**Community Development
As
Aid Lags, Volunteers Shoulder Rebuilding on Gulf Coast
While the national debate
over the recovery has focused on the billions expected in federal aid and
insurance, those sources have so far provided little for places such as Pearlington, Mississippi and charity efforts have constituted
more than 80 percent of the home rebuilding completed so far, local and charity
officials said. Fewer than one in five families here are back in their homes,
but nearly all of them have relied to some extent on charity groups.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/_as_aid_lags_vo.php
Louisiana
Residents Pull Back from Coast
More than 16 months after
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced an unprecedented exodus from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, tens of thousands of homeowners have
decided not to rebuild or have yet to make up their minds, an Associated Press
analysis found. The AP looked at applications to the federally funded Louisiana
Road Home program, which dispenses up to $150,000 per homeowner to rebuild
or sell out to the state. Two-thirds of all applicants said they want to
rebuild their damaged properties, while more than a quarter have indicated
they want out or can't decide what to do.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/louisiana_resid.php
**Economic Security
Ways
To Protect Vulnerable Elderly From Social Security
Changes
With Social Security's trust
funds facing depletion by 2040, many observers suggest partly addressing the
projected deficit by raising the age at which workers
can first receive retirement benefits. New research from the Urban Institute's
Retirement Policy Project says while a higher retirement age would bolster
the system by reducing benefits and encouraging people to work longer, would
it disproportionately hurt vulnerable populations, who generally do not live
as long as other retirees and typically depend more on Social Security?
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/02/ways_to_protect.php
If
You're Going to Do Social Policy Through the Tax
Code, Do it Right
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, the most contentious issues in tax policy
are not going to be settled in the next two years. The proper level of progressivity
of taxes and the doctrinal debate over consumption and income taxes are unlikely
to be settled in the next two years either. For years, a wide range of tax
analysts from have written about the benefits of shifting from deductions
to uniform, refundable tax credits. The tax code has a profound effect on
housing, healthcare, charitable giving, saving, and many other aspects of
life.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/02/if_youare_going.php
**Education
No
One Strategy is Best for Teaching Reading
Proponents of phonics, the
"whole language and meaning" approach and other teaching methods
long have battled for dominance, each insisting that theirs is the superior
strategy. Now, a Florida State University researcher has entered the fray with
a paper in the prestigious journal Science that says there is no one "best"
method for teaching children to read.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/no_one_strategy.php
Academic
Gains Not Superior Among Philadelphia Students Enrolled
in Privately Run Public Schools
Academic improvement among
students attending Philadelphia public schools managed by private
operators kept pace, but did not exceed, the achievement gains of students
in the rest of the district in the past four years, according to an analysis
issued today by the RAND Corporation and Research for Action. While significant
academic gains were made from 2002 to 2006 by students across Philadelphia, private managers who were given extra
funds to run 45 elementary and middle schools did not achieve additional gains
exceeding district-wide trends, according to researchers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/02/academic_gains.php
Factors
Predicting Referral to Remedial or Special Education
A new study from the Elementary
School Journal explores to what extent factors such as parental education
and race indicate a high likelihood of referral to remedial or special education
during the first years of school. Researchers are the first to compare remedial
and special education services, with remedial services encompassing tutoring
provided within a classroom setting and special education referring to placement
into a separate kindergarten or first grade.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/study_explores.php
**Health
Bringing
Health Care To Katrina's Uninsured
The health fair is open
to anyone from the New Orleans area but is specifically aimed at
those who no longer have insurance, are unemployed or otherwise cannot pay
for regular health care. By the end of the week, 10,000 patients are expected
to be seen. The project is a collaboration by Pat
Robertson's Operation Blessing International and Remote Area Medical, which
organizes volunteer medical treatment in remote parts of the United States and the world.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/_bringing_healt.php
Bush
Outlined Misguided Health Care Proposal in State of the Union Address
According to the Economic
Policy Institute, President Bush set out in the State of the Union address
a new health proposal that once again uses tax policy to encourage movement
from employer-based health insurance system to one in which individuals buy
health insurance on their own. Yet, the administration's plan does little
to insure the uninsured, help the low income, or aid the less healthy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/bush_outlined_m.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
More
than 1,000 Organizations Voice Support for Strong Nutrition Title in Farm
Bill
More than 1,000 organizations
joined the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in supporting a strong nutrition
title in this year's Farm Bill reauthorization, particularly to strengthen
and improve access to the Food Stamp Program. "If we want to take a
serious step toward ending hunger in the U.S., we should give people more resources
to purchase food. Benefit levels must be increased to actually let families
obtain an adequate diet," said Jim Weill, FRAC
president.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/02/more_than_1000_2.php
**Nonprofit Management
Helping
Public Programs Improve Services
After publishing a highly
successful first edition that helped many government and nonprofit organizations
embrace performance measurement as a regular practice, the Urban Institute
Press is releasing an updated edition of Performance Measurement: Getting
Results. Some measures lay out general themes, such as categories of outcomes
and ways to segment data; others showcase performance-measurement practices---such
as neighborhood ratings and ads that include performance indicators---from
various agencies and nonprofits. The main purpose of performance measurement
is to improve citizens' quality of life by providing better services more
effectively.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/02/helping_public.php
**Substance Abuse
Grants
to Study Alcohol and Puberty
The National Institutes
on Health are offering research grants to study the relationship between youth
alcohol use and the hormonal changes associated with puberty, and how each
may affect adolescent brain development. NIH will award $1 million in grants,
with each award capped at $200,000.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/01/grants_to_study.php
