(402) 597-3100
voices@voicesforchildren.com

Education

Time to Move Forward with Child Care Update

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is the most significant source of funding for providing child care assistance to working families to help ensure kids are safe so parents can work. For families with young children, child care has become the largest expense in the family budget and…...

Read more

September is Attendance Awareness Month

It’s already September! Across the country, communities, school districts, and nonprofits are marking Attendance Awareness Month. The research is pretty clear: missing lots of school, for any reason, can cause children to fall behind academically and put them at increased risk of dropping out or delaying graduation. In January of…...

Read more

2014 National Kids Count Series: Education

Last month the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 2014 KIDS COUNT Data Book highlighting state trends in child well-being and celebrating their 25th edition of the book by going back to 1990 and looking at changes in America’s children since then.  Voices for Children in Nebraska is featuring a series…...

Read more

Ending Nebraska’s School to Prison Pipeline

Most of us agree that access to quality education is one of the most important things we can do to ensure the well-being of Nebraska’s children and our state as a whole. Opportunities to learn and build skills are an essential part of preparing youth for healthy, productive adulthoods. Too…...

Read more

Will Nebraska Move Forward on Hunger-Free Schools?

Earlier this year, we mentioned Community Eligibility as a new option for providing school meals in a way that makes high-poverty schools hunger-free zones.  Ensuring that children aren’t hungry in school can help them be better prepared for their primary job of learning.  Community Eligibility allows eligible schools to serve…...

Read more

Hope in Concrete Form: The Promise of College Savings

Researcher Micheal Sherraden has an often quoted saying that:  “assets are hope in concrete form.”  Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a national conference on the emerging and growing field of children’s savings accounts where this concept came to life as policymakers and practitioners shared stories of how educational…...

Read more

The high school dropout epidemic: Inequities in Nebraska

A new report released this week found that the nationwide high school graduation rate was at an all-time high in 2012, where 81% of students who entered high school for the first time graduated within 3 or 4 years. The report notes that significant progress has been made in recent…...

Read more

Nebraska’s School to Prison Pipeline

The release of the new Race for Results report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has prompted a lot of conversation about race, opportunity, and the systemic barriers that prevent all of our kids from having the same chance at a bright future. A new report released by the federal…...

Read more

Race for Results Series: African-American Children in Nebraska

Last week the Annie E. Casey Foundation published the Race for Results: building a path to opportunity for all children report. This report explores the intersection of kids, race, and opportunity and features the new Race for Results. This index is based on 12 indicators measuring children’s success and allows…...

Read more

National School Breakfast Week

This week is National School Breakfast Week, and this year’s theme is “Take Time for School Breakfast.” For many students, there isn’t always time for breakfast—we’ve recently highlighted how our state can better ensure that schoolchildren reap the many benefits that a nutritious breakfast has to offer, starting with alternative models of…...

Read more