EXCERPT FROM: NOLA.com
By Aimee Miles
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana still does not require all child-care centers to have an emergency preparedness plan in the event of a major disaster, according to a report released Wednesday by the nonprofit Save the Children.

EXCERPT FROM: 2theadvocate.com
By SARAH CHACKO
Recreational programs such as karate and gymnastics, as well as summer camps and after-school programs, need some type of state oversight, a committee focused on child-care center standards debated Thursday.

A report by national disaster recovery and child-care experts say children suffer short- and long-term effects from being treated like small adults during and after catastrophic events.

BATON ROUGE -- Steps to reform child care licensing standards in Louisiana have been announced by the state Department of Social Services.

Louisiana parents with special-needs children may get some help in the future with the advent of pediatric day health-care facilities, the state’s health chief said Monday.

As the city attempts to balance a $35-million budget shortfall – including a potential 4.9-per-cent property tax increase – cuts to the arts, a reduction in child-care spaces, rising sports fees and elimination of transit routes hit home for the crowd at the Thursday, Nov. 20 meeting.

The state Department of Social Services awarded $10 million in federal grants to help child-care providers rebuild facilities in areas still recovering from two 2005 hurricanes.

On Tuesday in New Orleans, the Committee for Economic Development, a national research and economic policy organization comprised of business and educational leaders, is hosting a business luncheon called "The Economic Promise of Investing in Early Childhood." With the country in economic crisis, it is striking that a nationally prominent economic development organization would be focused on early childhood. As our community and state continue their efforts to stimulate economic prosperity, it is important that we pay attention to what the experts say about how to achieve our economic goals.

It doesn't take a Harvard symposium to tell us that early influences affect a child's ability to learn and function in society, but it doesn't hurt to have the reminder. It's good that a team of Louisiana legislators, advisers and educators did some important fact-finding by attending the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University in late June.

Louisiana's state legislators have taken the first step in making Louisiana's children a priority by passing Senate Bill 286, legislation that would make all pre-school programs readily available to Louisiana's 4-year-olds by 2013.