Dramatic improvements have been made in the lives of children over the last century. Even so, many health and safety challenges remain unresolved. For example, unintentional injuries claim the lives of more children each year than any other cause of death. In addition, a panel of pediatricians reported that the incidence of childhood obesity…

How early is too early? As testing has grown more widespread in recent decades, important issues have arisen concerning how to ensure that early childhood testing is used appropriately and with positive educational benefits. Actually, this kind of testing has been happening for a long time. Testing young children became a frequent practice when…

Language and literacy skills are critical to success in school. For low-income preschoolers, increasing early literacy and math skills is vital to closing the achievement gap between them and their more advantaged peers. New research shows that an intentional curriculum and professional development and supports for teachers are important…

To address the growing demand for high-quality child care, many communities are seeking to develop specialized child care facilities funds to build new, and improve the quality of existing, child care programs. This toolkit is designed for policymakers, nonprofit leaders, child care providers, and others interested in increasing access to…

The fact sheet provides basic information about Hib Disease in young children, which may involve a bacterial meningitis causing mental retardation, hearing loss, partial blindness, speech disorders, partial paralysis, behavioral problems, or seizures. Stressed is prevention of Hib Disease through immunization. The question and answer format…

Child care programs serving children with disabilities should balance high quality care for children, affordable fees to parents, and fair wages for staff. A chart detailing child-to-staff ratios in day care centers and number of children allowed in family day care by state is included. (DB)

The Hawaii State School Readiness Assessment is a critical component of the School Readiness Task Force's strategy to improve school readiness and student achievement. This tool provides annual school and system level accountability for Hawaii's investments in early childhood programs and services. This profile offers aggregated school level…

The purpose of this tool kit is to provide guidance, tools, and resources that will assist communities in building culturally and linguistically competent services, supports, programs, and practices related to young children, their families. By offering services in culturally and linguistically meaningful ways, communities can engage all families…

This set of seven issue briefs considers six important community-based services for children with serious mental or emotional disorders that some states provide as mandated rehabilitation services under the federal Medicaid law. The materials are designed to help state policymakers develop appropriate rules for covering community-based services…

As states and communities work to improve the accessibility and quality of supports and services for young children and their families, they find that their greatest challenge is in gaining and maintaining concerted attention and resources for planning, financing, implementing, and sustaining high-quality, coherent systems. This brief addresses…

Two documents are presented here. One is a report of the Texas state health department concerning the immunization needs of the state's population, the extent of federal, state, and private financial support for public vaccination programs, legislation and current efforts to extend immunization to all children, and future directions for…

As part of a series of reports designed to support the implementation of Proposition 10: The California Children and Families Act and to provide comprehensive and authoritative information on critical issues concerning young children and families in California, this report reviews the research about early childhood brain development, examines the…

The second of five volumes on the means by which Canadian communities can reduce the incidence of mental retardation, minimize existing impairment, and improve the quality of life of the mentally retarded, this booklet focuses on needed action to assure the health of babies, young children, and families. After an introduction, sections deal with…

On a budget of $28,000, Child Protection, Inc. has a paid staff of an executive director, 4 foster grandparents, and 3 VISTA volunteers. But with the help of 157 volunteer servide providers, the organization is able to deliver 828 units of service monthly to rural Western Kentucky. The success of the volunteer program is based on recruiting from…