Visiting Lecture: Fifty Years After "The Battered Child:" What's Left To Do?
5/16/2013 11:55:34 AM
On April 25, the Schubert Center, in collaboration with the UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital Pediatric Grand Rounds, hosted Richard Krugman, MD, Vice Chancellor for the Office of Health Affairs, University of Colorado for a talk titled Fifty Years After "The Battered Child:" What's Left To Do?, referencing a landmark article published in 1962 by Henry Kempe, MD and colleagues on recognizing the symptoms of child abuse. The talk presented a history and description of child maltreatment as well as areas for future improvement.
Krugman presented an early history of the recognition of child abuse by physicians, beginning in 1860, followed by a description of common forms of maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. He noted that responses to child maltreatment differ by type of abuse and whether abuse occurred inside or outside of the child’s family, with physical abuse and neglect within the family handled through the family court system and sexual abuse being criminally prosecuted. He also described the different epidemiology of sexual abuse by gender, noting that most abuse among boys occurs outside the family and most abuse among girls occurs within the family. Unfortunately, the true number of child maltreatment incidents is unclear due to to underreporting, though it is clear that neglect is a more prevalent problem than physical abuse or sexual abuse. The data that are available show a clear decline in the rates of both physical and sexual abuse over the past 20 years, though the rates of neglect remain largely unchanged.
According to Krugman, during the first 15 years after the publication of Kempe’s article, the child welfare system largely targeted physical abuse and had good outcomes. However, the next 15 years were characterized by a poor response to child maltreatment following the recognition of child sexual abuse as a significant issue and debates regarding the appropriate response to child sexual abuse. The most recent 20 years have brought some successes, though the reasons for decreases in the rates of physical and sexual abuse are unclear.
Krugman argued for the importance of significant changes to responses to child maltreatment in order to improve outcomes for children. These changes include creating policies that are focused on treatment of abuse survivors rather than investigation, more research on incidence and evidence-based treatments, and further inclusion of communities in child abuse prevention and treatment. He also discussed the importance of identifying boys who have been sexually abused in order to reduce the negative health consequences of childhood sexual abuse and emotional difficulties that may last through adult life. Krugman argued that greatly increased funding, perhaps raised using the privately funded model of March of Dimes, is needed to effectively address the immediate and lifelong impacts of child maltreatment.
Click here to view more information about this event.
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Child Malnutrition Down Globally
5/14/2013 3:16:50 PM
A young girl is checked for signs of malnutrition.
The United Nations announced on April 16 that global child malnutrition has markedly decreased in the last decade. The report, part of a series of UN reports released recently on worldwide child well-being, described the decreased prevalence of stunting in children under the age of five, especially in low-resource nations. East Asia and Latin America showed the most improvement with incredible fifty- and seventy-percent decreases in stunting, respectively.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that a child’s first 1,000 days – from conception to two years old – are critical for predicting future outcomes. Children with poor nutrition early in life are more likely to contract childhood illnesses, suffer developmental disabilities, suffer from chronic disease, and earn less money as adults. In 2011, approximately a quarter of the world’s children – 165 million – under the age of five experienced stunted growth, more than eighty percent of which lived in just fourteen countries. This preventable condition hurts children individually but also has larger economic and social implications for entire nations when children become less healthy and less economically productive adults. Thus, the World Health Assembly has set the reduction of stunting as a “top investment priority” and aims to reduce the global prevalence of stunting by forty percent in the next twelve years.
This is no easy task. Risk factors including infectious disease, maternal under-nutrition, and poor food availability increase a child’s risk of stunting, and all of these are more common in developing countries. As a result, UNICEF has identified types of programs that work, and is working to promote them on a more national basis. Early and exclusive breastfeeding is one of the most effective strategies to limit infant malnutrition, especially in areas lacking good alternatives. Complementary food programs, such as those that give families money to buy food for their infants and children, micronutrient supplementation, and prenatal/postnatal nutrition programs for mothers have also proven effective. However, the report also acknowledges that these interventions must occur within the critical period of 1000 days; otherwise excessive weight gain may actually put the child at greater risk for obesity and the child usually cannot recover lost potential. In response, an increasing number of government leaders worldwide are implementing the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) program, which encourages national interventions to diminish stunting and malnutrition, and inspiring action in some of the most afflicted regions.
Read an NPR article about the report.
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Visiting Lecture: From a Moment to a Movement for Children
5/9/2013 2:46:16 PM
On April 26 the Center for Policy Studies’ Friday Public Affairs Discussion Group partnered with the Schubert Center to host Doug Imig, PhD, Professor of Political Science at The University of Memphis. Imig discussed the characteristics of effective social movements in history, commented on the progress of the current pre-K education reforms, and how other contemporary and future movements might continue in light of these patterns. As the title of the talk implies, the most important action for achieving social change is the use of a galvanizing moment to inspire birth of a social movement. This transition requires an increase in social anxiety around the issue, institutional reform, and an ideological shift in how people think about the issue.
Imig identified six factors common to all successful social movements. The first, as described above, is the use of an external shock to the status quo to inspire change. Imig used World War II as an example of this: the war forced women (mothers) into the workforce, thus necessitating childcare as a workforce issue instead of an early childhood development issue. This transition inspired social movements that promoted out-of-home childcare. Perception of injustice, agency, and identity is the next critical factor for social movements. When people realize and identify with an injustice, they can do something to fix it (agency), and galvanize around a shared identity. Framing and language of the movement is critical because social movements arise out of the identification of a common “enemy,” and rely on a passionate leader’s framing of the issue as important. Networks of people, political alignment and venue, allies and opposition/repression are the other key components of a successful movement.
Imig also discussed the role of data in social movements. He pointed out that data is always available but is often ignored for decades until advocates use it to support social change. Therefore, the notion that more data will move policy makers from complacency to action is historically misguided. However, he acknowledged that resource-rich sponsors and favorable political conditions can help with the implementation of evidence-based (data-supported) practices.
Finally, Imig commented that states’ stances on the importance of childcare are more related to administrative apparatuses than to the majority status of political parties. If pre-K program funding is tied to K-12 education funding, it is much more likely to remain strong in the face of budget cuts than funding that stands alone.
Learn more about this event here.
View photos from the event.
Download the slides from the event.
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Gender Identity and Spatial Reasoning
4/10/2013 10:21:24 AM
Photo from Flickr, used with Creative Commons license. A review published last week in Sex Roles suggests differences between girls’ and boys’ spatial reasoning ability is related to gender identity rather than biological sex, as typically thought. Since the 1960s, researchers have attempted to explain the under-representation of women in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering,and math), especially at the university and graduate levels. Historically, girls have been expected to suffer from underdeveloped spatial reasoning, and one theory states that this may hinder their long-term achievement in difficult math and science courses. This new review, conducted by researchers at Griffith University in Australia, suggests that social factors, including socialized gender-specific play,societal expectations for girls versus boys, and pressure to conform, influence children’s development of spatial reasoning abilities, and subsequent interest in and achievement for STEM subjects. Significant intra-sex differences,however, suggest these differences are more strongly correlated with masculinity – as opposed to biological assignment – of the individual. More than thirty years ago, Sharon Nash suggested that gender roles could either bolster or hinder children’s cognitive development in certain areas, which she termed gender-role mediation. She claimed that identifying with or being raised into a masculine role reinforces math, science, and spatial abilities, whereas feminine identification or socialization highlights verbal and language skills.This theory has been supported by similar studies, which reaffirm that “boys’play” emphasizes spatial skills while “girls’ play” strengthens social skills. As children grow, society widens the gender divide by (implicitly and explicitly)implying which careers are good for boys and which are good for girls. This pressure impacts students’ interest and self-confidence in pursuing highly gender-typed subjects, and becomes especially troublesome in secondary school when pressure to conform increases and girls, for instance, are less likely than ever to enroll in stereotypically-masculine subjects like advanced math and science. Moreover, by this age a real discrepancy exists between the genders’ abilities to perform tasks (e.g. mental rotation), so girls are often less likely to succeed in “boys’ subjects” even if they choose to go against the norm. However, this recent review looked at separating biological sex (i.e. male versus female) from gender identity (i.e. masculine versus feminine). Researchers examined twelve studies on gender roles and mental rotation ability in adolescents. They found that gender identity is especially influential in the development of spatial ability for men—higher masculine identify correlating with higher mental rotation ability. They also established that gender roles have remained consistent over time, despite increased gender equality in recent years. This conclusion suggests that early interventions,including sex integration during play activities, may help struggling children develop better spatial reasoning skills. At Case Western Reserve University, Schubert Center Faculty Associates Renee Sentilles and Eileen Anderson-Fye study gender differences across time and culture, while Sandra Russ examines the role of play in child development.
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No Link Between Child Vaccinations and Autism, CDC Confirms
4/3/2013 1:00:14 PM
Photo by US Navy and used with Creative Commons license. A new study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found no connection between the numbers of vaccines a child receives and his or her risk of autism spectrum disorder, adding to a nascent but growing body of similar findings. The researchers also found that, while children today receive more vaccinations than earlier generations, these newer vaccines contain much fewer substances that contribute to adverse immune system responses. This news should help to quell the fears of the more than 10 percent of parents with young children who choose to skip or delay vaccinations out of fear that their children are receiving too many vaccines too soon. This latest report by the CDC, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, examines the medical and vaccination histories of more than 1,000 children, one fourth of whom had autism and the rest did not. The researchers calculated the number of antigens – substances that stimulate disease-fighting antibodies – to which infants were exposed either in one doctor’s visit or at various points throughout their first two years. The study found, “kids' total antigen exposure in the first two years of life was unrelated to their risk of developing an autism disorder.” Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer at Autism Speaks told reporters, “we hope this will reassure parents that the number of vaccines your child received during the first couple years of life is not associated with a risk in developing autism.” Autism advocates hope that this conclusive study will end the tide of parents choosing to delay or forego their children’s vaccines so that researchers can move on to studying other issues, such as what causes autism. As Dawson notes “until we conduct the research to answer the questions about autism’s causes and risk factors,parents will continue to have questions.” This study is the latest in a large and growing body of research confirming that there is no link between multiple immunizations during the first two years of life and an increased risk of autism, and there are no benefits associated with delaying vaccinations. Despite these conclusions from the medical and scientific communities, a growing number of parents continue to put their own children, and the children of others, at risk by delaying or foregoing vaccinations. The decision to delay or forego vaccinations is believed to be the primary cause for the record-breaking number of measles cases in 2011, as well as the 2012 resurgence of whooping cough,which was the largest epidemic of its kind in 50 years. Tags:
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Visiting Lecturer: Parenting and the Home Environments of Poor Children
4/3/2013 12:58:04 PM
On March 21, the Schubert Center hosted Ariel Kalil, PhD, Professor and Director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago for a talk titled Parenting and the Home Environments of Poor Children. Kalil’s talk described income- and education-related skill gaps in child development, focusing on the home environment for a point of intervention for reducing developmental disparities in children under three. Widespread research has demonstrated that children typically stay at the the socioeconomic level birth through adulthood. A significant achievement gap exists between children of wealthy versus poor economic backgrounds and children whose parents have a high level of education and a low level of education. A gap in early literacy and mathematics skills emerges even before age three - when poor children become eligible for the Head Start preschool program - and persists throughout the educational system and the life course for most children. Growing up poor is associated with: fewer years of schooling, lowering earnings, working fewer hours, receiving more government assistance in the form of SNAP or TANF, poorer health, higher levels of psychological distress, and higher BMI. Kalil presented that current programs, which target children beginning at age three, remain insufficient to remedy the achievement gap since this gap already exists as children enter preschool. She further suggested that the poor quality of parenting in low-income households may diminish the impact of Head Start and other early childhood education programs over time. She proposes that programs should instead target the home environment and focus on helping parents teach their children early literacy and mathematics skills before starting school. However, traditional programs targeting parents have encountered many problems, including a high dropout rate, high expenses, and difficulty in increasing the scale of promising programs. She described several innovative programs that use technology to teach parents at home, which hope to avoid some of these common pitfalls. Kalilis currently conducting a study that uses tablets to teach parents how to engage their children with math skill development, with the hope that these programs will develop habits of math learning engagement with children throughout their lives.
For more information, you can view slides from the presentation or visit Ariel Kalil’s page at the University of Chicago. View photos from the event on the Schubert Center Facebook Page.
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‘When You Grow Up’ is ‘If You Grow Up’ For Some Children
3/18/2013 11:12:20 AM
Photo from Wikimedia used with Creative Commons license. A new study finds that many children in impoverished neighborhoods do not expect themselves to live until they reach age thirty-five. Out of 20,103 youth surveyed, about fifteen percent thought they would not make it to thirty-five. The fifteen percent of youth with lower survival expectations were more likely to live in less affluent neighborhoods. The study, conducted by sociologists Tara Warner and Raymond Swisher from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Bowling Green State University,respectively, used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine factors that may undermine youths’ outlook on life. The researchers paid special attention to how an individual’s neighborhood effected their beliefs about their own life expectancy and found that “growing up in an underprivileged neighborhood and being exposed to violence were both highly linked to insecurity about future survival.” The fact that youth with lower expectations of survival were more likely to be from a less affluent neighborhood is not surprising given the rates of violence in economically distressed areas. As researcher Swisher points out, “More recent research suggests that the most damaging aspect of living in a poor neighborhood may be exposure to violence.” Very real concerns about survival and violent victimization for parents and children in these neighborhoods can outweigh concerns about success in school and avoiding risky behavior. Professor Ariel Kalil, a visiting lecturer from the University of Chicago, will speak on Thursday, March 21 about her findings on income and education-related skill gaps in child development and how parenting and home environments influence these gaps. Kalil’s research on how poverty affects children and families illustrates how living in an economically disadvantaged area can influence other sources of low survival expectations such as poor mental and physical health and being a member of a minority group. Adding to this large and growing body of evidence that living in a disadvantaged community has long-term effects on children, especially when exposed to violence are Schubert Center faculty associates Dan Flannery and Mark Singer. Both Flannery and Singer have written extensively on the effects of violence exposure on kids. Their studies have suggested that violence exposure is context-specific, meaning violence in the home differs in its effects on children from violence in the community, and that exposure to more extreme forms of violence is most prevalent in low-income neighborhoods. This deadly violence in economically depressed communities is just another part of life for children like Hadiya Pendleton, a fifteen-year-old honor student and anti-gang advocate from the South Side of Chicago, who was shot and killed in her neighborhood after school in January. Youth like Hadiya know they might not make it to adulthood, but strive to overcome the many obstacles they face anyways, in the hopes that they do.
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Children Eating Less,
Weighing the Same
3/5/2013 7:59:56 AM
For the first time in over forty years, new data suggests that children are eating less. This news is encouraging for parents, health professionals, and policy makers who have been working hard to spread positive nutrition messages. Unfortunately, these decreases in caloric consumption – mostly accounted for by fewer carbohydrates in children’s diets – are not enough to reverse worrisome obesity trends, according to NYU Professor Marion Nestle.
These findings were released as part a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) analysis of Americans’ consumption patterns. The NHANES, a governmental survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), measures the medical and nutritional health of Americans. The extensive data sets give experts and policy makers an idea of disease risk and prevalence among subsets of the United States population. The most recent report was part of the 2009-2010 data set.
Overall caloric and carbohydrate consumption decreased for children and teens ages 2-19 between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, while protein intake increased and total fat ingestion stayed the same. Most notably in the face of current obesity concerns, boys’ average caloric intake decreased 158 kcals from 2,258 to 2,100 calories per day, while girls’ dropped from 1,831 to 1,755 calories per day. This correlates to about a five percent decrease in calories and one percent decrease in carbohydrates for both groups throughout the 12-year period.
Distinct age and racial/ethnic groups, however, did not always follow these trends. For instance, non-Hispanic Black girls continued eating similar levels of carbohydrates and protein between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, and saturated fat intake declined in Mexican-American children ages 2-19 despite a lack of trend in other populations. Experts speculate that increased public awareness and successful health promotion campaigns may be catalyzing the overall decrease in children’s daily caloric intake. For example, the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign, in combination with other public health campaigns such as New York City’s ban on large sugary drinks and national mandates requiring chain restaurants to display calorie counts on menus, likely contributed this encouraging trend.
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Schubert Conversation: Lessons from the Playing Field
3/1/2013 11:31:30 AM
On January 24th, the Schubert Center continued the 2012-2013 Conversation Series with Lessons from the Playing Field: Addressing Youth Sports-Related Concussions. Sports medicine pediatricians Susan Briskin, MD, and Mary Solomon, DO, from UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital presented on the risks, symptoms, and policy and practice challenges of sports-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Community respondents Beth Tsvetkoff, JD, Executive Director of the Ohio Alliance of YMCAs and Jim Doyle, Director of Athletics at Hawken School, joined the conversation to discuss the new concussion policies mandated by Ohio House Bill 143 (HB 143).This recently-passed legislation, which takes effect in March, contributes to the national movement addressing concussion recognition and treatment, as well as on-the-field experiences, training healthy athletes, and educating athletes,parents, coaches, and teachers on concussion prevention, recognition and appropriate treatment. The Schubert Center partnered with the Cleveland Council of Independent Schools (CCIS), the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) at CWRU, and CWRU Athletics to present this program. It is estimated that more than 4.8 million children suffer concussions each year, and research suggests that more than half of these TBIs go unreported or unrecognized. This is worrisome because evidence suggests that a history of TBIs (especially those that are improperly treated) exacerbates symptoms, prolongs recovery time, and increases severe complications such as susceptibility to future concussions, permanent brain damage, and in some cases death.However, longstanding myths about concussions – for example, that a concussion only occurs if an athlete loses consciousness – still hinder the prompt identification of head injuries. Speakers at Thursday’s talk discussed TBI symptoms and recent precautions instituted to protect athletes’ well-being,which are also discussed in the accompanying issue brief. The doctors and respondents emphasized widespread education on the topic to promote understanding of concussion risk, prevention, identification,and treatment. They outlined additional social pressures athletes may face when they return to school and sports practices. Since these students appear physically well compared to those with other types of injuries, peers,teammates, coaches, teachers and parents expect them to function at full capacity. However, cognitive and physical rest remain important steps in the healing process, and Briskin and Solomon noted that each athlete must follow their own individualized care plan for complete recovery, so this flawless functioning is not immediately possible. Thus, improved community awareness about the effects of and recovery process from TBIs seemed to be an area of great interest for these experts and attendees at the talk. For more information, you can download slides from the presentation and the corresponding issue brief. A brief summary of House Bill 143 is also available here. View photos from the event on the Schubert Center Facebook page.
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Dr. Robert Findling and the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms (LAMS) Study
2/27/2013 11:14:00 AM
On February 14, the Schubert Center hosted Dr. Robert Findling of the Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine as part of the monthly Schubert Center Conversations on Children in Research, Policy, and Practice seminar series. Dr. Findling spoke about the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms (LAMS) Study, which has been conducted since December 2005 in Ohio and western Pennsylvania and is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study tested a cohort of 707 children every six months for elevated symptoms of mania (ESM), a hallmark feature of bipolar disorder. Although ESM are a key feature of bipolar disorder, there are no reliable means of predicting whether children who have ESM may eventually develop bipolar disorder. An estimated 1 million youth in the United States currently suffer from bipolar disorder, which is characterized by aggression, attention problems, anxiety, depression and delinquency in youth. Dr. Findling and his colleagues followed cohort of 707 children, 621 with ESM and 86 controls without ESM, who had presented for care at out-patient mental health clinics. The children were screened for ESM using the Parent General Behavior Inventory 10-Item Mania Scale (PGBI-10M) every six months for up to five years. Over time, the researchers found that children who had persistently high or increasing scores on the PGBI-10M, were three times as likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder than children whose ESM had subsided or who did not have ESM. Additionally, persistent ESM did not increase the odds of being diagnosed with other mental health and behavioral disorders. The researchers also found that white and/or privately insured children were more likely to be treated with a medication-therapy combination, the most effective treatment, than ethnic minorities and children covered by Medicaid. In his talk, Dr. Findling additionally suggested that insurance-claims-based data, which are often used to determine prevalence of mental health conditions including those related to Elevated Symptoms of Mania (ESM), may not be completely representative of actual ESM diagnosis and treatment. For example, clinicians may submit insurance claims based on insurance coverage for a particular medication or disorder, which may differ from the actual diagnosis. Parents also may have differing beliefs and perceptions of their child's symptoms or may have difficulty accessing and paying for prescribed treatments. In 2010 the LAMS study was awarded a $7.8 million renewal grant to continue the study for an additional five years. The extension of this study also allows the incorporation of two neuroscience-based technologies, neurocognitive testing and neuroimaging, to better understand how ESM and bipolar disorder are related to brain functioning and to develop better diagnostic tools. Dr. Findling's study highlights the importance of coordination between sectors of care for children, particularly school and outpatient settings, as most participants with ESM began using mental health services at 6 to 7 years old. After his talk, Dr. Findling was joined by Dr. Michael Manos, the head of the Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health at the Cleveland Clinic, and Jennifer Blumhagen, Director of Community Services at Bellefaire JCB, who spoke about their experiences working with children's mental health, access to mental health services, and accountable care organizations. Several other Schubert Center Faculty Associates are involved in children's mental health research. Eileen Anderson-Fye conducts research on adolescent mental health cross-culturally. Faye Gary studies prevention of mental health disorders. Jeffrey Kretschmar researches mental health and substance abuse. Gerald Mahoney studies early childhood mental health. Mark Singer researches adolescent behavior and co-existing drug and mental disorders. James Spilsbury studies child mental health and its relationship to family violence. Christopher Stormann researches adolescents diagnosed with severe emotional disturbances. Elizabeth Tracy studies co-occuring substance abuse and mental disorders. Download a policy brief on Dr. Findling's work.Tags:
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Northeast Ohio Grieves Following Chardon School Shooting
2/27/2013 11:08:21 AM
Three students are dead and two injured after Monday's shootings at Chardon High School. Accused gunman T.J. Lane opened fire Monday morning in Chardon High School's cafeteria while students were waiting for buses. He is currently in custody awaiting sentencing and will likely be tried as an adult. Prosecutors have stated that the killings were random, although other sources suggest there may have been other factors.
Students at Chardon returned to classes today, following a week of vigils in the community. Counseling services will continue to be made available for students and staff. Funeral students for the three students killed, Daniel Parmetor, 16, Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King, Jr., 17, will be held this weekend and next week. One injured student has been released from the hospital, while another remains in serious condition.
Lockdown drills are being praised for preparing teachers and students for a rapid response to the tragedy and possibly preventing further injuries and deaths. Annual lockdown drills are required by state law. Assistant football coach Frank Hall was praised for his efforts to chase the gunman from the school, even while being shot at. Stephen Sroka, adjunct assistant professor at Case Western's School of Medicine, studies school violence prevention and was quoted in an article on how the lockdown training helped teachers and students know how to respond. He states the importance of making sure parents know what to do in the case of a lockdown.
Community-wide violence prevention programs also play a key role in preventing tragic events like this one and responding to violence when it does occur. Schubert Center Faculty Associate and Director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention, Dan Flannery does work with the Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative to prevent children's exposure to violence and mitigate the negative effects of violence when it does occur. He joined Faculty Associate Robert Findling on Wednesday's Sound of Ideas to discuss the shooting and it's aftermath. In the program, they highlight the importance of providing counseling resources to students and community members, helping children feel safe and make sure children know that adults are looking out for them. They say that different children will respond to the tragedy in different ways. They also stress the rare nature of school shootings and the importance of school preparedness.
Several other Faculty Associates study violence and its impact on children. Jeff Kretschmar studies violence and aggression. Patrick Kanary studies youth violence prevention and childhood exposure to violence. Mark Singer studies substance abuse, mental illness and youth violence. James Spilsbury studies community and family violence and its impact on children's sleep, health and behavior. Christopher Stormann studies mental health and violence prevention. Patrick Kanary, Jeff Kretschmar and Christopher Stormann are all affiliated with Case's Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center for Violence Prevention & Education.
Read the Plain Dealer coverage of the Chardon shootings.
Read a policy brief on Dan Flannery's work with the Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative.
Access trauma resources recommended by Chardon Schools.
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Pediatric Emergency Visits for Psychiatric Care Increasing, Study Finds
2/27/2013 11:06:27 AM
Photo by Rosser321 A study recently presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference revealed rising rates of psychiatric care in hospital emergency departments for pediatric patients, especially those who are underinsured. A review the records of of 279 million pediatric patients seen in U.S. emergency departments found that the prevalence of patients seen for psychiatric reasons increased from 2.4 percent in 1999 to 3 percent in 2007. The number of underinsured patients among all pediatric patients seen in emergency departments also rose from 46 percent in 1999 to 54 percent in 2007. The authors attribute both increases to fewer treatment options and longer wait times for outpatient care for publicly insured pediatric patients. A number of Schubert Center Faculty Associates study children's mental health. Eileen Anderson-Fye of the Department of Anthropology studies eating and body image disorders among adolescents in Belize. Robert Findling of the School of Medicine conducts research on pediatric bipolar disorder. Download a policy brief on his research. Amy Przeworski of the Department of Psychological Sciences studies emotional eating and anxiety disorders in children. James Spilsbury of the School of Medicine researches the role of sleep disturbances and family violence on child mental health. Read the Science Daily article on the study. Tags:
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Children are Getting more ADHD Meds, Fewer Antibiotics
2/27/2013 11:03:03 AM
A new study from the Food and Drug Administration shows that the total number of prescriptions for children decreased by 7% between 2002 and 2010. This counters the trend in adult prescriptions, which rose by 22% during the same time period. Researchers analyzed two large prescription databases to track children’s (ages 0-17) prescription utilization between 2002 and 2010. During that time prescriptions for antibiotics fell 14%. The researchers attributed this drop in prescriptions to the success of public health campaigns to educate the public about antibiotic resistance and prevent the overuse of antibiotics medications.
Although the overall number of prescriptions declined, the rates of utilization increased for some classes of drugs. Prescriptions for ADHD medications, birth control pills, and asthma medications all rose. There was a 46% increase in ADHD prescriptions between 2002 and 2010. The authors propose that the spike in ADHD prescriptions reflects the rise in the number of children who are diagnosed with ADHD. Other physicians have also suggested that the rise in prescriptions may be due to better medications and reduced stigma for the disorder.
The authors urge that the results of the study are important for a number of reasons. Although a wide variety of medications are prescribed to children, little research has been done to assess the risk and benefits of these therapies. This study adds to the current research by providing an overview of the frequency and patterns of children and adolescent prescription utilization. Additionally, the study provides a starting point for future research that can examine how medications are used in children.
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Treatment of Schizophrenia in Adolescents: Dr. Robert Findling Featured on Medscape
2/27/2013 10:40:41 AM
Schubert Center Faculty Associate Robert Findling, M.D., talks about his findings from a long-term medication treatment study of teenagers with schizophrenia and its related disorders. This study was published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Findling found that only 12% of the children enrolled in his study were able to complete its 12-month duration. He reports that side effects and lack of drug efficacy were the primary reasons for withdrawing from the study. Dr. Findling concludes that children with psychotic illnesses have only a few viable treatment options available to them and that more research is necessary to develop better and safer treatments for this vulnerable population of children.
Click here to read and watch Dr. Finding discuss the results of his recently published study: Double-Blind Maintenance Safety and Effectiveness Findings From the Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum (TEOSS) Study
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Stress and Competition Help [Some] Children
2/11/2013 11:18:11 AM
Amidst continuing talks of federal education reform, a recent New York Times article examined genetic and cultural factors linked to children's differing levels of pre-test anxiety. In an effort to explain the fundamental differences between members of highly-anxious and non-anxious groups, some scholars classify students into two groups: worriers and warriors. The author suggests that protecting anxious, "worrier" children from adverse testing experiences in school may actually put them at a long-term disadvantage, despite parents' best intentions to lookout for their children.
The main genetic determinant of an individual’s anxiety level is their inherited form of the COMT gene, which codes an enzyme to remove dopamine from the prefrontal cortex (the decision center of the brain). Forms of COMT code for either slow-acting or fast-acting enzymes, correlating with the “worrier” or “warrior”descriptions, respectively. Worriers tend to score better on IQ tests, plan more, and earn better grades. However, in the context of threatening or stressful situations the fast-acting enzyme form proves more advantageous, and this group typically scores higher on standardized tests. Neither form is dominant over the other because societies require both planners and fighters to survive,so children have a 25% chance of inheriting the “worrier” gene, 25% chance of inheriting the “warrior” gene, and a 50% probability of inheriting a combination of the two forms. The speed of dopamine removal from students’brains proves critical to their ability to cope with anxiety because “worriers”with slow-removal of dopamine experience higher levels of anxiety before a test, while the “warriors” with high levels of dopamine remaining in the decision center of the brain typically respond better to high-stress situations (such as a standardized test). However, the author argues that even “worrier”children should be exposed to testing and other stressful situations during their formative years so that, as adults, they have rehearsed and mastered the necessary coping skills to navigate similar challenging situations. Modification of cultural perceptions of stress can also mitigate test-taking-related stress.Studies looking at the effect of anxiety on performance have shown that individuals’ views on the purpose of stress impacts their ability to cope and perform during the task at hand. For example, researchers found that athletes at all levels experience similar levels of anxiety before competition, but that while amateurs perceive this as a negative feeling, professionals use the same mood to energize them for the game. Similarly, an experiment out of Harvard showed that students who were taught that pre-test anxiety is a positive emotion performed better on the tests than those who were given no coaching. These cases demonstrate that, while genetics may play a role in students’ innate reaction to testing, changing cultural views on stress also prove beneficial. Schubert Schubert Center faculty associates Arin M. Connell, PhD and Amy Przeworski, PhD study anxiety in children and teens. Connell studies the etiology of depression and anxiety disorders across childhood and adolescence, while Przeworski looks at the role of culture in family dynamics of children with anxiety disorders. Tags:
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Case Study Release - The Bridge to Somewhere: How Research Made its Way into Legislative Juvenile Justice Reform in Ohio
1/24/2013 8:21:34 AM
In 2011, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 86, landmark legislation that established juvenile justice reforms based on evidence-based practices and adolescent development research. This legislative achievement, which includes significant cost savings, was the result of a collaborative policy change model that relied upon critical engagement among experts, practitioners, key stakeholders, advocates, and policymakers.
The case study, “The Bridge to Somewhere: How Research Made its Way into Legislative Juvenile Justice Reform in Ohio,” explores what led to passage of House Bill 86. On January 14, the Schubert Center published this case study describing the partners, the collaborative model, and key elements in achieving this major policy change. The case study is meant to be a learning tool for those interested in understanding a collaborative approach to policy change and potentially pursuing similar efforts in the future. The intended audience includes scholars and students in the areas of public policy and political science, researchers, practitioners, philanthropic organizations, public agencies, advocates, lobbyists, and policymakers. The center hopes its partners and colleagues will find the case study useful when considering strategies to promote compelling, research-based, cost-effective policy change with positive outcomes for young people, families, and communities. The case study is accessible online at schubert.cwru.edu/reports.aspx, and may be shared widely on the web.
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Socioeconomic Status Affects Children's Response to Background Noise
12/5/2012 8:54:30 AM
Photo by Libertinus, used with Creative Commons license A study published last week by Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that socioeconomic status (SES) correlates with children’s ability to ignore background noise. Researchers compared twenty-eight Canadian students from two schools – one low-income and the other high-income – in their stress (cortisol) levels, attention span (neural activation) and emotional states to study how varying socioeconomic environments affect children’s development, specifically cognitive and emotional responses to background versus relevant noises. They hypothesized that lower SES children would demonstrate higher stress, more adverse emotions and asymmetrical activation in the frontal cortex. To quantify stress, researchers measured cortisol levels, while they used questionnaires to evaluate emotional states and conducted electroencephalogram (EEG) tests to observe cognitive response (event-related potential, or ERP). Before beginning the experiment, children were matched for age, race, hearing acuity and academic achievement. After arriving at school, children provided a saliva sample to establish baseline cortisol levels and then completed the questionnaire to assess baseline levels of boredom, perceived stress, engagement, challenges, fear and other emotional states. Their saliva was then tested six times throughout day to look at changes in cortisol levels, and they completed multiple questionnaires to track changes in emotional state before and after the EEG test. Children from lower SES backgrounds maintained slightly higher levels of cortisol, but both groups showed a similar rise and fall pattern over the course of the day. No significant differences emerged between groups with the emotion questionnaires. The largest discrepancy between study groups involved cognitive responses. Children from higher SES backgrounds showed more difference in ERP activation, indicating they attended much less to non-target (background) noise than target sounds. High activation in lower SES children trying to ignore tones may demonstrate they pay more attention to background noise, and also require more executive resources when trying to ignore it. Researchers theorize that danger in the lower SES neighborhood may have made it advantageous for those children to attend more heavily to potentially-threatening background noise. Higher SES children from safer neighborhoods would not have had that same environmental pressure. However, small sample size and large individual variation within the samples prevent researchers from making any definitive claims. In 2010 the Schubert Center hosted a talk with Nobel Laureate James Heckman, PhD where he spoke on the Heckman Equation, which encourages investment in early childhood development to reap economic returns over time. His research shows that developmental contact with disadvantaged populations before age five would help lessen socioeconomic disparities and increase children’s ability (and desire) to contribute to society as they grow older. For more information, watch his presentation or read his slides online. The Schubert Center is hosting an event on March 21, 2013 titled The Long Reach of Child Poverty, featuring Ariel Kalil, PhD, who will discuss explanations for disparate academic achievement, “problem” behaviors and health outcomes among impoverished children. Learn more about the upcoming talk here. Tags:
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The Youth Vote in Election 2012
11/21/2012 9:28:32 AM
Every election cycle, researchers and political analysts alike examine the impact of the youth vote (18-29 year olds) on election results. In the most recent election, President Obama earned 60% (and Governor Romney only 36%) of the youth vote. Overall, 50% of the 46 million eligible voters ages 18-29 cast a ballot, and in battleground states this number rose to 58%. In 2008, youth 18-29 years comprised 18-19% of the electorate, and although experts expected a decline, the 2012 turnout was nearly the same, at 19%. In terms of political affiliation, Millennials leaned communally left in 2012. Moreover, a Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) analysis demonstrates an alternate outcome if Romney had secured just half of this demographic in four critical states (OH, PA, VA, FL).
Young people proved more significant in this election than some strategists predicted, and campaigns developed more individualized outreach due to this group’s diverse views on social issues in particular. Data shows that 18-29 year olds support more liberal social issues: 66% in favor of same-sex marriage, 69% in support of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants (the DREAM Act), and 55% in support of marijuana legalization. These compared to 31%, 47%, and 30%, respectively, among older adults (65+). Therefore, “one size fits all” campaigning targeted at older demographics often proves ineffective in appealing to young voters. In response, social media has emerged as an important campaign tool for attracting younger demographics. Political organizations use the Internet to inform and mobilize young voters, and social media now plays a key role in engaging youth in the political process.
Analysts suggest that Democrats triumphed in the past election among youth voters because the party better understood the significant electoral impact, important motivations and issues, and communication preferences of this demographic. CIRCLE identifies three basic strategies for increasing the youth vote: - Registration. For youth, registration can prove more difficult than voting itself, so programs that make registration more convenient work well for this age group. California, for instance, inaugurated an online voter registration system, which led to disproportionately high turnout of young voters (young adults comprise 23% of the state’s population, but made up 28% of the 2012 electorate). State voter laws, such as those that allow for Election Day registration, have also been effective in increasing young voter turnout.
- Contact. Contact seems especially important for this demographic. In-person, personalized conversation is the most effective, while robo-calls are least productive. However, any contact is better than no contact, says CIRCLE analysis. Given the need for individual contact, bottom-up campaigning proves more effective with the younger audience. The GOP presidential campaign planned a top-down, calling network called ORCA that would use voter data to call those who had not yet voted on Election Day and ask them to vote. This contrasted with grassroots efforts of the Obama campaign, which emphasized personal contact and engagement to “get out the vote”.
- Information. According to CIRCLE, telling these new voters how, when, and where to vote makes them much more likely to cast a ballot. Moreover, Millennials want facts so they can make their own decisions about the issues. While this pragmatism could be good for the country, political candidates must present young voters with more facts and science and less rhetoric if they hope to win young votes in future elections.
Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote, recently said, “Young people are savvy. They are committed to this idea right now that participation is how they take back the power.” As the 18-29 year old demographic grows, future election campaigns from all parties must remain cognizant of the changing ways in which youth engage on issues and use technology to communicate with campaigns and each other.
The Schubert Center released an issue brief in October titled Civic Engagement and the Youth Vote, which detailed indicators of youth voting habits in this and prior elections. Important findings state that low income, non-college bound, and civically unengaged youth are less likely to vote. Download the brief here. Tags:
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Frequent Restaurant Dining Detrimental to Children's Health
11/9/2012 10:32:33 AM
Photo by Tetra Pak, used with Creative Commons license
A study published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows frequent restaurant dining contributes to higher caloric intake for Americans, especially among children and teens. In 2007-2008, 33% of children and 41% of adolescents reported eating fast food in the past 24 hours, while another 12% of children and 18% of adolescents had eaten at a full-service restaurant (with wait staff) in the same time period. Children ate an average of 309 more calories on days when they ate out and tended to replace milk with soda, notes NPR. However the decrease in “at home” consumption may prove more concerning than increasing fast food consumption since people tend to eat less at home, and consumers ate 49% less of their food from full-service restaurants at home during 2007-2008 versus 2003-2004. This data concerns experts because more than one-third of children and adolescents in the US are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Study authors note that higher intakes of calories, sugar, sodium, and fat from dining out put youth at increased risk for developing diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions.Thankfully, fast food dining decreased slightly between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008, and some groups ate less when they dined out. Children six to eleven years old, boys, and Caucasians all consumed fewer fast food calories, while girls and low-income teens ate less at full-service restaurants.These changes may reflect increasing social awareness about healthy eating choices, and campaigns such as mandatory calorie labeling in chain restaurants and local bans on trans fats. While health advocates rejoice over declining restaurant patronage among younger age groups, the trend worries restaurant owners who observe millennials (young adults ages 18-34) dining out less than ever before. Young adults carried much of the restaurant industry's profits in the past, but experts acknowledge the recession, and the resulting move home for members of this age group, as one major reason for the reduction in restaurant dining. Now baby boomers constitute the largest consumer base for restaurants, which concerns industry leaders nationwide, according to USA Today. Elaine Borawski, PhD is Director of the CWRU Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods and a Schubert Center faculty associate who researches health behavior modification, including changing diet to reduce obesity. For more information about her work and research, click here.
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New Report Describes the Unique Needs of Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
11/2/2012 1:29:48 PM
A report released last month by the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy documents the unique histories and needs of girls in the juvenile justice system and makes policy recommendations for the creation of gender-responsive approaches within the juvenile justice system.
The report explains that girls and young women often enter the system as high need, low risk offenders, the majority of whom are incarcerated for non-serious status offenses or court violations, and pose a very low risk to the surrounding community. They are also disproportionally likely to report a history of sexual and physical abuse, exposure to violence, death of a family member, or parental incarceration. These traumas can contribute to mental and emotional disorders, as well as poor educational outcomes and increased likelihood of teen pregnancy. States continue to neglect gender-responsive programming in juvenile detention centers, despite a more dramatic increase in the detention of girls over boys between 1993 and 2001 (88% versus 23%, respectively).
The 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act recommends all-female, minimally restrictive detention centers that are close to girls’ homes, consistent with their developmental needs, and accommodating of pregnant and parenting teens. However, budget cuts often decrease female-focused programs because girls are frequently deemed “lower risk” than boys. Still, some areas have maintained focus on gender-sensitive programming and report encouraging results including lower recidivism, less ongoing traumatization, and increases in resiliency, as well as more cost-effective programs as a result of these positive outcomes.
The report recommends action on the local, state and national levels to encourage gender-responsive justice procedures. Suggested interventions include increasing advocacy and legislation, growing awareness of major stakeholders, training detention personnel, promoting funding for diversion programs and developing early intervention strategies for at-risk youth.
Schubert Center Child Policy Director Gabriella Celeste, JD, along with Marcia Egbert of the George Gund Foundation and Faculty Associate Patrick Kanary discussed the role research played in creating evidence-based policy reforms to Ohio’s juvenile justice system. Click here learn more about this talk. Additionally, in 2010 the Schubert Center hosted a talk by Marty Beyer, PhD, a national child welfare and juvenile justice consultant, titled “Girls in Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Framework” as part of the Schubert Center Girlhood Series. Download the accompanying issue brief here.Tags:
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Announcement: Event Cancelation
10/30/2012 8:57:09 AM
Tonight's event with Justin Buchler, "Myths About Youth Voters," has been canceled due to inclement weather. An issue brief on the topic can be downloaded here. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by phone at 216.368.0540 or by email.
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Concussions in Young Athletes Are Rising Concern
10/24/2012 2:32:12 PM
Photo by Stuart Seeger, used under Creative Commons License.
In the past month, several national newspapers have run articles documenting the concerns of parents, coaches and doctors regarding the potential harm of multiple concussions sustained by children playing football and other school sports. A front page article in the New York Times on October 23 describes a Massachusetts pee wee football game in which five children sustained concussions, leading to suspensions for the coaches and referees involved. NPR documented the concerns of parents whose children, all between 6 and 8, play in a pee wee league in Texas and how leagues are writing policies aimed at reducing the risks associated with football. The LA Times describes new laws in place to prevent permanent brain injuries to student athletes who sustain concussions. In a recent editorial, Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon at Boston University and author of an upcoming book on the impact of concussions on children, describes the changes that could be made to prevent long term harm, including prohibiting tackle football before age 14 and modifying game rules to account for growing brains and bodies.
Awareness of the potential long-term effects of multiple concussions has been increasing since the deaths of several former professional athletes in 2009 were attributed to chronic traumatic encephaly (CTE), a degenerative brain condition that results from repetitive traumatic head injuries. Individuals with CTE show symptoms similar to Parkinson’s as well as psychosis, depression and dementia. Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephaly was founded in 2008 to research the condition. The Sports Legacy Institute, which partnered with Boston University to found the Center, provides education on reducing the risk of brain injury in all athletes.
Football is not the only sport that has received attention for its potential danger. A recent NPR article highlighted the dangers of increasingly acrobatic cheerleading moves. Because it is not recognized by Title IX as a sport, cheerleading does not have the same rules and regulations as recognized high school sports, putting students in danger of practicing high risk moves without appropriate coaching or materials. Cantu’s editorial highlighted changes that could reduce the risk of head injuries in soccer, ice hockey, softball, baseball, lacrosse and field hockey.
On January 24, 2013, Schubert Center Faculty Associates Susanna Briskin, MD, and Amanda Weiss Kelly, MD, will be giving a talk titled “Lessons from the Playing Field: The Impact and Scope of Pediatric Sports Injuries” as part of the Schubert Center Conversation series. Both Briskin and Weiss Kelly currently practice in the Pediatric Sports Medicine Department of the University Hospitals Case Medical Center. Briskin also recently co-authored the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for home trampoline use. Learn more about Briskin and Weiss Kelly’s upcoming talk.
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SRCD Report Examines Child Poverty and Policy
10/17/2012 12:40:26 PM
Photo by RMLondon, used under Creative Commons license. The rate of child poverty has been steadily increasing since 2000, with 21% of American children living in poverty in 2012, according to three New York University researchers in a recent Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Child Policy Report. The report describes sources of upward pressure that increase child poverty as well as sources of downward pressure that decrease child poverty. Declining work rates for men, stagnant wages for low-wage workers, increasing rates of children raised in single-parent households and rising gaps in educational attainment all exert upward pressure increasing child poverty, while the system of antipoverty programs exert downward pressure decreasing child poverty. Case Western Reserve University is committed to addressing and ameliorating child poverty at the local level in Northeast Ohio. The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences examines the impact of and policy responses to poverty in Northeast Ohio. Several Schubert Center Faculty Associates are also affiliated with the Center on Urban Poverty, including Claudia Coulton, David Crampton, Robert Fischer, David Miller, Anna Maria Santiago, and Elizabeth Tracy. Claudia Coulton was recently featured on Cleveland’s ideastream discussing the high rate of child poverty in Cuyahoga County. This March, Ariel Kalil, the director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy at the University of Chicago, will be giving a talk titled “The Long Reach of Early Childhood Poverty” as part of the Schubert Conversation Series, Child Well-Being and Healthy Engagement. Kalil has over fifteen years of experience researching the effect of parents’ socioeconomic status on child development and parental behavior. Find out more information about this event.Download a copy of the SRCD Child Policy Report. Tags:
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Schubert Center Co-Hosts Event on Race Equity in Child Welfare
10/17/2012 12:37:35 PM
On Thursday October 11, the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS) and the Schubert Center presented “Continuing the Conversation and a Call to Action: Understanding the Role of Poverty in Race Equity in Child Welfare.” Presenters included DCFS director Patricia Rideout, JD, Barbara Needell, PhD ,of the Center for Social Services Research at the University of California at Berkeley, David Crampton, PhD, of the MSASS Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, and Donna L. Parrish, MA, LPC, of the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The event examined the causes of and solutions for the disproportionate number of minority children in the foster care system when compared to the proportion of minority children in the population as a whole. While it is clear that a disproportionate percentage of minority children are involved in the child welfare system, it is unclear whether this is due to bias within the system or due to minority children’s increased exposure to risk factors such as poverty. A review of current research can be downloaded here.
Speakers for the event traced the historical origins of higher rates of African American families living in poverty, data on child poverty from Cuyahoga county and how the child welfare system can better serve minority children. Needell spoke about the various factors that create racial disparities, including higher rates of poverty, lower rates of homeownership, racial bias within the system, and lower access to services and healthcare systems. She then described how many of these factors can be traced back to the racial bias in local implementation of the GI Bill, which increased racial inequalities by aiding white veterans with buying homes and building family wealth while veterans of color were largely excluded. Needell also presented the findings of a study following all children born in California until they were age five. The study found that the disproportionality of minority children in the child welfare system is due to the disproportionate number of minority children in poverty. These findings suggest that efforts to decrease the disproportionality in the child welfare must first focus on reducing the disparate numbers of minority children in poverty.
Crampton spoke about the origins of disproportionality in child poverty in Cuyahoga County. He described how school closings in Shaker Heights focused mainly in low-income area, reducing low-income parents’ ability to be easily involved with their children’s schools. This led to African American students having much lower graduation rates than white students. Crampton also discussed the importance of providing cultural competency training that teaches providers how to interact with families of different cultures.
After Needell and Crampton’s presentations, Parrish led attendees in a call to action to define the most important next step in reducing disproportionality in the child welfare system. Responses included providing families easy access to necessary services prior to when a complaint is filed and improving providers’ understanding of cultural differences in the communities they serve. Groups discussed the areas that should be considered to better serve children and families, including family structure and dynamics, the generational effects of poverty and abuse, improving engagement of fathers and examining biases within the system. Participants also identified barriers such as a lack of financial resources for kinship caregivers, difficulties preventing parents with felony convictions from obtaining housing and services, and cultural biases. Download a PDF of Barbara Needell’s and David Crampton's presentations.Download an annotated bibliography of research in child welfare disproportionality and disparity. Tags:
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U.S. Birth Rate Hits Historic Low
10/5/2012 7:01:34 AM
Data released this week by the CDC shows that in 2011 the U.S. birth rate has hit a historic low at 63.2 births per 1,000 women between 15 and 44, a 1% decline since 2010. The birth rate for teenagers in the U.S., which has been declining since 1991, has also reached a record low of 31.3 births per 1000 women between 15 and 19, an 8% decline since 2011. Birth rates varied among several demographic groups. The birth rate among Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, and American Indian/Alaska Native women all declined from their 2010 rates, while other race and ethnic groups maintained the same rate. Additionally, the birth rate for unmarried women declined by 3%, while the birth rate for married women rose 1%. The CDC data reflects the increasing age of mothers. Birth rates for women in their 20s declined, while birth rates for women 35 to 44 increased. The findings also bring good news for children with decreases in preterm births and low birthweight babies. Experts attribute the overall declining birth rate to reduced desire to have children due to the weak economy, though the teen birth rate likely dropped due to increased use of contraceptives. However, the overall birth rate declined only 1% in 2011, compared to 2 to 3% in previous years, which may suggest the effects of the recession are declining. Read the CDC report.Read a Washington Post article on the findings.Tags:
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Schubert Conversation: Risky Business in the Move to High School
10/3/2012 8:50:54 AM
On September 27, the CWRU Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN) partnered with the Schubert Center for the conversation, "Risky Business in the Move to High School: Protective Effects of Parents and Personal Assets.” PRCHN Associate Director Erika Trapl, PhD, and Community Initiatives Manager Jean Frank, MPH, presented an analysis of the 2010-2011 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The YRBS is a bi-annual nationwide survey of middle school and high school students about drug and alcohol use, sexual intercourse, and parental monitoring, that allows for locality-specific modifications. Rather than focusing simply on prevalence of specific behavior changes over time, the PRCHN team focuses on the protective factors of personal assets and parental monitoring in reducing risk behaviors.
The data from the 2010-2011 YRBS mark the transition from 8th to 9th grade as a particularly vulnerable period for increased risk behaviors, such as alcohol use, among students. Their analyses suggest that a student’s perceived high parental monitoring coupled with strong personal assets (such as extra-curricular engagement) provide the most significant protection against risky behaviors. Thus, fostering good parent-child communication may be a key to raising students’ awareness of their parents’ monitoring.
To understand these findings from a local perspective, Shaker Heights High School Principal Michael Griffith and Shaker Heights Health Director and CWRU Master of Public Health program Director Scott Frank, MD, joined the discussion as community respondents. They discussed the city and school district’s experiences moving from punitive-only approaches to address risk behavior to engaging parents, coaches, school social workers and other adults to assist youth in preventing risky behaviors.
Download the accompanying policy brief for further discussion and policy implications of the Cuyahoga County YRBS.
Download the presentation from the talk.
Download a summary of Shaker Prevention Coalition.
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Reducing Sugary Drinks Has a Significant Impact on Child Obesity, Studies Find
9/24/2012 2:17:28 PM
Photo by Dano, used under Creative Commons license.
A study out this month in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has found that replacing sugary drinks such as soda with water or sugar-free alternatives has a significant impact on calorie consumption and weight gain among adolescents. Researchers in Boston followed 225 high schoolers for two years. During the first year, half the participants, the intervention group, received free home deliveries of bottled water and diet soda, while the other half, the control group, received a $50 gift card to a local grocery store. The parents of the group receiving calorie-free beverage deliveries also participated in monthly motivational calls encouraging reduced consumption of sugary beverages. At the end of the first year, all interventions ended in order to determine long term effects of the intervention. Both groups reported their dietary intake and had their BMIs measured at three points: the beginning of the study, after year one, and after year two at the end of the study.
After the year one intervention phase, the intervention group gained an average of 3.5 pounds, while the controls gained an average of 7.7 pounds. Participants receiving calorie-free beverage deliveries had reduced their sugary beverage consumption to nearly 0, while the other group’s sugary beverage consumption remained the same as baseline. The intervention group’s sugary beverage consumption also remained lower than the control group a year after the intervention ended. The intervention group’s overall calorie intake was also reduced.
A second study also in NEJM found that the impact of replacing sugary drinks with soda was also significant among younger children. Researchers in Amsterdam followed 641 children between 4 and 11 over 18 months. Half of the children were given a sugary beverage to consume during their mid-morning break, while the other half received a sugar-free beverage. While over a quarter of the participants dropped out, the researchers were still able to find a significant difference in the amount of weight gained by those consuming the sugary beverage (16.2 lb) instead of the sugar free beverage (13.9 lb).
These findings come just a week after New York City became the first U.S. city to limit access to sodas, with a ban on all sodas over 16 oz. Though the results of the ban are yet to be determined, these findings suggest that limiting children’s consumption of sugary beverages may be an important tool for reducing childhood obesity.
Read the first study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Read the second study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Read a New York Times article summarizing the findings.
Read a Time article about the findings.
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Special Issue of Child Development Highlights Research on Immigrant Children
9/19/2012 10:42:41 AM
Photo of naturalization ceremony held at the Grand Canyon, by Grand Canyon NPS.
The September 2012 issue of Child Development includes a special section featuring research about immigrant children and the children of immigrants. The section includes fifteen articles ranging in topics from acculturation and family roles among Mexican American adolescents to religious transmission among Moroccan-Dutch adolescents and their parents.
Several of the findings highlighted in the issue have important policy implications. An article by Suet-Ling Pong and Nancy S. Landale found that parents’ education level prior to immigration is the most important factor in their children’s achievement. A study by Christia Spears Brown and Hui Chu determined that school’s promotion of multiculturalism and teachers’ attitudes about diversity had a significant impact on Latino immigrant children’s perception of discrimination and development of positive ethnic identities.
The work of Ariel Kalil, PhD, professor at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, was also featured in the issue. Kalil will be giving a lecture, titled “The Long Reach of Early Childhood Poverty,” this March as part of the Schubert Center Conversation Series. Her article in Child Development examines the impact of parents’ precarious immigration status on the health of their low-income, American-born children.
Read Child Development (subscription may be required).
Read ScienceDaily’s coverage of the study co-authored by Kalil.
Read ScienceDaily’s coverage of a study finding that children of immigrants and children who immigrate at an early age may have better academic and behavioral outcomes than native-born Americans.
Read ScienceDaily’s coverage of a study finging that immigrant parents’ education before migrating is the strongest predictor for their children’s academic achievement.
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Overweight Teens Eat Less But Weigh More, Study Finds
9/12/2012 2:33:45 PM
Photo by USDA, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.
A study published Monday September 10 in Pediatrics finds that while younger overweight or obese children report higher calorie intake than their healthy-weight peers, older overweight or obese children report lower calorie intake than their healthy-weight peers. Asheley Cockrell Skinnder, PhD, Michael J. Steiner, MD, and Eliana M. Perrin, MD, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2008. NHANES surveys a representative group of the U.S. population on an annual basis to gain information about various demographic and health-related topics, including physical measurements. NHANES measures daily calorie intake through two separate 24 food consumption recalls. The researchers then used BMI data from participants to compare the food consumption habits of children and teens with their weight status. The findings were surprising, with overweight and obese children under 8 reporting only slightly higher calorie intake than their healthy-weight or underweight peers. Beginning at age 6 for girls and 10 for boys, however, overweight and obese children reported consuming less calories than their healthy-weight or underweight peers. The authors give three potential explanations for these findings. The first is that when children have increased caloric intake at a young age and become overweight, the obesity becomes self-perpetuating and kids tend to stay within the same weight category in later childhood and adolescence due to metabolic changes. The second is that overweight and obese children may have lower levels of physical activity than healthy-weight children, and thus need fewer calories to maintain body weight. Finally, they consider that these findings might be skewed due to underreporting of caloric intake among overweight and obese children, which has been found in previous studies. The study suggests that the key focus of programs preventing childhood obesity should be very early in a child’s life, with a focus on providing infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with age appropriate caloric intake and encouraging physical activity. The findings also suggest that helping older children and adolescents who are already overweight or obese may be more difficult than previously thought, as they would have to eat significantly less than healthy-weight peers. Several Schubert Center faculty associates conduct research on childhood obesity. Ellen Rome, MD, MPH studies eating disorders and obesity among adolescents. Leona Cuttler, MD, researches childhood obesity and diabetes. Elaine Borawski, PhD, studies physical activity related interventions aimed at preventing or reducing childhood and adult obesity. Read the study. Read an NPR summary of the study.Read ScienceDaily’s report on the study.Tags:
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Download our 2011-2012 annual report!
9/11/2012 9:11:43 AM
The 2011-2012 Schubert Center Annual Report, Connecting Communities in Challenging Times, is now available. Download the report here or pick up a copy at one of our upcoming events!
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Schubert Center Faculty Associate Accomplishments
8/31/2012 7:41:36 AM
The Schubert Center extends congratulations to faculty associates recently honored by the university and featured in national media.
Faculty Associate Claudia Coulton, PhD, director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School for Applied Social Sciences, was one of five faculty members named Distinguished University Professor on August 29. The Distinguished University Professor is the highest honor bestowed upon professors at Case Western Reserve University and recognizes the outstanding contributions of full-time, tenured professors with exceptional academic records of research, scholarship, teaching and service. Coulton was chosen for the distinction due to her record of turning research findings into concrete policy changes that improve the lives of people living in impoverished areas. She is currently involved in the Cuyahoga and Lorain County branches of the National Children’s Study. She has previously given talks at the Schubert Center on the impact of foreclosures on children and families and children’s participation in out-of-school activities.
Read more about Claudia Coulton and the title of Distinguished University Professor.
 Faculty Associate Sandra Russ, PhD, was featured in an advice column in this month’s Wired Magazine. She responded to a question about a parent’s concern that their child enjoys playing the villain when playing superheroes. Russ emphasized that children often use pretend play to express aggression and that this kind of play can help children learn to process angry emotions. Russ specializes in the area of pretend play and child development. She recently co-edited a book on the topic, titled Play in Clinical Practice: Evidence-Based Approaches. Tags:
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Sweet Potato Swap Improves African Children's Nutrition
8/23/2012 1:14:16 PM
Photo by Carl E. Lewis, used under Creative Commons License. A new campaign by HarvestPlus in Mozambique and Uganda aims to reduce vitamin A deficiency among pregnant women and children by a simple switch to orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, which are higher in vitamin A than the commonly used white- or yellow-fleshed varieties. Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent among pregnant women and children in developing countries and is responsible for 6% of all deaths of children under 5 and 500,000 cases of child blindness every year. A previous study using capsule supplements of vitamin A every six months reduced deaths among malnourished children by 25%. Because providing supplements to people in remote areas can be very expensive, HarvestPlus began to look into biofortification, a means of providing essential micronutrients, such as vitamin A, zinc, and iron, through the staple foods that make up much of the poor’s diets in the developing world. The organization began encouraging farmers to grow the orange varieties in 2007.The campaign was highly successful, with over 60% of farmers in the campaign area growing orange sweet potatoes by 2009. In Mozambique, sweet potatoes became the third most important food in young children’s diets, after maize and rice. In both regions, daily vitamin A intake among children 6 to 35 months and women increased dramatically compared to a control. In Uganda, inadequate vitamin A intake decreased from 50% to 12% among children 12 to 35 months who were no longer breastfeeding, a group a high risk of vitamin A deficiency. Harvest Plus’s future projects to improve micronutrient intake include introducing pearl millet enriched with iron in India and wheat and rice enriched with zinc to Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Another biofortification effort, The Golden Rice Project, is developing a variety of rice rich in vitamin A. Read an NPR article about the campaign. Read HarvestPlus’s press release about the sweet potato swap. Read more about the campaign. View an infographic about the impact of switching from white or yellow sweet potatoes to orange sweet potatoes.Tags:
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Ad Campaign Encourages Low Income Children to Brush their Teeth
8/14/2012 1:51:29 PM
Copyright The Advertising Council, 2012
A new ad campaign from the Advertising Council wants to help children learn to brush their teeth for a full two minutes. The campaign, which is directed at parents and caregivers in low income families, stresses the importance of having children brush their teeth for two minutes twice a day. To help encourage brushing, the Ad Council has teamed up with popular children’s television networks, Cartoon Network and My Kazoo, to provide 14 two minute videos that kids can watch while brushing their teeth. The campaign is aimed at low income families after a report by the CDC showed that oral disease disproportionately affects low income children. Children in these families have almost twice the number of decayed teeth as children in the general population.
The campaign encourages parents to have children watch the videos on smart phones or other mobile devices while brushing their teeth. The CEO of the Ad Council feels that this suggestion will be widely adopted because smart phones have become ubiquitous, and they provide low income families with easy access to the Internet. Additionally, the campaign has chosen not to focus on the pain or fear that can be associated with oral health care. The Ad Council hopes that parents will pay more attention to these types of positive messages and encourage their children to brush their teeth.
Related research from USC that was just released also supports the importance of this ad campaign. In the study researchers tracked the oral health and academic performance of low income children in Los Angeles. Poor oral health not only disproportionately affects low income children, but researchers were also able to show that poor oral health can lead to poor attendance records and poor academic achievement.
Although oral health is a serious problem for low income children, this new ad campaign has received mixed results from public health officials. While some experts feel that the ad campaign is a good start, they feel that a focus on brushing techniques could improve the message. Others also feel that low income parents may be stressed for time and playing the videos could become a burden.
Schubert Center Faculty Associate and Chair of the Department of Community Dentistry, James Lalumandier works to provide children with access to oral health care. Click here to download a policy brief on his work with the the Healthy Smiles Sealant Program.
Read more about the campaign at the New York Times.
Read more about the study on oral health and academic achievement at Science Daily.
Visit the 2min2x campaign website.
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CDF Launches "Be Careful What You Cut" Campaign
8/8/2012 1:36:35 PM
Copyright Children’s Defense Fund, 2012.
Be Careful What You Cut, a new campaign from the Children’s Defense Fund, depicts the far-reaching consequences of cutting programs that benefit children in their first years of life. Three advertisements, including the one shown above, highlight the impact of cuts to early education, health and food benefits, and tax credits. The images can be used for public service advertisements in newspapers and magazines across the country. The campaign also includes a series of infographics intended for social media sharing, such as Facebook’s “cover photo” feature.
Copyright Children’s Defense Fund, 2012.
The campaign was launched this July at the CDF National Conference, Pursuing Justice for Children and the Poor with Urgency and Persistence, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Schubert Center Assistant Director Sarah Robinson joined more than 3,500 people and some 2,000 youth from across the country at the four-day event. Notable presenters included author, poet and activist Maya Angelou, author Michelle Alexander, Policy Link CEO Angela Glover Blackwell, friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights leader James Lawson, Harlem Children's Zone President Geoffry Canada, and others. Click here to learn more about the conference.
Copyright Children’s Defense Fund, 2012.
Previous Schubert Center talks have highlighted the importance of funding early childhood programs. In 2010, James Heckman, PhD, the 2000 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, spoke about the economics of investing in early childhood education. A video of Heckman’s lecture can be viewed here and slides can be downloaded here.
Visit the Be Careful What You Cut campaign page.
Visit the Children’s Defense Fund’s website.
Read a news article about the campaign from the New York Times.
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Student Research Opportunity
8/7/2012 10:29:12 AM
Dr. Elizabeth Diekroger is looking for student volunteers to assist in conducting structured interviews to examine barriers to behavioral health care for low-income families. If you are interested please contact her at elizabeth.diekroger@uhhospitals.org.
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Report Shows Improvement in Healthcare and Education, Decline in Financial Well-Being
7/31/2012 12:34:12 PM
Infographic from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a picture of current child well-being in the United States. The report highlights four domains of well-being: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. This year’s report shows that there have been steady improvements in the area of health and education, despite decreases in economic well-being. Nearly all the key indicators used to determine health and educational well-being improved, including the percentage of children with health insurance and the percentage of high school students graduating on time. However, all four economic indicators worsened, including the percentage of children in poverty and the percentage of children whose parents lack secure employment.
A number of disparities in the well-being of minority children are evident in the report. The percentages of children in poverty for African-American (38%), American Indian (35%) and Hispanic (35%) children are all more than twice that of non-Hispanic white children (13%). African-American (84%), Hispanic (82%), and American Indian (81%) fourth-graders are much more likely than non-Hispanic white fourth-graders (58%) to be not proficient in reading. Among eighth-graders, African-American (87%), American Indian (83%) and Hispanic (80%) children are more likely than non-Hispanic white children to be not proficient in math.
The report also ranks states on the four domains described above using four key indicators for each domain. Overall, Ohio is ranked 27th. In the domain of economic well-being, Ohio ranked 30th due to increases in the percentages of children in poverty, of children whose parents lack secure employment, of children living in households with a high housing cost burden, and of teens not in school and not working. In the domain of education, Ohio ranked 18th due to decreases in the percentages of children not attending preschool, eighth graders not proficient in math, and high school students not graduating on time. In the domain of health, Ohio ranked 24th, due to increases in the percentage of low birthweight babies, in the percentage of children without health insurance, in child and teen deaths, and in the percentage of teens who abuse alcohol or drugs. In the domain of family and community, Ohio ranked 32nd due to increases in the percentages of children in single-parent families and children living in high poverty areas, although the percentage of children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma decreased. Key indicators for Cuyahoga County echo state trends.
Visit the 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book homepage.
Read the entire report.
View the national profile sheet.
View Ohio’s profile sheet.
View more infographics on the findings from the report.
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Youth Violence, Safety & Well-Being
What Is Working?
Youth Violence Online Forum
7/31/2012 6:31:45 AM
July 31, 2012 to August 2, 2012
Join Schubert Center Faculty Associate Patrick Kanary and Schubert Center Child Policy Director Gabriella Celeste as well as other community leaders on July 31 in a three-day online forum on youth violence, safety and well-being hosted by the Civic Commons and Social Venture Partners. The forum is the continuation of a dialogue begun earlier this year about the challenge of youth violence and innovative programs that are making a difference in Northeast Ohio. The online forum aims to include the voices of young people and bring their experiences to the discussion of how to improve youth safety.
This event is presented by Civic Commons and Social Venture Partners. It is posted here as an event of interest to the Schubert Center community.
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CDC Reports Rise in Whooping Cough, Urges Vaccination
7/25/2012 12:28:23 PM
Photo from CDC’s Public Health Image Library. A recent CDC report profiles the rapid rise in rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The Washington State Secretary of Health has declared a pertussis epidemic in response to the 1,300% increase in cases since 2011. National pertussis rates have doubled since 2011, leading to the highest incidence of the disease in 50 years although rates have been rising since the mid-1990s. Particularly worrisome is the rise in pertussis among children vaccinated for the disease, which may be due to the decreased long-term effectiveness of a newer version of the vaccine introduced in the 1990s. There have been 9 deaths due to pertussis since the beginning of 2012. Early in the disease, pertussis has symptoms similar to the common cold, including runny nose, congestion, sneezing, mild cough and mild fever. Within 1 to 2 weks, severe coughing fits begin, which can last several weeks. The cough in children is distinguished by a whooping sound. Infants may also have apnea, which is a pause in breathing. Infants are at highest risk of complications, and half of infants with pertussis have to be hospitalized. In response to the rising rates of pertussis in Washington and across the country, the CDC recommends that all children remain up to date with the combined diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccination, which requires a total of 5 doses before age 6. Children and teens should receive one dose of a booster vaccine, called Tdap. For adults, the CDC recommends replacing the tetanus booster given every 10 years with a Tdap booster, which also protects against pertussis. Vaccination is particularly important for families with and caregivers of new infants, who should be vaccinated two weeks before coming into contact with the infant. Pregnant women who have never been vaccinated should receive one dose of Tdap anytime between the late second trimester and the immediate postpartum period. Although the vaccine is not 100% effective, vaccinated individuals have much milder cases of the illness. Read an article about the rise in pertussis at the Wall Street Journal. Read an article about the recommendations in the Washington Post. Read the CDC’s information page on pertussis. Tags:
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Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling is a Win for Children
7/6/2012 9:13:43 AM
On June 28th, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature law approved by congress in 2010. Opponents of the law argued that the individual mandate, which requires all individuals to purchase health insurance or be charged a financial penalty by the government, was unconstitutional. However, in the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts interpreted the individual mandate as a tax, which is permitted by the constitution. Although the law was ruled constitutional, the Supreme Court did disagree with the Obama Administration’s argument that the mandate was justified by Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. The court also limited the law’s ability to expand the Medicaid program. Under the original mandate, states would lose all Medicaid funding if they did not agree to the expansion. Seven of the nine justices ruled that this was not constitutional. Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissented on this ruling. As a result of the ruling, states can now choose to opt-out of the Medicaid expansion without losing the funding they currently receive for Medicaid. Despite some disagreements by the court, the Affordable Care Act survived largely intact, which proponents of the law see as a victory for the millions of Americans who do not have access to affordable health care.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act is especially important for providing affordable healthcare to the nation’s children. Insurers will not be able to deny benefits to children with existing medical problems. Also, parents will be able to extend their policies to cover their children until the age of 26. The ruling maintains critical provisions which would positively impact low-income families. The Children’s Health Insurance Program will continue to be financed, which provides health insurance to children whose families fall in the gap between Medicaid coverage and the ability to afford private health insurance.
Read more about the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act at the New York Times.
Read more about how the Affordable Care Act decision is being praised by children's advocates.
Read about how the Affordable Care Act decision can help children with mental illness.
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Supreme Court Makes Landmark Ruling on Life Imprisonment for Juveniles
7/5/2012 1:19:18 PM
On June 25th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles under the age of 17 are unconstitutional. The court’s ruling came after hearing arguments on two cases, Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, which involved fourteen-year-olds sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of a homicide offense. “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features — among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences,” wrote Justice Kagan, who authored the majority decision. “It prevents taking into account the family and home environment that surrounds him — and from which he cannot usually extricate himself — no matter how brutal or dysfunctional.” The new ruling draws on the precedent of two Supreme Court cases. Roper v. Simmons eliminated the death penalty for juveniles, and Sullivan v. Florida ruled that sentencing juveniles to life without parole for crimes not involving a homicide was unconstitutional. Both of these recent decisions relied on critical social science evidence, including studies regarding adolescent brain development, to conclude that juveniles should not be beyond the opportunity for redemption.
Currently there are more than 2,000 juveniles serving life sentences under the mandatory sentencing laws that were struck down by the court in this decision. The court’s ruling will now require lower courts to conduct new sentencing hearings. At these hearings judges will have to consider children’s life circumstances, individual character, and the circumstances of the crime before issuing a new sentence.
Schubert Center Policy Director Gabriella Celeste played a key role in authoring the juvenile justice sections of House Bill 86, which reformed the sentencing and treatment of juvenile offenders in Ohio, and was signed into law by Governor John Kasich in 2011. Read more about the bill. As part of the 2011-2012 Schubert Conversation Series, Faculty Associate Patrick Kanary and The George Gund Foundation's Marcia Egbert joined Celeste to discuss the dynamic collaboration between practitioners, advocates, policy makers, researchers and funders that led to the bill's passage. Download the presentation.
Read a summary of Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabama.
Read New York Times and NPR coverage of the case.
Read the Plain Dealer’s piece on how this ruling could affect two cases in Ohio.
For information on other juvenile justice-related topics, download the Schubert Center issue and policy brief on Girls in the Juvenile Justice System.
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"Sometimes Hope Is Enough" Addresses Issues of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
7/2/2012 9:10:03 AM
On Thursday April 19, the Schubert Center collaborated with Karamu House, Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences to host "Sometimes Hope Is Enough," an original play by Michael Oatman, and a discussion by a panel of experts on youth in foster care. "Sometimes Hope Is Enough" follows the story of four siblings who have been in the foster care system, as they say goodbye to their oldest brother Thunder. The play, which is based on interviews with youth currently in and who have recently left the foster care system, was commissioned by Partners for Forever Families to provide a bridge between the arts, research, practice and policy and educate people about the issues of children leaving foster care. Each year in Cuyahoga County, 200 youth turn 18 and "age out" of the foster care system without being adopted, leaving many without essential support, resources and connections.
After the performance, community members were invited upstairs for refreshments and to view the Moving Hearts Gallery and Digital Stories, a collaboration between DCFS and Adoption Network Cleveland. The gallery showcases profiles of children currently seeking adoptive families.
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Extreme Preemies Likely to Grow into Happy, Healthy Adolescents
6/13/2012 12:39:41 PM
A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics, conducted by Faculty Associate and Professor of Pediatrics Maureen Hack, found that children with extreme prematurity will grow into happy teens who report good health. About 69% of children that were born under 2.2 lbs and were tracked for the study reported that their health was good to excellent. This was similar to the rate that was reported by adolescents who were a healthy weight at birth.
The study tracked 168 extremely underweight infants that were admitted to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital between 1992 and 1995. These infants were matched with 115 normal birthweight children for socioeconomic status, age, and gender. The children were then tracked over time and asked to fill out questionnaires about their health at age 8 and age 14. Participants were not only asked about their overall health, but they were also asked questions about their sexual health, drug and alcohol use, academic performance, and their interactions with their peers. Another important finding from the study showed that children who were extreme preemies at birth were less likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use and sexual intercourse, as adolescents. These children were also less likely to engage in physical activity.
Although extreme preemies do have higher rates of learning disabilities and problems with their health than children born at a normal weight, Professor Hack stresses that the research is important because it reveals how these children feel about themselves as adolescents. "There is this whole question of whether we should be keeping these very premature babies alive," said Hack, "It is important to consider how they feel about themselves, not just how other people feel about them." The most important message to take away from the study results is that these adolescents feel good about themselves despite their health problems.
Hack has previously researched and published about the long term outcomes for premature and low birth weight babies. Click here to read a policy brief on her work. Several other Schubert Center Faculty Associates also study the effects and outcomes of low birth weight and prematurity. Professor of Pediatrics Gerry Taylor has researched the type and extent of educational issues among children with extreme prematurity. Click here to read a policy brief on his work. Deputy Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lynn Singer has researched the parenting of very low birth weight infants. Click here to read a policy brief on her work.
Read more about Maureen Hack's study here.
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Child Policy Director Advocates for Incarcerated Youth
6/8/2012 9:16:00 AM
The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently published an op-ed piece written by Schubert Center Child Policy Director Gabriella Celeste. Professor Celeste’s article titled, Housing young criminals in adult prisons may put public at risk, addressed the issues surrounding putting juvenile offenders in the adult criminal justice system. Read the full article on cleveland.com.
Professor Celeste currently teaches the Child Policy and Experiential Learning in Child Policy courses, and oversees the Mann Child Policy Externship Program. Her research interests include child policy and juvenile justice.
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Faculty Associate Brian Gran Wins Fulbright Award
6/8/2012 9:13:45 AM
Faculty Associate and Associate Professor of Sociology Brian Gran, is the recipient of a Fulbright award to study child policy in Reykjavik, Iceland. Professor Gran’s previous work involved reviewing treaties and other documents to assess how different countries protect children. The Fulbright award will allow him to study some of these policies in practice. He will focus on two projects that will look at the Ombudsman for children in Iceland, and he will examine how Iceland’s laws are used to designate private and public social responsibilities.
Read more about Professor Gran’s research interests and Fulbright funded research in The Daily.
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Family Type, Resources Affect Academic Performance
6/8/2012 8:51:35 AM
Recent trends in the United States have seen greater numbers of children experiencing family structural transitions or living in alternative family structures. Researchers are interested in learning how these trends can impact children’s academic growth. In a new study in the Journal of Marriage and Family, researchers from Ohio State University and Walter Reed Medical Center examined data from 8,000 children from three categories of conventional families and three categories of alternative families, and tracked their academic growth from kindergarten to fifth grade. The results of the study are important because they compare academic growth based on three different variables: family structure, family transition, and financial resources. Previous research in this area has not combined these variables to assess their joint impact on children’s educational trajectories.
The results of the study include a number of interesting findings. First, children in conventional two biological parent households and children in non-disrupted stepfamilies did better academically than children in non-disrupted single parent households and children in disrupted two biological parent households. Also, children in stable single parent families had better academic growth than children in unstable alternative family structures. The study findings also highlight the role of finances and access to resources in determining a child’s academic growth. Income and parental education when a child started kindergarten had a significant, positive relationship with children’s outcomes in math. Also, although children in alternative or disrupted families had slower academic growth, this could be partially or completely attributed to family finances and resources at the start of kindergarten. Finally, if family finances were controlled for then there was almost no difference in academic outcomes between children in non-disrupted conventional families and children in non-disrupted alternative families.
Several Schubert Center Faculty Associates are involved in research on family influences on child development. Amy Prezworski examines how family disruptions and interactions can affect childhood anxiety. Gerald Mahoney studies family and parental influences on children's social and emotional well-being. James Spilsbury studies how the social and physical features of a home can affect the health of children who have been exposed to domestic violence.
Read more about the findings from the effects of family structure study here.
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Lower Blood Lead Limit Considered, While Cuts to Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs Impact Cleveland Children - Update
6/8/2012 8:15:37 AM
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention is proposing lowering the acceptable blood lead limit at the same time as federal budget cuts are reducing Cuyahoga county's ability to fight childhood lead poisoning. The current blood lead limit is 10 micrograms/deciliter, but the CDC is considering lowering that limit to 5 micrograms/deciliter. Any children under 6 who test positive for elevated blood lead receive mandatory treatment. Elevated blood levels in young children can result in lower IQ, hearing loss, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and violent behavior. Children can be exposed to lead through paint in homes built before 1978, lead plumbing, and lead contaminated soil. The Obama administration's plans to merge the National Asthma Control Program and the Health Homes/Lead Poisoning Prevention Program into the new Health Home and Community Environments Program have reduced the funding of the two agencies by half, leading to concerns from local lead poisoning prevention programs. In recent years, Cuyahoga County has received money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce lead in homes, but has not received any federal funding for lead screening programs. In 2010, Cuyahoga County has the highest elevated blood lead level prevalence in Ohio, with 4.19% of children having blood lead levels above the current 10 micrograms/deciliter limits. Of 155,765 Ohio children screened for lead poisoning, 1.3% (2,042) had elevated blood levels according to the current limits. Under the new recommendations, an additional 13,394 (8.5%) Ohio children would be considered to have elevated blood lead levels. Read The Atlantic's coverage of the new blood lead level limits.Read The Plain Dealer's article on how new funding impacts Cleveland programs.Read about lead in the environment and lead poisoning prevention from the EPA.Read about lead poisoning prevention and leas poisoning surveillance from the CDC.
UPDATE:
On May 16, 2012 the CDC officially lowered the acceptable blood level limit from 10 micrograms/deciliter to 5 micrograms/deciliter. The new standards will be applicable to children under the age of 6.
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Children’s Imaginations Have Increased Over Time Despite Decrease in Playtime
6/6/2012 9:14:28 AM
A 2007 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that children today have less time for unstructured play and fewer opportunities to use their imagination. Instead of play, their lives are marked by a more hurried lifestyle and a focus on academics or enrichment activities. Despite this decrease in unstructured play time, psychologists at Case Western Reserve University suggest that children’s imaginations aren’t suffering as a result. In an article published in the Creativity Research Journal, Faculty Associate and psychology professor Sandra Russ and doctoral student and Brisky Fellowship recipient Jessica Dillon analyzed 14 play studies that were conducted in Dr. Russ’ lab between 1985 and 2008. They found that although the amount of playtime has decreased over the years, children’s use of imagination in play has increased significantly over time. The focus of Dr. Russ’ research are the effects of pretend play on child development.. Research in her lab has shown that children who use their imagination and express emotion during play have enhanced problem solving skills, creativity, and emotion regulation. In their analysis Russ and Dillon sought to examine if having less time for unstructured play affected the processes in play that influence cognition and emotional development. They found that even though children have less time to play, the cognitive processes that occur in play are still continuing to develop. Dr. Russ believes believes these results demonstrate the resiliency of children and their inherent need for unstructured play time. She also suggests that video games or the increased complexity of the world that children live in may be contributing to this increase in imagination. Future research will need to investigate if expressing emotion and imagination in play is still as important in helping children develop creativity. Although children have less time for unstructured play, Dr. Russ still encourage parents to find time for it, because it facilitates cognitive and emotional development. Read more at Science Daily. Tags:
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Race to the Top Announces 2012 Fund Competition
5/29/2012 12:57:28 PM
On May 22, the Obama Administration announced the new criteria for the 2012 Race to the Top program. This newest phase invites school districts to compete for $400 million in federal grant money. School districts that apply for funding are expected to present comprehensive plans for individualized and personalized classroom instruction that focuses on closing achievement gaps and preparing students for college or a career. The new program aims to address education problems at the classroom level. In order to receive funding, districts must develop personalized education methods, based on a student's own pace and interests. "With this competition, we are inviting districts to show us how they can personalize education for a set of students in their schools," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "We need to take classroom learning beyond a one-size-fits-all model and bring it into the 21st century."
The Department of Education is seeking public comment on the proposed competition rules through June 8. These comments will be used to revise the proposed program criteria. Official applications will then be made available to school districts in July. The administration plans to announce 15 to 20 winners in December. Each winning school district will receive a four year grant worth between 15 and 25 million dollars.
President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative started in 2009 and has provided 46 states with more than $4 billion in federal funds to overhaul their public education systems. Proposed changes that have been funded have sought to authorize more charter schools and rate teachers based on their students’ standardized test scores. This year’s competition is different from past years in that school districts are being asked to apply instead of states.
The program has had mixed results thus far, and it has been criticized by lawmakers and teachers alike. Many of the states that have been funded in past years have postponed their reform commitments. Republicans have criticized the program for being an unnecessary expansion of the federal role in education policy. In addition, teachers’ unions have argued that many of the strategies promoted by the Race to the Top initiative are unfounded and can be disruptive. Currently, the National Education Association supports the new focus on personalized learning, but is cautious about how this strategy will be evaluated. Despite criticism, school districts in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, and Newark have expressed interest in applying to the new program.
Read the Department of Education’s press release.
Read more about and comment on the proposal.
Read the Chicago Tribune’s coverage of the program.
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Pay-to-Play Sports are Preventing Lower-Income Kids from Participating in Athletic Programs
5/29/2012 10:44:22 AM
Photo by stevendepolo, used with Creative Commons License.
Due to budget cuts and tight funding, many school districts are cutting sports programs for middle and high school students from their budgets. As a result, they are implementing pay-to-play initiatives that charge participation fees to cover the cost of school sports. These fees are forcing many lower-income children to stop participating in school sports.
The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Children’s Health Poll recently asked a national sample of parents of middle and high school students about their children’s participation in school sports. Overall, 43% of parents reported that their child participated in sports, and 61% of those parents reported paying a pay to play fee. The poll report also notes that the participation fee is often only one of many fees that parents have to pay. This fee may not include the cost of uniforms or equipment. The average fee was $93, but 21% of parents reported having to pay over $150. Only 6% of parents reported receiving a waiver for the fee.
Substantial differences in sports participation are seen based on household income. Among lower-income families making less than $60,000 a year, only one-third reported having a teen who played sports. More than half of families with household incomes greater than $60,000 reported having a teen who played sports. Also, 1 in 5 lower-income households reported a decrease in their child’s participation in sports due to cost.
Participation in school sports is beneficial for children’s health. Children who participate in sports have been shown to have higher school achievement, lower dropout rates, reduced obesity rates, enhanced self-confidence, and better problem solving skills. The authors of the report suggest that school administrators should be cautious when cutting athletic programs from school budgets and that policies regarding waiver programs need to be reevaluated.
Schubert Center Faculty Associate, Elaine Borawski, also does research on students and physical activity. She has investigated the effectiveness of the We Run this City Youth Marathon Program, which is a school-based running program where students accumulate 25 miles of conditioning work, and complete the program by running the last 1.2 miles of the Cleveland Marathon.
Read more about the results of the NCHP poll here or watch a video summary.
At the National Children’s Health Poll’s new website, you can browse their reports, review past polls, and suggest future poll topics.
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