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**Children,
Youth & Families
Does
a Family Dinner Guarantee Slimmer Kids?
Researchers
at the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard
Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care find that one trend
that has paralleled the rise of obesity in the last two decades
has been the decline in frequency of children eating dinner with
their families. The researchers surveyed the frequency of family
dinner among more than 14,400 9- to 14-year-olds and incidence
of overweight.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/hms-daf052305.php
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Study
Depicts Peril, Hope for Children of Jailed Mothers
Researchers
at University of Wisconsin-Madison find that for a young child
whose mother is imprisoned, life's prospects are predictably grim.
But a new study, the first empirical examination of the attachment
relationships of young children whose mothers are in prison, suggests
that simple interventions may prevent a downward social spiral
for a rapidly growing and vulnerable population.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/uow-sdp051905.php
HUD Joins with National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children to Help Find Missing
Children
The
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children have joined forces to launch
OperationFind HUDkids, an initiative to identify and locate missing
children that live in HUD-assisted housing. HUD's Office of Inspector
General estimates that there are approximately 3.88 million children
living in HUD-assisted housing nationwide. Against this list,
OIG identified active NCMEC missing children cases on children
living in HUD-assisted housing nationwide with the hope that missing
children could be identified.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-076.cfm
**Community
Development
Annual Conference
on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation
The
National Institute of Justice’s Annual Conference on Research
and Evaluation will focus on Evidence-Based Policies and Practices.
Learn what works, what doesn't, and what the latest research shows
as promising. Hear what criminal justice practitioners around
the country are doing to make their systems more effective with
evidence-based programs. Talk to policymakers about how your research
can make their work more productive.
http://www.nijpcs.org/RE/
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Get
more information on these issues at http://www.ecommunityissues.com.
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**Economic
Security
Retirement
Income and Social Security
"Retirement
Income," Economic Policy Institute's
major follow-up study to its 2002 report "Retirement Insecurity,"
argues that a truly accurate assessment of Americans' retirement
adequacy must consider all forms of wealth, including private
pensions, housing, and financial assets in addition to Social
Security, and how they have changed over time for different groups.
This latest study finds that Social Security is more necessary
than ever--not only is the program nearly universal, but its value
has risen faster than other forms of retirement savings for households
that need additional retirement benefits the most.
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/book_retirement_income
Taxes
and Marriage for Cohabiting Parents
According
to the Urban Institute provisions in the federal income
tax code that treat married couples as one tax unit and cohabiting
couples as two tax units result in both marriage penalties and
bonuses. This analysis uses data from the 2002 National Survey
of America's Families (NSAF) to show the extent to which low-income,
cohabiting parents face marriage penalties and bonuses under 2003
tax law and 2008 tax law, when current marriage related provisions
from the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of
2001 phase-in completely.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9272
**Education
Pre-K
Students Expelled at More than Three Times the Rate of K-12 Students
According to a primary
study by Yale Child Study Center, Pre-K students are expelled at
a rate more than three times that of children in grades K-12. The
lowest rates of expulsion were reported by teachers who had an ongoing,
regular relationship with a behavioral consultant. In classrooms
where the teacher had no access to a behavioral consultant, students
were expelled about twice as frequently.
PDF:
http://www.ffcd.org/PDFs/ExpulsionNewsRelease.pdf
Making
Progress Toward Graduation
According
to MDRC, in low-performing public high schools in
U.S. cities, high proportions of students drop out, students who
stay in school typically do not succeed academically, and efforts
to make substantial reforms often meet with little success. The
Talent Development High School model is a comprehensive school
reform initiative that has been developed to address these challenges.
Targeting some of the most troubled schools in the country, the
model seeks to raise the expectations of teachers and students
and to prepare all students for postsecondary education and employment.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/408/overview.html
Students
Learn Meaning of Memorial Day; National History Day Helps Educate
Students
For
many Americans, Memorial Day is a three-day beach weekend. However,
students across America are finding out the true meaning of Memorial
Day through National History Day. NHD is a year-long history
education program culminating in an annual contest where students
present projects in the form of documentaries, exhibits, performances
and papers. More than a student competition, the program is an
exciting academic experience that helps students learn about historical
issues, ideas, people, and events.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050525.151323&time=15%2034%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Health
Study
Shows Even Limited Training Improves Communication with Patients
from Other Cultures
Simple
classroom lectures about different religious holidays, such as
the Muslim tradition of fasting during Ramadan, or Spanish language
lessons focused on common medical terms really work to help physicians
and nurses connect with patients from different cultures and improve
patient satisfaction, according to a pair of reports from Johns
Hopkins researchers.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/jhmi-sse052305.php
Ebbing
and Flowing: Some Gains, Some Losses as SCHIP Responds to Third
Year of Budget Pressure
According
to the Urban Institute state policymakers are using
the flexibility built into Title XXI to manage their SCHIP programs
through changing times, cutting or expanding as fiscal conditions
permit. This conclusion is based on our third annual survey of
SCHIP directors in the 13 ANF states, which explored how child
health insurance policies were shifting in response to ongoing
budget pressures during 2004. On the plus side, several states
took action to reverse previous cuts; for example, every ANF state
that enacted an enrollment cap in 2003 lifted it in 2004. However,
states kept many of their prior years' cuts in place during '04,
and some imposed new restrictions.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9270
Medicare
Basics, From (Part) A to D
An
Alliance for Health Reform and Kaiser Family Foundation briefing
aims to answer questions on the Medicare program. Who does Medicare
serve and what services does it provide? How is the program financed?
What is the difference between Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare
Advantage? What are the basics of the new Medicare drug benefit?
What is "Medigap"? How has Medicare attempted to control
costs?
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/alliance/16may05
HHS
Secretary Leavitt Establishes Commission to Work on Strengthening
and Sustaining Medicaid
The
Department of Health and Human Services established an advisory
commission that will help identify the reforms necessary to stabilize
and strengthen Medicaid so it can continue to serve our most vulnerable
citizens. The Medicaid commission must submit two reports, the
first, due Sept. 1, will outline recommendations for Medicaid
to achieve $10 billion in savings during the next five years as
well as ways to begin meaningful long-term enhancements that can
better serve beneficiaries. The commission, for its first report,
also will consider potential performance goals for Medicaid.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005pres/20050520.html
Bush Administration Creates "Sham Commission" to
Study Future of Medicaid Program
The Bush Administration
is expected to announce the creation of a new commission designed
to make recommendations about the future of the Medicaid program.
The following is the statement, in part, of the Executive Director
of Families USA, about the Bush Administration's Medicaid Commission:
"The need for a bipartisan and thoughtful process to consider
the long-term role of Medicaid is very obvious. The Medicaid Commission
created by the Bush Administration, however, is more likely to be
a sham that will only rubber-stamp predetermined conclusions designed
to cut back vital health services for America 's elderly, children,
and other vulnerable groups…”
http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Media_statement_Sham_Commission_05_12_2005
**Hunger
and Nutrition
Hunger-Free
Communities Act of 2005
Senator
Richard Durbin (D- IL) introduced the Hunger-Free Communities
Act of 2005 to increase federal funding available to local organizations
working to reduce hunger in communities nationwide and establish
an ambitious commitment to end hunger in the United States by
2015. The bill has bipartisan support with Senators Richard Lugar
(R- IN), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Gordon Smith (R-OR) as cosponsors.
According to the USDA, hunger and food insecurity in the United
States has increased for the fourth straight year. In 2004, more
than 36 million Americans -- including 13 million children --
lived with hunger or on the brink of hunger.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=208-05252005&site=rss
Why
Food Stamps Matter: Talking Points
America’s
Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network , the Food Research Action Center and the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities have produced a fact sheet
outlining the case for the importance of the Food Stamp program.
In 2003, the last year for which there are official USDA data,
36.2 million (or 11.2% of) Americans lived in households unable
to purchase adequate food, up from 34.9 million hungry Americans
in 2002.
http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/05.20.05.html
**Substance
Abuse
Helping
Communities Identify and Develop Effective Drug Policies
A
RAND Corporation report concludes that anti-drug policies in the
past two decades have not been a principal influence on illegal
drug use and need to be more carefully tailored to address changing
drug use trends. The study reviewed evidence for and against
the effectiveness, costs and consequences of U.S. drug policies
of the past 20 years. It concludes that at different times in
the course of a drug epidemic, enforcement, treatment and prevention
can all be successfully used to reduce illicit drug use and the
crime and violence with which it is associated.
http://www.rand.org/multi/dprc/
New
Directory on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs Nationwide
Clinicians,
administrators, and policymakers in the substance abuse treatment
field have a newly updated directory to help them in seeking treatment
facilities for their clients. The publication, National Directory
of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs 2005, is based on
an annual census of all known facilities in the United States,
both private and public, that provide substance abuse treatment.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Free printed copies can be
obtained from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug
Information, (800) 729-6686.
http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
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