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**Action Alerts
ACTION NEEDED: ASK
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR THE SECOND CHANCE ACT
From: HIRE Network:
Call, fax, or
email your Representative in Washington, D.C. and in their District office while the Members are still
home for the August recess. Ask your Representative to
co-sponsor and support H.R. 4676, the “Second Chance Act of
2004” because it takes a critical first step towards helping
formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter into
the community.
http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.asp#1
UPDATE: UPCOMING
GET-OUT-THE-VOTE TRAININGS
From:
Wellstone Action Fund
Wellstone Action
Fund announces two special get-out-the-vote (GOTV) trainings.
These 2-day practical skills trainings will be held in
September in Seattle (September 11 & 12) and Cleveland (September 18 & 19). The trainings are designed especially for individuals
and non-profit organizations doing non-partisan voter registration,
education and mobilization.
http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.asp#3
UPDATE: FAITH-BASED
PETITION SEEKING CO-SIGNERS
From:
Sojourners
BACKGROUND:
Founded in 1971, Sojourners is a Christian ministry whose mission
is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual
renewal and social justice.
Sojourners has written a petition that refutes the claim
by the Religious Right that God has taken a side in this election
and sends a message to America that God is not a Republican,
or a Democrat. Sojourners
will place this petition in as many media outlets as possible.
http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.asp#4
**Children,
Youth & Families
Community
Drug Programs Curb Teen Substance Abuse
According to
a RAND Corporation study, that is one of the most thorough examinations
ever of the effectiveness of a commonly available treatment
approach, community-based drug treatment programs can help troubled
teens reduce substance abuse and improve psychological health,
according to an exhaustive study of a common treatment approach.
http://www.rand.org/news/press.04/09.01.html
Too
Many Youths Facing Adult Justice
In an op-ed
piece, a researcher with the Urban Institute explains that in
its coming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether
convicted criminals can be sentenced to die for crimes committed
before age 18. The case before the court is widely described
as a challenge to America's "juvenile death penalty." However, since
the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, all offenders sentenced
to death by have been tried and convicted as adults--those under
18 were reclassified as adults and transferred to adult courts
for prosecution. If the thought of executing 16-year-olds is
inherently disturbing, we are debating the wrong policy. We
should be re-evaluating our methods for denying youths their
legal status as juveniles.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8961
Election
2004: Marriage and Family
According to
the Urban Institute, marriage is a topic that has both united
and divided Americans in 2004. While the Healthy Marriage proposal
("to encourage the formation and maintenance of healthy
two parent married families and responsible fatherhood")
languishes in the Senate as part of welfare reform's reauthorization,
civil unions and same-sex marriage are debated everywhere voters
turn. This fact sheet presents data and estimates behind two
aspects of the marriage debate--healthy marriage education and
same-sex marriage--using Urban Institute research on the well-being
of children living with cohabiting, married, and same-sex couples.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8969
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love: Would Poor Couples With Children
Be Better Off Economically If They Married?
This issue brief
from the Center for Law and Social Policy summarizes recent
research bearing on the validity of varied viewpoints of marriage
as an anti-poverty strategy. Policymakers and researchers alike are debating
whether marriage might be an anti-poverty strategy for families
with children. Some believe that if more parents married, there
would be a substantial decrease in poverty. Others suggest that
increasing the marriage rate among poor and near-poor parents,
while not dramatically reducing poverty, would make a significant
dent in the poverty rate for families with children. Still others
are highly skeptical of these claims.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1093288195.25/marr_brf_5.pdf
An
Update to State Policy Initiatives to Reduce Teen and Adult
Nonmarital Childbearing
A 50-state survey
of state policies and programs to discourage teen and nonmarital
childbearing conducted by Child Trends in 2001 analyzes changes
since the 1999 and 1997 surveys. State efforts to prevent teen
pregnancy and early childbearing changed little between 1999
and 2001 with one exception. More states reported school-based
abstinence education in 2001 than in 1999. Although states focused
less effort on nonmarital pregnancy
prevention than on teen pregnancy prevention, states are emphasizing
welfare caps, improved access to contraceptive service, programs
encouraging unmarried pregnant couples to marry, and youth development
or young adult education programs.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8966
High-Wire Act: Balancing Families and Jobs at Precarious Points
This report
from the Center for Law and Social Policy examines two work-leave
policies: parental leave and sick days’ leave. It considers
the implications of these policies, particularly for low-income
families and for small businesses, in New Zealand and the United States.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1092834134.29/High_Wire.pdf
**Community
Development
Growth
Management and Affordable Housing
A book from
the Brookings Institution Press compiles a collection of works
that look to reconcile the sometimes conflicting
goals of advocates of growth management and affordable housing.
The introduction to the book is available online.
http://www.brookings.org/press/books/growthmanagementandaffordablehousing.htm
Introduction
– PDF: http://www.brookings.org/dybdocroot/press/books/chapter_1/growthmanagementandaffordablehousing.pdf
Not All Cities
Lost Middle-Class Households in Past 20 Years
An analysis
of census data by researchers at the Brookings Institution concludes
that middle-class households did not abandon American cities
over the past 20 years, although most locations increasingly
lack the nation's full income diversity.
http://www.brookings.org/metro/pubs/20040803_income.htm
The Geography of
Poverty and Service Provision
A study from
the Brookings Institution analyzes the shifting geography of
concentrated poverty and its impact on access to social services.
Greater proximity to social service providers is thought
to increase the likelihood that eligible individuals in need
will receive assistance.
http://www.brookings.org/metro/pubs/20040816_allard.htm
**Economic Security
EITC Dollars
Unclaimed by Low-Wage Workers and Drained by Predatory Tax Prepares;
Up To Seven Million Families Could Be Missing Out on Over $12
Billion in Tax Benefits
The Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) released a
new report documenting that as many as seven million U.S. low- income working households may be missing out on
more than $12 billion in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refunds
to which they are entitled. The report -- titled "Increasing
Incomes & Reducing the Rapid Refund Rip-Off" -- also
shows that tax preparers siphon off over one billion dollars
per year from low-income working families through the sale of
unnecessary bank products such as Refund Anticipation Loans.
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=2076
Where the Funds Are: Potential Use of Child Support Funds for
Transitional Jobs Programs
This policy
brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy focuses on the
ways in which states can leverage portions of federal child
support funds to offset some of the costs of transitional jobs
programs that are either targeted towards noncustodial
parents or include noncustodial parents
as a part of their client base.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1093616443.32/TJ_brief1.pdf
**Education
State High School Exit Exams: A Maturing Reform
As part of a
multi-year study of state high school exit exams, the Center
on Education Policy has published the third in a series of annual
reports on the subject. This report updates and expands the
first two years' findings and includes original research. Major
findings include increased stability of exit exam policies,
new evidence of positive and negative impacts of these exams,
and the difficulty of using these exams for multiple purposes
such to indicate college readiness or to meet the accountability
provisions of NCLB.
PDF: http://www.ctredpol.org/highschoolexit/ExitExamAug2004/ExitExam2004.pdf
The
Real Truth about Low Graduation Rates, An
Evidence-Based Commentary
This paper builds
on a series of recent Urban Institute reports and analyses that
have examined high graduation rates in the United States and the new accountability required over graduation
by the federal No Child Left Behind
Act. In this commentary, the author attempts to clarify these
issues and offer a foundation upon which to ground on-going
policy debates, future research into the graduation and dropout
phenomena, and the shape of the next generation of educational
accountability systems.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8968
**Health
Phys Ed Cuts
Number of Overweight Young Girls
According to
a RAND Corporation study, increasing physical education instruction
in kindergarten and first grade by as little as one hour per
week could reduce the number of overweight 5- and 6-year-old
girls nationally by as much as 10 percent.
http://www.rand.org/news/press.04/09.01.html
Congress Can Preserve
$1.1 Billion In Expiring Children’s Health Insurance Funds and
Help Avert SCHIP Cutbacks
According to
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, nearly $1.1 billion
in funds for the children's health insurance program are slated
to expire September 30. These funds are needed to lessen program
cutbacks in future years; bipartisan legislation has been introduced
to extend the funds.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-31-04health.htm
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