Survey of Hurricane Katrina
Evacuees in Houston Area Shelters
To give voice to people
whose lives have been devastated by the hurricane, this unique survey from
The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School
of Public Health examines how evacuees are coping and includes information
about their experiences, health, and plans for the future.
http://www.kff.org/newsmedia/7401.cfm
Campaign for Youth Issues
Considerations for Youth and Communities Impacted by Hurricane
The Center for Law and Social Policy has compiled
this collective response from a coalition of national policy and advocacy
organizations that draws attention to the needs of the vulnerable youth impacted
by Hurricane Katrina and makes a set of recommendations.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/cfy_katrina_final.pdf
All Children 18 and Under
Displaced by Hurricane Katrina Will Receive Free Vaccinations
The Department of Health
and Human Services announced that all children from birth to 18 years old
displaced by Hurricane Katrina are eligible to receive free vaccines through
the federally-run Vaccines for Children program (VFC), regardless of whether
they are staying at shelters, hotels, or with family and friends and regardless
of previous health insurance coverage status. Managed by HHS’ Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the VFC helps families of children who
may not otherwise have access to vaccines by providing free vaccines to doctors
who serve them.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005pres/20050916.html
Disaster Food Assistance
for Families and Individuals Fact Sheets
The Food Research and Action Center has released a series of Fact Sheets for people who have left
their homes in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi because of Hurricane Katrina may be
eligible for food assistance benefits.
http://www.frac.org/html/disaster/disaster_fact.html
LISC/NEF and the Enterprise Foundation Launch Community Recovery
Fund to Redevelop Devastated Gulf Region
In the wake of Katrina's
massive devastation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the
Enterprise Foundation are joining forces to help finance the redevelopment
of impacted Gulf Region communities and provide affordable housing to returning
hurricane victims. Along with their respective syndication arms-Enterprise
Social Investment Corporation (ESIC) and National Equity Fund, Inc.(NEF)-Enterprise and LISC are raising grant, loan and
equity dollars to build new homes, spur economic development, and support
the restoration of the critical community infrastructure that is desperately
needed throughout parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
http://www.lisc.org/whatsnew/press/releases/2005.09.09.0.shtml
Should Impending Upper-Income
Tax Cuts be Implemented While Katrina Costs Mount and Other Domestic Programs
May be Cut?
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities even before Hurricane Katrina, large deficits
were projected far into the future, with the nation’s debt burden ultimately
swelling to unsustainable levels. The relief and recovery from Hurricane
Katrina is estimated to cost $100 billion to $200 billion, adding to the nation’s
mounting debt. Debate has now begun about whether in the face of these
costs and the grim long-term fiscal outlook, some belt-tightening and “shared
sacrifice” are in order. The budget reconciliation bills that Congress is
slated to consider this fall will not help. Taken together, the two
bills will increase deficits by more than $35 billion over five years.
Under these bills, $35 billion in cuts in programs such as Medicaid and food
stamps will be used not to reduce the deficit, but to offset a portion of
the $70 billion that the reconciliation tax-cut bill will cost.
http://www.cbpp.org/9-19-05tax.htm
**Children, Youth &
Families
Who are America's Poor Children?
The National Center for Children in Poverty reports on Child Poverty in 21st Century America.
Despite the fact that Americans don't like to talk about poverty, 17 percent
of children - 12 million - live in families with incomes below the federal
poverty level. Perhaps more stunning is that 5 million children live in families
with incomes of less than half the poverty level.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_cpt05b.html
$139 Million to Protect
Thousands of Children and Families from Dangerous Lead and Other Hazards
The Department of Housing
and Urban Development announced more than $139 million in grants to help 62
local projects around the country to conduct a wide range of activities including
cleaning up lead-based paint hazards and improving living conditions of lower
income families. Through seven grant programs, HUD's Office of Healthy Homes
and Lead Hazard Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead
from lower income homes; stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard
control; educates the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; funds
model programs that promote healthier and safer home environments; and, supports
scientific research into innovative methods to identify and eliminate health
hazards in housing.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-129.cfm
Study Links Teen Depression
to Drug Use, Sex
Teens that use drugs or
are sexually active are more likely to become clinically depressed later on,
according to a report from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C578308%2C00.html
Study Finds Mixed Results
on Teen Sexual Behavior from Abstinence-Only Intervention
Abstinence-only education
can influence teen sexual behavior and beliefs, according to a study from
Case Western Reserve University. This community-based evaluation
reveals that abstinence-only intervention can influence knowledge, beliefs
and intentions, and among sexually experienced students, may reduce the prevalence
of casual sex.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/cwru-sfm090205.php
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New CDC Data on
Teens and Oral Sex: Statement from Advocates for Youth
"The National Center for Health Statistics released a report
showing nearly one in four teen virgins have had oral sex. From a public health
perspective, these data cause concern because young people may contract many
of the same STDs from oral sex that they can get during vaginal intercourse.
Young people have the ability to make responsible decisions about their sexual
health. And adults have the responsibility to arm youth with the resources
and information they need to make safe and informed decisions. The government,
instead, chooses to bury its head in the sand, turning to abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs that simply tell youth to 'Just say no,' and only tell them about
contraception's failure rates. “
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/news/press/091505.htm
SIECUS and Advocates
for Youth Use Data Quality Act to Challenge Abstinence-Only Programs
Advocates for Youth and
the Sexuality Information
and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) filed a challenge
to the federal government's funding of inaccurate and ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs. Filed with the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the guidelines set forth by the
Data Quality Act of 2000, Advocates for Youth and SIECUS issued the challenge
to the quality of data and information disseminated through abstinence-only
programs sponsored by the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) under
HHS.
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/news/press/091305.htm
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Get more information on
these issues at http://www.ecommunityissues.com.
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**Civic Engagement
We the People: Blacks
in the United States has been published by The US Census Bureau.
A new report provides statistics
on African-Americans in the US. Topics include: employment, earnings/income, age,
marital status by sex, nativity and citizenship, the poverty rate, origin
of foreign born African-Americans, gender, education attainment, housing tenure,
occupations and more. These topics include comparisons to the general population.
PDF: http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-25.pdf
Foundation Center Takes Spanish-Language Fundraising
Training across the Country; Instruction Dedicated to Nonprofits Serving Latino
Communities
In a new initiative, the
Foundation Center is offering free Spanish-language fundraising training in
seven cities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico this fall. Part of a wider effort to expand its resources
for Latino communities, the Center's full-day program covers the basics of
fundraising and proposal writing and provides networking opportunities for
Spanish-speaking representatives of nonprofit organizations.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050920.123105&time=13%2052%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Community Development
Closing Door on Choices:
On-site Tests Find Racial, Disability Discrimination in Housing Market
According to The
Urban Institute discrimination -- by landlords, real estate agents and
mortgage lenders -- stands in the way of too many families searching for a
place to live. Discrimination isn't as overt as it once was. Often it is
so subtle victims don't even recognize it. Compelling evidence that discrimination
persists comes from a recent series of "paired-testing" studies
by the Urban Institute.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9430
HUD Awards $2.4 Million
to Five Local Communities to Add Affordable Housing to Rejuvenated Downtown
Areas
The Department of Housing
and Urban Development announced that five cities with populations ranging
from 3,500 to 26,000 will receive $2,459,509 in funding to add affordable
housing in city centers that are currently being revitalized. These grants
are being issued under a new HUD program that helps "Small Town USA" include affordable housing in their efforts to revitalize older,
downtown business districts.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-128.cfm
**Economic Security
In Everybody's Best Interests:
Why Reforming Child Support Distribution Makes Sense for Government and Families
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy more than 17 million children are served by
the public child support program-but many never see the funds collected on
their behalf. Instead, collections are used to recoup the public costs of
families' welfare cash assistance. Although welfare cost recovery was one
of the initial goals of the child support program, recent proposals to reform
the policy would shift the primary emphasis to family support. This brief
describes the regulations governing assignment and distribution of funds,
and how families and government alike stand to benefit from the direct pass-through
of child support payments to children.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/cs_brief_1_final.pdf
The Hefty Penalty on
Marriage Facing Many Households with Children
According to The
Urban Institute, over the past seventy years Congress has enacted dozens
of tax and transfer programs, giving little if any attention to the marriage
subsidies and penalties that they inadvertently impose. Although the programs
affect both rich and poor Americans, the penalties fall most heavily on low-
or moderate-income households with children. This article reviews important
penalties and subsidies, explain how they work, and help fill a big research
gap by beginning to provide comprehensive data on the size of the penalties
and subsidies arising from all public programs considered together.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9417
**Education
Turning the Lights On
from Coast-to-Coast; Cities Nationwide Gear Up for National Afterschool Rally
From the courthouse in Moultrie, Georgia to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh to the Houston Zoo, afterschool programs are lining up fun
and exciting venues for the sixth annual Lights On Afterschool. Each October,
hundreds of thousands of parents, children and community leaders in cities
across the country come together in diverse settings to rally for afterschool
programs. Lights On Afterschool is organized by the Afterschool Alliance with
National Presenting Sponsor the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53626
Preschool Children Display
Innate Skill with Numbers, Addition
Psychologists at Harvard University have found that five-year-olds are able to grasp numeric abstractions
and arithmetic concepts even without the formal education or language to express
this knowledge in words. The discovery of these inborn skills among preschoolers
could point the way to new teaching techniques, making arithmetic easier and
more pleasant for elementary school children.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/hu-pcd091905.php
**Health
Key Resources on Health
Coverage and the Uninsured
The U.S. Census Bureau's
released its annual update on health insurance coverage and the number of
uninsured Americans on August 30, 2005. Access a wide range of Kaiser Family Foundation reports
and analyses on health insurance coverage.
http://www.kff.org/uninsured/resources.cfm
Program to Train Latino
and Non-Latino Psychologists to Address Complex Mental Health Needs of Latinos
in the U.S.
To meet a critical need
for culturally-sensitive mental health services for Latino populations, the
Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) is launching one of
the first programs in the country designed  through immersion in Spanish
language and cultures--to train Latino and non-Latino psychologists to care
for these underserved communities.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050919.130709&time=14%2017%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Substance Abuse
Learn How to Use an Indicator
Reporting Program to Reduce Alcohol and Drug Problems in Your Community
Join Together announces
the release of the 2005 edition of our popular publication, How do we know
we are making a difference? A community alcohol, tobacco, and drug indicators
handbook. Since the handbook was first released in 1997, thousands of community
leaders have developed indicator reporting programs to identify their most
important local substance use problems, boost fundraising efforts, focus community
prevention and treatment strategies, and measure the impact of new policies
and programs.
http://www.jointogether.org/saredirect/?Object_ID=578293&Type=sa
