U.S. Congressional Candidates Views on Children and Families

Transcription

1 2016 CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE U.S. Congressional Candidates Views on Children and Families Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives 4 th District of Iowa Representative Republican Candidate Democratic Candidate Developed for the Children s Policy Coalition as a public service by October VOTER S GUIDE

2 About this guide This Voter s Guide presents the views of the two candidates running to represent Iowa in the 4 th Congressional District race in Democratic candidate answered the coalition s questions on six important child and family policy issues. A response was not received from Representative. All responses are printed without editing. A thank you to for responding to these important questions. About the Children s Policy Coalition The Children s Policy Coalition is a group of almost 40 Iowa organizations committed to raising children s issues in state and federal elections. AMP Blank Children s Hospital Braking Traffik Child & Family Policy Center Child Care Resource & Referral of Central Iowa Coalition for Family and Children s Services Drake Legal Clinic Early Childhood Iowa of Central Iowa Every Child Counts Every Child Matters in Iowa Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Iowa Afterschool Alliance Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children Iowa Association of Nurse Practitioners Iowa Association of School Boards Iowa Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Iowa Citizen Action Network Iowa Community Action Association Iowa Foster & Adoptive Parents Association Iowa Head Start Association Iowa Public Health Association Iowa State Education Association Joan & Lyle Middleton Center for Children s Rights League of Women Voters of Iowa Lutheran Services of Iowa NAMI Iowa National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter Orchard Place Prevent Child Abuse Iowa Save the Children Action Network School Administrators of Iowa State Public Policy Group Teens Against Human Trafficking United Way of Central Iowa United Ways of Iowa Urban Education Network Visiting Nurse Services of Iowa The coalition is staffed by Every Child Matters, an advocacy organization seeking to make children and families a national priority, and the Child and Family Policy Center, an Iowa-based research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting outcome-based policies that improve child well-being. To learn more, contact Kelli Soyer (ksoyer@everychildmatters.org) or Sheila Hansen (shansen@cfpciowa.org). 2

3 QUESTION ONE HEALTH AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT Background: For the first time in our country s history, children face the prospect of growing up less healthy and living shorter lives than their parents. The importance of access to well-child visits to determine ongoing health and mental health needs are critical to a child s development. Contrary to common belief, mental health problems can occur in children under the age of five. Over time, untreated symptoms of mental health problems can take root in young children and accumulate to seriously affect their ability to learn and function. It is estimated that between 9.5% and 14.2% of children age birth to 5 experience emotional or behavioral disturbance while one in five youth, ages 13 to 18, have a diagnosable mental health condition. Youth with a mental health diagnosis are at-risk for high school dropout, juvenile justice involvement, homelessness, and self-harm. What actions will you take to ensure access to services to address the developmental, emotional, and mental health needs of infants, children and young adults? Assuring that there is funding for services is an essential part of addressing and treating mental health needs. 3

4 QUESTION TWO HEALTHY FAMILY ENVIRONMENT Background: ACEs include childhood experiences of physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect, and household dysfunctions of parental substance abuse, mental illness, incarceration, divorce, and domestic violence. ACEs harm children s developing brains and result in much higher adult rates of chronic diseases, mental illness, violence, risky behaviors, and even early death. Nearly two thirds of adults have at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), and more than one in five report having three or more. Preventing or mitigating the effect of ACEs is key to ensuring children grow into healthy and productive adults. What actions will you take to ensure that children exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are able to mitigate the impact of these experiences on the future health and well-being of our nation? Economic disadvantage can create extreme stress for families. While money isn't the cure for everything raising the minimum wage would cut down on budgetary stress for many families. 4

5 QUESTION THREE EARLY LEARNING Background: Too many American children, especially those born into poverty, start school behind and have trouble catching up. Gaps in development start early, but investments do not. Through a variety of programs, the federal government plays a larger role in supporting early learning than it does K-12 education. Still, with current state and federal investments, for every dollar invested in the education and development of a school- aged child, only seven cents is invested in an infant or toddler and 25 cents in a preschooler. Research has shown at least a seven dollar return on investment for every dollar invested in early childhood education. Research on brain development points to the birth-to-5 years as absolutely critical to success in the school years and adulthood. What actions will you take to close the readiness gap and address the educational needs of children birth to age five? I would like to see an expansion of Head Start as well as the availability of nursery school and quality daycare for all children, but especially for economically disadvantaged children. 5

6 QUESTION FOUR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY Background: One in five American children live in poverty and more than twice that amount live in households struggling to make ends meet. Research shows those born poor are more likely to stay poor. The growing inequality of income and wealth in America is hardening into disparity of opportunity. Kids from low-income families have access to fewer and often less-than-quality opportunities to reach their full potential, whereas children from upper middle class and wealthy families have more access to opportunities to get ahead. Persistent poverty is one of the strongest predictors of future health, education and social well being. An opportunity gap to move out of poverty causes many children to struggle, through no fault of their own, and is damaging to national economic performance. What actions will you take to reduce multigenerational poverty affecting many in our communities and ensure that all children have access to opportunities to achieve the American Dream? Rod Blum Increasing the minimum wage as well as promoting programs such as TRiO to help children who would be first generation college attendees. Academic support through out school years would also be critical. 6

7 QUESTION FIVE SAFETY AND PERMANENCE Background: In 2014, 663,000 children were found by state child protective service systems to be victims of maltreatment, and 415,000 children were in foster care. Since the establishment of the 1935 Social Security Act, the federal government has partnered with states to develop child welfare services to prevent or respond to abuse and neglect and provide for the safety, permanence and well-being of children removed from home. Despite such attention, too many children enter and remain in foster care and do not have permanency in their lives. For some children, a lack of permanency and caring adult can lead to becoming a victim of sex trafficking. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 60% of the children reported as missing and likely child sex-trafficking victims, were in foster care or group homes when they ran away. Each year, 30,000 children age out of foster care with major barriers to success. Current federal investments put much greater emphasis on placement than prevention. What actions will you take to reduce the number of children who are subject to abuse, neglect and sex trafficking, and ensure that youth aging out of the foster care system have a promising future? It would make sense to put greater emphasis on prevention. Support services that foster family stability would be needed as well. 7

8 QUESTION SIX SCHOOL SUCCESS Background: High school graduation rates in our nation are the highest ever at 82 percent, but they are not nearly high enough. One in seven young adults, ages 16-24, is not in school or working, leading to more than 5 million disconnected youth. High school dropouts are nearly three times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates and earn about $8,000 a year less than high school graduates and $26,500 a year less than college graduates. The United States has been a leader in education, but will require an even more educated population in the future to continue to lead in the world economy. What actions will you take to increase high school completion and assure disconnected youth have opportunities to succeed in school and moving beyond into early adulthood? We need to recognize that children don't all learn the same way and some who struggle and drop out would be well served by the availability of alternative schools with possibly an emphasis on learning a trade at the same time. 8

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