Maryland Children

The most comprehensive study of autism to date shows that in Maryland and 13 other states the disorder is common and often diagnosed too late for effective therapies, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By analyzing youngsters' school and health records, the CDC found that one out of every 150 8-year-olds demonstrated symptoms of autism, a slightly higher rate than previous studies. The overall figure held as well for Maryland, where the incidence rate of so-called autism spectrum disorders was in the middle of the 14 states surveyed.

WITH THE effort of educators and public safety officials, Monday thankfully turned out to be routine for Maryland children who attended school. Vague Internet warnings about violence in the schools on May 10 were, as expected, a sick hoax.After the school shootings in Littleton, Colo., people are understandably on edge. Across Maryland, a principal stayed overnight to patrol his school, parents volunteered as monitors, and police searched hallways with dogs.Unfortunately, some parents took the loose rumors as sufficient reason to keep their children home, particularly from area high schools.

Balto. County budget overlooks underpaid public health nursesThe proposed Baltimore County budget once again leaves the public health nurses of Baltimore County behind. We were not given the compensation awarded to other, predominantly male bargaining units.County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger anticipates an $82 million surplus by next summer and is increasing police, firefighter and teachers' salaries significantly. But his administration hasn't addressed the pay inequities between public health nurses and other county employees with similar educational preparation.

After rising steadily for years, the number of Maryland children entering foster care is declining, prompting state officials to claim success in their efforts to keep troubled families from splintering.More foster children also are being adopted, earning the state a bonus of $317,947 in federal funds last month.State Department of Human Resources officials take credit for both trends, saying their efforts to keep families together -- and to find homes for children who cannot stay with their parents -- have begun to pay off.But the state's efforts have not been able to shrink the number of children remaining in foster care.

The Maryland legislature will have an unparalleled opportunity in 1999 to decrease cancer death rates by passing the Maryland Children's Initiative to raise the state's tobacco excise tax by $1.50 over a three-year period.A considerable body of research documents what all of us know from our own experiences: As the price of an item rises, its consumption decreases. Raising tobacco excise taxes means that many smokers would quit, and others would smoke fewer cigarettes. Youths, who have less disposable income than adults, are more likely to quit or never start in the first place.

Boosting tobacco tax would curb smoking by children, 0) adultsThe Maryland legislature will have an unparalleled opportunity in 1999 to decrease cancer death rates by passing the Maryland Children's Initiative to raise the state's tobacco excise tax by $1.50 over a three-year period.A considerable body of research documents what all of us know from our own experiences: As the price of an item rises, its consumption decreases. Raising tobacco excise taxes means that many smokers would quit, and others would smoke fewer cigarettes.

CONTRARY to a recent Sun editorial, my administration's plans to expand Medicaid coverage to more uninsured children is not an entitlement. The state can reduce or drop coverage during an economic downturn. And, if the state decides tocontinue this coverage, half the cost will be borne by the federal government.Needy childrenDuring the fall, state officials, in meetings with parents, advocates, providers, social workers, local health officials and legislators, were asked to safeguard children in families with an income of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Choice in education would benefit public and private studentsDefenders of the status quo who run out of new ideas are often left with no option but to question the motives of their opponents. This is evident in Carl Rowan's May 1 column, "School vouchers no answer for poor."Mr. Rowan refers to legislation recently passed by Congress that would provide scholarships of up to $3,200 for 2,000 low-income parents in the District of Columbia so that they have the option of escaping one of the most violent and destructive school systems in the country.

Like a team of scientists who discovered a miracle vaccine, Richard Grow, Katrina Scott, Demitress Cunningham and Tracy Little divulged a secret yesterday that could save a generation of Maryland children.During the past year, each of the students has helped other young people as volunteers. Their discovery: what a powerful thing a simple act can be."The feeling you get from helping, it's impossible to explain," said Grow, 17, of Stevensville, who heads a team of student mentors at Queen Anne's County High School.

IT'S EASY enough to feel a twinge of pity for abused or neglected children. But apparently it's quite another to weigh the needs of foster kids against the concerns of homeowners. For five years, a determined group of residents living near the Harford County site of a proposed group home for 40 children has spent thousands of dollars trying to prevent the Board of Child Care of the United Methodist Church from proceeding with its building plans.Their pleas to zoning boards and legal appeals all the way to Maryland's highest court have failed to persuade authorities that the group home will infringe on their rights or unfairly burden local water supplies or other resources.

Monday was a particularly embarrassing day for President Barack Obama. His nominee for health care czar, Tom Daschle, withdrew from consideration after a tax problem, a dust-up that forced a first presidential "I messed up." Yesterday, President Obama had the chance to improve the lives of millions of low-income children in this country. He signed into law a bill that will extend health care insurance to kids whose families can't afford it. That should count as a particularly satisfying day. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

Maryland has made great strides in reducing lead paint poisoning among children and in improving the outdoor air they breathe, but more needs to be done to keep track of other environmental hazards and their links to kids' health, according to a report released yesterday by state health and environment officials. While pointing to previously reported decreases in the number of children with lead poisoning and an equally significant drop in ozone levels in Maryland, officials said they plan to better keep track of issues such as pesticide levels in children, their exposure to pharmaceuticals in water and where serious asthma cases are most concentrated.

Statistically, the most likely profile of a neglectful or abusive parent is a 30-year-old, college-educated white woman who has a job. Yet in Maryland, African-American children are far more likely than their white counterparts to be removed from their homes by child welfare officials because of maltreatment. A recent study by Advocates for Children and Youth, a group that lobbies for children's issues in Maryland, found that while African-Americans make up only a third of the state's children, they constitute nearly three-quarters of the children removed from their homes, and are five times more likely than white children to be placed in group or foster home care.

For children between the ages of 4 and 8 - too old for a child safety seat and too young or small for just a seat belt - a booster seat can be a lifesaver. Studies show that when combined with a shoulder belt, the booster seat can reduce serious injury in a crash by 60 percent. All of Maryland's neighboring states require boosters for children through the age of 7. It's time Maryland caught up. Under current state law, boosters are only required for children through age 5, regardless of weight, and for those who weigh 40 pounds or less regardless of age. That's just not adequate.

It's not surprising that Maryland has the lowest child poverty rate in the nation, according to the latest estimates from the Census Bureau. After all, the bureau also found the state to have the second-highest median household income, and another recent survey ranked Maryland as the nation's wealthiest state. None of these rankings, however, should encourage state officials or residents to become complacent. There are still significant pockets of poverty, most notably in Baltimore, where children and families need a lot of help.

From a Maryland perspective, the campaign to override President Bush's veto of legislation expanding access to health insurance for working-class children isn't going well. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid started out by leveling a thinly veiled threat at Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, the only Marylander to vote against the measure. But Mr. Bartlett has reveled in the attention, saying he was pleased to be identified as the only one who got it right. Meanwhile, a Baltimore family that volunteered to help make the case for the State Children's Health Insurance Program by sharing their personal story got slimed by conservative bloggers who questioned, quite rudely, whether they qualified for taxpayer help.

Maryland is one of the nation's wealthiest states, yet its infant mortality rate increased 11 percent between 2000 to 2004 and ranked as the nation's ninth worst, according to the 2007 Kids Count Databook, a report released yesterday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Maryland's current rate of 8.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births is nearly 23 percent higher than the national rate," says the report, also noting that the number of low birth-weight babies increased by 8 percent and was more than 15 percent higher than the national rate.

Abipartisan federal effort to encourage states to provide health coverage to children of the working poor has so far exceeded expectations that its $40 billion, 10-year budget will run out months early this year. Advocates at the federal and state levels must now take care to protect the State Children's Health Insurance Program from becoming a victim of its own success. Maryland, for example, which has been a national leader in quickly enrolling eligible children and in competing for extra grant money that slower states have left on the table, covers more than 90,000 children 18 and younger through its version of the program, dubbed MCHP.

The most comprehensive study of autism to date shows that in Maryland and 13 other states the disorder is common and often diagnosed too late for effective therapies, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By analyzing youngsters' school and health records, the CDC found that one out of every 150 8-year-olds demonstrated symptoms of autism, a slightly higher rate than previous studies. The overall figure held as well for Maryland, where the incidence rate of so-called autism spectrum disorders was in the middle of the 14 states surveyed.

WHEN GOV. ROBERT L. EHRLICH Jr. stood outside the fence at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. school on June 30 and announced that most of it would close, we expected he had a plan for the children usually housed there. But two months before the big day, it's still a mystery where the hundred or so children will be placed. There are not enough slots in current programs to take them. There are not the right kinds of programs available locally that could help all of them. There is no extra money set aside to build or buy facilities or programs.