**Children, Youth & Families
A Report Card on Comprehensive Equity:
Racial Gaps in the Nation's Youth Outcomes
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the "achievement gap" usually
refers to the difference between black and white students' basic skills test
scores. But education and youth development consists of more than basic skills
-- it also includes critical thinking, social skills and a work ethic, citizenship
and community responsibility, physical health, emotional health, appreciation
of the arts and literature, and preparation for skilled work. Greater equity
in outcomes requires narrowing the achievement gap in each of these areas.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/a-report-card-o.php
Dads in the Mix: The Future of Responsible
Fatherhood Initiatives
A growing body of research documents ways children benefit
when they have engaged fathers, including better school performance, reduced
substance abuse, less crime and delinquency, fewer emotional and other behavioral
problems, and less risk of abuse or neglect. Federal initiatives have helped
states create a broad array of programs that actively engage fathers in the
lives of their families. A Web conference organized by Chapin Hall will analyze
fatherhood research and programming as part of a broader movement to strengthen
families.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/dads-in-the-mix.php
How Men and Women View Marital and
Parental Time Pressures
Only about one-fifth of employed women and men are completely
satisfied with the time they spend with their spouse and their children according
to a recent study published in the Journal of Family Issues. In a study funded
by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, a Kent State University researcher
examined how employment and parenthood influence time pressures pertaining
to marital partners and the parental role. The study found that men are significantly
more likely to want more time with their spouses, while women were more likely
than men to say they wanted to improve the quality of time they spend with
their spouse.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/study-examines-2.php
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What Women Think During their First
Pregnancy
Pregnant women who perceive having had a well-balanced
relationship with their parents during their childhood will experience fewer
difficulties in the transition to motherhood, as opposed to women whose relationship
with their parents was characterized by unresolved anger or rejection reveals
a new study conducted at the University of
Haifa. The study
also found that women who tend to deny negative experiences in early childhood
relationships expected to experience a relationship with their future children
characterized by less warmth compared to other women who participated in the
study.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/what-women-thin.php
Switching Medications, Adding Psychotherapy
May Help Teens with Ineffective Depression Medication
For adolescents with depression not responding to an
initial treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, switching
medications and adding cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in an improvement
in symptoms, compared to just changing medications, according to a study in
JAMA. "Untreated depression results in impairment in school, interpersonal
relationships, occupational adjustment, and increases the risk for suicidal
behavior and completed suicide. Therefore, the proper treatment of adolescent
depression has profound public health implications for youth in this critical
stage of development," the researchers write.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/switching-medic.php
**Civic Engagement
Foundation Giving Grows Across All
Program Areas
The nation's largest foundations increased funding for
all major subject areas in 2006, with a record number of exceptionally large
grants helping to drive this growth. The continued growth of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation had a significant influence on the direction of foundation
giving in the latest year: most notably, health surpassed education based
on the share of grant dollars received, for the first time on record. While
grant dollars awarded by sampled foundations rose 16.4 percent overall between
2005 and 2006, they still climbed by a double-digit 11.6 percent with the
Gates Foundation excluded and benefited a range of fields beyond health and
international development.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/foundation-givi.php
**Community Development
LSU Researchers Study Coastal Community
Bounce Back
Two LSU researchers are taking what might be the most
comprehensive approach ever to determine how some coastal communities bounce
back from disaster. The end goal of the project, which is in the early stages
of a two-year grant, is to be able to develop and use an index of coastal
community resilience to educate and inform decision and policy makers about
ways to increase resilience in weaker areas.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/lsu-researchers.php
HUD Applauds NeighborWorks America for Awarding $130 Million for Foreclosure Prevention Counseling
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson the following statement applauded NeighborWorks
America
for expeditiously awarding $130 million to HUD-approved national counseling
intermediaries and state housing finance agencies that will provide thousands
of families with foreclosure prevention counseling. For families caught in
the foreclosure trap, this targeted investment is one more resource to help
them keep their homes and bring stability to their communities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/hud-secretary-a.php
FHASecure Helps 100,000 Stay in their Homes
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced that HUD's FHASecure
product has helped 100,000 homeowners refinance their mortgages and avoid
foreclosure. Since September 2007, FHASecure has enabled tens of thousands of families - who
are current on their home loans or past due because their teaser rates reset
- to close on loans refinanced through HUD's Federal Housing Administration
(FHA), which is backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Homeowners
are cutting their monthly mortgage payments by an average of $400 a month
compared to their exotic subprime loans.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/hud-secretary-f.php
Statement from HUD on the Redevelopment
of Public Housing in New Orleans
The United Nations Special Rapporteur
on Housing and Independent Expert on Minorities are misinformed about the
state of public housing in New Orleans.The charges
that the federal government has not consulted with the local community during
the development process is untrue. HUD’s mixed-income, mixed-use strategy
for housing redevelopment has been in place for decades, has worked in communities
around the country, and has even been successful elsewhere in New Orleans.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/statement-by-th.php
HUD Announces More Ohians Turning to Affordable Government-Backed Mortgages
Thousands of Ohioans are turning to HUD's Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) to find an affordable mortgage refinancing solution,
and many more could be helped by bipartisan legislation awaiting final approval
by Congress, according to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Alphonso Jackson. Ohio families
refinancing with FHA more than doubled in December 2007, compared one year
earlier. FHASecure refinances mortgages that are
current or past due because of an interest rate reset.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/hud-secretary-a-1.php
**Economic Security
Helping Low-Wage Workers Persist in
Education Programs
This working paper from MDRC, prepared for a conference sponsored
by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, reviews
what is known about education acquisition by low-wage workers and highlights
promising strategies being tested at several community colleges. While there
is compelling evidence that additional years of schooling and advanced education
credentials are associated with higher earnings, evaluations of education
and basic skills training programs have yielded mixed results concerning their
ability to increase earnings among low-income populations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/helping-lowwage.php
HHS Provides $40 Million in Energy
Assistance to Low-Income Families
The Department of Health and Human services
announced the release of $40 million to help eligible low-income families
meet home energy costs. The funds, from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) emergency contingency fund, will provide 11 states with heating
assistance for the winter months. LIHEAP helps eligible families pay for
home cooling and heating in summer and winter months.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/hhs-provides-40.php
Economic Costs of Inadequate Investments
in Workforce Development
In testimony on the ramifications of inadequate investments
in workforce development, an Urban Institute Senior Fellow told a House Appropriations
subcommittee that the very low earnings and employment of millions of Americans
generate high poverty rates and impose huge costs on the U.S.
economy. The research evidence, while somewhat mixed, shows that many public
investments in workforce development are cost-effective at raising the earnings
of low-income workers
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/economic-costs.php
**Education
Does Class Size Matter?
No more vexing problem in education exists today than
the achievement gap in this country. The difference between the extremes
has rightfully attracted national attention, and one of the most popular policy
proposals is to reduce class size---not surprising, since benchmarks are easily
measured. In a provocative article, "Do Small Classes Reduce the Achievement
Gap between Low and High Achievers" Evidence from Project STAR",
a Northwestern
University professor
explores the hard data and finds that some of our basic assumptions about
class size may be incorrect.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/does-class-size.php
Children's Under-Achievement could
be Down to Poor Working Memory
Children who under-achieve at school may just have poor
working memory rather than low intelligence according to researchers who have
produced the world's first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom.
The researchers from Durham University, who
surveyed over three thousand children, found that ten per cent of school children
across all age ranges suffer from poor working memory seriously affecting
their learning. However, the researchers identified that poor working memory
is rarely identified by teachers, who often describe children with this problem
as inattentive or as having lower levels of intelligence.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/childrens-under.php
Funding Needed to Keep Rural Schools
on Pace with Nation
John Hill, executive director of the National Rural
Education Association, a Purdue University-based group that pursues educational
equity for rural school districts, says lawmakers and educational pundits
often overlook rural educational challenges that differ widely from those
faced by urban schools. With programs like No Child Left Behind, the federal
government is seeking to better our students' educations, but we need to be
sure and remind the government that rural schools especially need help in
funding the mandates government imposes.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/funding-needed.php
**Health
New Child Health Data Show State-to-State
Differences in Quality of Care
A new government survey reveals children with special
health care needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
and asthma, don't consistently get the care that is federally recommended
and that there are vast state-to-state differences. This is the first time
standardized data at the national and state level has been available to the
media and families in an easily accessible way.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/new-child-healt.php
UCLA Launches Network to Study Health
Care Disparities Affecting Minorities
The UCLA Department of Family Medicine, with support
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has launched the Network for Multicultural
Research on Health and Healthcare, a group that will study health care disparities
affecting minorities with chronic diseases. Research has shown that disparities
in health care do exist for certain racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
The study seeks to understand how social, ethnic, linguistic and economic
factors affect the way health care providers serve minority populations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/ucla-launches-n.php
**Nonprofit Management
Popular Community Enterprise Software to Be Donated Through TechSoup Stock
San Francisco-based nonprofit technology resource and
provider TechSoup and Internet software provider for the social sector CitySoft Inc. has announced CitySoft's
donation of its Community Enterprise (CE) open-source enterprise software
to U.S.
and Canada-based nonprofits. CE is a comprehensive software platform tailored
to the needs of nonprofit organizations. With 25 different modules, CE allows
social sector organizations to manage key activities such as operations, communications,
and fundraising, online in one system.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/popular-communi.php
**Nutrition and Healthy Living
Childhood Obesity Leads to Higher Rate
of Problems during Surgery
Add this to the growing list of health challenges faced
by obese children: A new study from the University of
Michigan Health System
finds that obese children are much more likely than normal-weight children
to have problems with airway obstruction and other breathing-related functions
during surgery. This large-scale prospective study examines the effect of
overweight and obesity on the outcomes of operations in children undergoing
elective non-cardiac surgery.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/childhood-obesi-1.php
**Seniors
Federal Poverty Line Grossly Underestimates
the Needs of California's Seniors
If you are elderly and live in California, how
poor do you have to be to become eligible for public assistance? Too poor,
says a new report issued by the UCLA Center for Health
Policy Research (CHPR). The new Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder
Index) for California shows
that the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), used to determine income eligibility
for most public programs, covers less than half of the basic costs experienced
by adults age 65 and older in the state.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/federal-poverty.php
Dementia and End of Life Care
An article from Hebrew SeniorLife's
Institute for Aging Research reports that nursing home residents with advanced
dementia are frequently prescribed antibiotic medications, especially during
the two weeks before death. This practice raises concerns about the end-of-life
care of individual patients dying with advanced dementia, as well as the emergence
of antimicrobial resistance. Nearly 70 percent of the 5 million Americans
with dementia---a progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage
or disease in the brain beyond what is expected in normal aging---will live
in a nursing home during the final stage of their disease.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/hebrew-seniorli.php
**Substance Abuse
Alcohol Prevention Programs Are Needed
for 'Tweens'
A study by the University of Minnesota School of Public
Health and the University of Florida suggests that 'tweens'
should receive alcohol prevention programs prior to sixth grade, when nearly
one in six children are already alcohol users. Intervening at earlier ages,
specifically between third and fifth grade, would allow for truly universal
anti-alcohol messages that would also provide support for high-risk students.
The study found that sixth-grade users of alcohol were significantly different
from the non-users on almost all risk factors examined.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/02/u-of-minn-resea.php
