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Diabetes management in childcare settings
According to the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report, published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), approximately 208,000 people aged younger than 20 years in the United States have been diagnosed with diabetes, representing approximately 0.25% of that population.1
“As cited by the new position statement from the ADA, a recent study found that 1.93 per 1,000 youth (aged less than 20 years) were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, an increase of 21.1% from 2001 to 2009. For type 2 diabetes, the study reported a prevalence of 0.46 per 1,000 youth (aged between 10 and 20 years), an increase of 30.5% from 2001 to 2009,” said Linda Siminerio, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
The daily management of diabetes is complex and burdensome, especially for children in schools and childcare settings, such as day care, camp and other programs that young children with diabetes attend.2,3,4 According to Siminerio, this is because diabetes management requires attention to eating, activity, monitoring insulin delivery and glucose levels.
Unique challenges for young children with diabetes
There are unique challenges to monitoring young children with diabetes in schools and childcare settings, which are highlighted by the recent position statement from the ADA.
The position statement on caring for children with diabetes in the childcare setting emphasizes that pediatric health care providers, diabetes educators, parents or guardians, and childcare staff must work in collaboration to ensure that young children with diabetes are provided the safest possible childcare environment.
In addition, the diabetes educator serves multiple purposes in facilitating communication between all those involved in the child's well-being.2,3
In particular, challenges in diabetes management include the child's developmental level, ability to communicate, motor skills, cognitive abilities and emotional maturity.
“Young children are particularly challenging since they cannot do their own diabetes management and rely almost completely on the adult care providers. Young children are often cared for by people other than their parents, [including] childcare providers, teachers and relatives,” said Jane Chiang, MD, of the American Diabetes Association in Alexandria, Virginia.
As children get older, they may begin to be able to participate in their own care by indicating food preferences, checking blood glucose and choosing a finger prick or injection site. “As [children] mature, they begin to take on more responsibility for managing their diabetes, and of course their needs change as they continue to develop into adults,” said Siminerio.
Other challenges in school or the childcare setting include staff turnover, language barriers, ethnic and cultural practices, limited resources and support, geography (such as rural vs. urban setting), health literacy and capabilities.
“Parents want their children to be safe. Problems have occurred when school staff is not trained or available. Some states mandate that only a school nurse provide care for the child with diabetes. The problem is that school nurses are not always available. And unfortunately, even a full-time school nurse cannot be in all places at all times, so there must always be other trained school employees available to assist when the school nurse is not available to do so,” said Siminerio.
“Oftentimes young children cannot articulate how they feel, and childcare providers [may] misinterpret behavior associated with low or high blood glucose as behavior problems, rather than addressing the physical needs of the child,” Chiang added.
Communication essential for child's well-being, safety
Position statements on diabetes management in school and childcare settings from the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are consistent with the ADA position statement.2,3,4
“All three statements support the provision of care by trained unlicensed personnel when a school nurse is not available to provide care,” said Siminerio.
Each statement targets a similar theme that open communication and collaboration among all parties involved is essential to ensure the well-being and safety of the child within the school and childcare settings, said Siminerio.
“Diabetes management is 24/7, so schools and childcare providers must be prepared to meet the needs of children with diabetes to ensure a safe and smooth transition from home to school. Preparation will reduce the risk of both short- and long-term medical complications and will help ensure that all children with diabetes have access to the same opportunities as their peers,” said Siminerio.
A team effort
Siminerio believes it takes a team effort to make sure all children in school and childcare settings receive appropriate diabetes care, and collaboration and communication between school, families and clinicians is essential.
“In order for care to be optimal, the parents or guardians, childcare provider and health care provider need to coordinate and have a well-written care plan for the child,” says Chiang.
References
1.American Diabetes Association. Statistics About Diabetes. Data from
the National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014.
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics. Published June 10,
2014. Updated September 10, 2014. Accessed October 27, 2014.
2.Siminerio LM et al. Diabetes Care. 2014;37:2834-2842.
3.American Association of Diabetes Educators. Management of Children
with Diabetes in the School Setting. AADE Position Statement.
http://main.diabetes.org/dorg/PDFs/Advocacy/Discrimination/aade-ps-diabetes-school-care.pdf.
Published August 2012. Accessed October 27, 2014.
4.Council on School Health. Pediatrics. 2009;124(4):1244-1251.
Beth Gilbert
Reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MS, MPH
26 Novedmber 2014
http://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/diabetes-management-in-childcare-settings/article/385406/2/
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26 NOVEMBER 2014
Almost 200 children are awaiting adoption in NET
"There are no unwanted children ... just unfound families."
November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and for those looking to make a difference in the lives of children, becoming a foster parent can be a rewarding first step in the adoption process.
Youth Villages, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families live successfully, is in need of caring adults in Northeast Tennessee. The Department of Children's Services reports 198 children in Northeast Tennessee available for adoption, with 31 in Kingsport alone.
The organization is asking people to open their hearts and homes to children who have suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment. These children need families who will care for them until they can return to their birth families or an adoptive family is found for them, a recent press release from Youth Villages read.
Hopefully, people in the greater Kingsport area will hear these words and step up to improve the lives of these troubled children.
Becoming a foster parent is no easy decision and takes a major commitment from the family, not just financially, but emotionally too. Some of these children come with baggage, maybe physical or psychological abuse, neglect, or in the company of adults with issues of their own, including drug and alcohol abuse. Even in the best of circumstances, fostering and adoption will be disruptive to your lives.
Youth Villages reminds us that foster parents can provide children with a safe, comfortable environment and help with the child's emotional growth, school progress and physical health. Foster parents can also serve as positive role models to children who may lack caring adults in their lives.
The organization is not only working to raise awareness of fostering and adoption. It also provides parents with 24-hour access to counselors, support groups and a monthly stipend to offset some of the cost of bringing a child into your home. And if you do consider adopting your foster child, you will often have the first right if the child becomes available for adoption.
National Adoption Awareness Month dates back to 1976 when then-Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis announced Adoption Week in an effort to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for children in foster care.
In 1984, President Reagan adopted National Adoption Week, and in 1995 President Clinton expanded the event to an entire month. Since its inception, thousands of boys and girls have been welcomed into foster homes and eventually adopted into loving families.
You probably know that Apple founder Steve Jobs was adopted as a child, but what about country music singer Faith Hill? Actor Ray Liotta or figure skater Scott Hamilton? Dave Thomas, the founder of the Wendy's restaurant chain, was also adopted and even created a foundation dedicated to finding adoptive homes for children waiting in foster care.
Today, the National Adoption Center says there are more than 102,000 children and youth in foster care, waiting for permanent families.
Maybe it's time for you to consider fostering and adopting to make a permanent difference in a young person's life.
Editorial Board, Times News
24 November 2014
http://www.timesnews.net/article/9082834/almost-200-children-are-awaiting-adoption-in-net
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24 NOVEMBER 2014
2.6 million more children
plunged into poverty in rich countries
during Great Recession
A new UNICEF report shows that 2.6 million children have sunk below the poverty line in the world’s most affluent countries since 2008, bringing the total number of children in the developed world living in poverty to an estimated 76.5 million.
Innocenti Report Card 12, Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries, ranks 41 countries in the OECD and the European Union according to whether levels of child poverty have increased or decreased since 2008. It also tracks the proportion of 15-24 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The report includes Gallup World Poll data on people’s perceptions of their economic status and hopes for the future since the recession began.
While early stimulus programmes in some countries were effective in protecting children, by 2010 a majority of countries pivoted sharply from budget stimulus to budget cuts, with negative impact on children, particularly in the Mediterranean region.
“Many affluent countries have suffered a ‘great leap backwards’ in terms of household income, and the impact on children will have long-lasting repercussions for them and their communities,” said Jeffrey O’Malley, UNICEF’s Head of Global Policy and Strategy.
“UNICEF research shows that the strength of social protection policies was a decisive factor in poverty prevention. All countries need strong social safety nets to protect children in bad times and in good – and wealthy countries should lead by example, explicitly committing to eradicate child poverty, developing policies to offset economic downturns, and making child well-being a top priority,” O’Malley said.
Other significant findings of the UNICEF report, released today at an event co-hosted with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, include:
In 23 of the 41 countries analysed, child poverty has increased since 2008. In Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, rates rose by over 50 per cent.
In Greece in 2012 median household incomes for families with children sank to 1998 levels – the equivalent of a loss of 14 years of income progress. By this measure Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain lost a decade; Iceland lost 9 years; and Italy, Hungary and Portugal lost 8.
The recession has hit 15-24 year olds especially hard, with the number of NEETs rising dramatically in many countries. In the European Union 7.5 million young people (almost equivalent to the population of Switzerland) were classified as NEET in 2013.
In the United States, where extreme child poverty has increased more in this downturn than during the recession of 1982, social safety net measures provided important support to poor working families but were less effective for the extreme poor without jobs. Child poverty has increased in 34 out of 50 states since the start of the crisis. In 2012, 24.2 million children were living in poverty, a net increase of 1.7 million from 2008.
In 18 countries child poverty actually fell, sometimes markedly. Australia, Chile, Finland, Norway, Poland and the Slovak Republic reduced levels by around 30 per cent.
“Significantly, the report found that the social policy responses of countries with similar economic circumstances varied markedly with differing impacts on children,” O’Malley said.
Press release: UNICEF
28 October 2014
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_76447.html
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21 NOVEMBER 2014
Innovation can drive change for most disadvantaged children – UNICEF report
On the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the State of the World's Children report lays out an agenda for change
Urgent action is needed to prevent millions of children from missing out on the benefits of innovation, UNICEF said in a new report launched on the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Connectivity and collaboration can fuel new global networks to leverage innovation to reach every child, according to the children's agency.
The State of the World's Children Report – Reimagine the future: Innovation for every child calls on governments, development professionals, businesses, activists and communities to work together to drive new ideas for tackling some of the most pressing problems facing children—and to find new ways of scaling up the best and most promising local innovations.
The report is a crowd-sourced compilation of cutting-edge innovations and an interactive platform that maps innovations in countries all over the world and invites innovators to put their own ideas 'on the map'.
UNICEF has prioritized innovation across its network of more than 190 countries, setting up hubs around the world including in Afghanistan, Chile, Kosovo, Uganda, and Zambia to foster new ways of thinking, working and collaborating with partners and to nurture local talent.
Quotes:
"Inequity is as old as humanity, but so is innovation – and it has
always driven humanity's progress," says UNICEF Executive Director
Anthony Lake. "In our ever-more connected world, local solutions can
have global impact—benefitting children in every country who still face
inequity and injustice every day."
"For innovation to benefit every child, we have to be more innovative – rethinking the way we foster and fuel new ideas to solve our oldest problems," says Lake. "The best solutions to our toughest challenges won't come exclusively either from the top down or the grassroots up, or from one group of nations to another. They will come from new problem solving networks and communities of innovation that cross borders and cross sectors to reach the hardest to reach – and they will come from young people, adolescents and children themselves."
Update on the status of child rights:
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights
of the Child in 1989. Since then, there has been tremendous progress in
advancing child rights – with a huge reduction in the numbers of
children dying before the age of five and increased access to education
and clean water.
However, the rights of millions of children are violated every day, with the poorest 20 percent of the world's children twice as likely as the richest 20 percent to die before their fifth birthday, almost one in four children in the least developed countries engaged in child labour, and millions of children regularly experiencing discrimination, physical and sexual violence, and abuse and neglect.
Global innovation examples:
The latest edition of UNICEF's flagship report argues that innovations
such as oral rehydration salts or ready-to-use therapeutic foods have
helped drive radical change in the lives of millions of children in the
last 25 years – and that more innovative products, processes, and
partnerships are critical to realizing the rights of the hardest to
reach children.
The fully digital report includes multimedia and interactive content that invites readers to share their own ideas and innovations, and highlights outstanding innovations that are already improving lives in countries around the world from a wide range of countries, including:
New ways to engage Liberian youth in the midst of the Ebola crisis through U-report, a mobile phone-based system developed with young people, that helps examine what issues are most important to them. (UNICEF, Liberia)
To find a new solution to help those without regular access to electricity in Nigeria, four teenage girls invented a urine-powered generator. (Nigeria)
Community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM), a model of care that moves away from the traditional, expensive, low-coverage model of inpatient therapeutic feeding centres run by aid agencies, treats people in their homes with the support of local clinics and using ready-to-use therapeutic foods. (Steve Collins, co-Founder and Director of VALID Nutrition)
Floating schools that provide year-round access to education for children living in flood-prone regions of Bangladesh. (Mohammed Rezwan, Founding Executive Director of the NGO Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha)
Solar Ear, the world's first rechargeable hearing aid battery charger, developed to meet the needs of communities lacking regular access to electricity; it can be charged via the sun, household light, or a cell phone plug. (Tendekayi Katsiga, Deaftronics, Botswana / Zimbabwe)
Quotes from a 16-year-old innovator:
"There are so many young inventors all across the globe – even in the
remotest corners – who are committed to changing the world for
children," says Bisman Deu, a 16-year old from Chantigarh, India whose
invention of a building material made from rice waste is featured in
UNICEF's report.
"Every nation has different problems and every person has different solutions," said Deu. "We need to learn from one another's experiences, come together as a global community of innovation and keep producing ideas that can make a real difference."
Share your ideas and inventions at: www.unicef.org/innovation
About UNICEF Innovation: UNICEF Innovation is an interdisciplinary team of individuals around the world tasked with identifying, prototyping, and scaling technologies and practices that strengthen UNICEF's work to improve children's lives around the world. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
About UNICEF
UNICEF has saved more children's lives than any other humanitarian
organization. We work tirelessly to help children and their families,
doing whatever it takes to ensure children survive. We provide children
with healthcare and immunization, clean water, nutrition and food
security, education, emergency relief and more.
UNICEF is supported entirely by voluntary donations and helps children regardless of race, religion or politics. As part of the UN, we are active in over 190 countries – more than any other organization. Our determination and our reach are unparalleled. Because nowhere is too far to go to help a child survive. For more information about UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.ca.
Press release: UNICEF Canada
20 Novmber 2014
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19 NOVEMBER 2014
Drowning claims over 40 people every hour in ‘needless loss of life’ – UN report
The first United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) report on drowning released today reveals that more than 370,000 people drown every year in bathtubs, buckets, ponds, rivers, ditches and pools as people go about their daily lives in a “serious and neglected public health threat.”
“This death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria – but unlike these public health challenges, there are no broad prevention efforts that target drowning,” according to the Global Report on drowning: Preventing a leading killer.
More than 90 percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, the report said, and the highest rates for drowning are among children under 5 years of age.
According to WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan: “Efforts to reduce child mortality have brought remarkable gains in recent decades, but they have also revealed otherwise hidden childhood killers. Drowning is one. This is a needless loss of life.”
“Action must be taken by national and local governments to put in place the simple preventive measures articulated by WHO,” Dr. Chan said.
The report recommends strategies for local communities including: “installing barriers to control access to water; providing safe places such as day care centres for children; teaching children basic swimming skills and training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation.”
“At national level, interventions include: adoption of improved boating, shipping and ferry regulations; better flood risk management and comprehensive water safety policies,” WHO said.
In the first global report on the problem released today in Geneva, the UN health agency said: “Drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of 372,000 people a year worldwide,” which translates into more than 40 people every hour.
Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose foundation funded the report, said: "I believe that you can’t manage what you don’t measure – and there’s never been a comprehensive effort to measure drowning around the world until now. The more evidence we can gather, the better we’ll be able to tailor our prevention efforts – and the Global Report on drowning is a big step in the right direction,” he said.
“Almost all water presents a drowning risk, particularly inside and around our homes,” says Dr. Etienne Krug, WHO Director for the Department for Management of Non-communicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention.
“Drowning occurs in bathtubs, buckets, ponds, rivers, ditches and pools, as people go about their daily lives. Losing hundreds of thousands of lives this way is unacceptable, given what we know about prevention,” according to Dr. Krug.
Alarmingly, according to a number of studies from high-income countries, deaths due to drowning may be considerably underestimated, WHO said. Official data do not include drowning from suicide, homicide, flood disasters or incidents such as ferry capsizes.
The report also draws attention to the need to make drowning prevention an integral part of a number of debates, such as climate change which leads to increased flooding; mass migrations, including of asylum seekers traveling by boat; and issues such as rural development and water and sanitation. Improving coordination across these various agendas will save lives, according to WHO.
Press release: UN News Crntre
18 November 2014
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49359#.VGtRe-kcSUl
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17 NOVEMBER 2014
What brain studies reveal about the risk of adolescent alcohol use and abuse
Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) are zeroing in on brain factors and behaviors that put teens at risk of alcohol use and abuse even before they start drinking.
Four abstracts from the Adolescent Development Study exploring these factors will be presented at Neuroscience 2014, the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in Washington. The Adolescent Development Study, a collaboration between the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and GUMC funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a wide-ranging effort to understand how a teen brain "still under construction," as the NIH puts it, can lead to risky behaviors such as alcohol and drug use.
The project is directed by John VanMeter, PhD, director of the Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, and associate professor of neurology at GUMC, and Diana Fishbein, PhD, director of the Center for Translational Research on Adversity, Neurodevelopment and Substance Abuse (C-TRANS) at UMSOM.
One abstract provides new evidence that adolescents at higher risk of alcoholism have reduced connections in key brain networks; another links impaired brain connections to impulsivity; and two abstracts examine impulsivity in relation to sugar intake and intake of DHA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid.
"What this study is attempting to do is identify the differences in the brains of adolescents who go on to misuse alcohol and other drugs," says VanMeter. "If we know what is different, we may be able to develop strategies that can prevent the behavior."
The studies were conducted with a participant pool of 135 preteen and teenage boys and girls with an average age of 12.6 years. All underwent structural and functional MRI to investigate the connection between brain development and behavior. Other tools the researchers used include questionnaires and several tests of neurocognitive function, including two tests used specifically while adolescents were scanned—the Continuous Performance Task (CPT), which measures impulsivity, and the Temporal Discounting Task (TD), which quantifies preference for immediate rather than delayed reward.
1. Evidence of reduced executive cognitive functioning in adolescents at risk for developing an alcohol use disorder
The first study examines a long-standing question: is lack of connectivity in the brain's Executive Control Network (ECN) a contributor to, or the result of, teen alcohol use?
Tomas Clarke, a research assistant and Stuart Washington, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in VanMeter's laboratory, looked at the association between the Drug Use Screening Inventory questionnaire filled out by the 32 participants' parents and brain connectivity within the ECN, which includes the areas that process emotion, impulsivity and self-control.
The questionnaire is predictive of future alcohol misuse. It does not ask parents about their alcohol or drug use but probes social behaviors in their children such as irritability, anger, sadness, etc.
Clarke divided the participants into two groups—16 at high/medium risk for alcohol abuse, based on the test, and 16 at low risk. He then used fMRI scans to look at connectivity in the ECN. He found ECN connectivity was significantly lower in the high/medium risk groups compared to the low risk group.
"We know impaired functioning in the ECN is linked to an earlier age of drinking onset and higher frequency of drinking, but it was unclear whether this dysfunction occurred before drinking or was a consequence of alcohol use," Clarke says. "Our findings suggest reduced prefrontal cortex development predates alcohol use and may be related to future alcohol use disorders."
2. Functional connectivity between the insula and anterior cingulate predict impulsivity in adolescents at risk for alcohol misuse
The next study examined the levels of impulsivity in relation to the connection between executive control in the prefrontal cortex and the insular cortex, which is involved in processing emotions.
Benson Stevens, a graduate student in Georgetown's Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, used the Drug Use Screening Inventory to establish a high/medium risk and a low risk group, each with 17 participants. Stevens then administered the CPT test while the participants underwent fMRI. He found that compared with the low risk group, high/medium risk participants had reduced connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the insular cortex.
"Less connectivity predicted higher levels of impulsivity," Stevens says. "Importantly, these effects were observed before the onset of alcohol use. The reduced connectivity between these brain regions could be an important factor in adolescent alcohol use given that reduced inhibitory control has been found to be a factor in alcohol use disorders."
3. Relationship between sugar intake, impulsivity and increased sensitivity to immediate rewards in adolescents
A third study investigated the relationship between sugar intake—as reported by participants in a food questionnaire—and performance on two tests, the CPT and the TD, which measure impulsivity and ability to delay gratification. The CPT was used while participants were being scanned by fMRI.
"We know that, compared to healthy individuals, adults with alcoholism have a stronger preference for sweet tastes, are more impulsive and are less able to delay gratification," explains Dana Estefan, a former research assistant in VanMeter's lab who is now a student at New York University. "We wanted to know if this profile fits youth deemed to be at risk for early alcohol use by the Drug Use Screening Inventory."
The TD task confirmed the expected relationship—kids with high amounts of added sugar in their diets preferred immediate rewards more than kids with lower levels of added sugar in their diets. The CPT task revealed that individuals with increased sugar intake also showed greater activation in right superior temporal gyrus and right insula, areas linked to impulsivity and emotional affect. Their hypothalamus was also highly activated, which, in adults, is linked to overeating, reward seeking and drug addiction, Estefan says.
"Our findings could potentially mean a positive correlation between impulsivity and sugar intake in adolescents, but more research needs to be done on this," she says.
4. Relationship between DHA intake and activation of impulse control circuitry in early adolescents
Finally, Valerie Darcey, a registered dietitian and a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, examined the relationship between intake of DHA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, and impulsivity. DHA, found in cold-water fish, is important for neuronal function.
She used a food questionnaire to measure, in 81 participants, ingestion of DHA and arachidonic acid (AA), which is omega-6 fatty acid found in vegetable oil, among other foods. AA competes with DHA for a place in cell membranes, so the more AA consumed, the less DHA is used. Darcey then gave participants the CPT test while scanning their brains with fMRI.
"My preliminary findings show that while impulsivity levels are the same for kids with high and low levels of DHA in their diets, the brains of kids with low DHA appear to be more active—working harder to compensate—in a region involved in paying attention to the task and a region that participates in executive function," she says. "This tells us that the brains of the kids eating less DHA may not be developing like those eating more DHA."
Press release: Georgetown University Medical Center
16 November 2014
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-brain-reveal-adolescent-alcohol-abuse.html
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14 NOVEMBER 2014
Scotland: Parents furious at school's plans for special needs kids to mix with murderers at 'Fun Day' prison outing
The trip has been planned by Redburn School to Polmont Young Offenders Institution, home of some of the country's most dangerous criminals.
Children with special needs are set to have a festive fun day – at one of Scotland’s most violent prisons. Bosses at Redburn School have planned a trip to Polmont Young Offenders Institution for their kids. The prison, near Falkirk, is home to some of the country’s most dangerous youth criminals, including murderers.
But parents of pupils at Redburn, in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, have slammed the proposed fun day on December 11. Evonne Mellon, 38, has a daughter at the school. Courtney, 15, suffers from autism and epilepsy.
Evonne said: “What was the school thinking? A prison is no place for children with special needs to be taken.
David Taylor
13 November 3014
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/plan-special-needs-kids-mix-4625308
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12 NOVEMBER 2014
Minnesota releases 1st teen e-cigarette survey
If success can be measured in numbers then the 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey says the state is winning when it comes teen cigarette use.
In 2011, 18.1 percent of high schoolers surveyed said they smoked. This year that number dropped to 10.6 percent, the lowest ever since the survey started in 2000.
But the numbers also warn of a growing concern. For the first time the department of health asked about e-cigarettes. It found that 8 percent of middle schoolers and 28 percent of high schoolers have tried e-cigs at least once.
"We are really concerned we are going to have children and adolescents addicted to nicotine which will lead to lifelong dependency," said health commissioner Dr. Edward Ehlinger.
Ehlinger believes the state needs stronger policies to keep e-cigs out of the hands of teens, like 11th grader Kendra Rodel.
"I've been at football games and people are passing them around," Rodel said.
The Minnesota Vapers Advocacy group said in a statement that e-cigs should be kept out of the hands of minors but, "there is no evidence that these youth are becoming frequent users or moving on to traditional tobacco products."
Ehlinger disagrees.
"E-cigs are introducing thousands of Minnesota children to highly addictive nicotine that is known to harm adolescent brain development," he said.
Press release:
11 November 2014
http://www.valleynewslive.com/story/27349472/mn-releases-1st-teen-e-cigarette-survey
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10 NOVEMBER 2014
CANADA
Company defends results at
Grand Falls-Windsor youth home:
Matter wrongfully sitting in political realm claims councillor
The issues surrounding operation the Blue sky Child Youth and Family Care facility seem more and more to be one about failed communications.
In a press release Monday, Blue Sky says, statistically, the Centre on Lincoln Road is showing positive signs.
The C.A.R.E. model utilized, “is very different than models employed by predecessors, which were based on control of privileges or a points system,” said Anne Whalen, President and CEO of Blue sky in the release. “Instead, we provide trauma-informed care, which requires a patient, positive approach to building relationships,” she continued. “Given what many of our youth have been through, it takes time for them to develop trust. Initially there may be challenges, and we accommodate by following detailed best practices, including calls to the RCMP on issues that could put a child at risk.
According to Whalen, Blue Sky staff are very well trained. “The model used at our group homes in Grand Falls-Windsor and elsewhere is internationally proven and working very well.”
Whalen said in the press release, however, what is disappointing for Blue Sky is “the lack of genuine communication from the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor, a key stakeholder in ensuring that these children have every opportunity to establish a productive role in their home community.”
The agency raised two questions: Are the youth actually causing major disturbances and whether the youth are making progress with Blue Sky?
“Trying to answer these questions by counting calls to the RCMP when 93 per cent of the 81 calls are made by Blue Sky out of concern for these children, is not a fair-minded means of evaluating,” the release stated
“While we have no specific information on the five calls made by Grand Falls-Windsor residents over the five-month period we have been in operation in that location, we have heard nothing that indicates these calls relate to vandalism or concerns over personal safety.”
Whalen said staff record “over a dozen parameters related to both positive and negative behaviours, ranging from challenging incidents such as self-harm and violations of curfew to positive developments such as disclosures of trust.
According to the Blue Sky CEO, positive disclosures range from 14 in June, to 29 in October; while incidences of challenging behaviour ranged from 209 in June, to 29 in October. “This is not a debate over private or public operations,” she stated in the release. “Whether a company is contracted by government or a public institution, we all as a community have obligations to these children. Fear and rumour mongering is no way to fulfil those obligations.”
“We are happy to engage with those looking to find solutions focused on stability and success of the youth in care,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, Grand Falls-Windsor town councillor Barry Manuel, sees the lack of engagement as the real issue.
“The private company has said they have asked the town to reconsider (revoking their permit), and that’s just not true, unless they’re referring to what they’ve said in the media,” Manuel told the Advertiser. “They have not contacted the town to say they want us to reconsider, or that they’re willing to discuss making necessary changes in order to have this operate in a more effective manner.”
He added, “In terms of finding solutions, we want to be part of that process,” he continued. “I know that the private companies in question has basically said that the town doesn’t want them in this community, and that’s not true at all. The issue is not about us removing the kids. The issue is proper management and care so that the kids get the care and support that they need and the neighbourhood is not affected.”
Manuel is surprised by the way the company addressed the matter publicly. “They’re using terminology like ‘blindsided and shocked’ in terms of their reaction, but they were told of the problems and reminded of the conditions of their permit,” he said.
He added, “They were told that if changes weren’t made, or improvements realized, their permit would be removed. So, I don’t understand why they would be shocked or blindsided.”
The town has also been accused of not being an inclusive community, a claim Manuel also disagrees with. “Even the Premier (Paul Davis) has basically said its ‘unfortunate and sad’ and used all those superlatives when, ironically, he was minister when the choice to privatize these group homes was made,” Manuel said.
“I think about the youth addictions centre that just opened here; that went with a lot of resistance from residents, and council pushed forward with that. We’ve been working with a local committee who have an interest in a women’s shelter here in town and we’re being very generous in terms of land opportunities for them to be able to pursue that. To me we are totally interested in being an inclusive community and that’s no different with this group home.”
The Advertiser spoke with a representative of Blue sky Thursday morning who said that the firm has issued written and verbal request for a formal meeting to meet with council for discussions about the matter.
Press release: 6 November 2014
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7 NOVEMBER 2014
New pilot program underway to help Florida foster kids get future jobs
A new legislative pilot program is underway to build on past efforts to help kids aging out of foster care get a job in the future.
Florida Guardian Ad Litem Executive Director Alan Abramowitz says among the obstacles facing foster care youth is finding a job.
“When you look at the statistics of youth who have aged out of foster care, you see homelessness, lack of jobs, and the legislature clearly realizes that many of these kids have not been put into a position to excel,” said Abramowitz.
So, he says that’s why he’s grateful to the legislature and the Governor for approving $75,000 in this year’s budget to fund a pilot program that creates paid internship opportunities for foster youth.
“So, although, it’s an internship so these youth previously in foster care could get some experience, I personally am hoping that they have a passion for what they’re doing and they seek out a job because with that background, they clearly will be qualified to work,” added Abramowitz.
The Florida Department of Agriculture is the first state agency to hire six foster care youth as part of the pilot.
Sascha Cordner
October 13 2014
http://news.wfsu.org/post/new-pilot-program-underway-help-florida-foster-kids-get-future-jobs
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5 NOVEMBER 2014
Delightful kids
Every Halloween I can expect more than 100 ghosts, goblins, princesses, etc., to appear at my door with the familiar call, "Trick or Treat."
I have noticed, over the years, an increase in the number of children who have expressed words of appreciation upon receiving their treat. On Friday I was delighted to note that every child at my door said a hearty "Thank You." Some engaged in unhurried conversation, and many wished me a "Happy Halloween" as they left my house.
Here is my salute to parents and teachers who are instilling a sense of appreciation and respect in our youth. Halloween has become, for me, an opportunity to connect with the neighbourhood young people and it gives me a sense of pride at the quality of outstanding young citizens in my community.
Penny Rosten, Saskatoon
4 November 2014
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Delightful+kids/10351334/story.html
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3 NOVEMBER 2014
A new UNICEF report shows that 2.6 million children have sunk below the poverty line in the world’s most affluent countries since 2008, bringing the total number of children in the developed world living in poverty to an estimated 76.5 million.
Innocenti Report Card 12, Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries, ranks 41 countries in the OECD and the European Union according to whether levels of child poverty have increased or decreased since 2008. It also tracks the proportion of 15-24 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The report includes Gallup World Poll data on people’s perceptions of their economic status and hopes for the future since the recession began.
While early stimulus programmes in some countries were effective in protecting children, by 2010 a majority of countries pivoted sharply from budget stimulus to budget cuts, with negative impact on children, particularly in the Mediterranean region.
“Many affluent countries have suffered a ‘great leap backwards’ in terms of household income, and the impact on children will have long-lasting repercussions for them and their communities,” said Jeffrey O’Malley, UNICEF’s Head of Global Policy and Strategy.
“UNICEF research shows that the strength of social protection policies was a decisive factor in poverty prevention. All countries need strong social safety nets to protect children in bad times and in good – and wealthy countries should lead by example, explicitly committing to eradicate child poverty, developing policies to offset economic downturns, and making child well-being a top priority,” O’Malley said.
Other significant findings of the UNICEF report, released today at an event co-hosted with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, include:
In 23 of the 41 countries analysed, child poverty has increased since 2008. In Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, rates rose by over 50 per cent.
In Greece in 2012 median household incomes for families with children sank to 1998 levels – the equivalent of a loss of 14 years of income progress. By this measure Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain lost a decade; Iceland lost 9 years; and Italy, Hungary and Portugal lost 8.
The recession has hit 15-24 year olds especially hard, with the number of NEETs rising dramatically in many countries. In the European Union 7.5 million young people (almost equivalent to the population of Switzerland) were classified as NEET in 2013.
In the United States, where extreme child poverty has increased more in this downturn than during the recession of 1982, social safety net measures provided important support to poor working families but were less effective for the extreme poor without jobs. Child poverty has increased in 34 out of 50 states since the start of the crisis. In 2012, 24.2 million children were living in poverty, a net increase of 1.7 million from 2008.
In 18 countries child poverty actually fell, sometimes markedly. Australia, Chile, Finland, Norway, Poland and the Slovak Republic reduced levels by around 30 per cent.
“Significantly, the report found that the social policy responses of countries with similar economic circumstances varied markedly with differing impacts on children,” O’Malley said.
Press release: UNICEF
28 October 2014
