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Rhian Evans Allvin, Executive Director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) appears in this year’s edition of NPR Education Blog’s 2015 Education Predictions List by predicting kindergarten entry assessments will be implemented as a key transition into elementary school.

ACS organized a press conference on December 19, 2014 to launch a national model that will help more than 130 homeless families and their children find stability in Cuyahoga County. Here are two stories from the press event, one from Cleveland.com and the other from Ideastream. With funding from The Reinvestment Fund, The George Gund Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, and Nonprofit Finance Fund, Front Line Service and several local and national partners will provide comprehensive services to reduce the length of stay in out-of-home foster care placement for children whose families are homeless.  More information about the program may be found here: http://www.thirdsectorcap.org/our-work/cuyahoga-county-pfs/

At the end of September, President Obama announced a goal to enroll 6 million children in high-quality preschool programs. However, says EdCentral blog author Clare McCann, the way in which we can accomplish that goal is still unclear. Pre-K classrooms will have to grow by about 50%, says McCann, assuming both public and private programs are part of the plan. (If the President was referring to public programs only, those will have to double.) In addition, Mr. Obama’s call specifically for high-quality pre-K, a hurdle for many existing programs, and the question of half-day versus full-day programs as new pre-K seats are created. But perhaps the most pressing question is that of federal and state investment. While the President’s proposal includes helping states expand and improve their pre-K programs, Congress must approve such an expenditure. However, McCann points to a recent poll in which 64 percent of Americans said “it’s time for the federal government to do more to help ensure kindergarten readiness.” Who knows, maybe the President’s ambitious goal might become reality.

ACS client First Things First of AZ is given credit for helping the state capture $20 million in federal funds to support high quality preschool. Funds will support First Things First’s flagship program, Quality First, the state’s Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS), and help grow partnerships with institutions of higher education to increase the number of high-quality early childhood professionals.

Staff in ADE’s Early Childhood Education unit finalized the grant application earlier this year with support from the Governor’s Office, First Things First, and other early learning stakeholders.

We are delighted to share the news that ACS client Anthony Trotman, Director of the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services, has been named the 2015 Champion of Children by the United Way of Central Ohio. It’s a well-deserved honor. Mr. Trotman oversees a budget of more than $72 million and a team of 630 people to fund high-quality childcare, engage and support more than 6,000 youth in meaningful afterschool and summer programs, and provide Medicaid coverage for more than 145,000 kids. He also helped create “More Than My Brother’s Keeper” — a place-based, collective impact model that helps boys ages 10 to 14 stay on track for success in both post-secondary and career settings. And as if that’s not enough, Mr. Trotman serves as a Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer mentor to a young man in the community. We love our clients, and we’re ecstatic when other people love them, too! Congratulations, Mr. Trotman!

Seven academic centers at major universities have produced a Collective Policy Statement that includes recommendations to advance the success of men and boys of color in all levels of education, from Pre-K to post-graduate. These recommendations are of particular interest to ACS because of our work with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Forward Promise Initiative grantees. The Statement, Advancing the Success of Boys and Men of Color in Education: Recommendations for Policymakers, offers six policy recommendations specific to the preK-12 arena, four policy recommendations for the postsecondary environment, and five recommendations for the overall pre-K to doctoral education pipeline as a whole. Recommendations range from on-the-ground practice (such as increasing the presence of men of color among teachers, principals and counselors) to data collection (such as tracking and scorecards for schools with high suspension or special education placement rates, or creating a national dataset to track males of color from pre-K to postsecondary). Download the full report for free here.

The 2013 Census Report on poverty rates told us what we already knew: far too many Americans – particularly children and those of color – live in poverty. But recent Congressional actions could take small steps to help poor children, youth and families. Our friends at CLASP have done a great job of summarizing the needs and the Congressional actions in this blog post.

The first is the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA), passed this summer. It’s the first reauthorization of workforce training programs in 16 years and received bipartisan support. WIOA helps state and local workforce leaders heighten their focus on and services to those struggling in the workforce, such as those with limited skills or education, which often means those living in poverty. WIOA also helps make it easier for these workers to juggle the demands of ongoing education and jobs to improve their overall skills, employability and outlook.

Congress also has supported the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program which provides home visits to high-risk families to support infant development and parental skills. It also funded Early Head Start-child care partnerships to support high-quality pre-K programs. And the House has passed a reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) fro the first time in 18 years, with Senate action expected in November.  CCDBG funds help keep families stable by supporting work and childcare for low income families.

While MIECHV expires in April 2015 and will hopefully be extended, and funding levels for WIOA and CCDBG are not yet sufficient to meet these programs’ goals, the level of bipartisan agreement to support all of these programs is hopefully a signal of more poverty-focused policies to come.

 

During his visit to Cleveland on October 28, HUD Secretary Julian Castro praised the efforts of PRE4CLE to expand affordable, accessible pre-K programs throughout the city, saying “Cleveland gets it.” Securing a visit from Secretary Castro was especially relevant, since he led the charge for another highly-praised universal pre-K effort in San Antonio, Texas, when he served as mayor there.  Thanks to ACS, the event received coverage in the Plain Dealer and NPR ideastream, as well as an op-ed in the Plain Dealer by Paul Clark (the regional President of PNC Bank) that was picked up by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). Our team coordinated all the event logistics, including security protocols. We also coordinated messaging between PRE4CLE and White House staff, and invited, prepped and followed up with local media before, during and after the event.

New York Times reporter and author David Bornstein featured ACS client Every Child Succeeds in an October 16 blog post about addressing postpartum depression. Specifically, Bornstein highlighted Every Child Succeeds’ Moving Beyond Depression program, which trains therapists to treat depression in conjunction with home visitation. In a 2013 clinical trial, mothers participating in Moving Beyond Depression experienced significant improvements in depression, which makes them better able to focus on their infants. The model has now been adopted in at least four other states. The bottom line? Treating depression in women before, during and after pregnancy can improve outcomes for both mother and baby.

Shortly after the polls closed in Ohio on November 4, 2014, it became clear that Republicans had secured significant victories across the state with significant super-majorities in both houses of the General Assembly and nearly twice the number of state school board representatives.

What does this outcome mean for key issues that affect ACS clients?

• Early Childhood: Expect to see continued conversations about policies and funding driven by Senator Lehner (R-Kettering), Chair of the Senate Education Committee. We also expect discussion about Ohio’s recent application for federal funding to expand access to high-quality early childhood programming across the state.

• K-12 Education: We anticipate continued discussion related to the funding guarantee, community learning centers, student testing, graduation requirements, academic distress commission qualifying criteria. Also look for an increased focus on early childhood policies within K-12 purviews, and zero-tolerance policies (see Juvenile Justice below).

• Juvenile Justice: With the Governor’s expressed commitment to break the school-to-prison pipeline, we expect to see funds for this work in his proposed operating budget. Watch the activities of the statewide working group hand-picked by Gov. Kasich, as their recommendations will inform his policy positions and proposed reforms around zero tolerance, student suspension and expulsion policies and alternative disciplinary models in schools.

• Local Government: Look for further conversations on levy renewal caps, traffic cameras and municipal income taxes and a further emphasis on regionalization (which is likely to cause municipal budget woes).

• Health and Human Services: “Welfare transformation” will continue through the Governor’s Office of Human Services Innovation, with emphasis on coordination across programs, employment services, case management and standardized and automated eligibility processes.

• Medicaid: Tensions will likely rise among House and Senate majorities as they budget for the continued Medicaid expansion embraced by Gov. Kasich.

For more updates and insights, contact one of our staff.