2004 Children’s Agenda

2004 Children’s Agenda

End of Legislative Session Report

Foundation Priority
Support legislation and public education to ensure the right of all students to a high quality public education by using valid and reliable research to: a) assess the cost of a constitutionally adequate education at a level which assures high quality, and b) fully fund the costs through a sufficient and reliable revenue plan.
Victories:

Successfully defeating the proposed constitutional amendment CACR 2, which sought to reverse the rulings of the Claremont court decision.
The other major success was defeating several attempts to implement vouchers and school choice, bills seeking to redirect public state money to private and religious schools.

Challenges:

Continuing to convince legislators and the governor that the New Hampshire system of public education is built upon the principal that education is a public good, not a private right of an individual citizen.
Two school choice bills, House Bills 754 and 727, will require continued monitoring. HB 754, which would allow parents to receive certificates for use in non-public schools and home study for children in grades Kindergarten to 12 grade, was referred for interim study. HB 727 to establish a study committee regarding the issue of school choice was signed by the Governor.
Several other bills sought to limit the authority of local school boards; one enables budget committees, rather than school committees, to set the default budget, which will have significant impact on new programs because it gives a lot of authority to people who have no knowledge of education.

Of Note:

SB 302, relevant to revising the education funding formula, went to a conference committee where a compromise proposal was developed. The committee recommendation narrowly passed by a 30-vote margin in the House and a 2-vote margin in the Senate. Over $451 million will be distributed in state adequate education grants, relying on $22.4 million in revenue from donor towns.
Under SB 302, the total state commitment to adequacy dropped to $802 million based on $3,391 per child, with no state recognition of extra costs for special education students, ESL students or transportation.

On July 13, the towns of Rochester and Manchester filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to strike down the school funding law the Legislature passed in May. They charged that the Republican legislative leaders "deceptively, deviously and secretly" changed the language of the bill after the House and Senate voted on it. The Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the case must be heard by a superior court first to establish the facts. The case is now being considered by Merrimack Superior Court. The cities are seeking to stop the distribution of state aid to school districts on September 1.

EDUCATION
Priority: Support legislation and public engagement to retain and recruit a high-quality early childhood educator workforce.
Progress:

There has been support from business and industry leaders in helping to identify practical steps to provide health insurance for the early childhood educator workforce which, if available, would lead to increased retention of quality workers.

Challenges:

Failure of the federal government to increase childcare assistance makes it substantially more difficult to find sufficient funds to pay for increased pay and benefits for workers.
There are also practical problems in designing and implementing an insurance plan that have yet to be resolved.
Legislation was proposed in the fall of 2003, but it was withdrawn when it became clear there was no funding source for implementation.

Of Note:

Early childhood advocates will be launching a grassroots effort to build support for health insurance legislation for childcare workers this summer. NH CAN partners are needed to participate in local action groups.

Action Step: Promote public engagement in community-based discussions of what is necessary for successful schools.
Progress:

The Citizens Voice Project has held successful community forums in seven locations across the state with close to 500 citizens and over 50 facilitated discussions.
The substantive results show that the people of New Hampshire want successful schools that provide quality educational services and have some good ideas about what we need to obtain this goal.

Challenges:

The Citizens Voice Project had some difficulties reaching as many communities as they would have liked for various reasons. To date their work has been limited to facilitation of discussions. The project has not yet developed an advocacy voice for quality education.

Of Note:

Moving forward, the Citizens Voice Project is developing a "Fund the Gap" campaign to educate the public on the connection between what NH citizens believe is important for successful schools and current state standards. These standards provide some, but not all of those important elements. The campaign will highlight the gap between the actual costs of meeting those state standards and the state education funding provided to meet the standards.
The lack of state funding for state educational standards results in local property tax payers funding the difference and that leads to widely disproportionate tax rates and educational opportunities from community to community.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Priority: Engage public and policy makers in the development and dissemination of a New Hampshire youth suicide prevention protocol.
Victories:

HB 1397 to expand the duties of the health education review committee to include specific consideration of youth suicide prevention initiatives was signed by the Governor.
Under HB 1397, a member of the House and the Senate will be appointed to participate on the Youth Suicide Prevention Assembly. It will also direct the Education Review Committee to monitor any progress regarding a State Suicide Prevention plan.

Progress:

The Frameworks Project has made great strides in engaging the public and policy makers in the development of a New Hampshire Youth Suicide prevention protocol.
More than 80 people (many NH CAN partners) from around the state are participating in workgroups to develop protocols. Workgroups currently active in 8 different areas including: Law Enforcement, Social Services, Mental Health and Substance Abuse service providers, Emergency Medical Services, Cultural Competence, Education, Gatekeepers/friends/ families, Students/teens/young adult.
Education/training has been provided to workgroup participants regarding suicide in NH, warning signs, risk factors, intervention techniques and postvention activities. Protocols regarding response to attempts/threats of suicide are nearing completion and now are in the development stage for postvention activities.
Mascoma Valley Health Initiative (MVHI) has been selected as the pilot site to implement the youth suicide prevention protocols. MVHI includes the communities of Grafton, Enfield, Orange, Canaan and Dorchester.

The project is participating in the development of a State Suicide Prevention Plan.

Challenges:

The Frameworks project is a large undertaking with limited resources. Although there has been tremendous participation and response, some policy makers have been difficult to engage due to demands on their schedules.
The reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services seems to have indirectly pulled key players away from the project.

Of Note:

The likely next step will be to get the state to adopt a State Suicide Prevention Plan. This will benefit NH citizens by coordinating state and private agencies toward a common goal and work plan, and position NH to apply for Federal dollars which are likely to be made available in the near future to work toward suicide prevention.

Action Step: Increase public understanding and support of the need for daily physical activity for all students to prevent childhood obesity and other related problems.
Victories

HB1352 (Requiring school districts to recommend daily physical activity to pupils to prevent childhood obesity and related problems) passed both the NH House and Senate by voice vote and has been signed into law by the Governor.

The Healthy NH (HNH) Foundation board has voted to support childhood obesity prevention programs in NH and is working with the Action Step Leader to organize these efforts.

Other Success:

The Healthy NH (HNH) Foundation invited the Action Step Leader to key note their annual meeting and present "New Hampshire Kids, How Healthy Are They/" on April 27. NH CAN partners with a focus on health issues were invited to attend this annual meeting.

Anthem invited this Action Step Leader to keynote their annual meeting, "The Obesity Epidemic: A Call to Action" on June 22.

Challenges:

The NH Board of Education postponed their adoption of new minimum standards and is exploring removing requirements for physical education or activity in schools and encouraging that these efforts take place in community environments.

Of Note:

Support is needed to encourage the adoption of new minimum standards by the NH Department of Education and to build understanding and support from school administrators, teachers, parents and students.
The plan for 2005 is to amend HB1352 to allow for more specific interventions to take place in schools.

NH Healthy Schools has a number of programs scheduled for launch in schools in the fall of 2004.

Child Safety and Protection
Priority: Promote the accreditation of New Hampshire’s child protection services.
Victories:

The release of national Child and Family Services Review, DCYF accreditation report and Department of Children Youth Families (DCYF)’s "Five-Year Comprehensive Child and Family Services Plan" have given advocates much information with which to build a case for accreditation.
Advocates defeated several bills that would have moved DCYF away from best practices.

Progress:

Renewed partnership with DCYF officials to work on accreditation issue.
DCYF Director Nancy Rollins presented accreditation information to Legislative Caucus for Young Children.
Continuation of Eric L. review panel and resumption of quarterly monitor's reports.
Governor's Commission on Child Protection is broadening its initial scope to look at entire child protection system.

Challenges:

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner has declined to waive child protection social worker positions from the state hiring freeze, creating 15 unfilled direct-service positions. Attorneys and case supervisor positions have also been frozen.
Budget cutbacks in the court systems have created a scheduling backlog -- at least one District Court is scheduling adoption hearings a year out.

Of Note:

Advocates are working to ensure that the funding needed for accreditation is included in plans for the '06-'07 state budget. Legislation is being considered for the 2005 session.

Action Step: Increase the presence of Child Advocacy Centers or multi-disciplinary teams across all counties of New Hampshire
Victories:

The Governor’s Commission on Child Abuse and Neglect report that was released in April 2004 highlighted as a key recommendation that there should be a Child Advocacy Center in every county in the state of New Hampshire.

Progress:

From June to September 2003, a team of presenters has gone to each county in the state of New Hampshire and presented trainings on developing Child Advocacy Centers (CACs).
On the day before this year’s Attorney General’s Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect was a day-long training child advocacy orientation hosted by the Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County (CACRC) and the national parent organization, the National Children’s Alliance.
A team represented each county and was given binders of information and guidance regarding every aspect of opening a Child Advocacy Center.
Three counties have brought teams to the Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County this past year to tour the Center as well as sit in on Case Review and/or have a question / answer session.

Challenges:

Each county has its own roadblocks that they need to overcome before they can move forward to open a Child Advocacy Center.
Some counties face the challenge of identifying someone in their community to spear head the creation of a task force to begin working on this issue.

Action Step: Protect older teens (ages 17-18) in the juvenile justice system and promote community safety through (1) extended jurisdiction in the juvenile justice system and (2) raising the age of majority from 17 to 18 for juvenile delinquency petitions.
Victories

The passage of HB 1212 (which allows commitment to YDC until age 18 if Health and Human Services files a motion 90 days prior to 17^th birthday) makes it somewhat easier for juveniles to continue to receive services through their 18^th birthdays. The Governor signed this bill.

SB 513, eliminating the death penalty for juveniles, passed House and Senate.

Setback

Despite being passed by the House and Senate, SB 513, which would have eliminated the death penalty for juveniles, was vetoed by the Governor.

SB 444 would have included more 17-year-olds in the juvenile system, and was recommended by the Juvenile Justice Task Force. However, it was defeated in the Senate when county officials objected to the costs.

ECONOMIC SECURITY
Priority: Raise New Hampshire’s minimum wage.
Victories:

Building a bi-partisan coalition to advocate for a raise in the minimum wage.
HB 1278, that would have raised the minimum wage from $5.15 in 50 cent increments over three years, survived a subcommittee that wanted to kill it and went to the House where the Speaker of the House was forced to cast a tie-breaking vote on raising the minimum wage.

Set-back:

HB 1278 that would have raised the minimum wage was defeated by a tie-breaking vote from the Speaker of the House.

Challenges:

The House leadership was not in favor of the increase and the legislature historically has voted against an increase. This bill has lost twice before this round.
It also was difficult because opponents sent the House Labor Committee misleading information, perpetrating myths about the minimum wage. This definitely influenced the Committee.

Of Note:

Supporters have laid the groundwork for successful passage of a future bill and have raised awareness among a board cross-section of legislators and the public.
There is currently a federal minimum wage increase proposed in both houses of Congress.

Priority: Build public and political will to increase affordable housing and end homelessness.
Victories:

Unprecedented collaboration on a bipartisan level in support of SB95, the workforce housing bill.
Rescued New Hampshire’s Section 8 voucher program from more than $1 million in funding cuts for FY 04.
Increased interest in homelessness and housing as evidenced by an increase in requests for speakers, identification of the issue as a priority by the NH Charitable Foundation, and increased mention of housing as an election year issue.
20 new endorsers of the National Housing Trust Fund with more in process.

Set-back:

After two years of work, SB 95, that would require the development of workforce housing within municipalities, was defeated in the House.

Challenges:

Strong resistance from municipalities to any guidance from the state about obligations for affordable housing, which surfaced in discussions among planners, at the Municipal and County Government Committee and in the end on the House floor.
Deep prejudice about low-income people.
SB 95 was constantly being rewritten in an effort to meet objections, which gave us a moving target that was really hard to organize around.

Of Note:

Housing advocates are seeking organizations to sign as endorsers of the Housing Trust Fund. Rep. Charles Bass and Rep. Jeb Bradley are close to becoming co-signers and Sen. John Sununu may be moving in that direction.

The Interagency Council on Homelessness now has a component on family homelessness and is looking at a plan that more directly addresses their needs.
Federal funding for housing is in serious crisis. Advocates are needed to raise their voices for full funding (even expanded funding) for the Section 8 FY05 budget.

Action Step: Increase the number and percentage of eligible families who access the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Progress:

The first year of this Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) project focused on developing marketing strategies to increase visibility of EITC benefits to low- and moderate-income residents; conducting focus group research to increase knowledge of the population’s understanding about EITC and VITA sites for tax preparation; and gathering information about EITC coalitions throughout the state.

Six focus groups were conducted to learn how to effectively reach and educate those eligible for EITC.

Additional activities included collaboration with the Internal Revenue Service-SPEC, distribution of EITC and Advance EITC brochures to variety of agencies and organizations, EITC informational flyers to food stamp households, and radio and print PSAs.

A full-length article on EITC was written and put up on the front page of the UNH Cooperative Extension web site. (Now available online at http://ceinfo.unh.edu/News/new31204.htm). The web site included links to appropriate resources, the audio file of the radio PSAs, and scripts for the hearing impaired. People who entered the web site could also input their geographic location and find a volunteer tax assistance site near them.

Low-income citizens participated in the financial management program: Making Money Work for You to increase financial literacy and initiate the process of asset building.

Of Note:

In order to be successful, the first year of this work had to focus on research and the development of a solid marketing and collaboration plan. Much of the foundation work will yield a successful statewide project for subsequent years.