HEALTH
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | May 16, 2012
The number of young children deemed at risk of lead poisoning in Maryland and nationwide expanded drastically Wednesday as a federal health agency declared it would effectively cut in half its threshold for diagnosing the environmental illness. Acknowledging mounting evidence that children can suffer lasting harm from ingesting even minute amounts of lead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would reduce the level at which it recommends that doctors, families and health authorities act to lower a child's exposure to the toxic metal.
BUSINESS
Jamie Smith Hopkins | April 19, 2012
More than 100,000 Maryland children whose families got mortgages in the middle part of the last decade have lost their family home to foreclosure or were dangerously close to it as of last year, according to a new report . That's one out of every 11 children in the state, which ties Maryland for the sixth-highest share nationwide. The study, from the child-centered group First Focus in Washington, looked at the swath foreclosure has cut through families across the country.
HEALTH
By Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun | March 29, 2012
One in 88 American children has an autism spectrum disorder, according to a new estimate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate is 23 percent higher than one the agency released three years ago. Federal officials said some of the increase is attributable to better diagnoses, though it's not clear how much. "We don't know what causes autism, but a lot of children have autism," said Li-Ching Lee, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health and the principal investigator for the CDC's Maryland data.
NEWS
By Hanah Cho, The Baltimore Sun | March 25, 2012
Models strutted down the runway, showing off the latest fashions in vintage and contemporary clothes. But the event Sunday at the Hippodrome Theatre was no ordinary fashion show. It was a fundraiser featuring girls ages 5 to 12 years old from across the Baltimore region. They modeled the outfits of the popular American Girl dolls, who represent historical and modern characters, such as Kaya, a member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe, and Addy, who escaped slavery during the Civil War. Accompanying the girls onstage were matching dolls.
NEWS
By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun | February 20, 2012
Maryland officials plan to announce this week whether the state will sever ties with the state's second-largest foster care provider, a decision that also could determine whether the company keeps its contract in the District of Columbia. Officials with the Maryland Department of Human Resources, the agency charged with protecting the state's 7,400 foster children, is expected to announce a decision on renewing the license for Contemporary Family Services. The Hyattsville company's contract in D.C. depends on it retaining its Maryland license, according to officials with the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.
NEWS
By Bruce Lesley | October 31, 2011
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and other members of the congressional "supercommittee" created by this summer's federal deficit ceiling law are charged with making a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit. That's a daunting task. But as new Census Bureau data shows, kids in Mr. Van Hollen's 8th District and in Maryland as a whole face an even more daunting one: staying afloat as more and more of them sink into poverty. First Focus, a national bipartisan children's advocacy organization, has crunched the numbers, and the Census figures show that an alarming 16,000 children in Mr. Van Hollen's district lived in poverty in 2010.