PPN Newsletter October 2009
Listed below are recent updates to the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities website (http://www.promisingpractices.net).
WHAT'S NEW
The Effective Learning Program shown to increase the percentage of students graduating from high school
The Effective Learning Program (ELP) is a "school within a school," in which ELP students participate in a three-hour block of English, math, and humanities instruction taught by trained ELP teachers in a "family" or "team" atmosphere. A study conducted in Kentucky randomly assigned junior and senior high school students at high risk of dropping out based on grades, attendance, and learning disabilities to ELP or the control condition. The students assigned to ELP were more likely to graduate from high school, had higher standardized test scores, and improved on a number of measures of social interactions relative to those not assigned to ELP.
Read the The Effective Learning Program program summary See other programs related to students graduating from high school
Children's public health insurance program improves health care outcomes for low-income children
A new issue brief from the Child Health Insurance Research Initiative (CHIRI) titled What Has Been Learned About Expanding Children's Health Insurance?, describes some of the outcomes related to the implementation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This Federal-State program provides insurance coverage to low-income children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but lack private insurance. The brief reports that most SCHIP enrollees come from families with at least one full-time worker and that many enrollees are minority children and children with special health care needs. Findings suggest that, overall, SCHIP improved health care access for enrollees. After enrolling in SCHIP, more children had a regular source of care and used preventive care, fewer children had unmet health care needs, and families experienced higher satisfaction with care. After reading the brief, see the video of PPN's 2007 policy forum on Effective SCHIP Policy.
Read the issue brief at the CHIRI website See video of PPN's policy forum on Effective SCHIP Policy
Comprehensive national survey examines children's exposure to violence in the United States
A new report from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey, discusses findings from a survey examining children's exposure to violence in the home, school, and community. The survey is the first of its kind to attempt to comprehensively measure exposure to violence for children age 17 and younger across major categories including exposure to crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, and indirect victimization while witnessing family or community violence. This survey also sought to measure the cumulative exposure to violence over a child's lifetime. Results suggest that most children in the U.S. are exposed to violence in their daily lives, with more than 60 percent of the children surveyed having been exposed to violence within the past year. Nearly half of the children surveyed had been assaulted in the previous year, and nearly 1 in 10 witnessed one family member assaulting another. The report suggests that more research is needed to assess the effects of violence on the long-term health and well-being of children as well as strengthen efforts to reduce children's exposure to violence.
Read the report at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website
RESEARCH IN BRIEF
Listed below are research summaries that have been added to the PPN site this month.
See all in this area » Healthy and Safe Children
Availability of Less Nutritious Snack Foods and Beverages in Secondary Schools — Selected States, 2002-2008
— Oct. 2009
Report at Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC website
Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey
— Oct. 2009
From Paradox to Disparity: Trends in Neonatal Death in Very Low Birth Weight Non-Hispanic Black and White Infants, 1989-2004
— Oct. 2009
A Longitudinal Study of Maternal Depression and Child Maltreatment in a National Sample of Families Investigated by Child Protective Services
— Oct. 2009
Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California
— Sep. 2009
The Crunch Continues: Medicaid Spending, Coverage and Policy in the Midst of a Recession
— Sep. 2009
Facts at a Glance: A Fact Sheet Reporting National, State, and City Trends in Teen Childbearing
— Sep. 2009
Religiosity and Teen Birth Rate in the United States
— Sep. 2009
Treating Even Mild Gestational Diabetes Reduces Birth Complications
— Sep. 2009
What Has Been Learned About Expanding Children's Health Insurance?
— Sep. 2009
See all in this area » Children Succeeding in School
The Effects of Welfare Reform on the Academic Performance of Children in Low-Income Households
— Sep. 2009
The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs
— Sep. 2009
See all in this area » Strong Families
Risk and Recovery: Understanding the Changing Risks to Family Incomes
— Oct. 2009
Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative
— Oct. 2009
The Crunch Continues: Medicaid Spending, Coverage and Policy in the Midst of a Recession
— Sep. 2009
The Effects of Welfare Reform on the Academic Performance of Children in Low-Income Households
— Sep. 2009
What Has Been Learned About Expanding Children's Health Insurance?
— Sep. 2009
ABOUT OUR SUPPORTERS
The Promising Practices Network appreciates the generosity of our supporting organizations:
Annie E. Casey Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation
The Colorado Trust
The Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Family Communications, Inc. (FCI)
Family and Community Trust
Georgia Family Connection Partnership
Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families (GCYF)
Hands On Gulf Coast
Kansas Action for Children
KidsOhio.org
New York State Office of Children & Family Services
RAND Corporation
The Spencer Foundation
GENERAL INFORMATION
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