The White House Needs to Hear From You!

Congress is back at work and may decide on critical funding for child care and Head Start by the end of the week. Congress heard how important it is to not cut child care and Head Start funding, and now it’s time to tell the White House.

Today, Tuesday, November 30, advocates from across the country are contacting the White House to ask them to remind Congress not to drop 300,000 children from child care and Head Start, and to support the Early Learning Challenge Fund. The President and his important staff are key players in these funding decisions and we need to remind them that young children and families need more help now than ever.

Please contact the White House TODAY! There are two ways you can take action:

1. Leave a message for President Obama on the White House comments line in support of early childhood education programs:

• To call the comments line dial 202-456-1111. (You may need to call more than once if you get a busy signal.)
• Leave a message in the voicemail.

Sample Script: My name is ________ and I’m from (Insert Organization) in (City), (State). Please urge Congress not to drop 300,000 children from child care and Head Start. Make sure continued funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start is NOT REDUCED in the appropriations bill and that the Early Learning Challenge Fund is included. Thank you.

2. Send President Obama an e-mail in support of early childhood education programs.

• Email the President at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
• You will be directed to use the web form to send the White House an email.

Sample Message: Dear President Obama, please urge Congress not to drop 300,000 children from child care and Head Start. Make sure that continued funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start is NOT REDUCED in the FY 2011 appropriations bill and that the Early Learning Challenge Fund is included. These programs help children learn and develop skills they need to succeed in school and in life. They also give parents the support they need to be productive at work. Thank you.

Please tell your networks and friends to take action today, November 30. The more people who take action, the more our voices will be heard in this very important time.

Passive Smoking Causes 1% Of All Global Premature Deaths, 600,000 Per Year

Secondhand smoke, also known as passive smoking causes 603,000 deaths per year worldwide, of which 165,000 are children, Dr Annette Prüss-Ustün and team of the World Health Organization wrote in the medical journal The Lancet. The authors state that this is the first study to determine secondhand smoking's impact worldwide.

The last time comprehensive data on 192 countries was gathered was 2004, the year used for this analysis, the author explained. The death toll as well as life-years lost were calculated.

Below are some highlighted data from the study - globally in 2004:

• 40% of the world's children are exposed to secondhand smoke

• 33% of males who don't smoke are exposed to secondhand smoke

• 35% of females who don't smoke are exposed to secondhand smoke

• Secondhand smoke is thought to have caused 165,000 lower respiratory infection deaths, 379,000 ischemic stroke deaths, 36,900 asthma deaths, and 21,400 lung cancer deaths.

• 603,000 premature deaths were caused by passive smoking, approximately 1% of all premature deaths

To read the full article, please click here.

ALERT - Reach Out and Read and Reading is Fundamental funding in Danger

Please contact Senator Jon Kyl’s office at http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm and ask him to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment, which is being voted on Monday, November 29th. You can also call Abby Donovan, Senator Kyl’s education staffer at 202-224-4521. Below is a short script for your use.

If the amendment passes, it would end ALL funding for Reach Out and Read, including 6 million dollars in the current budget proposals. Reach Out and Read is technically an earmark, despite being a national program with 11 years of federal funding. This amendment would devastate national and state Reach Out and Read Programs as well as Reading is Fundamental (RIF), which provides books for low income children and Tribal Programs. Reach Out and Read is a proven school readiness program serving children 6 month-5 years, with 182 programs in 13 counties serving over 124,000 children in Arizona.

We need your assistance and we only have a very small window of time to mobilize to make sure that Reach Out and Read and Reading is Fundamental, are not removed from the budget. Please call Abby and email Senator Kyl.

Here is some language that you can use for your email to Senator Kyl:

“Subject Line: Vote NO on Coburn Amendment 4697

I urge Senator Kyl to vote No on the Coburn Amendment (SA-4697-510), which is scheduled for a vote on Monday, November 29th.

As you know, Reach out and Read is a proven, pediatric school readiness program that works with more than 3.95 million, low-income children and their families at more than 4,500 hospitals and health centers in fifty states. We currently serve 124,000 children in Arizona at 182 programs.

I urge you to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment.

Thank you,

First Name/Last Name

Reach Out and Read Arizona”

Proposed Cigarette Product Warning Labels

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) requires that cigarette packages and advertisements have larger and more visible graphic health warnings.

FDA issued a proposed rule, Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements, proposing to modify the required warnings that appear on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements. These new required warnings would consist of nine new textual warning statements accompanied by color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.

The Tobacco Control Act requires FDA to issue final regulations requiring these color graphics by June 22, 2011. It also specifies that the requirement for the new health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements will take effect 15 months after issuance of this final rule.

To view all the images, and for information on how to vote for them, please click click.

The Power of Assets: Helping Kids to Thrive

A training opportunity for people interested in asset based community development.

The Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets are based on extensive research in youth development, resiliency, and prevention. They represent the relationships, opportunities and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive. Studies of more than 2.2 million young people in the United States consistently show that the more Assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to thrive.

Participants in the training will:

• Learn about the 8 categories of the Developmental Assets
• Increase your readiness to apply Developmental Assets in your relationships and community
• Explore how Assets protect young people from risky behaviors
• Discover the ways Assets protect young people from risky behaviors
• Discover the ways Assets promote healthy and positive behaviors
• Fell prepared to share your knowledge and build Assets with others

REGISTER TODAY. Space is limited! Lunch will be provided.

Contact Julio Quezada at 525-6060 or jquezada@northcountryhealthcare.org

$10 for the day (Scholarships available)

Training info:

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: Coconino County Health Department, Ponderosa Room, 2625 North King Street, Flagstaff, AZ

Homeless and Runaway Youth: Who They Are and What They Need

Free workshop on Friday, November 19th, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Location: The McGee Auditorium, Flagstaff Medical Center

Refreshments and pizza will be served following the panel discussion and a presentation by the PEACE Project.

RSVP by calling 928-679-7318 or e-mailing resuding@coconinokids.org

Mental Health Wellness Week November 14 - 20, 2010

Mental health is how people think, act and cope with life and the stressors and challenges that are part of the human experience. The state of one’s mental health can influence the ways in which they look at themselves, their life and others around them. It also strongly influences an individual's potential for achieving their goals and is an important tool in obtaining and maintaining a feeling of well being.

Mental Health Wellness Week -- a grassroots public education campaign focused on promoting mental health wellness across the country, taking place November 14-20 -- is designed to:

• Promote an understanding of mental health wellness
• Address the mind/body connection
• Provide evidence-based approaches to improving both mental and overall physical wellness
• Help individuals find support groups and wellness events in their local communities
• Address coping skills such as:
• Stress management techniques (i.e. yoga, breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation)
• Mindfulness, (i.e. "living in the moment")
• Lifestyle behaviors (i.e. physical activity, writing, having a support network)
• Setting realistic goals, evaluating different lifestyle choices and techniques that help both body and mind to improve mental health wellness

http://www.mhww.org/