Upcoming Michigan House of Representative Meetings related to young children:
Committee: Education
Date: September 11, 2007
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: 519 House Office Building, Lansing, MI
Agenda: Any business properly before this committee.

Committee: Families and Children's Services
Date: September 19, 2007
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: 326 House Office Building, Lansing, MI
Agenda: Presentation by Lloyd Mayes, Counselor/Youth Specialist-Genesee Valley Regional Center.

Michigan Senate Committee Meetings related to young children:
Committee: Families and Human Services
Date: September 11, 2007
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Room 210, Farnum Building, 125 W. Allegan St, Lansing, MI
Agenda: SB 668 (Hardiman) Family law; parental rights; termination of parental rights and parenting time; clarify.
SB 669 (Jansen) Children; foster care; permanency plan and permanent placement of a child; clarify.
SB 670 (Jacobs) Children; protection; notice regarding termination of parental rights; revise.
SB 671 (Kahn) Children; foster care; alternate permanency plan to be made concurrently with reasonable efforts to reunify child and family; allow.
SB 672 (Jansen) Children; foster care; review of permanency plan; require.

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 4346 D.O.E. Budget (Gillard) Provides for the appropriations in the Department of Education. Introduced and referred to Appropriations (2/28/07). Received by the Senate and referred to Appropriations (8/30/07). Discharged from Appropriations. Placed on order of general orders. (9/5/07). Reported by committee of the whole favorably with substitute S-1 and amendments. Substitute S-1 as amended concurred in. Placed on order of third reading. Rules suspended. Placed on immediate passage. Amendments adopted. Passed roll call. Returned from senate with substitute S-1. Laid over one day under the rules. Rules suspended. Senate substitute S-1 nonconcurred in. Roll call #349, yeas 0, nays 107 (9/6/07).

HB 4359 School Aid Budget (Gillard) Provides appropriations for School Aid. INtroduced and referred to Appropriations (02/28/07). Passed with Substitute H-1 and amendments adopted (8/22/07). Received by the Senate and referred to Appropriations (8/30/07). Discharged from Appropriations (9/5/07). Reported by committee of the whole favorably with substitute S-1 and amendments. Placed on order of third reading with substitute S-1 as amended. Rules suspended. Placed on immediate passage. Passed roll call. Title amended. Returned from senate with substitute S-1 with title amendment. Laid over one day under the rules (9/6/07).

SB 232 Human Services (Hardiman) Provides for 2007-08 budget for Department of Human Services. INtroduced and referred to Appropriations (02/21/07). Reported with Substitute S-1 (6/7/07). Passed the senate with Substitute S-1 adopted (8/22/07). Received by the House and referred to Appropriations (8/22/07). Reported with recommendation with substitute H-1. Referred to second reading. Substitue H-1 adopted. Substitute H-6 adopted and amended. Placed on third reading. Placed on immediate passage. Passed and returned to senate (9/6/07).

SB 696 School Vaccine Insurance (Jacobs) Provides for health insurance coverage for school-required vaccines for children in grades K-12. Introduced and referred to Health Policy (8/30/07).

SR 92 SCHIP Reauthorization (Clark-Coleman) Urges Congress to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program for Michigan. Introduced and referred to Appropriations (8/30/07).

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

State-level Health Indicator Data from the NSCH Presented in Pediatrics
Newsletter content:
* A database of programs intended to improve outcomes for children and youth.
* National Survey of Children Health state-level research featured in Pediatrics.
* A Window into the Community: Evaluating Quality of Life in Charlotte Neighborhoods.
* An overview of the EU Index of Child Well-Being.
* Two new data tools for juvenile statistics and data on diversity in metropolitan areas.
* A call for proposals from the International Society of Quality-of-Life Studies.
Child Trends

Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd Grade School-based Resources and 3rd Grade Outcomes
This new data brief finds that three elements of elementary school environments - strong principal leadership, high academic standards, and frequent teacher meetings to plan instruction - are associated with higher third grade math and reading scores. In addition, higher teacher turnover, which can indicate an unstable school, is related to lower rates of student self-control and school engagement among third grade students. Child Trends

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

5 mistakes parents make with newborns -- and how to avoid them
When you take your bundle of joy home from the hospital, it's inevitable you won't do everything right. We asked pediatricians for the five most common mistakes parents make with their newborns. CNN

Iron deficiency common in overweight toddlers
Inadequate iron in infancy and early childhood can lead to delays in behavioral and cognitive development, Dr. Jane M. Brotanek, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. Reuters Health

Serve Up Good Nutrition for Preschool Children
Preschoolers are active, spirited tykes. And while they're generally adorable and fun, it's perfectly normal for 3, 4, and 5-year-olds to be opinionated -- especially about eating. WebMD

Mattel Recalls 800,000 Lead-Tainted Toys
In little more than a month Mattel Inc. has announced two recalls of hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made toys due to excessive amounts of lead paint. Today, Mattel's reputation took yet another big hit after the world's largest toy maker announced a third recall of 800,000 toys. Yahoo! News

Study links attention problems to early TV viewing
A recent study found that watching more than two hours of television a day at a young age can lead to attention problems later in life. Yahoo! News

Children stressed 6 months before starting school
The first few days at school can be an anxious time as children face the challenge of a new environment and making new friends but as per new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, children show signs of stress three to six months before term even starts. MedicineWorld.org

Head of the class
To the jaded parent, a child's backpack is one more item to cart around, keep clean, and try not to lose. To a 5-year-old about to trundle off to kindergarten, it's a portable bit of personal space—a home away from home. Slate.com

Amid economy, Headstart grows
Demand for Headstart slots for Inkster toddlers and school children in other areas is increasing exponentially this year, according to numbers released by a non-profit group that administers the program in several cities. Journal Newspapers

Learning Care Group connects through AT&T contract
A Novi-based Learning Care Group announced a new contract with AT&T that will provide the early education and child service provider an additional 700 wide area network sites. Novi News

Economy, other factors fuel falloff in child-care facilities
As parents lose their jobs and their need for day care, day care providers suddenly have fewer and fewer heads to count. Jackson Citizen-Patriot

The perennial child care crisis
Today, about one in five (23 percent) women claims that she is delaying pregnancy or has decided against having a second or third child because she cannot afford day care. The child care issue is a perennial one; if it is August, you can count on a press conference complete with a flurry of articles citing a poll or two lamenting the cost of child care, praising Head Start, and demanding increased federal funding for both. Inevitably, there is a child care crisis just as Congress is debating budgets and a new school year is just around the corner. ReligionAndSpirituality.com

8 things no one tells you about being a mom
Enough about the bright side. We do moms a disservice if we only gush about the countless truly terrific aspects of raising a child and neglect to mention the, well, harsher realities. CNN