Missouri Children's Trust Fund

Grants to Expand Early Childhood Care Announced

Governor Matt Blunt has announced that the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) Children’s Division awarded new grants to 13 early childhood facilities to begin or expand early childhood care.  The amount of new funding is $948,999 bringing the total amount the Children’s Division is providing to facilities to expand early childhood programs to $3,789,400 for this year.  This year’s grants will provide the recipients with the funding necessary to serve an additional 204 children from birth to age two.  Riverboat gaming fees provide a portion of the revenues for the grants.

Governor Announces Grant to Help Protect Missouri Families from Sex Offenders

Governor Matt Blunt announced that the state has received a $50,000 grant to enhance professional training for state law enforcement personnel working to protect Missourians from sex offenders. The federal grant was awarded to the Department of Corrections to develop an advanced curriculum focused on enforcing tough new legislation recently signed into law.

Baby Cribs Recalled after Infant Deaths

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled about 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs after three children became entrapped and suffocated.  In all three deaths, consumers had installed the drop-rail side of the crib upside down, the agency said. This creates a gap in the crib that children can slide into and suffocate.  Seven other infants have been entrapped in the cribs, according to the commission and there have been 55 reports of the cribs' drop sides detaching or the hardware failing to hold the side to the crib.  The recalled cribs were sold under the Simplicity or Graco brands, from January 1998 through May 2007 and involves multiple models and model numbers.

If you have one of the cribs cited in the recall, contact Simplicity at 1-888-593-9274 or simplicityforchildren.com to obtain a repair kit with new hardware. If the crib already has the newer hardware, check the crib's drop rail to ensure it is assembled right-side up.

Related articles:
[Jefferson City News Tribune]
[St. Louis Post Dispatch]

West Plains Man Charged with First-Degree Assault for Allegedly Shaking 17-Month-Old

Attorney General Jay Nixon filed one count of assault in the first degree against a West Plains man. The felony complaint alleges Brian Hawkins caused serious injury to a 17-month-old girl by shaking her in March 2006. The Attorney General’s Office was appointed as special prosecutor on the case after the Howell County prosecuting attorney recused himself from the matter because of a conflict of interest.  The statement further alleges that a pediatrician from St. Louis Children’s Hospital submitted an affidavit that stated the brain damage and hemorrhages suffered by the girl were characteristic of injuries caused by shaken baby syndrome. Assault in the first degree is a class A felony, punishable upon conviction by a prison sentence of no less than 10 years and no more than 30 years, or life imprisonment. [Read more]

Nurses For Newborns Founder Wins $100,000 Purpose Prize

Sharon Rohrbach, founder of Nurses For Newborns Foundation (NFNF), whose agency has won accolades from Oprah Winfrey to the White House, is one of five recipients of the $100,000 Purpose Prize given out by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank that honors baby boomers as "social innovators."  Rohrbach, along with the other award winners, will be honored during a ceremony at Stanford University in November.  NFNF, a Children's Trust Fund (CTF) prevention partner based in St. Louis, provides over 16,000 home visits annually to at risk children and their families using specialized registered nurses.  Rohrbach began the Foundation in 1989 with the first CTF grant being awarded in 1990. Since that time, NFNF has expanded into 27 Missouri counties and 21 counties in Tennessee.
[St. Louis Post Dispatch]
Nurses For Newborns video clip. 

Barceda Families Score Hole-In-One with Fundraiser

About 75 people gathered at the city park in Lamar last Sunday to watch 4,785 golf balls drop from a helicopter hovering about 100 feet above the baseball field. The second annual ball drop is a fund-raising effort to benefit Barceda Families, a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 as a result of a Children's Trust Fund community-based child abuse and neglect prevention grant.

With a staff of 11, Barceda Families serves southwest Missouri residents in Barton, Cedar, Dade, Hickory, Polk, Dallas and Vernon counties by providing parent support and other prevention, treatment, and intervention services.

Barceda also serves as a Children's Trust Fund license plate community marketing partner and is the recipient of a CTF prevention grant to provide mentoring to young moms in Dallas, Hickory, and Polk Counties.  According to Michelle Crockett, Assistant Director of Barceda Families, nearly $14,000 was raised to assist children and families, doubling last year's effort. [Joplin Globe]

Related article:  Lamar Democrat

Federal Child Porn Indictments on Record Pace

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway has stated that Project Safe Childhood, a national effort by the US Department of Justice to protect children from online exploitation and abuse, is having a positive effect in the effort to combat internet crimes against children. [Jefferson City News Tribune]

Meth Users Also Harming Their Children

Children who grow up in meth homes face health risks, including respiratory, dental and psychological problems, malnourishment and physical and emotional abuse.  That message was delivered during a recent presentation and discussion by the Jefferson County Methamphetamine Action Coalition in Hillsboro. The event included presentations by law enforcement and social services officials and a discussion about how to help children harmed by meth. [St. Louis Post Dispatch]

Missouri Mentoring Partnership Program Reaches Young Fathers

The Children's Trust Fund recently awarded a child abuse prevention grant to the Missouri Mentoring Partnership Young Parent Program to reach out to young fathers, providing them with educational and support activities that will help them learn to be responsible, nurturing parents. Included in the increased programming planned specifically for the dads will be “Dad’s Only” events that will combine social interaction with discussion on young fatherhood topics.
At every dads event will be mentors who are volunteers, trained and supported by the MMP, who are dedicated to being positive role models for the young parents and helping them succeed in achieving their parenting and life goals.   [Southeast Missourian] [Related Southeast Missourian Article]

Infant in Critical Condition; Mother Charged with Arson and Child Endangerment

Iberia woman accused of deliberately setting 6-month-old baby's blanket on fire.
[Lake Sun Leader]

Related link:  KRCG On-line