THIS WEEK'S
HEADLINES
NEWS IMPACTING CHILDREN 0-5 AND THEIR FAMILIES
July 24, 2020
Here is a quick look at some headlines from this week impacting the lives of kids 0-5 and their families. The purpose of these stories is simply to inform, and they do not necessarily reflect First 5 Kern's areas of support or efforts towards these issues.

Follow First 5 Kern on social media (@First5Kern) for more kids news, as well as information about our funded programs and initiatives.

Now for the headlines........

FIRST 5 IN THE NEWS
Opinion: County First 5s must receive their fair share
of Vape Tax
County First 5s were established by Proposition 10 in 1998 as the foundation for building local early childhood systems of care in California. First 5s are completely funded by a 50-cent-per-pack cigarette tax, and a corresponding equivalency tax on other tobacco products, including cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, etc.

Proposition 56 (2016), the most recent voter-approved tobacco tax, classified vaping products as part of “other tobacco products.” This enabled First 5, as well as public health and health care services, to receive revenue from vaping products. However, a new proposed tax on vaping products would not direct revenue to First 5 or childhood prevention services at all.

Excluding First 5 from the new vape tax would bypass a voter-approved tax structure, and would hurt First 5s financially at a time when family support services can ill afford it. (Calif. Association of Counties)

EARLY CHILDCARE & EDUCATION
California's Child Care Industry is collapsing
According to a new study released by UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE), out of more than 950 child care facilities surveyed by the study, one in four programs have closed. Among those that remain open, 99% of the preschools and 77% of the family-run programs have fewer children attending.  

“Child care providers are having to take on financial burden themselves to keep their programs functioning,” said Sean Doocy, one of the researchers on the study, adding, “In some cases we're seeing ... folks taking on personal credit card debt. In other cases, that's not being able to pay rent or mortgage for their house.” (NBC Bay Area)
Only 32% of companies have a plan for workers' child care needs

Many U.S. companies have yet to even formulate a plan that includes a child-care response. Among companies that have already had their employees return to the office, 42% do not have a dedicated plan to help employees balance child-care responsibilities, according to  Society for Human Resource Management’s recent research . And only 32% of organizations that are planning to return to work have outlined child-care plans. (CNBC)
Where is the American Child Care Bailout?

Ellicia Lanier, 39, executive director of Urban Sprouts Child Development Center outside St. Louis, considers herself one of the lucky ones. A Black mother of seven whose interest in early childhood development led her to start a nonprofit early learning center, she’s fought to keep her business afloat amid the punishing economic currents of the coronavirus crisis. 

“There is no economic recovery without child care, that’s the best way to put it,” she says. “As a nation, we haven’t realized how critical child care is to all facets of our lives.” (Bloomberg)

PREGNANCY & CHILDBIRTH
Premature births have gone down during the pandemic, baffling doctors
Medical experts are baffled as to why that has there has been a surprising drop in the number of premature babies born during the coronavirus pandemic , as first reported by The New York Times.

Hospitals in Ireland, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands are all reporting dramatic decreases in premature births.

At the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, for example, the rate of babies being born before 28 weeks had dropped by 90 percent from March 12 to April 14 in 2020 (during the main lockdown period in Denmark) compared to the rates over the previous five years. (Salon)

HEALTH
Lockdowns could have long-term effects on children's health
This may seem a foolish time to stage a gigantic volleyball tournament in Florida, a covid-19 hotspot. Yet this week several thousand young athletes turned up in Orlando to smash balls back and forth over a net. At least they will get some exercise. Many of their peers will not.

The pandemic is harming children’s health. Not that they are dying in large numbers of the virus itself, which seems to affect them only mildly. And not only because of a growing body of evidence suggesting that lockdowns harm their mental health. It is also because life under confinement in rich countries has been making children fatter and more sedentary. These effects may well last much longer than the restrictions designed to curb the disease. (The Economist)
Scientists discover way to stop spread of deadly childhood cancer

Researchers have made an important breakthrough that could lead to "kinder" treatments for children with bone cancer, and save lives.

Current treatment is grueling, with outdated chemotherapy cocktails and limb amputation. But despite all of this, the five-year survival rate is poor at just 42 percent—largely because of how rapidly  bone cancer  spreads to the lungs.

New research published today identifies a set of key genes that drive  bone  cancer spread to the lungs in patients. (Medical Xpress)
Physical activity may improve cognition in pediatric cancer survivors

Pediatric cancer survivors often experience neurocognitive dysfunction that may persist for years after successful treatment.

Survivors may struggle with impairments in memory, attention, executive function, processing speed and visuomotor integration.

“Over the past number of years, a growing body of research has shown benefits of physical activity for the brain. I was really inspired by this, as it suggested that people could have some control over their cognitive function,” said Emily Barlow-Krelina, MA, PhD candidate at York University. (Healio) 
15 LA County children sickened by coronavirus-related syndrome

A rare but serious and potentially deadly inflammatory syndrome believed to be associated with the coronavirus has now been identified in  15 children  in Los Angeles County, officials said.

Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, can cause different parts of the body to become inflamed. Symptoms include fever, pain in the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes and exhaustion. The syndrome has also been called pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, or PIMS. (LA Times)
Older children may transmit COVID as much as adults

A research team from the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention examined South Korean contact tracing reports.

When index patients were categorised by age, households with older children (10–19 years) had the highest rate of infection spread to household contacts, with 18.6 percent of household contacts later showing the infection.

By contrast, young children (0–9 years of age) seemed to confer the least amount of spread of the virus, with less than half of the average of all age groups. (Science Alert)

PARENTING & FAMILIES
Bakersfield PD offers child safety tips to prevent heatstroke
The Bakersfield Police Department offered safety tips to prevent heatstroke among children during the summer months.

In a news release, BPD pointed out that 858 children have died because of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke since 1998. Last year, the department added, 52 children died from heatstroke in vehicles.

Among the tips: A car isn't a babysitter. Never leave a child, dependent or animal alone inside a vehicle, not even for a “quick” errand. (Bakersfield Californian)
Is there a coronavirus treatment to be found in breastmilk?

One scientist is betting on breast milk from coronavirus survivors to develop a possible antibody treatment for the virus.

Rebecca Powell, a human milk immunologist at New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has been connecting with mothers since March.

To date, Powell has personally collected more than 50 samples of breast milk, and her lab's received more than 800 samples. She tries to keep the milk collection contactless as she travels from home to home. (Business Insider)
After surgery, black children are more likely to die than white children

Studies have repeatedly shown that Black patients’ experiences with the U.S. health care system are worse than those of white patients at almost every stage, from  infancy  to  geriatric care .

In surgical settings, Black patients experience  more complications , receive fewer  follow-up visits  and are  more likely to die .

A new study finds that even in apparently healthy children with no preexisting comorbidities, there were still big differences, and black children had a nearly 3.5 times higher chance of dying within 30 days of surgery. (Scientific American)
...about First 5 Kern
First 5 Kern was established in 1998 when California voters passed Proposition 10, which levied a 50-cent tax on tobacco products. Revenues generated from the tobacco tax are used to fund local programs in the areas of health and wellness, early childcare and education, and parent education and support services that promote early childhood development for children ages zero to five.

For more information on First 5 Kern and the agencies we support, please visit www.First5Kern.org   and follow us on social media.
Special thanks to Vecteezy for assistance on graphics