New York City Reports Decline in Childhood Lead
Poisoning
Although childhood lead
poisoning remains a serious problem, the number of new cases identified in
2006 marks the lowest level in more than a decade. The number of new cases
identified in 2006 -- 2,310 among children ages 6 months to 6 years -- marks
a 13% decline from 2005 and an 88% decline since 1995, when nearly 20,000
children were newly identified with lead poisoning. The number of cases is
falling even as health care providers expand testing of one- and two-year-old
children, as required by state law.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/new-york-city-r.php
Sex, Drugs and Dating
make Teens Feel Older
A Canadian study has confirmed
what parents have long suspected: dating, sexual activity and substance use
seem to make teens feel older than they really are. And, as adolescents get
older, the gap between their chronological age and their self-perceived age
widens. Researchers at the University of Alberta set out to find what's behind the
discrepancy between how old teens feel and how old they really are. The study
found that specific behaviors do have an effect on adolescents' self-perceived
age. For example, having an older dating partner seems to give a teen a higher
subjective experience of age and sexual activity, especially starting at an
earlier age, was found to have an important relationship to teens' subjective
experience of age (SEA).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/sex-drugs-and-d.php
Moving from Punishment
to Problem Solving in Juvenile Justice
Rob Allen's report From
Punishment to Problem Solving: A new approach to children in trouble was published
by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies in September 2006 as part of the
Centre's Whose Justice? Project. The report calls for a fundamental overhaul of the
current youth justice system. It identifies the unnecessary criminalisation
of young people, the failure of mental health and education services to provide
appropriate services to children and young people at risk, the need for a
less blame-centered approach and an exploitation of the benefits of recent
developments in restorative justice.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/moving-from-pun.php
**Civic Engagement
USC Annenberg Conference
on Bridging the Political Divide
Bridging the Political Divide,"
the inaugural conference of the Center on Communication Leadership at the
USC Annenberg School for Communication, opens today in
Los Angeles with a major speech by New York Mayor
Mike Bloomberg at a dinner hosted by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will
deliver the conference's keynote address. The conference seeks to highlight
leaders from both parties who have succeeded in getting things done by building
consensus around some of the nation's toughest problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/usc-annenberg-c.php
**Community Development
Rockefeller Foundation
to Provide $2.2 Million for New Orleans 'Rebuilding' Fellowships
The Rockefeller Foundation
announced today a $2.2 million grant to fund a series of fellowships to advance
the redevelopment process in New Orleans. The Rockefeller Foundation Redevelopment
Fellowships, to be administered by the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence
at the University of Pennsylvania, will enable key redevelopment organizations
in New Orleans to recruit talented urban redevelopment
professionals both from New Orleans and from around the country to work
on the rebuilding process currently underway there.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/rockefeller-fou.php
**Economic Security
Race, Not Space, Key
to Lower Black Male Employment Rate
A new study finds that in
areas where low-skilled jobs are predominantly held by whites, black men who
live nearby are less likely to get hired. "The problem is not lack of
jobs at appropriate skill levels where blacks live, but lack of jobs available
to blacks," said UC Irvine economist David Neumark,
co-author of the study. By analyzing the employment, education level and
location of more than 533,000 black males across the United States, Neumark
and his colleagues found that the issue is not simply whether jobs are available
nearby, but whether they are available to one's own race.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/race-not-space.php
Bipartisan Entrepreneurial
Development Bill Promotes Minority, Women Business Ownership, Assistance
Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.)
and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) will introduce comprehensive
legislation to improve entrepreneurial development programs. In particular,
the bill expands women and minority small business ownership opportunities
by boosting Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs),
Women's Business Centers (WBCs), SCORE, and other
programs. In Massachusetts alone, SBDCs
served over 8,500 entrepreneurs last year and our Center for Women and Enterprise has generated 15,000 jobs over the
last 10 years," said Kerry, Chairman of the Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/bipartisan-entr.php
**Education
Research Links Childhood
Social Skills and Learning Abilities
While federal programs such
as No Child Left Behind emphasize the importance of academic skills to school
success and achievement, there is growing interest in how social skills develop
and how they contribute to learning. Research presented at the 2007 meeting
of the Society for Research in Child Development by a team of Michigan State
University researchers indicate that a child's social skills at age three
could predict his or her future social and academic performance.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/research-links.php
'Segregated' Schools
Hinder Reading Skills
The majority of black and
Hispanic children in the United States attend "minority segregated"
schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The study,
by the FPG Child Development Institute (FPG) and the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, examined reading development from
kindergarten to third grade for 1,913 economically disadvantaged children.
"This research shows that characteristics of the child, the home, the
classroom and the school influence reading development, and that maximally
effective reading policy should address all four systems simultaneously."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/segregated-scho.php
Insight and Analysis
about the Supreme Court Ruling on School Integration Plans
The highly anticipated ruling
from the U.S. Supreme court over the constitutionality of racial school integration
plans in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington could precipitate the biggest change
to school integration policy since the decision in Brown vs. Board of Education.
Should school districts look to find new ways to integrate by race? Should
the districts turn to integration by socioeconomic status as in Raleigh, North Carolina and San Francisco, California?
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/education-polic.php
Graduation Promise Act
In April, the Graduation
Promise Act, designed to improve high schools and reduce dropout rates, was
introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Richard Burr (R-NC), and
Health, Education, Pensions, and Labor Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
The legislation calls for the federal government to support states, districts,
and high schools in targeted efforts to help all students stay in school and
graduate ready for college and work. It was proposed by JFF, the Center for
American Progress, the Alliance for Excellent Education, and the National
Council of La Raza, and is supported by a growing
list of 33 education organizations nationally.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/graduation-prom.php
High Standards and High
Graduation Rates
Jobs for the Future, in
collaboration with Achieve, Inc presented ambitious recommendations for creating
an education pipeline capable of moving all Massachusetts high school students through an advanced
level of skills and credentials that will connect young adults to the well-paying
jobs being created in Massachusetts. 20 percent of students who do not
complete a high school diploma on time are concentrated disproportionately
in low-income communities across the state, where high school graduation rates
average 62 percent and some districts report rates of 50 percent or lower.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/jobs-for-the-fu.php
**Health
Why A Tobacco Tax Should Be Included in Health Care Reform
The American Cancer Society
of California today released the following advisory. Health care advocates
will release a recent, bipartisan poll showing that conservative, moderate
and liberal voters strongly support including a tobacco tax in the state health
reform proposals under debate at the Capitol. Advocates will also release
data that shows that smoking is rising among youth smokers, reversing a decades long trend.
States across the country are raising tobacco taxes to reduce smoking and
to fund health programs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/tobacco-tax-the.php
Oregon's New Smoke-Free Law is a Historic
Step for Health
The Oregon Legislature has
delivered a historic victory for health and the public's right to breathe
clean air by passing legislation to make all workplaces, including restaurants
and bars, smoke-free. This adds to the growing momentum across the country
and around the world to protect all workers and the public from the serious
health hazards of secondhand smoke.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/oregons-new-smo.php
Kaiser Permanente Participating
in Medicare Study
Kaiser Permanente announced
it is partnering with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
in a project that will help inform Medicare beneficiaries about the benefits
of using online health tools to manage their health. The pilot project, set
to begin June 18, will promote the use of online personal health records (PHRs) to Medicare patients, as well as reporting on the use
of such tools. Kaiser Permanente is a leader in online personal health management
services.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/kaiser-permanen.php
Devastating Impact of
Pending Changes to Medicaid Pharmacy Reimbursement
With the deadline for the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue guidelines for
the Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement formula fast approaching, the
National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) today pointed to the release
of the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services
(OIG) report as further evidence that the proposed policy must be changed.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/office-of-inspe.php
Medicare Part D Plans
Vary, but Most Appear to Cover Common Medications at Low Co-Payments
An examination of Medicare
Part D plans in California and Hawaii reveals wide variations in drug formularies,
but indicates that for many classes of drugs, it is possible to find at least
one or more drug that is covered by nearly all Part D plans, according to
a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA. Nearly 23 million of the 43.9 million
eligible Medicare beneficiaries have enrolled in the Medicare Part D prescription
drug benefit, according to background information in the article. Because
of the number and variety of plans, clinicians often find it difficult to
know which drugs are covered by Part D plan formularies.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/medicare-part-d.php
**Homelessness
CHEFS Program Trains
Homeless Adults in Culinary Skills
For the third year in a
row, members of San Francisco's food community have joined forces
to organize SummerTini, a benefit on Friday, June
22nd for the CHEFS program of Episcopal Community Services (ECS). Hundreds
of graduates work in board and care, restaurants, hotels, and nursing homes.
Today more than 85 percent of the students who complete the CHEFS program
acquire jobs, which is a tremendous rate given the complex challenges associated
with chronic homelessness that many face.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/san-franciscos.php
Senate Considers New
Aid for Rural Homeless
A proposed Rural Housing
Stability Assistance program could help address homelessness in rural America,
the director of a prominent rural housing organization told Senators at a
hearing today. "Homeless people in rural areas typically experience
precarious housing conditions," said Moises
Loza, executive director of the Housing Assistance Council,
"moving from one extremely substandard, overcrowded, and/or cost-burdened
housing situation to another, often doubling or tripling up with friends or
family." Far fewer homeless people live outdoors in rural places than
on city streets, Loza added, and their relative
invisibility contributes to the scarcity of services in rural areas.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/senate-consider.php
**Substance Abuse
1 in 100 11-year-Olds
Use Drugs to Enhance Performance in Sport
More than one per cent of
eleven year olds admit using performance enhancing drugs to do better in sports
reports a study published online ahead of print in the British Journal of
Sports Medicine. While 62% of eleven years olds used doping agents less than
once per month, at 15 the same proportion were using them at least every week
and 24 per cent daily. Health problems, including becoming violent, change
to the voice and loss of consciousness, were experienced by 4% of the users.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/06/1-in-100-11year.php
