PPN Newsletter February 2009
Listed below are recent updates to the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities website (http://www.promisingpractices.net).
WHAT'S NEW
Child Policy Experts Answer Your Questions about Child Care Quality
Improving child care quality has been a priority for policymakers over the last decade, and child care quality rating systems have proliferated across the country. However, several studies released in 2008 find little evidence that the ratings reported by these systems are associated with measures of children's well-being. As such, the evidence raises questions about the reliability of these systems to accurately measure the quality of child care services. Reliable systems of measurement are necessary in order to design and appropriately target quality improvement initiatives. In this new Expert Perspectives feature, we invite you to ask three leading child policy experts your questions on the topic of child care quality and methods used to measure child care quality.
Learn more and submit your question to the experts
Healthy Families New York Program Shows Positive Outcomes Related to Low Birth Weight
A recent study of the Healthy Families New York (HFNY) program examined the program's impact on birth outcomes. The latest findings indicate that mothers who participated in HFNY were half as likely to deliver low birth weight babies compared to mothers who didn't participate in the program, and birth outcomes improved even more dramatically among African-American and Latina mothers. The study was recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, titled Reducing Low Birth Weight Through Home Visitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial, and describes the evaluation of the HFNY program and its outcomes. PPN has updated the HFNY program summary with the latest study's findings.
Read the article at the American Journal of Preventive Medicine website Read PPN's updated Healthy Families New York program summary
Two Research Briefs Highlight the Problem of Reaching Uninsured Children in the U.S.
In a brief for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates Among Children, Urban Institute researchers assessed the extent to which extending premium assistance programs through employer sponsored insurance would reach uninsured children. They find that the number of uninsured children with parents eligible for this type of assistance is low, which highlights the importance of public programs like the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In another brief titled Covering Uninsured Children: Reaching and Enrolling Citizen Children with Non-Citizen Parents, from the Kaiser Survey of Children's Health Coverage, Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examined children in families with non-citizen parents, who are more than twice as likely to be uninsured than children in other families. The authors find that these families are less likely to know about how to enroll for SCHIP and Medicaid, and that part of this may be due to language barriers.
Read the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation brief at rwjf.org Read the Kaiser Family Foundation brief at kff.org
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
Association Between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of U.S. Public School Children
— Feb. 2009
Journal abstract at Journal of the American Dietetic Association website
The Impact of Episodic and Chronic Poverty on Child Cognitive Development
— Feb. 2009
Improving Child Nutrition Policy: Insights from National USDA Study of School Food Environments
— Feb. 2009
Meals Offered and Served in U.S. Public Schools: Do They Meet Nutrient Standards?
— Feb. 2009
Nutritional Quality of the Diets of U.S. Public School Children and the Role of the School Meal Programs
— Feb. 2009
Physical Activity and Depression in Young Adults
— Feb. 2009
Reducing Low Birth Weight Through Home Visitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
— Feb. 2009
Assisted Reproductive Technology and Trends in Low Birthweight
— Jan. 2009
Covering Uninsured Children: Reaching and Enrolling Citizen Children with Non-Citizen Parents
— Jan. 2009
Military Enlistment of Hispanic Youth: Obstacles and Opportunities
— Jan. 2009
Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates Among Children
— Jan. 2009
SCHIP Children: How Long Do They Stay and Where Do They Go?
— Jan. 2009
School-Based Physical Activity Programs for Promoting Physical Activity and Fitness in Children and Adolescents Aged 6-18
— Jan. 2009
The Socioeconomic, Health, Safety, and Educational Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California
— Jan. 2009
Trends in the Diagnosis of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents
— Jan. 2009
See all in this area » Children Ready for School
Reducing Low Birth Weight Through Home Visitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
— Feb. 2009
The Socioeconomic, Health, Safety, and Educational Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California
— Jan. 2009
See all in this area » Children Succeeding in School
The Impact of Episodic and Chronic Poverty on Child Cognitive Development
— Feb. 2009
No Child Left Behind Educational Options—Availability Expands, But Participation Remains Low
— Feb. 2009
Reducing Low Birth Weight Through Home Visitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
— Feb. 2009
The Cost of Quality Out-of-School-Time Programs
— Jan. 2009
Military Enlistment of Hispanic Youth: Obstacles and Opportunities
— Jan. 2009
See all in this area » Strong Families
The Impact of Episodic and Chronic Poverty on Child Cognitive Development
— Feb. 2009
Covering Uninsured Children: Reaching and Enrolling Citizen Children with Non-Citizen Parents
— Jan. 2009
Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates Among Children
— Jan. 2009
SCHIP Children: How Long Do They Stay and Where Do They Go?
— Jan. 2009
The Socioeconomic, Health, Safety, and Educational Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California
— Jan. 2009
ABOUT OUR SUPPORTERS
The Promising Practices Network appreciates the generosity of our supporting organizations:
Annie E. Casey Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation
Colorado Foundation for Families and Children
The Colorado Trust
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Family and Community Trust
Foundation Consortium for California's Children & Youth
Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media, at Saint Vincent College
Georgia Family Connection Partnership
Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families (GCYF)
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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