Report
Finds Child Poverty Has Surged in Midwest Since 2000
While overall child poverty
in the United States
has risen dramatically since 2000, a new report by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) reveals that children and families
in some regions have been harder hit than others. Accounting for nearly half
of the increase nationwide, the Midwest was the only region where poverty increased among children with employed
parents, due in part to the loss of relatively well-paid manufacturing jobs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/report_finds_ch.html
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Adolescents
Who Listen to a Great Deal of Music with Degrading Sexual Lyrics Have Sex
Sooner
A RAND Corporation study
presents the strongest evidence yet that sexually degrading lyrics in music
encourage adolescents to more quickly initiate sexual intercourse and other
sexual activities. The study found that the more time adolescents spend listening
to music with sexually degrading lyrics, the more likely they are to initiate
intercourse and other sexual activities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/adolescents_who_1.html
Socially
isolated children may become unhealthy adults
Social isolation in childhood
may be associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in adulthood,
according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics &
Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Adults who lack social
support have been shown to be at higher risk for coronary artery disease and
have a poorer prognosis once they develop the condition. In addition, evidence
from an emerging field known as life-course epidemiology is beginning to suggest
that early life experiences are also important in determining risk factors
for disease in adulthood.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/socially_isolat.html
Kids
need more time than adults give them, study finds
Further proof that children
require more time comes via a study to be published today in Developmental
Science asserting that the fast pace expected by adults--both parents and
educators--can be beyond children’s perceptual abilities. "Children
are increasingly being expected to provide an adult-level of detail and information,"
says David Shore, associate professor in McMaster University's Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/kids_need_more.html
Study
finds firearms are stored less safely in homes with older children
More than 1.6 million U.S. children live in homes with firearms
that are stored loaded and unlocked. Because the guns used in youth suicides
and unintentional injuries primarily come from victims' homes, storage practices
that allow for easy access to a firearm pose a threat to the safety of young
people.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/study_finds_fir.html
Children
and teens taking antidepressants might be more likely to attempt, complete
suicide
Antidepressant medications
may be associated with suicide attempts and death in severely depressed children
and adolescents but not in adults, according to an article in the August issue
of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently began requiring drug manufacturers
to include a warning regarding the risk of suicidal behavior among children
and teens treated with antidepressants after a large analysis of clinical
trials revealed a potential link.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/children_and_te.html
**Civic Engagement
Doing
one's duty: Why people volunteer in a deprived community
In recent years the government
has been pushing volunteering as a way of reconnecting people with the labor
market. However, in a recent study published today and funded by the Economic
and Social Research Council, researchers argue that this understanding is
too narrow. Most people volunteer to make a difference in the community rather
than for career development. Policy focused on volunteering as training for
the labor market risks excluding and discouraging those who can't work.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/doing_ones_duty.html
**Community Development
Online
Chat: Katrina -- One Year Later
August 29 will mark the
one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on New
Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities.
While Katrina "fatigue" has hit many of us, Connect For Kids and
other organizations champion the notion that rebuilding the Gulf Coast involves
more than fixing levees, homes, and buildings -- it has to include necessities
like access to education and health services, particularly to the kids.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/online_chat_kat.html
**Economic Security
Looking
Foward, Looking Back: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform
According to the National
Center for Children in Poverty, as we approach the 10-year anniversary of
the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act (PRWORA), commonly referred to as "welfare reform," pundits
are rushing to declare the effort either an unqualified success or an utter
disaster. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the 1996 reform effort was
the bipartisan consensus on work: the primary goal of the newly created Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was to require adult recipients
to work or prepare for work as a condition for receiving benefits.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/looking_foward.html
JFF
Announces "Portfolio" of Proven Models for Advancing Low-Income
Workers
Jobs for the Future JFF
created the Career Advancement Portfolio as central to its commitment to developing,
implementing, and advocating for models, strategies, and policies that enable
adults to advance toward economic self-sufficiency for themselves and their
families. The Portfolio brings together the most innovative workforce development
practices for improving the lives of low-skilled, low-income adults. It answers
the need for effective, proven, replicable, and scalable models of approaches
that advance low-income individuals to jobs with high enough wages to move
families out of poverty.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/jff_announces_a.html
The Federal Government
- the Indispensable Player in Redressing Poverty
An article written by Food
Research and Action Center President Jim Weill for the May-June issue of the
Clearinghouse Review -- the publication of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law focused on "What the Federal Government
Must Do to End Poverty." Weill's framework article -- "The Federal
Government -- the Indispensable Player in Redressing Poverty" -- describes
why, despite past shortcomings of federal efforts to build economic security
for all Americans and recent setbacks in improving those efforts, a robust
federal role in fighting poverty and building economic security is absolutely
essential.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/_the_federal_go.html
**Education
Assisting
Students Who Enter High School with Poor Academic Skills
According to analysis from
MDRC, too many students in the United States arrive at high school unprepared academically. Many of these
students fail to make the critical transition from middle school to high school
successfully and drop out of school, often by tenth grade. Those who don't
drop out often find it difficult to earn credits necessary to advance from
one grade to the next and perform poorly on measures of achievement, like
course grades and standardized tests.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/assisting_stude.html
U.S.
Department of Education Awards $11.8 Million to Help Recruit, Train and Retain
New Teachers
The U.S. Department of Education
has awarded 31 grants totaling $11.8 million under the Transition to Teaching
program to help high-need school districts recruit and retain highly qualified
mid-career professionals, including qualified paraprofessionals, and recent
college graduates who have not majored in education to teach in high-need
schools. Teachers are widely recognized as the single most influential factor
in students' academic success. Yet, urban, rural, disadvantaged and other
high-need schools face challenges in recruiting highly qualified teachers,
particularly in math and science.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/us_department_o_6.html
Title I Funds - Who's
Gaining and Who's Losing
According to the Center
On Education Policy, for the coming school year, nearly all (90 percent) of
the nation's school districts participating in the federal Title I program
and half of the states will have their Title I funding cut or frozen. The
report, Title I Funds: Who's Gaining and Who's Losing School Year 2006 estimates
actual Title I gains and loses for districts and states after apply ing a
mandatory 4 percent reservation of funds states must make for school improvement
activities as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/title_i_funds_a.html
$20.5
Million in Grants Awarded Under Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program
U.S. Department of Education
announced the award of 33 new grants totaling more than $20.5 million that
will directly benefit Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education.
"Under No Child Left Behind, Hispanic students' scores have risen to
all-time highs. Grants are awarded to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
to expand educational opportunities for, and improved the academic attainment
of Hispanic students.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/205_million_in.html
Furniture
for Schools Heads to the Gulf Coast
Furniture for Schools has
now delivered more than 10,000 items to schools in need to help them prepare
for students returning this school year. This week the Furniture for Schools
project will make another delivery of surplus furniture and equipment to schools
along the Gulf Coast that were heavily damaged or destroyed
by Hurricane Katrina. The Furniture for Schools project was created by the
U.S. Department of Education in the weeks immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/furniture_for_s.html
**Health
Health
Care One Year After Hurricane Katrina
August 29, 2006,
marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic landfall.
The Kaiser Family Foundation continues its commitment to help respond to the
devastation from Hurricane Katrina with new resources about the health care
impact of Katrina's aftermath. At a forum held on August 8, the Foundation
released new data from a national survey of the American public on the response
to Hurricane Katrina, a new report profiling survivors' health care experiences
and the short film "Voices of the Storm." The event included a
panel discussion with key policymakers and medical professionals working on
the health impacts of the storm.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/health_care_one.html
Study
demonstrates successful HIV-prevention program for Latino youth
A culturally tailored HIV-prevention
program can help reduce risky sexual behaviors among Latino adolescents, even
a year after students attended the training, according to a study led by University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania researchers. Education is needed
to reverse some disturbing trends among Latino teens, said U-M nursing professor
Antonia M. Villarruel, who conducted the study with John B. Jemmott III, a
professor at Penn's Annenberg School of Communication and Loretta S. Jemmott,
a professor at Penn's School of Nursing.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/study_demonstra.html
Africans
much better than North Americans at taking anti-HIV meds
The review was directed
by researchers from the Centre for International Health and Human Rights Studies
and the University of California, San
Francisco. "This
review contradicts a historical anticipation of poor adherence by Africans
to antiretroviral regimens that was offered as a rationale to delay providing
these therapies. If one had considered adherence simply on the basis of evidence,
Sub-Saharan Africans would have had access to these life-saving therapies
earlier," said study lead author Edward Mills, PhD, MSc, director of
the Centre for International Health and Human Rights Studies.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/africans_much_b.html
Puerto
Rican and African-American children show different patterns of asthma care
Asthma has been on the rise
for the past two decades, and minority populations have an especially high
prevalence. A study in the August issue of the journal Chest suggests that
Puerto Rican children with asthma make more clinic visits than African-American
children with similar disease severity, but that the latter spend more time
in the hospital for asthma.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/puerto_rican_an.html
Medicare
Payments to Doctors Face Cuts
The Bush administration
on Tuesday proposed a cut of 5.1 percent across the board in Medicare payments
for services provided by doctors to elderly and disabled patients in 2007.
The increase directly affects beneficiaries because their premiums are set
each year to cover about 25 percent of projected spending under Part B of
Medicare, which pays for doctors' services and other outpatient care. The
White House, Congress and doctors have been talking for more than a year about
ways to link Medicare payments to the quality of care doctors provide.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/medicare_paymen.html
Scaling
Back Changes to Medicare Payments
Under intense pressure from
health care lobbyists and lawmakers, the Bush administration says it will
scale back and delay proposed changes in Medicare payments to hospitals that
would have created clear winners and losers. The proposals would have cut
payments by 20 percent to 30 percent for many complex treatments and new technologies.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/scaling_back_ch.html
**Hunger and Nutrition
Food
Stamp Program Participation Data
According to the Food Research
and Action Center, in May 2006 food stamp participation at 26,013,901 persons
was virtually unchanged overall from April 2006 (a dip of 5,661 persons nationwide).
The overall caseload for May 2006 was more than 600,000 persons higher than
the prior May and nearly 8.8 million persons higher than in May 2001.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/food_stamp_prog.html
**Substance Abuse
"Mission
Accomplished" in War on Drugs?
A mostly overlooked article
published in late June put forth an interesting proposition: that the U.S. war on drugs has already been won.
In interviews with Join Together, Jaffe, Dogoloff, and Brown each disputed
the notion that the drug czars agreed that the drug war had succeeded. "There's
a curious new trend amongst drug warriors these days -- declaring victory.
Oddly, the one area of agreement that is overlooked in his article is where
the views of reformers and the drug czars like tend to dovetail: the need
for more addiction treatment.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/mission_accompl.html
Post-Katrina,
New Orleans Again Struggles with Drugs
Drugs are flooding back
into New Orleans
as the city tries to recover from Hurricane Katrina, in part because local
dealers made new connections with overseas suppliers while they were relocated
to Houston, the New York Times reported Aug.
5. Anti-drug agents are seeing larger drug shipments into the city than ever
before; a recent bust resulted in the seizure of 50 kilos of cocaine, for
example. Increased drug-related violence has caused the murder rate in New Orleans to rise as dealers and gangs fight
over turf.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/postkatrina_new.html
12-Step
Programs Offer Broad Benefits, Study Says
A study of Alcoholics Anonymous
and other 12-step oriented self-help programs finds that they can help most
people recover from alcoholism, even those who are not religious or have mental-health
problems. The Pacific Institute on Research and Education (PIRE) reported
that researchers tracked a group of 227 alcoholics over three years and found
that those who had attended AA or other self-help programs after treatment
had higher rates of abstinence, and drank less if they did relapse.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/12step_programs.html
Prescription
Drug Abuse Rising Among Hispanic Youth
More Hispanic youths are
using prescription drugs to get high, according to federal officials who unveiled
a new prevention program aimed at Latinos, the Associated Press reported July
26. The rate of prescription-drug abuse is higher among Hispanics than among
other ethnic groups, even though Hispanics tend to use fewer illicit drugs
overall. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America estimated in 2005 that one
in five Hispanic teens had misused prescription drugs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/prescription_dr_1.html
Neurobiology
Added to Social, Moral Debate on Teen Drinking
Experts once believed that
it took a long period of heavy drinking to injure the brain, but mounting
research suggests that alcohol may readily damage the developing brains of
teenagers, the New York Times reported July 4. Preliminary animal research
has shown that doses of alcohol similar to binge drinking episodes may cause
cellular damage to the forebrain and hippocampus of adolescents, perhaps explaining
why -- as a different study of human subjects recently found -- people who
begin drinking at a young age are at much higher risk of becoming alcoholics.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/08/neurobiology_ad.html
