Annual Report 2014

Telling the whole story.

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As an independent, nonpartisan voice, over the past 28 years Voices for Children has achieved many, many policy victories for children, and 2014 was no different. Much of our success is owed to our adherence to data-driven analysis, which allows us to see what is happening across the state without bias or attachment to a set agenda, as well as our commitment to effectively communicating the stories of our children.

In order for our organization to thrive, we must continue to tell the whole story, no matter where it leads us. We owe it to Nebraska’s children to be a fair and independent voice. With this as a guiding principle, over my past four years as Executive Director, it has been impossible to deny the numbers we publish in Kids Count that show troubling racial disparities in juvenile justice, child welfare, economic stability, education, and health. A child’s race or where he or she is raised should not be one of the main factors in determining whether he or she grows into a happy, healthy, and productive adult. Unfortunately, it is clear to us that right now, that is not the case.

Because of this, in December we had our first Race Matters conference, with the goal of providing awareness on our Nebraska racial history, awareness of what is happening now, and a vision of what is necessary for change in the future. The conference was a tremendous success -- over 275 stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds joined us to inform, educate, and motivate participants to action.

I highlight this because it is another example of how what we publish in our annual Kids Count Report guides our direction, and the importance of finding new and innovative ways to engage Nebraskans in awareness and action. At Voices, we are always looking for ways to expand the impact we have through issue briefs, use of social media, videos, infographics, and nearly daily updates to our blog. Awareness, action, and change do not happen by accident. On behalf of the staff and board of directors, I want to thank each of you who have helped us tell the whole story of children in our state and in our communities. As you look through the work we are doing and our accomplishments over the past year, I hope you can join us in telling the whole story of Nebraska’s kids and creating a better state for all of our children.

Carolyn D. Rooker, MSW

From the Executive Director

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As the independent nonpartisan voice for kids, Voices for Children in Nebraska wouldn’t exist without the financial contributions of foundations, individuals, and corporate supporters. A complete list of those donors is available online at www.voicesforchildren.com/annualreport.

Community Giving2%

Contributions6%

Special Events14%

Grant Awards78%

Awareness ......................... $ 224,976Research ............................ $ 297,248Other/Administrative ........ $ 86,757Fundraising ........................ $ 45,032Advocacy ............................ (Direct lobbying)

$ 13,347

2014 Pre-Audit $ 667,360

Grant Awards ....................... $ 472,400Special Events ..................... $ 86,872Contributions ........................ $ 36,661Community Giving ................ $9,375

$ 605,3082014 Pre-Audit

Other/Administrative13%

Fundraising7%

Advocacy2%

Research45%

Awareness34%

Income

Expenses

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About Voices for ChildrenAbout Voices for Children in Nebraska

MISSION:

Voices for Children in Nebraska is the independent voice buildingpathways to opportunity for all children and families through

research, policy and community engagement.

VISION:

We will engage the public and state leaders to build systemsremoving obstacles and promoting opportunities for ALL children

to lead healthy, secure and fulfilling lives.

VALUES:

All children deserve an equal opportunity to succeed in life. Toensure kids remain at the center of priorities and programs:

• Informed research drives our direction.• When a policy is good, we support it; when it is harmful, we

fight it; when it is missing, we can create it.• Community engagement is how we promote systems change.

PLAN:

Our policy priorities are guided by research, data and provenbest practices that improve child well-being. We pay close

attention to the impact of race, poverty and geography, and seek to address existing disparities within these issue areas.

Founded in 1987, Voices for Children in Nebraska has a 28 year track record of improving the lives of Nebraska’s children and youth. As the independent, nonpartisan voice for children, we are not funded by state, federal, city or county dollars. We are generously supported by people like you—who want to make a difference for the kids in our state. Our independence allows us to speak loud and clear and to shine the spotlight on the needs of children in our state.

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Ensure that families are able to achieve financial security. Hard work should pay and policies should support families in trying to build a better future. Systems should ensure that children’s basic needs are met when families lack the resources to do so.

Ensure that our tax system is fair to working families and that we have adequate revenue to invest in communities. Our state budget helps set the priorities for the state and we should prioritize our future workforce by making smart, targeted investments in children and families.

Guarantee all children and families have access to affordable, quality physical and behavioral health care. Consistent and preventive health care, beginning even from birth, gives children the best chance to grow up to be healthy and productive adults.

Ensure all families have access to quality affordable early education and that families have supports in place that allow them to balance work and family life.

Assure that children can grow into healthy and productive adults by holding youth accountable for their actions in appropriate ways that promote community safety.

Ensure all children grow up in safe, permanent, and loving families. By strengthening families, we prevent abuse and neglect. An effective child welfare system minimizes trauma to children and families through swift and thoughtful action.

PRO-KId POLICY Plan for Nebraska

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Voices for Children in Nebraska is the independent voice building pathways to opportunity for all children and families through research, policy and community engagement.

Our policy priorities are guided by research, data and proven best practices that improve child well-being. We pay close attention to the impact of race, poverty and geography, and seek to address existing disparities within these issue areas.

Mission:

Plan:

Find out more at voicesforchildren.com

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The Kids Count in Nebraska 2013 Report was generously

funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation

with additional support

provided by:

Dr. Thomas & Jane Tonniges

Woods Charitable Fund

Alegent Creighton Health&

The Hawks Foundation

Research

All of Voices for Children’s advocacy for kids lies on a strong foundation of data and research. The cornerstone of this research is the annual Kids Count in Nebraska Report. We use the commentary and data throughout the year to inform the public and lawmakers about the important issues that impact kids. The 21st edition of the report was released in January 2014.

The 2013 Kids Count in Nebraska Report featured a commentary on Nebraska’s changing demographics and how these changes will impact children. The commentary highlighted that by 2050 Nebraska’s population will be older, more diverse, more urban, and have greater variation in family types.

The 2013 edition continued our visually-oriented style allowing us to more effectively communicate data and “tell the whole story.”

Annual Kids Count in Nebraska Report

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Kids Count in Nebraska

by the Numbers

208 state-level indicators

38 indicators with disaggregation based on gender, age, race/ethnicity, location, or

family type

96 pages

30 county-level indicators

2,500 books given out across Nebraska

10 presentation events

When we see a need for additional information that isn’t contained in the Kids Count in Nebraska Report, we produce a special issue brief. In 2014, we published the Family Bottom Line Report, a follow up to our 2009 report on the financial stability of Nebraska families after the Great Recession. The report showed that Nebraska families are working hard, but that it is becoming increasingly challenging for Nebraska’s working families to earn enough to meet all of their children’s basic needs.

The report also explores trends in income and poverty rates and presents an alternative way of measuring financial security. The report was successful in generating media coverage on family economic stability in Nebraska. In addition to the main report, an online tool was released, allowing users to see what it takes for Nebraska families to make ends meet based on family types and county of residence. The tool can be found at familybottomline.voicesforchildren.com.

Issue Briefs

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Awareness

Sarah Forrest, Dr. Tonia Durden, Dr. Sam Meisels, Father Steven Boes, Dr. Theresa Barron-McKeagney,

Dr. Matt Blomstedt and Carolyn Rooker

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released a new Race for Results Report comparing how children are progressing on key milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and state level. In conjunction with this new report, Voices for Children in Nebraska had an event to highlight state data and to identify areas where targeted strategies and investments are needed.

“Race for Results” scores race/ethnicity groups on a scale of one (low) to 1,000 (high), using 12 indicators of child well-being. The scorecard looked at academic proficiency, poverty, family life and health. Nebraska scores were worse than the national average for both African-Americans and Latinos. The African-American average was 345 nationally and 323 in Nebraska. The national average for Latinos was 404 nationally, compared to 368 for Nebraska.

The “Race for Results” event was held on April 16th at the Boys Town Conference Center with over 100 participants in attendance. It included a panel discussion with experts on early childhood education, juvenile justice and the education opportunity gap. Panelists explored how we tackle the school to prison pipeline and create an environment where all kids are positioned to thrive.

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Save the Date! December 3-4, 2014

UNO Alumni CenterOmaha, NE

Putting

A Race Matters conference

Raceon theTable

On December 3rd and 4th, Voices for Children convened the Race Matters Conference at the UNO Thompson Alumni Center. Through many years of Kids Count in Nebraska Report data, it became clear that in each of our issues areas; juvenile justice, child welfare, economic stability education, and health, children of color were performing below average and had limited opportunities when compared to the state’s population at large.

Our concerns from the Kids Count data were further validated with a national Race for Results report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showing that Nebraska is performing below average in opportunities for children of color. The persistence of this troubling data year after year prompted us to organize the Race Matters Conference.

The conference brought over 275 people together, and had a primary focus on racial equity—focusing on policies and practices using systems thinking. The conference was made possible by a grant from the Cooper Foundation and support from the Sherwood Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Boys Town, Nebraska Families Collaborative, Metropolitan Planning Agency, UNO Academic and Student Affairs Division of Inclusion & Multicultural Affairs, Creighton University, and the Urban League of Omaha.

The Race Matters Conference was a great success, with amazing keynote speeches from Dr. Robert W. Simmons III, Dr. Paul Gorski, and Dr. Camika Royal, and a strong array of breakout sessions designed to inform, educate, and motivate participants to action. The conference moved us forward as we convened stakeholders from a variety of sectors to receive training on the Racial Equity Impact Analysis tool, and develop action plans to tackle racial inequity.

Voices for Children looks forward to continuing our work on issues of racial equity as part of our ongoing mission to build pathways to opportunity for ALL children.

Special Events

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child welfare

Juvenile Justice

Health

District 4VOTE KIDS

Total Population: 531,265Counties: Douglas

2 in 1000

136 yrtccommitments12

UninsuredPrivate InsuranceMedicaid

of kids under 6 with both parents in workforce8

73%

enrolled in snap program4

25%

63 per 1000

other5%

white2

60%

hispanic18%

14%black

1%

americanindian3%

asian

135,214 kids1,2

$

19%

7% uninsured5

40% on Medicaid/chip6

65% on private insurance7

Kids in poverty3

per 1000 children in

ages 10-17

$1,417avg. child care expenses9

per mo.

11.2

Education

economic stability

77%

$12.94

1,2 US Census ACS 2008-2012 Estimates Table B01001

10 Nebraska Department of Education 2011-12 school year NESA scores : School districts with masked data were not included in averages.

3 US Census ACS 2008-2012 Estimates Table A-I B170064 DHHS Financial Services Program 20125 US Census ACS 2008-2012 Estimates Table B270016 DHHS Financial Services Program 20127 US census ACS 2008-2012 Estimates Table B27002 11 Nebraska Commision on Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice

12 2011-12 Geneva YRTC Annual Report, 2011-12 Kearney YRTC Annual Report

8 US census ACS 2008-2012 Estimates Table B23008

13 DHHS, 2012 * Number of substantiated victims 14 DHHS, Dec. 31, 2012 15 Family Bottom Line Report 2014 : Hourly wage for 2080 hours of work for 2 adult, 1 infant, 1 preschooler family.

9 Family Bottom Line Report 2014. Monthly cost for 1 infant, 1 preschooler

experienced maltreatment1,13

Juvenile arrests1,11

out of Home care1,14

4th grade Reading Proficiency10

Family Bottom LineHourly Wage15

VOTE KIDS

Voices for Children in Nebraska launched VoteKidsNebraska.com to help citizens make informed decisions for the November 2014 general election.

As part of the VoteKids project, Voices for Children offered state legislative and gubernatorial candidates the opportunity to respond to questionnaires and tell voters in their own words what their priorities would be if elected. Those survey answers were posted on the website.

For legislative races, citizens could search by candidate and by district, or type in their address in a search and be directed to the corresponding legislative candidates’ page. For those in districts not on the ballot, the website links to the current senator in that district and provides that representative’s contact information. Races on the November ballot also offered district fact sheets where voters and candidates can receive information about child well-being in the corresponding counties.

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Awarenessby the Numbers

67% increase in Facebook likes

1,412 followers on Twitter

Over 100 attendees at the Race for Results

event

Over 275 attendees at the

Race Matters Conference

Want to be a part of the conversation?

Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/ voicesforchildreninnebraska

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/voicesNE

Our website and blog serve as a central repository of data, information, and analysis on the issues affecting Nebraska’s children. Moving policy forward for kids requires a conversation about the issues and challenges they are facing, and in 2014, we contributed to this on-going conversation with 131 blog posts across our issue areas. The growth in our social media presence is just one way we know that our work is having an impact on those conversations. In 2014, our Facebook fans grew by 67% and or Twitter followers grew by 45%.

Each week during the legislative session, and every other week throughout the rest of the year, Voices for Children sends our advoKID email containing information about legislative action, in addition to news from the organization, and links to original content, reports, and analysis from Voices. Signing up for the advoKID is one of the quickest ways to get plugged into the issues that are affecting children in Nebraska. You can sign up for the advoKID at http://voicesforchildren.com/advoKID/

Website & Social Media

Awareness: Get Involved

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Advocacy

The 2014 Legislative Session saw several advances on children’s issues as well as some challenges. Here are a few highlights of the legislative session:

The Legislature made progress in increasing access to affordable child care by passing LB 359. LB 359 is aimed at addressing the “cliff effect” in the child care subsidy program, where a small raise pushes a family over the eligibility threshold and makes child care unaffordable. Families will now be allowed a 10% earned income disregard for ongoing assistance at their annual review. The bill was also amended to include LB 732, which helps ensure that families on public benefits aren’t penalized for pursuing higher education.

The Legislature also took an important step aimed at improving the efficiency of our public programs by establishing a committee to make recommendations to address the ongoing problems with our ACCESSNebraska public benefits application system.

The voters of Nebraska stepped in after the Legislature missed an important opportunity to increase economic stability for many working families in Nebraska. Following the failure of legislation that would have increased the minimum wage to $9.00 in Nebraska, a number of state organizations came together in an unprecedented timetable to get a minimum wage increase on the fall election ballot.

On November 4, Initiative 425 passed with 59.5% of the vote, securing an incremental increase in Nebraska’s minimum wage to $8.00 in 2015 and $9.00 in 2016, and raising the incomes of thousands of working Nebraskans who could not survive on $7.25 per hour.

Economic Stability

2014 Legislative Session

For the many youth in the child welfare system who linger for long periods of time in foster care or age out of the system, the Legislature passed LB 908. The bill creates a better system for permanent guardianship, which is especially important for kinship families.

In another victory for child welfare, the Legislature authorized the implementation and evaluation of an alternative response pilot

project in Nebraska, with the passage of LB 853. Instead of a one-size–fits all front door, our child welfare system will better be able to keep kids safe by partnering with their families in low- and moderate-risk cases.

Child Welfare

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Advocacy by the Numbers

1,200 fewer youth will be prosecuted in adult

criminal court.

Over 10,000 fewer youth sent directly to the court system, just

for skipping school.

Over 200 children & families will have access to a better

permanent guardianship system

An estimated 150 children annually will benefit from the

earned income disregard in the child care subsidy program

The Legislature also took a step forward in child health with the passage of LB 505 (now LB 254) to ensure that more insurance companies are required to cover effective early intervention treatment for kids diagnosed with Autism.

Health

Nebraska passed another significant overhaul of its juvenile justice system, LB 464. The most significant part of this bill requires that the cases of most youth start in juvenile court rather than adult criminal court.

Several bills were proposed that would have dramatically altered our tax structure by reducing or eliminating income taxes. Although Voices for Children supports tax cuts for working families, we have opposed any tax changes that would result in drastic cuts to education and other services for children or would increase reliance on taxes paid by lower income families. Thankfully, the Legislature rejected these harmful approaches.

This will not only make it easier for youth to be held accountable in more appropriate, effective ways, but will also improve public safety. The bill also reformed a recent Nebraska law requiring students automatically be referred to the court system after missing a certain number of school days. With the passage of LB 464, schools are now required to work collaboratively with students and parents to address barriers to attendance, making court involvement a last resort.

The Legislature also took an important step toward increasing the transparency and efficiency of programs serving children and families by passing LB 974, which requires additional strategic planning from the Department of Health and Human Services during the budget process.

Juvenile Justice

Tax & Budget$

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Spotlight Gala

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Spotlight Gala Chairs: Emily Tonniges, Wendy Koontz, Patti Koraleski and Tessa Barney

Mr. Steve Martin, Dr. Amy Haddad, Carolyn Rooker and Eric Nelson

Voices for Children hosted its annual Spotlight Gala at the Embassy Suites-La Vista on September 13th. More than 700 event attendees helped raise over $185,000 with in-kind, and monetary donations to support our research and advocacy.

Mr. Steve Martin and Dr. Amy Haddad served as this year’s honorary family.

Awards presented during the “Spotlight Gala” included: Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Donna Polk, Individual Award to Scott Smathers, Youth Award to Tiauna Lewis, and Nonprofit Award to ConAgra Foods Foundation.

Julie Cornell of KETV Channel 7 served as event emcee and Christine Strobietto led the live auction as auctioneer. The Spotlight Gala committee members were lead by Patti Koraleski and Emily Tonniges. Tessa Barney and Wendy Koontz chaired the auction committee.

Special thanks go to Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and Just Good Meat for their donations.

The event’s Presenting Sponsors were Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska and Mr. Steve Martin and Dr. Amy Haddad. Diamond sponsors of the event included KETV Channel 7, CHI Health, Barnhart Press, and Rebel Interactive. Platinum sponsors were Omaha Schools Foundation, ConAgra Foods and TD Ameritrade.

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Eric Nelson, Dr. Donna Polk and Carolyn Rooker

Eric Nelson, Kori Reed,- ConAgra Foods Foundation and Carolyn Rooker

Eric Nelson, Tiauna Lewis and Carolyn Rooker

Sen. Bob Krist, Former Sen. Tony Fulton, Scott Smathers and Sen. Ken Schilz

About the 2014 Spotlight Awards Every day there are individuals and organizations who find unique ways to reach out, serve and advocate for the best interests of children. Voices for Children in Nebraska chose to spotlight four such organizations and individuals. Award recipients were presented with custom awards designed by artist Diane Mattern.

Telling the whole story.

7521 Main Street, Suite 103 Ralston, NE 68127

(402) 597-3100 phone(402) 597-2705 fax

voices@voicesforchildren.comhttp://voicesforchildren.com

Our Mission:Voices for Children in Nebraska is the independent voice building pathways to opportunity for all children and families through research, policy and community engagement.

Eric Nelson President

Tim Hron Vice President

Donna Hammack Secretary

Steve Mitchell Treasurer

Catherine Damico, JDJeremy Fitzpatrick, JD

Joel A. JacobsEric JohnsonLloyd Meyer

Yolanda Nuncio, MEdDaniel Padilla Mike Socha

Tim Thoreson

Board of Directors

Carolyn D. Rooker, MSW Executive Director

Maria AlbanOperations & Special Projects

Coordinator

Chrissy Tonkinson, MPH Research Coordinator

Juliet Summers, JDPolicy Coordinator -

Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice

Julia TseChild Welfare Policy Associate

Jessica NolteFinance Director

Aubrey Mancuso, MSW Policy Coordinator -

Health & Economic Well-being

Jenna Sutton Policy Associate

Sam Huppert

Communications Coordinator

Victoria JonesGraphic Designer

Staff

*2015 Board & Staff