**Children,
Youth & Families
Toward
a National Strategy to Improve Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care
Family,
friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care is a widely used form of care for young
children in the United
States, particularly for
children birth through age 2. A major step that would support practice,
policy, and research alike is to increase public awareness of the widespread
use of FFN care by families of all economic levels and ethnicities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/toward_a_nation.html
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HHS
Awards $11.6 Million to States for Increasing Adoptions
The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded a total of $11.6
million to 21 states for increasing the number of children adopted from foster
care. States use the adoption incentive awards to enhance their child welfare
programs.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/hhs_awards_116.html
Child
Care and Development Block Grant Participation in 2005
This fact
sheet provides a snapshot of Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
participation in 2005, noting the great variability in child care assistance
programs among states. CCDBG provides child care assistance for low-income
working families. In 2005, CCDBG served a monthly average of 1.78 million
children. While 30 states increased the number of children served, 20 states
and the District of
Columbia served fewer
children in 2005 than in 2004.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/child_care_and.html
**Civic
Engagement
Why
Women Should Vote
We know
there is never enough time to do what you HAVE to do each day, much less to
learn more about the issues that concern you. As a result, many women,
especially unmarried women, do not vote in national elections and make their
voices heard in our democracy. The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and
Women's Voices have cooperated on a resource to address that concern.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/why_women_shoul.html
Corporate
Citizenship and Urban Problem Solving
Business-led
civic organizations have historically played an important role in urban
policymaking, planning, and renewal. However, shifting economic forces - including
corporate consolidation, industrial decline, and the suburbanization of many
businesses - have diminished the capacity of these organizations, potentially
stripping cities of a significant advocate.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/corporate_citiz.html
**Community
Development
HUD
Awards $10.4 Million in Grants to 13 Historically Black Colleges and
Universities
The
Department of Housing and Urban Development announced 13 historically Black
colleges and universities would receive $10.4 million to help revitalize
neighborhoods near their campuses. HUD's HBCU program funds grantees to carry
out projects designed primarily to benefit low- and moderate-income residents,
help prevent or eliminate slums or blight, or meet urgent community development
needs in their localities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/hud_awards_104.html
Most
Katrina Evacuees in Houston Plan to Stay
More than
two-thirds of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees who fled to Houston for shelter a year ago said they
plan to remain here, according to a recent survey by researchers at Rice University.
The survey focused on mostly poor, African-American, unemployed and uneducated
Katrina evacuees in Houston - a population estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 people
- and was conducted in apartment complexes where evacuees live. Between 50 and
57 percent of the evacuees said their lives are worse today than before Katrina
in regard to finding a job, transportation, getting around Houston and access to friends and
relatives.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/most_katrina_ev.html
**Economic
Security
Renewing
Commitment to Fighting Poverty
Examining
problems facing the poor and debating policy proposals to help break the cycle
of poverty in America will be the central focus of
Catholic Charities USA's 2006 Annual Gathering in Minneapolis from September 14--17. The
centerpiece of the meeting's agenda is discussion and ratification of the 2006
Catholic Charities USA policy paper, "Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good."
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/renewing_commit.html
**Education
High-Quality
Preschool is Key to Closing the Achievement Gap
As our
nation's children head back to school this month, the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) urges policymakers to ensure
that preschool really does prepare young children to succeed in the early
school years. NCCP's new report, Effective Preschool Curricula and Teaching
Strategies, identifies ways to strengthen preschool in order to close the
persistent achievement gap separating low-income children from their more
affluent peers.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/highquality_pre.html
Back
to School: MDRC's Education Research Agenda
Given MDRC's
history of studying initiatives for low-income adolescents, our first studies
focused on school-based reforms in secondary schools and evaluated programs and
policies designed to help students graduate from high school equipped to make
successful transitions to college and the labor market. But our education
portfolio today ranges from pre-K to postsecondary, including studies of
school-based interventions in elementary schools; school district-wide reforms;
and after-school and preschool programs --- as well as innovative programs to help
low-income students overcome obstacles to success in community college.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/_back_to_school_1.html
Everything
You Wanted to Know About the No Child Left Behind Act
The Public
Education Network (PEN), working in conjunction with the National Coalition for
Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE), has developed simple, easy-to-
understand materials that community leaders and parents all over the country
have requested to translate the requirements and demands made by this very
complex 1,000 page law. This new NCLB web portal is especially valuable to
educators, the media, policymakers, elected officials, business organizations,
and civil rights and civic organizations.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/everything_you.html
'No
Child' Leaves Too Much Behind
The No
Child Left Behind Act, a federal law designed to ensure that all children can
read and do math proficiently by 2014, comes up for renewal in Congress next
year. But questions have arisen about the accuracy of student proficiency
testing used to chart performance under No Child Left Behind, and about whether
math and reading scores --- even if they are accurate --- should be used as the
full measure of school progress under the law.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/no_child_leaves.html
U.S.
Secretary of Education to Headline NALEO 2nd Annual National Summit on the
State of Latino Education
NALEO will
convene Latino state legislators, municipal officials, and school board members
from across the United Stated at a three day meeting to address the current
state of education for Latino students from preschool to graduate school
(P-20). The summit will enhance the working knowledge of elected officials on
the state of Latino education by engaging them in a cross-jurisdictional
dialogue pertaining to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), higher education access,
English-language learners, curriculum alignment, and high school retention and
attrition - all critical to closing the education gap among Latino students.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/us_secretary_of.html
**Health
Americans
Squeezed by Health Care Costs
This study
uses the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2005, to examine
the experience of adults ages 19 to 64 in the individual insurance market
compared with adults with employer-based coverage. Compared with adults with
employer coverage, adults with individual market insurance give their health
plans lower ratings, pay more out-of pocket for premiums, face higher
deductibles, and spend a greater percentage of income on premiums and health
care expenses.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/americans_squee.html
Racial
Disparities in Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates Closing
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 2005 childhood immunization
rates for vaccines routinely recommended for children between 19 and 35 months
of age remain at or near record highs. For the first time in the past ten
years, rates for the full series of recommended vaccines did not vary
significantly by race and ethnicity.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/racial_disparit.html
People
with Disabilities Are Less Healthy than those without Disabilities
For the
first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a
report, The Disability and Health State Chartbook, 2006 -- Profiles of Health
for Adults with Disabilities, of state-level data on the number of people with
disabilities, and the wide range of health differences that exist between
people with disabilities and those without. Disability prevalence ranges
substantially among the states -- from a low of 11.4 percent to a high of 25.8
percent among people with disabilities.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/people_with_dis.html
Medicare
Costs to Increase for Wealthier Beneficiaries
Higher-income
people will have to pay higher Medicare premiums than other beneficiaries next
year, as the government takes a small but significant step to help the
financially ailing program remain viable over the long term. The surcharge is
a major departure from the traditional arrangement under which seniors have
generally paid the same premium.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/medicare_costs.html
The
Medicare Drug Benefit in California: Facts and Figures
Since the
implementation of the Medicare Part D drug benefit plan on January 1, 2006, an
estimated 39 million beneficiaries (about 89% of the total Medicare population
nationwide) have signed up for some type of prescription drug coverage. This
presentation is intended to help assess the success of the Medicare
prescription drug benefit, establish a baseline to evaluate the benefit over
time, and identify important issues and options facing policymakers today.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/the_medicare_dr.html
**Hunger
and Nutrition
Guide
to Food Stamp Outreach Collaborations
The Food
Research and Action Center’s Guide to Food Stamp Outreach Collaborations, provides an
overview of promising partnerships that are working to increase participation
in the Federal Food Stamp Program (FSP). In FY 2004, only about 60 percent of
eligible people received food stamps -- the program missed four in ten
qualified low-income people.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/guide_to_food_s.html
**Substance
Abuse
Medical
Foundation Youth Action Initiative
The Youth
Action Initiative (YAI) of Massachusetts'
The Medical Foundation will award mini-grants to young people who work to
eliminate tobacco use through community-based youth tobacco prevention and
control efforts. Last year, 40 grants were given to a wide range of programs
and projects, including efforts to ban smoking in public parks and create radio
PSAs on tobacco use.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2006/09/ma_medical_foun.html
