Sharing Web Resources

Sharing Web Resources

An organization in my home town of Grand Rapids, MI, called First Steps Kent, is spearheading an early childhood proposal. This issue is current to what's going on in the early childhood field today because we have a crisis of children not being served all over the country. This proposal had to go through the Kent County's board of commissioners to be approved to be put on the ballot in November. Most of the commissioners agreed that this was something that we needed in our county, but others felt like we already have a lot of money designated towards education in the county that is being misused and not helping children thus far, so this would be no different. Thankfully most of the commissioners supported the proposal. They also believed that studies show that investing in early childhood programs saves money in the long run and ensures better outcomes for health, education and employment. 

The proposal will be put on the ballot as an early childhood millage to be voted on November 9, 2018. This is very exciting news in my community. As of now 22,000 children living in Kent County are not receiving early childhood services. If the millage passes it will bring approximately $5 million dollars into our community annually for six years to ensure all children under age five are healthy and are ready to learn by kindergarten. It will also cause funding for community-based early childhood programs that are proven to work. The insight that I gained from this site is that if we want change to happen in our community we have to do the work, collect the data, present the facts and hopefully we will get the support from politicians that we need. This can happen all over the country. Here is some of the verbiage below.

Ready By Five Early Childhood Proposal

Research shows that children who start ahead stay ahead. Every child deserves to be healthy and ready to learn by kindergarten, and right now, thousands of kids are slipping through cracks in Kent County. 

We need to invest in our children during the first five years of their life and the Early Childhood Proposal will make sure children are on track and ready to succeed.  Working together, we can make sure every Kent County child under age 5 has access to community-based programs, such as in-home support, visiting nurses, developmental screenings, early learning and programs that support parents, not replace them.

Reference

First Steps Kent

https://www.firststepskent.org/earlychildhoodproposal

Kent County approves childhood development millage

https://www.grbj.com/articles/90988-kent-county-approves-childhood-development-millage?utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=bzielinski@firststepskent.org&utm_content=2825%253A%2520GRBJ%2520Daily%253A%2520County%2520approves%2520childhood%2520develo&utm_campaign=GRBJ%2520Daily%253A%2520County%2520approves%2520childhood%2520development%2520millage

Get to Know International Organizations

International Organizations


Global issues surrounding child poverty

Falling into poverty as an adult can be temporary but if a child is born into poverty, it could last a lifetime. Poverty does not only affect the individual child but could be passed on to another generation. During my research I chose to study UNICEF because they are one of the organizations that is trying to create poverty-reduction strategies in the communities that are poverty stricken.

According to the Global Study on Child Poverty there is a three-fold problem that persist:

https://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/UNICEFGlobalStudyGuide.pdf

First, most countries have been unable to set an economic agenda that eliminates poverty at the rate foreseen by the MDGs in the context of an existing or increasing level of inequalities. Second, inequalities have persisted or even increased in many countries in part because poverty reduction strategies and development plans have struggled to be pro-poor and to help disadvantaged populations including women and families raising children; when women and poor families are left out of development efforts, the unequal opportunities children experience persist or escalate. Third, the rights and special needs of children are often placed below other priorities, leading to lost opportunities in terms of both human and economic development. Child rights and well being and the challenge of balancing childcare and work responsibilities are too often seen as marginal issues in development debates. Therefore the central role of childhood in shaping individual capabilities, and the importance of stability and economic progress for families to a country’s development, remain overlooked.

One of UNICEF's largest operation in the world today is in Iraq. There is 1 out 4 children living in poverty and conflict.

https://www.unicef.org/media/media_102482.html

Over 1 million children were forced to leave their homes due to extreme violence therefore causing them to live in poverty. They are also burdened with psychological issues because they were forced to fight on the front lines as they watched their peers die. Poverty and conflict has interrupted the education for 3 million children across Iraq. 

Unicef. (n.d.). Child Poverty and Social protection. Retrieved from

https://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_childpoverty.html

Sharing Web Resources

Sharing Web Resources

The Web Resource that I would like to share is The Global Fund for Children (GFC). https://globalfundforchildren.org/

The Global Fund for Children transforms lives by partnering with grassroots organizations all over the world that serve children and youth, who are in need of advocacy.

The articles in their newsletters consist of eliminating socioeconomic inequality through education and health initiatives in India. Girls who need rescuing and advocacy because they are trapped in genital circumcision and violence, being young brides (as young as 12 year old) being vulnerable to HIV, being abused and exploited in Africa. Partnering with grassroots organizations that ensure safety for children who are living on the streets because they are involved in sex trafficking, drug use or sexual abuse. Protecting migrant girls and adolescents when they cross the U.S.border and uniting supporters along their journey from Guatemala to Mexico. The articles are also about raising literacy rates in communities around the world.

What I have learned from studying this site is that children all over the world are vulnerable, in pain both physically and or mentally and in danger. If it wasn't for the GFC organization and the many grassroots organizations that partner with them to make this work seem easy, many children would die or need critical mental help. With that being said our future would have been extinct or very bleak at the least, because children are our future. Children must be protected.

Reference
Global Fund for Children. Retrieved from https://globalfundforchildren.org/lives-transformed/

Expanding Horizons and Resources in Early Childhood

Expanding Horizons and Resources


There are many global issues in Early Childhood . I am going to explore organizations and share early childhood issues that are concerning. I also will share ways in which these organizations supported theses issues with resources. For this week I decided to focus on Global Fund for Children

Part 1 - Expanding Horizons

Through Global Fund for Children (GFC) one issue is how the government, at one time, didn't recognize autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a credible condition worthy of support, diagnosis or treatment. A group named IRODA, made up of parents, advocated until a change came about and they were able to acquire funds through a grant to hire therapists to come work with children affected by the disorder. However they needed more money to train therapists and to have a larger facility with more resources. That is where GFC stepped in. GFC gave IRODA funds to pay for the training of therapist and collaborated with other agencies to train the staff of IRODA to help even more children worldwide.

In the fight for children rights, GFC stands by people who risk everything until they can stand by themselves. In Kenya there is a girl foundation called Samburu. This organization protects girls from child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This organization has rescued over 1000 girls. The rescue center takes girls in and partners with boarding schools so that when the girl are ready they can pursue an education. The founder goes around the community and educate about the harmful practices and the importance of education to get their buy-in.  Eventually the girls are reconciled back into their own families instead of removing them. This is very important for the girls mental health and the Samburu organization (Global, 2018)

The Global Fund for Children intrigues me because each story that I studied I felt that the staff went above and beyond to help these organizations out. They traveled miles of unknown roads, fought and advocated until a result was produced. They were fully invested and they basically risked their own lives to do so. This is rare. I have total respect for GFC. 

Part 2 - Expanding Resources


The organization that I would like to know more about and visit is the Harlem Children's Zone. It is a national model for breaking the cycle of poverty founded by Geoffrey Canada. The Harlem Children's Zone aimed at providing comprehensive, critical support to children and families and reweaving the very fabric of community life. It started with serving 24 blocks of children and families addressing many issues like apartment crumbling, poor health, failing schools, high crime rates and crippling drug usage. The culture of the community was shifted by support and genuine care for people. The organization that I work for now, Baby Scholars, is inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone. We teach responsive parenting to parents that have children ages 5 months to 5 years old (The Harlem Children's Zone, n.d.)


References

Global Fund for Children. (2018, June 26). Moving girls from property to protection. Retrieved from

https://globalfundforchildren.org/

The Harlem Children’s Zone. (n.d.) History: The Beginning of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Retrieved from

https://hcz.org/about-us/history/