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Listen to thisAPRIL 30 2014
More youth run away who have
binge-drinking parents, been
in foster care or lived away from their parents
National Runaway Safeline's new study finds a connection between family characteristics and adolescent runaway behavior
Many family characteristics are predictors of youth runaway behavior, as determined in a new study released today by the National Runaway Safeline (NRS), a 24/7 hotline and online services for runaway, homeless and at-risk youth. The study reveals that it's more common for youth to run away who have parents that binge drink, have been in the foster care system or have lived away from their parent for more than six months.
"Every year, we see that family dynamics is the No. 1 issue reported by youth in crisis who contact the National Runaway Safeline," said Maureen Blaha, NRS executive director. "Studies like this help us better understand what's affecting today's youth so we can enhance our programs and services to better support them."
The study, an analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data set conducted by Jennifer Benoit-Bryan, a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois in Chicago, for NRS, investigates the correlation between family characteristics and adolescent runaway behavior. It consists of interviewing a nationally representative sample of 12,105 American adolescents in grades seven through 12 at two different points in their school career.
Some key findings show:
Parents who binge drink have kids who are more than twice as likely to run away from home compared to parents who never binge drink.
Youth who have been physically (1.4 more times likely), mentally (1.4 times more likely), or sexually (1.3 more times likely) abused are more likely to run away from home compared to those who have not been abused.
For youth whose parent has had to live apart from them for six months or more the likelihood of running away more than doubles from 7.5 percent to 16.6 percent.
Youth who have been in foster care are over 2.5 times more likely to run away than those who have not.
....
NRS makes more than 250,000 connections to help and hope through hotline (1-800-RUNAWAY), online (1800RUNAWAY.org) and offline resources. It provides crisis intervention, referrals to local resources, and education and prevention services to youth, families and community members. For the full study or more information, visit 1800runaway.org/learn/research/.
Press release: PR Newswire
29 April 2014
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APRIL 28 2014
In celebration of its 55th anniversary, Childhelp will honor Beverly Cohen of the Four Seasons Beverly Hills Hotel, with the Woman of the World Award. Shaun Robinson, TV Host and anchor of Access Hollywood will host the day’s events and presentation ceremony.
Beverly Hills, CA, April 26, 2014 --(PR.com)-- In celebration of the 55th Anniversary and its ongoing work to eradicate child abuse and neglect, the Los Angeles Chapter of Childhelp has reinstated the Woman of the World honors. Childhelp will bestow this award to mogul, longtime advocate, and tireless volunteer Beverly Cohen for her ongoing commitment and volunteer efforts in the quest to eradicate child abuse and neglect. Beverly is the co-owner of the family-owned Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Her successful business and charitable efforts in the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Orange County communities have spanned almost 3 decades and have left a wake of awareness, research, and impact that are immeasurable. She has dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate and takes particular interest in aiding abused and neglected children.
Emmy Award winning journalist, author, philanthropist, and TV personality (Access Hollywood, NBC Nightly News, Today, MSNBC, CNN, The View, Who Wants to be a Milliionaire) Shaun Robinson, will MC the event. Shaun is a devoted Childhelp advocate and volunteer, with a keen interest in girls and women’s issues.
The Childhelp Woman of the World Luncheon and Fashion Show will take place on Thursday April 30, 2014, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. A champagne reception and runway fashion show will begin at 11:00 am. G Haute Couture of Beverly Hills will present its current collection of wearable art, gowns, and celebrity fashions. The House of G’s fashion show promises to showcase fairytale whimsy, couture craftsmanship, and royal glamour. At 12:30 pm, following the champagne reception and fashion extravaganza will be a sit down luncheon and the Woman of the World recognitions. Tickets for this event and some sponsorships are still available.
Childhelp exists to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused, neglected, and at risk children. Childhelp focuses its efforts on advocacy, prevention, treatment, and community outreach. CEO and Co-founder Sara O’Meara and President and Co-founder Yvonne Federson started Childhelp in 1959, establishing it as a leading national nonprofit dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD, operates 24 hours a day /seven days per week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Childhelp’s programs and services also include residential treatment services (Villages), children’s advocacy centers, therapeutic foster care, group homes, and child abuse prevention, education and training.
Press release: PR.com
27 April 2014
http://www.pr.com/press-release/554973
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APRIL 25 2014
10 easy good turns anyone can
do during
Good Turn Week,
April 26-May 4
Scouts Canada's Good Turn Week kicks off April 26 and Scouting youth from across the country want to know, what will your Good Turn be? Good Turn Week runs until May 4.
Scouts Canada is challenging all Canadians to join them in Good Turn Week by doing at least one good turn for someone else and asking the recipient to pay it forward, creating a cycle of goodwill across the country. There are countless simple good turns that only take a moment to do.
Here are 10 easy good turns:
Hold a door open for a stranger
Give up your seat on public transit to someone in need
Make a batch of your favourite cookies and share them with your friends or colleagues
Clean out the closet and donate clothes, toys and books to charity or take old towels and sheets to the animal shelter
Spend the afternoon helping out at a local charity
Help an elderly neighbour with grocery shopping or a household chore
Buy a homeless person a meal
Help someone out who is short of change at the store checkout
Buy a coffee for the person in line behind you
Give the gift of relaxation by offering to look after a friend or family member's children for a few hours
"Good Turn Week follows the principles of Scouting that teach youth to always do Good Turns for other people, but it's also about encouraging Canadians of all ages to reach out and do something kind for someone else," said Kaylee Galipeau, National Youth Commissioner and Chair of the National Youth Network for Scouts Canada. "Each act of kindness can make a difference in the lives of the recipient and contribute to a cycle of goodwill that fosters friendlier and happier communities. So we want to know, what will your Good Turn be?"
Canadians can share their good turns with Scouts Canada's 100,000 youth members and adult volunteers by submitting it via Scouts.ca/goodturn or sharing on facebook.com/scoutscanada or Twitter using #goodturn.
In celebration of Good Turn Week's fifth anniversary, Scouts Canada youth in communities across the country are taking on large-scale Good Turn projects such as building portable libraries, refurbishing a community room and cleaning hiking trails in order to bring the week to Canadians. For more information visit: Scouts.ca/goodturn/community-projects.php.
About Scouts Canada
Kids in Scouts have fun adventures, discovering new things and
experiences they wouldn't discover elsewhere. Along the way, they
develop into capable, confident and well-rounded individuals, better
prepared for success in the world. For tens of thousands of children and
youth across Canada, Scouts is the start of something great. Scouts
Canada is the country's leading co-ed youth organization, with 100,000
members nationwide. Scouts Canada offers programming for children and
youth aged 5-26 in multiple languages, reflecting Canada's multicultural
landscape and communities. For more information, visit Scouts.ca.
Scouts Canada is a not-for-profit organization (Charitable Registration No. 10776 1694 RR0028) and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
SOURCE Scouts Canada
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.
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APRIL 23 2014
UK
Councils to outsource
children’s social services
under government proposals
Local authorities could set up autonomous bodies for most children's social care functions, consultation suggests. Almost all children’s social services functions could be delegated to other organisations under proposals published by the government.
In a consultation, the Department for Education (DfE) asked whether councils should be permitted to hand all children’s social services roles to third parties, such as local authority arms-length bodies or existing private organisations. But councils will not be able to delegate independent reviewing officer functions and can only hand adoption agency functions to a registered adoption society, according to the paper published on Thursday. Councils also cannot give powers of delegation to another organisation.
The consultation paper, “Powers to delegate children’s social care functions”, stated the plans would allow councils “to harness third party expertise, and/or set up more agile delivery structures outside traditional hierarchies”.
It stated councils would still be responsible for meeting their statutory obligations even if they delegated their services. Delegated services would be considered by Ofsted through its single inspection framework and the council would be held to account for them. The delegated functions would have to be carried out under the supervision of registered social workers.
A paper on the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, published at the same time, said autonomous organisations set up by councils could have a “stronger purity of purpose” and greater scope to innovate because their leaders would not be dealing with the competing priories and budgets, bigger bureaucracy and restrictions of the council. The organisations could also have a sharper focus on the end user, generate greater staff enthusiasm, make savings and get access to other sources of funding, it said.
The new regulations, if implemented, would extend the range of functions that can be delegated under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008. Part 1 of the Act came into effect in November 2013 and allowed councils to delegate social services functions for looked after children and care leavers.
The consultation closes on 30 May and the results will be published on the DfE’s website in the summer.
Meanwhile, the paper on the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme revealed the programme could help councils pay for the upfront costs of setting up new, autonomous organisations to carry out children’s social services work or other new approaches to social work such as redesigning systems and introducing new ways of working with families.
The two-year scheme aims to work with 20 or more councils and will get £30m in its first year and “substantially more in the second”. The programme could fund functions such as hiring a consultancy to write an implementation plan, support discussions with council finance and human resources departments, pay for staff training and extra management time or monitoring the progress of cases during the transition.
The DfE expects to appoint a delivery partner for the programme in May, the report stated, and will then provide more information on the scheme. In the meantime authorities can register their interest in the programme by e-mailing cs.innovationprogramme@education.gsi.gov.uk
Helga Pile, national officer for social care at trade union Unison, said: “We are very concerned that the government is pressing ahead with its drive to fragment and privatise the whole spectrum of statutory social work. The prospect of companies like Serco running child protection is one that will fill social workers with fear for the children and families they work with. This is just a smokescreen for the government’s continuing failure to address chronic underfunding which has left local authority social work over-stretched and under intolerable pressure. To cut local authority budgets by 40% at a time when need for social work support is soaring, and then claim councils are not fit to run the services is staggering. Everything we know about serious cases tells us that we need more joined-up working and close accountability – not fragmentation and dilution of oversight.”
A spokeswoman for the DfE said the consultation asked whether or not services should be outsourced at all and covered both delegation to existing and new organisations. She added the responses to the consultation would influence whether department made a change.
Chloe Stothart on in Children, Community Care, News
workforce
April 22, 2014
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APRIL 16 2014
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) today announced the publication of Banking a New Generation: Developing Responsible Retail Banking Products for Children and Youth. The publication is timed to coincide with Global Money Week and will help financial institutions, NGOs and governments co-create appropriate and innovative banking and payment products for children and youth.
Of the 2.2 billion children in the world, on average only 37.9% of young people aged 15 – 25 have a traditional banking account such as checking, savings or card. MasterCard and CYFI share the belief that enabling financial inclusion and economic citizenship education for children and youth is critical for a more inclusive economy around the globe. Without this access, young people can’t save or invest in their future.
To help financial institutions and other stakeholders understand and use the guide, CYFI and MasterCard are conducting a webinar on Monday March 17th. The webinar will cover:
The guiding principles for responsible financial products for children and youth;
Why a financial institution should invest in the child and youth segment;
Some key relevant features of the child and youth segment;
What makes a good child and youth friendly product proposition; and
Considerations regarding the product development process.
“Every child and youth has a right to safe, accessible financial services, and we need to empower them to grow into productive economic citizens,” said Anna Zanghi, Global Lead of Youth Segment Product, MasterCard. “Our goal in working with CYFI is to expand access to safe, secure and responsible financial products and services for young people that enable them to start to save for the future and pursue goals such as higher education and entrepreneurial ventures.”
Press release: Child and Youth Finance International
March 2014
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APRIL 14 2014
ARIZONA
New foster care program helps separated siblings
Executive Vicki Mayo of Arizona-based Valor Global Services woke up at 2 am at Mount Everest’s Base Camp with a vision on how to help foster children. She reached out to wake up and tell her climbing mate, husband and Valor President Simer Mayo. Vicki’s inspiration came after 14 hours of hiking and many years of working with foster children.
“Seventy-five percent of foster children with one or more siblings is separated from at least one of them when they are removed from their home. That’s a real wake-up call,” said Vicki Mayo, Vice-President of Valor. “The inspiration I had on Everest, with the help of others, has now turned into The Siblings Program at Aid to Adoption of Special Kids (AASK).”
The highlight of the new program will be Siblings Summer Camp in June, 2014. Fostered siblings will live and play together for one week at Camp Tontozona, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The Siblings Program strengthens relationships among siblings who might otherwise lose each other in foster care. You can learn more here: http://www.aask-az.org.
The Siblings Program is happening because when she returned home from Mount Everest, Vicki contacted Arizona Representative Michele Reagan, setting off a chain of actions that passed through Senator Robert Meza and Deidre Calcoate of Arizona’s Child Protection Services, until it was done.
“We encourage and empower employees to do great things,” said Simer Mayo, President of Valor. “Normally it doesn’t take 14 hours of hiking up Mount Everest to come up with the inspirations, but I say ‘whatever it takes’. I’m proud of Vicki for not just coming up with the idea, but then seeing it through with all the collaborators to make a difference for foster children in Arizona.”
Vicki hasn’t stopped here. She’s now working on another program to help foster children develop skills and obtain jobs that are a good fit. “Customer care is #1 at Valor Global Services,” said Vicki. “Foster children need care, too, and I’m pleased that Valor supports employees to be inspired and create an impact on things they care about.”
Press release: PRWeb
March 20 2014
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/03/prweb11683862.htm
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APRIL 11 2014
NEW MEXICO
Governor announces Children Advocacy Center
Hoping to reduce the number of child abuse cases in the state, Gov. Susana Martinez signed an executive order directing the Children Youth and Families Department to establish a Child Advocacy Center pilot program in Valencia County.
The Child Advocacy Center will be modeled after the Albuquerque Family Advocacy Center and other centers around the nation, and house a variety of social service providers, law enforcement agencies, non-profit and public partners to coordinate services for victims of domestic or sexual abuse.
“It’s great because it allows all of us to work together in one place,” said Los Lunas Police Chief Naithan Gurule. “It makes everything easy for the victim and one smooth process rather than sending them to a bunch of different places.”
Law enforcement officers, child forensic interviewers, sexual assault nurse examiners, social service organizations and child abuse caseworkers under one roof will offer more comprehensive welfare services, said Gov. Susana Martinez. “This model of bringing together a diverse team of trained and dedicated professionals will help keep more of our children safe,” the governor said. “Emphasizing the team approach will help improve communication and information sharing, so these professionals can better protect the children and families they serve.”
Valencia County was chosen for the pilot program because there is a high per capita rate of child abuse or neglect investigations, and it is one of the highest-risk and highest-need areas of the state for child welfare services, Martinez said.
A central location will allow child abuse professionals to be more accessible. The governor stressed the importance of trained interviewers and examiners in cases of child abuse or sexual assault. When a child confides to an adult about abuse it is crucial they speak with someone that has experience in how to conduct such an interview, and knows what to look for, she said. “Making a call to the police or to the social worker is the best way to handle the situation,” Martinez said. “These are crimes and calling 911 is not wrong either.”
Imagine a child who finally has the courage to tell and talks to a teacher. How the professional responds to that child can be the most important response in that child’s life, the governor said. Abused children are often afraid to say anything, and may worry they will be taken away from their home, or that telling will get the non-abusing parent in trouble. When they muster the courage to tell someone, they are testing the waters.
“We have to make sure that the response is one that is responsible, one that is very caring, because that child can see either the sky is going to fall all around them and the family will be torn apart, or the needs of that child and the non-offending parent or parents will be taken care of,” Martinez said.
Part of the difficulty in handling child abuse cases in Valencia County is that victims have to go to Albuquerque for forensic interviews, medical exams, body scans and photographs. The timeliness of these procedures are critical, and having to go to Albuquerque can add stress to an already stressful situation, especially for the victim, said Ann Keaner, assistant district attorney. “As many services that we can do locally is a help both to the constituents of this county, but it also would be incredibly helpful to law enforcement and the district attorney’s office,” said Keaner. “We can build better, stronger cases and get them dealt with earlier rather than later.”
An advocacy center in Los Lunas might also help bring resources to the county. “While a lot of services from Albuquerque are well-meaning to serve the tri-county area, Albuquerque as a major metropolitan area drains resources, and so those resources never make it down to Valencia County,” said Alexandria Taylor, the executive director of Valencia Shelter Services. “It’s really hard to get civil legal services for indigent folks, and it’s really important.”
Often the offender is able to hire an attorney, which only adds more trauma for the victim, so having an attorney in Valencia County is also very important, Taylor said.
The child advocacy pilot program will be housed in the Henry Perea Building, 750 Morris Road, and is slated to be up and running by the end of the summer, the governor said.
“We just need to do a few little changes. We want to make sure there is a child-friendly room where the interview will take place,” she said. And there will be some equipment purchases and renovations of rooms to allow simultaneous interviews, but the goal is to make sure this happens as fast as possible. “Under one roof, you have all the key players that are involved in a case from its conception to its end,” said New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassestas. He said this is important for law enforcement officers because they get calls from all over their jurisdiction, and a one-stop shop is a better organized system.
The governor’s effort to reduce the number of child abuse cases in New Mexico involves three areas of improvement; communication, additional CYFD caseworkers and implementing a more proactive and coherent approach to working with families who have faced multiple investigations.
She said she will also continue to fight for legislation that would allow a court to order counseling services and interventions for families who frequently interact with CYFD.
“Through this pilot program, we will assess the positive impact that a child advocacy center has on Valencia (County) families, and work to identify other areas of the state where local partners are willing to commit to an expansion of the child advocacy centers,” Martinez said.
These measures are being instituted following the recent death of 9-year-old Omaree Varela in Albuquerque, allegedly by the hands of his mother.
According to her press release, the governor and her staff worked with CYFD officials, state police and the Department of Public Safety to examine the details of the case, and identify gaps in the current approach to investigating, which the executive order reforms are designed to help address.
Deborah Fox |
9 April 2014
http://www.news-bulletin.com/2014/04/09/news/governor-announces-children-advocacy-center.html
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APRIL 9 2014
CANADA
Report shows significant earnings gap for former foster children
Improving support for children in foster care would increase their lifetime earnings by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and save governments in social assistance payments and spending on other public services, according to a new Conference Board of Canada report released today.
The report, Success For All: Investing in the Future of Canadian Children in Care, estimates that former foster children will earn about $326,000 less income over their lifespan compared with children not involved in the child welfare system in Canada. This disparity is largely due to less education – primarily lower levels of high-school graduation. Over a 10 year period, the cost to the economy of not changing this situation could total an estimated $8 billion through lost productivity.
Highlights
Most youth leaving the child welfare system fail to graduate from high school, and many live with poorly treated mental health problems.
A child exiting the child welfare system at the age of 19 will earn about $326,000 less income over his or her lifespan, compared with the average Canadian.
The number of children in care in Canada, relative to its population, is far higher than in the U.S. and the gap has widened over time.
In addition, as a consequence of higher rates of unemployment and lower earnings than the national average, governments in Canada make higher social assistance payments and collect lower tax revenues, totaling a cumulative $126,000 per former foster child. If governments were to invest that money in initiatives to help improve the education and mental health of children in care, the long term social and economic benefits could ultimately outweigh that initial cost.
"There is a compelling humanitarian and economic case for tackling this issue. We know that most youth leaving the child welfare system fail to graduate from high school, and many live with poorly treated mental health problems," said Louis Thériault, Executive Director, Economic Initiatives. "While these issues have been identified in the past, we've now been able to pinpoint the actual financial costs. Taking on these issues not only has the potential to benefit the overall Canadian economy; even more importantly, many foster children could have a better chance at participating more fully in society."
A report by the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, for example, found that only 44 per cent of former foster children graduate from high school compared with 81 per cent for the general population. Former foster children also enroll in post-secondary institutions at around half the rate of the general population. In addition, children in care have a much greater prevalence of mental health problems.
Success For All: Investing in the Future of Canadian Children in Care identifies the serious economic ramifications of not tackling these problem and suggests that governments, businesses, and the general public all have a role to play in helping children in foster care lead more productive lives.
Currently, Canada's welfare system is fragmented. One solution proposed is to undertake a coordinated effort among provinces, led by the federal government. Governments could help implement a comprehensive and cohesive strategy, including targeted investments in improving education and mental health. In addition, there is a need for comparable and consistent national data on children both while in care and after they leave the system. This would also require the cooperation of all levels of government.
Businesses could facilitate the integration of former foster children into the labour market by offering children in care greater opportunities for skills training and employment. This could be achieved by working with child welfare agencies or through public-private partnerships.
The general public could play a role in helping children in foster care by being aware of the special needs of children in care, support ideas to improve their circumstances, and generally assist in integrating foster children into the community.
Success For All: Investing in the Future of Canadian Children in Care is publically available from our e-Library.
Source: Conference Board of Canada
Press release: PRNewswire
7 April 2014
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APRIL 7 2014
Children’s National SCORE Program Director strengthens advocacy for youth sports safety, concussion awareness
As an advocate for improved concussion education and training nationwide, Gerard Gioia, PhD, Director of the Safe Concussion Outcome Recovery and Education (SCORE) Program at Children’s National, testified before Congress this month and has other speaking engagements in his effort to improve awareness of, and action on, concussions.
While concussion awareness has greatly improved, Dr. Gioia says it is not enough. “The next step in improving youth sports safety is to develop the tactical education and training methods and the prevention measures to keep our young athletes safe on the field. Parents, coaches, athletes, and physicians all need to know what to do,” said Dr. Gioia.
As part of his effort to advocate for a national effort to develop and implement action-oriented mechanisms for concussion education and training, Dr. Gioia gave testimony on March 13 to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. Dr. Gioia stood with colleagues to update U.S. Representatives about concussion research and the work that he and his colleagues plan to undertake to further develop action-oriented education and training modules for parents, youth sports teams, athletic organizations, and athletes.
Dr. Gioia has joined the National Council on Youth Sports Safety’s two-year initiative, Protecting Athletes and Sports Safety (PASS) to decrease the incidence of traumatic injuries among young athletes. Dr. Gioia joins an elite group of members, including Kate Carr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Safe Kids Worldwide, as well as Council co-chairs, Eliot Sorel, MD, of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, MD. He chairs the Policy and Legislation Workgroup as it examines state and federal mechanisms to improve care. The council held its first meeting last month in Atlanta with monthly work sessions to culminate in a 10-stop national tour to engage communities in public health efforts to prevent and more effectively manage brain injury risk in youth sports.
As part of his ongoing effort to advocate for concussion awareness and safety, Dr. Gioia will also be speaking at the Fourth Annual Tom McHale Memorial, on April 30, organized by the Sports Legacy Institute. He will be presented with a Leadership Award for his national work on youth concussion education.
Dr. Gioia was also presented with the inaugural Medical Champions for Children Award by the Children's Health Board for his years of community-based work in youth concussion education, prevention, and management.
“My hope is that through a national collaborative effort, involving everyone from our kids and parents to the federal government, we will be able to create and implement effective systems and mechanisms to create a safe play environment for our young athletes,” said Gioia.
Press release: PRWeb
4 April 2014
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11728064.htm
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APRIL 4 2014
Youth employment: Commission proposes package of measures
Measures to help Member States tackle unacceptable levels of youth unemployment and social exclusion by giving young people offers of jobs, education and training have been proposed by the European Commission.
As requested by the European Council and European Parliament, the Commission's Youth Employment Package includes a proposed Recommendation to Member States on introducing the Youth Guarantee to ensure that all young people up to age 25 receive a quality offer of a job, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed.
The proposed recommendation urges Member States to establish strong partnerships with stakeholders, ensure early intervention by employment services and other partners supporting young people, take supportive measures to enable labour integration, make full use of the European Social Fund and other structural funds to that end, assess and continuously improve the Youth Guarantee schemes and implement the schemes rapidly.
The Commission will support Member States through EU funding, by promoting exchanges of good practice, monitoring implementation of Youth Guarantees in the European Semester exercise and awareness-raising.
To facilitate school-to-work-transitions, the Package also launches a consultation of European social partners on a Quality Framework for Traineeships so as to enable young people to acquire high-quality work experience under safe conditions.
Furthermore, it announces a European Alliance for Apprenticeships to improve the quality and supply of apprenticeships available by spreading successful apprenticeship schemes across the Member States and outlines ways to reduce obstacles to mobility for young people.
Press release: European Commission
5 April 2014
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1036&newsId=1731&furtherNews=yes
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APRIL 2 2014
MINNESOTA
The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) has launched its new Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book to help bring giggles and grins to children young and old.
The book includes more than 600 jokes submitted by kids, for kids. Jokes include popular and original jokes, funny one-liners, knock-knock jokes and silly tongue-twisters.
The book is ideal for children ages 4 to 12, but can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book is available at www.Amazon.com for $5.99.
Proceeds from the book will fund future UHCCF grants that help families pay for children’s medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by a commercial health insurance plan. Since its founding in 1999, UHCCF has funded more than 6,500 medical grants totaling more than $20 million.
“We are grateful for the overwhelming and enthusiastic response from families and children across the country who submitted jokes for this book. At the heart of the book is our desire to create an uplifting, boredom-busting read to inspire any reader, whether in a hospital or waiting room, or on a long car ride. The book’s proceeds will help provide child medical grants to families in need,” said UHCCF President Matt Peterson.
For more information about UHCCF, visit www.UHCCF.org.
Press release: Business Wire
1 April 2014
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