It's National Adoption Month, a chance to raise awareness about the need for permanent homes and families for kids in foster care in Iowa.
In Polk County alone, nearly 1,200 children in foster care are looking for "forever" homes - and more than 407,000 nationwide.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services says the numbers are down from 2021, because more kids are being adopted.
Associate Juvenile Judge in southeast Iowa's District 8A - William Owens - said while adoptions happen all year long, setting aside a month to highlight them is important even in the small towns where he presides.
"It shines a spotlight on those kids who are waiting for that forever home and waiting for permanency in their lives," said Owens. "And we try to find those homes and try to link them up with families who can provide them with the permanency they need."
Owens will certify 21 adoptions in the five counties he oversees this Saturday, November 19 - which is National Adoption Day.
He said that's seven times as many as when he began serving his district in 2008. Owens added that this Adoption Day has personal significance - he's retiring this year, so it's the last one he will officiate.
Owens credits National Adoption Month and outreach programs for Iowa's increase in adoptions.
He said a young person typically winds up in foster care because the state has determined it isn't safe for them to be in their home.
Owens said at that point in the process, the child waits to be eligible for adoption if parental rights are terminated, which can happen for a variety of reasons.
"Substance abuse. Mental health, abuse and neglect-type causes," said Owens. "We work with those families with the primary goal of trying to reunify those kids in the parental home. Kids are better with their parents or with family - but sometimes, that's just not possible."
At the national level, President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to make adoption expenses fully refundable as a tax credit, to help reduce the cost incurred when adding a new member to the family.
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A new report re-examines how to measure Connecticut's poverty rates. Some findings show Supplemental Poverty Measure-based rates rose more than 12% in 2022 from nearly 8.5% in 2021.
Child poverty rates grew from 2021 to 2022, though this stems from pandemic relief payments being made available.
Patrick O'Brien, research and policy director with Connecticut Voices for Children, said new data examines how certain benefits impact poverty rates.
"So, in Connecticut in 2022, we saw that the public benefits that lifted the most people out of poverty were Social Security, food assistance programs, and housing subsidies. And we saw that the largest contributors to poverty were medical expenses, federal payroll taxes, and work expenses, he explained.
A state-level Child Tax Credit is one recommendation to improve the state's child poverty rates. It can provide a cash benefit to the poorest families in the state and help offset expenses contributing to high poverty rates. One concern is where the money to finance this credit would come from.
O'Brien added the state can decrease its tax gap, eliminate certain tax expenditures like the film industry tax credit, and increase taxes on higher-earning residents.
But these measures aren't entirely accurate. While the official poverty measure is based on cash income, the Supplemental Poverty Measure has a more accurate threshold of whether a family is in poverty. O'Brien said one interesting thing about the breakdowns of the data is how certain programs interact with poverty rates.
"The federal payroll taxes that are funding Social Security have this dynamic where Social Security is lifting primarily seniors out of poverty in part at the expense of pushing working adults into poverty," he said.
Some 218,000 Connecticut residents were lifted out of poverty by Social Security, though 39,000 were put into poverty by federal payroll taxes. But enacting a state Child Tax Credit would support over 1.3 million people statewide, including close to 207,000 kids living in or near poverty.
Disclosure: Connecticut Voices for Children contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Children's Issues, Education, Juvenile Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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Washington voters are deciding on the fate of the state's capital gains tax this election. The tax supports child care and schools.
If passed, Initiative 2109 would repeal a 7% tax on capital gains for assets worth more than $250,000. Supporters of the repeal said capital gains taxes are volatile and it could lead to an income tax down the road.
Wesley Tharpe, senior adviser for state tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, noted 42 states have capital gains or income taxes and capital gains taxes are one of the most effective tools to balance out tax codes.
"Things like personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, those are going to collect a bit more from those at the top," Tharpe explained. "That helps balance out the fact that lower- and middle-income people are contributing a much larger share in things like sale taxes and fees - and to some degree, property taxes as well."
Last year, Washington state's capital gains tax pulled in about $786 million. The first $500 million collected from it goes toward schools, early learning and child care. Money collected beyond it is used for school construction. Washington has historically had one of the most regressive tax systems in the country.
Suzette Espinoza-Cruz, a Washington state lead volunteer for the Save the Children Action Network, said early childhood learning has benefited her niece's child, who was ready on his first day of kindergarten because of the state's Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program. Her niece's other child needed help in school and Espinoza-Cruz emphasized she was able to get help.
"What worries me about Ballot Initiative 2109 is that programs that are supplementing students' learning could be cut if we have less funding available for our pre-K through 12 system," Espinoza-Cruz stressed.
Tharpe pointed out there would be long-term effects from repealing the capital gains tax from investing less in quality education, early learning and child care.
"You're going to wind up down the road with a less competitive workforce, communities that are not as attractive of places to live and work," Tharpe projected. "There really is some significant economic risk to taking away that source of revenue for those public priorities."
Disclosure: Save the Children contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Early Childhood Education, Education, Poverty Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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Workers responsible for nurturing and educating young children during their most critical years of development struggle with poverty-level wages, in Colorado and every other state, according to a new report.
Senior Researcher and Policy Associate Anna Powell with University of California Berkeley's Center for the Study of Childcare Employment said the median wage nationally for early childhood educators is $13.07 an hour.
"In Colorado that would be $15.06 an hour, so a little bit higher," said Powell. "But these are wages that are typically at or near minimum wage, and lead people to require public assistance in order to make ends meet."
In Louisiana, these educators are paid just $10.60 an hour. The 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index found that hourly wages do not equal a living wage for a single adult in any state.
Nearly half of childcare workers turn to public assistance programs, including food stamps and Medicaid.
Early childhood educators earn less than 97% of all other occupations. Powell said the data also show serious inequities in wages.
"So, while the overall wages are low, Black and Latino women are earning even less on average," said Powell, "up to $8,000 less a year regardless of their education level."
The study's recommendations include increasing public funding for the early childhood education sector.
The U.S. currently invests just $4,000 per child, per year, compared to $14,000 invested in other wealthy nations.
The pandemic exposed just how essential these educators are to the economy, and Powell said effective use of COVID relief funds shows that solutions are available.
"And many states and localities were experimenting with helping to provide stipends or other creative ways to increase wages," said Powell. "So, all of these are excellent proof points about how we can be making different policy choices."
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