PPN Newsletter March 2010
Listed below are recent updates to the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities website (http://www.promisingpractices.net).
WHAT'S NEW
Expert Perspectives: Child policy experts answer your questions about Head Start
The Head Start program is perhaps the most well-known early childhood program in the United States. Despite hundreds of research studies conducted on the Head Start program over nearly half a century, controversy remains regarding the effectiveness of Head Start in achieving its multidimensional goal of promoting school readiness by providing educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families. Recently published first grade follow-up results of the Head Start Impact Study have refueled this debate with the finding that Head Start participants achieve cognitive gains at the end of their Head Start year that fade out by the end of the first grade year.
In PPN's newest Expert Perspectives feature, we invite you to ask three leading experts your questions about Head Start's effectiveness. Be sure to visit the Expert Perspectives page to submit your question to the experts and to read the related information PPN has to offer on this topic, including our new issue brief and program summary on Head Start, and our newly updated program summary on Early Head Start.
Visit the Head Start experts page to submit your question and read more about Head Start
United States Census Bureau to develop a supplemental poverty measure to be published in Fall 2011
The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced that it is preparing to develop a Supplemental Poverty Measure to help policymakers obtain a better understanding of the economic well-being of American families. The current federal poverty measure was developed in the 1960s and reflected the relative costs of food, child care, housing, and other necessities for a family in that decade. Because relative costs have changed, the current measure may under-represent the distribution and magnitude of poverty in the United States. The supplemental measure, which will be published alongside the current poverty measure, will not be used to determine eligibility for programs, but will rather be used to provide a more comprehensive picture of poverty among American families.
Read the news release at the U.S. Department of Commerce website Read more related to this topic in PPN's Research in Brief and Programs that Work sections
New data show obesity rising among children in the United States
A recent study examining new data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health shows that obesity rates grew significantly from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007 among children aged 10 to 17. Results of the study were published in Health Affairs in an article titled "National, State, and Local Disparities in Childhood Obesity." Authors observed substantial disparities across income groups, with overweight and obesity prevalence being highest in families living below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (44.8%), and lowest in families living above 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (22.2%). There were also disparities observed across states, with the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children ages 10-17 ranging from 23.1 percent in Utah and Minnesota to 44.4 percent in Mississippi.
Read the journal abstract at the Health Affairs 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
Prevalence and Timing of Diagnosable Mental Health, Alcohol, and Substance Use Problems Among Older Adolescents in the Child Welfare System
— Apr. 2010
Journal abstract at Children and Youth Services Review website
Adolescents' Perceived Risk of Dying
— Mar. 2010
Association Between Adolescent Viewership and Alcohol Advertising on Cable Television
— Mar. 2010
Barriers to Obesity Prevention in Head Start
— Mar. 2010
Federal Food Policy and Childhood Obesity: A Solution or Part of the Problem?
— Mar. 2010
Household Routines and Obesity in U.S. Preschool-Aged Children
— Mar. 2010
National, State, And Local Disparities In Childhood Obesity
— Mar. 2010
Overweight, Obesity, Youth, and Health-Risk Behaviors
— Mar. 2010
Physical Violence Against U.S. Women Around the Time of Pregnancy, 2004-2007
— Mar. 2010
Poly-Victimization in a National Sample of Children and Youth
— Mar. 2010
Trends in Childhood Violence and Abuse Exposure: Evidence From 2 National Surveys
— Mar. 2010
Where Perception Meets Reality: Self-Perception of Weight in Overweight Adolescents
— Mar. 2010
Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children
— Feb. 2010
Childhood Obesity, Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and Premature Death
— Feb. 2010
CPS Involvement in Families with Social Fathers
— Feb. 2010
Research brief at Center for Research on Child Wellbeing at Princeton University website
Dynamics of Obesity and Chronic Health Conditions Among Children and Youth
— Feb. 2010
Juveniles in Residential Placement, 1997-2008
— Feb. 2010
Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: Choosing an Effective Program that Fits
— Dec. 2009
Understanding Links Between Adolescent Health and Educational Attainment
— Nov. 2009
Delinquent Girls Grown Up: Young Adult Offending Patterns and Their Relation to Early Legal, Individual, and Family Risk
— Mar. 2009
See all in this area » Children Ready for School
A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Early Developmental Prevention Programs in At-Risk Populations on Non-Health Outcomes in Adolescence
— Apr. 2010
Effects of a Preschool Music and Movement Curriculum on Children's Language Skills
— Oct. 2009
See all in this area » Children Succeeding in School
Understanding Links Between Adolescent Health and Educational Attainment
— Nov. 2009
Effects of a Preschool Music and Movement Curriculum on Children's Language Skills
— Oct. 2009
See all in this area » Strong Families
Census Bureau to Develop Supplemental Poverty Measure
— Mar. 2010
The Racial Divide Among American Children in Poverty: Reassessing the Importance of Neighborhood
— Dec. 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 Mississippi
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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