**Children, Youth & Families
Healthy Steps for Young Children
A close relationship between health professionals
and parents can play a major role in the physical, emotional, and intellectual
development of young children. A Commonwealth Fund-supported national initiative,
designed to improve the quality of preventive health care for infants and
toddlers, offers detailed guides for parents and providers.
http://www.cmwf.org/General/General_show.htm?doc_id=246567
CDF Children's Sabbaths Manual Now Available
The Children’s Defense Fund urges people
of faith to join thousands of congregations and religious organizations in
seeking justice for children living in poverty by joining in the 14th annual
National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths. To offer guidance in organizing
these events, the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is selling the National Observance
of Children’s Sabbaths Manual: Putting our Faith into Action to Seek Justice
for Children. This resource provides materials to be used in worship services,
educational programs for adults, youth and children, study groups, newsletters,
and bulletins.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/050804.aspx
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American Indian, Alaska
Native Infants Possess Healthy Developmental Skills
A study released by the U.S. Department of
Education found that American Indian and Alaska Native infants do not differ
significantly from their peers in early developmental skills. The report,
American Indian and Alaska Native Children: Findings From the Base Year of
the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), found that
native children at 9 months of age are similar to the general population in
the performance of early mental and physical skills, including exploring objects
in play, eye-hand coordination, pre-walking skills and "babbling"
(the first stages of talking).
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/08/08112005.html
**Civic Participation & Engagement
Community Service Learning Makes Strides
at California State University
The California
State University,
a national leader in the field of community service learning, is a pioneer
in developing a system-wide approach to the issue. Its effect upon the state
is significant and growing. Each year CSU student volunteers contribute nearly
30 million hours, both as part of their academic experience and as a university-encouraged
service. This is the equivalent of a $200 million contribution to their communities,
even at a minimum wage level.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050809.151539&time=15%2027%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
Satisfaction and Engagement in Retirement
A brief from The Urban Institute analyzes patterns of engagement
among retirees and how engagement relates to their retirement satisfaction
using data from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Engaged retirees
are significantly more likely to be satisfied with retirement than their non-engaged
counterparts, regardless of age, sex, race, marital status, education, mental
and physical health, or income. However, retirees who only provide caregiving
are significantly less likely to be satisfied. Finally, the authors examine
retirement satisfaction by the intensity of engagement, finding that the retirement
satisfaction is positively correlated with increasing engagement hours, but
only to a point.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9338
UC Berkeley Business School to Host Nation's
Leading Research Prize in Socially Responsible Investing
The University
of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, in partnership with the
Social Investment Forum, announced today that the Moskowitz Prize - the only
global award recognizing outstanding quantitative work on socially responsible
investing - will come under the umbrella of the school's Center for Responsible
Business. The annual prize was launched in 1996 by the Social Investment
Forum, the national trade association for the socially and environmentally
responsible investing (SRI) industry, to recognize the best quantitative study
of socially responsible investing. The Social Investment Forum will continue
to serve as a consultant in prize awards.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050809.123745&time=13%2019%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Community Development
LISC/NEF and One Economy Launch $1 Billion
Initiative to Bridge the Digital Divide
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
and its subsidiary the National Equity Fund (NEF) are partnering with One
Economy to launch "access@home," a $1 billion initiative that will
build more than 15,000 affordable homes with high-speed digital Internet connectivity
and provide low-income families personal access to computers and technology
services. The initiative expects to connect nearly 100,000 people to the vast
advantage of the Internet.
http://www.lisc.org/whatsnew/press/releases/2005.08.08.0.shtml
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Get more information on these issues at http://www.ecommunityissues.com.
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**Economic Security
Medical Bills Land Millions in Debt
According to a new Commonwealth Fund analysis,
about 77 million Americans age 19 and older have difficulty paying medical
bills, have accrued medical debt, or both. Moreover, two-thirds of this group
went without needed care because of cost.
http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=290074
What Does the Safety Net Accomplish? New
Series of Reports with State-by-State Data
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities public benefit
programs cut the number of poor Americans nearly in half (from 58 million
to 31 million) and dramatically reduce the severity of poverty for those who
remain poor, while providing health coverage to tens of millions of people
who otherwise would be uninsured. The reports examine: Medicaid, The Earned
Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Security Income, and Food and Nutrition Assistance.
http://www.cbpp.org/7-19-05acc-pr.htm
Congress Considers Cuts to Vital Services
and More Tax Cuts
As the National Women's Law Center reported in
the May 4th E-Update, the 2006 Congressional budget resolution includes instructions
to cut (through the reconciliation process) at least $34.7 billion over the
next five years to vital supports like Medicaid and Food Stamps and to provide
additional tax cuts of $70 billion over the same period of time. This fall,
Congress will consider both of these bills -which could require the deepest
sacrifices of low-income women and their families while expanding tax cuts
for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
http://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=2360§ion=infocenter
The Superwaiver Would Cause Serious Damage
To The Food Stamp Program And Place Benefits For Low-Income Families At Risk
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
the House of Representatives' TANF reauthorization bill (H.R. 240) contains
a proposal to grant sweeping authority to the Executive Branch to waive, at
a governor's request, most provisions of federal law related to a range of
low-income and other domestic programs. This "superwaiver" proposal
is identical to a provision that the House passed in 2002 and 2003. Though
contained in TANF legislation, the superwaiver is not primarily about TANF:
states could submit superwaiver proposals entirely unrelated to TANF that
cover an array of other programs, including the Food Stamp Program, child
care, job training, adult education programs, homelessness programs, and public
housing.
http://www.cbpp.org/5-13-02fs2.htm
**Education
Are There National Patterns of Teaching?
Why do teachers today teach as they do, and
why has teaching evolved in the way that it has evolved? And are these instructional
methods global or shaped by national culture? A new study published in the
August 2005 issue of Comparative Education Review, seeks to answer these questions
through an analysis of the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science
Study (TIMSS) video archives.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/uocp-atn080105.php
Instructional Coaches Mentor
Teachers, Improve Student Achievement
For the past six years, a Kansas University
program Pathways to Success, a part of the School of Education's Center for
Research on Learning, has placed instructional coaches (ICs) in the teaching
ranks of all the public middle and high schools in Topeka to partner with
and guide the regular classroom teachers in everything from professional development
to solving discipline problems in class. The results have been positive, according
to the KU-CRL research associate and project director for Pathways to Success.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050810.085317&time=09%2008%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
American Institutes for Research Provides
Guidance on Free Tutoring Offered Under No Child Left Behind Act
The American Institutes for Research (AIR)
has developed and released a new toolkit that offers parents and community
leaders tips, tools, and strategies to learn more about free tutoring for
students in schools designated as needing improvement under the No Child Left
Behind Act. These tutoring services, known as supplemental education services
(SES), are easier to navigate with the help of the toolkit, which assists
parents in signing up for the services and provides tips on how to pick a
SES provider for their children.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050808.103644&time=13%2000%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
National Conference Promotes Safe and
Drug-Free Schools
The U.S. Department of Education's Office
of Safe and Drug-Free Schools is taking a comprehensive look at school crime
and student health, and safety at its upcoming annual conference, "Tying
It All Together: Comprehensive Strategies for Safe and Drug-Free Schools,"
Aug. 15-17. The three-day conference will cover topics such as crisis response
and planning, school and environmental health issues, Internet safety, youth
wellness and mental health, positive youth development, mentoring programs,
truancy intervention, character and civic education, and more.
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/08/08112005a.html
Lumina Foundation for Education Announces
Second-Quarter 2005 Grants
Lumina Foundation for Education announced
today 61 grant approvals totaling about $19 million to organizations across
the country that expand college access and student success. "The Foundation
continues to address the multiple barriers that impede access to and success
in postsecondary education, particularly among traditionally underserved groups."
The Foundation supports research, programs, policy work and professional leadership
aimed at expanding access to education beyond high school.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050808.140000&time=14%2041%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Homelessness
HUD Awards $10 Million
to Help Provide Permanent Housing for Persons Experiencing Chronic Homelessness
Hundreds of persons living for long periods
of time on the streets because of their addiction to alcohol will have a new
chance at a permanent home because of $10 million in funding announced today
by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A dozen pilot programs
in 11 cities around the country are receiving two-year grants through HUD's
new Housing for People Who Are Homeless and Addicted To Alcohol program, a
special initiative designed to assist homeless persons who also struggle with
chronic alcoholism.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-105.cfm
**Health
Community, Business Leaders Announce Restoration
of the Children's Health Insurance Program, Launch Citywide Campaign to Enroll
Kids in Health Care Coverage
On August
4, 2005, the Children's Defense Fund
of Texas and the Gulf Coast CHIP Coalition launched an intensive month-long
push to enroll eligible, uninsured children in the Children's Health Insurance
Program (CHIP) and Children's Medicaid. Houston is
one of six target cities in the United
States where the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation's Covering Kids & Families Initiative is concentrating its
efforts.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=51263
UCSF Study finds English Proficiency a
Major Hurdle in Patient Comprehension
Limited efficiency with the English language
is a barrier to medical comprehension and increases the risk of adverse medication
reactions, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/uoc--usf080105.php
Risky Business: South Carolina's Medicaid Waiver Proposal
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
reports that on June 7, 2005,
South Carolina requested federal
permission to undertake what would constitute the most radical changes ever
made in a state Medicaid program. The request, which took the form of a proposed
waiver of federal Medicaid rules, would affect more than 700,000 low-income
South Carolina children, parents, seniors, and people with disabilities.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-10-05health.htm
**Hunger and Nutrition
Five State Food Stamp Block Grant Proposal
In House Welfare Bill
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
the House welfare reauthorization bill (H.R. 240) contains a proposal
to allow five states to elect a food stamp block grant in lieu of the regular
federal Food Stamp Program. A block grant, even if limited to five states,
would likely cause damage to the Food Stamp Program and low-income families.
The Food Stamp Program would lose its ability to respond to economic downturns
in these five states and, as explained below, food benefits would necessarily
be cut in these states.
http://www.cbpp.org/5-13-02fs.htm
**Substance Abuse
AMA Polls Underscore Teen Drinking Epidemic,
Need for Community-Based Solutions
The Marin Institute is calling for a nationwide,
community-based response to the country's underage drinking epidemic in light
of two polls released today by the American Medical Association. This type
of comprehensive, community-based approach has proven effective and was recommended
by the National Academy of Sciences in it's 2003 landmark report "Reducing Underage
Drinking: A Collective Responsibility."
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/alerts/reader/0%2C1854%2C577882%2C00.html
SAMHSA Awards Grants for Adolescent Substance
Abuse Coordination
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration has awarded 16 grants to various states for the development
of better alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, prevention, and infrastructure.
http://www.jointogether.org/saredirect/?Object_ID=577840&ID=saFunding
Grants for Alcohol, HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism along with the National Institute of Mental Health, is calling
for applications to research structural interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission
by "changing the environment of alcohol use.
http://www.jointogether.org/saredirect/?Object_ID=577841&ID=saFunding
