Building
Bridges Between Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood,
and Domestic Violence Programs
This guide from the Center
for Law and Social Policy summarizes the lessons learned at the Building Bridges
Wingspread Conference, held in May 2006. This conference brought together
leaders from three fields--healthy marriage, responsible fatherhood, and domestic
violence--to discuss current tensions and concerns; identify common ground;
and discuss possible avenues for cooperation, collaboration, and joint action,
avenues that would result in better outcomes for children and adults alike.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/building_bridge_2.php
State
of Childhood Asthma, United States: 1980-2005
A new report on childhood
asthma released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
shows that death rates for asthma among children under age 18 have declined
since 1999, while doctor visits for the condition have more than doubled over
the past decade. The percentage of children who had asthma more than doubled
between 1980 and 1995, from 3.6 percent to 7.5 percent.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/state_of_childh.php
**Civic Engagement
Charities
and Software Firms Partner on Groundbreaking Charitable Giving Survey
An annual Fundraising Effectiveness
Survey is being launched by a partnership of research, charitable, professional,
and service organizations to help nonprofits increase overall charitable giving
from current and potential donors. The survey will fill the data gap by measuring
fundraising gains and losses in categories that have not been the focus of
earlier studies-new donors, lapsed donors, and donors who have increased or
decreased their gifts. The survey is the initial activity of the Fundraising
Effectiveness Project (FEP), which is also working on fundraising data standards
and performance indicators.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/charities_and_s.php
**Community Development
A
Profile of the Foreign-Born in the Louisville Metropolitan Area
This profile from the Urban
Institute of immigrants in the Louisville metropolitan area is intended to help
local officials, policy makers and service providers better understand the
size, characteristics and needs of the region's immigrant population. Employers,
elementary and secondary schools, universities, job training centers, hospitals
and social service providers are among the many important public and private
institutions that must grapple with how to serve this fast-changing population.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/a_profile_of_th.php
HUD
Unveils New Generation of Migrant Housing at Florida Expo
The Department of Housing
and Urban Development today unveiled a new generation of affordable storm-resistant
housing for migrant farm workers. HUD joined the University of Florida to reveal the HUD Migrant Worker Prototype
House at the Florida Agriculture Expo in Balm, Florida. The HUD-funded prototype is the
result of two years of work by Florida producers and others to develop quality,
cost-effective housing for migrant farm workers that can withstand the unpredictable
Florida weather.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/hud_unveils_new.php
**Economic Security
Increasing
Opportunities: Creating and Expanding Transitional Jobs Programs for TANF
Recipients Under the Deficit Reduction Act
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
(DRA) significantly changed the structure of the work requirements mandated
in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Faced
with increased work participation rate requirements and stricter definitions
of the allowable work activities, states are now facing difficult choices
regarding their TANF programs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/increasing_oppo.php
**Education
The
Potential of Title I for High-Quality Preschool
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, in 1965, Congress approved a sweeping array of
education programs, including Head Start, guaranteed student loans and the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the centerpiece of which was,
and remains, Title I---the largest source of federal education aid to states
for low income students. When NCLB was passed, Congress provided funding
authorization levels commensurate with the law's accountability and other
requirements. Between 2002 and 2005, however, the gap between what Congress
promised and what Congress provided for NCLB programs was $27 billion.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/the_potential_o.php
School
Readiness, Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement
Using longitudinal survey
data to examine how children's skills and knowledge at kindergarten entry
predict achievement in later grades, this study from RAND addresses two research
questions: the relationship between school readiness skills at kindergarten
entry and reading and mathematics achievement through the fifth grade, and
kindergarten program factors that predict nonacademic school readiness skills.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/school_readines.php
American
Students Should Be Studying One or More of the Disciplines of Social Studies
in the Classroom Every Day
"Every Student should
be studying one or more of the disciplines of the social studies every day,"
said Peggy Altoff, president of the National Council
for the Social Studies (NCSS), in her opening remarks to the 86th annual conference
in Washington, D.C., Dec. 1-3. The conference is the largest gathering
of social studies educators, classroom teachers, teacher educators, researchers,
school officials, authors, textbook publishers, and newsmakers in the nation.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/national_counci_1.php
**Health
Improving
Hospital Care for Children with Limited English Proficiency
According to, "Quality
and Safety of Hospital Care for Children from Spanish-Speaking Families with
Limited English Proficiency" (Journal for Healthcare Quality, May/June
2006), parents, providers, hospital staff, and quality improvement (QI) professionals
agree that language and cultural differences lead to communication issues
that can have a pervasive, negative impact on the quality and safety of care
children receive, but disagree about what exactly needs to change.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/improving_hospi.php
Administration
Policy Change Threatens Health Care Coverage for Poor Infants
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, now without any change in the law, the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services has instructed states that they may no longer provide
automatic coverage to some babies, even though these babies have been born
in the United States and are U.S. citizens and Medicaid has covered the cost
of their birth. As a result, CMS unnecessarily has subjected these children
to the risk of losing their Medicaid coverage when their eligibility is redetermined
at age 1.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/administration_7.php
Congress
Delays SCHIP Funding Shortfalls in 2007 by Several Months
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities the provision will redistribute existing
unspent federal SCHIP funds to some of the 17 states that face shortfalls.
The provision will provide only about one-fifth of the funds needed to fully
close the shortfalls for the full fiscal year; it is designed to delay the
onset of the funding shortfalls for several months. Otherwise, the 17 states
will have to scale back their SCHIP programs, placing several hundred thousand
low-income children at risk of losing health care coverage, unless they can
come up with new state funds to fully plug the hole.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/congress_delays.php
**Hunger and Nutrition
2006
Hunger and Homelessness Survey
As emerging priorities unfold
under new Congressional leadership, The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Sodexho,
Inc. released the 2006 Hunger and Homelessness Survey. Highlights of the
survey show that overall requests for emergency food assistance increased
by an average of seven percent over the last year, with 74 percent of the
survey cities registering an increase. Additionally, 100 percent of the survey
cities reported that families and individuals relied on emergency food assistance
facilities both in emergencies and as a steady source of food over long periods
of time.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/2006_hunger_and.php
FRAC
Special Analysis: 2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors/Sodexho
Survey on Hunger and Homelessness
The Food Research
and Action Center reports that during the last year, requests for emergency
food assistance in survey cities increased an average of 7 percent, with 74
percent of survey cities reporting an increase, according to the U.S. Conference
of Mayors (USCM). The annual survey, released on December 14th, also documented
increased needs among families with children and elderly persons as well as
insufficient resources to fully meet needs in many cities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/frac_special_an_1.php
**Substance Abuse
Study
Reinforces Findings on Risks of Youthful Drinking
A study of U.S. Marine Corps
recruits conducted in San Diego adds further weight to previous findings
that early-age drinking increases the risk of problem drinking later, MedPage Today reported. The study looked at 41,482 male recruits
and found that those who had begun drinking at age 13 or earlier were 5.5
times more likely to be engaging in risky drinking.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/12/study_reinforce.php
