(402) 597-3100
voices@voicesforchildren.com

Search Results for: community eligibility

Legislature to consider making more schools hunger-free

We all want kids to succeed in the classroom. This week, the Legislature has the opportunity to fuel students’ learning by making more Nebraska schools hunger-free zones through LB 1066, which would include provisions of LB 1004 and LB 1065 through a committee amendment. The underlying bill is the annual technical bill for education in Nebraska, and through AM 2640, would make important changes to allow more schools to take advantage of the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The CEP allows schools in high-poverty areas to serve free breakfasts and lunches to all students. Research shows that universal school meals increases meal participation and improves overall health and nutrition for students.

Read more

Legislative Update

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, health, and juvenile justice. Throughout the session, we’ll be bringing you updates on the measures that will affect Nebraska’s children and families the most and let you know what you can do to help.

Read more

Making Nebraska’s Schools Hunger Free

As Thanksgiving approaches, we look forward to celebrating the holiday with our families, around a table of everyone’s favorite dishes. But what happens for families that struggle to put food on the table during difficult times? As the poverty rate for Nebraska families remains high, so does food insecurity: according to our 2014 Kids Count in Nebraska Report, in 2013 one in eight households in our state wondered at some point in the year where they were going to get their next meal.

Read more

5 Scariest Nebraska Kid and Family Stats

  All of Nebraska’s children deserve the opportunity to grow up to be happy, healthy, successful adults. Our state does many things right, and there is no doubt that our’s is a great state to be a kid. But despite our many successes as a state, there are things we need to fix.

Read more

OPS Schools Recognized for Being Hunger-free

  We know that hunger can be a barrier to learning, and we have previously mentioned on the blog that schools that have a significant portion of low-income students now have the option of becoming hunger-free zones by serving free meals to all enrolled kids.  In the first year that this option was available in Nebraska, 6 Omaha schools moved forward with this option known as Community Eligibility. Earlier today, we joined Conagra Foods and Nebraska Appleseed in honoring OPS for making schools hunger free.  We hope that as the success stories about this new option continue to spread, more schools will consider becoming hunger-free zones where kids can focus on learning without being distracted by hunger.  Here are some highlight’s from today’s event.

Read more

Health Care in 2015

Good health and access to quality affordable health care is important for everyone, but it’s even more important for kids.  This is because our health during critical developmental years can have consequences that last into adulthood.  When health or developmental issues aren’t identified early, they can become more challenging and costly to address. Regular health check-ups during childhood help ensure that children are immunized against common childhood diseases that can be debilitating or even deadly. A new study indicates that there may even be an impact on earnings in adulthood based on access to health care as a child.

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 free breakfast and lunch to all students without needing an application. Earlier this year, the list of eligible schools was released.  Of the eligible schools in Nebraska, 46 are in the Omaha Public School District.  On Monday, I spoke to the OPS school board to encourage them to move forward to at least pilot community eligibility in the district this year.  Read my comments here.

Read more

A New Tool to Address Child Hunger

Children do best in school when they arrive for the day ready to learn and one of the most important things a kid can do in the morning to prepare for school is to start the day off with breakfast.   It used to be that most kids had a family breakfast at home in the mornings, but both the rise in food insecurity and the number of children with both parents in the workforce have reduced the likelihood of kids receiving a morning meal.  In 2012, 1 in 8 Nebraska households was considered food insecure, meaning that they don’t always know where their next meal is coming from, and almost 2/3 of Nebraska kids had all available parents in the workforce. Schools have a resource that they can leverage to help students start the day ready to learn. It’s the federal school breakfast program.  Unfortunately, Nebraska has not been using this resource to its full potential, currently ranking 49th in the nation for the number of eligible kids participating in the breakfast program. This school year, thanks to a change in federal law, some Nebraska schools will have a new option to help increase the number of kids being fed called community eligibility.  Through community eligibility, high poverty schools can start serving free meals to all students.  This increases the administrative efficiency of the program and reduces the stigma that kids eating free or reduced price school meals often face.  In states where community eligibility has been tested, it has also improved participation rates in the school breakfast program. Hungry kids are less likely to be able to focus on their classroom work and can have poorer health.  We need to do a better job as a state of using all of our available resources to address child hunger and we hope that Nebraska schools who are eligible will consider taking up this new option to help ensure that more of or school kids are starting their day off with the benefits that breakfast can provide.  

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 breakfast delivery. Community eligibility, a federal program established in 2010 that eliminated applications for “identified schools,” or schools with a student population where at least 40 percent of students are automatically eligible for free school meals. The program, which saw significant success in the handful of states in which it was piloted, will be expanded to all states in the upcoming school year.

Read more

State Policy Agenda 2022

The following is a list of Voices for Children’s priority legislation for the 107th Legislature, 2st Session. To contact your state senator, click here.   Juvenile Justice LB 732: Prohibit use of deception by peace officers in questioning juvenilesIntroducer: Senator J. CavanaughStatus: Notice of hearing for January 19, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 732 LB 792: Appropriate funds to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-KearneyIntroducer: Senator LoweStatus: Legislature’s Planning Committee priority billVoices for Children Position: NEUTRALClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 792 LB 810: Change provisions relating to room confinement of juveniles and required reportsIntroducer: Senator J. CavanaughStatus: Placed on General File Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 810 LB 814: Require the office of Legislative Research to prepare racial impact statements for legislative billsIntroducer: Senator McKinneyStatus: Notice of hearing for January 26, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 814 LB 883: Require confidentiality of prosecutions of minors tried as adults and change and provide requirements regarding custody and interrogation of a juvenileIntroducer: Senator McKinneyStatus: Hunt name addedVoices for Children Position: SUPPORT LB 1010: Require information to be included in the Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System and accessible to law enforcementIntroducer: Senator GeistStatus: Geist priority billVoices for Children Position: OPPOSEClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 1010 LB 1111: Appropriate funds to the Supreme Court for community correctionsIntroducer: Senator McKinneyStatus: Notice of hearing for February 03, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 1111   Child Welfare LB 854: Require notice to the Department of Health and Human Services in certain cases of alleged out-of-home child abuse or neglectIntroducer: Senator DayStatus: Notice of hearing for January 28, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 854 LB 869: Change provisions relating to a leave of absence for an adoptive parentIntroducer: Senator M. HansenStatus: Notice of hearing for January 24, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 869 LB 932: Authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to screen children for social security benefit eligibilityIntroducer: Senator HuntStatus: Notice of hearing for January 28, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 932 LB 1019: Require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a family resource and juvenile assessment center pilot programIntroducer: Senator McKinneyStatus: Notice of hearing for January 28, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORT LB 1113: Provide for a pilot program to transfer funds under the Young Adult Bridge to Independence Act and state intent to appropriate federal fundsIntroducer: Senator McKinneyStatus: Notice of hearing for February 09, 2022Voices for Children Position: SUPPORTClick here to read Voices for Children’s testimony on LB 1113 LB 1173: Create a work group and strategic leadership group for child welfare system reformIntroducer: Health and Human Services CommitteeStatus: Health and Human Services AM1959 filedVoices for Children Position: NEUTRALClick here to read […]

Read more