Rural
Children Continue to Live in Poverty
While the nationwide poverty
rate remained stagnant, the situation became worse throughout rural, non-metro
America. "Many of the headlines are
saying that poverty levels have not increased, but unfortunately trends are
worse for rural children," according to the Director of the Carsey
Institute. "Clearly many rural families, especially in the South, are
struggling to support their families and rural children are paying the price,
growing up in poverty with bleak futures.”
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/rural_children.php
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Study
Sheds Light on How Young Adult Children of Immigrants Assimilate
The largest and longest-running
study of children of immigrants yet conducted confirms the critical importance
of education. The greatest educational disadvantage is found among children
of Mexican immigrants and Laotian and Cambodian refugees -- close to 40 percent
of whom did not go beyond a high school diploma.
"Education is the key to successful upward mobility among children of
immigrants, so the discrepancies that emerge in educational achievement among
immigrant groups tend to persist in trends for income, employment and incarceration."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/study_sheds_lig.php
Parent's
Conversational Style Contributes to Child's Security
Parents who use a particular
conversational style with their children--drawing them out to elicit detailed
memories about past shared events and to talk about emotions--contribute to
the child's secure attachment, sense of self-worth, and eventual social competence,
says a new University of Illinois study published in a September special edition
of Attachment and Human Development.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/u_of_i_study_pa.php
Child Custody with Abusive Ex-Spouse? Study Shows How Women
Decide
What influences women when
they are making child custody decisions that will bring them into future contact
with a violent or controlling ex-husband? Fear, pragmatism, and the belief--sometimes
reinforced in mandated divorce education classes--that
their children will suffer if both parents are not in their lives, according
to a University of Illinois study in the August Journal of Social
and Personal Relationships.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/child_custody_w.php
**Civic Engagement
Philanthropy
From the Heart of America
In San Francisco, a retired money manager has founded
a small organization called NewTithing Group. It
tries to persuade Americans to base their charitable giving on their assets
as well as their income, given how many now have substantial assets. And
using tax returns, NewTithing has put together a
devilish ranking of the 50 states.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/philanthropy_fr.php
Employment
Growth in Maryland Nonprofits Outpaces Businesses
The employment growth rate
in Maryland's nonprofit sector is continuing to
outpace the for-profit sector's, a Johns Hopkins University study concludes. "This report
demonstrates that Maryland's nonprofit sector continues to play
a more significant role in the economy of the state than is the case in most
states," said Peter V. Berns, executive director
of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/employment_grow.php
Annual
Donations Can Rise $27.5 Billion, If Affluent Gave
as Generously as Peers in the Most Charitable States
Individual charitable giving
would rise nearly 15%, by $27.5 billion annually, if affluent income tax filers
in forty-five states and the District of Columbia donated as high a proportion
of their asset wealth to charity as do well-off filers in the most generous
five states, concludes a landmark six-year study by NewTithing Group, a philanthropic research organization.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/annual_donation.php
**Community Development
Public
Housing Squeezed Between Higher Utility Costs and Stagnant Funding
The nation's public housing
units provide affordable homes to about 1.1 million low-income households,
approximately half of which are headed by people who are elderly or have disabilities.
The local housing agencies that administer these units are required by federal
law to rent them to low-income families at rents the families can afford.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) did not request funding
for fiscal year 2007 to reflect growth in utility costs since the start of
2005.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/public_housing_2.php
**Economic Security
State
Fact Sheets on Child Welfare Funding
These state fact sheets
from the Center for Law and Social Policy
will help policymakers, advocates, and the public better understand the complex
financing structure of child welfare services in their states. They should
enable them to work effectively toward national and local reforms that will
help ensure our nation's child welfare system protects children, accurately
identifies and addresses their needs---including the needs of their families---and
helps all children grow up in safe and loving families.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/state_fact_shee.php
Two-Thirds
of States Qualify for Extended Counting of TANF Job Search and Job Readiness
Assistance
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, the changes made by the Deficit Reduction Act
of 2005 and the corresponding regulations have increased pressure on states
to place TANF recipients in federally countable activities. "Needy states"
may qualify for extended counting of job search and job readiness assistance
toward the TANF work participation rate. HHS has just issued a Program Instruction
(TANF-ACF-PI-2006-04) describing this provision and how it will be implemented.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/twothirds_of_st_1.php
**Health
Prescribe
Exercise for Older Adults for Better Health
For many older adults, a
visit to the doctor is not complete without the bestowal of at least one prescription.
Researchers at Tufts University, and the Nutrition and Cancer Biology
Laboratory at the USDA propose using the familiar concept of a prescription
to help physicians incorporate exercise recommendations into their routine
practice. In the journal American Family Physician, the study provides clinicians
with explicit guidelines for giving their older patients effective "exercise
prescriptions."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/prescribe_exerc.php
Overweight
Children at Increased Risk for Adult Cardiovascular Diseases
Research published in Journal
of the CardioMetabolic Syndrome (JCMS) presents
data supporting that adult diseases, such as hypertension, type 2
diabetes, and sleep apnea are now recognizable in childhood. The underlying
link between them is a disorder of insulin resistance, which is worsened by
childhood obesity.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/overweight_chil.php
Physical
Exercise has Little Impact on Obesity in Young Children
Physical activity is unlikely
to have a significant effect in reducing levels of obesity amongst pre-school
children, but could lay the foundations for a healthier future, a BMJ study
reveals today. Childhood obesity has become an increasing problem over recent
years, yet there is a lack of high quality evidence on the issue, and how
it can best be tackled.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/physical_exerci.php
**Homelessness
Far
From Big City, Hidden Toll of Homelessness
Rural homelessness has always
taken a back seat to the more glaring problems in cities. Most studies estimate
homeless people in small towns account for about 9 percent of the 600,000
or so homeless nationwide. But local officials and advocates for the homeless
in small towns say that economic distress in recent years, including closing
plants, failing farms, rising housing costs and other troubles, has left more
people without homes and in greater need of help.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/far_from_big_ci.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
Producers
Agree to Send Healthier Foods to Schools
In an effort to fight the
rise in childhood obesity, five of the country's largest snack food producers
said yesterday they would start providing more nutritious foods to schools,
replacing sugary, fat-laden products in vending machines and cafeterias.
French fries, ice cream, candy, cupcakes and potato chips from the machines,
lunch lines, school stores and even school fund-raising events could disappear
under a voluntary agreement between the companies and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/producers_agree.php
