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Combination Aids Depressed
Youths
The first large study of its
kind has found that combining drugs with talk therapy works best in treating
depressed adolescents. The results reflect what studies of adults have found:
that treating the disease requires more than relying on pills for a quick fix Although the
study found that psychotherapy combined with Prozac works better than either
method alone in treating adolescent depression, including reducing suicidal
thoughts, it did not resolve questions about potential links between some
antidepressants and suicidal thoughts and behavior in children.
http://www.dukemednews.org/global/print.php?context=%2Fnews%2Ftop_story.php&id=8121
**Civic Engagement
Voto Latino Launches to Mobilize Young Latino Voters
Voto Latino has been launched as a new non-partisan and
non-profit organization dedicated to motivate Latino youth to participate in
the nation's political process. The
initiative seeks to boost voter turnout rates of voting-age Latino youth with
the launch of an integrated awareness campaign that will include a series of
public service announcements (PSAs). The bilingual spots entitled "People Make
Power" will debut on MTV Networks this fall and feature the tagline
"It's your country, Represent." The spots seek to inform
under-represented, second- generation Latinos, as part of an overall effort to
ensure 20 million young people vote in November. Other elements of the
initiative include a comprehensive website and series of grassroots voter registration
events in battleground states.
http://www.votolatino.org/about_1.html
Grants to Six State Coalitions to Boost Civic Mission of Schools
Six $150,000 grants - to
promote civic learning in the public schools of Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Nevada,
North Carolina and Pennsylvania - were announced by the Campaign for the Civic
Mission of Schools. The Campaign is a
major national initiative to renew and restore a core purpose of public
education - preparing America's young people to be informed and active citizens in
our democracy. It is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and
managed by the Council for Excellence in Government in partnership with the
Academy for Educational Development. The Campaign endorses a comprehensive
approach to civic learning, with schools not only being places where young
people acquire knowledge but where they also are exposed to all facets of
citizenship through experiential activities that instill civic knowledge,
skill, and behavior.
http://www.excelgov.org/displayContent.asp?NewsItemID=5198&Keyword=mReleases
Public Service Becoming
More Viable for Law School Graduates, Says Group
This is according to a
nationwide survey released by Equal Justice Works, higher
numbers of law school graduates are able to pursue public service jobs than
previously because of the increasing availability of loan repayment assistance
programs and public interest scholarship programs. The programs are helping to
offset the rising cost of a legal education, which forces many law students to
assume debt burdens that can reach "home mortgage proportions" of
$100,000 or more. Equal Justice Works leads
the country in organizing, training and supporting public service-minded law
students and in creating summer and postgraduate public interest jobs.
http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/news/index.php?view=detail&id=11575
**Community Development
Changes in the Community
Reinvestment Act Approach to Small Banks affect Rural Areas Disproportionately
According to the Housing
Assistance Council, a nonprofit organization that works to improve housing for
low-income residents of rural areas, recent federal regulatory actions would
mean less rigorous review of community lending by most banks in rural places,
leaving rural America with reduced access to credit and other banking services
for lower-income residents, small and minority-owned businesses and farms, and
community development efforts.
http://www.ruralhome.org/pubs/pressreleases/2004/CRASmallBanks.htm
Arts and Non-arts
Partnerships: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies
According to a report from
the Urban Institute, many arts organizations are working with agencies not
primarily devoted to the arts--such as educational, health, religious, youth
development, human services, recreational, and community development groups--to
accomplish artistic and community service goals that might otherwise be far
more difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Success depends on each partner's
willingness and ability to live up to its part of the bargain. At stake are
reputations, constituent relations, organizational missions, and investments of
time, money, and expertise. Fortunately, important practical lessons are
emerging to help groups identify and reduce these risks. This brief presents
some of these lessons.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8953
**Disabilities
Evaluation of the Ticket
to Work Program
A study from Mathematica
Policy Research examines early implementation issues and findings on enrollment
and participation patterns in the Social Security Administration's Ticket to
Work program, which attempts to increase access to, and the quality of, rehabilitation
and employment services available to Social Security disability beneficiaries.
Emerging issues include low beneficiary participation, difficulty with
recruitment and retention of employment networks (ENs),
uncertain financial viability of ENs, and marketing challenges.
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/htmlreports/ttwtext.htm
**Education
Quality in the Classroom:
How Does Teach For America Measure Up?
This four-page issue brief
summarizes findings from Mathematica Policy Research's evaluation of Teach For America. The researchers found that TFA teachers
outperformed non-TFA teachers in the same schools in math and achieved the same
results in reading. However, TFA teachers also reported greater challenges in
managing their classrooms. TFA and non-TFA teachers had very different educational
and teacher preparation backgrounds, with TFA teachers generally coming from
more competitive undergraduate backgrounds but with less formal teacher
training
PDF: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/qualclass.pdf
Kauffman Foundation Awards Children's Defense Fund $4.5 Million Grant
For Freedom Schools
The
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has given the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) a
grant totaling $4.5 million over nine years to support the expansion,
development, training, and general operations of CDF Freedom Schools. The grant
is critical to enhancing the quality of services delivered by CDF Freedom
Schools, and is instrumental in facilitating the goal of doubling the number of
sites nationally. Freedom Schools are summer and after-school youth programs
that set high expectations for the children and parents they serve. The main elements of the program are reading
enrichment, youth leadership development, parent education, community
involvement, intergenerational leadership, and social action.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/040816.asp
The Broad Foundation
Trains, Places Top Business and Law School Grads as Managers in Urban School Districts
The Broad Foundation
announced that it has recruited and trained graduates from the top ten business
and law schools to become managers in urban school districts. The Broad Residency, a two-year management
development program that trains emerging leaders for senior management
positions in urban school districts, has placed 16 individuals into the
following districts: Boston, Chicago, Christina (Wilmington, Del.), Denver,
Miami-Dade, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, Providence, San Francisco and
St. Louis. In addition, three other recruits will work in KIPP, Victory Schools and Green Dot Public
Schools.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=143-08162004&site=rss
**Health
State Health Facts Online
A Website from the Kaiser
Family Foundation presents current state level data on hundreds of specific
topics in the broad areas of Demographics and the Economy, Health Status,
Health Coverage & Uninsured, Medicaid & SCHIP, Medicare, Health Costs
& Budgets, Managed Care & Health Insurance, Providers & Service
Use, Minority Health, Women's Health, and HIV/AIDS. Both state comparison reports and individual
state profiles are presented and data can be viewed in maps, charts and tables.
http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/cgi-bin/healthfacts.cgi
**Hunger & Nutrition
Summary of Changes Made
to the Certification and Verification Processes in the National School Lunch
and School Breakfast Programs by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization
Act of 2004
A document from the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities provides a side-by-side comparison of key
provisions in the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 that
affect the eligibility determination process in the National School Lunch and
School Breakfast Programs.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-18-04fa.htm
Food Stamp Caseloads Are
Rising
According
to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, following years of decline, food
stamp participation has been on the rise for nearly four years. In May 2004, the last month for which data
are available, 23.9 million people participated in the Food Stamp Program. The number of food stamp participants has
exceeded 23 million since December 2003. Prior to this, March 1997 was
the last time in which the number of food stamp participants exceeded this
level. While it is not possible to determine what caused the increase in
participation from the data available, it is likely that the majority of the
increase can be attributed to the enduring severity of “long-term” joblessness.
http://www.cbpp.org/1-15-02fa.htm
**Welfare & Welfare
Reform
Do Child
Characteristics Affect How Children Fare in Families Receiving and Leaving
Welfare?
According to an analysis from
the Urban Institute, among boys age 12 to 17, those in families who left
welfare were more likely than those in families still on welfare to have a high
level of behavioral and emotional problems, to have skipped school twice or
more in the previous year, to have been suspended or expelled from school in
the previous year, and to be poorly engaged in school.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8947
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