NCJ Number
132464
Date Published
1991
Length
179 pages
Annotation
The responsibility of parents and government, professional, and community leaders is to translate an awareness of child and family crisis into real and sustained solutions rather than relying on short-term, politically expedient responses that leave the underlying causes of child poverty and misery substantially unaddressed.
Abstract
Child advocates and caring citizens working over the past two decades have achieved significant gains for children in the areas of public education, prenatal care, basic health care, child care, and immunizations. The 1991 legislative agenda of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) focuses on health care, child welfare, family support, food and nutrition, and education and training. The CDF specifically plans to conduct public education campaigns; visit neonatal intensive care nurseries, homeless shelters, and drug-ridden schools and neighborhoods to evaluate cost-effective strategies; establish a child research and information center and new leadership training and development institutes; conduct a crusade to meet the needs of black children; and empower parents and grandparents to attain stable families and prevent teen pregnancy. Services and programs for children and associated recommendations are detailed for family income and employment, child care, health, education, youth development, housing and homelessness, and vulnerable children and families. An appendix contains statistics on children who live in poverty, infant mortality, low birth weight infants, elementary and secondary education spending, minority children, youth unemployment, maternal and child health, births to unmarried and adolescent mothers, and children in the cities. 29 tables and 15 figures