New Brief from WCCF and WECA on Credit for Prior Learning

WCCF has released a new brief in collaboration with the Wisconsin Early Children Association (WECA) about the concept of “credit for prior learning” to help early childhood teachers move toward academic credentials in order to advance their careers and improve quality.

Teachers of young children perform better with more credit-based education, and so do the children they care for. But between 1980 and 2004, the number of child care teachers with at least a two-year Associate’s Degree has declined dramatically. Because of barriers related to access and cost, many early childhood teachers forego formal educational courses and learn exclusively on the job. Fortunately, they can learn a lot through practice; these teachers may acquire years of relevant experience and many hours of training that synchronize well with the requirements of credit-based educational courses.

In this brief, we examine these trends, opportunities and more, and conclude that a robust “credit for prior learning” system in Wisconsin can attract early childhood teachers into degree programs, and in the process strengthen the quality of early childhood care statewide.

The brief is available at http://www.wccf.org/pdf/pathways_one_credit_learning.pdf.

Wisconsin Shares Crackdown Saving $45 Million This Year

A new analysis by state regulators has determined that the crackdown on fraud in the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program will result in $45 million in savings this year alone. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that officials "say the savings comes from cutting funding to more than 170 providers suspected of cheating the program, deterring scammers from entering the system on the front end, as well as stepped up efforts to recover misspent money." Some of the money is being reinvested in monitoring and detection of misuse in the program. Another $10 is tentatively being reserved for implementation of YoungStar, the proposed child care quality rating and improvement system that is still awaiting final approval by the state legislature's Joint Finance Committee, which is expected to take up funding for YoungStar in June.

Something is Working - WCCF posts 2009 Detention and Juvenile Justice Data

You can now go to our web-site and check out newly posted data that completes the 2009 Detention Quarterly Report information - showing that the number of youth placed in secure detention facilities continues to decline statewide - in particular, from the first half of 2008 to the second half of 2009, the average number of youth held in secure detention facilities each day declined by about one-third! The data also reflects that we need to continue to be concerned about disproportionality - as approximately one-half of all youth held are minority kids, well over their representation in the state.

Data posted also includes Arrest Data for 17-year-olds from 2006-2008 that indicates that despite an overll decline in juvenile arrest rates and numbers, there is a slight rise (to be watched) for 17-year-olds arrested for selected serious offenses; still, less than 2% of arrests are for violent offenses.

Juvenile Petition and Arrest Trends provides a general sense of the declines in the number of delinquency petitions opened in Wisconsin, declining 34% between 2001 and 2009; and highlights the drops in arrests from 2006-2008.

The Supreme Court Rules that Life Without Parole (LWOP) for Non-Homicide Juvenile Offenders is Unconstitutional

In a 5-4 decision released today, the Supreme Court ruled that offenders who were sentenced to Life Without Parole (LWOP) must be given a chance to be considered for release – if the offense for which they were sentenced was not a homicide.

The case, Graham v. Florida, resulted from a youth convicted in a series of robberies when he was 16 and 17 – and resulted in a life without parole sentence in the Florida adult system. Florida holds 70% of all juveniles who received an LWOP sentence in a non-homicide situation.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often viewed as the deciding vote in the Roper v. Simmons case in which the Supreme Court ruled that imposing the death penalty on youth who committed crimes as a juvenile was unconstitutional, again took note that the United States is only one of 11 countries in which an LWOP sentence is even possible and only one of two countries (Israel being the other) in which the practice has actually occurred. The opinion concluded that:
The Constitution prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. A State need not guarantee the offender eventual release, but if it imposes a sentence of life it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term. The judgment of the First District Court of Appeal of Florida affirming Graham’s conviction is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

This ruling will apply to the estimated 100 individuals serving LWOP sentences for non-homicide offenses committed as a juvenile. Watch for more information on this important decision.

New Proposed Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration Provide Greater Flexibility to States Related to Registering Juveniles

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued proposed supplemental guidelines related to SORNA (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act). Of particular note, the new guidelines would give jurisdictions discretion to exempt some offenses committed as a juvenile from public website posting. Comments related to this and other modifications proposed can be submitted, by July 13, to the Department of Justice, electronically or view an electronic version of these proposed guidelines at http://www.regulations.gov.

This modification would allow Wisconsin to create a common-sense approach to creating rules that will help ensure community safety and not expose some youthful offenders to the public registry unnecessarily.

A Boost for CSTs and Information Sharing

Today, Governor Doyle is signing a number of bills related to children, including:

• AB296 reaffirms and strengthens the commitment to support the development of Coordinated Service Teams (CSTs), provides for the transition from the prior Integrated Services Program (ISP) model to the CST model, provides greater flexibility to local jurisdictions or tribes in defining who to serve through their CST effort, provides substantive improvements to provisions related to governance and oversight at the local level, and provides additional funding to support the expansion of CST programs to counties/tribes not currently in operation. Building on the principles of cross-system team collaboration, meaningful family engagement, and outcome-driven case planning that are at the core of the CST model, these models have proven to be incredibly effective in working with children who are involved in multiple systems.

• SB375, a scaled-back version of a prior bill that was wisely vetoed by Governor Doyle in the prior session, provides that the director of state courts and DCF enter into agreement for the transfer of electronic records contained in CCAP to DCF, and vice versa. Access and use of such information is limited for the purpose of providing child welfare or juvenile justice intake or dispositional services. This is a positive step forward for a couple reasons: (1) county social workers who now utilize SACWIS will be able to access critical information in CCAP that will help inform critical intake decisions and case planning, and (2) implementing this will bring Wisconsin into alignment with federal standards that promote/require the sharing of critical information between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

OJA Announces Truancy Prevention & Reduction Grants Available

Today OJA posted a funding announcement for $900,000 over a three year period to jurisdictions to develop School-based Truancy Prevention and Reduction Initiatives targeting middle school youth. They anticipate awarding four grants of approximately up to $225,000 each over that three-year period.

School districts, CESAs, and tribal school districts located within the state of Wisconsin are eligible to apply. Multi-agency, public/private, and/or multi-school district collaborative applications are encouraged. Projects must use an evidence-based model program or evidence-based principles

Applications are due June 22, and there are technical assistance pre-application conference calls set up - check it out and join a growing number of districts around Wisconsin finding success in reducing truancy.

USA Today: Tax Bills Lowest Since 1950

A new analysis of federal data by USA Today shows that Americans' total federal, state and local tax bills in 2009 were the lowest they've been since 1950. According to the analysis, federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, well below the historic average of 12% over the last half-century. So despite the media hoopla created by Tea Party protests, the idea that taxes are currently out of hand is simply not grounded in fact.

While the percentage of income consumed by taxes varies considerably based on income level, on average the effective tax rate paid by Americans of all income levels has fallen 26% since the recession began in 2007. That translates to $3,400 in annual tax savings for households of average income paying the average tax rate.

The USA Today article mentions three factors as contributing to the easing of the tax bite in recent years: the federal Recover Act, which included numerous tax reductions, including the Making Work Pay credit that put $800 into the pockets of married couples earning up to $150,000; various progressive tax credits and other changes that helped low- and moderate-income households; and the impact of the recession on consumer spending, resulting in less sales tax collected.

The article goes on to mention that a Gallup Poll last month found that 48% of respondents thought taxes were "too high," one of the lowest percentages saying so in the last 50 years, which would again seem to fly in the face of conventional wisdom based on Tea Party hype. 45% thought taxes were "about right."

DHHS and DCF Sign Agreement on W-2 Complaint

Back in 2002, Legal Action of Wisconsin and the ACLU filed a complaint alleging that W-2 agencies were not performing adequate screenings for disabilities, resulting in many applicants with serious obstacles being denied benefits. There have also been charges that applicants were discriminated against in decisions related to time limits, sanctions, and related matters on the basis of race. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the WI Dept. of Children and Families have now signed an agreement of compliance that resolves the complaint.

WCCF welcomes the signing of this agreement. The agreement represents another step forward in eliminating problems related to inadequate disability screening and inconsistent application of policies based on race that have plagued W-2 in the past. W-2 is an important support for vulnerable families in Wisconsin; we’re optimistic that this agreement will help these families access the benefits for which they are eligible without fear that their barriers to employment are being overlooked, and with confidence that they are being treated fairly and without bias grounded in racial or other characteristics.

WI State Journal blog entry about this is here. The agreement itself is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/activities/examples/TANF/witanfagreement.pdf.

Rep. Kind Appointed to New Task Force on Childhood Obesity

Last week, members of the House of Representatives Children’s Caucus established a bipartisan task force on childhood obesity. The task force will be led by Representative Ron Kind (D-WI), Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH), Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), and Dave Reichert (R-WA).

Over the next six to 12 months, the Task Force will host a series of briefings and events with national organizations to educate members of Congress, their staffers and the public on the multi-faceted ways to address childhood obesity. The mission of the task force is to raise awareness about the epidemic of childhood obesity and its impact on the health of future generations, encourage active participation by Congress and the president in the effort to decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity and increase preventative measures, and promote policies that educate the public with a specific focus on the needs of children and youth.

Rep. Kind is the lead author of a bill called Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act (FIT Kids Act), which was re-introduced in the House in mid-March and was approved by that chamber on April 21. According to a summary by the American Heart Association, the FIT Kids Act would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) to ensure that kids are active during the school day and know how to stay healthy through diet and exercise.

As the Appleton Post Crescent reported in early April, Rep Kind has also proposed the “Healthy Choices Act,” which aims to increase affordability and access to healthy foods, update nutrition guidelines, provide more nutritious food in schools, and provide tax deductions for gym memberships and exercise equipment.

A recent commentary by Lex Tinker-Sackett, posted on FightingBob.com, provides a different perspective regarding the FIT Kids Act. He argues that child obesity won’t be solved by “personal responsibility”, but by an “all-out war on poverty.”

To read more about Rep. Kind’s views on reducing childhood obesity, see his Feb. 3, 2010 press release.