Upcoming Michigan House of Representative Meetings related to young children:
None scheduled at this time.

Michigan Senate Committee Meetings related to young children:
None scheduled at this time.

Committee meetings are often added or agendas changed after the update is sent. Check the legislature's committee calendar for additions and changes.

Current Actions on Michigan Bills related to Young Children:
HB 4607 Children Services (Clack) Provides for allocation of general and federal funds to services for parents or certain children aged 0 to 3. Introduced and referred to Families and Children's Services (04/18/07). Reported (6/27/07). Passed (10/10/07). Referred to committee on appropriations (10/11/07).

SB 237 2007-08 School Aid (Jelinek) Provides 2007-08 budget for K-12 school aid. Introduced and referred to Appropriations (02/21/07). Received by the House (9/23/07). Re-referred in the House (10/9/07).

SB 747 STUDENT ABSENCES (Garcia) Requires school districts grant excused absences for students when a parent is deployed on or returns from combat duty (9/7/07). Reported (10/10/07). Referred to committee of the whole (10/11/07).

HR 201 S.C.H.I.P. (Valentine) Urges Congress to override the president's veto on the SCHIP program expansion. Introduced (10/9/07). Passed in the House (10/11/07).

HR 203 Safe Sleep Month (Byrum) Commemorates October as Safe Sleep Awareness Month. Adopted (10/10/07).

HRC 51 S.C.H.I.P. (Dean) Urges Congress to override the president's veto of the SCHIP program. Passed in the House (10/11/07).

Bill abstracts provided by Voices for Michigan’s Children. See the status of other bills at Michigan's Children.

Have you Heard? – Weekly Additions
For Additional reports and findings please visit the MiAEYC web site:
www.miaeyc.org/News/Have_You_Heard.html

Strategies to address common problems in child care and housing voucher systems
This report identifies several problems common in both the child care and housing voucher systems. These challenges include limited supply of quality services, unwillingness of many providers to accept families with a voucher, families’ inability to effectively navigate the private market to choose appropriate providers, and program participation and eligibility rules that undermine families’ efforts to work. The paper highlights five emerging strategies being employed by one or both programs to address these issues. The Urban Institute

Hand-Washing and Diapering Equipment Reduces Disease Among Children in Out-of-Home Child Care Centers
This study concluded that diapering, hand-washing, and food-preparation equipment that is specifically designed to reduce the spread of infectious agents significantly reduced diarrheal illness among the children and absence as a result of illness among staff in out-of-home child care centers. Pediatrics

Teacher Education and PK Outcomes: Are We Asking the Right Questions?
Recent studies do not find consistent relationships between teacher degree, major, and certification, and PK outcomes, raising questions about the impact of the degrees and certifications of PK teachers on children’s learning. The researchers note that these findings do not support the conclusion that teacher education does not matter for children’s learning. However, they do not provide specific directions for policymakers who decide on the minimum requirements for teacher qualifications in PK programs. This commentary raises issues for researchers and policymakers about whether PK is part of a K-12 educational continuum, how teachers are prepared to teach, how research is designed to inform policy, and the importance of developmental science in policy-relevant education research. Foundation for Child Development

State Child Care Assistance Policies 2007: Some Steps Forward, More Progress Needed
This Issue Brief is an annual report on state child care subsidy policies. This report compiles essential data on key state child care assistance policies. NWLC finds that while states have made some progress in the last year, most states currently have policies in place that make fewer families eligible for help paying for child care than in 2001. National Women’s Law Center

Parents and the High Price of Child Care: 2007 Update
The report provides typical prices of child care for infants and for four-year-olds in centers and family child care homes nationwide. The report also shows that child care is a major household expense for parents of young children. National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

Title I and Early Childhood Programs: A Look at Investments in the NCLB Era
This paper explores the wide range of ways in which school districts are using funds from Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act for early education through kindergarten and examines how the implementation of NCLB has impacted those investments. It also makes recommendations for local educational agencies interested in creating Title I-funded early education programs or thinking about how to sustain these types of investments in the face of policy and funding challenges. CLASP

In the News– Weekly Additions
For Additional reports and findings please visit the MiAEYC web site:
www.miaeyc.org/News/The_News.html

Lead found in toys, backpacks in U.S. stores
A Curious George doll bought at Toys "R" Us was found to be tainted with 10 times the legally-allowed lead level, and vinyl lunch boxes and backpacks also had high amounts of lead, the nonprofit group Center for Environmental Health said on Wednesday. Scientific American

Report: Kids Often Receive Poor Health Care Despite Good Insurance Coverage
The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's health care quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536 children in the nationwide study had insurance. Insurance Newsnet

Intervening in Preschool Years Can Prevent Juvenile Delinquency
Parental action can alter a preschoolers' biological response to stress, lowering the chance that even a high-risk child will become a juvenile delinquent, U.S. researchers report. Washington Post

High-Stakes Flimflam
It's time to rein in the test zealots who have gotten such a stranglehold on the public schools in the U.S. New York Times

Biden unveils education plan
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden unveiled an education plan that would keep kids in school for 16 years, giving them an earlier start and providing at least some college. Biden's plan would add two years of preschool to the public school system. It would fully fund Head Start and other early childhood programs, and expand education and nutrition programs that begin at birth. CBS News