President Obama's call for the nation to make unprecedented investments to increase access to pre-kindergarten programs could be a game-changer in our efforts to ensure every child reaps the benefits of high-quality early learning.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, the president called for investing $75 billion over the next decade to provide preschool for 4-year-olds through a partnership with states. His plan also calls for significant investments in evidence-based home visiting, a new Early Head Start-Child Care partnership and funding to address child care subsidy access and quality.

Now that his proposal is on the table, how do we make sure it becomes a reality? By speaking up and showing support.

One way we can make our voices heard is by joining the "Strong Start for Children – Building America's Future" campaign. If you represent a national, state or local organization, you can sign on as a supporter.

This coalition of organizations from across the country will be working to support a significant expansion of high-quality early learning opportunities for children ages birth to five, particularly those in low-income families, in order to achieve better education health, social and economic outcomes for all.

The president outlined a bold vision for early learning in the United States. Let's work together to make that vision a reality.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

When President Obama recently announced an unprecedented plan to invest in high-quality early learning programs over the next decade, one area where he proposed investing more is in evidence-based home visiting.

Home visiting programs promote healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance development of young children and provide parent education and family support. And as with so many investments in a child's earliest years, home visiting programs can save taxpayer money in the long run.

President Obama's proposal builds on his commitment to the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program by calling for $15 billion over 10 years to fund evidence-based home visiting programs starting in fiscal 2015. This early learning proposal is critical for addressing the unmet needs of Pennsylvania's children, especially as Pennsylvania's revenues continue to be sluggish and investments in early learning are at risk in the commonwealth's ongoing budget talks for fiscal 2013-14.

But the proposal won't become reality unless we show support for it. So we're asking you to take a moment to write the White House and let the president know you stand behind his plan. The more support the president receives, the more likely he is to not let this important proposal be scaled back or scrapped in budget talks.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Do you know how your county compares to other Pennsylvania counties when it comes to child poverty, health insurance coverage, educational opportunities and other important measures of children's well-being?

You can find those answers quickly and easily with Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children's newest data creation: county-based "State of the Child" profiles. These profiles provide a snapshot of each county's data, alongside statewide data and information on counties with similar demographic profiles.

For each of the commonwealth's 67 counties, you can find:

- Child population and poverty statistics;

- Information on how many children are uninsured, and how many benefit from coverage through Medicaid or Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program;

- Data on how many children benefit from subsidized child care and publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs;

- The number of children in foster care or receiving other child welfare services; and

- Academic performance data for school districts, charter schools and cyber charter schools.

Whether you're a parent, policymaker, journalist, activist, children's advocate or just someone who likes to stay in the know, our "State of the Child" profiles can help you get timely, reliable information on how Pennsylvania's 2.7 million kids are doing.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

We know that quality early childhood education is an effective investment in our future, benefiting our children, our families and our economy. Yet across the country – including here in Pennsylvania - "the state of preschool was a state of emergency" last year, says Steven Barnett, the director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).

Last week, NIEER issued The State of Preschool 2012 report that found Pennsylvania is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to supporting early childhood education programs. Consider these troubling trends:

• Pennsylvania's ranking for the percentage of 4-year-olds participating in state pre-k programs dropped to 28th in the nation in 2012, down from 25th a year earlier.

• Only 14 percent of Pennsylvania 4-year-olds were enrolled in state-funded pre-k programs in the 2011-12 school year - just half the percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled nationally.

• Enrollment in state-funded preschool programs fell last year. There were 3,045 fewer 4-year-olds and 1,298 fewer 3-year-olds receiving state-funded early childhood education in Pennsylvania during 2012 than in the previous year.

• While state spending per student in 2011-12 increased slightly in Pennsylvania, spending was still 13 percent lower than two years earlier. The state spent $823 less per preschool student in 2011-12 than in 2009-10.

We have to turn this around.

Gov. Tom Corbett proposed increasing funding for publicly funded pre-k programs in his fiscal 2013-14 budget. He also wants to boost investments in high-quality child care. Both of these proposals would help our youngest learners get off to a solid start.

We need your help to get Pennsylvania moving in the right direction when it comes to early learning investments. Please call or write your lawmakers and tell them to build on the commonwealth's investments in early learning programs so we can get Pennsylvania back on the right track.

State lawmakers and the governor have less than eight weeks to finalize a state budget for 2013-14, so now is the time to make your voice heard.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Pennsylvania's court officials kicked off National Foster Care Month by touting a promising statistic: the commonwealth's foster care population has declined by about one-third in recent years.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said there are now about 14,000 foster children, compared to 21,000 six years ago. State Supreme Court Justice Max Baer attributes the steep decline to the commonwealth's stepped-up efforts to find safe, permanent homes for kids in foster care.

"Our courts and child welfare agencies have collaborated and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of abused and neglected children and their families, but there is much more work to do," Justice Baer said at a Children's Roundtable Summit last week. "As we continue our efforts to safely reduce the number of children in foster care, we will focus more on the mental well-being of children and strive to minimize the level of trauma experienced by those children who, through no fault of their own, are placed under court supervision."

The commonwealth continues to build on this progress with efforts such as the full implementation of the federal Fostering Connections law, which will promote adoption and help older youth in foster care while generating more state and county savings and tapping into millions in new federal funding. (You might recall the state enacted legislation last summer to fully implement Fostering Connections.)

Pennsylvania also is benefitting from a federal waiver regarding its use of federal funding used for foster care placement – a waiver that allows counties to further pursue effective strategies to reduce the use of foster care, shorten the time spent in foster care and serve more young people in home and community-based foster care settings as opposed to institutional settings (often known as congregate care).

Looking ahead, we also can expand the use of effective child welfare strategies known as family finding and family conferencing to help keep kids out of foster care.

Pennsylvania is moving in the right direction when it comes to foster care, so let's make sure we keep our momentum.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Did you know today marks the last day of National Child Abuse Prevention Month? Did you know 3,565 children in Pennsylvania were reported abused last year alone? Did you do anything this month to help raise awareness about child abuse or neglect so we can help stop its horrible effects on kids, families and communities?

We're not trying to guilt-trip you. We know you're busy. Life sometimes gets in the way of the best intentions. It happens to all of us. So here's a quick, simple thing you can do right now that could help stem the horrible impacts of child abuse and neglect.

Put this number in your cell phone: 1-800-932-0313.

That's ChildLine, the state's toll-free hotline for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect. It's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anyone can use it to report suspected abuse, even if you want to remain anonymous. If you already have it in your phone directory, pass it along to friends, family and colleagues who might not have it in theirs.

By the way, tomorrow is the start of May, also known as National Foster Care Month. Pennsylvania has thousands of children in foster care at any given time, many of whom ended up there because of abuse or neglect. Children and teens removed from their homes face significant challenges and obstacles all year long, not just in the month of May, and those challenges often last a lifetime. These kids need our help, and the first step toward lending a hand is becoming aware of how you can be helpful.

That brings us to our second quick and simple thing you can do right now to help kids. Just join PPC's PA-Child Advocacy Network so you can be alerted to efforts to help keep Pennsylvania's kids safe from harm and in loving, secure homes.

Already belong to our advocacy network? Then please take a few seconds to forward this to a few of your friends and colleagues and ask that they sign up. They won't get bombarded with spam. They'll get occasional emails updating them on issues that impact kids and asking that they take a moment to reach out to their elected officials to make their voices heard.

So there you go. Two simple things you can do in just a few minutes to help raise a voice or lend a hand to help our kids. We thank you. And so do those kids.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Good news! Gov. Tom Corbett today signed legislation (House Bill 2) creating a state commission to develop a new formula for special education funding. Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children supported this bill, and we're glad to see it become law.

The existing state formula for special education funding assumes special education students make up 16 percent of each school district's overall student population – an assumption that does not reflect each district's actual special education population. This formula led to a sometimes unfair distribution of special education funds that ultimately deprived some students of the resources they needed to succeed.

PPC President and CEO Joan Benso said the new law "takes a significant step toward tackling the special education funding challenges that have faced our schools and taxpayers for the past two decades. We hope this effort results in a funding formula that provides more precise special education funding to school districts' based on the true needs of their students and links any increases in funding to stronger accountability measures."

House Bill 2 was approved unanimously in the House and Senate.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

The efforts of state lawmakers to improve Pennsylvania's child abuse laws are garnering plenty of headlines these days, so let's draw some attention to a lesser-known legislative effort that can help keep at-risk children close to supportive, nurturing family members.

Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams) recently introduced two bills to expand the use of effective child welfare strategies known as family finding and family conferencing.

Just as the name implies, family finding involves a process of searching for, identifying and engaging the relatives - or even close family friends – of children who have been removed from their homes and placed into foster care or whose immediate families are receiving services from the county's children and youth agency. Involving extended family as part of a child's support system is better for the child, in part because we know children are best cared for within their families and communities.

Family conferencing builds off of family finding in that once a child's extended support system is identified, child welfare officials can invite family members to a conference or meeting where everyone works together to develop a plan to support the children and family. The conferencing process emphasizes the natural supports and resources that families have, prompting those families to take the lead on developing a plan to promote the safety and well-being of the children involved. This is a more lasting, sustainable approach than expecting a child welfare agency to push short-term interventions on a family and expect long-term benefits.

When Rep. Moul, who serves as vice-chair of the House Children and Youth Committee, learned of these proposals a few years ago, he wanted to find ways to promote their use statewide. He began discussions with the Department of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and others on ways to identify the core components of family finding and family conferencing so they could be put into broader use. His efforts produced two bills – House Bill 1075 and House Bill 1076 – that were introduced earlier this month and are now before the House Children and Youth Committee.

Rep. Moul has crafted a pair of proposals that will create a stronger, more supportive climate for many children who have troubled home lives or have been removed from their homes. PPC supports his efforts, and we urge you too, as well.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

If you're interested in children's health care issues, you probably saw yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer story examining how 93,000 Pennsylvania kids lost Medicaid or CHIP coverage since mid-2011. And you likely are aware that Gov. Tom Corbett had a meeting last evening with U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss the possibility of Medicaid expansion in the commonwealth. Corbett is reluctant to pursue expansion, despite its social and economic benefits.

A new report finds expanding Medicaid can help at least 350,000 low-income, non-elderly adults in Pennsylvania obtain health care coverage. You might not realize it, but that expansion also can help provide health insurance coverage to more children in the commonwealth.

Before we explain how covering more adults can help cover more kids, here's a little background on Pennsylvania's health insurance landscape.

Pennsylvania has "universal coverage" for kids, meaning every child not covered by private insurance is eligible for some form of publicly sponsored health insurance coverage through Medicaid or Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program (the aforementioned CHIP). Despite this universal coverage, tens of thousands of Pennsylvania children remain uninsured. The reasons for a lack of coverage might vary. It could be the result of their parents not knowing about health care options, or it could be because these kids were among those 93,000 who somehow lost coverage in recent months.

One way to get more of these kids covered is to help their parents obtain health insurance coverage. Children with uninsured parents are three times more likely to be uninsured than children whose parents are covered by private insurance or Medicaid, so providing health insurance coverage to more parents through Medicaid expansion likely will result in more children being covered through Medicaid or CHIP. That's why PPC supports the expansion of Medicaid.

You don't have to be a medical expert to realize the health and well-being of children and parents are intertwined. A parent's poor physical or mental health can contribute to a stressful family environment that may impact the health and well-being of a child. Uninsured parents who can't access health care may be unable to work, or they might end up with large medical bills when they are able to access health care services. Such financial consequences can have a detrimental impact on families.

We can help parents and their children stay healthy by getting more of them insured. Medicaid expansion can help achieve that goal.

For more on how Medicaid expansion benefits Pennsylvania's children, check out our fact sheet on the issue.

###

Stay on top of the latest news affecting Pennsylvania's children by following Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children via social media:

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter