Editorial: Give foster children a fighting chance

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

Published on Friday, June 29, 2007
BALTIMORE - For many Maryland children, the only disruption they face in their schooling is fun: Summer break. For foster children, disruption is a way of life. And it severely limits their chances of developing into productive citizens and good parents. Fate does not have to dictate the outcomes of 10,000 foster children in the state, about 7,000 in Baltimore City, however. The General Assembly can lessen the number of disruptions by giving them school vouchers. Vouchers will not solve all of their problems, but they can give some of the most vulnerable children stability in an area that can greatly determine their success later in life.

Maryland Public Policy Institute Scholar to Testify on Educational Opportunities for Foster Care Children

Published on Monday, June 18, 2007
GERMANTOWN, MD - June 18, 2007—Maryland Public Policy Institute Visiting Senior Fellow Dan Lips will testify before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The Subcommittee is holding hearings on disconnected and disadvantaged youth, and the Maryland Public Policy Institute has been a leading advocate in promoting educational opportunities for foster care children.

Former Foster Children and Parents Stress Need for Better Educational Options

Focus Group Participants Say Current System Needs Improvement

Published on Thursday, November 30, 2006
GERMANTOWN, MD, November 30, 2006- Former foster children and foster parents in Maryland highlighted the lack of a quality education as a common problem faced in the foster care system during an August focus group, the results of which were published today by the Maryland Public Policy Institute.  “The real-life experiences of those in the foster care system emphasize the need to provide better opportunities for children in foster care,” said Christopher Summers, president of MPPI.“Foster children are among the most at-risk groups in our community.Providing these children with a quality education is a key to giving them the opportunity to succeed in life.”

Focus Group Study: Foster Care Families, Children, and Education

Published on Thursday, November 30, 2006
The Maryland Public Policy Institute is working to spearhead initiatives that help children entrusted in the foster care system to simultaneously receive a high-quality education. Many of these children experience unstable and often abusive living conditions. Social service placement typically requires frequent relocations for these wards of the courts: home-to-home, community-to-community and school-to-school. At this time, The Maryland Public Policy Institute has enlisted the services of Baltimore Research to conduct research that will aid in gaining a better understanding of the impact of foster care on the education of those in its charge.

Why Strong Work Requirements are Important in Maryland's Welfare System

By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., Peter Kazanjian Law
Published on Monday, August 01, 2005
Compared to other states in the mid-Atlantic region, Maryland has done comparatively well in reducing welfare caseloads over the past several years. The welfare system in Maryland, however, can and should be improved. This analysis looks at the issue of why work requirements should be directly tied to welfare receipt, and how Maryland’s program can be strengthened through strong work requirements.

How Public Policy Can Best Help Ameliorate Poverty

By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Published on Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Debates currently rage in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals nationwide on ways public policy can best ameliorate poverty in America. The U.S. Congress is deliberating over how the nation’s welfare law should be reauthorized, and states are grappling with how they should tailor welfare to meet the particular needs of their people.

Improving the Social Safety Net in the Old Line State

By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Published on Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Over the past several years, the nation’s welfare system has experienced a dramatic overhaul as the federal government, in 1996, replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. In the process of reform, states were given a great deal of freedom to custom tailor their own welfare policy changes within their jurisdictions, subject to certain limits.