Children – RI Future

August 11, 2015

SEIU, Raimondo reach agreement to improve early childhood education

Last week, Governor Gina Raimondo and SEIU District 1199 New England reached an agreement concerning family childcare providers that are part of the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. This agreement was made in part due to legislation from 2013, which established collective bargaining rights for family childcare providers. The SEIU unanimously approved the two-year agreement.

Photo courtesy of http://www.seiu1199ne.org/1199-history/

One of the largest parts of the agreement is a $250,000 investment by the state to establish a jointly administered training and professional development fund. This program will help to improve the quality of care and early learning delivered by care providers. Those who are part of CCAP will also receive their first reimbursement rate increase since 2008.

“We have taken a big step forward in making it easier for working parents to find quality child care options in their communities that meet their work schedules,” SEIU District 1199NE Executive Vice President Patrick Quinn said. “All workers deserve a living wage and this historic agreement shows that Rhode Island is ready to recognize and live up to the value of the important work of our early educators.”

RI KIDS COUNT data shows that more than 70 percent of Rhode Island children under the age of six have parents who work, and are in child care at least part time. The Department of Human Services also reported that CCAP served approximately 5,800 families and 9,400 families in July 2015.

“Investing in our kids, and the systems that care of them, is essential to ensure everyone has an opportunity to make it in Rhode Island,” Governor Raimondo said. “Providing quality, affordable child care removes a critical barrier to getting and keeping a job for many of our hardworking families, improves the development of our kids and prepares them for success in the classroom. I am pleased that we have reach an agreement with SEIU to enhance our commitment to high quality child care and support working families.”

July 22, 2015July 22, 2015

Children’s Cabinet convenes for the first time in 8 years, plans to increase child well being

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

For the first time since 2007, Governor Gina Raimondo convened the Children’s Cabinet to set a plan in order to promote opportunities for Rhode Island children, by establishing policies and budget plans directed towards children and their needs.

National data from KIDS COUNT, an organization that helps to mold better futures for children who are at risk of experiencing poor education, health, and socioeconomic factors, ranked Rhode Island as the 31^st state in the nation for child well being. Rhode Island was also the lowest ranked among New England states, partially due to increases in the percentage of children living in poverty.

The Cabinet has three specific goals: to create a five-year strategic plan that will improve outcomes for children and their families; to establish policies and performance metrics for each state department; and measure progress on collaborative initiatives for children across these departments.

“All kids deserve to make it in Rhode Island,” Raimondo said. “As a parent, I am focused on giving my kids every opportunity to succeed. We must provide every Rhode Island kid with that same opportunity. When we invest in our kids, we’re investing in our future, workforce and economy. Working together, across government and with the community, we can set our families and our state on a path for a healthy, stable future.”

Raimondo appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Elizabeth Roberts as the Cabinet’s chair. As the chair, she will guide the Cabinet in their efforts to improve children’s well being across the state.

“Every child deserves an opportunity for a safe, healthy, successful, and bright future,” Roberts said. “It is our responsibility as public officials- and as caretakers of the state they will inherit- to protect that opportunity.”

During their meeting, the Cabinet spoke on several topics, such as a new agency-wide policy on human trafficking, child welfare, early childhood education, and strengthening collaboration between the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), and the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH).

The Cabinet was established in 1991, but saw several changes during the 2015 legislative session. The statue that created the group was amended to better integrate state services across departments and agencies, as well as adding the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Child Advocate, and the Governor as members.

April 4, 2012April 4, 2012

No Red Carpet for Needy Families, Immigrants

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

For years, a staple of talk radio hosts and budget hardliners has been the argument that Rhode Island public policy on welfare and public assistance has made the state a magnet for families, particularly immigrants, seeking its juicy benefits.

But the recent release of the Rhode Island Kids Count 2011 annual report pokes some neat holes in that meme.

Along with a comprehensive statistical analysis of issues including poverty rates of Rhode Island’s families with children, education, school lunch and breakfast eligibility and state aid (with emphasis on the urban core communities of Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket) comes an under-reported nugget from the 2010 Census: the number of R.I. children dropped 10 percent last year, from 247,822 to 223,956, the third-biggest decrease by state in the nation.

Couple that with the state’s 11 percent unemployment rate and high rental average, and the state’s not exactly a major draw for needy families who are seeking jobs, reasonable living costs and social services.

“That 10 percent drop is telling,” says Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of RI Kids Count. “People tend to move because of extended family, or to be close to where the jobs are.”

“While there’s a significant decline in the caseload of children and families receiving assistance, it’s due to time limits and other indicators, and is not reflective of the number of poor children in the state,” she adds.

An Urban Institute state-by-state study of immigrant children from 1990 to 2009 also finds immigrant families, documented or undocumented, aren’t exactly flocking to Rhode Island.

From 1990 to 2009, the number of immigrant children in the state grew from 40,000 to 52,000, with the percentage of the state’s total number of children rising from 18 to 24 percent. That growth rate of 30 percent in raw numbers, however, ranked only 47^th in the nation.

The difficult housing market is another reason families requiring social services aren’t overwhelming the state, says Stephanie Geller, RI Kids Count policy analyst.

The average monthly cost of rental housing in the state has risen from $748 in 2000 to $1,150 by 2011, according to the Kids Count report, with about 25 percent of Rhode Island’s families spending 50 percent or more of their income on housing costs.

“There’s a feeling overall that the price of housing is going down, but there’s more demand for rentals because of people losing their houses. We’re one of the few states that doesn’t have a dedicated source of funding for affordable housing.” Geller says.

Some of the pending General Assembly legislation Kids Count is keeping an eye on, Geller says, includes increases in co-payments for child care assistance and cuts in dental care assistance for both young adults and adults 21 and over.