I was browsing the Wisconsin Child Care Administrators Association website and found an intriguing article from the Atlantic magazine, The New Preschool is Crushing Kids. The article, by Erika Christakis, suggests that work is replacing play in early learning settings due to the demands for school readiness results and early reading....
New survey data released last week by the National Health Insurance Survey (NHIS) make it even clearer that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has caused a dramatic drop in the number of Americans who are uninsured. This Tuesday (Sept. 13) the Census Bureau will release more detailed data, including state-level uninsured rates, and we will...
New Research from the Brookings Institution shows significant long-term positive impacts from Head Start, tracking children into adulthood. The new study, The long-term impact of the Head Start program, found that: Head Start improved educational outcomes, with participants showing higher rates of graduation from high school, of...
The U.S. dominates the Olympics, but is far behind in math and science scores, according to a report by Champions for America’s Future, High-Quality Early Education Can Help Kids Win the Academic Medal Race. According to the report, while the U.S. is ranked at the top in Olympic medals, it is losing the academic medal counts, ranking...
Something we don’t always think about as youth go through the juvenile justice system – or in some cases diverted from the formal system into municipal courts or even other diversion programs – is that often various fines and fees are assessed on the youth and/or the parents. A new report from the Juvenile Law Center, “Debtors’ Prison...
As we head into September and the beginning of a new school year, there are a number of opportunities to connect and engage with families around enrolling their children in BadgerCare (Wisconsin’s Medicaid/CHIP program). For Wisconsin children to reach their full potential in school and beyond, we need to make the most of those...
Increased Flexibility for States Has Meant Reduced Assistance for Low-income Families Some conservative lawmakers want to use the welfare reform block grant program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) as a model for major changes to Medicaid. The law creating the TANF block grant turns 20 this month, which makes this...
A week has passed since the death of Sylville Smith in Sherman Park. I am in no position to comment on the details of the events that led to his killing, or its aftermath. But I do think it is imperative that we see these tragic events within a larger context, a context that extends beyond the north side of Milwaukee, to the state of...
Early experiences can have a dramatic impact on young children, both positive and negative, according to research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a recent article, Children Left Behind: Early Environment Can Change Your Brain. The research indicates that childhood poverty can affect brain development with damaging outcomes....
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has released a report, Are We at the Crossroads for Wisconsin Child Care? Policies in Conflict. The paper examines the conflicting public policies in child care and their implications. The policy analysis tracks the history of two major child care programs, the Wisconsin Shares child care...
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