Today marks the 9th day of the 2016 Nebraska Legislature, and this year’s short 60-day session promises to be an important session for kids and families in our state. In the coming months, the Unicameral will consider many bills impacting child well-being in the areas of child welfare, economic stability,…...
2015 Kids Count in Nebraska Report
The 23rd edition of the Kids Count in Nebraska Report continues to offer a visually-oriented data in each of Voices for Children’s 5 issues areas: health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice and economic stability. Each year we build upon the report to hopefully improve the most comprehensive source of data on child…...
OPPD Board: Vote Against Rate Restructuring Proposal
This past Tuesday, a letter of opposition to the rate restructuring proposal was submitted to the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) Board of Directors meeting. Along with thirty-plus other organizations and businesses, Voices for Children has put our support behind this letter. While appreciate that OPPD has explored modifications to…...
OPPD Rate Change Proposal May Disempower Low-Income Families
All families deserve to have access to reasonably-priced utilities, to keep the lights on and the heat running for themselves and their children. However, recent events have undermined that promise. This past month, the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has announced proposals that would increase the overall utilities rate by…...
Payday Lending Creates Challenges for Nebraska Families
With low unemployment rates and high numbers of parents in the workforce, we know that Nebraska families are working hard. However, sometimes hard work is not enough to pay the bills. When these situations arise, payday lenders are there to offer short-term loans. In these transactions, the customer gets…...
Equality Before the Law: Commentary Series Part 1, Introduction and Methodology
This year’s Kids Count in Nebraska Report featured a commentary debuting our new Index of Race & Opportunity for Nebraska Children. This blog post is the first in a series diving into the commentary. Nebraska’s population of people of color is growing rapidly, and is expected to double to 38%…...