Creating
Communities of Practice to Support Quality After School Programming
The Harvard
Family Research Project includes program monitoring and evaluation, fostering
organizational cultures that promote continuous improvement, and building
systems of services that link providers and promote quality. The goal of the
interactive 2-day meeting was to bring together the perspectives of diverse
stakeholders to inspire new ideas and foster stronger links between research,
practice, and policy. The challenge for meeting participants---reflective of
the current challenge for the after school field in general---was to take an
accumulation of rich information and experience and turn it into useable
knowledge to inform effective practice.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/creating_commun.html
Mentoring
and Depression Among High-Risk Youth
Positive
Support from Public/Private Ventures examines potential benefits of matching
high-risk youth with faith-based mentors. Drawing on surveys and interviews
with young people who participated in the National Faith-Based Initiative, we
found that mentored youth were less likely to show signs of depression than the
youth who were not matched with a mentor.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/mentoring_and_d.html
**Community
Development
Housing
With Services Helps Rural Communities
The
"housing plus services" model, which provides both affordable housing
and supportive services tailored to residents' needs, enables many rural
organizations to meet their communities' specialized needs, according to a new
report from the Housing Assistance Council.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/housing_with_se.html
HUD
releases $3 billion in emergency funding to Mississippi
The
Department of Housing and Urban Development announced he is releasing $3
billion to the state of Mississippi to help thousands of homeowners in
the state to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The release of funds means
thousands of qualified homeowners in Mississippi will shortly be receiving up to $150,000 to help them
recover from Hurricane Katrina.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/hud_releases_3.html
Federal
Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding award additional $4.2 billion for
Louisiana's long-term recovery
This $4.2
billion means homeowners have real options - options to repair, rebuild or sell
their homes. Last month, Congress approved President Bush's request for an
additional $4.2 billion in CDBG funding to support the long-term recovery
efforts in Louisiana and added $1.0 billion to address
remaining recovery needs in other Gulf
Coast states. The funding allocated
today to Louisiana, and the remaining $1 billion to be
allocated throughout the Gulf Coast, will help rebuild homes, restore vital infrastructure and
revitalize devastated communities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/federal_coordin.html
**Disabilities
A
Guide to Disability Statistics from the National Health Interview--Disability
Supplement
This paper
from the Urban Institute describes the data in the National Health Interview
Survey--Disability Supplement (NHIS-D) and how this trove of information can be
used to better understand the lives of people with disabilities. One product
of this effort is a set of User Guides to national survey data that collect
information on the disability population.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/a_guide_to_disa.html
**Economic
Security
Rural
IDA Program Successes Reported
Housing
Assistance Council’s research report, Designing and Implementing Rural
Individual Development Account Programs, describes the colonias program and two
others in detail, along with numerous strategies and recommendations for rural
IDA programs. IDA programs match low-income individuals' savings to enable
them to reach specific goals. For this pilot program, participating families
used their savings to buy homes or to improve homes they already owned.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/rural_ida_progr.html
Path
to citizenship and out of poverty
If you've
followed the immigration debate, you've probably heard the phrase
"creating a path to citizenship." But there's another reason that
this hasn't gotten enough attention: the significant economic advantages that
immigrant workers can receive from citizenship.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/path_to_citizen.html
Slow
job growth in second quarter reflects pace of overall economy
During the
second quarter of the year, payrolls grew by 108,000 per month, well off the
previous quarter's monthly rate of 176,000, and the slowest quarter since
2003Q3 (when the economy finally pulled out of the jobless recovery). The
unemployment rate held steady at 4.6%, and wages were up 0.5% hourly and 0.8%
weekly, reversing May's much weaker wage results.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/slow_job_growth.html
**Education
Nearly
$8 Million for 20 Grants Awarded to Help Recruit, Train and Retain New Teachers
The U.S.
Department of Education today awarded 20 grants totaling $7,865,995 million
under the Transition to Teaching program to help high-need school districts
recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals, including
qualified paraprofessionals, and recent college graduates who have not majored
in education to teach in high-need schools.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/nearly_8_millio.html
31
Million Awarded to 19 School Districts to Promote Safe Schools, Healthy
Students
More than
$31 million in grants have been awarded to 19 school districts in 14 states as
part of a joint effort by the U.S.
departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice to support
schools in creating safe learning environments that promote healthy childhood
development and prevent youth violence and drug use.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/31_million_awar.html
Turning
the Tide: Why the United States Must Do Better in the Global Competition for
International Students and Scholars
In order to
compete effectively in the growing global competition for talent, the United States must take more seriously its stake
in welcoming the world's best students and scholars, says a new report issued
today by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. "Restoring U.S.
Competitiveness for International Students and Scholars" argues that the
absence of a national strategy to attract international students and scholars
is starting to show its effects, and urges a renewed commitment by the United States to this important asset.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/06/turning_the_tid.html
**Health
Campaign
for Children's Health Care Seeks to Make Expanded Health Coverage for Children
a National Priority
The
Campaign, in which Families USA is playing a leadership role, seeks to raise
public awareness about the more than 9 million uninsured children in this
country. "It is high time that the 9 million uninsured children in this
country get health care coverage," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of
Families USA. "Lack of health care impedes their ability to perform well
in school, lead healthy and active lives, and the opportunity to be productive
citizens.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/campaign_for_ch.html
**Hunger
and Nutrition
Summer
Is No Picnic for Hungry Children Missing School Meals
About 2.8
million children received meals at parks, schools, religious congregations,
recreational programs, and other community sites through U.S. Department of
Agriculture summer meals programs on an average day in July 2005. Unfortunately,
that represented only 18 children for every 100 who receive a free or
reduced-price school lunch in the regular school year, according to the new
report "Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation" from the Food Research and
Action Center (FRAC).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/summer_is_no_pi.html
**Nonprofit
Management
Nonprofits
Spend Much Time and Money Meeting Reporting Requirements
A RAND
Corporation study recommends actions that nonprofit social services providers
can take to reduce the large amount of time and money they spend complying with
reporting requirements set by organizations that provide them with funding.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/07/nonprofits_spen.html
