A new Alliance for Excellent Education study reports that Philadelphia could have boosted its tax revenues by $18 million – if just half the high school dropouts from the class of 2008 had actually graduated. To help combat the city’s near 45 percent dropout rate and assist young people who want to return to school to earn their diplomas, the School District established the Re-Engagement Center in 2008. PCCY has produced a new poster encouraging pregnant and parenting youth to visit the center and take advantage of the resources available to help them complete their secondary education. The poster depicts a young woman dressed in a cap and gown handing her diploma to her pre-school son, the copy reading, “It’s not about you anymore…but you’re not alone.” The 750 posters will be distributed to health centers and county assistance offices and WIC offices citywide. “Kids who drop out are hard to find,” notes Colleen McCauley, Heath Director. “But over 90 percent of pregnant and parenting girls get pre-natal care. So the posters will go where they are, trying to catch kids who dropped out.”
Posts Tagged ‘Youth’
Outreach to Pregnant and Parenting Teens
What Does The Budget Impasse Mean for Neighborhoods?
Lest readers think the state budget crisis is over simply because our elected officials announced that it’s over, let me tell you how the crisis continues to be felt at the neighborhood level.
This afternoon I attended a meeting of child care providers from around the city who gather regularly to address shared concerns. Often discussions tackle issues like how to make the bureaucracies providers interact with more responsive to their needs. Sometimes they focus on the quest to obtain affordable health insurance for the child care sector. Once a year the group holds a gala luncheon for hundreds of child care practitioners, at which they honor programs that have met higher quality standards over the past year.
PCCY Releases A Statement on The State Budget
PCCY Issues Statement on ‘Mixed Bag’ State Budget. Stimulus Funding Reduced, But Good For Kids
(Philadelphia, PA) September 23, 2009 – Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), releases a statement on the Pennsylvania state budget agreement:
As most Pennsylvanians know, legislative leaders and the Governor’s office reached agreement last week on a framework for the 2009-2010 state budget. They are working to draft a line-item budget and a number of bills that must be passed before this budget can be enacted. This process is expected to take about two weeks.
PCCY urges legislators to continue to work with a sense of urgency to pass a budget based on this framework, as the halting of state revenue to local agencies has had a devastating impact on essential services for children and families. The longer we wait, the more vulnerable they become.