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Harrisburg, PA - The Wolf Administration today announcedchanges toChild Care Works(CCW), Pennsylvanias subsidized child care program, that will decrease costs to families who qualify for subsidized care and add incentives for child care providers to participate in the program.

We cannot miss an opportunity to invest resources where they will make a positive and lasting impact on our children. By targeting investments to our subsidized child care system, we are investing in equitable quality child care for all Pennsylvanians, no matter where they live or their income, said Gov. Wolf. Pennsylvanias economy, its families, and its future depend on a strong child care and early learning system, and I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the dedicated child care providers and professionals who choose to invest in our children and families every day. Our economic recovery from the pandemic will be possible because of you.

Pennsylvania received more than $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support the commonwealths child care industry, child care providers, and the children and families that rely on this system. Beginning January 1, 2022, $352 million in Child Care Development Fund federal ARPA funding will also support:

Nearly two-thirds of children whose families are eligible for CCW are enrolled in a STAR 1 or 2 rated facility. By investing in base rates to providers participating in CCW, Pennsylvania is investing in quality across the child care industry for the children and families served by this program. In March 2021, the Wolf Administration raised base rates from the 25thpercentile to the 40thpercentile.

Prior to the pandemic, the Keystone Command Center for Economic Development and Workforce recommended expanding availability of licensed child care before 6 a.m. and after 6 p.m. what is normally considered traditional child care hours in order to give flexibility and security for working parents. These rate incentives will support providers that offer care outside of traditional hours, giving parents a safe place for their children and the security necessary to help parents return to work.

For our youngest Pennsylvanians, an early childhood education experience can shape their educational, social, and emotional development throughout their lives, said DHS Acting Secretary Meg Snead. Beyond its necessity for a thriving economy today, investments in quality early learning and child care programs carry into PreK-12 education and throughout adulthood. This funding will give our youngest Pennsylvanians a strong start they deserve and supports the dedicated educators and professionals that make this possible.

The Wolf Administration is committed to supporting Pennsylvanias child care industry and its devoted professionals and educators as they weather the ongoing challenges created by the public health and economic crises. Since March 2020, more than $1.1 billion of aid has been made available directly to providers to offset financial losses, assist with added infection control and safety costs, and invest in staff recruitment, retention, and higher, livable wages.

Additionally, $600 Pandemic Relief Awards were extended to approximately 38,000 child care professionals for their service through the pandemic. The stabilization grants are the largest one-time funding Pennsylvania has been able to extend thus far. To date, approximately 3,150 applications have been approved, while 367 are in-process and 269 are under review. More than $382 million has been obligated to approved providers.

For more information on child care providers operating in Pennsylvania, visitwww.findchildcare.pa.gov. Providers seeking to apply for Child Care Stabilization Grants can learn more and applyhere.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ali Fogarty - ra-pwdhspressoffice@pa.gov

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Wolf Administration Announces Enhancements to Subsidized Child Care Program to Lower Costs for Families and Incentivize Participation by Providers -...

UC Merced's Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center(NCPC) and the American Heart Association are hosting a free webinar to provide insight on generating media coverage and helping change public perceptions on a variety of issues in the Central Valley.

"Policy and the Media - How to Influence Change and Get Your Message Heard" is being held on Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 1-2:30 p.m. Speakers with backgrounds in public relations and the news media will be on hand to share tips and tools they use to get their messages across.

Newsrooms across the country are inundated with press releases and event invitations daily. It can be difficult to get the attention of a news producer or reporter. This online presentation is meant to help those looking to cut through that clutter and be heard. Additionally, the discussion will focus on bridging policy action and the media.

"The media is a key partner in tobacco control and strong health policy," said NCPC Director and psychological sciences Professor Anna Song. "It isn't just a matter of relaying information; it's also about sharing experiences to empower and inspire communities."

Attendees will also hear the latest legislation that looks to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco in California and across the nation.

Participants include:

Anyone interested in attending the free webinar is asked to register online. Additional information, including Zoom links, will be provided upon registration.

You can also visit the NCPC websitefor previous webinarsand other resources.

Link:
NCPC Hosting Free Webinar on Policy and the Media | Newsroom - UC Merced University News

From Texas Standard:

Much of the news coverage of Haitian migrants camped out in squalid conditions, waiting to cross the border into the United States at Del Rio, Texas, has been been characterized as a "crisis" a chaotic situation that immigration officials are struggling to control.

But Melissa del Bosque, a longtime border reporter and founder of the new newsletter, The Border Chronicle, says that narrative that's often pushed in conservative-leaning media outlets often comes directly from U.S. Border Patrol union leaders. And it's a narrative complicated by the fact that the Border Patrol, and it's parent agency the Department of Homeland Security, have some of the largest budgets of all federal agencies.

Listen to the interview with del Bosque above or read the transcript below to learn more about why she argues narratives about chaos at the southern border are politically motivated and have been used for years to stoke fear, particularly among conservatives.

This interview has been edited lightly for clarity.

Texas Standard: How is the media shaping the public's understanding of current immigration issues, like Haitian migrants in Del Rio, for example?

Melissa del Bosque: This is something that's been going on for a long time and something that I've been writing about for a long time up and down the border as a border journalist and someone who's really paid close attention to this. With the most recent events that we saw in Del Rio with the arrival of Haitians, once again, we saw it portrayed as this sort of out of control, chaotic scene. Border Patrol is overwhelmed. There is a message that's put out over and over and over again when we have these influxes of migrants and asylum-seekers that arrive at the border. And the message quickly spirals out of control and is repeated endlessly, in the big cable TV news stations of "border crisis, border crisis.". And we've now, by my count, been in a border "crisis" for at least seven years.

Who is benefiting from portraying the situation at the border as something that is spiraling out of control?

It's very effectively used to stoke, in this case, the base that supported [Donald] Trump Republican-base primary voters, they're very much motivated to get out and vote by this sort of panic and fear that is stoked by this idea that the border is being overrun by "illegal aliens," and that we're under some sort of invasion. So this sort of fear is stoked and it's manipulated to turn people out to to vote, basically, and it's very effective. It's worked over and over and over again. It really, really got its start under [former Texas Gov.] Rick Perry. Actually, I started writing about that many, many years ago.

How much do the political views of key members of the Border Patrol union influence the group's actions and priorities?

Right now we sort of have this extraordinary situation where we have the president of the union is Brandon Judd. He's been the president since 2013. For the first time ever, the union came out and spoke in support of a presidential candidate, which was Donald Trump. That was the first time the union ever did that because Judd and the other union leaders are part of the union. They're allowed to speak to the media. Whereas rank-and-file agents cannot. They cannot just speak to the media without permission from their bosses in Washington. So they have this sort of outsized ability to be able to shape the message at the border of what's happening. And the way they do that is by choosing which outlets they're going to share access with or give videos to.

You see a lot of leaks on Breitbart and Fox of exclusive video from inside the detention facility and so forth, with the idea of crafting this narrative that this new administration has no control over the border, can't govern, and therefore we need to keep Trump's policies in place, which they had helped craft.

I'm sure there are folks out there listening to this right now or who read your piece on this and they're saying to themselves, "What is she talking about? How can you look at this situation and say that this is a manufactured crisis?" What is your response to that?

DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, is the third-largest federal agency, with [a] multibillion dollar budget. And Border Patrol and ICE have some of the largest budgets in the country. They're the biggest law enforcement agencies in the country, and there's no reason why they don't have the resources or the ability to be able to process 15,000 people in a more efficient, orderly way without this chaotic response that just maximizes suffering for the immigrants who are arriving.

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.

Read more from the original source:
Media Narratives About 'Chaos' At The Southern Border Ignore Border Patrol's Massive Budget - KUT

A Derry 'Bookstagrammer' has discussed the importance of using social media to encourage off-screen time and the increasing popularity of physical books with young people.

Holly O'Doherty uses her Instagram page to promote reading to like-minded young people who follow her.

The 22-year-old told MyDerry about the increasing popularity of reading among young people, particularly in favouring physical books over e-books.

She said: "Young people enjoy the aesthetics of physical books, of vintage books, colourful books, ones with intricate designs. It is almost like y ou get swept into the assumption of if you do not have an actual book you're not fully participating.

"Also, I think a lot of people my age, with the negative light that is often cast on social media, want to have time away from screens. You see it as a small win when you take yourself away from technology.

"Having a physical book means there are no emails or messages that you have to reply to, there is no guilt and no pressure. You try and cement yourself back in the real world again.

"When I got into reading it was the start of the pandemic and there was such an increase in the social media usage and I would end up just scrolling endlessly. I had to take time to turn my phone off and take myself away from it.

"It is nice to know you have an escape from social media and the news when you are reading. Additionally, it is almost as if it wouldn't be expected from our age group so there is a sense of pride that comes along with picking up a physical book to read rather than reading from a screen."

Holly explained how, in dedicating her social media presence to an activity that she enjoys and can take people offline, she regained control of her screen time.

She said: "One of the main things that why I use my Bookstagram is that social media can be all about how trend-worthy you are and how perfect your life appears. I feel like I am taking control of my use of social media in that I am actively using it to promote reading, which takes place offline.

"I have started book clubs and I am hoping to do ones in person to take away from being online. I enjoy using social media now because theres no pressure. My prime purpose in interacting with people now is for something that is outside of social media. It has become less superficial."

Welcome to MyDerry, a brand new local news channel dedicated to the city.

Falling under the Belfast Live banner, MyDerry is part of our drive to cover news, people and events in your area.

We're always open to ideas and if there's a story that you think needs reported or a person doing great things in the community, you can send us an email at news@belfastlive.co.uk and we'll do our best to cover it.

Sign up to our FREE newsletter here for the latest news straight to your inbox.

Youll also find MyDerry on:

However, Holly has noticed that often, girls are more comfortable in immersing themselves in this world of promoting books on social media than boys.

She said: "If I ask a girl what their favourite book is I get a lengthy discussion and explanation but if I ask a boy they are almost embarrassed to answer.

"There is a huge gender disparity in terms of people interacting online about reading books and discussions around that."

For more Derry news, visit our new site MyDerry.

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Bookstagrammer discusses the importance of using social media to promote offline time - Belfast Live

The maiden in peril is an American staple and has been for almost two centuries. In our now-mythic past, the prospect of white pioneer women being hauled off to an unknown netherworld by the continents Native people stirred our fear. (The victims, for their part, were expected to resist and die rather than submit.) The formula, then as now, was to portray women as helpless victims forever in need of rescue. And the stories had a habit of going viral long before that term existed.

In 1897, it was a wealthy young Boston woman, Betsy Stevenson, whose unknown whereabouts transfixed the press. Like many stories, hers went national thanks to the news wire services of the day. (She was found a decade later performing in a New York theatrical production.) In 1909, the New York newspapers went wild when a 13-year-old named Adele Boas vanished during a shopping excursion with her mother. (Turns out, she ran away.) In 1910, 25-year-old New York heiress Dorothy Arnold disappeared and set off a nationwide search. The New York Times covered the Arnold story day after day and returned to it periodically over the years when unidentified bodies were found. False sightings Boston! Philadelphia! Muskogee! streamed in from wherever a newspaper picked up the mystery. When Arnolds mother died in 1928, the unsolved disappearance was still newsworthy. It was the really great search of the age, United Press reported, one that did much to develop modern newspaper 'police' coverage.

A 1910 missing person poster for Dorothy Arnold. | NYPD via New York Daily News

The scandal-mongering yellow journalists of the 1890s designed the storytelling templates modern newspapers and cable networks still rely on, the endangered-girl trope being a primary one that drove whole campaigns. Publications in New York and elsewhere stumped against prostitution by portraying young prostitutes as victimized white slaves. William Randolph Hearst went beyond covering maiden-in-peril news to actually making it when his very yellow New York Journal broke an 18-year-old Cuban woman named Evangelina Cisneros out of jail during the lead-up to the Spanish-American War. Missing women were good business outside journalism, too: 1914s serialized The Perils of Pauline silent films (produced by Hearst), placed a young, attractive heiress in dangerous jams and then extracted her.

Those circulation-hungry tabloid barons were scratching at something we can trace back to Greek myth. The drama of the maiden in peril awakens in us archetypal patterns seeded for centuries by culture, history and literature. Its a story we cant stop listening to, or reading, or clicking on. Never mind why Rapunzel got locked away, its simply enough for the purposes of the plot that shes being held against her will. The same goes for the evil fairy who renders Sleeping Beauty comatose, for Darth Vader, who imprisons Princess Leia, and for the evildoers who kidnap Buttercup. Even when the Gone Girl abducts herself in Gone Girl, her abduction and implied peril are enough to move the plot. The abductions of Liam Neesons (movie) daughters have managed to prop up his entire late career.

So when journalists picked up their laptops and video cameras to report the disappearance of Gabby Petito story, they surely knew from experience that they would get scolded for telling the story. But they also knew from experience that the vast majority of their audience would lap it up and if they didnt serve extra helpings, other outlets would.

Shouldnt it be a story, you ask? Abduction (and, in this case, possible relationship violence) are real issues, of course but its worth noting that neither the press nor its audience is all that interested in those issues per se. Missing men dont rate breathless, Petito-style coverage unless theyre celebrities, nor do missing women who have exceeded their child-bearing years. (As a sociobiologist might argue, society invests more deeply in the fates of fertile women because they are essential to the survival of the species.) When deciding which stories to pump up, the press may not consciously pick women of the young and white variety, but the roster of stories in the decades before Petito fits a clear pattern: Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart, Chandra Levy, Polly Klaas, Natalee Holloway, Lori Hacking, Robyn Gardner, Mollie Tibbetts, Michelle Parker and others. These cases obviously deserved some coverage, but at any given time thousands of young adults are missing. Youd have to do some fancy gymnastics to rationalize why so much journalistic firepower is concentrated on a few white women.

Besides tapping our psyches, the "missing woman" story endures because its the kind of story that reliably pulls in readers and viewers even when there is no news to report. Since Petitos body was found, the story has gone on as media outlets have manicured their competing timelines of her disappearance and murder and continued their coverage of the search for her at-large fianc. Were not in Natalee Holloway territory yet, but were getting there.

Will all that scolding force some self-examination? Dont count on it. The chances are slim that the press will control its appetite for the genre, or even acknowledge the cultural origins of its cravings. The next time the networks flood the zone with a "missing maiden" story, console yourself with this: Its only a fairy tale cable news loves to tell itself.

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The Washington Posts Paul Farhi took his own swing at the damsel trope in 2018. Send fairy tales to [emailprotected]. My email alerts love to tell my Twitter feed nighttime stories. My RSS feed would have you know that the original version of Sleeping Beauty is darker than the darkest Cormac McCarthy.

Continued here:
Opinion | Whats Driving the Medias Gabby Petito Addiction - POLITICO