CRITICAL ECONOMIC FACTORS FOR SUCCESS OF A BIOMASS CONVERSION PLANT FOR AGRICULTURAL RESIDUE, YARD RESIDUE AND WOOD WASTE IN FLORIDA

This model evaluates the potential success of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Florida. Critical Economic factors of the plant were simulated to assess the ability of this project. These critical factors include the feedstock to be used, the cost of the facility, transportation costs and the discount rate for the net present value (NPV). Results and observations are presented in this paper.Biofuels, renewable energy, cellulosic ethanol, biomass, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

The Voices of Maine's Early Care and Education Teachers: Children with Challenging Behavior in Classrooms and Home-based Child Care

This report presents findings from a survey of Maine’s early care and education (ECE) teachers and providers about their experiences related to young children with challenging behavior. These experiences included young children displaying different types of challenging behavior, children leaving the program due to challenging behavior, and teachers’ and providers’ efforts to address the needs of children experiencing behavior problems. The survey also asked teachers and providers about the resources they need to help them meet the needs of young children with challenging behavior and promote their positive social-emotional development. The Social-Emotional Learning and Development (SELD) Survey was part of a larger study assigned by a committee of the Maine State Legislature to the Maine Children’s Growth Council and two state agencies. In June 2015, the Maine State Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs asked the Maine Children’s Growth Council, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services to undertake a study of conditions affecting the social and emotional learning and development of young children in Maine and develop recommendations to strengthen supports for young children’s well-being and growth in this critical domain. The committee charged the state departments and the Growth Council to establish an ad hoc committee to gather data and information on current policies and programs, as well as young children’s social-emotional status in Maine, and to partner with national organizations to help conduct this work. In addition to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), which led the design and implementation of the SELD Survey, two other national organizations participated in the larger initiative: Ounce of Prevention and ZERO TO THREE. The Maine Children’s Growth Council led the work of convening stakeholders with an interest in the design of the survey and use of the results to form recommendations. Established by statute in 2008, the Council is charged with promoting sustainable social and financial investments to support the healthy development of Maine’s young children and their families and working with a diverse group of legislators, business leaders, providers, parents, researchers, community leaders, and government offcials to build a unified, statewide early childhood services system. Another key partner in the survey and the larger study was Maine Voices for Children, the state’s leading child advocacy organization. Through its ongoing discussions about policy with stakeholders in the early care and education community, this organization created wider awareness that teachers in early care and education settings were reporting diffculties addressing the needs of young children with challenging behavior. The efforts of Maine Voices for Children to bring this issue to light led to the larger study conducted by the Growth Council in collaboration with the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and to the SELD Survey

Young Children in Deep Poverty: Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Child Well-Being Compared to Other Income Groups

This report compares early health, development, and risk indicators for young children in deep poverty to indicators for young children in other income groups. The results show that young children in deep poverty experience exceptional challenges that make them vulnerable to poor long-term outcomes. The report also highlights large disparities in the prevalence of deep poverty across five racial/ethnic groups, nationally and state by state.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/gse/1005/thumbnail.jp

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children 6 through 11 Years, 2015

Among all children under 18 years in the U.S., 43 percent live in low-income families and 21 percent—approximately one in five—lives in a poor family. This means that children are overrepresented among our nation’s poor; they represent 23 percent of the population but comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Many more children live in families with incomes just above the poverty threshold. Similarly, among children ages 6 through 11 years in middle childhood, 44 percent live in low-income families and 21 percent live in poor families. Being a child in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. Parental education and employment, race/ethnicity, and other factors are associated with children’s experience of economic insecurity. This fact sheet describes the demographic, socioeconomic, and employment characteristics of children in middle childhood and their parents. It highlights the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children in this age group from their less disadvantaged counterparts

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 6 Years, 2015

Among all children under 18 years in the U.S., 43 percent live in low-income families and 21 percent—approximately one in five—lives in a poor family. This means that children are overrepresented among our nation’s poor; they represent 23 percent of the population but comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Many more children live in families with incomes just above the poverty threshold. Young children under age 6 years appear to be particularly vulnerable, with 45 percent living in low-income and 23 percent living in poor families. Being a child in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. Parental education and employment, race/ethnicity, and other factors are associated with children’s experience of economic insecurity. This fact sheet describes the demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics of young children and their parents. It highlights important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children in this age group from their less disadvantaged counterparts

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children 12 through 17 Years, 2015

Among all children under 18 years in the U.S., 43 percent live in low-income families and 21 percent—approximately one in five—lives in a poor family. This means that children are overrepresented among our nation’s poor; they represent 23 percent of the population but comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Many more children live in families with incomes just above the poverty threshold. Among our oldest children, adolescents ages 12 through 17 years, 39 percent live in low-income families and 18 percent live in poor families. Being a child in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. Parental education and employment, race/ethnicity, and other factors are associated with children’s experience of economic insecurity. This fact sheet describes the demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics of adolescents and their parents. It highlights the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children in this age group from their less disadvantaged counterparts

New York State Profile of Young Children in Deep Poverty

Young children in families experiencing deep poverty – those with incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty line -- are likely to experience severe early adversities that contribute to poor health and education outcomes. This brief offers information about young children, age birth to nine, living in deep poverty in New York State, and about policies that could support their healthy development and success. It includes information about the state and county-level prevalence and characteristics of these children and recommendations for strengthening family and work support policies and developing new two-generation policies that could promote better outcomes for young children and families in deep poverty

Learning about Young Children's Challenging Behavior and Impacts on Programs and Families: A State-wide Survey of Virginia's Early Care and Education Teachers

This report presents the efforts of leaders in Virginia to learn more about teachers’ experience with children who demonstrate challenging behavior in center-based and home-based ECE settings. These leaders partnered with the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) to design and implement a survey of Virginia’s ECE teachers that serve infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The survey and analysis of responses examined the following questions: How common are different types of challenging behavior? How many children with challenging behavior, in different age groups, do teachers have in their classrooms or child care homes in the course of a year? What are the consequences of challenging behavior, and how often does removal from the ECE setting occur? What are the family circumstances of children with challenging behavior? How do teachers address challenging behavior and what barriers do they face? What factors contribute to the incidence of children with challenging behavior and removal from programs? What supports do teachers believe will help them address the needs of children with challenging behavior

How States Use Medicaid to Cover Key Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services: Results of a 50-State Survey (2018 Update)

There is now substantial evidence that young children’s mental health plays a critical role in their early learning and school readiness, long-term school success and self-sufficiency, and future health and mental health outcomes. Fortunately, many states are working to strengthen supports for infants’ and young children’s mental health. This brief examines states’ Medicaid coverage for key infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services, along with policies that contribute to service access and quality. It presents the results of an updated 50-state survey that gathered information from state administrators about Medicaid coverage and policies related to the following services for children from birth to age 6: Child screening for social-emotional problems; Maternal depression screening in pediatric and family medicine settings; Developmentally appropriate diagnosis using DC:0–5; Family navigators to help families access services; Mental health services in pediatric, child care and early education, and home settings; Dyadic (parent-child) treatment; Parenting programs to address child mental health need

Abrupt field-induced transition triggered by magnetocaloric effect in phase-separated manganites

The occurrence at low temperatures of an ultrasharp field-induced transition in phase separated manganites is analyzed. Experimental results show that magnetization and specific heat step-like transitions below 5 K are correlated with an abrupt change of the sample temperature, which happens at a certain critical field. This temperature rise, a magnetocaloric effect, is interpreted as produced by the released energy at the transition point, and is the key to understand the existence of the abrupt field-induced transition. A qualitative analysis of the results suggests the existence of a critical growing rate of the ferromagnetic phase, beyond which an avalanche effect is triggered.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures included. Acepted for publication in Phys. Rev.