Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Torch (December 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (November 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (October 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Profiling Maine’S Long Term Support System [Project Brief], Eileen Griffin Jd

Disability & Aging

A recent report by the Muskie School and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services provides a new way of looking at the state’s long term support system. With an emphasis on developing a common approach for description and analysis across programs, the profile reveals that users of long term services and supports in Maine span all age groups and types of service users. In fact, 28% are ages 17 or younger and 29% are between the age of 35 and 64. Long term service users include people with physical impairments, cognitive and intellectual disabilities, and people who need …

Torch (September 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Slides: Next Evolutionary Steps In State Instream Flow Programs, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, attorney and consultant, Boulder, CO

27 slides

Torch (June 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (March 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Cross-System Profile Of Maine's Long Term Support System: A New View Of Maine's Long Term Services And Supports And The People Served, Eileen Griffin Jd, Julie T. Fralich Mba, Catherine Mcguire Bs, Louise Olsen, Stuart Bratesman Mpp, Kathy Bubar, Romaine Turyn

Disability & Aging

This document provides a new way of looking at Maine's long term services and supports, with an emphasis on developing a common approach for describing and analyzing long term services and supports across programs. A conscious effort was made to organize this profile around the populations served rather than the programs serving them. For that reason, the profile captures information on all of the services accessed by each population group, not only those services administered by a particular program. This broader view provides important information about the full range of service utilization for each population group.

Torch (February 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Maine Women's Advocate (2009 - Winter), Maine Women's Lobby Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

The Maine Women's Advocate (2009 - Summer), Maine Women's Lobby Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

Torch (January 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Investing In Maine’S Youngest Children Has Great Returns For Business, Dana F. Connors

Maine Policy Review

Dana F. Connors describes how the business commu­nity has become involved in the dialogue to help steer planning for investments in Maine’s youngest chil­dren. He acknowledges that there are high costs in failing to invest early and notes that creating skilled workers requires building the foundation in the first few years of the worker’s life. He stresses that high-quality early education and care are vital for both individual and statewide economic security.

Family Economic Security, Ann Acheson

Maine Policy Review

Research shows that family economic insecurity when children are very young can have lifelong effects. Ann Acheson gives an overview of patterns of poverty and family economic insecurity in Maine, including the marked regional differences in poverty, income, and employment in the state. She describes some of the key benefits and programs to help support lower-income families and examines current policies and policy recommendations for addressing poverty and economic insecurity. Acheson notes that while Maine has been progressive in many of its policies that support family economic security, states can’t do it all, since much of the program and benefits …

The Early Childhood Workforce, Julie Dellamattera

Maine Policy Review

Julie DellaMattera describes how the strongest predic­tors of high-quality care and early education are the educational preparation of early educators, their continued training, compensation, and recognition of their professionalism. She presents information on the current patterns of educational preparation and poor compensation of early educators and offers recommendations to improve training and compen­sation. DellaMattera notes the need to also change public perceptions of those who work in the field of early care and education so that they are respected for their specialized knowledge.

Interdepartmental Coordination For Maine’S Young Children With Disabilities, Alan B. Cobo-Lewis

Maine Policy Review

Alan B. Cobo-Lewis describes Maine’s system of services for young children with disabilities. He notes that families of young children with disabilities face challenges in navigating Maine’s service structure. There can be delays before children get appropriate evaluation, and there are sometimes problems with inter-agency referrals. Cobo-Lewis makes a number of recommendations regarding data linkage; coordina­tion of eligibility determination from different funding streams; updating inter-agency agreements; and creation of a more efficient state departmental struc­ture for services to children with disabilities

Data Collection In Maine: Assessing The Return On Public Investment In Maine’S Early Childhood System, Judy Reidt-Parker

Maine Policy Review

To better understand the outcomes of investments in early childhood, we need comprehensive data to measure benchmarks, according to Judy Reidt-Parker. She describes the current state of data collec­tion in Maine and discusses data that are needed and where there are opportunities for improvement. The greatest need is for the development of a common set of child and program outcomes that can be shared across departments and systems and for linking systems so that children’s progress can be followed longitudinally

Working Parents And Child Care: Charting A New Course For Quality, Michael Lahti, Rachel Connelly, Georgia N. Nigro, Rebecca Fraser-Thill

Maine Policy Review

Close to two-thirds of children in Maine under the age of five need child care while their parents work. The quality of child care is a critical policy concern, since research has found that early childhood experience plays a major role in later-life success for individuals. The authors report on findings from three studies regarding child care arrangements in Maine and the quality of child care in the state and nationally. They describe the development and implementation of Maine’s new Quality Rating System (QRS) for child care facilities, Quality for ME, and the role that it can play both in …

Child Care And Work Challenges For Maine’S Parents Of Children With Special Needs, Helen D. Ward, Julie A. Atkins, Erin E. Oldham

Maine Policy Review

Research by the authors with parents, child care providers, and other service providers found that parents of children with special needs face particular challenges trying to maintain stable employment while balancing work and family. These parents have more difficulty finding and keeping child care for children with special needs, and there is a lack of coordination of therapy with child care programs. Since the study was completed, Maine has taken several steps to begin to address these issues

Parent Education:“Prepare The Child For The Path, Not The Path For The Child”, Candace J. Eaton

Maine Policy Review

Candace J. Eaton describes why parent education is important and discusses a number of parent-educa­tion approaches and programs that currently exist in Maine. She argues that we need to increase access to research-supported programs, parent-education classes, and support groups to all geographic areas of the state and all populations. In this era of reduced funding, Eaton recommends continuous evaluation of program outcomes and the limitation of funding to programs and approaches that show positive improvements.

The Dynamics Of Investments In Young Children, Philip A. Trostel

Maine Policy Review

Philip Trostel presents compelling evidence of the importance of early investment in young children, citing research demonstrating the economic and social benefits of such investments. He suggests that the lack of understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between early childhood experiences and later-life consequences and a failure to conceptualize how things might be done in new ways are both obstacles. Trostel argues that investing in early childhood devel­opment benefits children for the rest of their lives, benefits government with reduced spending in other areas, and moreover is the “right thing to do.”

Introduction To The Early Childhood Issue, Leslie A. Forstadt, Sheryl Peavey

Maine Policy Review

Guest editors Leslie Forstadt and Sheryl Peavey introduce the articles in this special issue of Maine Policy Review on early childhood by highlighting the myriad of programs and policies affecting Maine’s young children and their families. To illus­trate the challenges faced by parents, they present the fictional account of a young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy. The story illustrates the sometimes confusing array of services, programs, and funding for young children and their parents. The authors argue “it is time to make every door into the system of early childhood services the right door for every parent.”