Happy New Year!
As we begin the New Year, ParentInfo would like to take this opportunity to wish you strength, patience and wisdom in your role as a parent. We hope 2007 will be the best ever for you and your family!
Getting Back in the School Swing
As children head back to school and parents breathe a sigh of relief, it’s important to remember to get back into the “school day routine.” That means getting to bed early and getting up in time to eat a good breakfast. Getting kids off to school in the morning with a well-balanced breakfast can do wonders for their health. It can even help them achieve good grades, because food stabilizes blood sugar levels, which in turn increases brain function, including attention span. School Fuel: Kids Morning Healthy How-to’s offers ideas.
Kentucky Kids Count County Rankings
Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) has released the 2006 Kids Count Book, its 16th annual report of data on child well-being for all Kentucky counties. The report ranks counties on nine key indicators of child well-being. The top five counties included Boone, Oldham, Spencer, Calloway and Rowan. You can access the 2006 Kids Count Book online to see how your county ranks.
The data continue to demonstrate wide variation between counties on the majority of indicators. According to Joanna Marks, policy analyst at KYA, “…the disparities between counties are the most troubling part of the KIDS COUNT report. In the Commonwealth, children’s chances of surviving into their teenage years or graduating from high school should not be so easily predicted by where they grow up.”
“While we understand many of these problems are complex in cause and solution, we as a state cannot cop out on working aggressively to improve the lives of children,” said Terry Brooks, executive director at KYA. “There are immediate opportunities for solutions, such as enacting a booster seat law to address Kentucky’s rising child fatality rate, that call for action. To move the needle for children, Kentucky needs to implement available solutions in the short-term and continue to work on more complex issues in the long-term.”
The Kentucky KIDS COUNT project is part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s national effort to track child well-being. KYA produces the annual county data book in collaboration with the University of Louisville’s Urban Studies Institute.
Kentucky Student Aid Increases
According to the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), the amount of financial aid distributed to help students pay higher education expenses increased nearly eight percent last year.
During fiscal year 2006, KHEAA handed out more than $83 million in need-based grants and more than $86 million in merit-based Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES). KEES awards are funded by Kentucky Lottery revenue. They are based on students’ yearly high school grade point averages and ACT or SAT scores. No application is required.
Taxes and Financial Aid
While the April 15 tax filing deadline is still months away, if you’ve got a child who plans on applying for financial aid, you need to complete your tax return as soon as possible. Financial information from the return as well as your child’s return is necessary to complete the financial aid application form.
High school seniors who wish to apply for financial aid as well as Kentucky’s need-based grants for the 2007-08 academic year may do so by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible. The FAFSA can be obtained from high school counselor offices or college financial aid offices, or you may apply online. Students who file a FAFSA by March 15 have the best chance to get all the aid they may qualify for. However, some schools have priority deadlines before March 15, so be sure to check with the school’s financial aid office.
The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority offers some tips on applying for financial aid on its Web site. Financial Aid 101 is a good primer for those who have never negotiated the financial aid maze.
Those who need help filling out the FAFSA form should plan on attending “College Goal Sunday” at one of 20 locations throughout the state on January 28. Learn more about “College Goal Sunday” in the next issue of ParentInfo.
Web links included in this edition of ParentInfo:
Getting Back in the School Swing
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=20122&CFID=1614165&CFTOKEN=55244872
Kentucky Kids Count County Rankings
http://www.kyyouth.org/KIDS_COUNT/State/
Kentucky Student Aid Increases
http://www.kheaa.com/prog_home.html
http://www.kheaa.com/prog_keeshome.html
Taxes and Financial Aid
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
http://www.kheaa.com/101_home.html