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Unpublished
Administration Budget Documents Show Domestic Cuts Would Significantly Reduce
Funding For Most Public Services
According to the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities tthe budget the
Administration has released shows cuts in discretionary programs only for 2006.
This analysis uses back-up materials OMB has provided Congress to show the size
of the discretionary program cuts by program area over the next five years; the
cuts triple by the fifth year.
http://www.cbpp.org/2-9-05bud.htm
**Children, Youth
& Families
A Portrait
of Nonprofits Serving Children in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area
According to the
Urban Institute, the accessibility of nonprofit
services is a key factor in promoting effective service delivery
networks for children and youth. In the D.C. metro area, little
was known about the location of nonprofit providers in relation
to the residential patterns of children, particularly from low-income
families. This document, which is the second in a series of "fast
facts" on child-related nonprofits in the D.C. region, summarizes
the major findings of the report entitled, "Spatial Connections:
Examining the Location of Children and the Nonprofits That Serve
Them in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area."
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9166
Advocates Say
Congress Must Act This Year to End Custody Relinquishment for
Mental Health Services
Lawmakers in the
Senate reintroduced the Keeping Families Together Act to address
barriers that have led thousands of families to relinquish custody
of children with mental or emotional disorders to access scarce
mental health services. The bill would help states improve collaboration
among agencies that serve children with mental health needs, including
education, child welfare and juvenile justice. It would also increase
the availability of home- and community-based services for children
with mental or emotional disorders and give states an incentive
to continue to support such services.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050215.074312&time=08%2027%20PST&year=2005&public=1
**Civic Engagement
League's Democracy
Agenda is Top Priority; Organization Sets Course to Strengthen
America through Public Education, Advocacy
The League of
Women Voters of the United
States
announced a Democracy Agenda to guide the organization's work.
Launched on the 85th anniversary of the League's founding, it
is an advocacy and public education effort to strengthen and renew
the basic tenets of American democracy.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=43116
**Community Development
HUD Releases
Major Report on Affordable Housing in America
Among the findings
of a new report released by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development were that hard-working families are forced to commute
long distances, or live in substandard or overcrowded housing
because excessive regulations are artificially driving up the
cost of housing. "Why Not in
Our Community?" is HUD's first substantive examination
of the impact of regulatory barriers on affordable housing since
the Department's groundbreaking 1991 Report "Not in My Backyard."
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-018.cfm
Job Sprawl and
Spatial Mismatch between Blacks and Jobs
New research from
Brookings strongly suggests that job sprawl—low-density, geographically
spread-out patterns of employment growth—exacerbates the racial
employment divide in America. However, policies better linking job growth with existing
residential patterns could help narrow this spatial mismatch.
http://www.brookings.org/metro/pubs/20050214_jobsprawl.htm
New Partnership
with JustFaith
The Catholic Campaign
for Human Development (CCHD), Catholic Charities USA, and Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) have announced
a new partnership to promote and support parish and diocesan involvement
in the innovative JustFaith program.
The partnership will help CCHD, Catholic Charities USA,
and CRS increase support in carrying out the core mandates of
their missions of engaging the U.S. Catholic community to work
with and on behalf of the poor and vulnerable, both at home and
abroad, to alleviate poverty, and empower communities.
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/content_displays.cfm?fuseaction=display_document&id=534&location=3
**Education
Law Has Strengthened
Financial Oversight of Some Charter Schools
According to a
RAND Corporation study a 2001 reform law to improve California's oversight of the financial affairs of non-classroom-based
charter schools has reduced schools' possible misuse of funds
and has greatly increased spending on both instruction and staff
members who hold education certificates.
http://www.rand.org/news/press.05/02.14.html
CA State and
County Educational Data
A new Website
published by the California Department of Education provides a
pathway to state, county, district and school level education
data in California. Reports can be produced about School Performance (Academic
Performance Index, Adequate Yearly Progress, Title III Accountability);
Test Scores (High School Exit Exam, English Language, Physical
Fitness, SAT, ACT, STAR); Student Demographics (Dropouts, Enrollment,
English Learners, Graduates, Special Education); School Staffing;
Student Misconduct; Subject Area/Courses; and Technology Use.
http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
**Health
SCHIP Takes
a Bite Out of the Dental Access Gap for Low-Income Children
According to Mathematica
Policy Research, the introduction of the State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 created a new vehicle for extending
dental coverage to low-income children.
Historically, low-income children have had difficulty accessing
dental services. Children in low-income families are less likely
to have private coverage than children in higher-income families,
may face institutional barriers to dental care if eligible for
Medicaid, and often lack dental insurance completely (U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services 2000). The decision by nearly every
state to offer a dental benefit under SCHIP has improved the chances
that low-income children who were previously uninsured have access
to dental care.
PDF: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/schipdental.pdf
Summary of
Final Regulations Implementing the New Medicare Prescription Drug
Benefit
A document from
the Kaiser Family Foundation summarizing the final
regulations to implement the new Medicare prescription drug benefit
provides an overview that allows interested parties to obtain
information about specific provisions of the law.
http://www.kff.org/medicare/7283.cfm
**Hunger &
Nutrition
Changes to
Free and Reduced Price School Meals Eligibility, Applications and Verifications
According to the
Food Research and Action Center, on June 30, 2004, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of
2004 ("the Act") was signed into law. The Act makes
many changes to eligibility, application and verification processes
for free and reduced price school meals.
http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/cnreauthor/School_Meals_Eligibility.html
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