Resources for advocates

• Crisis in the Kindergarten, from Alliance for Childhood, finds that many kindergarten programs allow very little time for play -- even as children's behavioral problems worsen. Also finds that children in play-based kindergartens do better in school and have better social and emotional skills compared with their peers. Includes policy recommendations.
  
• Early Experiences Matter Policy Guide, from Zero to Three, offers tools for taking action on issues affecting infants, toddlers, and families, including health, strong families, early learning experiences, and early childhood programs and services.
  
• Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Its Association With Mental Health, a study in the May 2009 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, found that fifth-graders who feel they have been mistreated because of their skin color were two to four times more likely to have symptoms of depression, ADHD, or oppositional defiant disorder.
  Summary online from USA Today.
  
• Policy for Results, from the Center for the Study of Social Policy, offers online tools and
  policy strategies for achieving measurable results for children and families. Topics include priorities and indicators, trends and targets, strategies and success stories.
  
• Indoor Environmental Factors and Parental-Reported Autistic Spectrum Disorders, a study in Neurotoxicology, found a correlation between autism and indoor air quality in young children in Sweden -- particularly when maternal smoking, low ventilation, and PVC flooring were present. Summary online from Science Direct.
  
• Swine Flu Fact Sheets, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, provide information on the swine flu in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian,
  and Tagalog.

State budget update

Where are We? Where are We Going?, from the California Budget Project, summarizes the Governor's recent proposals for closing the state budget gap. Proposed cuts include:

• Eliminating Healthy Families (which provides low-cost state health insurance for children)
• Cutting $1 billion from Medi-Cal -- which could include cuts to eligibility, benefits, and provider paymentsLimiting Medi-Cal for certain immigrants to emergency services
• Eliminating CalWORKs (support for poor families) and CalWORKs child care assistance
• Cutting funds for schools (spending per pupil would drop to $6918 from $8257)

Advocates are taking action and protesting the proposed cuts. For more information, contact:

• California Partnership, 213-385-8010
• Health Access, 213-413-3587 or 510-873-8787, also has a budget factsheet
• Western Center on Law and Poverty, 213-487-7211 or 707-373-4572