Governor Walker and the Department of Health Services (DHS) released data today relating to BadgerCare enrollment in April. According to the Governor’s press release, the state was serving an additional 81,731 childless adults below the poverty level in April, but 62,776 people with income above the poverty level lost their BadgerCare...
The Joint Finance Committee meeting actions on May 6 indicate that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) intends to increase child care provider reimbursement rates with a portion of funds available due to underspending. The current estimate is that there will be underspending of $10.7 million in 2013-14 and $12.0 million in...
Every Wisconsin voter should be able to go to the polls knowing where the candidates stand on critical kids’ issues, and what they intend to do to improve the lives of every child in the state. This guide will help you do just that!
About 20 percent of children in the US live in poverty, and these children face much greater physical and psychological risks than other children do. Research clearly shows us that investing in high quality early childhood education is a proven prescription to cure these ills. Cynthia Lamy's book, American Children in Chronic Poverty,...
WCCF has just released a policy brief titled We Can Do Better: Sharing Responsibility to Better Meet the Needs of Dual-Status Youth that outlines some of the challenges children and youth face if/when they end up identified by/involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. We know that a supportive and nurturing...
May 7th is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, an event targeted at helping teens think ahead about what actions they can take to avoid pregnancy. The good news about teen births is that the numbers have dropped to historic lows, both in the US and in Wisconsin. The number of teen births in Wisconsin dropped by 42%...
The link between childhood maltreatment and risk of delinquency and criminal behavior is well-established. This policy brief provides an introduction to the system changes we need to make to better serve youth who experience maltreatment and end up in the juvenile justice system.
I was intrigued by a recent interview with James Heckman, Nobel Laureate economist from the University of Chicago, who has focused his work on how early childhood interventions affect society at large and the life skills and development of young children.
The high price of detaining youth goes far beyond the monetary costs to state and local jurisdictions. Detention disrupts normal adolescent development by disconnecting youth from their families, positive social supports, and interfering with their education. The disconnect between the youth and the community often leads to an increased...
Incarceration is a painful experience and a difficult adjustment, particularly for juvenile offenders. Research on incarcerated adults has shown they have a much less tumultuous transition when they have a strong relationship with their families. Adults with “pro-social supports” from family like letter writing, phone calls, and...
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