Missouri Children's Trust Fund

Governor Blunt addresses child advocacy rally

Governor Matt Blunt speaks to hundreds of people visiting the State Capitol to take part in Children's Advocacy Day. The Governor stressed his commitment to improved access to quality health care, Internet safety, and the importance of a world class education. Blunt's proposals have already been outlined in the budget he has submitted to the General Assembly. His children's initiatives include $214-Million for school funding, $3.9-Million to focus on diagnosis and improvements for autism treatment, and funding to strengthen Missouri version of Jessica's Law to better protect young children from Internet sexual predators. [AUDIO: Report by Missourinet's Steve Walsh :60 MP3]

Cape County children faring worse

Cape Girardeau County's children are faring worse than they did in 2001, according to the latest Missouri Kids Count report, released Thursday by Citizens for Missouri's Children.

The number of Cape Girardeau County children receiving free or reduced price lunches at school, the number born to mothers without high school diplomas and the number involved in child abuse or neglect cases were all up in 2005, the year the new ratings are based on, the child advocacy group reported. The good news is that generally the county is better off than most in the state, but the county's overall ranking fell from 25th last year to 30th this year. [Full story at Southeast Missourian]

Who is the typical school-age meth user?

Jamie Myers (Prevention Consultants of Missouri) points us to interesting data that clearly shows that teen meth users are primarily part of a group that is also abusing other substances such as marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco. It is also interesting to see that nearly 1/3 of the users believe their parents are okay with their use.

"The typical student user of methamphetamines is a 17-year old white male who lives with both parents, first tried meth at age 12.6 years, under performs in the classroom, and does not view the drug as harmful to the health, according to data collected by Pride Surveys from more than 3,000 self-reported users of meth in grades 6-12." More results from this survey.

Still on the topic of meth...Colleagues for Children have produced a useful guide titled: "Methamphetamine: What Child Welfare Workers Should Know" Download the guide (PDF)

Legislature asked to expand sex abuse prevention program

Two years ago, Missouri had almost ten-thousand reported cases of sex abuse or child neglect. Experts say only about half of the incidents are ever reported, and as many as one-third of the abuses occur before the child is 7. The legislature is being asked to expand statewide a sex abuse-prevention program from St.Louis.

The St.Louis Jewish Family and Childrens Services has a program that reaches 17-thousand children, teachers and parents each year. Spokesman H. Louis Albert says it's cheap..and it works. He says children aged 4-12 are told how to keep themselves from sexual abuse, abuduction and other threats. He says the programs are taught in a safe and non-threatening manner and cost less than ten dollars per child. He says that is far less expensives than the costs of treating victims of abuse later in their lives---or treating the children THEY abuse.

Albert says victims of childhood sexual abuse are six times more likely to abuse their own children than are people who have not been abused. He's urging the legislature to give the social services department money to contract with not-for-profit groups similar to his in other parts of Missouri. [AUDIO: Missourinet report :60 MP3]

Family Development Credential Program

UMKC - MidSouth Regional FDC is announcing the Spring 2007 Family Development Credentialing (FDC) Facilitators Institute. Brenda Bone will facilitate the four day institute February 26 - March 1, 2007  at The Resort at Port Arrowhead, Lake Ozark. Contact Brenda Bone for additional information. Complete and mail/email the online application to Brenda Bone by February 5, 2007.

Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Conference

"Be Aware Now" is the theme of the Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Conference, scheduled for March 14-16, 2007, at the Capitol Plaze Hotel in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The kick-off event for Child Abuse Prevention Month will cover a wide range of topics: Strengthening Families; Management/Fund Development/Grant Writing; Poverty Simulation; Sexual Abuse Prevention; Family Development Credentialing; Cultural Competency; and Internet Saftey.

Download/Print Conference Flyer (PDF)

Blunt announces plan to benefit youngest students

Gov. Matt Blunt today announced he will recommend a $2 million funding increase for the Parents as Teachers program which helps Missouri parents prepare their children for success in school.

“Education is my highest priority as Missouri’s Governor,” said Blunt. “Missouri is a leader in early childhood development and Parents as Teachers is a perfect example of an innovative program that is helping prepare our youngest generation to be tomorrow’s leaders.”

Missouri’s Parents as Teachers program has been recognized as the national standard for early childhood education programs. All Missouri families with children under the age of 3 are eligible to participate in the program.

Eight Missouri childcare facilities chosen for national program

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has announced that eight state early childhood facilities have been selected as pilot sites for the national Strengthening Families Initiative (SFI).  Missouri is one of only seven states selected by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) to participate in this new initiative geared toward preventing child abuse and neglect by utilizing early childhood education and child care programs as a vehicle for systematic prevention efforts. 

"When both parents must work, families need safe, quality care for their children,” said Paula Neese, Children’s Division Director.  “This new program will help early childhood facilities offer exemplary care for our youngest citizens and help families keep their children safe and better prepared to succeed in school."

Approximately 70 percent of all children under age six are in out-of-home care for at least part of the day. As a result it is increasingly important to educate early childhood professionals on the roles they play in protecting and nurturing young children and promoting their social and emotional development.

DSS' Children's Division, the Children's Trust Fund and several other early childhood and child welfare partners have selected the eight sites and will assist them in becoming SFI exemplary programs by increasing parental involvement and creating a family support system.  The eight facilities are: 

• Essential Care, Kansas City
• Operation Breakthrough, Kansas City
• Early Learning Center, Inc., Oran
• Children's Therapy, Sedalia
• Aunt Martha's, Sedalia
• Lasting Impressions, Smithton
• Grant Training Center/OACAC Head Start, Springfield
• South Side Day Nursery, St. Louis

Missouri Child Advocacy Day

Missouri’s Alliance for Children, Youth, and Families has been organizing Missouri Child Advocacy Day for more than 20 years to allow child and youth advocates an opportunity to show their support for children’s issues. Attendance at this event has continued to increase, with more than 800 people attending last year.

Design Guides

Jo Johnson at the Child Welfare League of America has shared information regarding a valuable resource they have developed - Design Guides. Each Design Guide contains information on collections of evidence-based programs and practices, online research information and some examples of research-based work - if any.

According to CWLA, each Guide contains eight topics with many subtopics and is in flash and excel format. The topics include: Child Care & Afterschool Services, Housing, Financial Security, Employment, Education, Health - Physical, Mental and Substance Abuse Treatment, Parent Support & family Structure and Safe Neighborhoods. The folks at CWLA gathered lots of information covering a wide range of topics in response to the needs of communities involved in Creating Parenting-Rich Communities that were looking for effective ways to support parents.

Each Design Guide relates to a different age range for children. When you open one of them, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to click on the tabs for each subject heading.

CWLA hopes to have a Process Guide on-line this spring that will look at building community capacity while providing supports for parents. [Thanks to Teresa Rafael at National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds]