Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From the Center for Community Change: On June 26th, the Senate Finance Committee approved its version of a welfare reauthorization bill. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill when Congress returns from its August recess.  After a Senate floor vote in September, a House-Senate conference committee will iron out differences between the two pieces of legislation.  Congress is on recess through Labor Day.  This is an excellent time to meet with Senators and their staff to discuss issues affecting your communities.  Contact your Senators today and urge them to vote YES on all amendments to increase childcare funding, remove barriers for low-income families, and provide assistance without punishing working families with time clocks.

http://64.95.130.47/webx?13@@.1dce3934

**Children, Youth & Families

Program to Reduce Impact of TV Violence on Kids Shows Promise

A major research program at Oregon State University has found that one of the most promising intervention programs aimed at curbing the effects of television violence on children is finding success through developing "TV literacy" in the early grades.   "It's kind of a new strategy," said Larry Rosenkoetter, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at OSU. "If we can't get industry to tone down the violence on television, then we need to provide kids with greater 'TV literacy' so that they understand what they are seeing and make wise viewing choices.

http://osu.orst.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2002/Aug02/violent.htm

**Community Development

Advocates' Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy

The 2002 edition of National Low Income Housing Coalition's comprehensive Advocates' Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy is now available online.  Designed as a briefing book for advocates seeking to influence federal government programs and legislation, the Guide outlines the Coalition's agenda, the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, and 42 other programs and issues such as Thrifty Production Vouchers, HOPE VI, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Consolidated Plan. It includes a directory of organizations, a glossary, and a list of abbreviations and acronyms, as well as a guide to data sources. 

http://www.nlihc.org/advocates/index.htm

Housing Trust Fund Progress Report 2002

A new report from the Center for Community Change defines housing trust funds and describes national models.   The report focuses on local responses to America’s housing needs.

http://www.communitychange.org/htf.html

NCOE Issues Guide for Creating Jobs, Stronger Local Economies
The National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) has released Entrepreneurship: A Candidate’s Guide — Creating Good Jobs in Your Community, a first-of-its-kind publication on how policymakers can help stimulate the creation and growth of new businesses in their local areas.  Fast-growth new companies can have a profound effect on local economies. The NCOE guide offers a prescription for developing successful entrepreneurial-friendly environments to foster new companies and fuel jobs. http://www.ncoe.org/research/4249_NCOE_GUIDE.pdf.

Loans for Community Development Organizations

The Calvert Foundation makes loans to community development organizations that focus on affordable housing, small business, microcredit, and other community development programs. Calvert Foundation lends to community development financial institutions, and other organizations, including community development corporations, community loan funds, community banks and credit unions, social enterprises and microfinance institutions.

http://www.calvertfoundation.org/cdg/index.html?source=

Housing Voucher Bill Introduced

The Senate Banking Committee introduced a housing voucher bill.  The bill would make several changes to increase use of Section 8 vouchers, streamline the project-based voucher program, and create project-based Thrifty Vouchers to support housing production and preservation.

http://www.liscnet.org/cgi-bin/resources/enews/track.pl?date=2002/aug/23&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthomas%2Eloc%2Egov%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fbdquery%2Fz%3Fd%31%30%37%3As%2E%30%32%37%32%31%3A%2F

New Clearinghouse for Businesses to Benefit Low-Income Communities

A new Website features strategies to boost the bottom line business profits while benefiting low-income communities. Winwinpartner.com is a new information clearinghouse for business executives looking to increase profits and address common business challenges through investment in low-income communities. The site, created offers examples of major corporations' successful win-win strategies including American Express, Bank of America, Chevron, IBM, Pfizer Inc., Timberland, Xerox and many others.

http://www.winwinpartner.com/

**Economic Security

A Decade of Progress? The Poor and Affluent in California, 1990 and 2000

The Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA, has used newly-released 2000 Census data, to examine the widening gap between the rich and the poor in California, comparing Los Angeles County with the San Francisco Bay area.  Among the findings, the gap between the wealthy and the poor in CA is increasing with more rich people and more poor people in the state and there are major regional differences between LA and the Bay Area.  For example, persons in poverty in Los Angeles increased from 15.1% to 17.9%, while in the Bay area it remained stable (8.6% and 8.7%).

http://64.95.130.47/webx?13@@.1dce5b3e

The Unmet Housing and Healthcare Needs of Nation’s Seniors

A recent report by the Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility Needs in the 21st Century concludes that the housing and health care needs of the growing population of older Americans will become a crisis.  The congressionally chartered commission submitted its report to Congress, "A Quiet Crisis in America," highlighting the dual housing and health care needs of aging Baby Boomers.  The report calls for increased attention to seniors' needs and creation of a national policy for affordable senior housing that is coordinated with health and supportive services.

http://www.knowledgeplex.org/kp/text_document_summary/article/relfiles/knowledgeplex_news_feature0715.html

Projecting Poverty Rates in 2020 for the 62 and Older Population

A paper from the Urban Institute analyzes the factors that may be related to increased or decreased poverty among the 62- to 89-year-old population.   The authors find that price-adjusted poverty is projected to decline from 7.8 percent in the early 1990s to 4.2 percent in 2020, but that wage-adjusted poverty is projected to increase from 7.8 percent to 9.9 percent.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=73&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=7846

Majority of Cities Foresee Bleak Fiscal Future

According to the annual survey of city finance officers conducted by the National League of Cities (NLC), cities predict a stressful future for their budgets, which have been hurt by the economic downturn and the surge in local homeland security spending.  For the first time since 1993, a majority (55 percent) of the surveyed finance officers said that their cities are less able to meet their city’s financial needs compared to the previous year (2001).

http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=53CBE43D-500F-45A1-A938EFDA82DDA17F

**Education

School Officials Frustrated by 'No Child Left Behind'

The September edition of American School Board Journal reports that districts nationwide are gearing up for the most significant change in the federal regulation of public schools in three decades, leaving school officials perplexed and frustrated by the No Child Left Behind Act.  But, No Child Left Behind has troubled several national education groups that are concerned about the bill's requirement that all students will attain academic proficiency in 12 years. Resources for states, most of which are facing recession-induced budget shortfalls, also are a sticking point.

http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory.html

The Federal Government - Knocking on Your Door

In an article in the American School Board Journal, the head of the Center on Educational policy discusses the federal role in education and how that role will change as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act.

PDF: http://www.ctredpol.org/fededprograms/knockingonyourdooraug2002.pdf

Report: Prison Spending Grows Faster Than Education

A new report from the Justice Policy Institute, Cellblocks or Classrooms? The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men, shows that during the 1980s and 1990s, state spending on corrections grew at 6 times the rate of state spending on higher education, and by the close of the millennium, there were nearly a third more African American men in prison and jail than in universities or colleges.  The report provides state by state analysis of corrections and higher education spending, and shows the fiscal impact of the nation's overuse of prison as a solution to social problems.

http://www.justicepolicy.org/coc1/main.htm

**Health

Economic Boom of Late 1990s Kept Rate of Insured Adults Stable But Did Not Produce Increase

According to a national tracking study issued by the Center for Studying Health System Change, the proportion of Americans in working families covered by employer-sponsored health insurance remained almost flat between 1997 and 2001, with the recent economic boom only suspending a long and steady decline in employer-sponsored health insurance.

http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/465/

Factors in Rising Healthcare Costs

An article in USA Today examines the factors behind the rise in health costs.  Some analysts predict that healthcare costs "will always go up" as a result of advances in medical treatments and an aging population.  The president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said, "We've had no meaningful way to control health care costs. There's no big new idea for controlling costs, so the result is a free-for-all. Working people will pay more, benefits will be cut back, and we're likely to see an increase in the ranks of the uninsured."

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=13019

The Uninsured Will Be the 'Next Great Health Debate,' Congressional, Business Leaders Say

The News York Times examined proposals that federal lawmakers have considered to help the nation's uninsured, an issue that could become the "next great health care debate" as health care costs are expected to increase and more workers lose their health coverage.  The issue will "heat up" next month when the Census Bureau announces how many people were uninsured in 2001 - a number that could be more than 40 million, up from 38.4 million in 2000 -- and the Kaiser Family Foundation releases the "latest double-digit increases" in health care costs.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=13124

HHS Announces Pilot Program To Offer Seniors in 23 States a PPO Plan

The Washington Post reported that under a three-year demonstration project announced by the Bush administration, seniors in 23 states will have greater access to preferred provider organizations - a "relatively unrestrictive form of managed care" -- through the Medicare+Choice program.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=13149

**Hunger and Nutrition

Implementing New Changes to the Food Stamp Program: A Provision By Provision Analysis of the Farm Bill
A paper from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides information and analysis on the new mandatory and optional food stamp provisions of the Farm Bill. State administrators and non-profit groups may find this paper helpful as they evaluate the merits of each option and consider possible implementation issues.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-27-02fa.htm

**Philanthropy and Civic Participation

Indicators of Foundation Effectiveness

A report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy provides findings on the state of performance assessment in the Foundation community.  The report proposes a framework, and draws on new data to test that framework. The Center surveyed CEOs of the country's largest foundations, interviewed CEOs and trustees, conducted a major survey of nonprofit grantees, and analyzed publicly available data on foundations.

PDF: http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/research/IndicatorsofEffectiveness.pdf

Poll Finds September 11th Attacks Inspire Service

A new poll sponsored by Civic Ventures shows that America's older population is in the midst of redefining retirement. Although only 4 percent believe that these are very good times for the country, this grim outlook is producing anything but a defeatist attitude. Rather, this group is committed to tackling the nation's challenges head on-and the proportion planning to make volunteering and community service an important part of retirement has grown markedly over the past three years (now 56 percent). 40 percent state that the September 11th attacks have made them more likely to volunteer.

http://www.civicventures.org/site/action/work_in_prog/survey_8_02/survey.html

**Technology

Helping Your City Bridge the Digital Divide

The 3Com Corporation’s Urban Challenge program is an partnership that rewards forward-thinking cities with $100,000 grants in 3Com systems and services for technology initiatives designed to improve residents' lives. To make Urban Challenge even more effective, the next ten winners will also be eligible for dramatically reduced-cost share assistance from the newest program partner, AmeriCorps*VISTA.  The application deadline is November 1.

http://www.3com.com/solutions/en_US/scenario.jsp?solutiontype=1000004&groupid=11060&solutionid=5960

**Welfare Reform

One In Five Families Leaving Welfare Return

As Congress debates welfare reauthorization, new research from the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism project shows that 21.9 percent of families leaving welfare return within two years. Return rates are especially high for former recipients with little education, limited work experience, or poor health. In contrast, married former recipients and families receiving such transitional supports as childcare subsidies, public health insurance, and emergency help with expenses are less likely to return.

http://www.urban.org/ViewPub.cfm?PublicationID=7849

Welfare Research Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future, 2002 Edition

In the fourth in a series, the National Center for Children in Poverty has issued a report that examines what has been learned since the 1996 passage of PRWORA, including existing research findings, reauthorization activities, and future research needs.

http://www.researchforum.org/newsletter/RFbrief4.pdf

Funding New Welfare-to-Work Housing Vouchers Should Be a Priority For Fiscal Year 2003

A paper from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzes provisions approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee that make changes to the Welfare-to-Work Housing Voucher Program and fund approximately 3,300 new Welfare-to-Work vouchers. It finds that the provisions make important program improvements, but the number of new vouchers falls well short of the need.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-28-02hous.htm