California's children are doing well - the vast majority have health insurance and access to transitional kindergarten - but the state is far behind in many other metrics.

The nonprofit Children Now analyzed the data, and gave the Golden State a C-minus or below in 15 out of 33 categories. Kelly Hardy is senior managing director at Children Now.

"There's a lot of low grades that we're seeing in the report card," said Hardy, "and they highlight where the state has allowed racial and economic disparities to stagnate and in many cases to grow."

The report gave California a D-minus because too few of its supports for people experiencing homelessness are tailored for unaccompanied youths.

The state also earned a D-minus in prevention of substance abuse - as efforts to curb abuse are seen as too reactive, primarily helping kids once they've become addicted rather than intervening early on.

California ranks 49th for its large class sizes, but Kelly noted that the state earns a B plus for its plan to give all four-year-olds access to free transitional kindergarten in public schools by the 2025-26 school year.

"This is one of the places where California is leading," said Hardy. "And it's really important that in places where the state is making investments, we see that those investments and that attention to the issue has resulted in success."

The state faces a projected budget deficit this coming year - and advocates are hoping that children's programs are spared any cuts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to announce his budget priorities for the 2024-25 fiscal year by Wednesday.

During this week's presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris proposed reviving the Child Tax Credit, which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act.

Harris says she'd raise the credit to $6,000 for newborns, renewing focus on its impact for Ohio families. However, the U.S. Senate recently rejected House Resolution 7024, which aimed to expand the Child Tax Credit.

Analysts have said the proposal could have lifted 400,000 children out of poverty, including thousands in Ohio.

Lauren Reliford, public policy director for the Children's Defense Fund, cited a "lack of political will" as the main barrier to expanding the credit.

"But at this point, childhood poverty is a policy choice," she said. "The folks that have the power to do it know and have seen the evidence - and they haven't done it."

A Child Tax Credit expansion initially passed in the House with bipartisan support, including all but one Ohio representative. However, critics of the expansion have voiced concerns about the cost to taxpayers and potential misuse. These factors contributed to its rejection in the Senate, despite widespread support from family advocacy groups.

Reliford also pointed to the broader impacts of poverty on children and the long-term consequences of inaction.

"Poverty is a toxic stress," she said. "Children see their parents being stressed, and they take that on, too. And so, why are we allowing these children to grow up in spaces and places without the necessary resources they need?"

The Child Tax Credit has been credited with significantly reducing childhood poverty during the pandemic, but its future remains uncertain as the debate continues in Washington.

A national program to connect children and families with the outdoors is at risk of ending without help from Congress.

The Every Kid Outdoors program provides fourth graders and their families the opportunity to appreciate nature and wildlife without breaking the bank.

Julia Hurwit, Outdoors Alliance for Kids campaign manager for the Sierra Club, said the program encourages children to seek out an active and healthy outdoor lifestyle, leading to a sustained relationship with the natural world by offering a free, one-year pass.

"This includes things like national parks, national historical sites, national marine sanctuaries," Hurwit outlined. "This pass begins on September first every year for the current class of fourth graders and gives them access to those places."

This month and continuing through Oct. 5, the Outdoor Alliance for Kids is organizing a range of events and actions to spread awareness and advocate for Congress to pass the Every Kid Outdoors Reauthorization Act. It would secure $25 million in permanent funding and extend the program to fifth graders.

The Sierra Club believes the wellness of current and future generations, the economy and the health of communities and the planet depend on people having a personal, direct and lifelong relationship with nature.

Hurwit added it helps if kids are introduced to the great outdoors early in life.

"Every year, it's about 200,000 fourth graders who are able to access this pass," Hurwit pointed out. "You can get a voucher for free online, and then you turn it into a physical parks pass in certain locations across the country, including most national parks and federal lands."

She noted much of the Sierra Club's belief in the importance of the Outdoor Alliance program is based on studies.

"When a kid goes to a national park or goes to public lands for the first time with their own family and with multi generations, it really encourages them to continue going because they're seeing someone they really look up to," Hurwit explained.

Iowa has released an interactive website to help parents find real-time child care options for their kids.

Iowa Child Care Connect, which the state has nicknamed "C3," uses crowdsourcing technology, helping people use up-to-the-minute data to find child care where and when they need it.

Sheila Hansen, senior policy advocate for the nonprofit Common Good Iowa, said C3 is a vast improvement over what the state had before.

"It was kind of clunky and it wasn't really very fast," Hansen recounted. "Hopefully this will be a vast improvement upon that and families will be able to just go in there and immediately find openings in their area."

The site also offers information on subsidies the providers accept along with current real-time openings and quality ratings. Hansen argued the state should focus on improving pay and working conditions for child care workers.

She acknowledged while the technology is a step forward, Common Good Iowa and other advocates said the state does not need more brick-and-mortar child care centers. It needs more staff, which has been the real challenge.

"That's because they're just unable to find the people who want to work in child care because the pay is so low or the benefits aren't there," Hansen explained.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services requires child care providers to complete various training requirements and update their certification every two years.


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