Child Support-Related
Provisions in New Katrina Relief Legislation
A paper from the Center
for Law and Social Policy outlines the child support-related provisions
of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Response and
Recovery Act of 2005, signed into law on September
21, 2005. It also
describes recent Health and Human Services policy guidance and pending legislation
that would clarify the law. Finally, it recommends that Congress adopt additional
short-term child support measures to help states impacted by the hurricanes.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/child_support_and_katrina_relief_legislation.pdf
**Children, Youth &
Families
Asthma Home Intervention
Cost-Effective for Inner-City Children
Through efforts to limit
exposure to environmental irritants, health workers and municipalities can
cut illness generally among inner-city children with asthma and also the number
of clinic visits for those young patients by at least 19 percent, a new study
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill concludes. The cost can be as low as $1,469 per affected family.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/uonc-ahi102505.php
Families Will Lose Billions
of Dollars Under Ways and Means Proposal
According to the Center
for Law and Social Policy, the Committee on Ways and Means has proposed
deep cuts to the federal funding for child support services, which would severely
reduce states' ability to collect child support for low- and moderate-income
families. This policy brief outlines the proposed changes, and uses Congressional
Budget Office projections to show how much funding each state stands to lose
and how much child support will go uncollected if the proposed cuts are enacted.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/child_support_cuts.pdf
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State Strategies for
Preventing Accumulation and Managing Existing Child Support Arrears
The publicly funded child
support program contends with over $100 billion in arrears, or outstanding
child support owed by obligated parents. To address this problem, a number
of states revising their policies and developing strategies to both prevent
the growth of arrears and resolve existing debt. This PowerPoint presentation
from the Center for Law and Social Policy
describes these efforts, and includes a comprehensive bibliography of sources
for further information.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/publications/strategies_for_child_support_arrears.pdf
Cost-Sharing Provisions
in the Energy and Commerce Medicaid Proposal: Key Issues for Children and
Families
The proposal to reduce federal
Medicaid spending put forth by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe
Barton on Tuesday, October 26, would fundamentally alter the federal government’s
role in assuring that the coverage offered to millions of Americans through
Medicaid remains affordable. This proposal revokes many of the federal standards
that have long served to assure that children, in particular, do not face
financial barriers to care in Medicaid; it allows states to levy higher charges
for most services for adults living below the poverty line; and it eliminates
nearly all of the federal standards governing the affordability of coverage
for other adults, including those with disabilities and chronic medical conditions.
PDF: http://www.cbpp.org/10-25-05health2.pdf
Survey Examines How D.C.
Area Teens and Their Parents View Their Lives and Aspirations for the Future
The Washington Post, Kaiser
Family Foundation, and Harvard School of Public Health have released a new
comprehensive study looking at how teens and their parents in and around Washington, D.C. view their lives, their priorities and their hopes and dreams
for the future. The survey’s findings were featured in a package of articles
published in the Oct. 23 Washington Post Magazine.
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7406.cfm
**Civic Engagement
Texas Prisoners' Reflections Returning Home
A report from The
Urban Institute is based on surveys completed by 676 men and women shortly
before their release from Texas prisons and state jails and their
return to the Houston area. The report describes respondents'
criminal, substance abuse, and employment histories; current health problems;
in-prison programming experiences; relationships with family members; and
expectations for release. Differences between respondents based on gender
and type of confinement (i.e., prison or state jail) are also highlighted.
Overall, these findings describe a population with extensive histories of
substance use and criminal behavior, yet strong family ties and great optimism
for what life will be like on the outside.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9479
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Get more information on
these issues at http://www.ecommunityissues.com.
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**Economic Security
Income Taxes and Income
Inequality Since 1979
According to The
Urban Institute, following decades of relative stability, income inequality
has risen sharply in the United States since the 1970s. Households at the
top of the income distribution saw their pretax incomes grow most; similar
trends and magnitude are present for after-tax incomes, too.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9477
Tax-Transfer Policy and
Labor Market Outcomes
According to The
Urban Institute, the Earned Income Tax Credit provides nearly $40 billion
to low-income families with children. A potential unintended consequence of
the credit is lower pretax wages, in which case only part of the subsidy would
accrue to workers. The report examines the extent to which EITC expansions
lower the pretax wages of working parents. The findings are inconclusive.
The gross hourly wages of less-skilled single women are found not to vary
by the number of children, as does the EITC. In addition, the wages of black
single mothers track the minimum wage for nearly the entire time period.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9467
Ways and Means "Chairman's
Mark" Targets Key Low-Income Programs
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, the House Ways and
Means Committee is scheduled to mark up its portion of the budget reconciliation
bill on October 26. The budget resolution that passed in April requires the
Ways and Means Committee to cut programs under its jurisdiction by $1 billion
over the next five years, but Chairman Thomas’ mark would cut programs under
its jurisdictions by $8 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO).
http://www.cbpp.org/10-25-05wel.htm
**Education
Education Department
Encouraged by New National and State Report Cards on Math and Reading
The U.S. Secretary of Education
released a statement regarding the 2005 National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) National and State Report Cards in Mathematics and Reading, also known as the Nation's Report
Card. The national and state report cards are released every two years as
required by the No Child Left Behind Act. These results, like the long-term
July data, confirm that we are on the right track with No Child Left Behind,
particularly with younger students who have benefited from the core principles
of annual assessment and disaggregation of data. The results in fourth grade
are particularly encouraging, and we are truly heartened by the continued
narrowing of the achievement gap.
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/10/10192005.html
**Health
Resources on the Medicare
Prescription Drug Benefit
The Kaiser Family Foundation
has extensive resources on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, including
fact sheets that summarize the benefit's structure and the additional low-income
assistance, survey data on seniors' views of the new program, and various
consumer resources to help make decisions about the benefit.
http://www.kff.org/medicare/rxdrugbenefit.cfm
Health Opportunity Accounts for Low-Income Medicaid Beneficiaries:
A Risky Approach
On October 25, the House
Energy and Commerce Committee began marking up reconciliation legislation
that includes at least $10 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program. In addition
to other Medicaid proposals that would adversely affect low-income beneficiaries
by increasing cost sharing and reducing benefits, the package proposed by
the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman includes a provision to establish
Health Opportunity Accounts for Medicaid beneficiaries in up to ten states. Like Health
Savings Accounts, Health Opportunity Accounts pose significant risks.
http://www.cbpp.org/10-26-05health.htm
Critical Choices: Will
Congress Secure Health Care Savings by Targeting "Weak Claims" or
"Weak Clients"?
According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities the House Energy and Commerce Committee
and the Senate Finance Committee are beginning to craft “reconciliation” legislation
to reduce projected expenditures for programs under their jurisdiction. This
year’s budget resolution requires $10 billion in reductions in programs under
these committees’ jurisdiction, and there now is pressure on Capitol Hill
to cut more deeply than the budget resolution requires. This pressure stems
from growing concerns about the costs associated with relief and rebuilding
efforts related to Hurricane Katrina, although those costs do not materially
affect the nation’s long-term deficit problems.
http://www.cbpp.org/10-12-05health2.htm
Differences that Make
a Difference: Comparing Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance
Program Federal Benefits Standards
In the context of the federal
budget debate, Congress is considering a proposal advanced by the National
Governors Association to replace these rules for some children with a benefits
standard modeled after the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
This Issue Brief from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
analyzes the profound differences between these two standards and the health
care guarantees that children would lose if the Medicaid standard was replaced
by SCHIP-like rules.
PDF: http://www.cbpp.org/10-25-05health3.pdf
**Substance Abuse
Children Exposed to Meth
Can Be Helped, Expert Says
Children exposed to alcohol
in utero often suffer permanent brain damage, but those exposed to methamphetamine
or cocaine can recover without lasting ill-effects, according to a leading
expert on meth-exposed children.
http://www.jointogether.org/saredirect/?Object_ID=578487&Type=sa
Alcohol Industry's Marketing
Overexposes Hispanic Teens
Hispanic youth often see
and hear more alcohol advertising per capita than young people in their age
group in general, according to a new report released from the Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth. The report finds that Hispanic 12- to 20-year-olds in
the United States
saw 20 percent more alcohol advertising per capita in English-language magazines
in 2004 than did all young people in this age group.
http://www.jointogether.org/saredirect/?Object_ID=578502&Type=sa
