Pathways_to_Parent_leadership Senderos a ml Liderazgo de

Transcripción

i
*
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Oakland, CA
Permit #1 846
CAEYC 1998
Commitment to
Children Award
California Association for the
Education of Young Children
:
-.3
Pathways_to_Parent_leadership
Senderos a ml Liderazgo de Padres
REGU LAR FEATURES
ARTICULOS REGULARES
Orange County: Step-by-step
leadership development
Condado de Orange: Desarrollo päsó
a paso del liderazgo
ASK THE ADVOCATE:
Family child care associations
PREGUNTELE AL DEFENSOR:
Las asociaciones de
guarderlas familiares
The Right Question Project:
Tools for advocacy
“Proyecto de Ia Pregunta Correcta”:
Herramientas para e1 activismo
GRASSROOTS SNAPSHOT:
Kern County Latino Family
Child Care Association
INSTANTANEAS DE LA
COMUNIDAD:
Asociación de Guarderlas
Familiares Latinas
del Condado de Kern
Cornmcinities Committed to ChiIdren
Part V:San
0
• Children’s mental health
• Sibling rivalry I Rivalidad entre hermanos
• Bookbasket: Emotional intelligence
ACTION ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN
•
THE HUNT HOUSE
•
IN MY OPINION:
“Marriage promotion”
1201 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY
www’fchildren.orq
•
OAKLAND, CA 94612-1217
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ADVOCATE
The bimonthly Children’s Advocate is published by
Action Alliancefor Children, a nonprofit organ
ization dedicated to informing and empowering
people who work with and on behalfofchildren.
Executive Director
Philip Arcs
Editor
Jean Tepperman
Administration
LaVora Perry
Accountant
Pam Elliott
Outreach Manager
Melia Franklin
Outreach Associate
Erica Williams
On-line Community Manager
Jessine Foss
Copy Editor
Laura Coon
Volume 30
3 Grassroots snapshots: A new force for child care in Kern
County
Instántaneas de comunidad: Una nuevafuerza en el cuidado
de niños del condado de Kern
By Erica Williams
4 Ask the Advocate: A “collectivèvoice” for family child care
Candace Diaz
Meeta Malhi
Publication Design and Production
Judy July and Generic Type
AAC Logo Design
Mitche Manitou
Printing
Fricke Parks Press
7 Aire “Iimpio” de campo
Determinación para proteger a los ninos de la contaminación del aire
convierte en activistas a habitantes rurales de California
Por Megan Lindow
Legal Counsel
Nonprofit Legal Services Network
Board of Directors
Charles Drucker, President
Catalina Alvarado, Vice President
Victor Rubin, Interim Treasurer
Carlos Castellanos, Secretary
Adam Ray
Randy Reiter
Marguerite Stricklin
Ernest Ting
Advisory Council
Jill Duerr Berrick
University of California
Child Welfare Research Center
Margaret Brodkin
Coleman Advocates for Chiklren and Youth
Maria Campbell Casey
Partnership for the Public’s Health
Hedy N. Chang
Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund
Jonah Edelman
Stand for Children
Louis Freedberg
San Francisco Chronicle
Dana Hughes
Institute for Health Policy Studies
Herb Kohl
Author & Educator
Milton Kotelchuck
Professor, Dept. of Maternal and Child Health
University of North Carolina
Arabella Martinez
Spanish Speaking Unity Council
Effie Lee Morris
California Library Services
Daphne Muse
Multicultural author and editor
Lucy Quacinella
National Center for Youth Law
Wilson Riles, Jr.
American Friends Service Committee
Giovanna Stark
Assembly Select Committee on Adolescents
Principal Consultant
Alan Watahara
California Partnership for Children
Stan Weisner
UC Berkeley Children &the Changing Family Pmgram
Rev. Cecil Williams
Glide Memorial Church
Action Alliance for Children is a tax-exempt organization
supported in part by a California State Department of
Education (SDE) grant. Howev8r, the opinions expressed
herein do not necessarily reflect those of SDE and opinions
expressed by contributors or writers do not necessarily
reflect the’ opinions of this paper. We reserve the right to
refuse advertising for any reason.
Children’s Advocate assumes no liability for products or ser
vices in its features or ads. As this is a copyrighted publica
tion, permission to reprint material appearing on these
pages must be requested.
Circulation: Children’s Advocate is available at select child
care centers, retail outlets, social service organizations and
public libraries throughout California. Available by bulk
order or individual subscription.
Subscription Rates (seepage 11)
$18 foroneyear $34 fortwo years
First-time subscribers $12 for one year
Sample copies are available for $3 each.
For information about our annual multicultural calendar
and our bimonthly Master Calendar write or call:
15 “Ella empezó primero!”
Padres y educadores comparten consejos sabre cómo calmar rivalidad
entre hermanos
A: Infant mental health care focuses on and supports the relationship
between babies and their primary caregivers
By Candace Diaz
18 Children’s Advocates Roundtable
Q. How can I affect U.S. government policies on children’s
issues?; Pregunta: ,Cómo puedo influendar las polIticas
gubernamentales en Estados Unidos sobre temas infantiles?;
Push for child care “master plan”; Presione a las autoridades
para aprobar “plan maestro” de cuidado de ninos
8 InMyOpinion
Distribution
Jane Welford
14 “She Started it!”
Parents and parent educators share tips on calming sibling rivalry
By Claudia Miller
17 Q: What is infant mental health care?
Determination to protect kids from air pollution is turning some
rural Californians into activists
By Megan Lindow
Interns
Number 4
Por Claudia Miller
providers
Pregüntele a! Defensor: Una “voz colectiva” para losproveedores 16 Spotlight on children’s mental health: Starting early
de cuidado de ninos
ByMeetaMalhi
Por Erica Williams
“It’s about valuing relationships”: Child care providers can
5 Communities Committed to Children:
promote mental health by nurturing emotional growth
San Diego: Public-private collaboration is “mission critical”
By Jessine Foss
By Melia Franklin
6 Clean country air!
Volunteers
Patty Overland
•
Should the federal government sponsor “marriage promotion”
as part of welfare?
By Heather World
13 Bookbasket: Emotional intelligence
Stories about children coping with difficult emotions can help parents
and children discuss ways of dealing with troubling feelings
By Ben Peterson
19 Plan maestro para educación en preparación; Master plan
for education in the works
20 CDF: $20 billion more for child care; CDF: 20 mil miiones
más para el cuidado de niños; Labor Project for Working
Families; Projecto de Trabajo para Famiias Trabajadoras;
Spanish-language radio for parents; Radio en español
para los padres
Pt.hway to Ptii’eiit 1eidei’hip
9 Orange County: Step-by-step leadership
development
By Irene Moore
10 Condado de Orange: Desarrollo paso a paso
del liderazgo
Por Irene Moore
11 The Right Question Project: Tools for advocacy
By Eve Pearlman
12 “Prayecto de Ia Pregunta Correcta”: Herramientas
para el activismo
Por Eve Pearlman
EDITOR’S NOTE
A
fter Philip Arca, our executive director, read the In My
Opinion piece for this issue (p. 8), he said, “Well, I learned
that $300 million isn’t much money!”
President Bush’s welfare-reform proposal includes $300 mil
lion for “marriage promotion.” Some of our sources were for it,
some against it, but all agreed that in the context of the billions
being spent on welfare, $300 million is a drop in the bucket.
But at the same time we know that $300 million would pay
for quality child care for a lot of children. Or for an army of
school librarians. And it’s hundreds of times more money than
most of us will ever see in our lives.
That’s just one example of how surreal things get during
budget-debate time.
This year, of course, it’s worse, because the state budget
shortfall is pressuring lawmakers to make cuts in programs that
are vitally important to children and families. We know that
many of the programs being cut or put on hold—expansion of
children’s health insurance, for example—would save money in
the long run. And it’s not just the state budget that’s being cut.
School districts are debating whether to eliminate their classsize reduction programs. Local governments are cutting health
services and welfare-to-work programs.
Budget cuts will hurt low-income children and families
most—the people who can least afford to lose. Meanwhile
most of the benefit of last year’s big federal tax cut is going the
wealthiest people-those who can most afford to give.
That’s the logic behind Sen. John Burton’s proposal to avoid
some of the budget cuts with a 1 percent increase in the tax
rate for individuals with incomes
a program that helps children’s mental health care providers
work with schools, health care providers, courts, and other insti
tutions to provide “wraparound” care for seriously mentally ill
children. In many cases this care prevents children from having
to go to costly out-of-home care.
Our stories on pages 16 and 17 describe recent reports on
children’s mental health as well as positive mental health pro
grams for infants and young children. And we provide tips for
child care providers on how they can foster positive social and
emotional development—another name for mental health.
Our bookbasket (p. 13) provides another means for talking
with children about emotional issues—books that can spark dis
cussion about difficult feelings and how to handle them. And
our bilingual article on sibling rivalry (p. 14-15) includes lots of
specific tips on how to ease this prime source of difficult feel
ings at home.
Parents can also do a lot to help children manage asthma
and other respiratory problems, but researchers are fincing that
air pollution makes those problems worse. That’s one of the
reasons why grassroots groups in California’s rural counties, the
San Joaquin Valley and Riverside County are mobilizing to fight
for tougher controls on the sources of air pollution (p. 6 and 7).
Wherever you are this summer, I hope the air is clear, the sun
shines, and you have time to enjoy it—even if you don’t have
$300 million.
—Jean Tepperman
Action Alliance for Children
The Hunt House
1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Oakland, CA 94612-1217
Tel (510) 444-7136
Fax (510) 444-7138
e-mail: [email protected]
www.4children.org
(tlChildren’sAdvocateNewsMagazine•ASSN 0739-45X
Next Issue: September-October 2002
Advertising Deadline: August 10,2002
COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FRESNO BEE (RICHARD DARBY)
AND THE AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
•••
_?
w
A new force for child care in Kern County
By Erica Williams
L
ast October, 150 parents and child
care providers gathered in Oakland
for a Parent Voices “Parent Action
for Child Care Today” summit. More
than one third—61 people—were par
ents and providers from Kern County.
The organization that recruited them,
the Kern County Latino Family Child
Care Association, is showing how family
child care providers can become a force
for positive change—from supporting
and educating members to lobbying in
Sacramento.
Getting organized
In 1999, 24 Latino child care
providers in Kern County started meet
ing regularly for informal workshops.
Selling tamales as a fundraiser, they
earned money for an advanced training
for Spanish-speaking providers, Cuatro
Pasos (Four Steps), from the Child Care
Improvement Project (CCIP). “After
Cuatro Pasos we were so energized and
wanted to serve families better,” says
association president Maria Rios. “We
were interested in starting a support
group” for Latino providers.
Soon after they formed the Kern
County Latino Family Child Care
Association. Because family child care
providers work all day, then clean up,
“we have to provide an incentive” for
providers to come to the meetings, says
Rios. Monthly meetings feature food,
available for $5, and a raffle for a child
care gift.
Finding a means
After the two-year CCIP grant for
Cuatro Pasos ran out, the association
held a meeting with 25 graduates.
Association members gave testimony
about the value of the training, then
asked the graduates to donate $150 each
so others could take the course. “It was
so moving to see every person stand up
and write a check:’ says Lourdes Niggle
of the LINCC f Local Investment in
Child Care] project. After raising this
initial chunk of money, the association
raised more from the child care plan
ning council, LINCC, and CCIP. “The
key was that they collected some of the
money on their own,” Niggle says.
Improving quality
Association members “are very com
mitted to a quality [child care] environ
ment. At meetings they always have an
expert of some kind on things like nutri
tion, business, marketing, child develop
ment, age-appropriateness, etc.,” says
Wendy Wayne, administrator for the
county’s Division of Child Develop
ment. “We are eager to get educated,”
says Rios.
Making local connections
From the beginning “they’ve felt
some responsibility, like they had to
work for themselves and their commu
nity,” says Niggle. “They have an incredi
ble impact and they’re not shy about it
anymore.” For a lobbying trip to
In family child care in Kern County? En una guarderia familiar del condado de
Kern.
Sacramento, the association won sup
port from the Kern County Association
for the Education of Young Children
(KCAEYC) and a pledge of future sup
port from the county’s Prop. 10
Commission. The association is also in
the process of setting up a chapter of
Parent Voices, a statewide child care
advocacy group.
Going statewide
The association’s most recent trip to
Sacramento was May 29, when more
than 50 members talked with legislators
about the importance of child care
funding. Members have also given train
ings on family child care in San
Francisco, Santa Barbara and Oakland,
Thanks to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for its support of this page.
and a training on how to create an asso
ciation in San Luis Obispo. Says Wayne,
“They have created Kern County
[Latino Family Child Care Association]
as a player in the field.” I
• Kern County Latino Family Child Care
Association, 661-749-7902
• Child Care Improvement Project
(CCIP). Contact through the San
Francisco Resource and Referral
Network, 415-882-0234
TraducciOn al castellano:
Lucrecia Miranda
Una nueva fuerza en el cuidado de ninos
del condado de Kern
Por Erica Williams
E
n octubre pasado, 150 padres y provee
dores de cuidado de niflos se
reunieron en Oakland para la cumbre
de Parent Voices; “Acción de los Padres para
el Cuidado de Nifios Hoy’ Más de un tercio
de los participantes (61 personas) eran
padres y proveedores del condado de Kern.
La organización que los convocara, Kern
County Latino Family Child Care
Association (Asociación de Guarderlas
Familiares Latinas del Condado de Kern) es
uno de los grupos que más se ha destacado
comoagente para el cambio, desde el apoyo
y la educación de sus miembros, hasta el
cabildeo en Sacramento.
Organizándose
En 1999, 24 proveedores latinos de
cuidado de niños en el condado de Kern
comenzaron a reunirse regularmente para
realizar talleres informales. Vendiendo
tamales para recaudar fondos, lograron
reunir dinero para un entrenamiento avan
zado dirigido a proveedores hispanopar
lantes, Cuatro Pasos, impartido por el CCIP
(Projecto para Ia Mejora del Cuidado de
Niiios). “Después de Cuatro Pasos, nos senti
mos muy vigorizados y quisimos servir
mejor a las familias”, dicç Ia presidenta de Ia
asociación Maria Rios.. ‘Estábamos interesa
dos en iniciar tin gripo de apoyo” para
proveedores latinos.
Poco después, formaron la Asociación de
GuarderIas Familiares Latinas del Condado
de Kern. Considerando que los proveedores
familiares de cuidado de ninos trabajan
durante todo el dIa y luego tienen que
limpiar, “tenemos que proporcionar Un
incentivo” para que vengan a las reuniones,
dice Rios. En las reuniones mensuales se
ofrece comida, disponible por cinco dólares,
y una rifa para premiar a los participantes
con un regalo de cuidado de ninos.
Mejorando Ia calidad
Los miembros de la asociación “están
muy comprometidos con lograr un ambi
ente (de cuidado de nifios) de calidad. En las
reuniones siempre cuentan con un experto
de algun tipo, en temas tales como nutri
ción, negocios, mercadeo, desarrollo infantil,
o cuestiones sobre qué es apropiado para
cada grupo de edad, entre otros temas”, dice
Wendy Wayne, de la DivisiOn de Desarrollo
Infantil del condado. “Estamos ansiosos por
formarnos mejor”, senala Rios.
Encontrando los medios
Después de que se agotara la subvención
de dos afios del CCIP para Cuatro Pasos; la
asociación mantuvo una reuniOn con 25
graduados del curso. Los miembros de l
asociaciOn brindaron su testimonio sobre el
valor del entrenamiento, y pidieron a los
egresados que donaran 150 dólares cada uno
para que otros pudieran completar el curso.
“Fue tan conmovedor ver como cada per
sona se ponla de pie para escribir un
cheque:’ dice Lourdes Niggle del projecto
LINCC (InversiOn Local en Cuidado de
Ninos). Tras recaudar esta cifra inicial, la
asociaciOn consiguiO fondos adicionales del
Consejo de PlaneaciOn para el Cuidado de
Niflos, asI como de LINCC y CCIP. “La dave
fue que recaudaron parte del dinero por sus
propios medios,” dice Niggle.
Estableciendo conexiones locales
Desde el principio, “se han sentido
responsables, como que tenlan que trabajar
por ellos mismos y por su comunidad”, dice
Niggle. “Ejercen un impacto increlbie y ya
no les da verguenza mostrarlo.” Para un viaje
de cabildeo a Sacramento, la asociaciOn con
siguió el apoyo de la AsociaciOn para Ia
Educación Infantil del Condado de Kern
(KCAEYC, segün sus siglas en ingles) asI
como el compromiso de apoyo futuro de la
comisión para la Prop. 10 del condado. La
asociaciOn también se encuentra en el pro
ceso de establecer una delegaciOn de Parent
Voices, grupo que aboga por el cuidado de
nifios a nivel estatal.
Creciendo en todo el estado
El viaje más reciente de la asociaciOn a
Sacramento se llevO a cabo el 29 de mayo
cuando más de 50 miembros hablaran con
legisladores sobre Ia importancia de subven
ciones para el cuidado de nifios. Miembros
de la asociaciOn también han oftecido entre
namientos en San Francisco, Santa Barbara y
Oakland, y un entrenamiento sobre cOmo
crear una asociación de este tipo en San Luis
Obispo. Afirma Wayne: “Han establecido a
la organización del condado de Kern
(AsociaciOn de GuarderIas Familiares
Latinas del Condado de Kern) como un
agente importante en el medio’ I
• Kern County Latino Family Child Care
Association (Asociaciôn de Guarderlas
Familiares Latinas del Condado de Kern),
tel. 661-749-7902
• CCIP, Child Care Improvement Project
(Proyecto para Ia Mejora del Cuidado de
Niños). Contactar a través de San
Francisco Resource and Referral Network
(Red de Recursos y Referencia de San
Francisco), tel. (415) 882-0234
.
LSabe usted de
comunltarló de
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE 3
A “collective voice” for family child care providers
By Erica Williams
Q: What are family child care
associations and what can they
do for providers and kids?
A: Family child care providers work
“alone and isolated—we don’t have a
teacher’s lunchroom!” says Nancy Wyatt,
president of the San Fernando Valley
Family Child Care Council. So they
“really benefit from having a group
where they can share successes, frustra
tions, and questions—and work togeth
er to make the system better:’ says
Wendy Wayne, administrator for Kern
County’s child development services.
Support
Family child care providers work
extremely long hours and “have limited
interaction with adults to do problemsolving about things that come up dur
ing the day:’ says Malia Rainier, a pro
gram director at the Center for Health
Training in Oakland. “[Associations] are
a real asset because you have contact
with other providers.”
Associations also “go to bat” for
members, says Rosie Kennedy, president
of the San Francisco Family Child Care
Association. For example, if a court
won’t excuse a provider from jury duty
the association sends a letter or makes a
call, explaining “the obstacles in leaving
a family child care home:’ Kennedy says.
“If an agency receives a call from the
association, it makes a big difference.”
Guidance for new providers
Elda Fontenot, president of the
Oakland Licensed Day Care Operators
Association, says her association gives
orientations to new providers “about
types of situations that you face as a
provider, what to look out for, and how
to develop a curriculum.” They even
visit new providers’ homes, offering
advice and hand-me-down toys.
Professional development
“By belonging to an association, you
learn about today’s provider”—not a
“babysitter,” but a professional who
“supports the child’s development:’ says
Fontenot. Associations often invite
speakers or give workshops from train
ing organizations (see resources) on
topics such as health, curriculum, and
child development as well as grant writ
ing and running a business.
Tools for advocacy
“If we’re not letting legislators know
what our needs are, the problems aren’t
going to get solved,” says Wyatt.
Associations “strengthen the identity of
the profession and create a collective
voice on an advocacy level:’ says Diane
Harkins, program director at the Center
for Human Services at UC Davis.
“[Associations] can have a direct
impact on policy,” says Jackie Lowe,
senior project coordinator at the Child
Care Improvement Project (CCIP). For
example, when state legislators were con
sidering a bill requiring family child care
providers to get permission from their
landlords to run their businesses, associ
ation members waged a letter-writing
campaign. They felt they played a role in
defeating the legislation, Wyatt says.
At the local level, the San Francisco
Family Child Care Association worked
with other groups to push the city to
create a program that provides stipends
to child care providers who take child
development courses. “We showed up,
no matter when or where,” at every
meeting of the supervisors and human
services department, says Kennedy.
Another win was a county program pro
viding $250,000 in subsidized medical
benefits for uninsured and low-income
child care providers.
Tiene alguna pregunta para “Pregüntele al Defensor”? Ilame a Erica Williams al 510-444-7136 o e-mail [email protected]
Have a question for “Ask the Advocate”? Call Erica Williams at 510-444-7136 or e-mail [email protected]
Li,
0
“We have a lot of potential, and we
have strength in numbers:’ says Donna
Daly, president of the California
Association for Family Child Care. •
TRAINING FOR FAMILY CHILD CARE PROVIDERS
(Contact through your local child care
resource and referral agency)
• Center for Human Services, UC Davis
Family Child Care At Its Best
530-757-8643
• Center for Health Training
Association Grants Program
510-835-3700
Thanks to the David & Lucile Packard
Foundation for its support of this page.
1
re4j$eIe a I
D
Lucrecia Miranda
Pregunata: Qué son las
asociaciones de guarderIas
familiares y qué pueden hacer
por proveedores y niños?
Respuesta: Los proveedores familiares
de cuidado de ninos trabajan “solos y ais
lados; inn tenemos una cafeteria para
maestros!’ dice Nancy Wyatt, presidenta
de San Fernando Valley Family Child
Care Council (Consejo de GuarderIas
Famiiares del Valle de San Fernando).
De ese modo “pueden sacar provecho de
participar en un grupo donde pueden
compartir los éxitos, frustraciones y pre
guntas, y asi trabajar juntos para mejorar
ci sistema’ dice Wendy Wayne, admin
istradora de la agencia de servicios de
desarrollo infantil para el condado de
Kern.
Apoyo
Los proveedores famiiares de servi
cios de cuidado infantil trabajan muchas
horas diarias “y su interaccidn con adul
tos para resolver problemas que se pre
sentan durante el dIa es limitada’ dice
Malia Ramler, directora de programa en
el Centro para Entrenamiento de Salud
en Oakland. “Las [asociaciones] tienen
mucho valor ya que uno puede entrar en
contacto con otros proveedores’
Las asociaciones también “batallan”
por sus miembros, dice Rosie Kennedy,
presidenta de San Francisco Family Child
4 JULY—AUGUST 2002
Una
voz
colectiva” para los proveedores de cuidado de flinos
Por Erica Williams
Care Association (Asociación de
Guarderias Famiiares de San Francisco).
Por ejemplo, si una corte no excusa a un
proveedor de sus obligaciones civicas
como jurado, la asociación envIa una
carta o hace una llamada telefónica expli
cando “los obstáculos para dejar una
guarderia famffiar’ dice Kennedy. “Si una
agencia gubernamental recibe una llama
da de la asociación, esto marca una difer
encia importante”
Orientación para
nuevos proveedores
Elda Fontenot, presidenta de Oakland
Licensed Day Care Operators Association
(Asociación de Operadores Certificados
para el Cuidado de Ninos de Oakland),
dice que su asociación brinda on
entación para nuevos proveedores “sobre
tipos de situaciones que uno enfrenta
como proveedor, qué previsiones han de
tomarse, asI como programas [para la
guarderIa] Asimismo, visitan las casas
de nuevos proveedores para ofrecer su
consejo y juguetes de segunda mano.
“.
Desarrollo profesional
“Al pertenecer a una asociación, uno
aprende sobre los proveedores de hoy’ no
sobre una “niñera”, sino sobre un profe
sional que “apoya ci desarrollo del nino’
dice Fontenot. Las asociaciones frecuente
mente traen invitados de organizaciones
capacitadoras para dar piaticas o impartir
talleres (ver recuadro) sobre temas tales
como salud, programacion, desarroilo
infantil, asI comd redacción de solicitudes
para conseguir subvenciones y cómo
manejar tin negocio.
Herramientas para el activismo
“Si no les dejamos saber a los legis
ladores cuáies son nuestras necesidades,
los problemas no van a resoiverse”, dice
Wyatt. Las asociaciones “fortalecen la
identidad de la profesión y crean una voz
colectiva para defender sus derechos’ dice
Diane Harkins, directora de programa del
Centro para Servicios Humanos en UC
Davis.
“[Las asociaciones] pueden tener un
impacto directo en las politicas pubiicas’
dice Jack Lowe, coordinador jefe de pro
jectos en Child Care Improvement Project
(Projecto para la Mejora del Cuidado de
Ninos, o CCIP, segün sus siglas en ingles).
Por ejemplo, cuando los legisladores
estatales se encontraban considerando
una propuesta de icy que requerIa que los
proveedores familiares dc cuidado de
niños obtcngan un permiso del propi
etario de la vivienda para conducir su
negocio, los miembros de ia asociación
organizaron una campana y escribieron
cientos de cartas. MI, [los miembros de la
asociación] sintieron que hablan jugado
un papel importante en derrotar la prop
uesta de icy, dice Wyatt.
A nivel local, la Asociación de
Guarderias Familiares de San Francisco
trabajó con otros grupos presionando a la
ciudad para crear tin programa que otor
gara estipendios a proveedores quc desea
ban tomar cursos dc desarrollo infantil.
“Ahi estábamos, sin importar cuándo o
dónde’ en cada junta de supervisores y
del dcpartamento de servicios humanos,
dice Kennedy. Otra victoria fue un pro
grama que otorgaba 250.000 dólares en
beneficios medicos subsidiados para
proveedores de scrvicios de bajos ingresos
o que no contaban con seguro.
“Tenemos muchisimo potencial,
y nuestra fuerza está en los n(imeros’ dice
Donna Daly, presidenta de Ia AsociaciOn
de Guarderlas Familiares de California. R
ENTRENAMIENTO PARA PRO VEEDORES
FAMIUARES DE CUIDADO DE NIFOS
(Proyecto de Mejora del Cuidado de
Niños)
Contactar a través de su agencia local
de recursos y referencia
• Center for Human Services (Centro
para Servicios Humanos), UC Davis
Family Child Care At Its Best
(530) 757-8643
• Center for Health Training (Centro
para Entrenamiento de Salud)
Association Grants Program (Programa
de Subvenciones de Ia Asociación)
(510) 835-3700
SAN DIEGO
Public-private collaboration is “mission critical”
In San Diego, where “big government” is a bad word,
advocates learned that moving a children ‘s agenda requires
strong partnerships between the public and private sectors.
By Melia Franklin
he San Diego County Board of
Supervisors chambers was
packed. The Suicide and
Homicide Audit Committee (SHAC)—
a team of public and private service
providers, law enforcement profes
sionalsE and children’s advocates—
reported that most child deaths
occurred during the “critical hours”
after school—between 2 p.m. and
6 p.m.
“Dozens and dozens” of people
testified in support of after-school
programs—from health, social service,
law enforcement, and school officials
to the Chamber of Commerce to par
ents and kids themselves, recalls Dr.
Robert Ross, then head of San Diego
County’s Health and Human Services
Agency (HHS). Then came the shoes.
T
lievable perseverance,” but the payoff
was huge: $5.6 million, the largest afterschool grant in the state.
With this money added to local pro
grams, 25,000 elementary and middleschool children at 353 sites now attend
free before- and after-school programs,
run by a regional consortium that The
Children’s Initiative coordinates.
Private-sector partners
“In San Diego, a notoriously conser
vative county... there was no way we
were going to advance a children’s
agenda by a call for bigger government.
Public-private collaboration was ‘mis
sion critical:” reflects Ross, now CEO
of the California Endowment. “It
doesn’t matter whether you’re liberal or
conservative,” adds Dr. Rodger Lum,
current HHS director. “Children
require a lot more help. and we need
to identify partners in the broader
community who could either volunteer
their time or provide funding:’
Today, private partners contribute to
Empty shoes
Diego’s children in many ways:
San
As the names of more than 100 sui
• By bringing community-based orga
cide and homicide victims were read,
nizations together to figure out what
kids came forward and, for each, placed
each could contribute, school dis
a pair of shoes on a table. By the end,
tricts created 37 Critical Hours pro
“shoes were falling off the table,”
grams, twice the number expected,
remembers Sandra McBrayer, CEO of
says Supervisor Cox. “We got a lot
The Children’s Initiative, the nonprofit
more for our money:’
that brought key players together.
• Qualcomm, Inc. and other private
Victims’ parents claimed their chil
donors came up with financing to
dren’s shoes and talked about what they
build San Pasqual Academy, a resi
could have become. Then, unscripted,
dential high school for foster youth
several youth “took off their shoes and
proposed by a juvenile court judge
put them on the floor:’ says McBrayer.
and county supervisors.
“They said, ‘We’re on the edge. We
• Price Charities donated $18 million
could be next:”
for the City Heights K-16 Edu
The supervisors responded with $1
cational Pilot, in a partnership with
million for Critical Hours after-school
San Diego State University, the
programs at county middle schools and
teachers’ union, the school district,
have continued funding since then.
and communities to “close the
“We’ll never have enough money to
achievement gap” at three struggling
deal with the tail end of the criminal
schools.
justice system,” reflects Supervisor Greg
• The Children’s Initiative, in partner
Cox. “We all realize that we’re much
ship with San Diego’s Promise, uses
better off trying to put money into the
an innovative web site to match
preventative end:’
small businesses, which can con
tribute volunteers or in-kind dona
After-school advocacy
tions, with children’s agencies’ “wish
Large-scale county support for afterlists:’
school care “was unheard of” before
Critical Hours, says Barbara Ryan,
The Children’s Initiative
director of government relations for
It wasn’t always so. In the early 1 990s
Children’s Hospital of San Diego.
Diego’s “movers and shakers...
San
Advocates took their model to
didn’t work in tandem:’ says McBrayer.
Sacramento and helped create the
“They had their own silos.” Philan
Before and After School Learning and
thropic leaders began convening pub
Safe Neighborhoods Program, which
lic- and private-sector leaders to brain
this year allocated $70 million to
storm ways to improve outcomes for
schools serving low-income children.
children.
Then, says Ryan, “Instead of every
In 1996, with money from local and
own
school district filling out their
l foundations, United Way, and
nationa
application and competing for those tax
San Diego County, The Children’s
dollars, we came together and submitted
Initiative was founded. Having this pri
a proposal for the entire county.”
vate-sector “neutral convenor” was
“We used the mantra, ‘teaching
“absolutely critical,” says Ross. “We
grown-ups to share,” says Judy
were asking.. .people to give up control.
McDonald, boardmember at the
You needed to have a safe place... to
Parker Foundation nd cofounder of
have those conversations:’
The Children’s Initiative. It took “unbe
.
.
Middle school students participate in a journalism class as a part of the
county’s Critical Hours program.
“The Children’s Initiative is the
umbrella for a lot of the changes we’ve
seen,” adds Cox. And its successes
encourage collaborative approaches at
every level.
“There’s no question that collabora
tion helped us” garner a bigger share of
after-school dollars, says George
Cameron, superintendent of the
National School District. Through local
collaboration, he adds, “We’ve been
able to bring people into the system—
residents, parents, members of the
community—who never really shared
their voice before.”
Lessons learned
Use data to build partnerships:
The SHAC data helped advocates argue
that after-school hours are “a shared
responsibility:’ says McBrayer, involv
ing health as well as educational and
law-enforcement issues. Now the coun
ty puts $1.8 million health dollars
annually into Critical Hours. SHAC
also engaged law enforcement lead
ers—who have “far more political cur
rency in San Diego than do health and
social services,” says Ross. “It puts a dif
ferent face on [the issue] when you can
say to the community, ‘This is part of
our crime control strategy,” says for
mer San Diego Police Chief Jerry
Sanders, now CEO of United Way of
San Diego. Because health and law
enforcement leaders were involved in
gathering the data, their buy-in was
assured.
No blame, no credit: As a convenor,
says McBrayer, “We don’t say, ‘You’ve
done wrong.’ We say, “How can we
make this better?” Collaboration, adds
Mary Jo Buettner, director of the Chula
Vista Coordinating Council, means
“keeping egos out of the way and not
being territorial:’
Find common ground: “Often peo
ple see advocacy as ‘us against them:”
says McBrayer. “What we have found
most influential in San Diego County is
that each elected official has a pet con
cern. [We] find out what it is” and
speak to that. When the after-school
initiative was proposed, “everybody was
afraid of teenagers,” says Sanders, “and
people were looking for answers:’ So
after-school programs “seemed like a
reasonable solution:’
Identify sources of funding: The
“shoes” presentation was a “tear-jerker,”
says Ross. But drama “doesn’t work
unless you have some resources to
move.” Before the presentation, advo
cates identified surplus funds that
enabled the county to create Critical
Hours without having to “tax anybody
or go into deficit spending:’ and pre
viewed the strategy with key supervi
sors, says Ross.
Sustaining collaboration
Despite San Diego’s successes, “it
takes a lot of time and energy.. .to keep
people glued together:’ says McDonald.
Cameron, who hired a coordinator for
National City’s collaborative, says it’s
been hard to fund the position. “The
funding world needs some kind of
measurable outcome,” says McDonald.
“I don’t think we have been very good
at figuring out how to measure the
impact of collaboration.” U
• The Children’s Initiative, 858-5815889, www.thechiIdrensinitiative.org
• San Diego’s Promise,
www.sandiegospromise.org
4’
Clean country air
Determination to protect kids from air pollution is turning
some rural Californians into activists
:1
By Megan Lindow
Air pollution
and kids
A
groundbreaking 10-year
University of California study of
the effects of air pollution on children
has so far found that:
• Children who live in polluted areas
and play three or more sports are
three times likelier than those in
less polluted regions to develop
asthma.
School absences due to sore
throats, coughs, asthma attacks
and other respiratory problems
increase after a significant rise in
ozone.
• The presence of particulate matter
(like dust) in the air makes asthma
symptoms worse.
• Long-term exposure to air
pollution slows children’s lung
development.
A UCLA study released last Decem
ber found that women exposed to
high levels of ozone and carbon
monoxide may be up to three times
as likely to give birth to a baby with
heart defects. I
3.
:•
F
or years, Kevin and Anne Hall
considered leaving their native San
Joaquin Valley because they wor
ried about the effects of air pollution
on their son Joey, now 10.
In summer, a thick, brown carpet of
foul-smelling smog spreads itself over
the San Joaquin Valley, driving people
indoors and triggering asthma attacks.
Fresno County children have the state’s
highest rate of asthma—16 percent. In
winter, soot, the deadliest form of pol
lution, makes the air smell like an ash
tray, says Kevin Hall.
Air pollution causes thousands of
deaths and illnesses each year, accord
ing to the American Lung Association.
Children are particularly vulnerable to
air pollution because:
• their bodies are still developing
• they tend to spend more time out
side, and
I per pound, they inhale greater
amounts of pollution.
A 10-year University of Southern
California study (see sidebar) of the
effects of air pollution on children has
so far found that pollution increases
absences from school, worsens asthma
symptoms, slows lung development,
and in some cases even causes asthma.
Mobilizing against pollution
A child takes his asthma medkine
with an inhaler and spacer.
Instead of moving, Kevin Hall joined
the Sierra Club to fight for cleaner air,
one of a small but growing number of
Californians fighting air pollution in
rural areas—and winning some victo
ries.
In the San Joaquin Valley, a lawsuit by
environmental, medical, and communi
ty groups pressured the federal
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to end the farm industry’s long
standing exemption from clean air laws.
In Riverside County, a community
group in Mira Loma persuaded local
officials to halt developments that resi
dents say worsen air quality.
Polluted valley
TO GET INVOLVED
• Center for Community Action and
Environmental justice, Riverside,
909-360-8451, www.ccaej.org
• Center on Race, Poverty and the
Environment, Delano, 661-720-9140
• Latino Issues Forum, San Francisco,
41 5-547-7550, www.Iif.org
• Sierra Club Tehipite Chapter-Fresno,
559-227-6421
•
California has four of the nation’s
five metropolitan areas with the worst
air, according to the American Lung
Association. Three of them—
Bakersfield, Fresno, and Visalia-Tulare
Porterville—are in the San Joaquin
Valley. The region’s commercial farms
pollute with machinery, pesticides, ani
mal waste, and shipping. The valley’s
population has exploded over the last
decade. With little public transporta
tion, more people are driving longer dis
tances. And pollution from the Bay Area
drifts to the valley.
Dr. David Pepper of the Medical
Alliance for Healthy Air in Fresno says
that when air quality is bad, there’s a
peak in asthma-related visits to emer
gency rooms. Local school records over
the past decade show a 600 percent
increase in the number of children with
asthma, he says. And air pollution might
also make children more prone to heart
and lung diseases when they grow up.
Poor, rural, and immigrant children
suffer the most from air toxics, says
Brent Newell of the Center for Race,
(4
Poverty and the Environment in
Delano, because they often live closer
to sources of pollution and lack access
to health care.
Growing awareness
In May, as a result of lawsuits by the
Sierra Club and other groups, the fed
eral EPA announced that California has
to stop exempting agriculture from airquality regulations—or lose billions of
dollars in federal highway funds.
In the past, San Joaquin Valley resi
dents fighting poverty, violence, and
lack of health care, Hall says, have had
little time to tackle air pollution. But
awareness of the problem is growing.
“The anger and resentment throughout
the valley is profound,” Hall says. “I
have strangers coming up to me and
thanking me” for fighting pollution.
Inland Empire dangers
Mira Loma, in Riverside County, has
become the center of the struggle for
cleaner air in the Inland Empire. The
region, which also has some of the
nation’s worst air pollution, has become
a major warehouse district for the
southwestern United States.
Pat Delgado, a 25-year resident, sus
pected a problem when her daughter,
now in her twenties, developed asthma
as a child. “I noticed the neighbor’s child
[also] had asthma and the child down
the street had asthma. I thought, ‘this
isn’t right.”
Then a few years ago, large commer
cial warehouses started appearing in
this agricultural area, and fleets of
diesel trucks brought more pollution.
Residents learned that the county had
been issuing permits for the warehous
es without studying their environmen
tal impacts, says Penny Newman, exec
utive director of the Center for
Community Action and Environmental
Justice in Riverside. “We would show
up at hearings and were basically told
this was none of our business,”
Newman recalls.
Meanwhile a University of Southern
California study found that lung capac
ity deve1ops 10 percent more slowly in
children from Mira Loma than children
in less polluted areas. Another study by
the South Coast Air Quality Manage
ment District found that diesel engines
produce 70 percent of all cancercausing air pollution.
Halt to construction
Armed with these facts, hundreds of
residents, including Delgado, circulated
petitions and attended meetings. The
center filed lawsuits to stop new ware
house construction. Last year, Newman
says, government agencies announced a
halt to further construction until envi
ronmental impact studies are completed.
“I think we’re on our way to accom
plishing something important,”
Newman says. “We’re trying not only to
deal with a local problem, but also to
do it in a way that influences public
policy and that gets people to look at
air quality for the entire region:’ I
What’s in air pollution?
Ozone: A chemical that damages lungs and other organs
Sources: Emissions from cars and industry, reacting with sunlight
Effects: Breathing difficulties, lung tissue damage.
Particulate matter: Tiny particles like dust and soot
Sources: Dust, agriculture, fuel combustion
Effects: Increased respiratory disease, lung damage, cancer, premature death.
(Source: California Air Resources Board)
To learn more
• American Lung Association, www.lungusa.org. 212-315-8700
• Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org, 510-444,0973
• USC study of air pollution, www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/academic
departments/preventivemed/occenvironmental/scehsc/press.html
• Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, www.earthjustice.org, 510-550-6700
i1uit-
c
,
4
.p
.
I
Should the federal government sponsor
ii:”marriage promotion” as part of welfare?
By Heather World
klahoma has appointed an evangelical Christian husband-and-wife team of
“marriage ambassadors.” Utah gives out videos about commitment when cou
ples apply for marriage licenses. Arizona is creating a marriage commission.
These federally funded efforts would receive a boost under President Bush’s wel
fare reform proposal, which includes $300 million for “premarital education and coun
seling, as well as research and technical assistance into promising approaches.”
The marriage promotion proposal, as it is known, is a drop in the total welfare bud
get bucket of $16.5 billion, yet it has created quite a splash. While studies show that
children reared in stable environments with two parents fare better than others, polls
suggest that most Americans do not like the government taking such an active role in
their personal lives.
Many say the money could be better spent elsewhere. Critics worry that women
may be discouraged from leaving abusive relationships.
We asked people with a range of views:Should federal welfare programs indude
“marriage promotion?”
O
Ev1 IIII
Diane Shannon, a managing partner
of the San Diego office of the Institute
for Responsible Fatherhood and
Family Revitalization
While studies show that
children reared in stable
environments with two
parents fare better than
others, polls suggest that
most Americans do not
like the government
taking such an active role
in their personal lives.
The government is in people’s lives
anyway in every aspect—social security,
taxes. If it’s going to make a person bet
ter off by offering them services, then I
support it. I believe that marriage is very
important. I believe it is very much
needed in the community. You want to
be a good example for your children.
You can have a family with a boyfriend
and kids, but it’s a more solid founda
tion with a married couple. Marriage
respects the values of God as well as the
values of community.
Michelle Williams, cofounder and
codirector of The International Center
for Reconciling and God’s Way Inc.
Martina Gulls, director of the Coalition
for Ethical Welfare Reform
.
.1k
,
i,c’ ;
,;
‘
Jk4..
J
I’m definitely against it. I think the
original intent—which should still be
purpose—of welfare is to support poor
families. There’s a lot of reasons folks
don’t get married. Domestic violence is
one of the major reasons. A lot of folks
receiving welfare have experienced
domestic violence.
I was married before and I was still
poor. Just to say, “If we get these poor
women married they’ll get out of pover
ty” isn’t enough. Poor women usually
know poor men. We need to talk about
training and education to get people
jobs that pay self-sustaining wages.
They’re talking about legislating
morality. Having been on welfare and
dealt with an eligibility worker and a
case specialist, it would be a sorry state
if we asked these folks to become mar
riage counselors. They haven’t even
made the transition well to becoming
employment counselors!
Dan HoSang, project analyst for the
GROWL, Grass Roots Organizing for
Welfare Leadership, a project of the
Center for Third World Organizing
We’re strongly and unanimously
against it for a litany of reasons. First,
there is a strong fear it will increase
domestic violence. The domestic vio
lence rate of mothers on welfare is
8 JULY-AUGUST 2002
Most of the children we talk to say
they don’t care if their mom and dad
fight, they want them married. We
agree that it is better. Obviously we
don’t agree with domestic violence. If
there is any kind of domestic violence,
we encourage separation. But with
normal arguing, we believe that keeping that marriage together is going to
benefit everybody.
Two incomes are better than one.
And if the mom or dad has to work
weird hours, at least the other parent
can be there. We also believe setting
that example of reconciliation gives
your children the tools they need to
work out their differences.
To me it’s a no-brainer. The govern
ment pays for the consequences of
divorce. Of course the government
needs to use some of its resources to
keep marriages and families intact.
Let’s prevent instead of after-the-fact.
much higher than in the general popu
lation. To tell [a mother on welfare] the
answer to her problems is to marry
the father of her children seems
destructive.
Second, there’s been no conclusive
studies that show marriage solves the
problem of poverty. We think [the pro
posal] focuses attention away from
time-tested anti-poverty measures like
access to education, raising wage levels,
and access to child care.
We certainly worry that it promotes
discrimination against single parents,
and it violates fundamental privacy
rights.
Shari Twidwell, director of governmen
tal relations and political affairs,
California chapter of the National
Association of Social Workers
Marriage excludes a large popula
tion of people, namely gay and lesbian
people. [The proposal] sets up an addi
tional method of discriminating
against gays and lesbians. And who
really winds up suffering is the children
in those families. There is a lot of
research that says kids in two parent
families grow up to be more stable.
However there’s not a whole lot to say
that if the parents are married the kids
come out better.
With federal legislation, you really
don’t want to get specific unless you
have to. That’s what conservatives
always say—let the individual decide.
That’s not
1th1sue! f
r
::.::.:::.
Scott Anderson, executive director
of California Council of Churches,
representing 20 Christian
denominations
It’s not a lot of money in the context
of the total package. Encouraging mar
riage is not a bad thing—even for gov
ernment. From an economic point of
view, marriage may be one factor in
helping people leave dependency.
As I read the proposal, it’s not forc
ing anyone to get married. It says “Here
are some local counseling and support
programs to try.” Providing support
and counseling to help them enter and
maintain stable marriages—how can
we oppose that?
On the other hand, it’s kind of a
smoke screen. It’s not addressing the
real problems of poverty. Encouraging
single moms on welfare to get married
is not the answer. There are far bigger
issues than getting married: Providing
jobs that give a living wage, providing
adequate job training so moms can
move from seven dollar-an-hour jobs
to $12- to $15-an-hour jobs, providing
child care to every low-income house
hold that can’t afford to pay for it.
Frank Mecca, executive director of the
California Welfare Directors
Association
;& rNI think we were more anxious about
what we thought might be included in
the proposal than we are now that
we’ve seen it. It’s not a bad thing to try
to promote two-parent families. It
would be bad to force people into bad
situations, and that’s what we feared.
But that’s not what came out in the
proposal.
The fact that the proposal does not
carve out part of the base funding in
the block grants and the fact that it
does not dictate a particular methodol
ogy for how you would promote stable
two-parent families was reassuring to
us.
We’re not talking about a lot of
money here. You have to put this pro
posal in the context of what else is
going on. The rest of the president’s
proposal is extremely problematic:
increase in work participation require
ments, decrease in state spending flexi
bility, and the absence of new money
for child care are going to be enor
mously problematic, if Congress enacts
this. The marriage promotion proposal
is such a small part of the pot. I
_______
________—
Pathways to Parent leadership
5 a (Hi Liderazgo de Pa
—
A
Orange County: Step-by-step leadership development
By Irene Moore
ive years ago, Rosalia Piñon, a
37-year-old mother of four, never
F would have imagined herself
speaking in front of 4,000 people.
Recently, however, at a public forum
in Sacramento, to a crowd including
state legislators, Piñon delivered per
sonal testimony about the benefits of
the low-cost children’s health insur
ance program, Healthy Families. It
was the Orange County Congregation
Community Organization’s (OCCCO)
leadership development process that
prepared her for that moment.
•1I
OCCCO, a community organization
based in 14 Catholic churches, is a
branch of a national faith-based orga
nizing network, the Pacific Institute for
Community Organization (PICO).
PICO-California’s recent statewide
wins include state funding for an inno
vative teacher home-visiting program
and the federal go-ahead to allow
California to extend Healthy Families
to parents.
“Our leadership development is a
simple process,” says Corey Timpson,
the PICO organizer for Orange County;
“There’s no book. We work through a
body of principles [see boxi to guide
people through situations’ The learn
ing is “on the job and participatory:’
Parents usually learn about OCCCO
through their local church, a place that
provides safety and a built-in commu
nity. Faith motivates some to partici
pate. “People of faith have a calling to
be socially involved,” says Alma
Vergara, OCCCO’s organizer in Costa
Mesa. Jose Pinjero, a 39-year-old father
of two, says his wife signed him up at
their church, Sacred Heart, in Santa
Ana. “Through OCCCO’s program, I’m
implementing my Christian mission:’
he adds. Piñon says she first joined
because “I was looking for social
change in my community and family.”
Advocating for change is a step-bystep process for building parent leader
ship.
Talking one-to-one: A first step can
be the one-to-one conversations
OCCCO activists hold in people’s
homes. They ask family members what
type of pressures they’re facing, what
they think the community lacks, and
what would make the community more
productive. “They could bring up any
thing, from the need for more stop
signs to a better health care system,”
says Vergara.
Picking an issue: Fr6m these conver
sations, parent leaders’hear community
concerns. They then pick an issue and
devise a plan of action in their monthly
meetings. “They can work simultane
ously on different issues at one church:’
Vergara points out. When Piñon first
got involved with OCCCO, the group
was working for a program that would
allow high school kids to get credit for
working while attending school. Piñon,
who has 17-year-old twins, felt close to
the issue and says, “I identified with the
group and I liked the idea of working
with a community of people who want
to make a change:’
Planning a strategy: At the monthly
meetings, the organizer conducts a 20minute training session about how to
reach the people in power, for example,
a school superintendent. With the aid
of the organizers, parent leaders also
devise a list of questions for research
on an issue. “They may have a vision of
what the school district should be like,
so they come up with questions as a
group,” says Vergara. By doing the
research and planning the strategy; par
ents take ownership of the process and
learn how systems like health and edu
cation work.
Building support: They also use the
one-to-one method to get neighbors
involved in a particular issue. Pinjero
remembers when the city of Santa Ana
wanted to shorten the hours of the
local library. He and other OCCCO
leaders walked the neighborhood,
knocked on doors, and signed up peo
ple for a meeting at the church to dis
cuss how to maintain the regular hours.
“I realized through this process that
being united we can do something:’
says Pinjero.
Going public: The next step is a big
one. Parents take the issue to a public
forum, at a local church, school or
town hail, or in Sacramento. In these
meetings, they try to get a key decisionmaker to commit to something on the
spot. Last year, for example, Piñon was
involved in a meeting where the super
intendent of the Newport Mesa Unified
School District agreed to submit a
grant application for a teacher homevisiting program. The district got fund
ing for the program.
At the meetings, parents present
reports on research findings, prepared
with the help of the organizer, who’s
always present at the meetings.
Recently Piñon delivered information
to 700 people, including the superin
tendent, on a plan to restructure K-6
schools into two separate units, K-3
and 4-6.
Parent’s personal testimonies are
also important in these meetings.
Piñon has encouraged many other par
ents to tell their stories in public. For
many Costa Mesa parents, mostly low-
Rosalia Piñon (on right) at a Teenage Girls’ Nutrition Class
‘eys
i
• Recruitment through churches, where members feel comfortable as part of
a community
• One-on-one conversations that bring out people’s ideas and get them
involved
I Professional organizers who teach clear principles of organizing
• Participants getting involved based on their own experiences
• Community members “owning” the organizing: choosing issues, researching
subjects, planning strategy, speaking in public
• Every step is part of leadership development.
income and Latino, speaking in front of
others can be intimidating. “I tell them
how this is going to benefit the kids
and help their future,” says Piñon.
Evaluating the outcome: After the
public meetings, the final step is to
evaluate what worked and what didn’t.
“We use our evaluation for work in the
future,” Vergara says. “It’s a constant
building process:’
A stronger, healthier community is
the final outcome of OCCCO’s work.
There are also more personal gains.
“The OCCCO program has made me
more positive, more motivated. I can
communicate better with my family,
people in the community, the health
and education systems. I learned I can
be on equal playing grounds with peo
ple of power:’ says Piñon.
Pinjero concludes, “I feel more edu
cated and I have a voice:’ •
Thanks to the
Zellerbach Family Fund
for its support of this series.
Seeking Justice:
PICO Principles
ORGANIZING
1. Organizing is about people, not
issues.
2. People act out of self-interest.
3. Stay close to your people.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
1. Never do for others what they can
do for themselves.
2. Leadership is developmental.
3. One cannot be held responsible for
what they don’t understand.
POWER
1. Power rests in relationship.
2. Power is organized money/people.
3. Power is taken, not given.
CHANGE
1. Change involves tension.
2. Real power is often hidden.
3. The [success of the] action is in the
reaction [by those in power].
Ver esteartlculo enfrpñoI
%“
enágina 10.
I
Pathways to Parent leadership Sendero a em tideraz,o de Padres
The Right Question Project: Tools for advocacy
By Eve Peariman
I
n Camptonville, a town of
about 650 in the Sierra
foothills, a group of mothers
on welfare were having a hard
time figuring out how to find
jobs that would support their
families. So they decided to use
a discussion method developed
by a national organization called
the Right Question Project (RQP).
One of the moms, Cathy LeBlanc,
a single mother of three, had
attended RQP training sessions
sponsored by the Sierra Health
Foundation.
So the women met to discuss the
question, “What are our barriers to
employment?” This led to another ques
tion: “How can education help us?” In
that discussion, says LeBlanc, “we found
out that many of the moms in our
group wanted to continue their educa
tion?’
So the women contacted LIFETIME,
a group that helps mothers on welfare
get more education. With their help, one
of the Camptonville moms realized that,
as a child of deaf parents, she had a
skill—signing—that could become a
career. She’s starting a program at Sierra
College this summer; two other mem
bers of the group are enrolling for the
fall.
“We use RQP often’ says LeBlanc.
Sometimes it’s to prepare for meetings
with Camptonville’s Ca1WORKs case
worker. As in many rural areas, the
problems often involve transportation.
In one discussion the group focused on
the question, “How can we advocate for
a car purchase?” One of the mothers
needed a car to get to work and had
saved $500, but it wasn’t enough. The
group persuaded the county Ca1WORKs
program to help her buy the car.
Advocating on a larger scale, the
group used the Right Question Project
method to prepare testimony about wel
fare policy, which they delivered at a
public meeting with their congressper
son, U.S. Rep. Wally Herger (R-Yuba
County), who chairs the committee
handling welfare reform.
THE RIGHT QUESTION
PROJECT METHOD
RQP workshops, guided by facilita
tors working from RQP curriculum
guides, teach parents how to focus on
what they want—and how to ask for
what they want—out of a specific meet
ing or exchange. The assumption is that
parents do know what they want to say
and what’ s best for their children, but
can become disempowered in meetings
with professionals or officials who have
power, formal training, and lots of prac
tice speaking out. RQP gives parents
steps—brainstorming, prioritizing,
more brainstorming, reprioritizing—to
think in a logical manner about issues
that are important to them.
LeBlanc learned abut RQP two years
ago through the Yu.baCommunity
The assumption is that
parents do know what
they want to say and
what’ s best for their
children, but can become
disempowered in meetings
with professionals or
officials who have power,
formal training, and lots of
practice speaking out.
Collaborative for Healthy Children, one
of 18 local collaboratives in the Sierra
Health Foundation’s Community Part
nerships for Healthy Children (CPHC).
“What I like about it the best,” says
LeBlanc, now an RQP trainer, “is that it
helps the average person be on more
even footing when speaking to profes
sionals. It allows you to go through a
process where you get to think before
you speak?’
For many people, says Lane
Montgomery, communications associate
at the Sierra Health Foundation, RQP
has “taken away that ‘we can’t fight City
Hall’ attitude?’ Faye Kennedy, of the
Center for Collaborative Planning
(CCP), which conducts RQP trainings
for CPHC collaboratives, says her orga
nization has trained at least 200 parent
leaders to use RQP in the last two years.
But she suspects its reach is much deep
er. Parents leave the workshop with a
“cheat sheet” they can take home and
refer to for the next challenge they meet.
THE RQP AT SCHOOL
Many parents use the RQP method
to advocate for their kids in school.
Tammy Ghasvarian, a 38-year-old single
mother of three, was working as a Vista
volunteer in Grass Valley when she par
ticipated in an RQP training. A week
later later she came home to find out
that the principal at her son’s school,
without consulting her, had referred her
son to an agency for treatment of his
behavioral problems.
“I wanted to go and choke the prin
cipal,” says Ghasvarian. But then, she
says, she took a deep breath and took
herself through the RQP process: What
was the most important thing she need
ed to ask the principal? The bottom line
was: “Why was I not informed?”
When Ghasvarian went to see the
principal, she says, she calmly reminded
him that when they’d talked before, he’d
told her they were a team in helping her
son. By the end of the meeting, the prin
cipal apologized and said it would never
happen again. “I earned his respect that
day because I was calm, prepared, and
smart about it’ says Ghasvarian, “Now
whenever I walk into his office he’s
always very attentive and helpful?’ N
Cathy LeBlanc leads a group through the Right Question Project process.
Keys to success
• The Right Question Project is quick, inexpensive, and nonthreatening.
• Facilitators can lead RQP workshops based on printed guides from RQP.
• The method can be used on many levels, from an individual parent advocating
for their child to groups advocating for social change.
-
RQP: The nuts and bolts
The basic RQP training works like this:
I
2
Parents are given a “problem” to work on—such as a form letter from a
school district explaining which school their child will be placed in.
Parents work in small groups to come up with questions, such as “Who
made this decision?” “How is school assignment decided?” “Who will
my child’s teacher be?” The brainstorming should be open and nonjudg
mental. Trainers write down all suggestions.
3
Then, through discussion, the parents narrow down their list of ques
tions to three they consider most important.
Parents meet again in small groups to refine those questions.
5
In the end, the group decides on a few questions that get to the heart
of their concerns, such as “What is the background of the teachers at
this school?” “What if I’m not satisfied with the school?” and “How would I
go about changing this decision?”
Right Question Project Training
RIGHT QUESTION PROJECT MATERIAL.S
RQP sells facilitators’ guides for single workshops ($30) and a five-workshop
series specifically focusing on school issues ($75), as well as other materials.
RQP, 617-492-1900, www.rightquestion.org
EXPERIENCED TRAINERS
—I
i ie center i w,Iduurative Planning (CCP) provides trainers who teach the
RQP and other organizing and advocacy methods for groups all over
California. The CCP sets the price for each organization based on its resources
and needs. CCP, 916-498-6960, www.connectccD.org.
__________
Emotional intelligence%
Stories about children coping with difficult emotions can help
parents and children discuss ways of dealing with troubling feelings
A
nger, fear, grief, and depression
are among the emotions
children will face growing up.
It is important that they understand
that these emotions, though confusing
and often painful, are natural. It is also
important that children learn ways of
dealing with them. These entertaining
children’s stories show characters deal
ing with a range of emotions. Through
reading these stories, parents and chil
dren can empathize with the charac
ters’ feelings, discuss their actions, and
learn some healthy ways of coping
with their own emotion5.
When Sophie Gets Angry—Really,
Really Angry..., story and illustrations
by Molly Bang. This Caldecott Honor
Book tells the story of Sophie, who gets
upset when her sister snatches away her
toy gorilla. Sophie’s anger is described in
familiar metaphors accompanied by col
orful pictures: Sophie “roars a red, red
roar” and is a “volcano, ready to
explode.” She deals with her intense
anger by running, crying, and then
climbing in a tree to watch the water
until she is calm again. The vibrant text
and illustrations depict the way anger
can feel and the way one girl has discov
ered to deal with it. Ages four through
eight. (The Blue Sky Press, 1999)
Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,
Arnold Lobel. A frown is contagious but
so is a smile. When Mr. Jones passes
Mrs. Jones without a kiss on a rainy gray
morning, she feels quite cross and tells
her son that his shirt is filthy. He feels
angry and insults his sister and so starts
a chain of bad feelings that travels from
person to person until it reaches a dog
that is tossed off a bed. But the dog,
assuming it’s a game, turns around and
licks the perpetrator, who begins to
laugh. Thus begins the chain of kindness
and good deeds that finally concludes
when Mr. Jones returns home from
work in a good mood and remembers to
kiss his wife. Although obviously written
decades ago, this book offers an excel
lent opportunity to discuss how people’s
actions affect others’ feelings. Age four
to eight. (Harper & Row, 1963)
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, story and
illustrations by Kevin Henkes. Lilly loves
school, especially her teacher, Mr.
Slinger. But one day, when he takes her
purse because she is being disruptive,
she gets upset. When she is mad, she
slips a mean drawing of the teacher in
his bag, an action she regrets when she
discovers the kind note he gives her
when he returns the purse. Feeling
guilty, she goes home and draws him a
new picture to express how sorry she is.
Parents can use Henkes’ humorous
account to help children understand the
importance of thinking through the
effects of their actions. Ages five through
nine. (Greenwillow Books, 1996)
story by Judith Viorst, illustrations by
Ray Cruz. Judith Viorst’s story invites
children to empathize with Alexander—
and to understand that some days just
go bad. On Alexander’s “very bad day’
he wakes up with gum in his hair, trips
over a skateboard, forgets the number
16 when counting in front of his class,
and has to watch kissing on television.
It’s nice to take comfort in the fact that
some days are just like that, or, perhaps,
to realize that your day is not as bad as
Alexander’s—unless you, too, have to
watch kissing on television! Ages five to
nine. (Macmillan Publishing Company,
1972)
The Adventures of Isabel, story by
Ogden Nash, illustrations by James
Marshall. James Marshall’s amusing
illustrations accompany Nash’s wellknown verse about the courageous
Isabel. In this story, Isabel confronts sev
eral common childhood terrors such as
bears, witches, and bad dreams and
calmly turns the tables on each one.
Even doctors don’t escape dear Isabel.
While many of the lines are violent,
Marshall’s childish pictures help to
assure that this remains a story that chil
dren can enjoy. Nash’s tale offers a fear
less hero whom children can emulate (at
least in their imagination) when they
confront their own fears. Ages five to
nine. (Little, Brown and Company,
1991)
The Quarreling Bäok, story by
Charlotte Zolotow, illustrations by
9o1qiflflij
a•
v
..:•
.
.
.
:
Darcy and Gran Don’t Like Babies,
story by Jane Cutler, illustrations by
Susannah Ryan. Darcy doesn’t like her
baby brother! Her mother reminds her
that the baby is just like she used to be,
her dad insists she will eventually like the
baby, the neighbor insists she really does
love the baby, and the doctor says she
isn’t supposed to like the baby. Darcy is
relieved when her grandmother says she
doesn’t like babies either. Darcy spends a
long afternoon with her grandmother
comically complaining that babies smell,
demand too much attention, and require
too much work. Through this discussion,
Darcy develops more understanding and
acceptance of the baby and his place in
her life. Reading about Darcy can help
other children with a new sibling under
stand their own negative or anxious feel
ings. Ages five to nine. (Scholastic Inc.,
1993)
Everett Anderson series, story by
Thunder Cake, story and illustrations
by Patricia Polacco. Polacco’s tender
story describes the way a thunderstorm
scares a young girl visiting her grand
mother. Her grandmother helps her
overcome the fear by teaching her to
make Thunder Cake. Determining the
distance from the storm, the two of
them set off to fetch the ingredients
from the tough farm animals such as the
Old Kick Cow and mean old Nellie Peck
Hen. The little girl becomes so preoccu
pied by the cake that when the storm
arrives she realizes that she’s actually
been quite brave. For fun, Polacco also
includes the recipe so parents and chil
dren can make a thunder cake of their
own. Ages five to nine. (Phiomel Books,
1990)
Lucille Clifton, illustrations by Ann
Grifalconi. The Everett Anderson series
describes the ups and downs of a young
boy living in the city. The poetic text
describes Everett’s activities, friends, fami
ly, and lifestyle. Many of the stories are
fimny descriptions of a normal boy’s life,
others deal seriously with common, some
times difficult emotions such as uncer
tainty (his mother’s pregnancy), doubt
(the introduction of his new neighbor),
and grief (his father’s death). Many chil
dren wifi take comfort in seeing how a
familiar characters deals with emotions
they may be experiencing. Everett
Anderson’s Nine Months Long (1978),
Everett Anderson’s Goodbye (1983), Everett
Anderson’s Friend (1976). Ages six through
nine. (Henry Holt and Company)
Some of the Pieces, story by Melissa
Madenski, illustrations by Deborah
Kogan Ray. A year after his dad died,
Dylan accompanies his mother to throw
the last of his father’s ashes in the river.
They recount together old stories and
memories of his father and Dylan
explains how he felt during different
points of his first year of mourning. In
the end, Dylan says it’s as if his dad’s
memory has been split into thousands
of pieces, and he is glad to have some of
them. Madenski’s description of how
one family handles the loss of a loved
one can be helpful to children con
fronting the death of someone they love.
Ages five to nine. (Little, Brown and
Company, 1991)
by Lucille Clifton
Wu4l,W by
Ann Grifalconi
_____
i
By Claudia Miller
If your help is needed,
be a moderator, not a
judge, Weliman advises.
“I would try to help
each of them talk about
what’s frustrating them.
Then I would ask each,
‘What do you need right
now to feel better?’”
-Gb
WELLMAN,
Parent Educator, California
Parenting Institute,
Santa Rosa
“She started it!”
Parents and parent educators share tips on calming
sibling sivalry
n the best days, siblings can
have parents beaming: sharing
O toys, working as a team to clean
their room, looking out for each other
on the playground. On the worst days,
siblings seem ready to start a war over
who gets the front seat, who got the
bigger piece of pie, and who’s Mom’s
favorite.
“Parents sometimes feel that if their
kids aren’t best friends, they’re doing
something wrong,” says Jeff Anderson,
director of outpatient services at the
Sierra Vista Children’s Center in
Modesto. But sibling rivalry is normal
and can even be healthy for children’s
development.
Sibling relationships provide “an
important opportunity for children to
learn to problem-solve in an environ
ment of unconditional love,” says Gb
Weliman, a parent educator at the
California Parenting Institute in Santa
Rosa.
While there’s no easy answer to
easing sibling rivalry, child develop
ment specialists and parents suggest
the following.
With a new baby, be sure to
include the older child as
much as possible. While a new
baby keeps parents busy and sleepdeprived, there are ways to keep your
older child from feeling pushed aside.
Parents should try to avoid saying, “I’m
with the baby now. I can’t help you,”
according to the Sibling Preparation
Guidebook by Mary Jane DeWolf
Smith, director of the A.P.P.L.E. Family
Center in San Rafael. Parents can say, “I
have to feed the baby now; come read
with me.” Or “I have to change the
baby; come show me your drawing.”
Find something special to cel
ebrate individually with each
child. Claudia Burgoz, an associate
Head Start teacher in Monterey County,
has four sons and one foster son living
with her. The oldest is 12, the youngest
just three months. Earlier this year, her
oldest son celebrated his first commu
nion, and Burgoz and her husband
planned a celebration dinner with him
alone. “I’m lucky that I have a large ‘vil
lage’ of relatives and friends to help
when we want to do something special
with one of the kids,” she says. “Next
week, when my five-year-old has a
kindergarten tea party, I’ll be there for
that:’
-
•
Have positive answers for ‘1
hate her” or “You love him
more than me.” First of all, says
-
,_;-•-•
-
Weliman, “I tell parents not to take it
personally”—for themselves or the sib
lings. To respond to “I hate him,” she
says, “I say, ‘Yes, you’re really angry right
now: Then move on and deal with what
they’re angry about. When kids say, ‘You
love her more,’ you need to tell them, ‘I
love you just the way you are, but how I
respond to you [is different] because
you have different needs: Most kids just
don’t hear that enough—you have to say
it over and over:’
(4
14 JULY-AUGUST 2002
•
•.
7
tt
•
—
I
2
2
c.
LU
N
Try to spend some time, even
just 10 minutes, alone with
each child each day. Anderson
says one of his clients had three daugh
ters who were competing, each com
plaining that another was “Mommy’s
favorite:’ The mother decided to spend
a little time each day with each child,
one-on-one—that ended a lot of the
fighting.
The one-on-one attention “can be as
simple as listening to what happened at
school that day,” says Halfrid Nelson,
public relations manager at the
Children’s Services Network of Fresno
County. “But those little moments help
a child feel secure”—and often less
threatened by siblings.
Don’t expect too much from
your oldest child or too little
from the youngest. While addi
tional responsibilities are okay, says
Nelson, parents sometimes need to
remind themselves that the older child
is stifi just a child. Similarly, some par
ents expect too little from the youngest.
“As soon as they’re old enough, they
need to understand that rules are for
everyone in the family,” says Weilman.
Don’t be too quick to jump
in. Try to let siblings work
out their own problems.
Different parents have different stan
dards for when to get involved. For
some, an occasional shove is OK. For
others, any physical force is forbidden.
In Weilman’s family, yelling is her cue
to intervene. Wherever parents draw
the line, “They need to observe their
kids and know them well enough to
understand when the energy is getting
to a place where they will need to inter
vene,” Weilman says.
When you get involved, keep
it positive. Parents should try to
stay out of the “he started it, she started
it” argument. Rather than trying to fig
ure out who’s at fault, Anderson says
parents can often help by suggesting
that the children separate. “Some of
our parents have had success with this
because the kids often pull together
and stop arguing. Even when they’re
bickering, most kids would rather play
together than alone,” he says.
If you walk into a room where two
kids are fighting, Weilman says, “Make
sure you don’t say, ‘OK, what’s going on
here?’ Right away the kids are on the
spot and you’re in the middle. Instead,
try saying, “This doesn’t sound good.
Do you need help resolving this or can
you do it on your own?”
If your help is needed, be a modera
tor, not a judge, she advises. “I would
try to help each of them talk about
what’s frustrating them. Then I would
ask each, ‘What do you need right now
,,,
to feel better?
At calmer times, teach skills
and values. When there’s no fight
going on, parents can set an atmos
phere of respect and love, Wellman
adds, and teach skills like sharing, talc
ing turns, and conflict resolution. Then
“when my boys are arguing I can say,
‘Hey, guys, this doesn’t sound respect
ful. You need to find a better way to say
this.’ Children need to be taught to use
statements like ‘I don’t like that’ or ‘I’m
angry,’ It’s not right to let them fight it
out if it turns mean-spirited:’
Don’t force apologies or
hugs. It’s important for parents to
validate their children’s feelings. “Tell
them, ‘It’s okay to be mad at your
brother, but it’s not okay to hit him,”
says Anderson. He says forced apologies
or hugs can lead to more resentment.
On the other hand, he adds, there’s
nothing wrong with encouraging chil
dren to say they’re sorry or to help the
hurt sibling feel better with a back rub
or ice pack. •
Spotlight on children’s mental health
By Meeta Maihi
T
Sn
Starting early
T
he Little Hoover Commission report
on children’s mental health noted
that “young children present the great
est opportunity to respond early to risks
and prevent the need for mental health
services.” Despite the severe shortages
of programs and trained providers for
children under five, the LHC made no
specific recommendations for expand
ing services for young children.
Prop. 10 commissions at the state
and county levels, however, have
stepped in to fund some efforts to
improve mental health programs for
young children. In many counties, Prop.
10 commissions are funding mental
health consultants for child care pro
grams as well as mental health services
for young children. And the state Prop.
10 Commisson’s Infant Family Mental
Health Initiative provides grants for
“quality early mental health and rela
tionship-based services for young chil
dren, their families, and other primary
caregivers.”
In Stanislaus County, for example,
the county mental health department
had already developed the Leaps and
Bounds program, providing counseling
and case management for families of
young children. The emphasis, says
Project Director Janette Jameson, is on
“treating the parent as an ‘expert,’
focusing on what the parent does
right.”
Leaps and Bounds used funds from
the state Prop. 10 Commission’s Mental
Health Initiative to hire three parentmentors to serve as “peer counselors
and advocates for parents,” says
Jameson. The parent-mentor develops a
friendship with parents in the program,
offering companionship, guidance, and
—Meeta Maihi
support.
o balance California’s 20022003 budget, Governor Gray
Davis proposed eliminating all
$35 million in the state mental health
budget for “children’s systems of
care” programs, which pull together
comprehensive services for children
with mental health problems and
their families.
The proposed cut would come at a
time when recent state and federal
reports on children’s mental health
have emphasized the need for a
major new commitment of resources
to the kind of integration being
developed by “children’s system of
care” programs.
“Growing numbers of children are
suffering needlessly because their
emotional, behavioral, and develop
mçntal needs are not being met by
the very institutions and systems
that were created to take care of
them,” wrote Surgeon General
David Satcher, author of one of
the reports.
-
CRIES FOR ATTENTION
Last year both Satcher and
California’s Little Hoover Commission
published reports calling for significant
improvements in the quality and deliv
ery of mental health services for chil
dren, including:
• Universal mental health coverage,
through a combination of public
subsidy programs and better private
insurance
• More resources for prevention and
early intervention, rather than wait
ing until the problems are severe
I Integration of mental health services
to both unify the fragmented mental
health system and connect it with
others, such as health care, schools,
child care, and foster care.
ATTITUDE PROBLEMS
But “mental health services will con
tinue to face budget cuts and other lim
itations,” says Toby Ewing, author of
the Little Hoover Commission report,
“until the general public, employers,
and others recognize quality mental
health care as a community priority?’
Satcher specifically pointed to the
“stigma associated with mental illness”
as a major barrier to helping children.
With his National Action Agenda for
Children’s Mental Health he aims to
“promote public awareness of chil
dren’s mental health issues?’
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS
Several bills now in the California
legislature would implement some of
the Little Hoover Commission recom
mendations.
• SB 1911 (Ortiz) would create a
task force to study ways of streamlining
public children’s mental health pro
grams and improving mental health
care for children with private insur
ance. It would also study the possibility
of creating a state Office of Mental
Health Prevention Services.
• AB 1422 (Thomson) would create
the California Mental Health Advocacy
Commission (MHAC) to promote
improved access to mental health ser
vices, combat stigma associated with
mental illness, and develop training
programs for mental health care
providers.
• SB 30 (Chesbro) would create a
work group to study ways to restruc
ture public mental health services and
to provide enough funds to meet the
need. I
“It’s about valuing relationships”
Child care providers can promote mental health by
nurturing emotional growth
...
...
.
.
By iessne Foss
5
ocial and emotional development
is “fundamental” to children’s
mental health, says Kadija
Johnston, program coordinator of the
UCSF Infant-Parent Program. That’s
why child care providers, by promoting
positive development, play such a key
role in the prevention of mental health
problems. Johnston and other experts
suggest ways that child care providers
can foster social and emotional devel
opment—and find help when they
need it.
Value relationships
“It’s not about teaching children,”
says Johnston, “but valuing relation
ships that develop between provider
and child. [Infants] shake a rattle and
it’s exciting—because they made some
thing happen and because an adult
beams at them. The infant feels charm
ing and wonderful...later they walk into
a school feeling capable and confident,”
she adds.
At the Children’s Collective in Los
Angeles, the children have activities to
build their sense of self-worth, includ
ing making life-size paper dolls and
talking to the class about themselves,
says director Jackie Kimbrough.
Help build friendships
“[Help] children learn how to make
friends,” says child care consultant Jean
Monroe. “Have [them] work in part
ners, form groups around a project,
have two children set the table or take
out materials. Use [sharing time] to
begin to teach the art of dialogue. Have
the children pair off and talk with each
other—telling each other stories, talk
ing about feelings or how you help a
friend who is sad.”
“Do activities like making ice
cream,” says Kimbrough, “where each
child has to contribute something to
the task and all kids get something
good at the end.”
Respect culture
Be “child focused”
“How you interact with a child
makes the difference, being ‘child
focused’ not ‘task focused:” says Janice
Perry, mental health manager for
Berkeley Head Start. “When children
are playing ball [you should be] in
there developing their social skills,
helping them learn how to be in rela
tionships:’ she adds.
“Spend time talking with parents,”
adds Monroe, “observing how [parents
and children] touch. [When hugging a
child,] ask first. Or find someone [from
the same culture] you trust and ask
them: ‘I’m a hugger, is that inappropri
ate?”
“Hire staff that represents the popu
lations you serve,” says Tressa Tucker,
family and child program coordinator
at the Children’s Collective. “If that’s
not possible, do research, train staff,
bring in consultants. We had a growing
East African population, but no [staff]
from East Africa. We asked some of the
parents to help us communicate with
families and share about their culture?’
Involve parents
“Every parent/teacher conference
should report to parents on how a child
is taking responsibiity standing up for
his rights:’ says Monroe. “Make your
class’s goal for the month ‘how to make
friends’ and talk to parents: ‘Can you
follow up at home? Help plan activi
ties?”
eiri
Watch for mental health issues
“Children can show problems by
being hypersensitive or closing down:’
says Bifi Carter, deputy director of the
California Institute for Mental Health.
Providers should look at children’s
emotional behavior, interaction with
providers and their environment, and
how well they meet developmental
milestones, he adds.
But don’t expect all children to be
the same. “Keep temperament in
mind:’ cautions Monroe. “Some chil
dren cannot sit in a circle—look to see
if the child will sing the songs. Watch a
child’s play habits—do they dominate
the play? Cry when they don’t get their
continued on next page
-
--
N
Q: What is infant mental health care?
A: Infant mental health care focuses on and supports the relationship
between babies and their primary caregivers.
By Candace Diaz
A
consistent, warm relationship
with primary caregivers creates
a basis for infants’ future ability
to form other relationships. That’s why
the focus of infant mental health pro
grams is to “identify relationship issues
at the point where they begin to emerge,
and not wait until the child is schoolaged and the problem is full blown,” says
Deborah Bremond, family services
director at the Alameda County Chil
dren and Family Commission.
The relationship-based approach to
infant mental health looks at three fac
tors, says Sara Grunstein, a mental
health specialist at Children’s Hospital
of Oaldand: the baby, the primary caregiver (usually the mother), and the “fit”
between the two.
When a primary caregiver is
depressed, for example, or is dealing
with other issues like a sibling with dis
abilities, homelessness, or addiction, she
may not be able to interact much with
her newborn. If a child has a disability
that makes him difficult to hold, if he
can’t smile, or he cries all the time, this
can also make bonding difficult.
When Grunstein visits parents at
home, they try to figure out what might
be getting in the way of a positive,
healthy parent-child relationship. The
idea, she explains, is to create a “parallel
process—if you feed the parent with
support and understanding, the parent
will be able to feed the baby with the
same?’
Although infant mental health pro
grams are still scarce, some pioneering
institutions, like Children’s Hospital o
VALUING RELATIONSHIPS
from previous page
way? Can they make friendships with
other children? Are they self-starters?
Or does the teacher have to initiate
[activities] because they don’t know
how to make choices? Look at every
thing and look for patterns.”
Work with mental health professionals
When a provider is concerned or
puzzled by a child’s behavior, they
should consult “a mental health person
who understands child development
and education:’ advises Monroe. “[Tell
them] ‘this is the behavior I’m noticing,
can you help me understand it? What
am I doing? What’s the environment
doing? What can I try?’ [This person]
comes in as someone who’s objective—
they can give informed suggestions and
come back to see if they’re working.
They can work out alternatives with the
input of parents and teachers.”
The mental health professional can
also do an assessment to see if the child
would benefit from a play group to
build social skills, mental health treat
ment, or a more thorough issessment.
Head Start guidelines mandate mental
health screening for new children and
require each Head Start site to have a
mental health consultant, Perry says.
Some child care centers have mental
health staff—others centers may have
Oakland, and some county mental
health departments, like Fresno’s, have
developed relationship-based infant
mental health services.
FRESNO COUNTY: INFANT FAMILY
MENTAL HEALTH
“Strengthening and improving the
parent/child attachment” is the focus of
Fresno County’s Infant Family Mental
Health Program, says Program Director
Arlene Costa. Half the families are
referred by clinics or schools; the other
half have court orders to participate.
Samantha Axsom, 32, for example,
had her youngest daughter, Skylar, taken
into county custody just two days after
she was born, along with her two-and-ahalf-year-old sister, Mystic. While the
children were in foster care and Axsom
ongoing relationships with drop-in
mental health consultants, or provide
mental health training for staff. “When
I have the opportunity to be in the
classroom more, I can make a tremen
dous difference,” says Perry. “[I’m]
there as a different pair of eyes, I can
model different ways of behaving,” she
adds. Perry also plans to be trained
through Project Relationship (see
resources) to facilitate weekly sessions
where staff talk about behavior con
cerns and ways to address them.
But most child care centers don’t
have any mental health professionals to
consult. “The money needs to be there:’
says Kimbrough. “Teachers can’t be
expected to do the work of professional
psychologists. [We need to] acknowl
edge that mental health needs are a
basic part of child development?’ I
a certain time every night”—and by giv
ing them choices with clear conse
quences: “If Mystic [now four and a
half] won’t clean her room when I ask
her to, she knows she’ll have a time out?’
“One time my kids were fighting
about orange juice in the supermarket:’
Axsom adds, “and I finally said ‘no
orange juice for either of you!’ They
cried some more, but ‘no’ meant ‘no:”
and the children soon calmed down—
“It really does work!”
In the Parent/Child Play Therapy
Group, parents larn how to “nurture
z and engage their babies in a positive
way” through activities like massage and
simple games, says therapist Peggy
Thompson. “We ask parents who their
child feels safe with and who they felt
safe with as a child,” Thompson says, “to
was receiving treatment for addiction, a
help parents to understand what makes
judge ordered her to participate in the
a person emotionally safe.” Axsom
Infant Family Mental Health Program to
remembers a time when Skylar cried
help her develop healthy bonds with her
during an activity. Axsom went to get a
children.
snack to soothe her. “It’s good that you
The program has three elements.
remembered to take care of the child
In the Parent Therapy Group, par
first:’ Thompson complimented.
ents “can talk about how they were par
Individual Therapy offers parents
ented as a child and can compare their
the one-on-one attention they may need
methods of parenting with the other
to deal with their own emotional prob
says
Costa. When one mother
moms:’
lems and assists them in coping with the
revealed that she never spanked her
day-to-day struggles that challenge every
child, Axsom was surprised. “I thought
parent.
that spanking was the answer to solving
Today, Mystic and Skylar have been
problems,” she says. “My parents were
reunited with Axsom, who works at
very strict with me so that’s how I was
Spirit of Women in Fresno, the same
with my kids?’
substance-abuse program she graduated
In the group sessions, Axsom says,
from last month. I
she learned to discipline her children
Fresno County Infant Family Mental
with consistent routines—”Bedtime is at
Health Program, 559-453-8405
CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
• National Action Agenda for
Children’s Mental Health, U.S. Surgeon
General,
www.surgeongeneral.gov/cmh
• Young Hearts and Minds: Making a
Commitment to Children’s Mental
Health, Little Hoover Commission,
www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/reportl 61 .html.
916-445-2125
• Building Services and Systems to
Support the Healthy Emotional
Development of Young Children,
National Center for Children in
Poverty, 212-304-7100, www.nccp.org.
click on “publications”
• Zero to Three, research and publica
tions on the youngest children, 202638-1144, www.zerotothree.org
For more on fostering
social/emotional development
• Fostering children’s social
competence, by Lilian Katz and
Diane McClellan, $9. National
Association for the Education of
Young Children, 800-424-2460,
httpllwww.naeyc.org/resources/
cata log/itemdetail.asp?page=
1 &doclD=1 367&seslD=1 023391561103
• The child care provider: Promoting
young children’s development, by
Carol Klass, $28. Brookes Publishing,
800-638-3775, http:llwww.brookes
publishing.com/storelbooks/k1ass3963/i
ndex.htm
• How you are is as important as what
you do, by Jeree Pawl and Maria St
John, $12. Zero to Three, 800-8994301, http://www.zerotothree.org/
hlctr_support.htmI
For mental health consultants
and resources
• Project Relationship, training for
mental health facilitators, WestEd,
Debi Cherko, 916-492-4011,
http://www.wested.org/cs/wew/view
pg/16
• Mental Health Screening Tool 0-5,
a tool to identify young children most
urgently in need of a thorough men
tal health assessment. Free. California
Institute of Mental Health,
916-556-3480, http://www.cimh.org/
index.html?ptvpe=products&menuid=
1 2&pid=90&session=fb3e3l 41 c3baebf
4cb936344820c498e
• UCSF Infant/Parent Program,
415-206-5953
• Children’s Collective, 323-231-1367
• Local child care resource and referral
agency (for your local number call
800-543-7793) or community mental
health clinic (look under “mental
health” in the yellow pages)
• Child Care Health Program’s
statewide hotline includes mental
health professionals, 800-333-3212.
Children’s Advocates
ROUNDTABLE
Traduccion al casteliano: Lucrecia Miranda
Q. How can I affect U.S..
government policies on
children’s issues?
A. You can let your congressperson, senators, and presi
4
dent know your opinions on
issues important to youfl
-
BY PHONE
When you call their offices, tell the
person who answers that you want to
leave a comment. Officials pay atten
tion to the number of people who call
for and against a particular proposal.
For the names and numbers of your
representative in the House of
Representatives and local offices for
senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne
Feinstein, look in the blue section of
your telephone book under United
States Government Offices, then look
for “Congress.”
Washington offices of senators are:
• Barbara Boxer, 202-224-3553
• Dianne Feinstein, 202-224-3841
I Congressional switchboard, to
connect to any legislator in
Washington, 202-224-3121
I White House comment line,
202-456-1414
BY E-MAIL
• senator Boxer,
[email protected]
• senator Feinstein,
[email protected]
• For the House of Representatives,
e-mail addresses follow this form:
[email protected]
I For President Bush,
[email protected]
BY JOINING WITH OTHERS
Go as a group with other parents,
co-workers, or neighbors to visit your
congressional representative when he
or she is in the district (call the district
office to find out when and schedule a
meeting).
Connect with organizations work
ing on national advocacy efforts on
children’s issues:
Go to the Children’s Defense Fund
Action Campaign web site,
www.cdfactioncouncil.org, or call
202-628-8787.
Contact Children Now, at
510-763-2444, www.childrennow.org.
Contact stand foiChildren, a
national network of local grassroots
organizations, at 800-663-4032, or go
to www.stand.org, for ideas on ways
to participate.
Ask other organizations working
on issues important to you how you
can help. I
Traducción al castellano:
Lucrecia Miranda
18 JULY-AUGUST 2002
he California Children’s Advocates Roundtable is a coalition of more than 200 organizations
advocating for children These pages are dedicated to information from the Roundtable’s
monthly meetings in Sacramento and information from member organizationsFor more
information about the Roundtable, call the Children’s Advocacy Institute at (916) 444-3875 or
visit www.4children.org/caround.htm.
T
Push for child care “master plan”
SB 390 (Escutia), backed by the Child
Care Law Center, the California Child
Care Resource and Referral Network,
the California Children and Families
Commission, and other child care
advocates, would create a “master plan”
for California child care.
Advocates say a master plan is need
ed because
• Increasing numbers of families need
child care as more parents go to
work.
• Many families can’t find quality care
because they can’t afford it, it’s not
available nearby during hours they
need care (especially evenings and
weekends), or providers aren’t famil
iar with their children’s language
and culture. It’s harder to find quali
ty care for infants and toddlers, for
school-age children, and for children
with disabilities.
I Low pay and high turnover for caregivers undermines quality.
• A confusing array of different pro
grams and agencies are involved in
California child care, creating a sys
tem that’s hard for families to navi
gate.
Under SB 390, the California
Department of Education would take
the lead in involving a wide range of
state, local, private, and grassroots
agencies and organizations in develop-
ing a comprehensive plan for:
• improving recruitment and reten
tion of well-trained, culturally sensi
tive caregivers
• targeting underserved children and
communities
• ensuring access to high-quality, af
fordable care for infants and toddlers
• developing a plan for funding child
care, based on the full cost of highquality care.
For information on SB 390, contact Sen.
Escu tia’s office, 916-327-8315, the
California Child Care Resource and
Referral Network, 415-882-0234, or the
Child Care Law Center, 415-495-5498.
Presione a las autoridades para aprobar
“plan maestro” de cuidado de niños
propuesta de ley SB 390
(Escutia), apoyada por grupos que
abogan por el cuidado de niflos tales
como Child Care Law Center,
California Child Care Resource and
Referral Network, y California Children
and Families Commission, entre otros,
crearlan un “plan maestro” para el
cuidado de niños en California.
Activistas de la causa infantil recla
man que un plan maestro es necesario
porque:
La
• Un mayor nümero de familias nece
sita servicios de cuidado de niños al
ingresar al mercado laboral.
• Muchas famiias no pueden acceder
a servicios de cuidado de niflos de
calidad debido a que no cuentan con
los recursos necesarios, o que dicho
cuidado no se encuentra disponible
en las horas en que éstos lo necesitan
(especialmente durante las noches y
POR TELEFONO
Cuando Ilame a las oficinas de sus
representantes Iegislativos, digale a Ia
persona que contesta el telefono que
desea hacer un comentario. Los fun
cionarios prestan atención al nUmero
de personas que Ilaman en pro o en
contra de una propuesta especIfica.
Para obtener el nombre y los nUmeros
telefonicos de sus representantes en Ia
Cãmara de Representantes y el nUmero
de las oficinas locales de los senadores
Barbara Boxer y Dianne Feinstein, vaya
a Ia secciôn azul de su directorio tele
fonico bajo el capItulo “Oficinas del
Gobierno de Estados Unidos”, y
busque “Congreso”.
Las oficinas de las senadoras por
California en Washington son:
• Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-3553
• Dianne Feinstein: (202) 224-3841
los fines de semana), o que los
proveedores no tienen familiaridad
con el idioma y la cultura de los
niños. Es aün más dificil encontrar
servicios de calidad para infantes y
bebés, para niflos en edad escolar o
para niños con discapacidades.
• Paga inferior y reemplazo frecuente
de empleados entorpecen la calidad
del servicio.
• La confusa amalgama de programas
y agencias involucrados en el sistema
de cuidado de niños de California
presenta un sistema dificil de enten
der para las famiias beneficiarias.
Con Ia aprobaciOn de la ley SB 390,
el Departamento de EducaciOn de
California tomarja la iniciativa para
involucrar un amplio espectro de agen
cias y organizaciones locales y estatales,
privadas y de base, para desarrollar un
plan general destinado a:
• Central telefonica del congreso
(para comunicarse con cualquier
legislador en Washington): (202)
224-3121
• LInea de sugerencias de Ia Casa
Blanca: (202) 456-1414
POR E-MAIL
• Senadora Boxer:
[email protected]
• Senadora Feinstein:
[email protected]
• Para escribir a Ia Cámara de
Representantes las direcciones elec
trônicas han de lievar el siguiente
formato:
[email protected]
• Para el presidente Bush:
[email protected]
• mejorar el reclutamiento y la reten
ción de trabajadores del sector de
cuidado de niños bien entrenados y
culturalmente sensibles
• centrar la atención en nilios y
nidades tradicionalmente mal aten
didas
• asegurar el acceso de cuidados de
bajo costo y de alta calidad para
infantes y bebes
S desarrollar un plan para subsidiar el
cuidado de niños basado en el costo
total de servicios de alta calidad.
-
Para obtener informacion sobre Ia ley SB
390, dirIjase a Ia oficina del Sen. Escutia
al (916) 327-8315, California Child
Care Resource and Referral Network,
(415) 882-0234, o póngase en contacto
con Child Care Law Center, (415) 4955498.
UNIENDOSE A OTROS ACTORES
vaya en grupo con otros padres,
compañeros de trabajo o vecinos a vis
itar a su representante en el Congreso
cuando éste se encuentre en su distrito
(Ilame a Ia oficina del distrito para
averiguar las fechas de visita).
Pôngase en contacto con organiza
ciones trabajando en temas inf&ntiles
a nivel nacional:
DirIjase aI sitio web de Ia campaña
de acción del Fondo de Defensa
Infantil, www.cdfactioncounciI.org. o
Ilame al (202) 628-8787.
Contáctese con Ia organizaciôn
“stand for Children”, una red nacional
de organizaciones locales de base, al
teléfono (800) 663-4032, o vaya al sitio
web www.stand.org. para obtener
ideas de cômo participar.
Pregunte a otras organizaciones
trabajando en temas que a usted le
interesen sobre cómo participar. I
______________________________________________
Plan maestro para edücacion
en preparación
U
n comité legislativo conjunto traba
jó durante dos afios y medio desar
rollando un plan maestro para la
educación de California desde el jardin de
ninos hasta ia universidad (K-16), el cual
fuera presentado a la legislatura en marzo
pasado. Actualmente, el mencionado
comité se encuentra recabando comentar
ios sobre ci borrador inicial, y propondrá
Un plan con revisiones para el prOximo mes
de agosto.
El plan, que contara con la contribución
de cientos de expertos, funcionarios pübli
cos y organizaciones civicas, busca crear un
marco de trabajo coherente para apoyar
decisiones en ci campo educativo, y en par
ticular para conectar K- 12 con la educación
superior. Uno de los siete grupos de trabajo
se ha ocupado también de temas vincula
dos con la preparación de los niños para
ingresar a Ia escuela.
Algunos de los grandes cambios intro
ducidos en ci borrador incluyen:
• Eliminar ci cargo de Superintendente de
Instrucción Püblica (elegido por ci esta
do) y permitir que ci gobernador nom
bre un jefe para las escuelas publicas que
forme parte de su gabinete habitual
• Integrar fondos del estado para progra
mas especIficos (actualmente desvincu
lados) en una ánica subvenciOn que los
distritos escolares locales puedan gastar
del modo que consideren necesario, con
Ia excepción de fondos especiales para 1)
estudiantes con requerimientos espe
ciales de aprendizaje (tales como niios
aprendiendo ingles) o pertenecientes a
familias de bajos ingresos, o con necesi
dades especiales, 2) fondos basados en
las necesidades especIficas de los distri
tos, como por ejemplo fondos para
transporte en distritos ruraies, 3) sub
venciones por tiempo limitado
I Incorporar de modo gradual preesco
lares urnversaies con fondos püblicos—
los cuales podrian desarroilarse en dis
tintos entornos—y garantizar ci acceso
al servicio de cuidado de nifios de cali
dad subsidiado (basado en estándares
dispuestos por ci estado) para todos los
nifios de familias de bajos ingresos
• Hacer obligatorio ci jardIn de niños
incorporar de forma gradual programas
de jornada compieta
• Requerir aprendizaje biiingue para
todos los niiios en preescolar y escuela
primaria
• Eliminar graduaimente credenciaies de
“emergencia” y redisenar Ia educaciOn
para maestros
• Crear un indice para calificar las
las püblicas (OTL, Oportunidad para
Ensenar y Aprender) de acuerdo con
estándares estatales que dispongan lo
que cada escuela debe proporcionar a
los estudiantes, ci cual se estabiecerla de
modo paralelo al Indice de Desempeno
Académico (API) que evalüa ci
rendimiento académico de los estudi
antes.
Puede leer ci plan compieto y
ofrecer comentarios en ci sitio web
www.sen.ca.gov/masterplan. La organi
zaciOn EdSource ha escrito Un resumen en
inglés de los principales puntos dci plan, ci
cual se ha utilizado para la eiaboraciOn de
este articulo y que se encuentra disponible
en www.edsource.org, o iiamando al
(650) 857-9604. B
Videos on violence and young children
by Action Alliance for Children
A
joint legislative committee
worked for two and a half years
to develop a master plan for
California education from kindergarten
through college (K-16), presented to
the legislature in March. They’re now
gathering comments on the draft
they’ve produced and are scheduled to
come out with a revised plan by
August.
The plan, written in connection with
hundreds of experts, public officials,
and civic organizations, is supposed to
createa coherent framework for educa
tiondecisions and in particular to link
K-12 to higher education. One of the
seven working groups also tackled
“school readiness” issues.
Some of the big changes the draft
calls for include:
• Eliminate the state’s elected Super
intendent of Public Instruction posi
tion and have the governor appoint
a chief officer for public schools as
part of his regular cabinet
• Merge most of the separate state
funds for particular programs into
one big grant that local school dis
tricts could spend as they want
except for special funds for 1) stu
dents with special learning needs,
such as English learners, children
from low-incomefamiies, and chil
dren with special needs, 2) funding
based on districts’ special needs, like
transportation funds for rural dis
tricts, 3) grants for a limited time
• Phase in publicly funded universal
preschool, which could be given in a
variety of settings, and guarantee
access to quality subsidized child
care, based on statewide standards,
for all children in low-income
families
• Require kindergarten and phase in
full-day programs
• Require dual-language learning for.
all young children in preschool and
elementary school
• Phase out “emergency” teaching per
mits and revamp teacher education
• Create an Opportunity for Teaching
and Learning (OTL) index to rank
public schools according to
statewide standards for what each
school should provide to all stu
dents, parallel to the current
Academic Performance Index that
assesses student performance.
You can read the whole plan and
find ways to offer comments at
www.sen.ca.gov/masterpian. EdSource
has written a summary of the
plan’s main points, from which this
article was taken. It’s available at
www.edsourcc.org, or call 650-8579604. B
WOMEN’S BOOKSTORE
& COFFEEBAR
V
The full-spectrum
women’s bookstore
serving the Greater Bay Area
$25 each or $45 for both. For volume
discounts, call (510) 444-7136.
Order from Action Alliance for Children,
1201 Martin Luther King Jr Way,
Oakland, CA 94612
since 1983
‘
The San Francisco Court Appointed
Special Advocate Program (SFCASA)
large selection of
children’s books
seeks community volunteers to advocate
for abused and neglected children.
Represent a child’s best interest in
Juvenile Dependency Court and develop
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Men and People of Color are especially
—Open every day—
1
6536 Telegraph • Oakland, CA 94609
(between Ashby & Alcatraz)
Phone: (510) 428-9684
Fax (510) 654-2774
needed. Call for information:
(415) 398-8001 ext. 104.
on
‘commL
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•Join the online discussion board to talk about: controversial
issues; advocacy, funding, and other challenges; state policies and
legislation; and hands-on tips for working with children.
• Receive email news bulletins on new advocacy campaigns,
events, and reports on issues affecting California’s children.
•1
‘--idar
‘-—--U-—
l
of new prir’ -nd
‘deve
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I.
ntact Je
For I
Master plan for education
in the works
Mama Bears
Violence and Young Children: Successful
Violence Prevention Strategies, 1997,
1 hour; Violenceand Young Children:
Reducing the Risks, 1993, 17 minutes.
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Children’s Advocates
ROUNDTABLE
CDF: $20 billion more for child care
T
he Children’s Defense Fund
(CDF) is conducting a national
campaign to increase federal
spending on child care subsidies by $20
billion over the next five years. That
would double the number of children
served, from two to four million, and
provide additional funds to improve
the quality of care.
The major federal child care pro
gram, the Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG), is up for
renewal this year. CDF wants Congress
to increase funding when it renews the
CCDBG.
CDF says:
• Current spending is not enough to
serve all the children who need care.
In California, for example, more
than 250,000 who are eligible for
child care subsidies aren’t receiving
them—subsidies meet an estimated
one-third of the need. The national
picture is worse: only one in seven
eligible children receive child care
subsidies, says Helen Blank of the
Children’s Defense Fund.
• More child care spending is neces
sary to enable low-income parents
to get off or stay off welfare. CDF
points out that President Bush’s wel
fare reform proposal would require
Spanish-language
radio for parents
.
.
...-
.
jmmigrant parents and profession
lals share their expertise on a wide
range of parenting topics in a
Spanish-language live call4n.radio
program on Tuesdays from 10 to .11
a.m.
La Placita BihngUe, hosted by
parents, airs on Radio BIlingüe’s
five-station network in California:
KSJV 91.5 FM in Fresno, KHDC 90.9
in Salinas, KMPO 887 FM in
Modesto, KTQX 90.1 FM in
Bakersfield, and KLJBO 88..? FM in El
Centro. Itis also accessible via the
hiternetàt www.radiobilingue.org
For more informalion please cOntact
program producers.Delia Saldivar in
Salinas at 83i-757-839 or Lupita:
Carrasco in Fresnoat559-4555761..
Producers welcome program ideas
and parents who would like to be
part of the live discussions. La Piacita
Bilingüe is made possible by fuñs
from the California Wellness
Foundation
--
-
E
res inmigrantes jfesion- I
ales comparten sus experiencas
sabre mUltiples temas de interés:
para los padres: en un prograrna
radial en el qüe se aceptan ::
Ilamadas en vivo,:tódOs los martes
de:lOa 11 de Ia maiiana.
l.a Placita Bilingüe, conducido
por los.padres, sale at aire en Ia j
decinco estadones de Radio
Bilingüe en California: KSJV 91.5
FM:en Fresno. KHDC 90.9 en
Salinas, KMPO.8L7FM en
Modesto, KTQX 901 FM en
Bakersfield, y:KIJBO 8&7 FMen
El centro. Tafliblén esaccesible
a través de Internet en
r,4ikiimti
Para rriás información, por favor
pOngase en contacto con los
prOductores del programa Delia
Saldivar en el teléfono 831-757-8039
(Saunas), a Lupita Carrasco, en
l 559455-5761 (Fresno). Los
productores dan Ia bienvenida a
posibles ideas para el prograrna y a
aquellos padres que quieran formar
parte de las discusianes en viva. La
P!adta BilingUe sale alaire gradasa
una subvención de. California
Wellness Foundation.
.::
Traducción at castellano:
Lucrecia Miranda
4
A
l Fondo de Defensa Infantil (CDF,
segtin sus siglas en ingles) está ilevan
do a cabo una campana nacional para
aumentar el gasto federal en subsidios
para el cuidado de nifios en un total de
20 mil millones de dOlares durante los
prOximos cinco anos. Esta medida per
mitirIa duplicar el nümero de niños
cubierto por el subsidio, el cual pasarla
de dos a cuatro millones, y proveerla
fondos adicionales para mejorar la cali
dad del servicio.
El programa federal de subsidios sin
restricciones para el cuidado y desarrollo
infantil (CCDBG) será renovado este
aio. CDF está pidiendo al congreso que
aumente los fondos cuando proceda a la
renovación de los subsidios CCDBG.
CDF afirma que:
• El gasto actual no es suficiente para
cubrir a todos los ninos que requieren
servicios de cuidado infantil. En
California, por ejemplo, más de
250.000 nifios con derecho a recibir
subsidios no lo están recibiendo. Los
subsidios en cuestión apenas alcanzan
a cubrir un tercio de la demanda; sin
embargo, el panorama nacional es
aün peor, ya que solo uno de cada
siete niños percibe el mencionado
subsidio, segOn Helen Blank del CDF.
I Un mayor gasto en cuidado de ninos
es necesario para permitir a los
padres salir del sistema de asistencia
publica (o permanecer fuera de él).
CDF senala que la propuesta de refor
ma de la asistencia publica del presi
dente Bush requerirla que los padres
trabajen un nilmero mucho mayor de
horas por semana (40 horas, en vez
parents to work many more hours a
week (40, not 20 to 32 as current law
requires) but doesn’t add any money
for more child care.
• Quality child care is necessary to
ensure that all children are ready
and able to learn.
Since the welfare reform law passed
in 1996, federal and state governments
have multiplied funding for child care.
Federal spending on the CCDBG,
about $1 billion a year in 1996, is now
$4.8 billion. And that’s not all. Since so
many people have left welfare, states
spent some of their welfare funds on
child care—another $4 billion to $5
billion.
But these funds still fall far short of
meeting the need. And with more peo
ple losing jobs in the economic down
turn, states wifi not be able to spend as
much welfare money on child care as
they have in the past.
CDF urges: “Send a message to your
senators and representative urging
them to support legislation to reautho
rize the federal CCDBG this year and
increase its funding by $20 billion over
the next five years’ •
Labor P oject for
Working Families:
Family Fact Sheets available
he Labor Project for Working
Families has recently published fact
sheets on:
• Sick leave use for family care
T
For more information, contact CDF at
202-628-8787, www.childrensdefense.org.
de 20 a 32, tal como establece la ley
actual) mientras que no suma dinero
alguno para extender el cuidado de
ninos.
• El cuidado de niños de calidad es
necesario para asegurar que todos los
niños estéri preparados para apren
der.
Desde que fuera aprobada la ley de
reforma a la asistencia püblica en 1996,
los gobiernos federal y estatal han mul
tiplicado los fondos para el cuidado de
niños. Mi, el gasto federal de CCDBG,
de 1000 millones en 1996, hoy alcanza
los 4800 millones. Y esto no es todo.
Habida cuenta que tantas personas han
abandonado la asistencia publica, los
estados han gastado parte de sus fon
dos de asistencia en cuidado de niflos,
alcanzando entre 4000 y 5000 millones
de dOlares.
Aun asI, los fondos mencionados
están lejos de cubir la necesidad actual.
Al mismo tiempo, con el incremento del
desernpleo en el ciclo de depresiOn
económica actual, los estados no tendrán
la misma disponiblidad para destinar
dinero de asistencia püblica al cuidado
de ninos.
CDF propone una demanda urgente:
“EnvIe un mensaje a sus senadores y rep
resentantes urgiendoles a apoyar legis
laciOn para reautorizar el CCDBG feder
al de este año y aumentar las subven
ciones en 20.000 millones de dólares
durante los prOximos cinco aiios’ 1
Para mayores informes, ilame a CDF
al 628-8787, o visite el sitio web
www. childrensdefense. ore.
Projecto de Trabajo
para Familias
Trabajadoras:
Páginas informativas
disponibles
E
l “Labor Project for Working
Families” (Proyecto de Trabajo para
Familias Trabajadoras) ha publicado
recientemente páginas informativas
sobre:
• Uso de dIas de baja medica para el
cuidado familiar
• Family-School Partnership Act (Ley
de colaboración entre escuela y
familia)
• Ausencia por maternidad
• Family and Medical Leave
Act/California Family Rights Act
(Ley de baja médica y familiar y Ley
de los derechos de Ia familia de
California)
• Pago de horas extra/Horarios alter
natives de trabajo.
Estas hojas informativas se encuen
tran disponibles de modo gratuito en
inglés, español y cantonés.
Si desea obtener una copia Ilame
a Nikki al (510) 643-7088, escriba
un correo electrónico a
[email protected]. o baje Ia
información de Internet de Ia página
www.laborproject.berkeley.edu.
Se promueve Ia copia y distribución
gratuita de estas hojas. I

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