Binge
Drinking is Common among High School Students and Tied to Other Risky Behaviors
Binge drinking is common
among high school students in the United States and is strongly associated with sexual
activity, violence, and other risky behaviors, according to a new study, Binge
Drinking and Associated Health Risk Behaviors Among
High School Students, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and published in the January 2007 issue of Pediatrics. CDC scientists
found 45 percent of the students reported past-month alcohol consumption,
and 64 percent of students who drank reported binge drinking (defined as having
five or more drinks of alcohol in a row). High school boys and girls who
drank alcohol had similar rates of binge drinking?
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/binge_drinking.php
CDC:
Young Smokers Try Quitting Cold Turkey
Few young smokers use smoking-cessation
devices and drugs when they try to quit, choosing instead to try to kick their
addiction cold-turkey. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) issued a report saying that smokers ages 16-24 also had higher failure
rates than older smokers who try to quit. Health officials recommend six
approaches to smoking cessation: talking to a health professional, using nicotine-replacement
products, using bupropion, talking to a counselor,
attending a program or class, and/or calling a helpline.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/cdc_young_smoke.php
**Community Development
The
Metropolitan Policy Program 2006 - Reforming Toward Prosperity
Ten years since its inception,
the Metropolitan Policy Program continues to provide the demographic, economic,
and spatial framework with which to understand the challenges facing metropolitan
America. Within that framework in 2006, the
program re-emphasized the power of economic prosperity, and prosperity for
all, as the unifying goal of reform. Because big picture, although national
statistics portray a rebounding economy, many parts of the country, and many
households, are not sharing in that success. Poverty rates are on the rise
in both cities and suburbs, with more poor people now living in suburbs than
in cities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/the_metropolita.php
HAC
Funds Over 700 Homes For New Homeowners, Self-Help
Program Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
The new year brings good news for 741 low-income families around
the country as the Housing Assistance Council announces funding to 41 rural
community-based nonprofit organizations. More than half of the amount financed
comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Self-Help Homeownership
Opportunity Program, known as SHOP, which aids families who contribute hundreds
of hours of labor towards building their own homes.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/hac_funds_over.php
**Economic Security
Can
Tax Credits Replace Minimum Wage Increases?
Since 1997, when Congress
last raised the minimum wage, the real value of the minimum wage has fallen
about 20 percent because of inflation, while the earned income tax credit
(EITC) and child credit have been expanded. This brief from the Urban Institute
illustrates how current tax rules interact with the minimum wage and considers
whether increased tax credits could substitute for minimum-wage increases
for those earning the federal minimum wage. Increasing tax credits enough
to substitute for raising minimum wage is probably infeasible because of the
cost and the high marginal tax rates required.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/can_tax_credits.php
**Education
Full-Day
Kindergarten, and Student Achievement
Recent research shows that
large gaps exist, even before children enter kindergarten, in their school
readiness. Because the skills and knowledge that children have upon entering
school predict later achievement, this is an issue of serious concern to educators
and policymakers. Using longitudinal survey data to examine how children's
skills and knowledge at kindergarten entry predict achievement in later grades,
this study from RAND addresses two research questions: the relationship between
school readiness skills at kindergarten entry and reading and mathematics
achievement through the fifth grade, and kindergarten program factors that
predict nonacademic school readiness skills.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/fullday_kinderg.php
**Health
Few
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Teens Tell Their Doctor Their Sexual Orientation
A survey of lesbian, gay
and bisexual teenagers found that 70 percent said most people they knew were
aware of their sexual orientation, but only 35 percent reported that their
doctor knew, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation and UCLA. The
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical
Association and the Society for Adolescent Medicine all recommend that physicians
discuss sexuality with all adolescents and provide nonjudgmental communication
about sexual orientation. This is important because if a physician is aware
of an adolescent patient's sexual orientation, the doctor can offer appropriate
health education and counseling, identify individual risk, and perform targeted
screening tests and treatment.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/few_lesbian_gay.php
Personal
Health: To Protect Against Drug Errors, Ask Questions
Medication errors are among
the most common medical mistakes, injuring or killing at least 1.5 million
people a year and incurring at least $3.5 billion a year in extra hospital
costs alone, according to a report issued in July by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
You can help protect yourself by maintaining a list of all the drugs you take
--- prescription and nonprescription, vitamin-mineral supplements and herbal
remedies, including the dosing schedule and amount.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/personal_health_1.php
**Homelessness
UCLA
study finds a need for services that help homeless youth obtain health insurance
Youth with a history of
homelessness are a vulnerable population at high risk for negative health
outcomes. The findings suggest that facilitating health insurance coverage
for them may lead to increased use of outpatient care services, which may
prevent costly emergency room services for conditions that could have been
treated in the outpatient setting. There is a need for interventions geared
toward this group in facilitating health insurance coverage.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2006/12/ucla_study_find.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
2007
National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference - Registration Now Open
Registration is now open
for the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, held in Washington, DC on February
25-27, 2007. The
Conference is co-sponsored by the Food Research and Action Center & America's
Second Harvest in cooperation with: National Child & Adult Care Food Program
Forum. The February 2006 conference brought together 500 advocates from anti-hunger,
food bank, CACFP, child care, direct service, human needs, religious, children's,
immigrant, health, education, and other groups from across the nation.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/2007_national_a.php
**Nonprofit Management
IT
Resource Center Technology Leadership Award Extended
The IT Resource Center announces the Call for Entries for
the second annual IT Resource Center Technology Leadership Award, presented
by Accenture. The Award recognizes Chicago-area nonprofit organizations
that demonstrate exemplary use of technology to further their missions. The
application deadline is January
15, 2007.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/it_resource_cen.php
**Substance Abuse
Many
Drivers Test Positive for Illicit Drugs
A new study finds that one-third
of all drivers pulled over for suspicion of impaired driving tested positive
for illicit drugs even though they were under the legal limit for driving
with alcohol in their systems, Medical News Today reported Dec. 26. Marijuana
was the most common drug detected other than alcohol. The authors recommended
that all drivers suspected of impairment be tested for illicit drugs as well
as alcohol.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/01/many_drivers_te.php
