Voices for Children in Nebraska

In 2011, about 2,000 kids dropped out of Nebraska high schools.   Also in 2011, a staggering 64% of Nebraska third graders weren’t reading at grade level.  What do these two things have to do with each other?  More and more research has found that the line that kids cross — or don’t cross — in [...]

In this seventh and final post on the federal sequester’s impact on Nebraska’s kids we will take a look at what we can expect to happen next with the federal sequester.  See the first six posts in the sequester series here: Sequester Overview, Head Start, Education, Public Health,  Child Care, and Economic Stability. The March 1st deadline for federal [...]

  While many remain on board in uniting efforts to eradicate child hunger, obesity, and poverty by 2015 it has become apparent that the recent Farm Bill proposal passed on May 16 by the House Agriculture Committee is not in tune with that goal. The current Farm Bill being proposed by the House of Representatives [...]

In the sixth post on the federal sequester’s impact on Nebraska’s kids we will investigates cuts to programs that assist low-income families on their path to economic self-sufficiency.  See the first five posts in the sequester series here: Sequester Overview, Head Start, Education, Public Health, and Child Care. We want all families to be able to meet the [...]

In the fifth post on the federal sequester’s impact on Nebraska’s kids we will investigates cuts to child care.  See the first four posts in the sequester series here: Sequester Overview, Head Start, Education, and Public Health. As a result of the sequester, Nebraska will lose $716,623 in funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG). [...]

This is the fourth post in the federal sequester’s impact on Nebraska’s kids.  See the first three posts here: Sequester Overview, Head Start, and Education.  In addition to cuts to children’s education, sequestration will impact Nebraska’s children in many other ways, one of which is public health. The White House estimates Nebraska will lose $615,000 in funds [...]

This is the third post in the federal sequester’s impact on Nebraska’s kids.  See the first two post here: Sequester Overview and Head Start.  Today we will delve into the anticipated impacts of the sequester on teachers, schools, and education for children with disabilities. The White House states that Nebraska will lose approximately $2,988,000 in funding [...]

Today’s title comes courtesy of a 1997 Omaha World-Herald Editorial, when Nebraska was considering expanding Medicaid program through what’s known as CHIP, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to cover more low-income children.  The federal government had recently passed legislation to give states the option of covering more kids through Medicaid and promised significant federal [...]

The March 1st deadline for Congress to act to prevent the sequester has come and gone. Over the coming weeks Voices for Children will highlight some of the sequester’s impact on kids in Nebraska. We will begin with a brief overview of what the sequester is and how it is expected to affect Nebraska children. [...]

As a nation, we spend significantly more on retirees than we spend on children.  In 2011, spending on children accounted for only 10% of our federal budget while 41% was spent on retirees.  Don’t get us wrong — we want Grandma to have access to health care through Medicare — but we need to think [...]