Building Strengths & Removing Barriers
For Upper Peninsula Children and Their Families
Upper Peninsula Children's Coalition Legislative and Community Priorities 2010-2011
The Upper Peninsula Children's Coalition (UPCC) works with experts from schools, police departments, courts, hospitals, state agencies, tribal authorities, and nonprofit organizations across the Upper Peninsula to develop a U.P. legislative agenda that will benefit all the children of the U.P. from ages zero to seventeen. Every other year, through questionnaires and structured interviews, the coalition determines the legislative priorities that express the unique and diverse needs of agencies which support children and families in the U.P.
The UPCC has identified three priority areas to provide focus for our advocacy and educational efforts up to the election on November 2, 2010, and into the following legislative session beginning in January, 2011.
The statements in this document are recommendations formed by consensus with input from a diverse group of more than 200 experts in youth and family needs from across the U.P.
- Put Children First in Systems Reform and Policy Decisions
There are many programs that currently exist to assist families and children in the U.P. but there are barriers that stand in the way of accessing them. Barriers for many families might include things that some families lack, such as transportation or childcare. Barriers to access might also include things that the service provider lacks, such as flexible eligibility criteria or cultural sensitivity.
The UPCC recommends that reform efforts include a focus on removing the systemic barriers that prevent children and families from accessing needed services. - Protect, Empower and Educate Children and Families
The children and families of the U.P. have tremendous strengths but sometimes families and children need help to tap into those reserves. Programs such as educational support, foster care and kinship care support (which include services to youth aging out of services), child abuse and neglect prevention and parenting education are just a few ways that families and children can find the strength within themselves to face the challenges in their lives.
The UPCC recommends that laws be made and services be delivered in a way that respects and builds the strengths of children and families of the U.P. - Promote the Emotional and Physical Health of Children and Families
The health of children and families in the U.P. is critically important—but too many are experiencing health-related problems. Programs that promote health and improve access to services have the potential to vastly improve the quality of life for children and families in the U.P. Examples of critical programs include substance abuse treatment and mental health care to prevent suicide and treat depression and services that address or prevent a myriad of physical problems like obesity and diabetes.
The UPCC recommends that our communities be equipped to provide appropriate and accessible emotional and physical health care to children and families in the U.P. - To find your Michigan representative, go to: house.michigan.gov
- To find your Michigan senator, go to: senate.michigan.gov
- To contact Representative Bart Stupak, go to: www.house.gov/Stupak
- To contact Senator Carl Levin's office, go to: Levin.senate.gov
- To contact Senator Debbie Stabenow's office, go to: Stabenow.senate.gov
What You Can Do:
If you want to help U.P. children or if you have a story to tell—lease contact your congressional representatives at the state and national level. Lawmakers DO listen, but they can't listen if they don't HEAR from constituents.
