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ACTION NEEDED:
ENGAGE IN TANF-RELATED MEDIA CAMPAIGN
From:
The Coalition on Human Needs and Opportunity for All Campaign:
You can help to focus on the
improvements needed in TANF to help families get out of poverty by sending a
letter to the editor to your local newspaper.
http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/alert.asp?art=324#2
ACTION
NEEDED: HELP “STAMP OUT HUNGER!” ON MAY 8
From: The National
Association of Letter Carriers
On May 8, simply leave a
sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, like canned soup, canned
vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal, next to your mailbox before the time of
regular mail delivery. Also, make sure that food items are in non- breakable
containers, such as boxes and cans. The
nation's 240,000 letter carriers will then collect the donations and deliver
them to food banks and pantries in their local communities. http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/alert.asp?art=324#3
UPDATE: NO
FINAL DEAL ON BUDGET
From: The Fair Taxes for All
Coalition
Continued advocacy is needed
to encourage Senators to take a stand for fiscal responsibility and reject any
exceptions to the pay-as-you-go measure.
http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/alert.asp?art=324#4
**Children, Youth &
Families
Ten
Basic Principles of Good Parenting: Psychologist Brings Home Science of Raising
Children
A
Temple University psychologist has
distilled the principles that consistently practiced, will benefit
children. The Ten Basic Principles of Good Parenting is a succinctly written,
easy-to-follow guide that outlines what top social scientists know about how to
raise happy, well-adjusted children.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20040423.094255&time=11%2004%20PDT&year=2004&public=1
Summer
Child Care Arrangements
A report from the Urban
Institute analyses the options millions of working parents are considering for
their summer child care alternatives. What options are parents choosing? Are
children spending more time home alone? How much are parents spending on their
summer child care? How so the choices parents make and the amount they spend
vary by income? By the age of their child?
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8847
Beyond Marriage Licenses: Efforts to Strengthen Marriage and
Two-Parent Families. A State-by-State Snapshot
A report from the Center for
Law and Social Policy finds that over the past ten years, every state has
undertaken at least one activity or made at least one policy change designed to
strengthen marriage and/or two-parent families—although most of these efforts
have been modest. This 75-page report, which is the first to provide a
state-by-state description of government-related activities in couples and
marriage policy, includes profiles of seven “high-activity” states and descriptions
of at least $90 million in recent federal grants for marriage-related
demonstration projects, technical assistance, and research and evaluation.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1082987634.24/beyond_marr.pdf
**Civil Society/Civic
Engagement
Attitudes
and Practices Concerning Effective Philanthropy
A report from the Urban
Institute, Attitudes and Practices Concerning Effective Philanthrop,a
survey of 1,192 foundations, which examines approaches to effectiveness across
a wide range areas, such as communications, evaluation, grantmaking,
and staff development and training. Survey findings reveal a great deal about
how foundations today see themselves, how they function, and whether they are
fully functioning in the ways that they feel they should be.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8837
Community
Development
Neighborhoods
Grew More Diverse in the 1990s
According to a new analysis
of neighborhood-level census data from the Brookings Institution, a striking
new degree of racial and ethnic mixing occurred in the nation's major
metropolitan areas during the 1990s.
Among other findings the report concludes that the number of
predominantly white neighborhoods fell by 30 percent during the decade.
http://www.brookings.org/urban/publications/20040428_fasenfest.htm
New HUD Policy Will
Force Immediate Cuts In Housing Voucher Assistance For
Low-Income Families
The Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities reports that under the fiscal year 2004 funding law passed by
Congress, HUD could have taken — and still can take — steps to prevent the
harsh cuts that its policy will otherwise cause.
http://www.cbpp.org/4-26-04hous.htm
**Economic Security
Poverty
Gap between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics Narrows between 1996 and 2001
According
to an analysis from the Urban Institute, for blacks and Hispanics, poverty
rates dropped by almost five percentage points between 1996 and 2001. Whites experienced a smaller decline of approximately
two percentage points.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8841
Block
Grants: Historical Overview and Lessons Learned
The Urban Institute provides
background and perspectives on block grants which were first enacted during the
Johnson administration, in 1966. Three subsequent surges in the use of block
grants occurred during the Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton administrations.
Experience with block grants offers several lessons. The real value of block
grant funding tends to diminish over time. Once in operation, Congress
gradually erodes the flexibility of block grants. Block grant implementation is
smoothest when states can draw upon existing administrative capacities. This
study did not find consistent evidence that states use block grants to redirect
benefits away from those with the greatest need.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8829
Revised House Tax-Cut
Bill Swells Deficit And Continues Less Favorable
Treatment Of Lower-Income Couples
A report from the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities finds that the cost of the House-passed bill to
make permanent the "marriage penalty relief" tax cuts enacted in 2001
is far higher than advertised, and it would be entirely deficit financed; in
addition, the majority of the bill's benefits would flow to married couples
with incomes above $100,000.
http://www.cbpp.org/4-27-04tax.htm
**Education
What's Good About Public Schools
An article form the Center on
Education Policy notes that in our debates about public schools, we have
overlooked the things that have gone right. What's Good About
Public Schools documents how public education is getting better. The article appeared in an issue of the
National PTA's magazine Our Children.
http://www.ctredpol.org/pubs/PTA_May_2004/PTA_May_2004.htm
IBM's
'Reinventing Education' Grant Program Identified as Model for School Reform
According to a new study
issued by the Center for Children & Technology, a division of Education
Development Center, Inc., teacher professional development, improved student
achievement and vibrant programs that continue to scale up beyond the life of
the grant are the key differentiators for long term educational success.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20040428.063037&time=09%2035%20PDT&year=2004&public=1
**Health
Two-Thirds
of Uninsured Children in Fair or Poor Health Are Hispanic
According to an analysis from
the Urban Institute, in 2002, approximately 570,000 children were both
uninsured and in either fair or poor health. More than two-thirds of these
children were Hispanic.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8840
HHS
Launches Diabetes Prevention Campaign
The Department of Health and
Human Services and the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) launched the
first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign, 'Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent type 2 Diabetes,' to take action
against the growing diabetes epidemic.
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/welcome/releases/04-28-04.htm
CDC Grants $21M To Enhance HIV Prevention in Communities of Color
Regional and national
organizations dedicated to preventing HIV in communities of color will receive
$21 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The awards go
to 27 different organizations targeting prevention activities for African-
American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander and
Hispanic/Latino communities at high-risk for HIV infection.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040407.htm
Elderly Pay More out of
Pocket for Dental Services Than Any Other Age Group
According to new trend data
on dental services from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey,
while Americans paid out of pocket for approximately one-half of all dental
care expenses in 2000, people age 65 and older paid more than three-quarters
(an average of $400) of their dental expenses out of pocket. Only 10.5 percent of the elderly didn't pay
any out-of-pocket expenses for dental care.
http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2004/eldentpr.htm
**Hunger
Many
Working Families with Children Rely on Food Pantries
Analysis from the Urban
Institute finds that seven in ten nonelderly families
that used food pantries had earned income. Nearly half consisted of working
parents with children.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8842
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