Drug,
Alcohol and Cigarette Use While Alone Puts Eighth-Graders at High Risk for
Later Problems
Adolescents who use alcohol,
cigarettes and marijuana while alone are more likely to have health and behavioral
problems as young adults than their peers who consume the substances only
in social settings, according to a RAND Corporation study. Solitary alcohol,
cigarette and marijuana users are less likely to graduate from college, more
likely to have substance use problems as young adults, and tend to report
poorer physical health by age 23 than their peers who were social substance
users, according to the study by the nonprofit research organization.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/drug_alcohol_an.php
GAO
Slams Administration for Children and Families for Lapse in Supervision of
Abstinence-Only Programs
Advocates for Youth
reports that the Government Accountability Office called the Administration
for Children and Families (ACF) to task for failing to provide adequate oversight
of the information disseminated through federal abstinence-only programs.
The GAO specifically stated that ACF, which supervises two multimillion dollar
abstinence-only programs "does not review its grantees' education materials
for scientific accuracy and does not require grantees of either program to
review their own materials for scientific accuracy."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/gao_slams_admin.php
**Civic Engagement
Dec.
15 Deadline Approaching for William Randolph Hearst Fellowship for Minority
Students
The Nonprofit Sector Research
Fund of the Aspen Institute is looking for a few good men and women to apply
for the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fellowship for Minority Students.
The fellowship, which is based on academic excellence and need, is open to
minority students at the undergraduate and graduate level. The recipient
of the Hearst fellowship will serve as an intern with the Fund.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/dec_15_deadline.php
**Community Development
Two
Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999-2005
According to the Brookings Institution,
in 1999 large cities and their suburbs had nearly equal numbers of poor individuals,
but by 2005 the suburban poor outnumbered their city counterparts by at least
1 million. Still, the percentage of all people in poverty rose in both cities
and suburbs between 1999 and 2005, following the national trend. In 2005,
the poverty rate in large cities (18.8 percent) was twice as high as in suburbs
(9.4 percent).
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/two_steps_back.php
FHA
Brings the Holidays Home with a Special Homes Sales Event
To help increase homeownership
opportunities during this holiday season, the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development is launching its special "FHA Brings the Holidays Home"
sales campaign. This campaign is especially designed for low- to moderate-income
families that may believe homeownership is out of their reach, by offering
special incentives on the sale of HUD-owned single-family properties across
the country.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/fha_brings_the.php
**Economic Security
Struggling
Despite Hard Work: Low-Income Families in Michigan and Detroit
Child poverty is a growing
problem in Michigan. But not all low-income families
receive the benefits for which they are financially eligible. This fact sheet
from the National Center for Children in Poverty examines employment
among low-income families as well as their use of work support benefits.
Findings show that while most low-income children have parents who work, many
do not receive assistance from the supports designed to help low-income families
make ends meet.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/struggling_desp.php
Coordinating
Individual Development Accounts and the Workforce Investment Act to Increase
Access to Postsecondary Education and Training
This paper was jointly developed
by CLASP and the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. It explores the potential coordination
of Individual Development Accounts with Workforce Investment Act programs
to increase access to postsecondary education, job training, and related services
for low-income individuals.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/coordinating_in.php
Federal
Support for Employment and Training Services Dwindles
Most policy makers agree
that workforce training is essential to America's competitiveness. Yet federal spending
on workforce education and training has dropped from $63 per worker in 1986
to only $35 per worker in 2006, in per capita terms.
The U.S. Department of Labor
(DOL) is the primary source of federal support for job training and employment
services.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/federal_support.php
Working
Parents Concerned about After-School Care, Companies Losing Billions in Job
Productivity
Millions of working fathers
and mothers are less productive at work due to concerns about what their children
are doing in the after-school hours, according to a new study released by
Catalyst, the leading nonprofit research and advisory organization working
to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/working_parents.php
**Education
Court
Hears Cases on Schools and Race
Supreme Court deliberations
are private, but yesterday's oral arguments on whether it is constitutional
to allow school systems to use race in making school assignments became as
much a public debate between the divided justices as a questioning of lawyers.
The ultimate decision is likely to be one of the most defining of the court
headed by the new chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr., and a powerful statement
about where the nation stands more than 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/_court_hears_ca.php
Center
On Education Policy: The London Challenge
According to the Center
On Education Policy, the London Challenge serves as a model for school reform
that is not only applicable to the London region, but also to the many communities
in the United Kingdom and elsewhere that seek significant change in education.
It strongly emphasizes the importance of community support from business and
non-profit organizations and promotes networking and partnerships between
many schools and teachers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/center_on_educa.php
The
Challenge of Supporting Change
The Bay Area School Reform
Collaborative (BASRC, now called Springboard Schools) in San Francisco, California, is a grant-making organization that
supports districtwide efforts to improve the quality
and equity of student outcomes. This report discusses the "focal strategy,"
which targeted selected "focal districts" in the Bay Area, beginning
in the 2002-2003 school year, and was designed to increase the intensity of
earlier BASRC reforms by creating more opportunities for district and school
administrators to interact with BASRC staff.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/the_challenge_o_2.php
**Health
Adolescent
Asian Immigrants Improve Their Good Health Habits Over
Time; Latinos' Nutrition Grows Worse
The good health habits of
adolescent Asian immigrants improve with each generation born in the United States, but health habits among adolescent
Latino immigrants generally remain poor or become worse in succeeding generations,
according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. While the nutritional
habits of immigrant Latino teens were better than those of whites, those behaviors
grew worse over time, according to the study published online by the American
Journal of Public Health.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/adolescent_asia.php
Catholic
Charities USA Urges Congress to Protect Vital Health Care Programs for Low-Income
Children, Families
Catholic Charities USA is
urging members of Congress to protect health coverage for the most vulnerable
among us, including foster care youth, low-income children, and working families
before it adjourns for the year. Extend the Transitional Medical Assistance
(TMA) program for families moving off welfare into the workforce. TMA, which
is set to expire this year on December 31, is an essential work support that
provides needed continuity in health coverage.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/catholic_charit_3.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
School
Breakfast Scorecard 2006
Participation in the School
Breakfast Program continued its steady increase, with a record 7.7 million
low-income children receiving free and reduced-price breakfasts on an average
day during the 2005-2006 school year. The Food Research
and Action Center's School Breakfast Scorecard 2006
finds accelerating growth in school breakfast participation by low-income
children -- up by 622,000 children (8.7 percent) over the past two school
years. Studies continue to demonstrate the links between breakfast and learning,
making the case stronger for more schools to expand breakfast participation
and make sure all children participate.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/school_breakfas_1.php
**Substance Abuse
Relapse
Rates Lower When Treatment Follows Detox
Patients who received addiction
treatment within 30 days of going through detoxification took 40 percent longer
to relapse if they fell off the wagon at all, according to research from the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The findings
applied to patients who received comprehensive treatment services on two or
more days in the 30 days following detox. However,
the study found that only about a quarter of patients are enrolled in comprehensive
treatment programs within 30 days of completing detox.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/relapse_rates_l.php
