MomsRising Blog » families

The State of the States is…Masculine: Women Urgently Needed in State Legislatures!

Miriam Feffer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:42:45 +0000

With presidential primaries in full swing, each state stands to enjoy a moment in the spotlight. As riveting as the recent political theatrics have been, the campaign season also underscores just how many important decisions are made at the state level. From education to health care to workplace policy to environmental protection (our main focus at Rachel’s Network), issues affecting women like us are determined within state lines.

With all that’s at stake in each state, you may be startled to learn that most legislatures remain boys’ clubs, with women so severely underrepresented that the political process suffers. (No need to single anyone out, but let’s just say that at 9%, South Carolina is a great place to be when you can’t wait long for the ladies’ room!)

Guest blogger Laurie Kretchmar, media director for The 2012 Project, delivers an impassioned plea for women to seize the opportunities open in this year’s election below. Read the original post via Care2 here, and heed her call to consider running for state office. There’s still time to jump into a race…and there’s clearly still a deep need for informed, engaged, experienced women (why not you?) to shape the policies that affect your family every day.

Too Few Women Serve in State Legislatures — Think About Running

by Laurie Kretchmar

Not one state – not California, not New York – has women serving in half the seats in its state legislature. California’s is 28 percent, while New York’s is only 21 percent. South Carolina trails the nation at 9 percent.

Women are best represented in Colorado where they hold 41 percent of seats. Does the presence of women make a difference? Research says it does. Women tend to bring different agendas, content and processes. As The White House Project memorably says, “Add women; change everything.”

I asked Karen Middleton, president of Emerge America, a Democratic training organization, about serving as a state legislator in Colorado.

“I saw strong bipartisan support for some key issues affecting women and children,” Middleton said. “Laws around veterans’ families, domestic violence, cancer screening — we did great work in these areas. Women on both sides of the aisle led the way on important legislation, such as re-purposing coal plants with natural gas turbines–a new law that helped the environment and kept energy-related jobs in the state.”

Patricia Lindner, a Republican who served in the Illinois legislature, said, “Women are more willing to cut the partisan bickering and work with all sides to accomplish goals.”

To inspire more women to consider politics, the nonpartisan 2012 Project, where I work as media director, is working with dozens of allies including The White House Project, Emerge America and Rachel’s Network. The goal is to educate people about the low numbers of women in office today and ask accomplished women to consider running for state legislatures and Congress.

As USA Today reports, this year is a potentially record year for electing women – if women run. There are open seats in state legislatures and Congress due to redistricting in every state, 13 states with term limits and an expected presidential election year turnout.

Women and newcomers do best running for open seats. Of the 24 new women elected to Congress in 1992, known as the Year of the Woman, 22 won open seats. There is vast room for improvement. In 20 states today, zero women serve in congressional delegations.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/too-few-women-serve-in-state-legislatures-think-about-running.html#ixzz1lpBd2u42

Making Progress on Children’s Health Coverage; More Work To Do

Michael Odeh — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:35:58 +0000

In one of his first acts in office three years ago this week, President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009. Because of CHIPRA, millions of low-income children were able to keep their affordable coverage and an additional 1.2 million children nationwide were newly able to enroll in health coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Together CHIP and Medicaid have significantly reduced the number of uninsured children and moved us closer to the goal of providing health coverage for every child.

In California, CHIP is known as the Healthy Families Program and provides health coverage for more than 870,000 children. Healthy Families has meant that the Reick boys of Fresno can get the care they need to manage their asthma, and that the Skinner kids of Riverside can stay active in their extra-curricular sports programs. Healthy Families has provided a variety of needed care for the Magana children of Los Angeles, from immunizations and check-ups to the diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening thyroid cancer.

This success of CHIP nationally was in part boosted by federal CHIPRA incentive bonus payments for states that simplified the application process for children’s coverage and made significant progress in increasing the number of insured children. In December 2011, the federal government awarded nearly $300 million in CHIPRA performance bonuses to 23 states.

Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, California failed to qualify for a bonus, losing out on millions of dollars of federal funds that are desperately needed. While California has made efforts to streamline enrollment for children, and launched a new online enrollment tool for Healthy Families (available in English and Spanish at www.healtheapp.net), the state has not made significant enough strides at enrolling uninsured children into health coverage.

The state’s inadequate enrollment gains are made more stark by the fact that two out of every three uninsured children in California, close to 700,000 kids, are currently eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families but not enrolled.

In 2012, California must do better at connecting uninsured children with the quality, comprehensive, affordable health coverage they need to grow healthy and learn well. To that end, the 100% Campaign (a collaborative effort of The Children’s Partnership, Children Now, and Children’s Defense Fund-California) have developed a Healthy Child Checklist to remind parents of some easy ways to ensure their child stays healthy this year, including applying for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families coverage, which families can do at any time of the year, and with www.healtheapp.net, at any hour.

In addition, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which President Obama signed in March 2010, further strengthens coverage for children by no longer allowing private insurers to deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition. Further, the ACA has already benefited children by requiring coverage of preventive services without co-payments, eliminating lifetime or annual limits, and prohibiting insurers from rescinding coverage.

Looking back on how much has changed for children’s coverage in the past three years, there is much to celebrate. More children have health insurance today than at any point in American history. The opportunity to improve children’s health will continue to grow as California moves forward with implementation of important provisions of CHIPRA and the ACA.

To make these opportunities most meaningful and successful for children in California, we need to focus now on enrolling eligible children and creating a “culture of coverage.” If we work together, we can ensure that more California children have the health coverage they need to grow up healthy.

California parents can learn more about children’s health coverage by calling

1-877-KIDS-NOW (1-877-543-7669) or apply for children’s health coverage directly online at www.healtheapp.net or www.benefitscal.org.

How to Host a Green Super Bowl Party

Claire Moshenberg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:20:07 +0000

Super Bowl Sunday is around the corner! Keep toxic chemicals out of your Super Bowl bash by making a few simple tweaks to your game day plan. Don’t worry: You don’t have to lose any of those traditional (insanely delicious) football-watching-foods. Try these top 5 easy tips for greening your Super Bowl party:

Skip the cans: Limit the BPA in your game day snacks by limiting your canned ingredients, or choosing BPA free alternatives. Soak beans overnight and boil them the next day for baked beans or bean dip. If you’re making chili, avoid canned tomatoes or tomato paste and look for boxed or jarred alternatives. You can also replace canned tomatoes with cooked fresh tomatoes. For beverages, Healthy Child, Healthy World recommends choosing beer and soda in glass bottles instead of canned if possible.

Less packaging: Look for ways to reduce the amount of plastic and packaging you purchase for your party. Save money, and avoid packaging, by buying bulk snacks, sweets, and ingredients. Steer clear of overly packaged convenience produce, like prewashed lettuce, premade carrot sticks, or individually wrapped fruits or veggies. These items often carry a higher price tag. Look for loose produce at your supermarket, or use this tool to find a local farmer’s market. Skip plastic tubs or bags by using minimally packaged ingredients to make one of your favorite snack foods at home, like potato chips or salsa.

Smarter produce: Veggies may not seem like a big part of your Superbowl menu. But a lot of traditional game day foods feature a few pieces of produce: cut up veggies for all those dips, chopped onions and peppers to top off a bowl of chili, celery sticks cozied up next to chicken wings. Remember to rub your fruits and veggies for 30 to 60 seconds under warm running water. Wash inedible peels; even though you discard the peel, cutting into the fruit or peeling the fruit can transfer chemicals into the fruits flesh through your knife. For edible peels, peeling non-organic fruits and vegetables is an easy way to avoid the chemicals that are absorbed into the peel.

Rethink disposables: If you can lose the disposable silverware and plates, that’s great. If you can’t, what about losing one of them? Keep your disposable plates, but use regular silverware. Use the restaurant trick of keeping a bowl of hot water by the sink and dump used silverware in the bowl so it’s rinsed and ready for the dishwasher. Or add dishsoap to the water and give your soapy silverware a quick scrub and rinse when the party is over. Try bamboo or unbleached recycled paper products for dishes and napkins. Remember to make recycling obvious by clearly marking your recycling bin.

Lose the shoes: Lower your toxic chemical exposures by asking your guests to leave their shoes at the door. Lead-contaminated soil from the outside creates the majority of lead dust inside our homes. Leaving your shoes at the door can cut your lead dust levels by 60 percent, and also reduce your exposure to pesticides, dust mites, and more. Create a designated space for shoes by the door and make it obvious to your guests by putting up a sign, placing a mat in the space, or putting a few pairs of your own shoes there.

More Non-toxic Tips Tuesdays:

Do you have any green Super Bowl party tips or recipes? Leave them in the comments, or visit our Facebook page and share them with the MomsRising community.

A Green Makeover for Your Bathroom

Claire Moshenberg — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:15:34 +0000

One easy way to reduce toxic chemicals in your home is to take a room by room survey. What products do you use in each room? What items may need to be replaced soon? Where do you have the most product turn-around? A good place to start is the bathroom. While you’re not buying a new couch every month (or every year, or even every ten years), your family probably routinely goes through items like shampoo, soap, and cleaning supplies. A few simple swaps, actions, and DIYs can drastically reduce your chemical exposure in the bathroom. Get your green home makeover started by trying these top 5 tips:

Body wash and Soap: A good liquid castile soap can be used as a face wash, body wash, and as a simple hand soap. Check the label when you’re buying liquid castile soap; Women’s Voices for the Earth recommends avoiding sodium lauryl (laureth) sulfate (SLS) and Diethanolamine (DEA). For sensitive skin, you may want to use unscented soap, or dilute it with warm water. If you’re buying other soaps and shower gels, make sure to look them up on the Skin Deep database first.

Shower Curtains: You know that sharp, new shower curtain smell? That’s the smell of chemicals off-gassing. According to Healthy Child, Healthy World, “shower curtains contain a host of other chemicals (Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs) which are linked to central nervous system, liver and kidney damage.” Next time you’re in the market for a new shower curtain, choose a cloth curtain, or one of the PVC-free shower curtains on this list from CHEJ. If you do purchase a new vinyl curtain, open it outside and let it off-gas outside of your home before you hang it up.

Cleaning supplies: Tub cleaners, sink scrubbers, tile sparklers—according to your local cleaning supply aisle, bathrooms require quite a few specific products. Skip the toxic chemicals in many conventional cleaning supplies by trying these easy DIYs.

Toilet bowl cleaner: Women’s Voices for the Earth recommends sprinkling your toilet bowl with baking soda, then drizzling distilled white vinegar in the bowl, and letting the mixture soak for at least 30 minutes. Then scrub the bowl with a toilet brush.
Tub cleaner: Try this recipe from Healthy Child, Healthy World– Mix 1 2/3 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup liquid soap and 1/2 cup water.
Glass spray: My favorite easy recipe, from Alexandra Zissu: Just mix equal parts water and distilled white vinegar.

Shampoo and Conditioner: Do a little research before your next haircare shopping trip. Look up shampoos, conditioners, and hair products on the Skin Deep database and the Good Guide. Both of these sites offer handy apps, so you can look up products while you shop. Or skip the searching (and save some money) with these easy DIYs.

Shampoo: This Planet Home recipe is so easy, and uses ingredients you probably already have at home! To whip up a bottle of homemade shampoo, just combine ½ cup of baking soda with three cups of warm water in a bottle.

Conditioner: Here’s a recipe from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. You’ll need: one egg yolk, ½ teaspoon olive oil, and 3/4 cup lukewarm water. Beat the egg yolk until it’s thick and white. Add the oil and mix well. Then add the water into the egg mixture and mix well. Massage into clean, damp hair. Rinse with plenty of warm water after about 10 minutes.

Reduce bathroom moisture: Damp bathrooms can be breeding grounds for mold. Try these two easy tips from Planet Home to reduce your bathroom moisture:

Shower with a window or door open, and the exhaust fan on.
Take colder showers, which not only reduces moisture on the walls, but saves energy!

2011: A Year of Non-toxic Tips

Claire Moshenberg — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:33:14 +0000

It can feel like a toxic world out there, but MomsRising is here to help. Every Tuesday on the MomsRising blog, you can find new information on how to eliminate dangerous chemicals and toxins that are in every day products. Topics have ranged from choosing sunscreen and beauty products, to making a green baby or wedding registry, to detoxifying dorm rooms and non-toxic one ingredient swaps to make cleaning products from pantry staples. Our weekly guides break down the information moms need into easy-to-understand, realistic tips for daily life. We can’t avoid all chemicals, but a few simple changes at home or in your routine at the store can make a big difference.

Join us here on the MomsRising blog in the New Year every Tuesday for more non-toxic tips! In the meantime, here’s the full list of our 2011 tips. Enjoy, and have a happy New Year!

The Basics:

Beauty:

Home:

Work:

Detox Your Workday and Green Your Office

School:

Holidays/Special Occasions:

Food:

Digital Bootstraps for Analog Problems — A Reply to Forbes Columnist Gene Marks’ “If I Were A Poor Black Kid”

Cynthia Liu — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:20:41 +0000

A truly clueless if well-intentioned column by Gene Marks titled “If I Were A Poor Black Kid” in Forbes magazine is getting righteously ripped from journalists all around the web. They’re correctly pointing out how bereft Marks’ column is of history, research, practical awareness, racial sensitivity, or the sheer realities of hunger or even homelessness that low-income children face. Marks seems to suggest that kids from impoverished backgrounds – all too many of whom are African American – can simply access computers and lift themselves up by their digital bootstraps to use free websites and enter elite prep schools or colleges. Maybe a handful of motivated kids will manage a heroic feat like that despite all the odds, but is this going to work for the majority of poor kids?

And here’s exactly what’s wrong with Marks’ perspective and why it’s indicative of a 1% mentality among billionaire education philanthropists (Silicon Valley included) that results in failure to truly invest in public schools, despite those same businesses relying on a highly skilled and educated workforce: solutions lie in privatization — individuals hands on individual (digital) bootstraps.

But also privatization of another kind: web-assisted businesses that hollow out the public school system and see it as nothing but a lucrative market. Marks’ list of ed-tech resources is lengthy and a roll call of ideas, good and bad, to bring education into the computer age. But as recent article after article has pointed out, online education companies hawking virtual schooling are providing low quality schooling to at-risk kids with no accountability, and at the same time siphoning off public money intended for neighborhood schools on the corner. Billionaire philanthropists thwart democratic decision-making about taxpayer priorities by using string-laden foundation donations as a form of education policy, instead of those same businesses or their owners paying taxes to fund public education. For example, in Seattle, titans of Microsoft corporation donated to groups that swatted down a 2010 ballot initiative to tax millionaire incomes that would’ve funded public schools in Washington state.

This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s a greed issue. Many of these well-meaning “edupreneurs” are Democrats who are reliably liberal on stopping climate change, or banning genetically modified foods. But when it comes to the nation’s schools and cherishing the fact that every public school serves every child who comes to the door as they are, conveying important ideas about citizenship, diversity, democracy, and a common good to the nation’s children, “edupreneurs” miss the rainforest for the money tree. Our open, publicly-funded public school system, deeply woven into the fabric of our open, freedom- and innovation-loving society, is the gem in the crown of America that people from around the world for decades have tried to replicate. Certainly it’s our bricks-and-mortar universities, and not mediocre for-profit online colleges, that are still the envy of the world. Close the door of equal opportunity to children, especially poor children, and we turn our backs on our legacy as the land of opportunity.

Is the answer to reject technology, to do as 19th century Luddites did and smash laptops, the equivalent of mechanized looms, in order to save schools? Emphatically no, and here’s where I think many miss an important point about Marks’ misguided piece. The internet provides the same frictionless means to disintermediate middle men as it provides opportunities to insert middle men. And today’s education middle men are testing companies, textbook publishers, online learning companies, teacher certification companies, and standardized test prep companies, sometimes all rolled into the same conglomerate — taking a giant, profitable chunk from states and school districts even as money that goes to classrooms where kids are gets cut.

So here’s what I’d like to see: flip this state of affairs. Disintermediate high-tech middlemen selling silicon snake oil. State departments of education could start acting in the public interest and creating FREE and OPEN SOURCE websites where best practices in teaching, outstanding examples of curriculum, test prep materials, tests themselves, teacher certification, syllabi and other resources are made available to teachers and any student who wants to improve herself. With the millions saved from not buying an international conglomerate’s tests, curriculum, online school materials, test prep, or online teacher certification, there’d be plenty of money for small, intimate classrooms, plentiful well-trained and well-paid teachers, and every child who needs wrap-around services would have them. With the money saved from eliminating the middle man, we’d have plenty to invest in after-school enrichment, high-quality daycare, remedial help, special ed shadows, children’s dental or medical care, fully-funded music/art/sports programs, nutritious real vegetables (not pizza-like vegetables), and gifted and talented education.

The longstanding problems that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds face need a broad social and political response, not solutions that are occasional feel-good stories about one or two motivated kids who figure out how to do calculus online. Realizing you can use library computers to access the internet for free isn’t going to fill the stomachs of some 20% of all children –white, African American, Latino, Asian, Native American — under 18 who are struggling this very minute.

Poverty, hunger, homelessness, parents who are ineffective or unable to parent – these are all analog problems kids have that need the help of other people, not only computers, to solve. What Gene Marks and other Silicon Valley “edupreneurs” forget is that we live in a complicated three-dimensional world that doesn’t fit on a spreadsheet or a computer screen. Digital bootstraps aren’t enough; to help all the nation’s kids we need lifelines offered face to face to real kids, from a person who cares in their neighborhood schools.

Cynthia Liu is founder of the grassroots education news site K12NewsNetwork.com, which empowers parents, educators, and students to report on important events at their local neighborhood schools and provides tools for maximum civic engagement in support of public education. This piece originally appeared in Technorati.

Fall 2011: A Season of Non-Toxic Tips

Claire Moshenberg — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:25:19 +0000

The holiday season is in full swing, and for much of the country, winter coats and mittens are here to stay for the next few months. But even though it’s felt like winter for a while, today is the official last day of Fall. Lets celebrate the end of the season by taking a look back at all of this season’s non-toxic tips:

Non-toxic Tips for Winter Coughs & Colds

Claire Moshenberg — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:29:10 +0000

I used to catch every cold that came into town. Office colds? Check. Office colds from my boyfriend’s office? Colds from family/friends/strangers schools/offices/jousting tournaments? Check, check, check. My winters were a series of tissue boxes, cough syrups, and congested mutterings that could be summed up as “This again?” or “Oh come on nose. Get it together.”

My years of grumpy congestedness have made me a bit of a cold prevention expert. No one likes to be sick and grumbley, especially during the holidays. And cold/cough product manufacturers tend to prey on that this time of year, with commercials full of anxious moms, sick kids and grownups, and pricey, chemical laden products packaged in plastic. Don’t fall into an expensive, antibacterial trap. Try these tips and tricks for cold/cough prevention, and safer cold/cough treatment:

Push fluids: My mom is a nurse, and no matter what ails you, “push fluids” (aka drink lots and lots of water) is her battle cry. Drinking lots of water helps flush your system out, and is an important piece of your cold/cough avoidance plan, as well as your cold/cough treatment. If you’re drinking a lot of water, make sure it’s safe by using a filter. For a decent filter at a decent price, the Environmental Working Group recommends a carbon filter. Their water filter guide will help you choose the filter that’s right for you and your budget needs. Make sure you also filter your water if you’re boiling water for tea or soup. If you don’t have a filter, the Green Guide recommends placing an open container of water in the fridge for a few hours, which helps filter out chlorine, and let water run for a full minute before you use it for cooking or drinking.

Replace your soups: Soup is a surefire helper in the fight against sore throats and congestion. Skip the BPA that often makes an appearance in canned soups by making your own or choosing soups that are jarred or boxed. Parent Earth has several kid friendly soup recipes that can be whipped up for lunch or dinner. Invent your own simple soup by adding beans, veggies, and/or grains to boxed broth or easy homemade broth.

Cold/Cough DIYs: Antiseptic sprays? Cough drops? Cold medicine? There are easy DIY solutions for all of these.

Cough drops: The Pistachio Project shows you how to whip up a batch of homemade honey cough drops.
Antiseptic spray: Keep your home clean without chemical-laden antibacterial sprays. Try this antiseptic spray recipe from Healthy Child, Healthy World.
Cold relief: Dr. Greene has an easy recipe for homemade cold relief that’s made out of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.

Keep it clean: Forget what the commercials say—You don’t need to douse your home in antibacterial cleaning sprays. Germs do like to hang out on surfaces in our homes though, so make sure that you routinely clean items in your home that your family regularly handles. This includes game controllers, remote controls, cell phones, countertops, door knobs, and keyboards. Our guide to making your own cheap and easy nontoxic cleaning supplies will help you keep your cleaning supply cabinet stocked and free of toxic chemicals.

Do you have tips for staying healthy during cold/cough season? Leave them in the comments, or visit our Facebook page and share them with the MomsRising community.

This blog is a part of the Healthy Child, Healthy World blog network.

Gift Guide: Non-Toxic Beauty Gifts and DIY Tips

Claire Moshenberg — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:42:32 +0000

Beauty products make great stocking stuffers for the ladies in your life. Leave toxic chemicals out of your gifts by using these easy shopping tips or making inexpensive, non-toxic DIY versions.

1) First, do your research before you give: We know you want to avoid giving a toxic gift, but labels on cosmetics and beauty products are a bit difficult to decipher. Use handy resources like the Skin Deep database, or this portable card from the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance, which shows you how to make healthy choices when selecting a nail polish.

2) Be wary of “green” and “all natural” labels: All natural. Green. What do these terms have in common? They have no legal definition. It’s called greenwashing, a ploy used by cosmetics companies to make products appear safer, even though they’ve made no actual changes to improve the safety of their products. Cosmetics companies are able to use these terms without meeting any requirements. Don’t be fooled! Learn more about greenwashing, and make sure you’re not a greenwashing victim, by looking up cosmetics on the Skin Deep database before making a purchase.

3) Skip the stores and make your gifts: It’s super easy and inexpensive (we promise).

Sugar or salt scrubs: Whip up a cheap and easy DIY scrub by combining two part sugar or salt with one part olive oil. For a creamy scrub, replace olive oil with coconut oil. To create finer exfoliating particles, grind your sugar or salt in a coffee grinder.

Cocoa bubble bath: This is a great, make-ahead stocking stuffer that you can store in an inexpensive mason jar, jam jar, or any recycled glass container. Here’s the recipe from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:

Ingredients:

1 cup of unscented bubble bath

1/3 cup of unsweetened soy milk

3 oz. of grated or powdered dark chocolate

Instructions: Heat the soy milk and add the grated or powdered chocolate. Stir well until melted and blended, but do not boil. Allow to cool. Mix well again just before adding to your bath.

Bath treatments: Combine two tablespoons of oats, one teaspoon of baking soda, and wintery spices like cinnamon and cloves in a square of muslin. Tie the muslin at the top, and you have a cute DIY bath ball! Add a note telling the recipient to just pop the bath ball in the tub as it fills with water. You can also try these bath bomb and bath cookie recipes from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

We’re keeping the Tips Tuesday spirit going all week with daily non-toxic gift guides! Be sure to come back for guides on everything from technology to toys. And share your favorite non-toxic holiday tips with us on the MomsRising Facebook page!

Children Left Behind: Number of Children in Foster Care Due to Parents’ Detention Climbs

Emily Butera — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:42:07 +0000

Emily Butera is the Senior Program Officer for Detention and Asylum at the Women’s Refugee Commission

Maribel was driving in Virginia with her one-year-old child when she was pulled over by a police officer, who asked to see her driver’s license. A Mexican citizen living in the U.S. without a visa, Maribel was arrested for driving without a license. She was quickly transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and agreed to be deported. Maribel only wanted to take her child—a U.S. citizen—with her. Her child, however, was placed in foster care because Maribel was not allowed to make child care arrangements of her choosing. More than three months later, the child remains in state custody. Maribel is unable to comply with the requirements that the state child welfare agency established as a precondition to get her child back because she is in immigration detention awaiting removal. She is afraid that she will be deported soon and will be unable to take her child with her; she’s trying desperately to make sure this doesn’t happen, but there are many obstacles in her way.

Maribel is one of many mothers whom Women’s Refugee Commission staff have talked to who have been separated from their U.S. citizen children. These separations arise because of the lack of humanitarian protocols that apply at the time a parent comes into immigration custody and because of the unintended complications that arise when a family becomes involved with both the immigration and child welfare systems. Over and over again, the detained mothers we have interviewed have told us that they are willing to accept deportation. But they also want to maintain a relationship with their children, whether by taking their children with them when they leave, or arranging for them to live with relatives here in the U.S.

While policymakers have long asserted that cases like Maribel’s are isolated incidents, a recent report by the Applied Research Center reveals that the scope of this problem is alarming. ARC researchers found that over 46,000 mothers and fathers were deported in the first six months of this year, and an estimated 5,100 children are currently in foster care because one or both of their parents have been detained or removed. If deportations continue at their current rate, this number could jump to 15,000 in the next five years.

These are numbers that should move policymakers to action. Behind these statistics are real parents and children. And every action that unnecessarily severs these parent-child relationships can have significant social and economic costs.

When parents are deported and forced to leave their children behind, it undercuts normal parent-child relationships. The loss of a critical role model in their life—often the principle disciplinarian—can drive children to drop out of school or fall in with the wrong crowd. Children may feel that their parent has abandoned them, often with care responsibilities for younger siblings, and may hold tremendous anger towards their parent. These reactions can have a permanent impact on children’s well-being. Studies have shown that the after-effects of these separations can lead to developmental delays, poor school performance, depression and aggression.

There are economic considerations as well. When children are placed into the child welfare system as a result of a parent’s detention or deportation, state child welfare agencies assume the financial burden. At a time when many states are in fiscal crisis, it simply does not make sense to divert funds from other important programs to care for children who would not be in the system if their parent had not been detained or had been able to make care arrangements of their choosing.

It is clear that the White House has gotten the message. Recently, President Obama publically acknowledged that the issue of family separation due to immigration enforcement is a “real problem.”

“If parents are deported, they have to have access to their children,” he said during a press conference with Spanish-language reporters. “I think that we have to continue to put pressure on those responsible for administering the program, to be sure that children are not snatched from their parents without due process.”

What is less clear is what ICE is going to do to address the problem.

For the last three years, the Women’s Refugee Commission has raised the issue of family separation with Congress, the Department of Homeland Security and the White House. In a report released last December, we outlined measures that U.S. officials can take to protect immigrants’ parental rights and to decrease the number of children needlessly placed into the child welfare system. Conversations have been encouraging and new developments, such as the discretion policy and forthcoming Risk Classification Assessment, are steps in the right direction. But as the ARC report shows us, these strategies are not yet having an impact and are not enough.

It is time to take the issue of family separation and parental rights across the finish line. We have data to show the extent of the problem and a commitment from the President that his administration will do better. We also have committed individuals at ICE with both the will and the ability to implement policies that reduce the impact of immigration enforcement on children, enable detained parents to participate in child custody proceedings and ensure that parents can take their children with them if they choose.

Unlike so many of the immigration challenges facing our country, this one does not require a change in the law, though a change would certainly reduce the number of parents who are detained and deported. It also does not require turning a blind eye to violations of the current law. It simply requires the government to take into account the collateral costs of detention and deportation and to develop policies and practices that uphold every parent’s right to a relationship with their children.

The costs for these policy changes are minimal, but the benefits, both economic and personal, are enormous.

See our full recommendations and read more about our work on parental rights here.