KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It is a parent's worst nightmare, but it happens every summer – kids suffer heatstroke and, in some cases, even die after being left in hot cars. This summer, children's safety advocates are teaming up to help parents and other caregivers prevent this tragedy.
Registered Nurse Phyllis Larimore is a car-seat safety specialist at Children's Mercy Hospital, who says children can suffer fatal hyperthermia in a closed vehicle within minutes, even when the outside temperature is mild.
What is often behind these tragedies, she explains, is a change in routine.
"Children have stopped going to school, so there's something new, or someone else is taking them to day care," says Larimore. "These things happen across all socioeconomic strata, all types of parents."
Larimore reminds parents that a child should never be left alone in a car, not even for a minute, and to make sure the doors are locked when the car is not in use so they can't get in on their own.
She also recommends putting something you'll need at your final destination, like a purse or a cell phone, in the backseat as a reminder that the child is also in the backseat.
And anyone who sees a child alone in a car is urged to call 9-1-1.
Children's Mercy Hospitals, along with other organizations, distribute free car stickers that read "Where's Baby?" as an additional reminder to make sure no one is left inside.
"We ask the parent to put them right there where your hand touches as you're closing your car door – right there on the driver's side, right beside the lock," Larimore says. "And hopefully, that will jar your attention."
The stickers are available in the hospital lobby, and at many local fire and police stations.
According to the nonprofit KidsAndCars.org, nearly 400 children have died in hot cars in the last decade. That's an average of 38 deaths per year.
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New child labor laws went into effect in Virginia at the start of the year, but some advocates say more can be done.
House Bill 100 took effect in January, raising the maximum financial penalty to $25,000 -- up from $10,000 -- if a child dies or is seriously injured while working in violation of labor law. Cases that do not involve injury or death will have stiffer penalties, too, with maximum fines set at $2,500.
Nina Mast, a policy and economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, said it is just the start of combatting illegal child labor in the Commonwealth.
"This was a really important first step in the overall goal of strengthening child labor standards in Virginia," she said, "but the penalty amounts are really only as effective as the enforcement can be in the state."
Mast added that the legislation also created a group made up of youth-serving organizations and young people to explore the creation of workers' rights education for high school students.
Going forward, Mast said new laws must keep young people from working in dangerous or hazardous work environments, including staffing agencies that are often used to fill meatpacking and construction jobs. That keeps the main company from being held liable.
Mast said state labor agencies need more employees to hold companies accountable.
"Employers know this. They know that they will largely get away with violating the law and no one will ever enforce those violations," she said. "Adding capacity is really important to signaling to employers that the law will actually be enforced when violations are found."
Before the law went into effect, there was no minimum financial penalty for business owners who broke child labor laws.
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New legislation in Olympia aims to ease the burden of child-care costs for Washington families by allowing businesses to help their employees pay for it.
Under House Bill 1564, businesses could reduce the amount they spend on business and occupation taxes by the amount they pay for child-care assistance to workers.
State Rep. Joshua Penner, R-Orting, who authored the bill, said prices for child care in the state can exceed the cost of college tuition.
"That's just a really tough position that we put our workers in," he said, "that they have to decide whether or not to be underemployed or forgo opportunities in order to get good child care."
Nearly 40% of Washington parents have reported quitting a job or being fired because of child-care challenges, costing families almost $7 billion annually in lost income. The bill was just introduced and is in the House Finance Committee.
Penner added that if a business didn't use the full tax benefit in one year, the bill would allow it to apply the remaining amount to the following year. He said he isn't worried about the potential loss of tax revenue for Washington state.
"I think nothing is more efficient than those 'B&O' taxes being directly applied to child care for the workers within that business," he said.
Washington ranks seventh, just behind Oregon, for the least affordable infant care in the country, with an average year of full-time care topping $20,000. Penner said many factors, including low pay for providers and the high cost of running a child-care business, have driven up price tags for families. He said the bill has bipartisan support.
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A majority of California children are failing to meet educational standards, according to this year's County Scorecard on Children's Well-Being.
Researchers from the nonprofit Children Now have published the scorecard every other year since 2008, so policymakers from all 58 counties can track progress over time.
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research for Children Now, said academic scores have begun to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, which are still much too low.
"Only 43% of third graders met standards in reading, only 33% of fifth graders met standards in science, and only 32% of eighth graders met standards in math," Hardy reported.
The percentages are even worse for Black and Latino students. For example, among eighth graders, only 20% of Latinos and 14% of Black students meet standards in math. Kids in Marin, Orange and San Francisco counties fared better, while children in the rural north counties face greater challenges in education and health.
Youth in foster care are falling behind even further, with 21% meeting standards in English, 11% in science and 7% in math. Hardy hopes lawmakers keep the issues in mind when crafting the next state budget.
"It really makes no sense for a relatively high-tax state like California to be so far behind other states in outcomes for education," Hardy contended. "We need the state to provide more funding."
The report does reveal some bright spots. More than 97% of kids in California now have health insurance, and more low-income families with kids are accessing CalFresh food support.
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