- Sep 01, 2010 CLASP's new Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success Download PDF
- Aug 31, 2010 How Women-Owned Businesses Can Support Paid Sick Days Download PDF
- Aug 31, 2010 | Hannah Matthews U.S. Child Care Assistance Profile 2008 This fact sheet presents state reported information on child care spending through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds used for child care, and information on children and families participating in CCDBG. Download PDF
- Aug 19, 2010 | Child Care and Early Education A Guide to State Policy Examples from the Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care Project This matrix provides a current list of states for which CLASP has posted policy examples for the Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project. Download PDF
- Aug 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Extending the TANF Emergency Fund Creates Jobs Now Congress should extend the TANF Emergency Fund as soon as possible so that states can continue to start and expand subsidized jobs programs. Download PDF
- Aug 19, 2010 | Child Care and Early Education Indiana: Paths to QUALITY Infant/Toddler Specific Standards The Indiana quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), Paths to QUALITY, is a statewide voluntary system that includes infant and toddler standards and is designed for licensed child care centers, licensed family child care homes, and unlicensed registered faith-based organizations. Statewide rollout of Paths to QUALITY began in January 2008 and was completed in January 2009. A study conducted by Purdue University is currently underway to assess the impact of the QRIS. This state example is part of CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project. Read Online
- Aug 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch and Elizabeth Kenefick TANF Emergency Fund: State Applications Approved as of August 19 As of August 19, 48 states (plus the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico) have been awarded a total of $4.234 billion from the TANF Emergency Fund. This fact sheet shows the share of its maximum allocation that each state has received. Read Online | Download PDF
- Aug 17, 2010 | Andrea Lindemann Mind Your Business Download PDF
- Jul 30, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Early Head Start Participants, Programs, Families, and Staff in 2009 This fact sheet reviews the 2009 Program Information Reports (PIR) data for the Early Head Start program, which serves children under age 3 and pregnant women. In 2009, Early Head Start continued to provide vital services to a diverse group of low-income children and families. However, less than 3 percent of eligible children receive Early Head Start services. Download PDF
- Jul 30, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Head Start Participants, Programs, Families, and Staff in 2009 This fact sheet reviews the 2009 Program Information Reports (PIR) data for the Head Start preschool program, which serves children ages 3 and 4. In 2009, Head Start continued to provide vital services to a diverse group of low-income children and families. However, less than half of eligible children receive Head Start preschool services. Download PDF
- Jul 29, 2010 | Elizabeth Kenefick How much could your state receive under HR 5893? This shows the amounts that states could received under H.R. 5893 "Investing In American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010", released Wednesday July 28, 2010 by the House Ways and Means Committee. It renames the TANF Emergency Fund as the Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance and extends it through FY 2011. Under this bill, states could receive up to 30 percent of their adjusted block grant during FY 2011 Read Online | Download PDF
- Jul 16, 2010 | Josh Bone TANF Education and Training: Maine's Parents as Scholars One in a series of briefs profiling promising approaches to supporting education and training programs under TANF in spite of the limits imposed by the federal rules. Download PDF
- May 26, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Early Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) Data Available through CLASP's DataFinder This document explains CLASP's DataFinder tool and lists the Early Head Start state data available through this tool. Download PDF
- Apr 14, 2010 | Josh Bone TANF Education and Training: Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative One in a series of briefs profiling promising approaches to supporting education and training programs under TANF in spite of the limits imposed by the federal rules. Download PDF
- Apr 14, 2010 | Josh Bone TANF Education and Training: Kentucky's Ready-to-Work Program One in a series of briefs profiling promising approaches to supporting education and training programs under TANF in spite of the limits imposed by the federal rules. Download PDF
- Apr 14, 2010 | Josh Bone TANF Education and Training: Pennsylvania's KEYS Program One in a series of briefs profiling promising approaches to supporting education and training programs under TANF in spite of the limits imposed by the federal rules. Download PDF
- Mar 23, 2010 | Thomas Hilliard and Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield Summary of Key Postsecondary Education and Training Provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 Download PDF
- Mar 17, 2010 | Child Care and Early Education Tennessee: The Strengthening Families Initiative Tennessee Strengthening Families is an initiative overseen by the Tennessee Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) in the state’s child welfare agency. CTF partners with the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS) to promote and integrate the Strengthening Families framework into state systems. This framework, developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, aims to prevent child abuse and neglect by building five protective factors around young children and working with their families. This state example is part of CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project. Read Online
- Mar 09, 2010 | Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, Linda Harris, and Kisha Bird Follow the Money: Funding and Legislative Opportunities on the Horizon for Communities to Serve Disconnected Youth Several pieces of legislation have been proposed or passed that present opportunities to fund programs in communities to keep young people connected to school and recapture those who have fallen by the wayside. Most of these resources, however, are from competitive funding streams which will require communities to demonstrate innovative practice in planning and implementation. Communities need to be aware of these potential opportunities very early in the process in order to plan strategically and create partnerships to program at-scale and meet the needs of their disconnected youth. Download PDF
- Mar 05, 2010 | Kisha Bird and Chris Scott Youth Opportunity Community Profile: Baltimore By implementing a service delivery philosophy that relied on highly skilled youth service professionals and neighborhood-based youth centers, YO! Baltimore not only became a hub for training and education but also for relationship and community building among residents young and old. YO! Sites were safe havens where caring adults gave young people the resources, skills and opportunities they needed to stay on track and to get back on track to achieve their goals. Download PDF
- Aug 13, 2010 | Danielle Ewen Using Title I to Expand Opportunities for High-Quality Early Childhood Programs This presentation discusses how Title I of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds can be used to expand opportunities for high-quality early childhood programs. The presentation was featured at the conference, Early Childhood 2010: Innovation for the Next Generation, on August 4, 2010. Download PDF
- Jul 20, 2010 Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America's future In this presentation, Angela Glover Blackwell discusses race in America, which is rarely table talk. What’s more, the focus in today’s media is on a post-racial society. Read Online | Download Audio
- Jul 02, 2010 Paid Time Off is Taking Off In this audio conference, we will discuss the details and findings of World at Work's new study on Paid Time Off (PTO). A growing trend among employers, PTO offers employees flexibility and eases administrative costs for employers. However, very little research has been done on the benefits and drawbacks of PTO. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Jun 09, 2010 | National Youth Employment Coalition Congressional Opportunities to Address Our Nation's Youth Unemployment Crisis This presentation outlines key legislative provisions necessary to connect youth in high poverty communities and those with limited education and skills to the workforce and featured bills being considered by Congress to address the needs of disconnected youth. Download File
- Jun 09, 2010 | Kisha Bird If Not Now, Then When? Congressional Opportunities to Address Our Nation's Youth Unemployment Crisis This presentation outlines the state of the youth unemployment crisis. Download File
- Jun 07, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Bringing the Comprehensive EHS Model to All Vulnerable Babies and their Families This presentation provides information about how to bring the comprehensive Early Head Start (EHS) model to all vulnerable babies and their families, including key facts for planning policies for vulnerable babies, how EHS addresses critical needs, and a framework for thinking creatively about expanding access to EHS-like services in states and communities. Download PDF
- Jun 07, 2010 Fighting U.S. Poverty from the U.K. Experience... "A Conversation with Jane Waldfogel In this 5 minute interview with poverty researcher Jane Waldfogel, learn the lessons and messages out of the U.K.'s ability to cut child poverty in half (in absolute terms) that can help you in your own poverty reduction efforts. How to learn about them quickly? Listen or look at the text. Just click below. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Jun 07, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Happy to be Stuck with You: Why Continuity of Care is So Important to Babies and Toddlers This presentation describes what babies and toddlers in child care need, what continuity of care looks like, and state policies that impact continuity of care. Download PDF
- May 27, 2010 The Public Benefits Boost: New Strategies for Increasing Take-Up In this audio conference you will learn the role that public benefits can provide toward family stability and the latest legislative developments; new lessons from research that can help practitioners deliver access to public benefits; and two states' strategies to boost uptake--one dramatically lifting Medicaid access and another gaining applicants through school-based social services. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
- May 26, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Leveraging Existing Funding Sources to Support Early Head Start and EHS-like Services This presentation was delivered at a meeting held by ZERO TO THREE and CLASP entitled, "Including and Expanding Early Head Start in State Early Childhood Systems." This meeting worked with state-level policymakers looking to create more comprehensive services for infants, toddlers, and their families. Download PDF
- May 25, 2010 | Fran Majestic, Barbara Gebhard, Rachel Schumacher, and Sue Mitchell Applying the EHS Approach to Services and Systems for Infants and Toddlers This presentation was delivered at a meeting held by ZERO TO THREE and CLASP entitled, "Including and Expanding Early Head Start in State Early Childhood Systems." This meeting worked with state-level policymakers looking to create more comprehensive services for infants, toddlers, and their families. Session speakers: Fran Majestic, Office of Head Start; Barbara Gebhard, ZERO TO THREE; Rachel Schumacher, CLASP; and Sue Mitchell, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Download PDF
- May 18, 2010 | CLASP and the National Women's Law Center Audio Conference: Using ARRA Funds for State Infant/Toddler Initiatives Join CLASP and the National Women's Law Center on May 18 for a call to find out the latest on how states are using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers. Read Online
- Apr 26, 2010 Behind the Scenes: Adopting a Supplemental Poverty Measure Part two examined how the process of adopting a supplemental poverty measure will work. The webinar also discussed state and local efforts to implement more accurate measures of poverty. Speakers included Clifford Johnson of the National League of Cities, Rebecca M. Blank of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution and Mark Levitan of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity. Read Online
- Apr 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to FFN and FCC - Webinar Slides CLASP hosted a webinar to share findings regarding how major national models of home visiting are including family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and family child care providers (FCC). Elizabeth Hoffmann presented findings from CLASP's interview project with national models and other stakeholders, such as detailed considerations for implementing home visiting with FFN and FCC, including matters of curricula, staffing, and service referral. The webinar also reviewed opportunities that result from serving FFN and FCC, concluding with recommendations for states. This webinar was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Download PDF
- Apr 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to FFN and FCC - Webinar Transcript and Audio CLASP hosted a webinar to share findings regarding how major national models of home visiting are including family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and family child care providers (FCC). Elizabeth Hoffmann presented findings from CLASP's interview project with national models and other stakeholders, such as detailed considerations for implementing home visiting with FFN and FCC, including matters of curricula, staffing, and service referral. The webinar also reviewed opportunities that result from serving FFN and FCC, concluding with recommendations for states. This webinar was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Download PDF | Download Audio
- Apr 19, 2010 Supplemental Poverty Measure: What It Will and Won't Do On April 14, Spotlight co-sponsored the first installment of a two-part webinar series on the supplemental poverty measure with the Brookings Center on Children and Families, the Half-in-Ten Campaign, the New America Foundation and the National League of Cities. The webinar focused on why a new poverty measure is needed and how the supplemental poverty measure will compare to the official poverty measure. Read Online
- Mar 23, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care: A Framework for Addressing the Needs of Infants and Toddlers in Child Care (Presentation) This presentation on CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project was given at the Illinois Action for Children conference. Download PDF
- Feb 03, 2010 | Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank The President's Budget Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges for Early Childhood Programs In this audioconference, Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank discuss the president's FY 2011 budget proposal and implications for funding of state and local early childhood programs. Download Audio | Additional PDF
- Feb 02, 2010 | Hannah Matthews Addressing the Needs of Children of Immigrants: Opportunities for State Policy and Early Childhood Advocates This presentation reviews key findings from CLASP's research on the challenges immigrant families face in accessing child care and early education and presents strategies and policy recommendations for addressing these challenges. Download PDF
- Jan 11, 2010 | Danielle Ewen The Early Learning Challenge Fund: Metrics and Data This presentation provides an overview of the data-based metrics included in the House Early Learning Challenge Fund legislation (Title IV of HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009). Download PDF
- Aug 17, 2010 | Linda Harris Recommendations for WIA Reauthorization: Title I Youth Provisions Download PDF
- Jan 08, 2010 | Dorothy Smith Poverty and Opportunity - State Poverty Task Force Recommendations Around the nation, a growing number of state governments have established task forces or commissions to develop new strategies and recommendations for tackling poverty and providing opportunity. Download PDF
- Sep 08, 2009 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Increasing Low-Income Access to Opportunity This article, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, focuses on the New England region's efforts to give visibility to poverty and opportunity through task force initiatives, summits, and state poverty targets. Download PDF
- Sep 03, 2009 | Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt & Linda Harris Community-wide Systems That Promote High School Completion Youth develop across multiple domains that are relevant to academic success. While schools focus primarily on cognitive development, many of the supports young people receive in other developmental areas come from community-based out-of-school programming. Stimulation of development in these additional key areas builds skills that support connections to school and achievement. This article explores the need for a community-wide approach to support dropout prevention for struggling youth and re-engagement of disconnected youth. Read Online
- Apr 24, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch and Mark Greenberg Single Mothers in the Era of Welfare Reform The 1990s welfare reform and expansion of work supports caused an historic increase in the share of single mothers who were working. This chapter examines the policy changes of the 1990s and since along with the subsequent employment and earnings outcomes for single mothers. It considers how the policy changes affected both employment levels and job quality and discusses implications for next steps for federal and state policies. This chapter is from the 2009 LERA Research Volume, The Gloves-off Economy: Workplace Standards at the Bottom of America's Labor Market, A. Bernhardt, H. Boushey, L. Dresser, and C. Tilly, eds., Champaign IL: Labor and Employment Relations Association, pp. 163--190. Copyright 2008 by the Labor and Employment Relations Association; Champaign, IL. Reprinted with permission. The volume is available through Cornell University Press. Download PDF
- Jul 20, 2007 | Linda Harris The Tragic Loss of the Summer Jobs Program: Why it is Time to Reinstate! For more than three decades, the federal summer jobs program provided early work exposure for youth, including more than half a million low-income youth each year in the late 1990s--until the program came to an end with the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. In light of the peril and the disparities in education and labor market outcomes facing youth in high-poverty communities, there are compelling reasons for re-instituting the federal investment in summer jobs. This article originally appeared in Focus magazine, a publication of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Download PDF
- Apr 03, 2006 | Mark Greenberg and Jared Bernstein (EPI) A Plan to End Child Poverty: Britain's Initiative Has Helped 700,000 Kids. Why Don't We Have a Goal, Too? In an April 3, 2006 editorial printed in the Washington Post, CLASP's Mark Greenberg and Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute examine the "heartening bad news" out of Britain: that the number of children in poverty dropped by "only" about 17 percent (some 700,000 children) in the past five years. Read Online
- Dec 28, 2004 | Ron Haskins, Mark Greenberg, and Shawn Fremstad Federal Policy for Immigrant Children: Room for Common Ground? This policy brief, part of the Future of Children Policy Brief Series by the Brookings Institution, offers differing views from its authors on how to improve the well-being of children in immigrant families in the United States. Haskins emphasizes the need to tie public benefits for immigrant families to work through such policies as education and training and the earned income tax credit for families with children. While Greenberg and Fremstad argue that noncitizen families should have the same eligibility for public assistance as citizen families and support greater financial aid for early childhood education and other forms of schooling. Read Online
- Oct 07, 2004 | Mark Greenberg and Hedieh Rahmanou Looking to the Future: A Commentary on Children of Immigrant Families This article, printed in Fall 2004 issue of The Future of Children, a publication of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, responds to the question: "How should policymakers, advocates, stakeholders, and practitioners respond strategically and proactively to demographic change and increasing diversity in order to promote the healthy development, productivity, and well-being of our nation's children into the future?" The entire journal issue is devoted to children of immigrant families and is available at www.futureofchildren.org. Download PDF
- Sep 14, 2004 | Steve Savner and Jared Bernstein Can Better Skills Meet Better Jobs? This article, from the September 2004 issue of American Prospect, exhorts supply-side and demand-side advocates to form a complementary agenda to meet both sides' needs. The authors suggest not only providing more access to quality job training but then also creating the jobs when they don't already exist. Read Online
- Sep 14, 2004 | Mark Greenberg Welfare Reform, Phase Two This article, from the September 2004 issue of American Prospect, discusses the welfare reform law from 1996, how it has played out as a policy, and what still needs to be done in reauthorization of the law. The author suggests that the reathorization support and reward work--and end poverty as we still know it. Read Online
- Aug 31, 2010 | Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen Early Education Programs and Children of Immigrants: Learning Each Other's Language This paper was written for the Urban Institute's roundtable on Young Children in Immigrant Families and the Path to Educational Success. It discusses the federal and policy landscape for serving young children of immigrants in early care and education and includes policy recommendations for improving access for immigrant families. Read Online
- Aug 05, 2010 | Child Care & Early Education Early Childhood Education Update - August 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Jul 29, 2010 | Sarah Fass Hiatt and Abigail Newcomer President Obama's Asset Limit Proposal: Supporting Families and Promoting Improved Coordination This paper from Single Stop USA, CLASP, and First Focus describes the president's budget proposal to create an asset limit floor for several federal means tested programs. Download PDF
- Jul 08, 2010 | Julie Strawn Shifting Gears: State Innovation to Advance Adult Workers and the Economy in the Midwest Read Online | Download PDF
- Jul 06, 2010 | Child Care & Early Education Early Childhood Education Update - July 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Jun 23, 2010 Sample State Legislation to Extend Foster Care, Adoption and Guardianship Protections, Services and Payments to Young Adults Age 18 and Older Download PDF
- Jun 11, 2010 | Neil Ridley Workforce Investment Act: Strengthening Priority of Service for Low-Income Adults through WIA Reathorization A key feature of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is a tiered service delivery structure that provides core, intensive and training services to adults and dislocated workers. WIA requires states and local areas to implement a priority of service for public assistance recipients and other low-income adults when local adult funds are determined to be limited. Although federal regulations suggest that funds are "generally limited" and that a priority of service is likely to be needed, states and local areas have considerable flexibility to define the policy and determine whether and how to implement it. An early evaluation of WIA revealed that implementation of priority of service varied widely in states and localities. Download PDF
- Jun 08, 2010 | Child Care & Early Education Early Childhood Education Update - June 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- May 18, 2010 | Allegra Baider, Vickie Choitz, Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, Marcie W.M. Foster, Linda Harris, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Neil Ridley, Julie Strawn Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States This toolkit is designed to help interagency state teams identify and facilitate "braiding" of federal resources to design and develop career pathways and bridges into them for adults and out-of-school youth. The toolkit also will help state teams identify state policy barriers to using federal resources for career pathways and bridges and, ideally, address them. Read Online | Download PDF
- May 05, 2010 | Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update - May 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Apr 21, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch TANF Emergency Fund: Creating Summer Jobs for Youth This report explains the rules and requirements for using the TANF Emergency Fund to support summer jobs for youth. Download PDF
- Apr 09, 2010 | Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update - April 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Apr 08, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Promote Health and Safety As they develop from birth to age 3, young children rely on the adults who care from them to keep them clean, dry, fed, and safe from harm. All babies and toddlers in child care need healthy and safe environments in which to explore and learn. To support this goal, CLASP recommends that states ensure that state licensing rules require practices and training that protect the safety of infants and toddlers―by addressing physical environments, safe sleep practices, bathing, and accident prevention―and promote infant/toddler health and well-being (including areas such as hand-washing, holding, feeding, comforting, diapering, and providing responsive caregiving); make certain that all infant and toddler providers and caregivers have access to the training and technical assistance needed to care for this age group; and require training prior to child care subsidy receipt. Read Online | Download PDF
- Mar 31, 2010 | Tiffany Conway Perrin Detailed Summary of Home Visitation Program in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act included, among other critical provisions, $1.5 billion in mandatory funding over 5 years for high quality, evidence-based, voluntary early childhood home visitation services. This investment will significantly expand home visitation services, helping to ensure that more children have the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe, ready to learn and able to become productive members of society. This summary details the provisions of the new program. Download PDF
- Mar 22, 2010 | Evelyn Ganzglass, Andrew Reamer, Brandon Roberts, Whitney Smith, Rachel Unruh Recommendations for Incorporating Postsecondary and Workforce Data into Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Read Online | Download PDF
- Mar 15, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann A Tool Using Data to Inform a State Infant/Toddler Care Agenda This tool is intended for state advocates and policymakers to use as they work to develop a state infant/toddler care agenda. It includes a series of key questions to understand the context and conditions of infants and toddlers in the state. Questions include data on demographics and program participation (such as health and nutrition programs), as well as the details of child care and early education settings in the state. Users can download and save a copy of this tool, fill in their state’s data, and compare to national data points (which are provided where appropriate). Read Online | Download File
- Mar 10, 2010 | Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update - March 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Mar 09, 2010 | Sara Hastings, Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, and Linda Harris Building a Comprehensive Youth Employment Delivery System: Examples of Effective Practice Many communities have shown tremendous commitment to youth employment. The return on investment and effort, however, can be greatly multiplied if federal youth funds, discretionary funding, resources from other youth serving systems, and community resources are brought together to build comprehensive youth employment system. Key elements of such a system include: a strong convening entity, an effective administrative agent, a well-trained case management arm, strong partnerships across systems that serve youth, and high quality work experience and career exposure. Download PDF
- Feb 23, 2010 Recommendations on Performance Accountability in the Workforce Education and Training System Recommendations on Performance Accountability in the Workforce Education and Training System urges the federal government to change current performance accountability provisions in WIA Titles I and II to address specific problems in each program and over time to implement a system of shared accountability across workforce and other education and training programs. Read Online | Download PDF
- Feb 04, 2010 | Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update: February 2010 CLASP's Early Childhood Education Update is a monthly roundup of news, legislative developments, research, and other developments of interest to the early care and education community. This update is part of CLASP's project, funded by The Joyce Foundation, to provide technical assistance to early childhood policymakers and advocates in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Read Online
- Aug 18, 2010 | Rutledge Q. Hutson & Tiffany Conway Perrin Comments on Proposed Criteria for Evidence of Effectiveness of Home Visiting Program Models These comments, submitted to the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families, were submitted in response to the proposed criteria for evidence of effectiveness of home visiting program models to be implemented by states under the new home visiting program established in the Affordable Care Act. CLASP's comments include recommendations for strengthening the final criteria so that they better reflect the law's goal of helping states build the capacity to implement a coordinated system of early childhood home visitation. The recommendations also encourage strengthening the final criteria by providing much needed information, particularly as related to process, so that states are well-prepared to update their state plans and dialogue with HRSA/ACF as appropriate. Download PDF
- Aug 09, 2010 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Comments to Office of Child Support Enforcement: Proposed Rulemaking on Safeguarding Child Support Information These comments address proposed changes to the sharing of child support information specifically as related to information sharing with child welfare agencies for child welfare purposes. CLASP hopes that the final regulations more clearly identify what information can be shared to help child welfare agencies carry out their responsibilities under Titles IV-B and IV-E and that, in particular, they clarify how information regarding family violence can be shared in a safe and appropriate manner. Download PDF
- Jul 29, 2010 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Testimony on How Child Welfare Waivers Can and Cannot Promote Child Well-Being On July 29, Rutledge Q. Hutson testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support on improving the outcomes of children who come into contact with the child welfare system, and the role of Title IV-E demonstration projects in improving those outcomes. Download PDF
- Jul 08, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch CLASP Letter to ACA Enrollment Workgroup On July 1, Elizabeth Lower-Basch sent this letter to the ACA Enrollment Workgroup, recommending the use of health care reform as a platform for benefits access. Download PDF
- May 21, 2010 Letter Supporting the 2010 Jobs Bill On May 20, CLASP Executive Director Alan Houseman sent this urgent letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging support for the Promoting American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Read Online | Download PDF
- Apr 22, 2010 | Julie Strawn The Role of Education and Training in the TANF Program On April 22, Julie Strawn testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the importance of education and training in today's economy, and the role that TANF can play in helping low-income parents obtain economic opportunity and better the lives of their children. Download PDF
- Mar 31, 2010 | Campaign for Youth, Linda Harris Co-Chair Letter to House and Senate Budget Committee Members on the FY 2011 Budget We have an opportunity deficit in our nation. An estimated 5.2 million youth ages 16-24 are out of school and out of work. Without purposeful efforts to connect unemployed youth to jobs, paid work experience, education, and training to prepare them for openings in the new economy, those youth will most likely spend the better part of a decade with few opportunities to work, gain skills, or earn family sustaining wages. The Campaign for Youth urges Congress to increase opportunities for low-income and disconnected youth and young adults with limited labor market to access training, education supports, and good jobs that will help spur economic development in local communities across the nation. Download PDF
- Mar 25, 2010 | Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Reauthorizing ESEA: Considerations for Dropout Prevention and Recovery American school districts are losing the battle to successfully educate a large number of the nation's youth. The reauthorization of ESEA is a prime opportunity to rethink how we can strengthen our commitment to reconnect with youth who have left school without receiving their diploma. These comments, submitted to the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, focus on how to amend ESEA to ensure that struggling students and high school dropouts have access to systems, support, and funding to remain in school or re-enter the educational system and attain a viable education that prepares them for post secondary opportunities and success in careers. Download PDF
- Mar 25, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch TANF's Role in Providing Assistance to Struggling Families Testimony for the Record for Hearing on TANF's Role in Providing Assistance to Struggling Families Download PDF
- Mar 18, 2010 | Evelyn Ganzglass Testimony of Evelyn Ganzglass on 2011 Budget Priorities for Education and Labor This testimony calls on Congress to sustain the level of Recovery Act investment in workforce programs. It further urges lawmakers to increase the funding for youth programming to $3 billion for expanded summer and year-round youth activities and for targeted grants to high poverty communities to build pathways for youth to opportunities in growing sectors of the economy. Read Online | Download PDF
- Mar 09, 2010 Mollahan MAP Appropriations Letter 20100305 Download PDF
- Mar 09, 2010 Obey MAP Appropriations Letter 20100305 Download PDF
- Mar 05, 2010 | Kisha Bird (CFY) and CCRY Network Building on the Legacy of Youth Opportunity: Implications for Federal Policy For young people who live in communities plagued by high dropout rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of juvenile crime, violence, and gang activity, the prospects are bleak and there are few pathways to education, work and responsible citizenship for those disconnected from work and school. Fortunately, we have a roadmap for reaching out to, reconnecting and providing opportunities to disconnected youth. Agencies and organizations that serve youth who are disconnected from school and employment are increasingly working together using a systems approach that improves outcomes and reduces the gaps in services and supports that can occur in more fragmented systems. In the first half of last decade nearly 100,000 disadvantaged and disconnected youth nationwide were able to continue or complete their education and enter the workforce thanks to Youth Opportunity Programming. Unfortunately, funding was discontinued in 2005, and in the ensuing years federal funding for comprehensive youth programming continued to decline despite this being the most difficult economic environment since pre-World War II for the nation's youth. This paper outlines the key lessons of the Youth Opportunity Experience and building on existing strength, experience, and capacity describes its implications for current federal policy, including the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Download PDF
- Feb 22, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Members of State Commissions on Poverty and Opportunity Urge Federal Action on Poverty Measure As members of state economic opportunity and poverty reduction task forces that are currently in operation or have completed their mission, we write to urge the federal government to move forward in implementing a modernized income poverty measure. Download PDF
- Jan 29, 2010 | Danielle Ewen Testimony of Danielle Ewen for U.S. Department of Education ESEA Listening Tour Danielle Ewen's testimony lays out principles to consider for early childhood issues in the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and CLASP's recommendations for changes to the law. Download PDF
- Dec 18, 2009 | Campaign for Youth Putting Youth To Work: A Jobs Strategy Linking Youth to Our Economic Recovery The number of unemployed youth and young adults in the United States is reaching record highs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly four million people under the age of 25 are considered officially unemployed. This paper outlines recommendations to ensure youth, especially those in high poverty communities, are a part of the nation's short and long-term economic recovery and job creation efforts. Download PDF
- Nov 09, 2009 | Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt (CLASP) & Kisha Bird (CFY) Comments to United States Department of Education: Notice of Policy Priorities for Investing in Innovation Fund The Investing in Innovation (I3) Fund offers local education agencies (LEAs) and nonprofit organizations an opportunity to rethink how they educate children and youth and to use school reform efforts as a foundational vehicle to work across sectors and explore new and innovative ways to support student learning from birth through postsecondary education. Our comments and recommendations relate specifically to ensuring the needs of struggling students and disconnected youth are adequately addressed. Download PDF
- Oct 08, 2009 | CLASP CLASP Testimony to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support This written testimony to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support discusses how American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending has helped safety net programs such as TANF, child care subsidies, unemployment insurance, workforce development programs, and Medicaid, respond to the recession. Download PDF
- Oct 05, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Testimony to the DC City Council on the TANF Emergency Fund In this testimony delivered to the Human Services Committee of the DC City Council, Ms. Lower-Basch highlights some of the ways to draw down TANF Emergency Funds based on already budgeted expenditures and third-party contributions. Download PDF
- Sep 30, 2009 CLASP Statement for the Record: September 15, 2009 Hearing on the Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act Statement for the record of the September 15, 2009 Hearing on the Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act submitted to the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, Committee on Ways and Means. Download PDF