Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From: Food Research and Action Center

As the October 30th deadline for the current continuing resolution (CR) approaches, work has speeded up on remaining appropriations bills.  Initial speculation that an omnibus spending bill, which would include all remaining appropriations bills, now seems unlikely as the Senate and House are rapidly taking up individual bills.  Behind the scenes, committee staffs, including Agriculture and Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations, continue to draft conference agreements in the likelihood that they will have to move quickly to complete funding action.

http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/cnreauthor/cnalert102403_approp.htm

**Children, Youth & Families

Early Childhood Development Is a Top Concern for Cities

A new National League of Cities (NLC) survey shows that city leaders in the U.S. view early childhood development as a top priority.  Many cities and towns are also taking steps to promote early childhood development. The NLC survey findings show that despite the fact that early childhood programming has not traditionally been a municipal function, about four in 10 (38 percent) city officials report dedicating funds to early childhood development.

http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=B436E358-1D06-4F4F-919E3EDC88E8F286

Children Spend As Much Time with TV, Computers, Video Games as Playing Outside

According to a new study released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, even the very youngest children in America are growing up immersed in media, spending hours a day watching TV and videos, using computers and playing video games.  Children six and under spend an average of two hours a day using screen media (1:58), about the same amount of time they spend playing outside (2:01), and well over the amount they spend reading or being read to (39 minutes).

http://www.kff.org/content/2003/20031028/

Child Welfare System 'in Crisis for 30 Years,'

University of Georgia researchers posit that the child welfare system has been in crisis for the last 30 years or more.  Child welfare workers have some of the most difficult, demanding and publicly scrutinized jobs in human services.  Decisions like removing children from abusive families, terminating parental rights and planning and finalizing adoptions are extremely difficult, and often it is left to overworked, unprepared individuals to deal with a system that, frankly, needs some attention.  The UGA School of Social Work recently hosted a working conference titled "Developing Strategies to Professionalize Child Welfare in America."

http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/printer_031027welfare.shtml

November 1st is 10th Annual National Family Literacy Day

On November 1, the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and Toyota will sponsor the tenth annual celebration of National Family Literacy Day(r). Nationwide, families and schools use the days and weeks surrounding November 1 as an annual opportunity to recognize the positive impact of parents and children learning together.

http://www.famlit.org/FAQ/Publications/nfld.cfm

**Community Development

Administration Awards “Sweat Equity” Grants

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $25 million in "sweat equity grants" enabling more than 2,400 low-income families to become homeowners.  They work for their 'American Dream' by contributing at least 200 hours of their own labor to help make a house their home.  Meanwhile, HUD and the Census Bureau today released data showing that new home sales rose in September to the third highest rate on record.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr03-115.cfm

HUD Announces More than $47.6 Million to Help Families across the US

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $47,688,000 in grants today to 771 housing authorities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico that will be used for job training and placement for low-income citizens.  HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (HCV/FSS) Program provides funds to public housing agencies specifically for the employment of family self-sufficiency coordinators. The FSS coordinators assist adults in job training, childcare, counseling, transportation and job placement programs.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr03-112.cfm

**Economic Security

Swelling Deficits: Increased Spending is not the Principal Culprit

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that based on new budget data for fiscal 2003, which just ended, this analysis finds that despite recent spending growth, federal spending remains below historical levels, and that declining revenues account for roughly twice as much of the shift from surplus to deficits as increases in spending.

http://www.cbpp.org/10-27-03bud.htm

A Profile of the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce

A brief from the Urban Institute recommends revamping the Workforce Investment Act and tailoring job-training programs to serve limited English proficient populations, build language assessment capacity, and combine job training with English language, basic education, and literacy instruction.  Immigrants make up one in nine U.S. residents, one in seven U.S. workers, and one in five low-wage workers. Immigrants are overrepresented among both low-wage and less educated U.S. workers. Since so many immigrants work and so many hold low-wage jobs, they could potentially benefit from post- as well as pre-employment services.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8628

State-by-State WIA Program Participation Data, 2000 and 2001

The Center for Law and Social Policy explains that states were required to begin implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) by July 2000 and have been continuously developing their programs since that time. Under the Act and associated regulations, states are required to collect a series of demographic and performance outcome information on each WIA participant who accesses intensive or training services.  The complete WIASRD data for 2000 and 2001 have recently become available. These tables provide state-by-state data on program participation for various groups of individuals.

2000 - PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1066922101.59/WIA_PY00_UPDATED.pdf

2001 - PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1067361182.3/WIA_PY01.pdf

**Education

Children Get Greater Boost in School, Thanks to High Quality Preschool

According to a Georgetown University study, children who attend high quality, universal preschool programs enjoy better skills when they enter school.  The study points to teacher quality and pay in the public schools as likely reasons for improved readiness.  The study, funded in part by The Pew Charitable Trusts, through the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), represents an unusually rigorous examination of a large sample of children in the Tulsa, OK school district where preschool is offered to all children. NIEER is a nonpartisan preschool policy think tank in New Brunswick, NJ.

http://www.crocus.georgetown.edu/oklahoma.html

Pitfalls on Road to Vouchers

As private schools line up to take part in Colorado's experimental school voucher program, a number of pitfalls have surfaced for parents who are considering voucher education for their children, officials say. Parents face limited choice for nonreligious education, concerns about school quality and uncertainty about the availability of important services such as free lunches.  The Denver Post reviewed more than 440 applications found schools that could not accommodate Spanish-speaking children, and questions have been raised about schools' financial stability and ability to offer a hot-lunch program, important to voucher students, who largely qualify for free and reduced-price lunches.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1727544,00.html

**Health

Children's Defense Fund Analysis Shows Percentage of Uninsured Children Varies by State

An analysis by the Children's Defense Fund of recently released Census data for 2002 reveals that the percentage of uninsured children in the nation varies widely from state to state. In more than half the states, at least 10 percent of children have no health insurance. The percentage of children without health coverage ranges from more than 20 percent in Texas to less than 5 percent in Vermont, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

http://www.childrensdefense.org/release031024.php

African-Americans, Women Less Likely to Receive Effective Technique for Coronary Bypass Surgery in U.S. Hospitals

A new study by Solucient shows that U.S. hospitals are less likely to use a key heart bypass technique, known as IMA, on African-American and female patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery than Caucasians and men, respectively, despite a steady increase in use of this method over the past five years.

http://www.solucient.com/news_press/news20031027.shtml

**Welfare and Welfare Reform

Analysis of Fiscal Year 2002 TANF and MOE Spending by States

The Center for Law and Social Policy released worksheets analyzing how the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the nation as a whole spent the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grants, in addition to state Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds in fiscal year 2002.  States reported this information to the Administration of Children and Families. 

http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1067285829.61/state_moe_fy02.htm

Federal Reauthorization 2003 - Low Income Programs on the Line

Midwest Partners released a report—Federal Reauthorization 2003: Low Income Programs on the Line—that highlights the importance of upcoming federal decisions on states’ programs for low-income children.

http://lift.nccp.org/item_20.html