PathWays PA Policy Blog

The  Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)  has released new research on the  Importance of Early Childhood Nutrition, WIC, and CACFP . Here are some of the highlights: Prenatal nutrition is critical to the development of children's bodies and minds Poor iron and folic acid status in pregnant mothers is linked to preterm birth and fetal growth issues Food insecurity in pregnant mothers puts children at increased risk of cleft palate, spina bifida, and other birth defects The first years of a child's life requires adequate food and nutrition to sustain the rapid growth and development required for school readiness and adult well-being. Household food insecurity is linked to physical health and developmental risk during early childhood. Participation in the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) leads to better maternal and child outcomes. Mothers participating in WIC while pregnant were more likely to stay connected as their children got older and had "hig...

From our friends in Harrisburg. October 2, 2013 - Harrisburg – Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Michael Wolf reminded Pennsylvanians today that all Women, Infants and Children (WIC) offices across the state are open and providing services during the federal government shutdown. “The Pennsylvania WIC program is operating as it normally does at this time, despite the federal government shutdown,” Wolf said. “All local WIC offices are currently open and are continuing to provide vital services to the families and individuals who depend on them in the commonwealth.” The department anticipates that the Pennsylvania WIC program can continue normal operations in the short-term due to funds carried forward from the previous year and additional food funds, including rebates. “We are watching budgets closely and have instructed all local offices to ensure fiscal responsibility with their allocated funds during this time. If we all keep focused, we believe we can sustain the ...

Here is what we're reading as the shutdown continues: How the Shutdown is Impacting Specific Federal Workforce Programs : Based the information that is currently available, here is the National Skills Coalition's best understanding so far of the impact of the shutdown on certain employment and training programs. Domestic Violence Programs See Their Funding End : The Office of Justice Programs, the Office on Violence Against Women, and other federal agencies funding domestic violence programs planned to fund the programs through Friday, October 4, 2013. Since the shutdown has not ended, many programs must rely on any funds they have in hand to see them through the fiscal crisis. If You Rely On Government Websites, Sorry:  Along with the government shutdown has come the shuttering of many websites, ranging from the American Community Survey database to NASA.gov.  If You Rely on Government Programs, You May Not Have Them for Much Longer : As we enter week 2 of the shutdown,...

Find a diaper bank near you 33% of the women interviewed for a study published this week in the journal " Pediatrics " said they'd experienced a time when they could not afford to buy the diapers their kids needed. One in ten women reported that they would “stretch” the diapers when their supply was running short by leaving a wet diaper on their child or by partially cleaning the diaper and reusing it. Diapers are such a concern that low-income families rank it along with food and housing as a top stressor. This concern is especially real for single moms, a group who tend to be the most economically vulnerable with a poverty rate of 15%. 6% of a single, full-time working mother's gross income goes to purchasing diapers. Unfortunately neither WIC nor SNAP (food stamps) include their costs. One women,  Debbie Bloom of Warwick, PA , said she spent $30 per week on diapers. The costs were so high that "she often paid her credit cards late, incurring penalties...

The National WIC Association encourages organizations to please SIGN our coalition partner to the Senate and House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Members, which urges them to fully fund WIC in FY 2014 at a level that ensures that no eligible applicants are turned away and which supports current and anticipated WIC participation levels. Serving nearly 9 million mothers and young children, including 53% of all infants in the country, WIC provides nutrition education, breastfeeding education and support, referrals to medical and social services and a small nutritious food package. Click here to view the letter. Click here to sign the letter. Please sign by close of business on Thursday, May 23rd.

Unless Congress acts within the next week, vulnerable children, families and seniors will face deep cuts in the services they depend on to put food on the table. Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and children will lose nutrition assistance provided by the WIC program. Seniors will receive 4 million fewer meals through Meals on Wheels. And nearly a quarter of a million people will lose the housing assistance that helps them afford a safe place to live.  Join advocates around the country and ask Congress to not harm our community and struggling families.

From our friends at the Coalition on Human Needs As Congress considers Fiscal Year 2013 funding action, it is imperative that advocates across the nation show their support for the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC). The National WIC Association's (NWA) national bipartisan poll found that Americans overwhelmingly support WIC and oppose funding cuts to WIC by a two to one margin. Still, the WIC Program is in jeopardy of suffering significant funding cuts if we fail to act. NWA is asking national, state, and local organizations to sign on to this coalition letter protecting WIC by March 28, 2012 by emailing Samantha Lee at slee@nwica.org . Please share this message with your partner organizations and invite them to sign the letter.

From our friends at Witnesses to Hunger . New data released yesterday by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) shows that a staggering 49.6 percent of households with children in the first Congressional District served by Congressman Bob Brady reported not having enough money to buy food that they needed in 2008-2010. In the 2nd Congressional District served by Congressman Chaka Fattah, the food hardship rate among households with children was 32.2 percent . Across the state of Pennsylvania, one in five households with children experienced such hardship. See today's press coverage on the food hardship rates in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Alfred Lubrano and the Daily News by Carol Towarnicky . The impact of such extreme food hardship will have permanent consequences for the health, development and future potential of the nation's children. Our research has shown that children in food insecure households are at greater risk for health problems...

Apologies for not writing about this sooner, but the Policy Department has been in the midst of attending a national conference and preparing for a local hearing on earned sick time.  While we were busy, a budget proposal for the rest of the fiscal year (from March 4 until September 30) was announced, as well as President Obama's proposed budget for 2012. Note: Congressional Staffers are also looking for your thoughts on HR 1.  A new service, POPVOX, is among organizations collecting statements.  To learn more about POPVOX, please visit https://www.popvox.com/home.  Also, The New York Times has put together a graphic representation of the federal budget proposal, showing the various cuts and increases to spending.  You can check it out on their website . Here is a roundup of budget information that we have gathered from our friends and colleagues. Tell us about more in the comments! Adult Education AmeriCorps/Corporation for National and Community S...

Federal Policy Update URGE YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO SUPPORT HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THAT SUPPORT VULNERABLE AMERICANS The House of Representatives is poised to pass a bill which will cut $100 billion from the current-year federal budget, with most reductions focused on federal support for basic health and human services for vulnerable Americans. Below are some of the cuts in the proposal: An end of funding for Title X, the federal family planning program, in this current fiscal year. Title X provides Pap tests, birth control, STD screening and treatment, breast exams, and more to millions of low income Americans. It's care that saves lives. A $1.1 billion cut in Head Start, a program that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. A $758 million cut to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which provides supplemental food to infants, health care referrals, and nutritio...

PATHWAYS PA ADOPT-A-FAMILY PROGRAM With the holidays right around the corner, it is time for PathWays PA's Adopt-a-Family. The Adopt-a-Family program offers the families who receive PathWays PA services many of the joys of the holiday season they may otherwise be without. Thanks to the generous contributions of local donors, special memories of holidays past have been created for the families we serve. Thousands of client families have benefited from this program through the years! This year, client families will again be partnered with donors based on their size and the ages of their children. After being paired up with a client family, a wish list will be sent to the donors with the receiving family's genders, ages, clothing sizes and their holiday wishes. The donor family chooses to purchase any or all of the items on the clients' list, or substitute items that they feel the client may enjoy. Non-perishable food baskets are also welcomed. This program is a source...

Public Forum on Earned Sick Time Thank you to everyone who came out to the Public Forum on Earned Sick Time sponsored by PathWays PA, WOMEN’S WAY, The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces! The campaign for paid sick days got a boost as more than forty people came to the Central Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library to learn about the need for earned sick time and to tell their stories. Some important facts discussed include that: 40 percent of all private sector workers lack access to job-protected earned sick time. Among food service workers and child care workers, 73 percent lack any access to earned sick time. 46 percent of all workers lack earned sick time. A diverse group of panel members agreed that employees should not need to work sick. The owner of a child care center explained how she saved money by providing the opportunity for workers to earn sick time, since one sick worker at home was less costly...

Last week I got the opportunity to participate in a webinar hosted by Nonprofits Count that focused on the Census. It included great information and is now available on their website . Some of the most compelling information dealt with groups that are traditionally undercounted, including low-income families, immigrants, communities of color... and young children. On the Census form, there is only room for 12 individuals to be counted - if more than 12 people live in a home, they must go on a separate form. In many cases, forms are filled out starting with the oldest person living in the household and ending with the youngest - which means that if there are more than 12 people in the house, the youngest might be left off entirely. Information from the Census directly impacts funding for education, Head Start programs, WIC grants, and many other services. Without an accurate count, communities and their children may lack these important programs. Children are one of many reasons wh...

PA Budget It is late July and the Commonwealth is still without a budget. Currently, there are four proposals on the table, Senate Bill 850, the Governor’s revised proposal, House Bill 1461, and the Amended Senate Bill 850 . The House recently passed House Bill 1461, which would move $1.2 billion of higher education line items out of the general fund budget and into a new Higher Education Fund. It will also cut $500 million from the Governor’s proposal by cutting funds from such programs as Pre-K Counts, Early Intervention, Maternal and Child Health, and Teen Pregnancy and Parenting. Below is a summary of how House Bill 1461, and the other proposals, will affect key programs: Industry Partnerships: The Governor’s revised proposal and House Bill 1416 cut roughly 30% from Industry Partnerships and Training Activities. The Amended Senate Bill 850 eliminates all funding for both programs. Child Care Services for Working Families: The Governor requested funding child care services at ...

May 12 Release In Pennsylvania, a large and diverse group of families who may not be below the Federal Poverty Level are experiencing economic distress and are routinely overlooked and undercounted. That’s the finding from PathWays PA’s latest publication, Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania, which uses The Self-Sufficiency Standard of Pennsylvania to determine how many households live below self-sufficiency. This report will be released on May 12, 2009, at www.pathwayspa.org and at our blog, http://policypathwayspa.blogspot.com . Join the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces! PathWays PA is working with a number of organizations, including ACORN, Maternity Care Coalition, SEIU, and Women’s Way, to support earned sick days for all workers in the City of Philadelphia, by forming the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces. The Coalition is endorsing the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces, Bill No. 080474. If you wou...