AddItUp.pdf

["In July 2000, the Center undertook a survey to collect state data on teen parents who received TANF assistance. In addition to quantitative data, the survey sought insight and opinions from administrators of TANF teen parent programs about implementation. The survey found that teen parents in TANF appear undercounted, untracked, oversanctioned and underserved."]

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