and reach thousands of daily visitors
Listen to this29 MAY
UNICEF renews call for protection and safety of children amidst violence in Burundi
UNICEF said today it is extremely concerned by evidence of the continued presence of children amidst violent confrontations in Burundi. This situation has led to the death of yet another child in a shooting Monday and the injury of a child struck by a bullet yesterday.
"UNICEF reminds all parties of their obligation to ensure the safety and protection of children in Burundi, and in particular to ensure that children are kept out of all political demonstrations and actions that put them at risk,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern & Southern Africa, Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala. “No child should be exposed to or witness violence. A child’s place is in safety and with family; not in the midst of violent confrontations.”
Respect for children’s rights is clearly established under Burundian and international law. Protecting children and upholding their rights is a shared responsibility, including of government and security forces. Children and youth in Burundi should not be involved in violent political actions, nor should they be mobilized to participate in hostilities under any circumstances.
Nearly 90,000 people, two-thirds of whom are women and children, have fled Burundi as refugees to countries including Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNICEF is working with UNHCR, OHCHR, WHO and partners to support children in Burundi and those on the move.
UNICEF Press Centre
27 May 2015
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_82091.html
___
27 MAY
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) today opened a new 135,000-square-foot Specialty Care and Ambulatory Surgery Center in King of Prussia, Pa. The new Center, located at 550 S. Goddard Blvd., will replace an existing one located on nearby Mall Boulevard and will add an ambulatory surgery center where children can have same-day surgery close to home.
"This new facility will allow our world-class specialists to care for even more children from the local community," said Madeline Bell, CHOP president and chief operating officer. "We'll be able to offer more appointments, making care easier and more convenient for families to access when and where they need it."
The four-floor facility was designed to expand up to a total of 195,000 square feet to allow for future program growth. It includes 68 exam rooms, supporting more than 30 medical and surgical subspecialties, a sports medicine gym, a developmental PT/OT gym, a Pediatric Imaging Center, a Day Hospital for oncology patients, a Sleep Center, an Urgent Care Center and an Ambulatory Surgery Center. CHOP's Home Care Program is also based onsite.
"CHOP has operated a Specialty Care Center in King of Prussia since 1997 and over the years, we've continued to expand our services to better serve the community," said Amy Lambert, senior vice president of the CHOP Care Network. "Moving everything to a larger, state-of-the-art facility where services can be provided under one roof will improve patient flow and provide the optimal patient family experience."
The new Ambulatory Surgery Center will provide outpatient general and specialty surgical services to children of all ages. It will be staffed by CHOP's pediatric surgeons and board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists, along with a full-time staff of pediatric nurses – all with training in operating rooms or intensive care units.
"With the new ambulatory surgery center, local families will be able to access CHOP's expert surgical services close to home, making care more convenient for the busy families that we serve," said N. Scott Adzick, M.D., CHOP Surgeon-in-Chief. "Children can be evaluated by a surgeon, be operated on, and then have their follow up appointments and necessary rehab —all in the same building."
Ambulatory surgery centers bring the convenience of same-day surgery to families so they can benefit from the expertise of CHOP surgeons close to home. Eight surgical specialties will perform procedures including Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat), Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (GI), General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Oral Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Urology. The Care Network also operates ambulatory surgery centers in Bucks County and Exton in Pennsylvania, and in Voorhees, New Jersey.
The King of Prussia Specialty Care and Ambulatory Surgery Center is one of more than 50 CHOP Care Network centers in Philadelphia, the surrounding counties and South Jersey offering top-ranked primary and specialty care services to families close to home.
Services started moving from the existing King of Prussia site to the new facility this month, with all services expected to be operating by July.
About The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as
the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing
commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new
generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major
research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries
that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program
is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique
family-centered care and public service programs have brought the
535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and
adolescents. For more information, visit
http://www.chop.edu.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network has more than 50 locations in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, offering top-ranked primary and specialty care services in convenient community-based locations. Visit www.chop.edu/network for more information about specific services at each location.
Contact: Alison Fraser
Press release: PR Newswire
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
18 May 2015
___
25 MAY
Change, challenge drives new director
Christina Plitt might be considered a study in contrasts.
She’s afraid of heights, yet she counts skydiving as her favorite hobby. In her youth she displayed an aptitude toward the rather impersonal fields of science and math, even flirting with the idea of an engineering career, yet she ultimately chose to work in the non-profit and human services arena.
Plitt doesn’t like talking about money, yet she’s the head of an organization whose main purpose is to raise funds. She spent her youth moving every two to three years as a self-proclaimed military brat, yet she’s come to Mount Airy looking to put down roots, falling in love with the deep personal connections she sees among so many living here.
Now, the new executive director of the Surry County United Fund wants to draw all of those experiences together to help the organization do what it does best – support the people on the front lines of meeting the needs of individuals and families throughout the county.
Plitt moved to Mount Airy in October, when she married her husband, Randy Plitt, who works at Insteel Industries. She continued working at Youth Villages, commuting most every day to the Greensboro offices, and while she continued to enjoy the work there, the fact that she had no opportunity to become ingrained in her new home community began to wear on her.
Still, leaving Youth Villages was no easy task. The agency has been her professional home for much of her adult life. A college internship with the agency’s residential facility in Memphis, Tennessee, is what sealed the deal for her as a career choice.
Prior to that internship Plitt said she had taken some sociology classes in college that stayed with her. “They taught us how great change can happen at the grassroots level in your community. That’s where you see a lot happening, a lot of change coming from,” she said recently, sitting at the board room table at the United Fund of Surry County.
That message spoke to her. “I wanted to make some sort of impact on my community,” she said, relating that those classes, along with her internship work in Memphis, made her feel as if she were “called in that direction.”
Youth Villages is a nonprofit organization based in Memphis – though it works in 20 states and Washington, D.C. – that focuses on helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children, working with the kids and their families to help them overcome many of their challenges. It is heavily dependent upon grants and federal and state money, especially Medicaid.
While her experience was varied with Youth Villages, Plitt said she spent much of her time working from the agency’s Johnson City, Tennessee office, as a home-based counselor. Much of her efforts were focused, at least for a time, with youth aging out of foster care. She found the work rewarding, she said, because it stuck to that theme she had learned in college – making a difference by helping people on that grassroots, community level.
Still, Plitt said she wanted to do more.
Evolving career
“I had taken on some supervisory roles, had started working with and supporting people who were counseling families,” she said of the evolution of her career. “I felt I could help even more people that way, if I could help those who were helping others.”
That eventually led her to return to school earning an MBA at East Tennessee State University – a degree she earned in a year while working full time.
Earning that advanced degree sent her back to North Carolina, where she became more involved with Youth Villages on an administrative level, working on quality control, overseeing projects, and focusing heavily on audits and assuring compliance with a myriad of Medicaid and other government requirements.
While some parts of the job could be a little testy at times – “Because I was in compliance, I wasn’t always the most popular person” she says with a smile – she felt working at that level helped ensure many of Youth Villages clients would continue to get the help they needed.
In October she married, and at first had no serious thoughts about leaving Youth Villages. Over time, though, two things began to crystallize in her mind.
First, she really began to fall in love with the small-town community of Mount Airy, yet spending so much time on the road, commuting to Greensboro and even working in other parts of the state, prevented her from fully immersing herself in Mount Airy life.
And second, while she found great satisfaction in the work of Youth Villages, she also began to miss the more direct contact she felt earlier in her career, doing front-line work, on the ground in the community where she lived.
Back to the grassroots
“That’s why I was excited to take a job like this,” she said of the post she assumed April 20. “I was excited to be back on a community level.”
Specifically, she said the United Fund director’s job appealed to her because of the experiences she had working with Youth Villages. “We always had volunteers wanting to help, we had many people wanting to donate things to us. But we’d have closets full of clothes people donated that we couldn’t use because they didn’t fit the children, we had volunteers we couldn’t utilize because of the sensitive nature of the work we did.
“But what we always needed was money. We could always use money, but many of the people working there didn’t get into the field to ask for money all the time. They want to do the work, help people.”
The United Fund, she said, fills that need in Surry County. “We can raise the money for our agencies, so they can focus on the work they do. When we raise money for them, we’re helping them keep the doors open…to provide their services.”
That she would be in a fundraising position, though, might have surprised those who knew Plitt earlier in life, including herself. “If you were to have told me a year ago I’d be in a fundraising position, I would have had a hard time believing that. I have a hard time talking about money with my parents,” she said with a laugh.
But those earlier experiences, of always needing money for the work of helping people, changed her perspective, and the mission of the United Fund is one she embraces. “When you’re talking about our agencies, you’re talking about money that will be used to put meals on the table, to send kids to camp…I can wrap my head around that and advocate for that.”
She’s also found living in Mount Airy to be charming. “I really appreciate the community,” she said of her new home. “I grew up without those community connections. I get a kick out of being in a community where everything is so interconnected, where people go to the gas station and they run into someone who they knew back in their school days.”
While moving around as part of a military family may have kept Plitt from developing those deep-rooted community connections, she didn’t feel like she was missing anything as she grew up. “It’s your normal,” she said. “It’s all you know.”
Competitive and daring
That lifestyle, she believes, help make her more competitive, and not just athletically – though she did play volleyball in high school. That streak drove her to earn straight A’s in high school, to graduate summa cum laude from college, and to seek out new challenges. One of those became a hobby – skydiving. “I’m scared of heights,” she said in an unexpected revelation from a skydiver. But, she had some friends who were headed out to do some skydiving, and she simply had to go along with them. The fact that she is scared of heights made it more like a challenge she had to accept.
She fell in love with it, even so much so that she helped form a skydiving team at Virginia Tech, where she attended undergraduate school in Blacksburg, Virginia. She said the school had a team prior to that, but it had more or less fallen by the wayside, so she and a handful of friends reformed it, even competing in the Collegiate National Skydiving Championship, where they always seemed to be outgunned. “We were kind of like a little David going up against Goliath,” she said. “There were Air Force and Army teams, and they always had a lot of funding.”
Never one to shy away from a challenge, she and the rest of the Hokie skydivers gave it their best shot, and over the years the team continued growing and improving. “After we left, the team kept building, and they ended up winning the collegiate championship. They took it away from those Army and Air Force teams…I guess you could say that was a legacy we left, the start of that team.”
That’s what she hopes her work with the United Fund will do, create a legacy through raising money and growing the United Fund’s ability to meet the financial needs of their member agencies. Somewhere along the way, she hopes the people getting that help will go on to bigger and better things in life.
And that will leave a lasting legacy of creating the change she learned about way back in her college days.
John Peters, editor of The Mount Airy News.
24 May 2015
http://www.mtairynews.com/news/home_top-news/153589793/Change-challenge-drives-new-director
___
22 MAY
CANADA
The Harper Government is making a major investment to help increase exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young Canadians from kindergarten to Grade 12. Through this investment, the Government hopes to increase the number of Canadians graduating and going on to well-paying jobs and careers requiring STEM skills. The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), joined by David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, announced a $12.5-million investment over five years to Let's Talk Science. Minister of State Holder made the announcement at the Let's Talk Science Challenge at McMaster University, in front of more than 230 Grade 6, 7 and 8 students.
The funding will allow Let's Talk Science to expand its programming to reach 5 million young people from across Canada over five years, particularly those living in rural, remote and Aboriginal communities outside the major city centres. The funding will also increase the number of Let's Talk Science Outreach sites at universities and colleges to almost 50 across the country and expand the organization's capacity to reach French-speaking Canadian students in Quebec and across Canada.
With today's announcement, the Harper Government has more than quadrupled its investments that encourage young Canadians to develop a lifelong passion for STEM subjects leading to promising careers.
Enhancing STEM skills, and supporting organizations such as Let's Talk Science and programs such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's PromoScience, was a commitment made in the newly updated science, technology and innovation strategy, Seizing Canada's Moment: Moving Forward in Science, Technology and Innovation 2014, delivered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last December.
Press release
Market Wired
21 May, 2015
___
20 MAY
Advocates today applauded the introduction of bipartisan legislation to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that deny federal assistance to nearly one million homeless children and youth.
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that nearly 1.3 million children and youth in America are homeless. Children and youth face the same problems as other homeless Americans, including hunger, health problems, and increased risk of exploitation and violence. But because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses a different definition of “homeless” than other federal agencies, the bulk of the nation’s homeless children and youth cannot get basic HUD-funded assistance. HUD’s definition and associated paperwork requirements practically exclude many homeless families from a safe place to stay, employment assistance, help finding housing, counseling, and help accessing health care and child care.
The Homeless Children and Youth Act, sponsored in the United States Senate by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio-15) and Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa-2nd), would eliminate the definitional obstacle and funding restrictions that effectively deny most homeless children and youth basic assistance. The bill would not require local governments and nonprofits receiving HUD funds to prioritize children and youth over adults, but it would empower local leaders to serve all homeless people and end current policies that deny most homeless children and youth the same assistance available to homeless adults.
Organizations endorsing the legislation included the First Focus Campaign for Children, the National Network for Youth, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, and Covenant House. Responding to the bill’s introduction, these organizations released the following statement by First Focus Campaign for Children president, Bruce Lesley:
“HUD denies help to nearly a million homeless
children and youth who live every day with hunger, trauma, exploitation
and violence. This bill offers a bipartisan plan to level the playing
field, so Washington bureaucrats can no longer deny homeless people help
just because they’re young.”
http://campaignforchildren.org/news/press-release/bipartisan-response-to-growing-child-and-youth-homelessness-introduced/
___
18 MAY
AUSTRALIA – NEW ZEALAND
At face value the Review of the Child Youth and Family Service aims to achieve what social workers would want, better outcome for children, says James Makowharemahihi, President ANZASW. However the emphasis on issues such as outsourcing services, investment approaches, core business, improved efficiency and collaboration suggest a reduction in the States response to meeting needs of vulnerable children and addressing root causes of abuse and neglect and transferring responsibility to the already stretched NGO sector or potentially the private sector as has already occurred with the running or prisons and is being muted for social housing.
The key staff group within Child Youth and Family Service are the social workers. This group of professionals are not mentioned in the Terms of Reference for the review and nor is there social work representation on the Review Panel. Also noticeable by their absence is the voice NGO social service providers, caregivers and New Zealand based children and young people. Who Cares? Scotland is an organisation representing young people in care but are they able to speak for Maori and Pacific young people living in New Zealand one wonders.
Child Youth and Family has been subject to review, restructuring, rebranding, realigning, reconfiguring and changes consistently over the last 25 years. The impact that constant change has on children, families and individuals is well known and documented. CYF Social Workers have continued to strive to work in the best interests of children and young people inspite of themselves being faced with constant change, often in a system that does not support delivery of high quality practice. This has been identified in a number of reports over the yeas, the most recent in 2014.
In 2000 Judge Michael Brown in his report stated “current workload expectations on staff [in Child, Youth and Family Services] are reaching the stage of being dangerous”. The Child Youth and Family Service 2014 Workload Caseload identified that process reporting through KPIs inhibited the ability of social workers to develop effective relationships with children young people and their family or whanau. The same report recognised that Child Youth and Family required an additional 356 social workers to deliver quality assessments.
If this review is to not tinker at the edges but improve outcomes for children and young people it must ensure that there is sufficient resourcing to enable social workers to work effectively with families and whanau.
ANZASW Media release
Press release: Scoop Health
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1504/S00014/anzasw-media-release-modernising-child-youth-family.htm
___
15 MAY
NEW MEXICO
Current and former foster care youth between the ages of 17 and 25 who have been in the New Mexico foster care system for at least six months are eligible to apply for an educational scholarship.
The scholarship is being awarded by New Mexico Friends of Foster Children, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2003 and is dedicated to improving the lives of New Mexico’s children in foster care.
According to officials, the scholarship provides up to $1,000 annually to be used for expenses related to a community college or university education, a specialized training program, an internship, study abroad, or other education or training program.
In a press release, Judy Flynn-O’Brien, president of NMFFC, said the scholarship is intended to help put educational opportunities within reach of New Mexico’s foster children.
“Last year, New Mexico took a big step forward with the Foster Care System Student Tuition Waiver Act, which waives tuition and fees for young people who age out of our foster care system and want to attend a state college,” she said. “But books and supplies cost money, and the act does not cover everything.”
Flynn-O’Brien said that although many young adults can turn to their parents for help after they leave home for college or post-high school training, teens leaving foster care do not have anyone to provide this support.
“For some of these teens, they need someone who believes in them to make the transition to adulthood less daunting,” she said. “New Mexico’s kids have enormous potential, and NMFFC wants to see them thrive.”
The application, which is available online at www.nmffc.org, has a deadline of June 1. Previous scholarship recipients are eligible to reapply each year.
13 May 2015
http://www.pntonline.com/2015/05/13/foster-care-youths-may-eligible-scholarships/
___
13 MAY
The Ministry of Youth and Culture is still not ready to outlaw corporal punishment for children, even though psychologists say the act makes children more violent.
Addressing a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Friday, Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna stated that despite calls from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to outlaw all forms of corporal punishment, her ministry would not take such action until the topic is completely ventilated through public discourse.
"When we met with them (UNCRC), they felt that in order to reduce the violent incidences Jamaican children experience, corporal punishment had to be outlawed across the board, and this would force parents to find other ways of disciplining their children," Hanna said.
"We have started to have the presentations from the groups that have done the research, and those will help to guide where we should be going on this issue."
The minister conceded that, so far, the evidence that has been presented suggests corporal punishment has a negative effect on the island's children.
"Our inter-ministerial committee recently heard a presentation from one psychologist who said her findings suggest that corporal punishment does lead to violence in children. It starts even from children sticking other children with pencils at school, but we have to evaluate not only our children, but also the parents because there are parents who believe they can beat bad behaviour out of their children instead of trying to understand the causes of that behaviour," said Hanna.
Leads to violence
Psychologist Keisha Tomlinson, another participant at the forum, agreed that corporal punishment leads to violence in children. Tomlinson also agreed that parents who administer punishment in anger were causing more harm than good to their children.
"Yes! Corporal punishment is a problem because there is a thin line between discipline and physical abuse when we are talking about punishment. What we have found is that far too often parents tend to use corporal punishment in anger, and when they are angry, they are not in control and end up doing serious physical and mental damage to their children," she said.
Melody Samuels, a psychologist attached to the Child Development Agency's North East Region, echoed Tomlinson's sentiments, arguing that parents need to be educated to understand that there are alternatives to hitting their children.
"In Jamaica, too often corporal punishment tends to be abuse and the results of that is what we deal with everyday with maladjusted children," Samuels said. "We don't address it by just taking away corporal punishment, but, essentially, teach parents that there are ways you can raise and discipline your children without beating them to a pulp."
The Office of the Children's Registry which defines physical abuse as any act, or failure to act, that leads to the non-accidental, physical harm of a child or that places the child's physical well-being at risk, recorded 2,912 reports of physical abuse of children in 2013. This was a substantial increase over the 2,342 reports the registry received the previous year.
Jamaica-Gleaner
11 May 2015
___
11 MAY
USA
Gay youth bullied more than
straight youth,
Boston Children's Hospital study reports
Bullying of sexual minorities begins as early as 5th grade
A new study, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and led by Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, chief of General Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, shows that sexual minority youth (youth who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual) are more likely to be bullied and victimized than their peers.
"What really stands out is that we found that kids who are classified as sexual minorities in tenth grade are bullied and victimized more than their peers not only in tenth grade but also in fifth and seventh grades. The differences are persistent and striking. We would think that in fifth grade, most kids don't recognize themselves or peers as sexual minorities, yet those who will later identify as sexual minorities are already being bullied more than other kids," said Schuster, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
The study, the only one on this topic to follow a representative sample of young people in the United States over several years, surveyed 4,268 students in Birmingham, Houston and Los Angeles in fifth grade and again in seventh and tenth grades.
Bullying is generally defined as the intentional and repeated perpetration of aggression over time by a more powerful person against a less powerful person.
"Bullying has serious short and long-term consequences, not only physical injury, but also anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress and negative school performance. Bullying targeted at sexual minorities has even more severe negative effects," said Schuster.
Schuster and his colleagues found that girls and boys who were identified in tenth grade as sexual minorities were more likely than their peers to be bullied or victimized as early as fifth grade, with the pattern continuing into high school.
For more about the study, its findings and what parents and pediatricians can learn from it, watch this video question-and-answer interview with Dr. Schuster or read more on our blog, Thriving.
Press Release: PRNewswire
Bethany Tripp: Boston Children's Hospital
___
8 MAY
TEXAS
Candlelight Ranch, a nonprofit organization committed to helping special needs and at-risk youth, is pleased to announce that Francesca Rolando has been named as its new Executive Director. In this role, she will oversee the organization and its program facility that serves nearly 2,000 special needs and at-risk youth each year.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of Candlelight Ranch, I am delighted to welcome Francesca to our organization,” said Board President Tara Gray. “Her experience, energy and demonstrated leadership will help the Ranch continue to evolve and ensure we can deliver our programs for generations to come.”
Rolando brings more than ten years of nonprofit experience to Candlelight Ranch. Most recently, she was Director of the American Field Service (AFS) Central Texas Region where she oversaw all program activities across San Antonio and Austin. She has also served as Director of Volunteers at Ride on Center for Kids (ROCK).
Candlelight Ranch provides a platform and programs to more than 30 other Central Texas agencies and groups each year, including Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, The Autism Society of Central Texas, a Glimmer of Hope Austin, and Austin Children’s Shelter, to name a few.
“It’s an honor to join Candlelight Ranch—I love the mission of this organization and look forward to helping deliver its nature-based programs to agencies across Texas,” Rolando said. “Candlelight truly is a catalyst to strengthen the connection of youth to nature, and I am excited about the important work that lies ahead.”
Francesca holds a BA in International Studies from Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina and a Masters in Human Relations from The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. In addition, she is certified in equine therapy.
About Candlelight Ranch:
Founded in 1999, Candlelight Ranch provides unique outdoor experiences
for special needs and at-risk youth to learn, play and embrace the
wonders of nature. The organization’s 40-acre ranch provides a platform
and programs to support other Central Texas nonprofit groups and
agencies. Its programs include equine therapy, ropes courses, nature
exploration, zip lines, a food forest and an outdoor kitchen. The ranch
is also home to one of the largest wheelchair accessible treehouses in
the country.
PRWeb
7 May 2015
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/05/prweb12692507.htm
___
6 MAY
NEW ZEALAND
By announcing $1.75 million of funding for its Young People sector, The Canterbury Community Trust is acknowledging children and young people in Canterbury are still dealing with anxiety and mental health issues, as they try to adapt to the ‘new normal’ of living in post earthquake Canterbury.
According to Trust Chief Executive, Louise Edwards, a greater proportion of funding has been earmarked for services that target young people in crisis, noting many young people are exhibiting worrying signs of ongoing post traumatic stress. The Trust received funding requests totalling $3.42 million for the Young People sector, against a budget of $1.44 million.
Feedback from stakeholders in the Young People sector highlighted the continued need for services such as youth workers in schools, mentoring and mental health services in the Canterbury area.
“We are hearing young people living in rural areas in our region find distance and cost of travel a barrier to access health services, training, employment and activities. Those from displaced families who had to move from Christchurch after the earthquakes are finding it difficult to adjust to their new, more rural settings.”
“Preventative programmes are essential in ensuring young people do not become vulnerable and know how to access services.” says Ms Edwards.
Research underpins the importance of early intervention in children’s lives to ensure they are able to fully participate in society, with further evidence that supporting children with protective factors can mitigate negative factors early on in life.
“Rather than cut a swath through our applications and allocate smaller amounts to everyone, we are taking a more pragmatic and long-term view in approving funding to groups operating at the crisis end of the sector who are dealing with our most vulnerable young people,” Ms Edwards says.
One example of this approach is a new multi-year funding agreement with Cholmondeley Children’s Centre, the only community-based short term and emergency respite care provider for at-risk-children in New Zealand, and one of the few international facilities of its kind. Their service primarily works outside of the statutory sector and only some of the families referred had involvement with Child, Youth and Family. They provide short-term respite care for children 3 to 12 years.
“Cholmondeley continues to experience an increased level of demand. This is due to a combination of factors such as ongoing post earthquake stressors which cause significant levels of distress for families, along with disruption to a family’s usual support system.”
“By supporting them through a multi-year funding partnership, the Trust is not only recognising the importance of their work in the community but is providing them with a level of confidence around the continuing provision of their services.” says Ms Edwards.
So where do the problems in our Young People sector lie? The CERA Youth Wellbeing Survey highlighted the top three stressors facing our young people currently include the loss of places to meet, the loss of sports and recreational facilities, and living in a damaged environment. This is still the case in 2015.
“New Zealand has some key changes on the horizon,” says Ms Edwards, “With an ageing population and the rising costs associated with this, more than ever we need our economy to be productive.”
“Investment in younger, disadvantaged children will make the most difference around increasing future skills and productivity. There are greater benefits for all when investments are made earlier in a child’s life, when key cognitive and physical development processes are occurring.”
“We all need to work together to understand what shapes children in their early years and to work to improve their outcomes. It is essential for the whole country, that our young people have a solid platform to springboard into adulthood,” says Ms Edwards.
Press Release: Canterbury Community Trust
5 May 2015
___
4 MAY
A call for equity in digital media and learning design
The 6th annual Digital Media and Learning Conference, themed “Equity by Design,” calls for learning organizations and institutions to explore ways for youth to engage in meaningful and relevant learning.
“What we’re trying to do with this conference is to reframe the debate over equity and educational technology, moving us from issues of access to broader kinds of conversations,” said Kris D. Gutiérrez, a UC Berkeley professor of language, literacy and culture and this year’s DML Conference chairwoman. “Equity is not just about access. It involves a new social and pedagogical imagination about how youth and people from nondominant communities can become designers of their own futures. This is a global issue with huge implications for youth across the globe, and we aim to create a national conversation about how we can do our work in more mindful ways that put at the center equity and rich forms of learning that matter to people.”
The June 11-13 conference, supported by the MacArthur Foundation and organized by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub, will highlight numerous examples of connected learning innovations that stress equity, including: employing Minecraft to teach myriad classroom lessons, expanding access to college through interactive play, exploring STEM through a witty radio program and using digital storytelling to communicate the experiences of underrepresented students, among many others. It will take place at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown.
The keynote discussion will feature civil rights advocate Van Jones, founder of four nonprofit organizations engaged in social and environmental justice and a CNN political commentator, and Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino and host of MSNBC’s Changing America program. S. Craig Watkins, a professor of radio-television-film at the University of Texas, will moderate the discussion.
“Equity has become a driving economic and civil rights concern,” said David Theo Goldberg, executive director of the DML Research Hub and director of the University of California’s Humanities Research Institute, which houses the Hub. “We cannot expect social equity in the absence of transformative modes of educational equity. Learning technologies can enable equity or exacerbate inequality, so design is crucial. The conference is a timely contribution to the larger social debates currently roiling us, and the keynote conversation will offer an important framing of the defining issues.”
Hundreds of technologists, educators, activists, and researchers from around the world are expected to attend the conference. The final day, June 13, features dozens of workshops and presentations for educators to gain hands-on experience and bring back lessons to their schools, libraries and after-school programs.
More conference information and registration is available at dml2015.dmlhub.net.
About the annual Digital Media and Learning Conference
The conference is produced by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. Affiliated with the University of California system’s Humanities Research Institute at UC Irvine, the Hub is dedicated to analyzing and interpreting the impact of the Internet and digital media on education and civic engagement. Its primary emphasis is on connected learning and emergent political practices – participatory politics – as well as initiatives such as connectedlearning.tv, make-to-learn, and alternative credentialing (i.e., badges for learning). All its work, including original research, websites, publications, workshops and the conference, is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.
Los Angeles, CA
May 01, 2015
PR.com
http://dmlhub.net/newsroom/media-releases/a-call-for-equity-in-digital-education-design/
_______
