$500
Million Pledged to Fight Childhood Obesity
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation plans to spend more than $500 million over the next five years
to reverse the increase in childhood obesity. It is one of the largest public
health initiatives ever tried by a private philanthropy. The foundation plans
to invest in programs to improve access to healthy food, encourage the development
of safe play spaces, increase research to enhance understanding of obesity
and prod governments into adopting policies to address the problem, among
other things.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/500_million_ple.php
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Pleading
to Stay a Family
As the government's crackdown
on illegal immigrant workers has intensified in recent months, so have the
consequences for a large subgroup of U.S. citizens: American-born children of
illegal immigrants - numbering at least 3.1 million, according to an analysis
by the Urban Institute and the Pew Hispanic Center. Until recently, their parents' illegal
status had limited impact on these children's lives, because, although every
year hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are detained attempting to
cross the U.S. border, once they make it in, they are rarely caught.
But the increase in raids
against companies employing illegal workers is beginning to change that.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/_pleading_to_st.php
It
Makes Sound Fiscal Sense to Restore Funding for Child Support Enforcement
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, the goal of the child support enforcement program
is to ensure that children receive financial and medical support from their
parents. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) cut funds from the program,
threatening to reverse the progress made in its effectiveness over the last
10 years.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/it_makes_sound.php
Primary
Medical Care for Children with Autism Needs Improvement
Children with autism do
not receive the same quality of primary care as children with other special
health care needs, according to research from the University of Minnesota
Medical School. A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine found that parents of children with autism were less likely to report
that their children received the type of primary care advocated by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) when compared
to parents of children with other special health care needs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/u_of_mn_study_f.php
**Community Development
Severely
Distressed Public Housing: The Costs of Inaction
Drawing on the existing
research evidence, this study from the Urban Institute systematically compares
the costs (both monetary and non-monetary) of maintaining severely distressed
public housing developments to the potential costs and benefits of effectively
revitalizing them. An effective redevelopment strategy can dramatically improve
living conditions for families, resulting in better physical and mental health
and increased employment and earnings.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/severely_distre.php
Housing
Discrimination Complaints at an All-time High
Government agencies received
10,328 housing discrimination complaints, the highest number ever filed in
a single year, according to an annual fair housing report released by the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD's Fiscal Year 2006
report, which details HUD's enforcement efforts during the year, also found
that race and disability top the list of reasons why individuals filed complaints.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/housing_discrim.php
**Economic Security
New
Report Finds Policy Changes Needed to Make Work Pay in Illinois
In Illinois, as in other states across the country,
even a worker employed full-time does not always earn enough to support a
family. A new report from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) finds
that Illinois' work supports---benefits such as
earned income tax credits, health insurance coverage, child care assistance,
and food stamps---can help families close the gap between low earnings and
basic family expenses.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/new_report_find_2.php
State
Income Taxes Pushing Many Working-Poor Families Deeper Into Poverty
In nearly half of the states
with an income tax, a family of four owes the tax even if its income falls
below the poverty line, according to a new report from the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities. In 19 of the 42 states that levy an income tax, the
'tax threshold' (the income level at which families begin owing taxes) for
a two-parent family of four for tax year 2006 is below $20,615, the poverty
line for such a family.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/03/state_income_ta.php
**Education
Teaching
Tool Plays on Chemistry Between Students, Gaming
Two Purdue University professors
have teamed up to create a way to teach scientific concepts that relies more
on 3-D technology and aliens than on beakers and books. "Using gaming
technology to supplement science instruction involves a different level of
interactivity for students."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/teaching_tool_p.php
Schools
Bring Opportunity to Both Students and Communities
An active school that connects
with its neighborhood can bolster pride in its residents, strengthen and maintain
its population, provide a safe place to offer health and community services,
and ultimately acts as a beacon, attracting further housing and business investment
and development. Since making its first charter school grant in 1997, Local
Initiatives Support Corporation has approved almost $60 million in financing
to support 80 charter schools across the country with another 60 in the development
pipeline.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/schools_bring_o.php
New
Regulations to More Accurately Assess Students With Disabilities
The new regulations provide
states and schools with greater flexibility by allowing them to more accurately
evaluate these students' academic progress and tailor instruction based on
individual needs. The U.S. Department of Education will provide $21.1 million
in grant funds for technical assistance as states develop new assessments
for these students. The Department also released written guidance to states
on the implementation of the new regulations, offering recommendations on
issues such as how students with disabilities can be appropriately identified
for this assessment.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/new_regulations.php
Education
Secretary Leads National Higher Education Transformation Summit
The summit focuses on action
items around five key recommendations by the Secretary's Commission on the
Future of Higher Education to improve college access, affordability and accountability.
The Commission's findings were the basis for the Secretary's action plan to
improve America's higher education system and provide students and
families with more information and more affordable access to higher education.
Another priority was streamlining the process by which students apply for
federal student aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/secretary_spell_28.php
**Health
HHS
Awards $1.1 Billion to Help States, Territories Deliver HIV/AIDS Care
The Department of Health
and Human Services has announced more than $1.1 billion in funding to help
states and territories provide care, medications and services for low-income
individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The grants are awarded under Part B of
Title XXVI of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as amended by the newly
enacted Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006. "For
more than 15 years, Ryan White programs have been the lifeline for thousands
of individuals living with HIV/AIDS."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/hhs_awards_11_b.php
New
Report Highlights Dangers of Bill to Replace Missouri's Medicaid Program
A report released by Families
USA found that the proposal (SB 577) to replace the current Medicaid program
for aged, blind, and disabled individuals that was introduced in the Missouri state legislature in February of this
year will have serious consequences for Missouri's most vulnerable Medicaid recipients.
The report found that, without proper implementation, this legislation could
have catastrophic consequences for many Medicaid recipients, especially for
the chronically ill and people with special health care needs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/new_report_high_1.php
HHS
Approves Iowa As First To Add Home And Community-Based Services To Medicaid
State Plan
Iowa is the first state to receive federal approval to add
home and community based services (HCBS) as a permanent feature of its Medicaid
plan, eliminating the need for repeated requests for time-limited waivers,
the Department of Health and Human Services announced. In addition to eliminating
the need for waiver renewals, the DRA also removes the prior statutory requirement
that beneficiaries get needed services at home only if they would need institutional
care without them.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/hhs_approves_io.php
**Homelessness
Old
Buildings Getting a Face-Lift for Homeless Veterans
The abandoned halls of the
Veterans Affairs campus in the San Fernando Valley may soon be transformed into permanent
housing with social services and counseling for disabled homeless veterans.
Los Angeles has the highest concentration of homeless
veterans in the nation, some 20,000, according to the Veterans Affairs Department.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2007/04/old_buildings_g.php
