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**Children, Youth & Families
Young People
to Lobby for Honest Sex Education on "Youth National Advocacy
Day"
On Monday, April 26, 2004, over 80 youth from 15 states across the country will
travel to Capitol Hill for the Youth National Advocacy Day in
support of comprehensive sex education – education that provides
information about abstinence and contraception, including condoms.
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/news/press/042204.htm
Family
Life Education Act Key Component of 'Putting Prevention First
Act'
As part of the
commemoration of the March for Women's Lives taking place on
April 25, the bipartisan Pro-Choice Caucus introduced the Putting
Prevention First Act. This legislative initiative seeks to expand
access to preventative health care services and education programs
in order to help reduce unintended pregnancy, the spread of
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, and
to reduce the number of abortions.
Included in this initiative, among other important provisions,
is the Family Life Education Act (107th Congress-H.R. 3469)
that would provide $100 million per year to states for the purpose
of implementing and supporting comprehensive sexuality education
that is age-appropriate, medically accurate, and stresses abstinence
while also educating young people about contraception.
http://www.siecus.org/media/press/press0057.html
Getting
Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents
Analysis of
the 2002 National Survey of America's Families by the Urban
Institute indicates that older workers and those with incomes
at or above 200 percent of the federal poverty line are more
likely to have paid leave than younger workers and low-income
workers. More than half of poor workers, working welfare recipients,
and workers who recently left welfare do not receive paid leave.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8831
Nonprofit
Resources for Children and Youth in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan
Region
A report from
the Urban Institute finds that more than 1,100 nonprofits focus
primarily on providing goods and services to children and youth
in the D.C. area. The confluence of rising social service needs
and the shaky economy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area has heightened the need to critically
examine the availability of nonprofit resources for children
and youth in the region. As a first step report uses data from
the National Center for Charitable Statistics and several grantmakers to analyze the characteristics of child and youth
related nonprofits.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8824
Number of
Alcohol Ads Bombarding Teens Rose in 2002
According to
a study released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth
at Georgetown University, Alcohol advertising on television, and youth exposure
to it, grew substantially in 2002 from 2001, and although new
industry marketing codes were announced in 2003, they will still
allow for substantial youth overexposure to alcohol ads.
http://camy.org/press/release.php?ReleaseID=20
**Civil Society/Civic
Engagement
Latinos'
Choices in News Media Are Shaping Their Views of Their Communities,
the Nation, and the World
According to
a report issued by the Pew Hispanic Center, getting the news could be the single most extensive
cross-cultural experience for the Hispanic population in America. A growing number
of Hispanics switch between English and Spanish to get the news.
Rather than two audiences sharply segmented by language, the
survey shows that many more Latinos get at least some of their
news in both English and Spanish than in just one language or
the other.
PDF: http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/Latino%20media%20survey-printversion-4-20-04revised.pdf
Marguerite
Casey Foundation Gives $6.4 Million in Grants to Support Low-
and Middle-Income Families Advocating for Social Change
Marguerite Casey
Foundation today announced $6.4 million in new grants to 22
community-based organizations across the United
States,
including $300,000 to help low-income families advocate for
stronger anti-predatory lending laws in the state of New Mexico. The grants
come at a time when thousands of community-based organizations
nationwide are struggling to make ends meet due to dramatic
reductions in public and private support.
http://www.caseygrants.org/resources/press_release_april_21_04.htm
Community
Development
Tax Credit-Supported
Affordable Housing Remains Concentrated in Cities
According to
a new survey from the Brookings Institution housing developments
funded by the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
in the 1990s remain clustered in urban neighborhoods and those
containing disproportionate shares of black residents.
http://www.brookings.org/urban/publications/20040405_Freeman.htm
Coalitions
for the Metropolitan Agenda
A paper from
the Brookings Institution argues that, in response to shifting
population distributions within states, new coalitions are needed
to effectively achieve city legislative goals within state legislatures.
The devolution of power from Washington to state capitals has increased the importance of state
decision making for cities.
http://www.brookings.org/urban/publications/20040422_coalitions.htm
**Disabilities
Families Generally Happy with Initial Early Intervention Services
A study from
the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill finds that most families of infants and toddlers
with disabilities are generally happy with their initial experiences
with early intervention services offered under the federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
http://www.unc.edu/news/newsserv/archives/apr04/little041904.html
**Economic Security
Block
Grants: Details of the Bush Proposals
A report from
the Urban Institute examines the design and potential impact
of current proposals to block grant Child Welfare, Food Stamps,
Head Start, housing assistance, job training, Medicaid, transportation,
and local law enforcement. The authors conclude that fixed funding
may drive states to cut services or narrow eligibility during
periods of fiscal stress. Four of the 10 proposals include maintenance
of effort (MOE) provisions, but only the Medicaid proposal adjusts
the level of required state spending for inflation. Requirements
for public participation, data collection, and performance evaluation
vary widely across the proposals. In a new twist, several proposals
allow states to choose whether to participate in the block grants
or continue under current programs.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8830
Financial
Education for Low-Income Workers
A report from
the Brookings Institution finds that welfare recipients entering
the workforce for the first time often lack the skills needed
to make sound financial decisions. In Illinois, the state, in partnership with others, used its flexibility
under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to
address the issue.
http://www.brookings.org/urban/publications/20040413_doryrand.htm
**Education
Safeguarding Federal Financial Aid from Fraud and Abuse
During reauthorization
of the Higher Education Act, Congress has the opportunity to
make higher education more accessible for underserved students,
including many working adults and older youth. A two-page fact
sheet, jointly prepared by the National Consumer Law Center,
the Center for Law and Social Policy, and the Workforce Alliance,
urges Congress to seize this opportunity—but with caution. Innovations
and reforms must be balanced against the danger of repeating
past abuses. Students and taxpayers must be protected from unscrupulous
schools that are in business not to educate but to chase federal
dollars.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1082736318.63/safe_aid.pdf
**Health
Comprehensive
Report on Quality of Children's Care
A new report
from the Commonwealth Fund Quality of Health Care for Children
and Adolescents: A Chartbook, is the first comprehensive national report on the
quality of pediatric care. The
researchers reviewed over 500 studies and created 40 charts
that provide a portrait of the current state of pediatric health
care.
Press Release:
http://www.cmwf.org/media/releases/leatherman700_release04152004.asp
Chartbook: http://www.cmwf.org/programs/leatherman_pedchtbk_700.asp
HHS Announces
New Initiative to Improve Quality of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries
with Chronic Illnesses
The Department
of Health and Human Services announced a new Medicare initiative
to improve the quality of care for people living with multiple
chronic illnesses by helping them manage their conditions and
encouraging better coordinated care. The initiative, known as the Voluntary Chronic
Care Improvement Program, will reach about 150,000 to 300,000
beneficiaries who are enrolled in traditional fee-for-service
Medicare and who have multiple chronic conditions.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2004pres/20040420.html
**Hunger
FRAC Releases
State of the States, 2004 – State-by-State Hunger Fighting
Trends
According to
the Food Research and Action Center's new report, State of the States: A Profile of Food
and Nutrition Programs Across the Nation,
the divide between affluent Americans and those low-income adults
and children worrying about where their next meal will come
from is serious and worsening. This trend should spur federal
and state policymakers to take aggressive steps to assure greater
use of key federal nutrition investments,
http://www.frac.org/html/news/Press_Release_04.21a.04.html
**Substance
Abuse
Smoking
Linked to More than 60 Percent of Overall Cancer Death Burden
in Black Men
a new study from the University of California,
Davis - Medical Center suggests that the overall cancer
death rate for African-American males would drop by nearly two-thirds
-- without any other intervention -- if their exposure to tobacco
smoke was eliminated.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/uocd-slt042204.php
Clinic-Based
Intervention Program Improves Smoking Cessation Rates
According to
a study published in the the Journal
of the National Cancer Institute, training intake clinicians
at primary care facilities to use specific, guideline-based
methods to encourage their patients who smoke to quit increases
the likelihood that their patients will successfully quit smoking.
Intake clinicians are nurses and medical assistants who
document the reasons for an office visit and check patients'
vital signs.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/jotn-cip041504.php
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