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Viewing Category: Child Care
dfwfweffwePHOENIX - Requests under Arizona's public records law can be made in advance of the records being created, an appellate court ruled Thursday in a case involving a dispute between a suburban newspaper and a county sheriff's office.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care]The unanimous ruling by a three-judge state Court of Appeals panel also said that while the twice-weekly West Valley View is entitled to receive the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's news releases under the records law, the office doesn't have to provide them by e-mail.
The office in 2005 removed the View from its e-mail distribution list for news releases, with the public information officer expressing displeasure that the View hadn't covered story ideas and releases provided by the office.
Posted by Editor at 09:15 AM
Lawmakers must OK health coverage for kidsOur view: Wrangling, threat of Bush veto jeopardize bill backed 17-4 by Senate panel to expand health insurance for poor ....Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Health Care, Legislature, Opinion]Wrangling over political philosophy could leave 6.6 million low-income children who depend on the State Children's Health Insurance Program without health coverage if lawmakers cannot agree and reauthorize the bill before it expires Sept. 30.
The health and well-being of America's children should not be used as a football in an ideological drive to privatize medical insurance. The decade-old federal program, dubbed SCHIP, now costs $5 billion a year and covers kids whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid — but not enough to buy private health insurance coverage.
A bipartisan bill approved 17-4 earlier this month by the Senate Finance Committee— with Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl voting against it — would continue the baseline payments of $25 billion over five years and add $35 billion to maintain health care for the 6.6 million kids now on SCHIP and expand coverage to another 3.2 million low-income kids who don't have medical coverage for another five years.
Posted by Editor at 07:55 AM
Napolitano: Bush budget puts kids' health care at riskIt will take $14 billion over the next five years to maintain the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- much more than the $5 billion the president has included in his budget.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Governor, Health Care]---
PHOENIX -- Thousands of Arizona children of the working poor will lose their health insurance within two years if President Bush gets his way on the federal budget, Gov. Janet Napolitano warned Monday.
President Bush wants to increase funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program over the next five years by $5 billion, bringing total spending over the period to about $30 billion. And he has threatened to veto anything with a larger price tag.
Posted by Editor at 12:47 AM
Governors step up push for children's health fundingTRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The nation's governors are pushing the Bush administration to boost federal spending on a health insurance program serving low-income children.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Health Care]Gov. Janet Napolitano says the governors have been very firm that the State Children's Health Insurance Program is their number one health care priority at the federal level.
Napolitano is wrapping up her term as chairwoman of the organization.
Posted by Editor at 10:24 PM
Legislative hearings on CPS, deaths of 3 Tucson kids setState Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said Thursday that a legislative panel's hearing on Child Protective Services and the deaths of three Tucson children will be held Aug. 28 in Phoenix.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Legislature]Two more hearings will be held in September, called by the House Government Committee chairman, Kirk Adams, a District 19 Republican.
The first hearing was set for mid-June but the legislative session ended later than lawmakers anticipated - early Thursday morning - and legislators wanted a break.
Posted by Editor at 11:39 PM
Lawmaker says 'odd' note gave him pauseA state Foster Care Review Board employee e-mailed state Rep. Jonathan Paton a list of his traffic offenses Sunday after she read his newspaper commentary calling for more open disclosure of the actions of Child Protective Services workers.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Legislature]Cheri Holgerson said she sent Paton the e-mail about his traffic violations because "If you are going to be critical about the subject, that you better not live in a glass house," she said.
"I saw his, and I've also looked up yours," she told a reporter during a brief interview.
Posted by Editor at 01:26 AM
First lady to visit Phoenix, child advocacy centerFirst lady Laura Bush will be attending the Sandra Day O'Connor Awards Luncheon in Phoenix on Friday. After the luncheon, she will visit the Childhelp Children's Advocacy Center.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Phoenix]
Posted by Editor at 01:33 AM
Tough questions for CPS deserve real answersThe deaths of three Tucson children who police said were killed by their parents have reignited a debate in the Arizona Legislature over government's role in protecting children.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Crime, Domestic Violence, Families]The focus inevitably turns to the performance of Child Protective Services, the state agency charged with doing what its name plainly states: protecting Arizona's children. We all want to know what CPS workers did to protect these children, what they didn't do and why. We want to know if the authorities, who were aware of these children, missed opportunities to save 5-year-old Brandon Williams, 4-year-old Ariana Payne and her 5-year-old brother, Tyler.
Posted by Editor at 01:46 PM
Child-care funding remains a top priorityMany parents shuddered Monday when they read the Star's front-page story about a report from the longest-running study of American child care. The study found that preschoolers who spend a year or more in a day-care center are more likely to become disruptive in elementary classrooms than children who are not in child-care centers.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Legislature]When children who spent that year or so in a child-care center became fifth- and sixth-graders, they were slightly more inclined to "get in fights" and be "disobedient at school."
This is not a reason to panic.
Posted by Editor at 07:10 AM
U.S. Senate, state seeking more health care for kidsU.S. Senate Democrats are expected to unveil today a budget plan that includes a $50 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program that covers 6 million children nationwide.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Federal Government, Health Care, State, US Senate]About 61,500 of them live in Arizona, where legislators appear to be leaning toward expanding enrollment in the state's KidsCare program, rescinding a rule that prohibits marketing the program through public schools.
Lawmakers say rescinding the "gag rule" could add another 119,000 children to KidsCare, an option for Arizona families with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level — about $40,000 a year for a family of four.
Posted by Editor at 06:13 AM
Senate president optimistic about money for child-care programsTUCSON, Ariz. -- The president of the Arizona Senate says he is optimistic there will be some money in the final state budget for programs that provide child-care subsidies and stipends for grandparents raising grandchildren.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Legislature, Tucson]Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, said child-care subsidies for low-income families and stipends for grandparents and other relatives who take over the care of neglected or abused children save the state money in the long run.
Posted by Editor at 12:37 AM
Lawmakers lend support for more child-care fundsChild and family advocates have won a major ally in their efforts to increase state spending on child-care subsidies and continue stipends for grandparents raising grandkids.Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Families, Legislature]State Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, said he supports both programs and is optimistic there will be some money for them in the final state budget, still in early negotiations.
Posted by Editor at 02:23 AM
Doing right by Arizona's kids[..]Higher child-care subsidies would give parents more choice and pump more money into a cash-strapped system, improving overall quality.
Gov. Janet Napolitano's budget does not include increasing subsidy rates. Several bills in the Legislature would raise the subsidy, and Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale, and Rep. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, deserve credit for remembering the littlest Arizonans.
Yet an appropriations subcommittee recently voted to reduce the eligibility for child-care subsidies. This would throw 2,200 children off the roles, according to the Arizona Child Care Association. The subcommittee also wants to impose a two-year limit on receiving subsidies.
Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Education, Families, Opinion]
Posted by Editor at 12:12 AM
Our Opinion: Town hall tonightThe Tucson Citizen has the story.
Working parents - some of the busiest people we know - should gather at 6 tonight for a town hall on "The Face of Child Care."Permalink [Filed under: Child Care, Opinion]Many working families have a tough time finding affordable, accessible, high-quality child care, and that need will be addressed in the forum at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 3809 E. Third St., just west of Alvernon Way.
Posted by Editor at 06:50 AM
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