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August 14th, 2012 | Progress, Policy, and the Power of Good Stories
There's often no greater power in storytelling than letting youth speak for themselves about the challenges they face every day. This week, millions of Americans will be able to glimpse inside the struggles and victories of bright, talented young people who are homeless and living with the threat of deportation but refuse to give up their dreams.
Inocente is an award-winning film about an undocumented 15-year-old Latina girl determined to become an artist despite being homeless for the last 9 years. It airs August 17 at 10pm on MTV. "Eye of the Storm" is a cartoon that follows the true story of a bright college student detained as an "illegal alien" and facing deportation just months before she was set to graduate from college. It's a look at life in a way that no policy brief or report can offer. Let us know what you think.
This week, take advantage of Congressional recess to make your voice heard for policies and programs that help break the cycle of poverty, including powerful tax policies such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Care Tax Credit. The advocacy group RESULTS shows you how to make the most of the August recess through face-to-face lobby visits, town halls and candidate appearances.
We've got news, resources, and tools to help you drive the change, below.
Jan is on a well-deserved vacation this month. Julee Newberger is writing the Update.
We appreciate your feedback and ideas, send them to julee@sparkaction.org.
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Connect with SparkAction!
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| Victories for Children and Youth
Students Push for Changes in Philadelphia Discipline Policy
Student leaders and community allies voiced their opposition to the extreme measures in their school district's discipline policy -- and officials are now rewriting their policy to respond to student feedback.
Study Links Healthier Weight in Children with Strict Laws on School Snacks
A new study in Pediatrics found that adolescents in states with strict laws regulating the sale of snacks and sugary drinks in public schools gained less weight over a three-year period than those living in states with no such laws. |
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| The Importance of Good Early Nutrition
20 Actions, 20 Days: Everyone Can Help Make Breastfeeding Easier
August is National Breastfeeding Month. Support mothers by taking these 20 actions steps in 20 days as part of the United States Breastfeeding Committee's campaign.
Lactation Consultants Need to Diversify Now
The Surgeon General's 2011 Call to Action on Breastfeeding urges the field to prepare and train more international board certified lactation consultants from racial and ethnic minority groups. Womens E-News reports that there is no solid data on the number of African Americans who are board certified; the professional association needs to work on promoting diversity.
Visit SparkAction's Early Nutrition Toolkit for more information on breastfeeding and its importance to early health and development.
Videos: Babies and the Budget
In these videos, policy experts from ZERO TO THREE explore the federal budget process and cuts and what they could mean for babies' nutrition and overall development. |
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| Exploring Hunger and Poverty
Child Poverty: What We Need to Know about the Changing Stats 
The new supplemental poverty measurement changes the picture for needy U.S. children, making it appear that in some parts of the country, fewer children are in poverty than before. But is this new tool accurate in measuring basic needs? Shawn Fremstad delves into the details.
Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution examines the major causes of poverty, trends in spending to help poor and low-income Americans, and strategies Congress has adopted to fight poverty.
Ending Poverty in America: A Step-by-Step Approach
In 2010, 16 million children lived in food insecure households and 22 percent of all American children lived in poverty. In this Spotlight on Poverty blog, James Weill identifies the key steps for successfully ending hunger.
Related SparkAction commentary:
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| New Reports
The Common Core Standards: What Do They Mean for Out-of-School Time?
The expansion of the Common Core State Standards in education opens new doors for out-of-school time providers to align their work with schools. This new brief describes these standards, shares examples of programs and systems that are responding to them, and recommends how the field can coordinate efforts to improve the outcomes. 
Communications Planning for Youth-Serving Organizations: A Handbook
Reaching the Grad Nation goals to end America's dropout crisis requires communications efforts that demonstrate, clearly and powerfully, why civic and business leaders, elected officials, educators, parents, young people and others need to join this effort. Download the handbook full of practical outreach advice and listen to the webinar recording.
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| Mark Your Calendar
Webinar: Budgeting for Prosperity August 15
Join Half in Ten, Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) and others for a webinar on how we can dramatically reduce poverty, grow our economy, and restore shared prosperity, even as we deal with long-term deficit reduction.
Achieving Collective Impact: How Partnerships Change Community Outcomes September 11-13, Alexandria, VA
The Forum for Youth Investment and United Way Worldwide are presenting a three-day institute on the 10 key steps to achieving lasting community change, from problem analysis to intervention design, implementation, evaluation and improvement.
Student Promotion and Retention: What's Best for Kids? August 16th
New policies and practices focused on early reading proficiency have renewed a longstanding debate among educators about whether students who cannot read by third grade should be retained. The Center on Children and Families at Brookings will examine policy and practice in an event that will be live streamed online. |
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Caitlin Johnson and Thaddeus Ferber
SparkAction and the Forum for Youth Investment
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