State of Opportunity

$700,000 for baby scholarships

Dustin Dwyer — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:03:27 +0000

We think of scholarships as a way to help more students go to college. But there’s a new scholarship program in Michigan that has nothing to do with college. It offers scholarships to babies.

If you have a baby and you want to have a job, or you need to have a job, you have to find childcare. And childcare costs money—thousands of dollars a year.

Getting kicked off cash assistance, a personal story

Jennifer Guerra — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000

As part of our State of Opportunity project, we’re following parents as they struggle to get off public assistance and make a better future for their children. This is an update on one of those families.

I first interviewed Keisha Johnson on a steamy summer day last June. Johnson, 25, grew up poor and is still poor to this day. But she has three reasons she wants to climb out poverty, and their names are Kaleb, Jurnee, and Alan, Jr.

Head Start is not a failure

Dustin Dwyer — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:11:52 +0000

The debate over federal spending cuts has made Head Start a major topic of conversation in Washington. Leaders from both parties warn that tens of thousands of kids will lose a chance at Head Start’s preschool program, if the across-the-board spending cuts are allowed to happen.

To some critics, cutting Head Start would be a good thing. They think it is a failure, and not worth the money.

How a Nobel Prize-winning economist became an advocate for preschool

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0000

There's a growing consensus that more needs to be done to prepare children for kindergarten.

But does preschool really have a significant impact on the lives of children? State of Opportunity's Dustin Dwyer recently sat down with economist James Heckman to find out.

How to avoid burnout and help more people

Sarah Alvarez — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:16:12 +0000

Health insurance is such a political issue, talked about all the time and so dispassionately, that it can be easy to forget just how important it is to some families. But, last year the Census estimated paying for health care pushed at least 10 million Americans into poverty.

Census to release poverty numbers showing America likely back at 1965 levels

Sarah Alvarez — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:52:46 +0000

State of Opportunity is covering tomorrow's announcement of poverty estimates by the Census Bureau. The numbers will show how many Americans lived in poverty during 2011.