**Civic Engagement/Philanthropy
Philanthropists Need
Better Information, Hewlett President Says in Annual Statement
Philanthropists would benefit
from the development of an online "marketplace" of information to
help them make more informed decisions about which organizations to support,
the president of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation said in an essay
accompanying the Foundation's 2006 annual report, which was released this
week. Likening such a marketplace to the robust financial information available
to private investors, Hewlett President Paul Brest said the creation of such
online sites to provide accurate information about nonprofit organizations'
finances, strategies and accomplishments ultimately would help the best of
them get the most support, increasing the effectiveness of philanthropy in
solving problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/philanthropists.php
**Community Development
Education and HUD Secretaries Visit Memphis School and Housing Development
Two members of President
Bush's Cabinet were in Memphis to highlight the positive effects
a stable home environment has on children in the classroom. Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings joined Housing Secretary Alphonso
Jackson to tour a local school and HOPE VI housing development at Uptown Memphis.
No Child Left Behind has helped grant families access to free tutoring services
and public school choice in Memphis and throughout Tennessee. Following their visit to Humes
Middle School, both officials toured the home of Bobbie Wallace, a resident
at Uptown Memphis who used federal housing programs to transition from public
housing, to a HOPE VI apartment complex and then into her own home.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/education-and-h.php
How Minorities Are 'Movin'
on Up' When They Move to New Neighborhoods
A new study from the University of Cincinnati shows that minorities are making equal
or even better economic gains than whites when moving to new neighborhoods,
but adds that white children still populate the most advantaged neighborhoods
in the nation. The most striking finding from the research was that despite
lower average incomes in minority families, residential mobility appears to
lessen neighborhood socioeconomic inequality for African-American and Latino
children.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/new-study-exami-1.php
'Double Financial Bubble'
Looming Large for Middle-Income Communities
"America is facing
the financial consequences of a 'double bubble' where falling housing prices
and bloated mortgage payments are squeezing consumers burdened with record
household debt," says Robert D. Manning of Center for Consumer Financial
Services at Rochester Institute of Technology's E. Philip Saunders College
of Business. As Manning explains, the Federal Reserve and government regulators
have contributed to this perilous situation, and he recommends pro-active
strategies where local communities get involved during the often-lengthy foreclosure
process to help save these communities before the foreclosure and bankruptcy
waves become overwhelming.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/subprime-mortga.php
**Economic Security
Disability Payments May
Spur Drug Abuse
Paying out certain types
of government aid in a monthly lump sum appears to fuel a spate of harmful
and often fatal drug binges, according to a new study in a forthcoming issue
of the Journal of Public Economics that links the monthly arrival of disability
checks with a sharp rise in drug related hospitalizations and deaths. The
findings by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Texas
A&M University suggests that spreading out aid payments over several weeks
could be a way to relieve some of the stress on hospitals and health care
workers who struggle to handle the monthly surge.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/disability-paym.php
**Education
Year-Round Schools Don't
Boost Learning
Students in "year-round"
schools don't learn more than their peers in traditional nine-month schools,
new research has found. A sociologist at Ohio State University found that,
over a full year, math and reading test scores improved about the same amount
for children in year-round schools as they did for students whose schools
followed a traditional nine-month calendar. The researcher found that students
in year-round schools learn more during the summer, when others are on vacation,
but they seem to learn less than other children during the rest of the year.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/yearround-schoo.php
Nine Tribally Controlled
Colleges and Universities Awarded Nearly $12 Million
Tribally controlled colleges
and universities in Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin have been selected to receive grants
totaling $11,982,128 to assist their efforts to improve and expand their capacity
to serve American Indian students. "Tribal colleges and universities
provide thousands of students the education foundation they need to be successful
in the workforce and in life. They also perform a valuable service by helping
to preserve the languages and rich cultural traditions of American Indians."
The grant awards, provided for under Title III of the Higher Education Act,
are intended to help tribal colleges and universities plan activities and
develop new capabilities to improve and expand their capacity to serve American
Indian students.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/nine-tribally-c.php
**Health
Cases of Undiagnosed
Diabetes Drop Sharply; Minorities No Longer More Likely to Be Undiagnosed
A study from RAND
found that in 1999-2002 about 20 percent of American men who had diabetes
did not know they had the disease, in contrast to 25 years ago when about
half of the men with diabetes were undiagnosed. Ethnic disparities among
those with undiagnosed diabetes essentially disappeared during the same period,
a sign that diabetes programs targeting minority groups have encouraged more
people to get tested. On a less positive note, the study found that while
disparities in undiagnosed diabetes disappeared over the past 25 years, new
disparities have developed based upon education levels.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/rand-finds-case.php
University of California, Davis to Launch Asian American Center on Disparities Research
The grant, from the National
Institute of Mental Health, will establish the Asian American Center on Disparities
Research. Headquartered at UC Davis, the new center will support and coordinate
the efforts of a network of researchers who study Asian-American mental health
issues. "Contrary to the 'model minority' myth, Asian Americans have
serious needs for mental health care that have been inadequately addressed,"
said UC Davis psychology professor Nolan Zane, director and principal investigator
of the new center.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/university-of-c-1.php
1.6 Million Low-Income
Beneficiaries Will Be Forced into New Drug Plans
According to Families
USA an estimated 1.6 million Americans who are low-income beneficiaries
of Medicare Part D will be forced to join---or will be assigned---new drug
plans by January 1, or they face the option of paying more out of pocket for
their prescription drug coverage. These reassignments will occur because
of premium increases and technical adjustments buried in the Medicare prescription
drug bill, which the Bush administration has fought to preserve unchanged.
The scheduled reassignment of low-income beneficiaries to new drug plans was
included in a recent news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS), which also announced the 2008 Part D premiums.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/16-million-lowi.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
Only Half of Income-Eligible
Households Receive Food Stamp Benefits
A new analysis released
today of 2004 county-level data and statistics found that half of all low-income
people do not receive Food Stamp program benefits, according to the National
Priorities Project (NPP), a non-profit, non-partisan research group that studies
the local impact of federal budget policies. "We've got over 35 million
people in this country struggling to get enough food to eat and 50 percent
of all low-income people are not receiving the benefit that is intended to
alleviate this food insecurity," said Greg Speeter,
executive director of the National Priorities Project. "While the Food
Stamp program provides a vital service, clearly too many people are still
going without.”
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/only-half-of-in.php
**Nonprofit Management
Charity Navigator Finds
Catholic Charities USA a "Slam Dunk" For Donors
Catholic Charities USA is
a "Slam Dunk" for donors looking to maximize their investment, according
to Charity Navigator, the country's largest independent charity evaluator,
which recently recognized Catholic Charities USA as the eighth most fiscally
responsible charity in the nation. In addition, Charity Navigator awarded
Catholic Charities USA its highest rating --four stars-- for both organizational
efficiency and organizational capacity. Charity Navigator has scrutinized
the financial health of more than 5,300 of the best-known charities in America.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/charity-navigat.php
**Substance Abuse
Hispanic Drug Use Rises
in US Culture
Substance abuse increases
among recent Hispanic immigrants as they replace their traditional cultural
beliefs with those of white Americans, according to new research presented
by an Oregon State University researcher. Previous research on
the effect of acculturation on drug use has been conducted in states with
larger Hispanic enclaves such as California, Florida and the Southwest. In these states
Hispanics are more likely to live in heavily concentrated ethnic communities,
which may slow their acculturation or assimilation. When Hispanics acculturate
to dominant American society their substance use behavior appears to mimic
that of whites, the culture they are acculturating to.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/hispanic-drug-u.php
California State Board of Equalization Makes Historic
Decision; Alcopops to Be Taxed as Distilled Spirits
According to the Marin
Institute, the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), under the
strong leadership of the State Controller made history when they set in motion
a rulemaking procedure to tax alcopops as distilled spirits, instead of the current "beer"
classification. The decision was immediately applauded by alcohol activists
and youth from the California Youth and Alcopops
Coalition, the group that initiated the drive with a petition to the BOE last
fall.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/08/california-stat.php
