Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From: Center for Community Change

Last month, the Senate passed the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for FY 2004, which determines federal funding levels for a number of low-income programs for the year. The bill recently passed by the Senate rescinded over $210 million in funding for the Welfare-to-Work program, which states use to provide critical services to TANF recipients with serious barriers to employment. These funds had originally been appropriated for FY 1999, and the time period in which they were to be used was extended to 2004 in the 2001 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.htm#1

CALL YOUR SENATORS ABOUT SSBG RESTORATION

From: The Coalition on Human Needs:

For over 5 years, states have been making up over $1 billion a year in cuts to the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), which provides critical services to state and local child welfare systems, elderly adults, persons with disabilities, and families. Due to budget crisis, states can no longer make up the federal cuts and services to our most vulnerable Americans are being cut.

http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.htm#2

SIGN-ON LETTER TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN PARITY ACT

From: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) is asking for organizations to endorse H.R. 1738, the "American Parity Act," a bill he has co-sponsored with Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). The bill seeks to ensure any additional spending for Iraq's postwar reconstruction is balanced with dollar-for-dollar new investments in American domestic spending.

http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.htm#3

**Children, Youth & Families

National Project Focused on Improving Child Welfare Outcomes Releases New Study

Fostering Results, a public education campaign focused on improving child welfare outcomes and supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, released a new study today detailing how 33 states and the District of Columbia doubled the number of adoptions from foster care during the five years since the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act in 1997. Of these states, six tripled and two quadrupled their adoption performance.

http://cfrcwww.social.uiuc.edu/news1.htm

Children in Kinship Care

A report from the Urban Institute finds that 2.3 million children lived in kinship care in 2002. Most children in kinship care live with grandparents. Children in kinship care often live in families experiencing hardships.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8605

Who Takes Care of Children When Their Parents Can't?

A report from the Urban Institute finds that in 2002, 2.5 million children lived in families where their parents were not present. Of these, fewer than 250,000 lived with non-kin foster families.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8606

HHS Launches Effort to Help Children Who Witness Domestic Violence

The Department of Human Services announced a new initiative to help children who witness domestic violence to develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults and prevent the cycle of violence from continuing from one generation to the next.  The initiative, called "Safe and Bright Futures for Children," will incorporate evidence-based practices such as treatment for child and adolescent trauma, mentoring and mental health services while also addressing risk and protective factors to negate the cyclical effects of violence.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031008.html

Report Shows Quality Child Care Cuts Crime, Saves Money

A law enforcement organization released a report today showing that quality child care cuts crime.  This is especially important for Rhode Island, where, according to the report, only one in seven eligible children is currently served by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the federal government's primary source of child care assistance for working families.

http://www.fightcrime.org/releases.php?id=67

HHS Awards Nearly $9 Million to Support Mentoring Programs for Children of Prisoners

The Department of Health and Human Services announced nearly $9 million in grants to 52 organizations to train adult volunteers as mentors to children whose parents are incarcerated. These grants are part of President Bush's plan to provide mentors for disadvantaged youth to help them as they grow into adulthood.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031003a.html

**Civil Society

National Effort to Promote Youth Participation in Politics

Harvard's Institute of Politics, located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is organizing a national effort to encourage participation and engagement in politics by America's college students, a traditionally under-represented group in the national political discourse and on Election Day.

PDF: http://www.iop.harvard.edu/pressreleases/national_campaign_100803.pdf

Survey Says Race Relations Have Gotten Worse Since 9-11

According to a new survey released by the National League of Cities, despite the increase in patriotism since the September 11 attacks, race relations have gotten worse in America.  The survey of 126 cities showed that 71 percent of those responding said that race relations have worsened since 9-11.  Another 49 percent said that race relations have deteriorated as a result of the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action.

http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=631A1BBB-D936-4F2D-A9FAC8E70C27B445

Nearly 1-in-5 Speak a Foreign Language at Home

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 1-in-5 people, or 47 million U.S. residents age 5 and older, spoke a language other than English at home in 2000. That was an increase of 15 million people since 1990.  The report said 55 percent of the people who spoke a language other than English at home also reported they spoke English "very well." Combined with those who spoke only English at home, 92 percent of the population age 5 and over had no difficulty speaking English.

PDF: http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-29.pdf

**Community Development

Some Foreign-Born Groups More Likely to Own Homes than People Born in U.S.

According to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Blacks, Asians and Pacific islanders, and Hispanics who are naturalized citizens had higher homeownership rates than their U.S.-born race and ethnic counterparts

PDF: http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/h121-03-1.pdf

**Economic Security

Debt and Assets Among Low-Income Families

A report from the National Center for Children in Poverty finds that low-income families today are burdened with rising levels of debt but have few assets to leverage if they are confronted by a financial crisis, such as a job layoff or long illness. The report finds that, for low-income families, average debt doubled between 1984 and 2001, while most have only a few hundred dollars in liquid assets.

http://www.nccp.org/pub_aad03.html

Access to 'Good Jobs' Promotes Wage Growth

According to a report from Brookings, increasing access to employment at larger, high-wage firms can raise earnings prospects for low-wage workers.  The new study shows that low earners who change jobs experience greater earnings growth than those who stay at the same firm.

http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/200310_Holzer.htm

Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: The Latino Experience in the Recession and Recovery

A report from the Pew Hispanic Center presents new findings on the impact of the 2001 recession and its continuing aftermath. It examines a variety of trends in employment, unemployment and wage rates for both Hispanics and non-Hispanics.  Outcomes are explored by industry, occupation, geographic region, age, nativity and education.

PDF: http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/PHCRecessionReportOct2003Web_1.pdf

Exploring State Variation in Uninsurance Rates among Low-Income Workers

Using data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families, a brief from the Urban Institute provides details of uninsurance among low-income workers in 13 states. States with relatively high rates of uninsurance among low-income workers tend to have greater than average proportions of: Hispanics (both citizens and noncitizens); workers in fair or poor health; and workers in agriculture and construction.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8601

Child Support Gains Some Ground

According to a report from the Urban Institute 36 percent of poor children living with single mothers received child support in 2001, up from 31 percent in 1996. Near-poor children saw child support receipt increase from 45 percent in 1996 to 50 percent in 2001.  Child support was 30 percent of a share of a poor family's income in 2001.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8600

**Education

Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act

In order to better understand how the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act is playing out in school districts across the nation, the Center on Education Policy commissioned case studies of local implementation of NCLB in a geographically diverse set of urban, suburban, and rural districts. Although the case study work is still underway, interesting findings are already emerging from the case studies of 15 school districts.  The studies highlight the problems arising with implementation and the strategies used to tackle these problems.

Summary: http://www.rand.org/hot/press.03/10.06.html

Case Studies: http://www.ctredpol.org/pubs/nclbcasestudy_oct2003/nclbcasestudy_oct2003.htm

A New Federal Role in Education

A new summary from the Center on Education Policy highlights the major provisions contained in the recently enacted "No Child Left Behind Act."

http://www.ctredpol.org/fededprograms/newfedroleedfeb2002.htm

Electronic Tool Will Help Bridge Gap between Education and Workforce Skills

The Career Voyages Web site was introduced as a result of collaboration between the Department of Labor and the Department of Education as part of a larger, more comprehensive effort to link the educational community with the world of work.  The new Web site features detailed information about the fastest growing industries and occupations, the skills and education required to prepare for them, job openings by area, and wages, licensing requirements and growth rates for numerous occupations.

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ETA2003543.htm

**Health

HHS Issues Report Charting Steady Gains In Americans' Health

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' annual report on the nation's health, life expectancy in the United States reached an all time high in 2001, and the gap between blacks and whites has narrowed. The report also finds evidence that the diabetes epidemic is getting worse; between 1997 and 2002, the percent of Americans diagnosed with diabetes increased by 27 percent.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031003b.html

Report on Children's Health Measure in Senate Medicare Bill

A Children’s Defense Fund analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) data has found that there are more than 900,000 uninsured immigrant children living in low-income families.  Most of these children would be eligible for health insurance coverage if not for federal restrictions on immigrant eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In addition, the CDF analysis found that there are more than 200,000 uninsured U.S. citizen children living in low-income families with at least one immigrant child.

PDF: http://www.childrensdefense.org/pdf/ICHIA_report.pdf

Program uses Creative Play, Games to Introduce Kids to Healthy Foods and Fitness

The Children's Aid Society launched "JumpStart," an obesity prevention program targeted at pre-school aged children.  JumpStart's goal is to establish healthy eating habits and increase physical activity levels in very young children in order to prevent the later development of obesity and related health problems.

http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/locations_services/servicesindex/healthservices/jumpstart/

Disparities in Mental Health for Kids

A report from RAND finds that mental health programs serve a far greater share of children in some states than in others, but states with higher use of mental health services do not necessarily have a higher need for them.

http://www.rand.org/hot/press.03/10.06.html

Exercise for Elders: It's Never too Late

A series of studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine find that older Americans need more motivation to exercise regularly.  Ignoring clichés about older people and exercise might help, the researchers note.  Being old does not mean life is over, elderly people receive as much benefit from exercising or any healthy behavior as younger people do.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/cfta-efe100803.php

HHS Designates Six New National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the creation of six new National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health, model academic health centers that will provide integrated and comprehensive women's health services across the United States. HHS will provide a total of nearly $1 million to support the six new centers, some of which will focus on rural women's health.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031003.html

**Hunger and Nutrition

Food Stamp Participation Jumps in July 2003

Participation in the Food Stamp Program in July 2003 jumped by 256,405 persons from the previous month, to 22,039,239 persons, according to the Food Research and Action Center's analysis of preliminary monthly data from USDA. The July 2003 level of Food Stamp Program participation represented a rise of about 2.75 million persons compared to the July 2002 level, more than 4.5 million persons compared to July 2001, and almost 5.2 million persons since July, 2000 (when program participation nationally reached its lowest point in the last decade).

http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/03july.html

Studies Find that Income Verification in the National School Lunch Program Does Harm, Without Doing Good

The US Department of Agriculture recently released preliminary findings of two studies and the full report of a third study that examine certification accuracy in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/cnreauthor/OANEstudies.htm

**Welfare and Welfare Reform

The More Things Change? Children's Living Arrangements since Welfare Reform

In its series, Snapshots of America's Families, the Urban Institute reports that the share of children five and under living with single mothers declined from 21.0 percent in 1997 to 17.3 percent in 2002.  The share of young children living with married parents increased by 2.5 percentage points between 1997 and 2002.  The share living with unmarried parents increased by 1.2 percentage points.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8599