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**Children, Youth & Families
The State
of Children in America
A new report from the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF)
assesses the state of children in the United States, how well the Bush
administration has kept its promises to Leave No Child Behind®—CDF's trademarked mission statement; and calls on the
President and Congress to increase funding for quality child care to help more
families work and 2 million more children get ready for school.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pdf/minigreenbook.pdf
Helping Poor Nonresident Dads Do More
In a new installment in its “Short Takes on Welfare Policy” series, the Urban
Institute finds that poor nonresident fathers and poor custodial mothers
face many of the same employment barriers and economic hardships, including
limited education, joblessness, and health worries. Welfare reform It
has done little, however, for the children of the 2.5 million nonresident
fathers who are poor and do not pay child support. To ensure support for these children—many of
whom receive welfare—reformers must view nonresident fathers' challenges as
equally important as those of custodial parents.
HTML: http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=73&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=7673
PDF: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/ShortTakes_3.pdf
Seeking an Alternative to Brutal Teen Jails
In an op-ed piece for the Time Picayune the President and
CEO of the Child Welfare League of America makes a case for the consensus
view in the child development field that the best way to reduce juvenile crime
and recidivism is to replace prison-like facilities with community-based
treatment programs and focus resources on at-risk youth before they break the
law. States nationwide are closing juvenile correctional facilities in favor of
residential and non-residential programs providing an appropriate level of
security, as well as drug treatment, mental health services, and education
programs, in the neighborhoods where the delinquent youth and their families
reside.
http://www.cwla.org/execdir/edremarks020507.htm
For Working Mothers The Struggle Goes On For Money, Time and Help
A briefing paper from the Economic Policy Institute finds that while three
fourths of mothers with children 18 and younger now work outside the home it is
not clear that the workplace is meeting the three primary needs of working
mothers: fair pay, flexible time, and programs like child care that make it
possible for them to go to work. Despite the recent attention given to the
needs of working mothers for flexible schedules, mothers are no more likely
than other workers to be able to determine the times they arrive at and leave
work, or to decide when to take an occasional day off.
PDF: http://www.epinet.org/briefingpapers/124/124.pdf
Audio transcript of EPI Roundtable: http://www.epinet.org/real_media/020508/index.html
**Community Development
Transportation Coordination and Partnership Resources - Toolkit Available
Community Transportation Association of America has
developed an Employment Transportation Toolkit.
The toolkit Linking
People to the Workplace features promising practices from both
the state and local levels, information on how businesses can be employment
transportation partners, tools for demonstrating how transportation plays a key
role in regional economic development, a guide to federal funding sources,
glossary, website list, and more.
http://www.ctaa.org/ntrc/atj/toolkit/
**Education
Education
Week Highlights Community Schools
Education Week has just published a commentary by the Coalition for Community Schools leaders that helps make the case for
community schools. The piece highlights
several provisions of the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act
that take a more comprehensive view of what it will take to educate all
children to succeed as workers, family members, neighbors, and citizens.
http://communityschools.org/commentary.html
Book Shows Vouchers Raise
African-American Test Scores in New York City
A new book, "The Education
Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools,” presents the results of the largest academic
study ever conducted of the effects of vouchers on student achievement, found
that at the conclusion of a three-year evaluation the test scores of African
American students participating in New York City's privately funded voucher
program were substantially higher than the test scores of comparable students
in public schools. The first chapter of
this book is available for free online.
http://www.brookings.org/dybdocroot/savingsforthepoor/education_gap.htm
**Health
Individual
Tax Credits Do Not Work
A fact sheet
produced by FamiliesUSA discusses why the tax credits
proposed by the Bush Administration would not be an effective means of allowing
people to purchase health coverage in the individual market.
PDF: http://www.familiesusa.org/taxcreditfactsheet.pdf
Health
Care Coverage Among Child Support-Eligible Children
This paper from the Urban Institute
explores the extent to which children who are eligible for child support can
and do secure private health insurance coverage through their custodial mother,
and what shares of those without private insurance might be eligible for
publicly-funded health insurance. It also explores what opportunities and
barriers exist to state Child Support Enforcement agencies coordinating with
SCHIP and Medicaid program staff to enroll uninsured children in those public
programs when parents are unable to provide their children with appropriate
private coverage.
HTML: http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=73&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=7679
PDF: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410483.pdf
**Housing
Widespread Disparity Between
Ethnic Groups in Subprime Lending Market
A new report from the Center for Community Change
Neighborhood Revitalization Project analyzes subprime
lending in all 331 of the nation's metropolitan areas. The report, Risk or Race?
Racial Disparities and the Subprime Refinance Market,
documents the pervasive racial disparities in subprime
lending. Placed in the context of previous research, this new research supports
the position that risk alone does not explain these racial disparities.
http://www.communitychange.org/nrp/riskorrace1.asp
**Rural Communities
Strict New Source Review Policy
Hurts Rural America
A report by the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and
Research finds that current policy targeting electricity generators known as
"New Source Review" could have a major negative impact on already
struggling rural communities. The report, which found that rural economies are
in perhaps their worst shape since 1930, states that rural communities are at
risk and will face additional pressures if their energy costs increase.
http://www.unt.edu/cedr/NSR.pdf
**Substance Abuse
Mothers Are Best Weapon Against Teen Drug Abuse
An international study published
in the journal Addiction found that a caring mother is the single most
important factor in preventing teenagers form abusing drugs and alcohol. The study showed that teenagers living with
both parents were less likely to suffer from problems of abuse but that a
strong maternal bond was the most effective deterrent to substance abuse.
**Technology
Using the Internet to Make Work Pay for Low Income Families
A new article from the Brookings Institution reviews factors that
contribute to declining participation rates in work support programs, and
describes a range of Web-enabled information technology applications that can
improve access while reducing administrative burdens. The article also
identifies policy options for promoting the use of Web-based eligibility
assessment tools that should be considered as part of welfare reauthorization.
http://www.brookings.org/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/welfessay2.htm
**Welfare Reform
TANF and WIA Integration, Coordination and Collaboration
In February 2002, the Office of Policy and Research and
Office of Field Operations of the Department of Labor's Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) coordinated a survey of ETA's Regional Offices to assess
the level of integration, coordination, and collaboration between the Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs
in each State. Brief summaries of each state's program coordination and a chart
answering six basic questions regarding the State WIA-TANF relationships were
prepared in April 2002.
Survey Results Summary: http://usworkforce.org/reauthorization/survey-text.htm
Survey Results Table: http://usworkforce.org/reauthorization/survey-table.htm
Welfare reform legislation of 1996 expanded the scope of
welfare services that states could contract out. A new report form the General Accounting
Office has issues a report that reviews the procedures in place to manage TANF
contracting and the problems that have been identified, particularly with
for-profit organizations.
PDF: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02245.pdf
New Coverage from the Urban Institute on Welfare Reform and
Reauthorization
Ten
Things Everyone Should Know about Welfare Reform
This primer on welfare reform draws primarily
upon Assessing the New Federalism research, includes analysis of the National
Survey of America's Families, the Welfare Rules Database, and site visit
findings. The brief presents summary information on the welfare caseload, work
and earnings, work support programs, poverty and child well-being, family
structure, and population subgroups.
HTML: http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=73&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=7692
PDF: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310484.pdf
Recommendations
on TANF Reauthorization from the Strengthening Fragile Families Initiative
This testimony recommends that Congress
establish a block grant for responsible fatherhood programs as part of TANF reauthorization
to enhance the abilities and commitment of low-income fathers to provide
financial and emotional support to their children. It also recommends changes
to the child support enforcement system to ensure realistic child support
orders for low-income fathers. This testimony is based on the collective
knowledge of its signers who are members of the Strengthening Fragile Families
Initiative, a multi-year initiative of the Ford Foundation. The testimony
reflects the opinions of the signers and not the opinions of their respective
organizations or the Initiative.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=73&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=7678
Recently Released Research Forum
Publications
The Research Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism has
developed three matrices related to upcoming reauthorization of PRWORA: submitted
legislation, initial
recommendations from major research and policy organizations, and research
evidence related to proposed recommendations. These tables are downloadable
as Word documents and are updated frequently.
Legislation: http://www.researchforum.org/newsletter/legislation.doc
Recommendations: http://www.researchforum.org/newsletter/orgrecs.doc
Research: http://www.researchforum.org/newsletter/researchevidence.doc
New Coverage from
The Center on Law and Social Policy on Welfare Reform
and Reauthorization
How
California's Community Colleges Help Parents Move from Welfare to
Self-Sufficiency
This study,
conducted by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for CLASP,
finds that welfare recipients who attend California's community colleges substantially increase
earnings and year-round work, with those who obtain credentials benefiting the
most.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/pubs/jobseducation/Credentials_Count_final.pdf
Side-by-Side
Comparison of Child Care and Early Education Provisions in House Bills and
Administration Proposals
This document
summarizes selected child care and early education provisions in current law,
the Administration’s TANF proposal and Early Education Initiative, and major
House bills addressing TANF and CCDF reauthorization. This side-by-side chart
is part of a joint effort with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
http://www.clasp.org/pubs/childcare/House
side by side.pdf
Side-by-Side
Comparisons of Provisions in Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals. These charts summarize provisions in
current Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) law and seven recent
TANF reauthorization proposals: President Bush's plan and bills introduced by
Rep. Herger (H.R. 4090), Rep. McKeon (H.R. 4092), Rep. Cardin (H.R. 3625), Rep.
Mink (H.R. 3113), Sen. Rockefeller (S. 2052), and Reps. Roukema and Tierney
(H.R. 4210). They have been developed jointly by CLASP and The Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities.
Child
Care-Related Provisions in TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/pubs/childcare/TANF%20CC%20Comprehensive%20side%20by%20side.pdf
Work
Provisions in Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/pubs/TANF/Side-by_Side_work_4_19_02_final.pdf
Child Welfare-Related
Provisions in Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/pubs/TANF/side_by_side.pdf
Funding Provisions in
Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.centeronbudget.org/5-3-02tanf.pdf
Time Limit Provisions in
Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.centeronbudget.org/5-3-02tanf2.pdf
Family Formation
Provisions in Recent TANF Reauthorization Proposals
PDF: http://www.centeronbudget.org/5-3-02tanf3.pdf
New Coverage from
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Welfare
Reform and Reauthorization
Recent TANF Proposals Would Hinder
Successful State Efforts to Help Families Overcome Barriers to Employment and
Find Better-Paying Jobs
This
analysis provides examples of state welfare-to-work initiatives currently in
place that would not meet the new TANF work requirements in the House TANF
reauthorization bill scheduled for a House vote the week of May 13th and are at
risk for being cut as a result.
PDF: http://www.cbpp.org/5-9-02tanf.pdf
Key Issues in The
House TANF Reauthorization Bills Approved by The Ways And Means And Education
And The Workforce Committees
This
paper analyses the provisions of the TANF reauthorization bill scheduled to be
voted on by the full House of Representatives the week of May 13th.
http://www.cbpp.org/5-8-02tanf.pdf
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