Portable
Guides to Investigating Child Abuse
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s
Portable Guides series provides practical information on investigating child
abuse and neglect. Written by nationally recognized experts, the guides are
presented in a user-friendly format for quick on-the-job reference by police
officers and detectives. The guides are also useful for social workers, physicians,
attorneys, and others on the frontlines of reporting, investigating, and prosecuting
crimes against children.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/_portable_guide.php
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New
Guidelines for Federal "Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage" Programs
In a stunning departure
from reality, new guidelines for federal "abstinence-only-until-marriage"
programs, under the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), have refocused
target populations for grants to include unmarried adults up to 29-years-old.
According to the (ACF), being "unmarried" makes these adults targets
for the long and proselytizing arm of the U.S. government. "For once in my
life, I am utterly speechless," said James Wagoner, President of Advocates
for Youth.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/new_guidelines.php
**Community Development
Banner
Year for Affordable Housing Production
HUD's HOME Investment Partnerships
Program (HOME) posted record performance during fiscal year 2006 with substantial
increases in the number of families assisted and affordable homes produced.
In 2006, more than 143,000 households benefited from hundreds of local programs
that HOME supports, a 42 percent increase over the previous year. The fiscal
year 2007 budget seeks an additional $159 million for the HOME program to
build on this year's record production.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/banner_year_for.php
Fixing
the Housing Voucher Formula: A No-Cost Way to Strengthen the "Section
8" Program
Over the past three years,
Congress and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have
made a series of changes in the formula that determines how voucher funds
are distributed among the 2,400 state and local housing agencies that administer
the program. These changes have had the unintended effect of destabilizing
the program and causing shortfalls at many housing agencies, even as other
agencies have received more voucher funding than
they can use.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/fixing_the_hous.php
$7.9
Million in Grants to Convert Multifamily Projects into Assisted Living Facilities
Elderly Americans in five
states will soon find themselves living in upgraded apartments equipped to
meet their physical needs thanks to more than $7.9 million in grants from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assisted living facilities
are designed to accommodate low-income elderly and persons with disabilities
who can live independently but need assistance with activities of daily living,
such as assistance with eating, bathing, grooming, dressing and home management
activities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/79_million_in_g.php
A
Federal-State Compact to Renew the Great Lakes Region
The Great Lakes region stands today
in a precarious position. During the past generation, globalization, and the intense
competition it has engendered, has diminished the region's economic primacy,
leaving its states and communities struggling to find their competitive niche.
Its metropolitan areas are economically stagnant, old and beat up, and plagued
by severe racial divisions. And its legacy of employee benefit, job, and
income security programs---many of which the region helped pioneer---has become
an unsustainable burden, putting its firms at a severe competitive disadvantage
in the global economy.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/a_federalstate.php
**Economic Security
Investing
in Low-Wage Workers: Lessons from Family Child Care in Rhode Island
While child care is one
of the fastest growing occupations in the country, most employment in this
field is precarious and low-wage. This report from Public/Private Ventures profiles
a group of largely Latina and African American women living and working in
some of Rhode Island's poorest neighborhoods who were determined to improve
family child care both for low-income families and the women who provide the
care.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/10/investing_in_lo.php
**Health
A
New Vision for Well-Child Care
According to a report form
The Commonwealth Fund, standardization
of well-child care services is intended to ensure that families receive core
services and key information. Despite taking great pains to be efficient
providers of care, may pediatric practices struggle to fulfill the needs and
expectations of families with young children. Much
of physicians' time is spent on providing services that could be better performed
by other health professionals, infringing on time they have available to care
for children with complex medical problems.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/a_new_vision_fo.php
Coverage
of Parents Helps Children, Too
According to the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, over the past decade, the creation of the State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and related changes made by states in their
Medicaid programs have boosted children's enrollment and led to a marked reduction
in the number of uninsured children. Nonetheless, almost 9 million children
(18 or younger) remain uninsured, and about two-thirds of them are low-income
children who are eligible for public coverage but are not enrolled. A growing
body of research demonstrates that one highly effective way of boosting coverage
among these low-income children is to broaden health insurance programs so
that the programs also cover their parents.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/coverage_of_par.php
Drug
Plan Coverage for Seniors in "Doughnut Hole"
Will Be Scarcer and Less Affordable in 2007
According to Families USA, in
13 states next year, there will be no drug plans that offer coverage in the
so-called "doughnut hole"---the big drug coverage gap in the Medicare
Part D prescription drug program---for the top medicines prescribed to seniors,
according to a new report issued today. In 2006, there were only four such
states, but the number of seniors without access to such doughnut hole
coverage will increase from 375,000 to 6.6 million in 2007, an 18-fold increase.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/drug_plan_cover.php
**Seniors
$12
Million to Help the Elderly and People with Disabilities Continue to Live
Independently at Home
The Department of Housing
and Urban Development announced $12.1 million in Service Coordinator grants
to provide more than 6,000 low-income frail elderly and residents with disabilities
in federally supported housing with assistance to identify and receive health
care, meals and other critical support services. The grants are directed
to owners of privately owned multifamily housing developments that receive
money from HUD to house low-income individuals.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/12_million_to_h.php
$633
Million to Help Very Low-Income Elderly and People with Disabilities
Thousands of additional
senior citizens and people with disabilities will soon be able to find affordable
housing, thanks to more than $633 million in housing assistance announced
by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grants provide
very low-income elderly with options that allow them to live independently
but in an environment that provides support activities such as cleaning, cooking,
and transportation. In addition to funding the construction and rehabilitation
of projects to create apartments, HUD Section 202 grants will subsidize rents
for three years so that residents will pay only 30 percent of their adjusted
incomes as rent.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/11/633_million_to.php