Have a Heart for Kids Day is your day to speak up for kids. Right now, your voice matters. Join hundreds of child, youth, and family advocates from across Washington state and speak up for kids!
No Kidding: Children's Alliance Blog
The budget cuts’ impact on kids
Submitted on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 10:54
It’s the worst we’ve seen.
That’s our assessment of new cuts to state services. The across-the-board budget reductions are more severe than anything we’ve experienced recently. They’re also being made in an extremely challenging context.
The budget that was finalized this spring, during the last legislative session, did not anticipate the persistently slow economy. And, rather than our elected representatives deliberating in public over cuts, these decisions are being made by the Governor in consultation with agency secretaries and assistant secretaries. They are decisions as momentous as any made during the last legislative session, only without legislators convening to hear and represent their constituents’ concerns.
WA could win up to $1.3 million for home visiting
Submitted on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 10:41
The federal government has finally released the guidelines states need to apply for their slice of $1.5 billion in new grant funding for home visiting programs, which connect new and expectant parents with trained nursing and early learning professionals.
The new guidelines issued late last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will allow Washington to apply for up to $1.3 million this year.
The first wave of these grants, part of federal health care reform that became law in March, will go to states this summer.
Over the next few weeks and months, we and our allies on the Washington Home Visiting Coalition will be working with state agencies and stakeholders on a plan for how Washington will use these home visiting funds.
New poll should make legislators hungry to protect State Food Assistance
Submitted on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 05:34
Last week’s national poll results on food stamps should make Washington legislators take notice.
The poll found overwhelming support from voters for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, known universally as food stamps.
Along with tens of thousands of Washington children benefitting from SNAP, more than 12,000 children in our state depend on a form of food stamps called State Food Assistance – one of the vital programs lawmakers may cut.
The poll, conducted in the second week of January, is a strong indication that cutting SFA would be enormously unpopular:
Prime time to close the opportunity gap
Submitted on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 22:40
The State Supreme Court earlier this month based a key decision on our state’s constitutional responsibility to provide a basic education to every child residing in Washington. During this legislative session, lawmakers can pass one bill that’s key to upholding that responsibility.
The High Quality Early Learning Act would establish universally accessible early learning programs for Washington 3- and 4-year-olds, while also strengthening programs that ensure the healthy development of infants and toddlers.
Ashley's toothache
Submitted on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 05:05
Eight-year-old Ashley had a toothache – a common problem for a kid her age.
Calling numerous dental offices in the three-county area surrounding their home, Ashley’s mother April couldn’t get her an appointment. Most didn’t take her form of insurance, Apple Health for Kids.
Meanwhile, Ashley’s cavity turned into an abscessed tooth. The resulting pain and earaches were keeping her up at night.
Kids in the News, January 6, 2012
Submitted on Fri, 01/06/2012 - 22:03
In this edition, Washington begins 2012 with millions in national recognition for Apple Health for Kids just after winning a competition from the Obama Administration to advance and extend quality early learning throughout our state. In other news, routine dental health care is out of reach and unaffordable for too many, so some states are looking to add a new provider to the dental workforce.
Washington 1 of 4 states to shine on children’s health and early learning
Submitted on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 17:54
A new year for Washington begins with a new milestone for kids. The last two weeks of 2011 brought our state tens of millions of federal dollars, positioning Washington as a national leader in both children’s health and early learning.
In fact, our state was just one of four in the country to win national competitions for health and early learning, along with Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina.
Decades of work on early learning pay off
Submitted on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 05:51
When the White House on Friday announced the nine winners of the Early Learning Challenge Fund, Washington State passed a significant landmark. Ours was one of nine states awarded funds to improve their early learning systems. The state will get $60 million over four years.
Proclamation by the Children of Washington State
Created on: Monday, December 12, 2011 - 4:27pm
On Dec. 2, 2011, Children's Alliance gathered hundreds across the state on Capitol steps to issue a statement to lawmakers signed by Washington's kids.
Read our Proclamation by the Children of Washington State: For Us, By Us, For Our Future.
Working mom in Kirkland relies on Working Connections Child Care in hard times
Submitted on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 23:08
Working Connections and Seasonal Child Care allow tens of thousands of parents like Cambria Silva de Jesus to go to work every day to support their families. When good jobs are scarce, and economic hardship is rising, this child care assistance is critical for Washington’s families.
For Cambria, Working Connections Child Care assistance has provided stability in hard times for her and her kids, Omar, 9, and Sayre, 2 (pictured right). Consistent support from Working Connections has made it possible for Cambria to find and keep permanent, full-time work, do well to support her kids, and be assured that her children are getting care while she’s hard at work.
“I am striving every day to make a better future for my family,” she says.
Over the years, Cambria worked hard to increase her hourly pay from minimum wage to $14. But every day, Cambria, Omar and baby Sayre still struggle.
- Serving kids in foster care equitably.
Washington State makes a six year investment to identify and eliminate racial disparities in our child welfare system. Learn more >>
718 6th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104 1.800.854.KIDS | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | RSS
Except where otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons License.