Supporting Growth and
Development of Babies in Child Care: What Does the Research Say?
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy the central tenet of the Charting Progress for
Babies in Child Care project is that state child care subsidy and licensing
policies that promote the quality and continuity of early childhood experiences
can positively impact the healthy growth and development of babies and toddlers.
Many families with low incomes need assistance to afford child care. In FY
2005, the federal Early Head Start (EHS) program, which provides comprehensive
child development and family support services to young children under age
three and pregnant women, served approximately 81,914 children and 10,485
pregnant women. Research on EHS demonstrates positive outcomes for both parents
and their children.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/supporting-grow.php
Healthy Children of a
Lower Socioeconomic Class Sleep Worse than those of Middle Class
Children from a lower socioeconomic
environment have worse sleeping patterns than children from middle class status.
Excessive daytime sleepiness due to poor sleep the night before may have a
negative impact on a child's academic performance and also put them at risk
for developing health problems, according to a research abstract that will
be presented at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional
Sleep Societies (APSS).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/healthy-childre-1.php
**Economic Security
Why Has the Poverty Rate
Not Fallen Since the Early 1970s?
In a Fast Fact from MDRC
we find that between the end of World War II and 1973, the percentage
of Americans living in poverty fell by half. The causes of the decline in
earnings over the last 30 years include sweeping technological and globalization
changes that have placed a premium on higher education, demographic changes
that have produced a generation less prepared for college than the previous
one, the decline of collective bargaining and unionization, and the erosion
of the value of the minimum wage.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/why-has-the-pov.php
From Poverty to Prosperity:
A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
The Center for American Progress
posits that the lost potential of children raised
in poor households, the lower productivity and earnings of poor adults, the
poor health, increased crime, and broken neighborhoods all hurt our nation.
One in eight Americans now lives in poverty. In February of 2006, the Center
convened a diverse group of national experts and leaders to examine the causes
and consequences of poverty in America and make recommendations for national
action.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/from-poverty-to.php
**Education
Children with Sleep Disorder
Symptoms are more likely to have Trouble Academically
Students with symptoms of
sleep disorders are more likely to receive bad grades in classes such as math,
reading and writing than peers without symptoms of sleep disorders, according
to a study, authored by Alyssa Bachmann, of Chappaqua Public Schools in New
York, was focused on the parents of 218 second and third graders, who completed
Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students -- Child Form, a brief screening tool
validated for use in the schools. According to the results, students with
reported symptoms of sleep disorders received significantly worse grades than
students without symptoms of sleep disorders.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/children-with-s.php
Thousands of Low-Income
Oregon Students Considering College Need
Congress to Revamp Higher Ed Tax Credits
Approximately 43,000 low-income
high school-age Oregonians -- about one of every five children age 14 to 17
in Oregon -- cannot expect to get help with future college tuition costs through
federal higher education tax credits unless Congress fixes the credits, according
to a new study. The study, by the Washington, DC-based Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, shows the extent to which the federal Hope Credit and the
Lifetime Learning Credit fail to help students with low incomes.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/thousands-of-lo.php
House Student Loan Cuts
Flunk Out
Just over a year after Congress
passed the largest cut in student loans in history, the House Education and
Labor Committee is expected to approve a new set of regressive taxes and cuts
on student loans that will leave borrowers with fewer choices and higher interest
rates on their student loans. The new budget cuts would impose regressive,
across-the-board cuts of between 23% and 35% on the amount that lenders may
earn on loans --regardless of the lender's size.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/house-student-l.php
**Health
Military Service Doubles
Suicide Risk
Former military personnel
are twice as likely to kill themselves as people who have not seen combat
reports a study in the July issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health. The results suggest that doctors need to look out for signs of suicidal
intentions in soldiers returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq. The risk was highest in veterans
who could not participate fully in home, work or leisure activities because
of a health problem.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/military-servic.php
Working with Disability:
Brief Compares Medicaid Buy-In Participants' Earnings Before and After Enrollment
Mathematica
Policy Research in its fourth policy brief in a new series examining the
Medicaid Buy-In program compares annual earnings among first-time Buy-In participants
before and after their initial enrollment in the program. The program, a
key component of the federal effort to help people with disabilities return
to work without losing health insurance coverage, allows adults with disabilities
to earn more than would otherwise be possible and still keep their Medicaid
coverage. The brief finds that sixty-five percent of participants under age
21 increased their earnings after enrollment.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/working-with-di.php
Pennsylvania Governor
Announces another Record Growth Month for Expanded CHIP Program
Under the "Cover All
Kids" expansion of the program, CHIP now covers all uninsured children
and teens for free or at low-cost. June is the second full month in which
families have been able to enroll in the expanded program. "More than
1,300 of the 2,528 new enrollees in June would not have been eligible for
CHIP prior to the expansion," Governor Rendell said. The Department
of Insurance reported CHIP enrollments for June totaling 161,402 children,
which is a 1.6-percent increase since May and a 12.5-percent increase since
June 2006.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/pennsylvania-go.php
Targeted HIV Testing
More Effective than CDC Mass Testing Proposal
A targeted campaign of testing
and counseling aimed at those who are at high risk for HIV would be more effective
than the mass patient screening proposed by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), according to an analysis by an expert on HIV prevention
at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For the same price,
a targeted testing and counseling approach would identify more than three
times as many people with HIV and could prevent four times as many new HIV
infections compared to the CDC's testing strategy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/targeted-hiv-te.php
Facing the Problems of
Providing Long-Term Care for the Oldest Old
As the baby boomers reach
the so-called third age, they are healthier and more active than any earlier
group of retirees. In "Facing the Problems of Providing Long-Term Care
for the Oldest Old," a senior fellow and at The Century Foundation examines
the demographic realities facing our nation as the boomers continue to age,
the special needs of the oldest old, the costs of the long-term care necessary
to meet those needs, and the challenge of developing a large enough cadre
of health care workers who are trained in gerontology.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/facing-the-prob.php
**Nonprofit Management
Vermont Directory of Foundations Makes Online
Debut
The Vermont Community Foundation
has released a directory of comprehensive information on grantmakers located
in Vermont as well as out-of-state funders who
give in Vermont is also useful for foundations and others interested in the
philanthropic sector. The newest edition of the directory, which is available
on the Foundation's web site (http://www.vermontcf.org/), builds on the
success of a publication that was started more than 20 years ago by Vermont fundraising consultant Christine Graham.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/vermont-directo.php
**Substance Abuse
Counter Advertising at
the Cinema Reduces Appeal of Smoking Only to Non-Smokers
Screening an anti-smoking
advertisement before movies which glamorize smoking reduces the appeal of
smoking images in movies only to young non-smokers, according to a study in
the June issue of Tobacco Control. The authors said careful consideration
needed be given to the type of anti-smoking advertisement screened, because
the advertisement used in the study appeared to increase intention to smoke
in young women smokers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/counter-adverti.php
