The federal government's annual budget process was kick-started this year with a bold proposal that has implications for anyone who provides child care. But keeping child care front and center in Washington will take a lot of effort in 2010. On February 1, the Administration released the Budget Proposal for Federal Fiscal Year 2011. It calls for…

Defines block grants and describes their relationship to categorical aid programs. Discusses potential pros and cons of block grants for states and for local school districts, including intense competition for funds, and specifies strategic steps that school boards might take at the local, state, and federal levels. (CJM)

Reviews progress made toward educating handicapped children in the United States under Public Law 94-142. Describes how proposals by the Reagan Administration to reduce Federal involvement in education would place a heavy burden on individual States and would erode recent gains in educational opportunity for the handicapped. (GC)

Summarizing findings of a study on the distribution of Federal, State, and local funds for vocational education, examines the case for deregulating vocational education. Reviews recent efforts to direct Federal funds to local education agencies with particular characteristics, and reviews efforts to control how Federal funds are spent. (Author/GC)

The "new federalism" paradigm offers an explanation why the federal government has devolved much of its administration of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, formerly AFDC) and Medicaid (through managed care) programs. A review of child and family outcomes data resulting from these devolutionary changes in TANF and…