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Update on Legislative Alert for
Pending Farm Bill Conference
Please call your Senators and
urge them to vote for the Farm Bill Conference Report when it comes
to the Senate floor. Capitol Switchboard: 202-225-3121. The
Senate is scheduled to vote on the Farm Bill Conference Report (H.R.
2646) on May 8th, after six hours of debate on May 7th and six hours
of debate on May 8th. On May 2nd, The House of Representatives passed
(H.R. 2646) by a vote of 280-141.
The vote came after a motion to recommit the bill for further negotiation
failed by a vote of 251
to 172.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/alert050302.htm
Make
It Happen In May
On May 15th, join thousands of advocates from
across the country in speaking up for new funding for childcare! On March 4th, tens of thousands of concerned
individuals joined together to contact their Members of Congress in support of
increased investments in childcare, and Congress took notice. Now is the time to join together once more
and make it happen in May! Congress
needs to hear from all of you once again as they move forward to make decisions
about childcare in May. Our message is
simple: urge your Members of Congress to add $20 billion in new funds to the
Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
http://www.cdfactioncouncil.org/Indexcc.htm
Please Endorse the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Campaign
The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign is a coalition of more than 1900
organizations working to establish a National Housing Trust Fund as a key part
of the solution to safe and affordable housing. Building on the success of the more than 170
state and local housing trust funds nationwide, the National Housing Trust Fund
would · invest billions of dollars in new federal resources to establish an ongoing, permanent dedicated
source of revenue (a trust fund) to build, rehabilitate and preserve least 1.5
million units of primarily rental, primarily deeply targeted housing.
http://www.nhtf.org/nhtf/forum/signup.asp
**Children, Youth & Families
Trends in the Well-Being of America’s
Children & Youth 2001
The sixth edition of Trends in Well
Being of America’s Children and Youth, an annual report from the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) is now available. The report presents the most recent and
reliable estimates on more than 80 indicators of well-being. It is intended to provide the policy
community, the media, and all interested citizens with an accessible overview
of data describing the condition of children in the United
States.
The indicators have been organized into five broad areas:
·
Population, family, and neighborhood;
·
Economic security;
·
Health conditions and health care;
·
Social development and behavioral health; and
·
Education and achievement.
For each indicator, the report
provides graphics to highlight key trends and important population subgroup
differences and tables that provide more detailed information for the
interested user. These are accompanied by text that briefly describes the
importance of each indicator and highlights the most salient features of the
data.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/01trends/intro.htm
A New Resource on Caring For Newborns
from HHS
The Department of Health and Human Services has released
"Healthy Start, Grow Smart" a resource for new parents on how to care
for a newborn baby. The booklet was produced in conjunction with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Education.
http://www.hhs.gov/topics/newborn.pdf
Number of Teens - Primarily Boys -
Having Sex Declined in '90s as Adolescent Girls
Lead Way in Redefining Relationships
Finding from a new study appearing
in the journal of the American Sociological Association show that the number of
15- to 17-year-old boys having sex in the past decade dropped 8.5 percent, and
teens were generally acting more responsibly when it came to sex with rates of
pregnancy, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases all falling. The study analyzed data from the Center for
Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Survey of more than 10,000 high school
students nationally, as well as data from a number of other sources.
http://www.asanet.org/media/cntrisman.html
Rutgers ' SEX, ETC. Newsletter Partners With MTV and National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy to
Help Teens Understand Their Sexuality
SEX, ETC., the newsletter of the
National Teen-to-Teen Sexuality Education Project run by the Network
for Family Life Education at Rutgers, the State University of New
Jersey, is partnering with MTV and the National Campaign to Prevent
Teen Pregnancy to help teenagers across the country learn more about
critical health and sexuality issues. SEX, ETC., which is written by and for teens,
is now producing a monthly column for the recently launched MTV
campaign "Fight For Your Rights: Protect
Yourself." The yearlong campaign is dedicated to informing
and empowering young people on issues surrounding their sexual health.
Fight for your rights site: http://www.fightforyourrights.mtv.com
The SEX, ETC site: http://www.sxetc.org
Early intercourse and self-esteem linked in adolescent behavior
Self-esteem plays an apparent role
in the loss of virginity among adolescents, according to a study by researchers
at the Indiana University School of Medicine published in the April 2002 issue
of Pediatrics. Self-esteem had opposite
effects on young girls and young boys. Young girls with high self-esteem were
less likely to engage in early sexual activity, while young boys with high
self-esteem were more likely to report being sexually active. “The study also showed that the level of
self-esteem did not change in males or females following the loss of
virginity.”
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-04/iu-eia043002.php
With Nation Challenged to Boost Early Learning, Literacy, Study Finds Huge
Child Care Workforce Waiting to Be Trained
Center for the Child Care Workforce
has issued a study that finds that two-thirds of the workforce the nation must
rely on to boost early learning opportunities and give children a jump start on
literacy lacks college training, and finding qualified new caregivers will take
a huge national investment. The findings
show that millions of caregivers will need training if children are to get an
earlier start on learning, added co-author Richard Brandon, director of the Human
Services Policy Center
at the University of Washington's
Evans School of Public Affairs.
http://www.ccw.org/pubs/workforceestimatereport.pdf
Advocacy Efforts for Better Child Care Worker Compensation Compared in Three
States
A new report from the Urban Institute's
Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy illustrates how efforts to
improve child care worker compensation in Georgia,
Massachusetts, and
Washington offer lessons
to foundations, advocates and other stakeholders in the child care
community. The three-state
study examined how advocates worked to elevate child care worker
compensation on each state's public agenda. The three states were
selected for their diverse geographic, socioeconomic, and political
environments, and for their unique approaches to addressing childcare
compensation.
www.urban.org/advocacyresearch/childcare-workerscomp.html
Kellogg Foundation Provides 'Spark' for Children's Increased School Readiness
Through Better Coordination of Preschool
and Early Learning Settings
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has
funded a new initiative called "Supporting Partnerships to
Assure Ready Kids" (SPARK), with eight grantee organizations
leading intensive, community-wide planning efforts to develop strategies
that create seamless transitions to school for vulnerable children
ages 3-6. Of some 4 million American children who start school every
year, as many as one-third are not ready to learn, according to
educators. The initiative
will serve as a catalyst or "spark" to help children transition
to school ready to learn and to help schools get ready for children.
SPARK sites will include partnerships of communities, state agencies
and child advocacy groups, and schools in Florida;
Georgia;
Hawaii; Mississippi;
New Mexico, North
Carolina; Ohio;
and Washington, DC.
http://www.wkkf.org/Programming/Overview.asp?CID=168
**Community Development
NCRC
CRA Beginner Manual Available on the Web!
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition
has released a new and improved CRA Beginner Manual. The manual includes a summary of how the
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) holds banks and thrifts accountable for making
loans, investments, and offering bank services to low- and moderate-income
communities. It also includes a guide of
how financial counseling agencies, community development corporations, and
neighborhood advocates can evaluate a bank's CRA performance.
http://www.ncrc.org/cra/how2usecra.html
**Education
Americans Oppose Cuts to Education Spending; Will Turn Against
Politicians Who Trim School Aid, Says National Poll
A new national public opinion poll
conducted by Public Education Network and Education Week indicates that
improving public schools remains a top priority for most Americans. The poll indicates the public is deeply
concerned about funding for education and will vote against elected officials
who cut support for public schools, putting pressure on nearly 40 states now
struggling with significant budget shortfalls that threaten to reduce state
funding for schools by $10 billion nationwide.
http://www.publiceducation.org/news/042402.htm
A
Public Online Dialogue on The California Master Plan
for Education
Educators, parents, students and other
interested Californians are invited to participate in a moderated online public
discussion about California's draft Master Plan for Kindergarten-Postsecondary education. The Plan
is intended to chart the course for the state's education over the next two
decades. The purpose of the discussion
is to provide public input to the Joint Legislative Committee that is
developing the Plan. A final version of the plan will be completed by August
2002. Panels of experts and members of
the Joint Committee will discuss the draft Plan with interested citizens
throughout California.
Because this will be a Web-based discussion, you can participate at your
convenience.
http://www.network-democracy.org/camp/
Schools Are Safe: School Crime
and Youth Crime Continue to Decline In The U.S.
Data from the Justice Policy Institute shows that school-associated violent
deaths and youth crime in the United States continue to fall. School-associated
violent deaths have dropped by 72 percent since 1992 from 2000, from 55 to 16.
By comparison, 16 children are killed by gunfire every two days in America,
and 16 children die at the hands of
their parents or guardians every three days in America. A report from Building Blocks for Youth, an
alliance of children's advocates, researchers, law enforcement professionals
and community organizers, finds that despite the fact that schools are safe and
becoming safer, as recently as 1999 Americans feared that school violence was
on the rise. Research shows that the
media's coverage of school shootings and youth crime may be driving the
publics' fears.
www.buildingblocksforyouth.org
For more information about school
violence and youth arrests in the United States,
see "Safe Schools
and Suspensions" and "School House Hype."
www.cjcj.org.
**Health
Bazelon Applauds President's Focus on Mental Health: Administration's
Announcement Is Good First Step, Says Leading Mental Health Advocacy
Group
The Bazelon Center,
a national legal advocacy organization for people with mental illness
and mental retardation, said that President Bush made important
first steps toward improving access to mental health.
The Policy Director of the Center said "The President
should be commended for acknowledging mental health as a priority
for his administration. There is a lot of work to be done before people
who need access to care will feel the benefits, but we look forward
to working on these issues with the Administration." President Bush said that he would support legislation
requiring private insurers to increase parity for coverage of mental
health services. The President also announced the formation of his
New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to examine the state of
the public mental health system.
http://www.bazelon.org./newsroom/4-29-01commission.htm
Capitol Hill Briefing:
Eliminating Health Care Disparities
A Capitol Hill briefing featuring researchers, members of Congress,
and health leaders focused on strategies to eliminate racial and
ethnic disparities in access to health care services. Participants
were to address the need for federal health program requirements
and funding to improve racial, ethnic, and primary language health
data collection, reporting, and monitoring. The briefing, is jointly sponsored by the Congressional
Black Caucus, The Commonwealth Fund, and Summit Health Institute
for Research and Education (SHIRE) was structured around the findings
from a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, “Providing Language
Interpretation Services in Health Care
Settings: Examples from the Field.”
http://www.cmwf.org/media/releases/youdelman541%5Frelease04302002.asp
Low-Income, Minority Beneficiaries Most Likely To Be Affected
by Cuts in Medicare+Choice
A new study conducted by Emory University found that low-income
and minority Medicare beneficiaries rely "disproportionately"
on Medicare+Choice to provide supplemental health coverage. If M+C coverage were not available, 52% of current
beneficiaries would purchase "relatively more expensive"
Medigap coverage, 30% would not be able to afford Medigap policies and would likely not purchase supplemental
coverage, and 18% would seek Medicaid coverage, the study says. The end of M+C would particularly affect African-Americans,
adding that three out of five black beneficiaries would likely go
without supplemental coverage
http://bcbshealthissues.com/relatives/19466.pdf
Legislation Would Give Tax Credits To
Uninsured, Raise Eligibility Levels in Medicaid, CHIP
A bill supported by the business community would give refundable
tax credits -- $1,000 per individual, $3,000 per family -- to uninsured
people in families with annual incomes up to $105,000. The bill
would also pay for half of the cost of health premiums not covered
by the credit. Legislation supported by the American College
of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine would mandate
an expansion of eligibility for state Medicaid and CHIP programs
to up to 200% of the federal poverty level. Current Medicaid eligibility
guidelines require that states cover, among others, pregnant women
and children under age 6 whose families earn less than 133% of poverty.
The proposed legislation also would give subsidies to people
with incomes over 200% of poverty to purchase health insurance from
"special pools."
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hpolicy_recent_rep.cfm?dr_cat=3&show=yes&dr_DateTime=04-26-02
To learn more about current Medicaid eligibility
guidelines:
http://www.hcfa.gov/medicaid/meligib.htm
**Housing
Teleconference on Public
Housing Resident Participation Funding
The National Housing Law
Project and ENPHRONT (Everywhere and Now Public Housing Residents
Organizing Nationally Together) are offering a one and one half
hour audio teleconference program on the HUD funding for public
housing resident participation that is calculated at $25 per unit
per year. The teleconference will provide public housing residents,
advocates and practitioners with a review and analysis of the public
housing resident participation funding (what it is, what it can
be used for, what to negotiate for, etc.), copies of sample documents
(Agreements with public housing authorities, budgets, HUD forms,
etc.) and the experiences of public housing residents and advocates
who have negotiated for and are now using the public housing resident
participation funding. There is a charge for this event.
http://www.nhlp.org/may30tele.htm
Shelterforce
Magazine Discusses the National Housing Trust Fund
The March/April issue of Shelterforce magazine
features a Q&A with Dolbeare, the
founder of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Dolbeare
reflects on a half-century of advocacy, her hopes for the National
Housing Trust Fund, and the need to bring more non-housing allies
into the movement. Another article examines the strategies behind
Housing LA's successful campaign for a $100 million housing trust
fund in Los Angeles. Other
articles describe the challenges and benefits of working with block
groups as part of a larger community strategy, and an update on
the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/sf122.html
AARP and NCRC Weigh
In to Support Predatory Lending Bill
The American Association of Retired Persons and the National
Community Reinvestment Coalition declared their support for a new
bill that would put more teeth in federal regulations on predatory
mortgage lending practices.
AARP said that the bill,
introduced by Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.),
would provide a one-two punch by both expanding the number of loans
covered and increasing the number of prohibited practices.
Last year, AARP launched a national state-based campaign
to fight predatory lending that is now underway in 25 states. The
campaign links advocacy with a major consumer education initiative.
AARP has emphasized that older American homeowners are particularly
attractive targets for predatory lenders.
http://www.aarp.org/press/2002/nr050102.html
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
issued a strong statement in support of Sen. Sarbanes' "Predatory
Lending Consumer Protection Act of 2002." "Americans support
a strong national policy that will protect homeowners from predatory
lenders who profit through equity-stripping and foreclosures. NCRC,
on behalf of our over 700 members across the country, applauds Senator
Sarbanes for introducing this significant legislation and for taking
a leadership role on this critical consumer protection
issue," stated John Taylor, president and CEO of NCRC. To assist consumers, NCRC recently released
the second edition of its "Anti-Predatory Lending Toolkit."
NCRC's Toolkit is a valuable resource for consumers to determine
if they have been victimized and to help them find local and federal
authorities to address problems with their loans.
http://www.ncrc.org
**Hunger
and Nutrition
The Food Security Institute
at Brandeis University
has added two new online resources on hunger and food insecurity.
The Institute also provides access to an online listing of
national, state and local studies measuring the extent and severity
of hunger and food insecurity in the U.S.
and Canada.
Impact of Domestic
Hunger and Food Insecurity on Health and Development
This bibliography highlights published articles and other recent
research providing direct evidence linking family food hardship
to health, behavioral, and other outcomes. Research in this area
has expanded significantly in the last five years, greatly enhancing
our understanding of the epidemiology of hunger and food insecurity
for both adults and children. Resources are grouped into four broad
areas: (1) Dietary Adequacy: Energy & Nutrient Intakes; (2)
Physical and Mental Health Consequences; (3) Learning, Behavior,
and Academic Outcomes; and (4) Hunger and Obesity.
Impact of Federal Food
and Nutrition Programs
An array of federally-funded nutrition and food assistance programs
provide low-income families and their children with nutritious food.
These programs relieve hunger, avert malnutrition, and improve dietary
quality. This bibliography references selected articles on
the impact of federal nutrition programs.
http://www.centeronhunger.org/FSI/fsiguide.html
Food Stamp Participation
Increases in February 2002 for Eleventh Straight Month
Participation in the Food Stamp Program increased in February 2002 by
114,689 persons from the previous month, to 19,024,839 persons,
according to FRAC's analysis of preliminary data from USDA. Increases in participation likely have been
driven by improved access to the program in a growing number of
states, and by the weakened economy, causing more households to
apply. Oregon, a state that has made a range of efforts to
reach eligible people, has seen its participation increase by one-third
in the last year. The February
2002 level of Food Stamp Program participation represented a rise
of more than 2 million persons over the February 2001 level, but
was still more than 4.4 million persons lower than the level five
years earlier, in February 1997, just as much of the 1996 welfare
law began to be implemented.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/02feb.html
**Philanthropy
Philanthropic Watchdog
Issues First 'State of Philanthropy' Report, Offering Sensible Solutions
for Field of Grantmaking
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) has
released "The State of Philanthropy 2002," a compendium
of analyses on the current state of affairs in the field of grantmaking
-- where the field is now, where it is going and how it can do better.
The report presents diverse perspectives from 20 nonprofit,
academic, foundation and advocacy leaders, and offers a wide range
of solutions the philanthropic community can act upon in order to
live up to its promise of securing social and economic justice for
all. Excerpts from the publication
also can be viewed online.
http://www.ncrp.org.
**Substance
Abuse
Study Quantifies Cost-Benefit of
Family Interventions Designed to Prevent Adolescent Alcohol Use
In research, published in the "Journal of Studies" on Alcohol Iowa State University researchers have calculated that brief family
intervention programs designed to discourage teen drinking are both
beneficial and cost-effective. Their study found that each dollar
spent on intervention programs for adolescents was returned many
times over in savings by preventing future costs associated with
alcohol problems in adulthood. The acting director of the National
Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study said, "This
study demonstrates that investing dollars in preventive intervention
programs is not only a good public health practice, but it is a
good economic practice as well.” http://www.drugabuse.gov
**Technology
The GovBenefits
Website, the first of President Bush's e-government initiatives
to make the government "more citizen-centric," has been
launched. GovBenefits will serve
as a single, online information source for information on government
benefits. It will help users access eligibility
information through an easy-to-use online screening tool that asks
basic questions about items such as income, marital or employment
status, and family size. Based on user responses, information is
then provided about the programs for which users may be eligible.
The site also provides general descriptions and contact information
for federal benefit programs. The site currently offers information
on about 55 programs.
http://www.govbenefits.gov
**Welfare Reform
Knocking on the Door:
Barriers to Welfare and Other Assistance for Teen Parents
The Center for Impact Research (CIR) released
a three-city research study in which young mothers in Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago surveyed over 1500 young mothers in their communities.
The key findings included that teen parents have trouble
accessing and keeping TANF benefits, many teen parents are not staying
"on track" with school and are experiencing significant
hardship and teen parents are not accessing other assistance programs
such as food stamps, WIC, and child care.
http://www.impactresearch.org/publication/publication.html
Moderate Senate Welfare Plan Offers Hope For
Low-Income Families
According to the Director
of the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support and Chief Organizer
of the Make TANF Work! campaign, there
has been a major development in the debate over welfare reform reauthorization. Senators Breaux, Snowe,
Hatch, Jeffords and others unveiled principles for bi-partisan welfare
reform legislation. "The
Breaux/Snowe plan represents a significant reversal in the political
dynamics of welfare reform. Moderates from both parties have now
rejected the extreme dministration proposals,
and have taken some steps to push an anti-poverty agenda. The Administration
itself has backtracked on a number of issues, while the Governors
have spoken out against the Bush plan.
http://www.maketanfwork.org
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