National Depression Screening
Day: NMHA Provides Education and Support to Hurricane Victims and Responders
National Depression Screening
Day, an annual observance to educate the public on mental health issues and
help individuals identify symptoms of depression and other mental health problems
is October 6th. The National Mental Health Association and its 340 affiliates
nationwide are seizing this opportunity to educate victims of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, responders and the American public about the mental health impact
of disasters and how individuals can best manage.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=54622
Housing Promises Made
to Evacuees Have Fallen Short
Two weeks before President
Bush's mid-October goal for moving Hurricane Katrina victims out of shelters,
more than 100,000 people still reside in such makeshift housing, and 400,000
more are in hotel rooms costing up to $100 a night.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/01/AR2005100101437.html?nav=rss_nation
Home-buying Vouchers
for Storm Victims
For Gulf Coast residents
who survived Hurricane Katrina but no longer have homes, finding somewhere
to live is an immediate concern. Steve Anlian, the Urban Institute's senior
associate in Yerevan, Armenia, says housing vouchers are the answer. "As officials
figure out how to respond to under- or uninsured home owners who are eligible
for aid, experience abroad, in developing countries, argues strongly for multi-state
housing-purchase vouchers."
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9446
Alliance for Healthy Homes, National Center for Healthy Housing Offer Fact Sheets
for Residents Returning to Hurricane Impact Zones
The Alliance for Healthy Homes (the Alliance) and the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) have posted fact sheets and a brochure
for residents returning to hurricane impact zones. The fact sheets are designed
for ease of use by journalists, community-based organizations, property owners,
emergency response personnel, and residents, and serve as a complement to
recovery tips and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20051004.142641&time=15%2026%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
Responsible Relocation:
Real Opportunities for Families Displaced by Katrina
According to The
Urban Institute, when an earthquake hit Northridge, California, in 1994, emergency housing vouchers helped hard-pressed families
secure homes and apartments in decent neighborhoods. For those left destitute
by recent Gulf Coast devastation, say two housing experts from the Urban Institute,
vouchers, especially when coupled with counseling services, can open up opportunities
for stability, security, and economic advancement.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9457
U.S. Department of Labor Launches Re-employment
Partnership in Mississippi to Help Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
The Department of Labor
announced an expanded partnership with Manpower Inc., a Fortune 500 company
that provides employment services to organizations, to help Mississippi workers displaced by Hurricane Katrina
find new jobs. The initiative will leverage the resources and reach of One-Stop Career Centers and Manpower Inc. to deliver employment
and training services that meet evacuees' long-term career needs.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20051934.htm
Hurricane Victims with
Disabilities Receive Assistance through Department of Education
President Bush signed into
law on Sept. 30 the Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Affected
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Act of 2005, granting the U.S. Education Department
authority to permit hurricane-affected Gulf Coast states
access to $25.9 million in federal funds for vocational rehabilitation (VR)
services without the states having to provide matching funds.
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/10/10032005.html
New TANF Law Gives States
Access to Funds Post-Katrina
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy Congress has enacted the TANF Emergency Response
and Recovery Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-68), which gives states access to additional
TANF funds to help families affected by Hurricane Katrina. This document describes
the provisions of the legislation and discusses a pending Senate bill that
would further modify the law's structure.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/tanf_emergency_law_provides_access.pdf
The TANF Fiscal Structure:
Trends, Implications of Reauthorization and Katrina
A presentation by the Center
for Law and Social Policy to a regional meeting of the National Association
of State Budget Officers highlights trends in the use of TANF funds, discusses
the potential fiscal impact of reauthorization, and describes recent guidance
and legislation relating to use of TANF funds for assisting families affected
by Hurricane Katrina.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/nasbo_greenberg_9-19.pdf
Employment and Training
in the Response to Katrina: Some Principals for Ensuring Access to Jobs and
Training
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, as communities rebuild in the wake of hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, it is critical that local residents have access to the jobs
created. CLASP offers specific recommendations to policymakers, program administrators,
and advocates to ensure that recovery efforts bolster the skills and circumstances
of low-wage workers, and help families and communities emerge stronger than
they were before the floodwaters rose.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/workforce_final.pdf
**Children, Youth &
Families
Child Welfare Outcomes
2002 now available
The U.S. Dept. of Health
and Human Services' Children's Bureau has just released Child Welfare Outcomes
2002: Annual Report to Congress. Now in its fifth year, this report provides
data on the performance of States in meeting the needs of children and families
who come into contact with the child welfare system.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cwo02/toc.htm
Symbols Can Help Children
Control Impulses, Get More of What They Want
University of Washington researchers investigating how self-control develops in children
found that abstract symbols can lead the youngsters toward a more optimal
decision than when they have to make a choice with tangible objects such as
candy.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2005/pr050906.cfm
New Early Childhood Curriculum
Now Available
Parent Services Project
announces the release of a new early childhood curriculum, Making Room in
the Circle: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Families in Early
Childhood Education. This curriculum, the first of its kind in the nation,
has been developed to address the silence, taboo and bias that target LGBT
families and harm all children. The information and activities in this curriculum
provide a structure that college instructors, directors and trainers can use
to break the cycle of exclusion and engage in work that protects the civil
rights of all families.
http://www.parentservices.org/whatsnew/index.html
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Adolescents' HIV Risk
Reduced with Community Intervention
A community-level intervention
program aimed at young adolescents delays early intercourse, increases condom
use and reduces the type of risky sexual behavior that can result in sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, a Yale researcher reports in AIDS.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/yu-ahr100305.php
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Get more information on
these issues at http://www.ecommunityissues.com.
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Unwed Mothers have Difficulty
Finding 'Good' Husbands
According to research from
Ohio State University, women who have children outside of
marriage are less likely than other single women to marry, and when they do
marry, their husbands tend to be less well-matched, according to a new study.
The results show that the odds that unwed mothers marry rather than cohabit
are about 30 percent lower than those of childless single women.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/osu-umh100405.php
**Community Development
HUD Announces $41.7 Million
in Housing Counseling Grants to 362 State and Local Housing Counseling Agencies
Hundreds of thousands of
families will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep the homes
they have because of nearly $42 million in housing counseling grants. These
grants will assist families in becoming first-time homeowners or remain homeowners
after their purchase. Renters and homeless individuals and families will also
benefit from the counseling offered by the grants. Grants were awarded to
18 national and regional organizations and approximately 362 state and local
housing counseling agencies.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr05-140.cfm
LISC Honors 25 Community
Developers Nationwide for Their Contributions to Neighborhood Revitalization
Twenty-five directors of
nonprofit community organizations from Maine to California who played vital roles in revitalizing their neighborhoods
were honored in a Washington, DC ceremony as being among the nation's most effective community developers.
The 25 men and women received Leadership Awards, bestowed by Local Initiatives
Support Corporation on those who, through their determination and creativity,
have made their neighborhoods better and stronger.
http://www.lisc.org/whatsnew/press/releases/2005.09.28.0.shtml
**Economic Security
Many Children with Married Parents are
Low Income
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, the married parents of low-income
children are more likely to work in low-paying service sector jobs and live
in rural and suburban areas. Yet 41 percent of these children have two employed
parents.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_cmp05.html
Marriage Not Enough to Guarantee Economic
Security
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, despite widespread assertions to
the contrary, having married parents is not enough to ensure economic security
for children. One in four children living in married-parent families are low
income, although almost all of the parents are employed.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_mne05.html
Who Gets the Child Tax
Credit?
According to The
Urban Institute, in 1997, Congress created a $500 per child tax credit
(CTC). It has since been increased to $1,000 and made available to some lower-income
families with children, even if they had no tax liability. Still, many low-income
families (as well as some with high incomes) receive less than $1,000 per
child in tax benefits. Moreover, because of differences in income, family
composition, and employment status, nearly half of Blacks and 46 percent of
Hispanics receive no or reduced benefits from the CTC because their incomes
are too low. By comparison, only 18 percent of White children are in that
category.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9456
Strengthening Private
Sources of Retirement Savings for Low-Income Families
According to The
Urban Institute widening access to retirement savings vehicles and increasing
the accumulations within these vehicles could help secure the future for many
lower-income families. Currently, the role played by private pensions in asset
building is small to nonexistent for most poor and lower-middle class workers.
Instead, these persons rely primarily on Social Security and the savings in
their home equity, if any, to sustain them in retirement.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9450
**Education
Now Online: The Federal
Role in each School District
According to National Priorities Project Database
Project the federal government provides critical support for each school district's
efforts to educate its neediest children. The NPP Database now offers data
and statistics on government funding for education at the school district
level. To find your school district, go to the NPP Database. With NPP's school
district data (1996-2003), you can now find the percentage of revenues that
come from federal, state and local sources for each school district and the
change over time.
http://webclipper.handsnet.org/mt-static/archives/2005/10/now_online_the.html
Teacher Merit Pay Tied
to Education Gains
Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has a
bold plan to improve public education in his state. It involves new laptops
for students, new science and math teachers and, the most ambitious component
of all, merit pay tied to classroom performance that could add $5,000 or more
to a teacher's annual salary.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/national/04merit.html?ex=1286078400&en=2c093c4d9a667235&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
High Concentration of
Limited-English Students Challenges Implementation of No Child Left Behind
Act
New research from the Urban
Institute finds that limited English proficient (LEP) students are highly
concentrated in a small share of America's public schools. Seventy percent
of LEP students in kindergarten through fifth grade are enrolled in only 10
percent of the country's public elementary schools.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9455
Who's Left Behind?: Immigrant
Children in High and Low LEP Schools
A report from the Urban
Institute offers a detailed picture of the schools in which limited English
proficient (LEP) students are educated. Using nationally-representative data
from NCES' Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS 1999-2000), elementary schools
with high proportions of LEP students are compared to those with fewer or
none, exploring differences in student populations, educational resources,
and teacher and principal qualifications. Analysis reveals that LEP students
are largely segregated: nearly 70% of LEP children are enrolled in only 10%
of schools.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9453
The New Demography of
America's Schools: Immigration and the No
Child Left Behind Act
According to The
Urban Institute U.S. schools are experiencing rapid demographic change due
to high levels of immigration, while they at the same time they are implementing
the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB holds schools accountable
for the performance of limited English proficient (LEP) children and other
groups that include many children of immigrants. This report describes the
demographics of children of immigrants, and the considerable overlap among
NCLB's protected groups: LEPs, low-income students, blacks, Hispanics and
Asians.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9452
**Health
Food Prices Linked to
Weight Gain in Children
According to a study from
RAND, young school-age children who live
in communities where fruits and vegetables are expensive are more likely to
gain excessive amounts of weight than children who live in areas where fruits
and vegetables cost less.
http://www.rand.org/news/press.05/10.05.html
Medicaid and Its Future:
Assessing Health Care Experts' Views
Medicaid and the State Children's
Health Insurance Plan have been successful in meeting their overall goals,
according to slightly more than half of participants in the latest Health
Care Opinion Leaders Survey, an online survey of widely recognized U.S. experts in health care practice and
policy.
http://www.cmwf.org/surveys/surveys_show.htm?doc_id=300546
University of Illinois at Chicago Leads Consortium of Chicago Institutions to Evaluate New Medicare
Drug Benefits
A consortium of Chicago
institutions coordinated by the University of Illinois at Chicago is one of
13 new research centers nationwide designated by the Department of Health
and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to research
which drugs and treatments work best for certain health conditions. The work
will help determine the effectiveness of the new Medicare prescription drug
benefits.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20051004.111548&time=12%2028%20PDT&year=2005&public=1
**Hunger and Nutrition
FRAC Report, “Getting
Food Stamps to Hungry Families on Time: Federal Rules and the High Performance
Bonus for Timeliness”
In September 2004, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded a total of $6 million in bonuses
to Massachusetts, South Dakota, Kentucky, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and
Oklahoma (in descending order of performance) for their high rates of timely
processed food stamp applications. In Fiscal Year 2003, all six states had
provided food stamp benefits to eligible applicants within the federally mandated
deadline in over 95 percent of cases. The announcement marked the first time
states received this official recognition for prompt customer service, and
USDA will continue to reward the top-ranking states each year.
PDF: http://www.frac.org/pdf/timeliness.pdf
States Receive $18 Million
for Excellent Customer Service in the Food Stamp Program
The Department of Agriculture
Secretary announced the award of $18 million in high performance bonuses to
12 states that demonstrated excellent customer service in fiscal year 2004.
The 2002 Farm Bill authorized USDA to provide $48 million in high performance
bonuses to states that demonstrate high or improved performance in administering
the Food Stamp Program. The bonuses announced recognize the importance of
customer service in administering this critical nutrition program, with award
amounts also reflecting the size of the food stamp caseload.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/09/0406.xml
**Substance Abuse
More Methamphetamine
Users Addicted
Methamphetamine use rates
have not increased in recent years, but more meth users are dependent on the
drug, according to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C578385%2C00.html
$72 Million Awarded to
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions
The Office of National Drug
Control Policy awarded a total of $72 million to various youth drug, alcohol,
and tobacco prevention programs nationwide. $17.1 million was awarded to
176 new communities under ONDCP's Drug-Free Communities matching grants, with
an additional $54 million supporting 535 existing community coalition projects.
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/funding/reader/0%2C1854%2C578359%2C00.html
