"Quick Links"
is a quick way to obtain pertinent information about children, youth,
and families related to chosen policy domains.
Below are selected
links to recent research and statistics about affordable
housing, early care and education, mental
health, out-of-home placement, and welfare-to-work.
Affordable
Housing
Greater Minnesota Housing Fund
The Greater Minnesota Housing fund works directly with local communities,
employers, builders, and state and local government agencies to address
housing shortages through a variety of collaborative strategies.
The Housing Fund works on multi-family, single-family, and employer-assisted
housing projects and programs. GMHF has also worked on a starter
home production program and responded to the need of home construction
following major natural disasters. As a statewide housing organization,
the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund works to educate policy makers
at the local, state and federal levels about affordable housing issues.
GMHF is supported by the Blandin Foundation and the McKnight Foundation.
Minnesota
Housing Finance Agency: Reports & Working Group on
Supportive Housing and Long-term Homelessness
Since it's creation in 1971, The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
has assisted more than 400,000 households by providing funding for
a variety of housing needs. The agency helps people buy their first
homes or fix up their existing homes, and it helps build and fix
up affordable apartments, single family homes, shelters and supportive
housing. MHFA works cooperatively with others to revitalize older
communities, build new housing for a growing work force, and preserve
the stock of federally assisted rental housing.
“State
plan to end chronic homelessness in works,” (Robert Franklin,
Star Tribune, November 25, 2003)
“The state [of Minnesota] is developing a "business plan" aimed
at ending long-term, chronic homelessness…”
The
Effects of Subsidized Housing on Communities (Edward G. Goetz;
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.)
Current housing
policy initiatives at all levels of government emphasize the dispersal
of subsidized housing as a means of deconcentrating poverty. This
paper presents a review of research conducted over 25 years that examines
the various ways in which dispersal is achieved and the impacts of
these programs on the poor families affected, as well as the receiving
communities into which the poor (or the subsidized units) are placed.
Though the programs tend to improve the conditions of poor families
relative to other forms of subsidized housing, their potential to
significantly deconcentrate poverty is limited by their small scale
and by continued political opposition from receiving communities.
Housing:
Youth and Family Development Concept Paper (October 2000; University
of Minnesota)
The purpose of
the concept paper is to identify housing issues in Minnesota and focus
discussion on strategic responses from the University of Minnesota
Extension Service.
Laying
the Foundation: Building Better Housing Policy (May 4, 2001; Humphrey
Institute Policy Forum, University of Minnesota)
Nine organizations
were represented by speakers and panelists and provided information
regarding their contribution to alleviating housing issues. The organizations
represented were Allina Health System Foundation, Central Community
Housing Trust, Fannie Mae, First Homes, Inc., Isaiah, Metropolitan
Council, Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA), Minneapolis
Housing Finance Agency, and Wells Fargo. Summations of each organizations
activities and future plans are provided.Affordable Housing (Minnesota
Senior Federation Metropolitan Region)
http://www.mnseniors.org/affordablehousing.cfm
“What is
the affordable housing issue?” and “How severe is the housing
crisis?” in Minnesota are addressed at this web address through
the use of statistics.
About
the Crisis in Affordable Housing
“How bad
is the affordable housing situation in Minnesota? It’s bad. And
it’s getting worse.” and “Does the affordable housing
crisis affect children?” are addressed through statistics.
Facts
About…Family Housing in Minnesota (Children’s Defense
Fund-Minnesota)
Early
Care
Statistics
in Brief: Child Care and Early Education Program Participation of
Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers (October, 1996; National Center
for Education Statistics)
This report contains
the first release of information from the 1995 National Household
Education Survey (NHES) on the care and educational experiences of
young children who have yet to enter kindergarten. It describes infants’,
toddlers’, and preschoolers’ participation in a variety
of early care and education settings, including both home-based and
center-based arrangements. Characteristics of children (age and race-ethnicity
and their families (family income and mother’s education status)
that have been found to be related to children’s rates are examined.
What
does research say about early childhood education? (S. Bredekamp,
R.A. Knuth, L.G. Kunesh, and D.D. Shulman, 1992; North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory)
The focus of this
program, therefore, is to address curriculum and assessment issues
related to the education of young children and discuss ways schools
can change to become ready for children. Information that follows
has been excerpted from position statements and guidelines developed
by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State
Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) for appropriately education young
children, ages 3 through 8.
In
Early –Childhood Education and Care: Quality Counts (January
10, 2002; Education Week)
Today, 11.9 million
children younger than 5 in the United States or about six in 10 spend
part of their waking hours in the care of people other than their
parents: relatives, caregivers operating out of their homes, workers
in child-care centers, Head Start staff members, and teachers I state-financed
prekindergartens among them. The quality of the early care and education
that young children receive in such settings sets the tenor of their
days and lays the building blocks for future academic success.
Head
Start (Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services
This web address
provides Head Start statistical fact sheets for the years 1997-2001.
In addition, links to recent reports related to Head Start and Early
Head Start are obtainable from this web address.
Fact
Find: What Does the NICHD Study on Outcomes of Child Care Really Say?
(Center for Early Education and Development, University of Minnesota)
Preliminary results
of the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD)
Study of Early Care have generated a great deal of media attention
about the effect of child care on children’s behavior and development.
Given the fact that child care is an issue of great importance to
families and policymakers, it is critical that the results to date
are presented accurately and clearly. Questions about the study results
are answered and links to additional information are provided.
The
Children of the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study Go to School
The Cost, Quality,
and Child Outcomes Study in Child Care Centers, begun in 1993, was
designed in part to examine the influence of typical center-based
child care on children’s development during their preschool years
and then subsequently as they moved into the formal elementary education
system. These children have now been followed through the end of second
grade. Findings from this study are presented in summary form and
in detail.
Mental
Health
Mental
Health Information: Fact Sheets (National Mental Health Association)
Facts, statistics,
and imperative information about anxiety disorders, children’s
mental health, depression, elderly, general mental health issues,
mental illness in the family, other mental illnesses, research studies,
schizophrenia, substance abuse, and suicide are obtainable from this
web address.
The
Number Count: Mental Disorders in America (National Institute
of Mental Health)
Mental disorders
are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated
22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older-about 1 in 5 adults-suffer
from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to
the 1998 U.S. Census residential population estimate, this figure
translates to 44.3 million people. In addition, 4 of the 10 leading
causes of disability in the U.S. and other developed countries are
mental disorders-major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia,
and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people suffer from more than
one mental disorder at a give time. Facts and statistics about depressive
disorders, suicide, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, eating disorders,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and alzheimer’s
disease are provided at this web address.
Mental
Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, Chapter 2: Epidemiology of
Mental Illness (Surgeon General)
Epidemiology is
the study of patterns of disease in the population. Research findings
are summarized in this work for patterns of mental health disorders
for adults, children and adolescents, and older adults. Summarized
statistics related to the cost of mental illness are also acknowledged.
The
Impact of Mental Illness on Society: “…the burden of psychiatric
conditions has been heavily underestimated…” (National
Institute of Mental Health)
The burden of
mental illness on health and productivity in the United States and
throughout the world has long been underestimated. Data developed
by the massive Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the World
Health Organization, the World Bank, and Harvard University, reveal
that mental illness, including suicide, accounts for over 15 percent
of the burden of disease in established market economies, such as
the United States. Facts and statistics are presented.
Children’s
Mental Health: Offering a Continuum of Services to meet Children’s
Needs (Minnesota Department of Human Services)
A child’s
behavioral and emotional disturbance can predict school failure, alcohol
and drug abuse, violence or an inability to function well in the community.
Addressing a child’s mental health needs today can mean a healthy
child and family tomorrow. The landmark Minnesota Comprehensive Children’s
Mental Health Act requires providers to offer mental health services
that are family focused, culturally appropriate, community based and
integrated across mental health, health, education, social services
and corrections systems. A coordinated, multisystem approach that
stresses gains in social and adaptive skills is leading to positive
outcomes for children. The work addresses the issues that children
with severe emotional disturbances need help, initiatives, and outcome
work.
Healthy
Generation: The Importance of Promoting Mental Health in Early Childhood
This article recognizes
the need to promote young children’s well-being in and outside
of their home environments. A research and theoretical perspective
is used to illustrate the importance of good mental health in early
childhood. The significance of relationship-based interventions in
promoting early childhood mental health is also presented.
Out-of-Home
Placement
Funding
Issues in Out-of-Home Placement Services for Children (Center
for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare)
Most of the financial
burden for the care of children removed from their homes because of
parents’ neglect or abuse falls on Minnesota’s county governments.
Unlike other states where the local share of financial responsibility
is smaller, nearly three-fourths of the cost of out-of-home placements
is paid for by county governments. The largest source of revenues
for out-of-home placements – property taxes – varies across
counties, depending on the property tax wealth in each county and
local philosophies about raising and spending those revenues. The
result is a system of widely varying spending amounts per child which
is crisis-driven and under-invested in prevention. This paper provides
an overview on and recommendations regarding funding issues in child
welfare.
Overview
of Funding Sources and Trends
Statistics associated
with the cost of out-of-home placements.
Legislative
and Program Recommendations
Protecting
Children: Children Birth to Three in Foster Care: The effects of foster
care placement you young children’s mental health (B. Troutman,
S. Ryan, and M. Cardi; University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics; American
Humane Association)
Young children
are more likely than older children to be placed in foster care and
to spend a larger proportion of their life in the foster care system…In
a recent review of foster care in several states, the incidence of
placement in foster care for children under age 5 was double that
of children aged 5-17 (4 per 1,000 vs. 2 per 1,000)…Young children
are in foster care longer than older children and infants are in foster
care significantly longer than other age groups… In the 5 states
studied, the median length of time infants spend in foster care ranged
from 11 to 42-months…This paper explores the potential impact
of foster care placement on young children’s attachment relationships
and mental health.Foster Care
Research
and Statistics
Statistics for:
Number of Children in Foster Care; Foster Care Population-State by
State; Foster Care Population-AFDC & Non-AFDC; Foster Care Placement
by Race; Reasons for Placement; Living Arrangements of Children in
Substitute Care; Independent Living Program; Family Preservation;
Foster Care and Adoption Statistics and more.
Foster
care and out-of-home placement in Minnesota (Minnesota Department
of Human Services)
Children who are
removed from their parents’ homes are cared for in out-of-home
placement settings, such as foster care homes, group residential homes
and institutional care facilities. Of the almost 18,900 children in
out-of-home placement in 1998, nearly 11,800 children received care
and nurturing from foster families. Facts and data are provided about
foster care and out-of-home placement in Minnesota
Welfare
to Work
The
New Welfare Law and Vulnerable Families: The Implications for Child
Welfare/Child Protection Systems (National Center for Children
in Poverty)
Recent federal
welfare legislation, P.L. 104-193, The Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, can have a major impact
on the health and development of young children living in poverty.
This issue brief examines the potential for P.L. 104-193 on vulnerable
families already in or at risk of entering the child welfare/child
protection system. It includes and overview of the challenge states
face, questions for state legislators, policymakers, and advocates
to consider in developing and implementing their state welfare strategies,
and a detailed analysis of the provisions of the federal law most
likely to affect vulnerable children and families.
Beyond
Work: Strategies to Promote the Well-Being of Young Children and Families
in the Context of Welfare Reform (November, 1999; National Center
for Children in Poverty)
In the three years
since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act (PRWORA) restructured the nation’s welfare system, most state
and local policy efforts have focused on helping the adult recipients
of cash assistance transition to employment. Although young children
may benefit from policy efforts to promote work, additional steps
are needed to ensure that welfare reform helps and does not hurt them.
To promote positive outcomes for young children in the context of
welfare reform, policymakers need to craft deliberate program, policy,
fiscal, and collaborative strategies to: strengthen basic supports
for the families, promote young children’s health and development,
and address specialized child and family needs. The brief addresses
each strategy individually. PDF versions of the executive summary
and full report are available.
Important
Facts about Child Care and Low Income Families (Child Care Advocate
Organization)
The short brief
presents four facts. The statements addressed are: The lack of child
care is a major obstacle to low income women’s ability to work,
welfare reform legislation has created an increased demand for child
care both for families receiving public assistance and the working
poor, the lack of quality child care has a harmful impact on the development
of low income children, and we are not adequately addressing the child
care needs of low income families.
Economic
and Community Supports: Welfare Reform (Minnesota Department of
Human Services)
Executive summaries
and reports regarding welfare reform in Minnesota can be obtained
from at the web address.
Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (Administration for Children
and Families)
A fact sheet regarding
TANF is available at this web address. Included are work requirements,
work activities, time limit, state maintenance of effort requirements
among other headings. The fact sheet provides a comprehensive summary
of TANF.
U.S.
Welfare Caseloads Information (Administration for Children and
Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Tables and graphs
representing welfare statistics.
