Investing in Children
The Urban Institute charts
U.S. federal spending on investment in
total and for children from 1965 to 2017. Five major categories can be considered---some
more so than others---to be investment or to have investment components: education
and research, work supports, social supports, physical capital, and defense
investment. More important, projections of current policies show that overall
government investment and especially investment in children are threatened
to decline in relative and sometimes absolute importance, squeezed out mainly
by faster, automatically growing programs that tend to favor consumption.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/investing-in-ch.php
CDF Calls 12.8 Million
Children in Poverty in America Inexcusable
According to data released
by the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.8 million children in America --- or 17.4 percent --- lived in poverty
in 2006. However, today there are 1.2 million more children living in poverty
than there were in 2000. "It is a moral outrage that in the wealthiest
nation on earth there are still 12.8 million children living in poverty---5.5
million of them in extreme poverty," said Children's Defense Fund President
Marian Wright Edelman. "We must make it a national priority to protect
the most vulnerable among us by lifting these children out of poverty and
ensuring they have a fair start in life.”
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/cdf-calls-128-m.php
Report Shows Largest
One-Year Increase in Youth Suicide Rate in 15 Years
Following a decline of more
than 28 percent, the suicide rate for 10- to-24-year-olds increased by 8 percent,
the largest single-year rise in 15 years, according to a report released in
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report (MMWR). "It is important for parents, health care professionals,
and educators to recognize the warning signs of suicide in youth," said
Dr. Keri Lubell, a behavioral scientist in CDC's
Injury Center and lead author of the study.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/report-shows-la.php
Fat Mother Hastens Path
to Childhood Obesity
A fat mother hastens a child's
path to obesity, finds a study published ahead of print in the Archives of
Disease in Childhood. Other factors included too much time spent in front
of the TV and rapidly piling on the pounds in early childhood. Children who
had acquired a high percentage body fat by the age of 3½ were significantly
more likely to be obese at the age of 7 than those with low percentage body
fat. But having a mother who was overweight or obese, being a girl, and spending
a lot of time in front of the TV were all independently associated with the
chances of becoming obese.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/fat-mum-hastens.php
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Future Career Path of
Gifted Youth Can Be Predicted by Age 13
The future career path and
creative direction of gifted youth can be predicted well by their performance
on the SAT at age 13, a new study from Vanderbilt University finds. The study offers insights
into how best to identify the nation's most talented youth, which is a focus
of the new $43 billion America Competes Act recently passed by Congress to
enhance the United States' ability to compete globally. The research was
drawn from the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth or SMPY, which is
tracking 5,000 individuals over 50 years identified at age 13 as being highly
intelligent by their SAT scores.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/future-career-p-1.php
Researcher Examines Factors
Involved in Violence Against Young Women and Men
A startling number of high
school and college students - both female and male -- are being battered,
sexually abused or stalked by their dates, according to a Kansas State University professor. Approximately
30 percent of college students have been in relationships that involve physical
aggression. Even more have been in relationships that are emotionally abusive,
according to a nationally recognized expert in domestic violence. Likewise,
approximately 25 percent of high school students who are in relationships
are subjected to abuse.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/kansas-state-re.php
**Civic Engagement/Philanthropy
New Report Shows How
Young Voters Are Likely to Impact the Presidential Election
With an upward trend in
young voter turnout in recent years, a report predicts that youth turnout
in 2008 will reach a new level of participation, giving young voters the potential
to make an unprecedented impact on the campaigns and electoral outcomes.
In "Youth Vote 2008," a new issue brief from The Century Foundation,
looks at the history of how young voters have been brought into the electoral
process compared to more recent and possible future processes. Highlighting
research, the report argues that the current upward trend of young voter turnout
will not only impact the 2008 election but politics for the next generation.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/youth-vote-2008.php
Giving by Community Foundations
Rises to a Record $3.6 Billion
Estimated giving by the
nation's 707 community foundations rose to a record $3.6 billion in 2006,
according to "Key Facts on Community Foundations," a report released
today by the Foundation Center. In 2006, community foundations'
estimated giving rose 13.2 percent--surpassing independent and corporate foundations.
The community foundations in the Center's grants sample gave proportionately
more for human services, the arts, and religion than did independent and corporate
foundations in 2005.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/giving-by-commu.php
**Economic Security
Race and Poverty Are
the Focus of Catholic Charities USA’s 2007 Annual Gathering
Hundreds of Catholic Charities
leaders from across the country will gather in Cincinnati this week to discuss the connection
between race and poverty during Catholic Charities USA's (CCUSA) Annual Gathering---Crossing
the Rivers of Freedom---being held Sept. 13-16. The centerpiece of the meeting's
agenda is a draft of Catholic Charities USA's thought-provoking 2007 issue
brief, "Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good,"
which examines racism's economic effects and how they intersect with poverty.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/race-and-povert.php
**Education
ED in '08: Income Doesn't
Equal Intelligence
The 'Achievement Trap' report
reveals what educators around the country have long known to be true, that
socio-economic challenges do not hinder intelligence or desire to learn, only
opportunity. Gov. Roy Romer, Chair of the Strong
American Schools' "ED in '08" campaign, saw this first hand as superintendent
of Los Angeles Unified Public Schools. However, our schools are failing some
of America's brightest students, with devastating
consequences for their communities and our country. The high-achieving youth
in this report can be our norm, and should not be our exceptions.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/ed-in-08-income.php
Major Talent Drain in
Our Nation's Schools Squanders Potential of Millions of High-Achieving, Lower-Income
Students
The report "Achievement
Trap: How America is Failing 3.4 Million High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income
Families" - is a first-of-its-kind look at a population below the median
income level that starts school performing at high levels, but loses ground
at virtually every level of schooling and suffers a steep plummet in college.
Even before they enter first grade, lower-income high achievers are off to
a bad start - only 28 percent of students in the top quarter of their first
grade class are from lower-income families, while 72 percent come from higher-income
families.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/major-talent-dr.php
Education Secretary Delivers
Remarks at the 2007 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Week Conference
U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings delivered remarks to higher education leaders, members
of the business community, and policymakers at the 2007 National Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Week Conference in Washington, D.C. The College Cost Reduction and Access
Act, which the President is expected to sign very soon, will provide $170
million over 5 years to help HBCUs increase capacity
in the critical fields of the future---science, math, technology, and foreign
language education.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/secretary-spell-2.php
**Health
Congress Poised to Add
Millions of Uninsured Children to Successful, Bipartisan Health Plan
U.S. House and Senate leaders
are meeting this month to work out differences between their separate versions
of legislation that reauthorizes the 10-year-old Children's Health Insurance
Program (CHIP). Originally approved by a Republican Congress and signed by
a Democratic president, the new approved bill is expected to add between $35
and $50 billion over five years to provide health coverage for as many as
5 million of the nation's estimated 9 million uninsured children. "With
the renewal of CHIP, we have an opportunity to build on one of the greatest
legislative success stories in recent years," Ron Pollack, Executive
Director of Families USA, said.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/congress-poised.php
NCCP Dismayed that Number
of Children Without Health Insurance Rises by 8 Percent
The U.S. Census Bureau's
annual release of data on poverty, income, and health insurance revealed that
the official child poverty rate in the United States remained unchanged in 2006, hovering
at about 17.5 percent. The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is
extremely concerned not only that child poverty did not decline, but also
that the number of uninsured children increased for the second year in a row.
According to the new figures, 12.8 million children live in families with
incomes below the official poverty level. Since 2000, the annual Census Bureau
figures have shown that the number of children living in poverty has either
increased or remained stagnant each year.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/nccp-dismayed-t.php
Grants to Protect Children
from Dangerous Lead and Other Home Health and Safety Hazards
The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development awarded nearly $143 million in grants to dozens of state
and local communities, public health organizations and scientific research
institutions to help protect children and families from dangerous lead-based
paint and other home health and safety hazards. The funding is expected to
reduce or eliminate lead exposure in more than 10,500 homes nationally, and
reduce levels of allergy-inducing substances in more than 780 homes.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/hud-announces-1.php
Hispanics' Hypertension
Better Controlled with Equal Access to Care
With equal access to medical
care and medication, Hispanic men and women have as good or greater chance
as non-Hispanics of controlling their high blood pressure, researchers reported
in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. Population-based
research has shown that hypertension awareness, treatment and control is
lower among Hispanics compared to non-Hispanic whites and blacks.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/hispanics-hyper.php
In Many U.S. Cities, Blacks More Likely Than Whites
to Live in Poor Quality Nursing Homes
In metropolitan areas across
the United States, blacks are more likely than whites
to live in poor quality nursing homes, according to a new study in the September/October
issue of Health Affairs. The study, supported by the Commonwealth Fund, is
the first to document this relationship between racial segregation and quality
disparities in U.S. nursing homes. Blacks were nearly
twice as likely as whites to be located in a nursing home that was subsequently
terminated from Medicare and Medicaid participation because of poor quality.
They're getting different care because they live in different nursing homes,"
said Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health
at Brown University and lead investigator on the study.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/new-study-in-ma.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
12.3 Percent of Americans
Lived in Poverty in 2006
In 2006, 12.3 percent of
Americans – 36.5 million people – lived in poverty, according to U.S. Census
Bureau data. "35 million Americans face a constant struggle against
hunger. Anti-hunger groups across the country see continued need in their
communities, especially with the rising cost of food. Just over the past year,
food costs have increased nearly 4 percent. Despite the long overdue boost
in the minimum wage, these rising costs mean that more households find themselves
struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table," said Jim Weill,
Food Research
and Action Center president.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2007/09/123-percent-of.php
