Route Fifty | Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene “When case workers leave their jobs, there can be a devastating impact on children and families who need help.” Barrett and Greene explore the far-reaching impacts of high-turnover rates in public sector roles across the country, including mental health supports and family services. Read more from Route…
Opinion: I See Signs of Despair from Parents of Kids Under 5
The New York Times | Jessica Grose “This is the scariest time of the pandemic for sending my kids to day care.” In a new opinion for The New York Times, Jessica Grose highlights the mental health concerns for parents of young children. Grose focuses on complications in the vaccination system, keeping children safe, finding adequate…
Kids Who Lost Parents to COVID Deserve Help, Advocates Say
The Pew Charitable Trusts: Stateline | Aallyah Wright “From January 2020 to November 2021, more than 167,000 children under 18 lost a parent or in-home caregiver to COVID-19… Black and Hispanic children lost caregivers at more than double the rate of White children, while American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander children lost…
Colorado Kids Catching Up On Routine Vaccinations, But Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
The Denver Post | Meg Wingerter “Vaccination rates dropped less for children younger than 3 than for older groups, but any drop in infants and toddlers is especially concerning, because they haven’t had the initial doses that partially protect older kids if they’re late on a booster shot.” Overall vaccination rates have dropped dramatically during…
‘Down to My Last Diaper’: The Anxiety of Parenting in Poverty
California Healthline | Jenny Gold One in every three American families cannot afford enough diapers to keep their infants and toddlers clean, dry and healthy, according to the National Diaper Bank Network. For many parents, that leads to wrenching choices: diapers, food or rent? Read more from California Healthline.
We Know How to Help Young Kids Cope with the Trauma of the Last Year — But Will We Do It?
The Hechinger Report | Jackie Mader “Covid-19 exacerbated inequality, plunging families on the brink into poverty and leaving millions of kids without enough food or in housing they couldn’t expect to stay in, not to mention subject to emotional distress from family members’ illness or death. Childcare arrangements unraveled as many centers closed or childcare…
Colorado’s Goal: 250,000 Young Children Vaccinated Against COVID by January
Chalkbeat Colorado | Erica Meltzer More than 479,000 children in Colorado ages 5 to 11 would be eligible for the pediatric vaccine. The state’s goal is to vaccinate half of them with the first of two doses by the end of January 2022. Now that COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use with children between…
How COVID-19 May Change the Conversation About Class Size
K-12 Dive | Kara Arundel “The U.S. Department of Education has said smaller class sizes can help with COVID-19 mitigation, as well as allow teachers to be responsive to personalized efforts to accelerate learning after last year’s disruptions to in-person instruction.” Educators broadly agree that smaller class sizes are beneficial to children’s learning and development, but…
U.S. Pediatricians, Psychiatrists Declare ‘Emergency’ in Child Mental Health
U.S. News & World Report | Robert Preidt “Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients.” Several national health organizations are calling for policymakers to treat the current mental…
Preschool Enrollment Has Plunged: What That Means for School Readiness
Education Week | Sarah D. Sparks “New Census data show only 40 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in school in 2020, a 14 percentage-point drop from 2019 and the first time since 1996 that fewer than half of U.S. children in that age group attended preschool.” This article from Education Week evaluates US Census data about…
