CONNECTSCASEY

SUMMER 2000 IN THIS ISSUE: 2000 KIDS COUNT Emphasizes Connections; Summit Stresses Job A REPORT FROM THE Advancement; Immigrant Challenges Highlighted; Casey Family Joining Hands To ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION Serve Children Better; Resource Corner; INSITES

2000 KIDS COUNT EMPHASIZES NEED FOR CONNECTIONS Each year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation paints a statistical portrait of how children are faring in this country in its KIDS COUNT Data Book. The numbers track progress across the states in some areas and pitfalls in others, but the bottom line remains the same: In a land of prosperity, too many families live in conditions of concentrated poverty that stifle their children’s

chances for happy, healthy, and SUSIE FITZHUGH productive lives. The report notes that almost 20 percent phones to remain linked with family This year’s report tells a similar story, of households in low-income urban and neighbors, or computers that but it offers a different framework for areas don’t have a telephone, that 50 would allow them to navigate the looking at the numbers. The report percent don’t have cars, and that 84 information superhighway,” said Doug advances the theory that many of the percent don’t have home computers. Nelson, president of the Foundation. children falling behind in this country live in families who lack a range of “At a time when media experts, econo- Families in high-poverty neighborhoods essential “connections” that those living mists, and social observers stress that lack even more critical connections as in more affluent areas enjoy. the future belongs to those on the well: to strong and nurturing social Internet and those who can compete networks, accessible and respectful One obvious example of this kind of in a global economy, many inner-city support services, and ample educational isolation concerns access to technology. families don’t have cars to get to work, and economic opportunities.

In an essay accompanying the 2000 KIDS COUNT Data Book, Nelson At a policy briefing to release the 2000 KIDS COUNT Data Book, offers an antidote to the stereotypes of columnist Arianna Huffington moder- class, race, place, and family structure ated a panel that included Jonathon Kozol, Jim Wallis, Geoffrey Canada, that limit the way people perceive Ron Haskins, and Blandina poverty and leave little recourse for Cardenas. action. By highlighting the concrete and particular conditions that make the LARRY GLENN, PHOTO-OP

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 THE FOCUS should be providing low-wage workers with training and supports to land PROMISING JOBS.

SUMMIT STRESSES JOB CASEY CONNECTS Summer 2000 ADVANCEMENT

A quarterly newsletter published by A recent policy summit in Washington, The Annie E. Casey Foundation D.C., focused national attention on the 701 St. Paul Street movement to help low-wage and low-skilled Baltimore, MD 21202 workers advance into good jobs. ©2000 ROBERT VISSER/PHOTOPRESS WASHINGTON 410.547.6600 Casey Foundation Vice President Ralph Smith 410.547.6624 fax The Annie E. Casey Foundation was www.aecf.org one of five national foundations that provided funding for the May 24-25 workers with training and other supports Kent C. Nelson Chairman summit, tagged Low Wage Workers in in order to land good jobs with advance- the New Economy and organized by the ment opportunities. The summit show- Douglas W. Nelson President Boston-based research organization Jobs cased new career advancement strategies for the Future. The Foundation first con- and policies emerging across the country. Ralph Smith Vice President ceived of the conference as a way to move In an opening plenary session, Ralph Stanley N. Wellborn the work of its Jobs Initiative into the Director of External Affairs national policy arena. This initiative pro- Smith, vice president of the Foundation, stressed the need for investments that Joy Thomas Moore vides funding and support for community Manager of Grantee Relations efforts in six cities to help young, low- connect families living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty to the opportu- Deborah L. Cohen income workers find meaningful jobs and Editor to help identify national employment and nities, networks, and support they need training models. to improve their children’s prospects. © 2000, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, “There’s something wrong when we can Baltimore, Maryland “We wanted the conference to have a predict awful outcomes for some children The Casey Foundation is a private charitable broader agenda than the Jobs Initiative simply by knowing their zip codes,” organization dedicated to helping build better and to help focus national policy Smith said. futures for disadvantaged children in the attention on the importance of career United States. The primary mission of the advancement,” said Bob Giloth, director “The summit provided research and best Foundation is to foster public policies, human- of the Jobs Initiative. practices in advancing low-wage workers service reforms, and community supports that to good jobs, identified some of the suc- more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulner- More than 400 leaders from business, cesses, and drew attention to what chal- able children and families. In pursuit of this labor, government, education, and work- lenges lie ahead,” said Richard Kazis, vice goal, the Foundation makes grants that help force and economic development attend- states, cities, and neighborhoods fashion more president of Jobs for the Future. “It also innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs. ed the summit, which received national raised the visibility of these issues in the media attention. public debate and the media.”

The summit signals a growing desire by For more information about the confer- foundations, national organizations, and ence, go to www.jff.org. For more infor- policymakers to move beyond welfare mation about the Jobs Initiative, go to policies that push to place recipients in www.aecf.org/jobsinitiative. the first available job. Instead, they argue, the focus should be providing low-wage

2 IMMIGRANT FAMILY CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHTED

A recent Education Week article recounts their children, the Annie E. Casey organizations, family representatives the painful stories of several California Foundation co-sponsored a national from 11 of the Foundation’s 22 Making high school students with top grades— conference June 8-10 in Miami. Connections sites attended the confer- but with no hope of attending college. The meeting, also funded by the ence. The agenda was specifically These children are undocumented W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the designed to incorporate the voices of immigrants, and as such don’t qualify for Fannie Mae Foundation, was organized families, noted Irene Lee, the conference the in-state tuition rates that would by Grantmakers Concerned with chair and a senior associate at the make higher education affordable. Immigrants and Refugees. Foundation.

Children of immigrant and refugee fam- The conference addressed four key One woman recounted how she fled ilies are the fastest growing segment of questions: What strengths do immigrant Guatemala and trekked across Mexico the U.S. population. Currently, one in families bring with them? What erodes on foot at six-months pregnant. Another five children is either an immigrant or these strengths over time? What described how her child died ultimately has an immigrant parent, and failing promotes immigrant family cohesion as a result of insufficient health coverage. to harness their talent and brainpower and adaptation? What works to connect Others told of not knowing where to would be a tragic loss and a blow to this immigrant families to resources, services, turn for help when they were victimized country’s economic future. and supports in their communities? by domestic violence. These personal Learning objectives set by participants accounts set the stage for small-group As it does for all children, the success of ranged from strengthening families and sessions in which conferees drafted immigrant children hinges largely on preserving cultural values to ensuring policy recommendations that will be how much support their families and access to health care, education, employ- combined in a conference report. communities can provide them. To ment, and crisis intervention services explore ways to reinforce and build on that can overcome barriers of language Jorge Morales of Miami said he learned the strengths of immigrant families and and legal status. of an innovative program to address domestic violence that he wants to try in In a paper prepared for the his own community. One participant, conference, Michael Fix of named Said, Abdulkadir M. of Seattle, the Urban Institute noted observed that the conference hit on that policies denying bene- themes of concern to his fellow Somalis, fits to adults who are not such as “how to raise good families in citizens often have a chill- America and how to restrain young ing effect on children, people from getting involved in crime.” whose parents may be afraid to enroll them in “I learned that if we all unite in services for which they are order to deal with the issues, the issues eligible. Fix reported that, can be resolved,” said Sandra Lara in 85 percent of immigrant of Miami. families, at least one child is a citizen and one parent For information or materials and is not. resources from the conference, contact Grantmakers Concerned with Along with state legisla- Immigrants and Refugees at tors, researchers, and pub- [email protected]. lic and private funding

Abriendo Puertas Children’s Choir performs at the conference on immigrant and refugee families. ERIKA WEISSINGER

3 CASEY FAMILY JOINING HANDS TO SERVE CHILDREN BETTER

On a recent spring day, Doug Nelson, Ray Torres, and Anna Williams donned hard hats and stood side by side with shovels poised to break ground for the new Casey Family Services headquarters in East Baltimore.

This ceremony symbolized a renewed commitment by Nelson, president of the Casey Foundation; Torres, SUSIE FITZHUGH executive director of Casey Family Services; and Williams, director of the Baltimore division of Casey Family Services, The site is expected to be a resource for families included in to work together with communities on behalf of children the Casey Foundation’s Making Connections initiative in and families. Baltimore. Besides showcasing some spirited singing and drumming by “I hope you will see this groundbreaking as more than the community residents, the recent groundbreaking marked an beginning of a building. I hope you also see it as the beginning exciting achievement for Casey Family Services. Now renting of a long and deep commitment by the Foundation to work office space nearby, the Foundation’s direct service arm is with all of you to build stronger families and better futures moving into its own dynamic, newly renovated building. The for all the children of this city,” Nelson told Baltimore new facility will accommodate group meetings, child care, residents, officials, and program participants gathered at the training, and a drop-in family center in addition to programs groundbreaking. in teen parenting, young families, and foster care. “Our goal is to build on the division’s existing programs to create a center As the direct services arm of our Foundation, Casey Family to support family life,” says Lee Mullane, director of commu- Services provides an array of foster care and family support nications for Casey Family Services in Shelton, Connecticut. programs in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The The complex will incorporate a Foundation drew heavily on the lessons of Casey Family historic building that was once a Services when it launched a new generation of work dedicated trolley barn and later served as the to the notion that children do better when their families are studio to a local painter and sculp- strong and families do better when they live in supportive tor. The original building will be neighborhoods. Casey Family Services staff members are restored and an annex added for playing crucial roles in several cities involved in our Making more office and community space. Connections initiative.

To acknowledge its pioneering work in strengthening families, Doug Nelson, Anna Williams, and we have devoted our INSITES supplement to Casey Family Ray Torres breaking ground for new Casey Family Services Services. More information about the agency is available at headquarters. www.caseyfamilyservices.org. DARRYL GREEN

The Foundation drew heavily on the lessons of CASEY FAMILY SERVICES

when it launched a NEW GENERATION of work to strengthen families.

4 RESOURCE CORNER

In Print: Foundation’s Families Count honorees EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING for 2000, is a highly regarded family ADMINISTRATION: ETA attempts to • 2000 KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK service agency providing comprehen- “connect employment, education, and AND POCKET GUIDE: This 11th sive, neighborhood-based services. training services into a coherent net- edition of the Data Book provides a Copies can be ordered from the work of resources at the local, state, state-by-state report on the educational, Foundation’s publications voice and national level.” The site offers economic, social, and physical well- mailbox, 410.223.2890 or from access to online publications, such as being of children in the United States. our website, www.aecf.org. the interactive newsletter eWorkforce, The Pocket Guide contains an and other employment and training overview, graphics on national trends, • WELFARE AND HOUSING: How Can resources: www.ttrc.doleta.gov/onestop state-by-state data and rankings, and the Housing Assistance Programs Help

contacts for state KIDS COUNT Welfare Recipients? Produced by the • COALITION OF COMMUNITY projects. Copies of the book and National Housing Law Project, this DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL guide can be ordered from the report discusses changes to the welfare INSTITUTIONS: The coalition Foundation’s publications voice mail- programs; analyzes the extent to which “promotes access to capital and box, 410.223.2890 or from our web- subsidized housing does and can fulfill economic growth by directly investing site, www.aecf.org. You can also view housing needs of welfare recipients; in and supporting community devel- state profiles, graphs, maps, and rank- and reviews the programs and tools opment financial institutions and ings, and download raw data using an available to public and private housing expanding financial service organiza- interactive online database at providers to assist them in offering sta- tions’ lending, investment, and services www.kidscount.org. ble, affordable homes to tenants mak- within underserved markets.” This site ing the transition to self-sufficiency. includes access to online publications • VOICE: This new quarterly newsletter Copies can be downloaded from the and related Internet resources: is produced by the Foundation’s direct Foundation website, www.aecf.org, or www.treas.gov/cdfi services arm, Casey Family Services, ordered from the National Housing which offers high-quality long-term Law Project, 614 Grand Avenue, Suite • JOBS FOR THE FUTURE: This group and treatment foster care; post- 320, Oakland, CA 94610. seeks to “create successful transitions adoption services; family reunification, for youth, build effective partnerships preservation, and advocacy; and assis- to promote lasting reform, and create tance to families affected by HIV/AIDS. On the Web: economic opportunity for those who It contains news, conversations with The following websites offer information are now ill-prepared to get good jobs.” board members, a section for sharing specific to economic opportunity and jobs. This site provides access to online perspectives, resources, contributed publications and related Internet art work and poetry, and a regular • AMERICA’S JOB BANK: This net- resources: www.jff.org research supplement. Copies are work links job seekers with “the largest available by contacting the editor, pool of active job opportunities avail- Lee Mullane, Casey Family Services, able anywhere.” In addition to the One Corporate Drive, Suite 515, Internet, the job openings and resumes Shelton, CT 06484. found in America’s Job Bank are avail- able on computer systems in public • GOOD WORKS: Highlights of a libraries, colleges and universities, high Study on the Center for Family schools, shopping malls, transition Life. This monograph summarizes offices on military bases worldwide, a comprehensive evaluation of the and other places of public access: Center for Family Life in Brooklyn’s www.ajb.dni.us Sunset Park. The center, one of the The Annie E. Casey Foundation 701 St. Paul Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202 410.547.6600 410.547.6624 fax www.aecf.org

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

lives of these families different from those who are more afflu- • Geoffrey Canada, an acclaimed author and child advocate ent, the Casey Foundation hopes to generate support for more who founded the Beacon School program in Central Harlem practical and comprehensive strategies to reconnect families in as president and chief executive officer of the Rheedlen challenging neighborhoods to the help and support they need. Centers for Children and Families in New York City;

The main vehicle for this work is our Neighborhood • Blandina Cardenas, an associate professor of educational Transformation/Family Development initiative, a long-term leadership and director of the Hispanic Research Center at agenda to garner more active public support for family- the University of Texas at San Antonio and former commis- strengthening strategies. The most concrete expression of that sioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and strategy is Making Connections, an effort under way in 22 cities Families; to help communities connect and support families living in • Ron Haskins, staff director for the Subcommittee on Human tough neighborhoods. Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives; At a June 20 briefing, Nelson issued an invitation for partners to join the Foundation in these efforts. • Jonathon Kozol, author of more than 30 books chronicling the lives of inner-city children, the most recent of which is “We are in search of allies equally eager to find national, state, Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope; and and local approaches that will move millions more of our children to the positive side of the KIDS COUNT ledger,” Nelson said. • Jim Wallis, a religious author and founder of Sojourners Community, an organization with a Christian commitment The briefing featured a panel of experts selected for their wide- to social justice. ranging experience and diversity of viewpoints on children’s The briefing aired on C-SPAN and also was broadcast live on issues. Moderating the panel was Arianna Huffington, a nation- the Foundation’s website. For more information about the ally syndicated columnist and author who serves on several 2000 KIDS COUNT Data Book or to view the June 20 boards promoting community solutions to social problems. briefing, go to www.aecf.org. Panelists included:

GRANTEE FORMS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

Jonathon Kozol’s books illustrate The forms grantees need to fulfill their reporting requirements can the challenges now be downloaded directly from our website. Just go to faced by www.aecf.org/granteeforms.htm. families living in unconnected communities. LARRY GLENN, PHOTO-OP

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