Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From: Heroic Choices

Heroic Choices, a national organization that provides resiliency training to traumatized children, has launched a national initiative, Heroic Women for Children, to support the currently heightened awareness and the desire for involvement by women across the United States in helping children rebound from emotionally impacting experiences in their lives.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=39946

**Children, Youth & Families

Parenting Support Can Be a Phone Call Away

The Commonwealth Fund highlights that parents can turn to state toll-free telephone hotlines for advice on their young children's health and well-being and for referrals to community-based support services.  While most help lines deliver high-quality information, there is considerable room for improvement.

http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=248918

Births to Youngest Teens at Lowest Levels in Almost 60 Years

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the birth rate among young adolescents aged 10 to 14 has fallen to the lowest level since 1946.  This report, Births to 10 to 14 Year-Old Mothers, 1990-2002: Trends and Health Outcomes, is the first ever analysis of births to this group of very young mothers, and was prepared by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r041115.htm

AARP Study Finds Grandparents Face Multitude of Barriers Raising Grandchildren; Lack of Authority on Day-to-Day Decisions Cited

A new statewide study released today by AARP New York and the New York State Kincare Coalition finds that grandparents raising grandchildren as well as other kin caregivers in New York State face a multitude of barriers related to schooling, health, legal affairs, and public assistance as they attempt to raise the children in their care.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=39794

Foster Care Adoption in the United States: A State-by-State Analysis of Barriers & Promising Approaches

A report from the The Urban Institute provides a national analysis of adoption information collected from the congressionally mandated Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report offers a national compilation, as well state-by-state assessments, of barriers and promising approaches states report at different stages in the adoption process. The stages where most states report barriers include terminating parental rights, recruiting adoptive homes, court case management, child welfare case management, and establishing and changing permanency goals.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9061

Research Explores why Some Internationally Adopted Children Excel while Others Struggle

According to a panel of researchers from Temple University, over the past decade, U.S. citizens have adopted more foreign born children (150,000) than the citizens of any other country. Prominent among the developmental issues faced by these children is language delay, which can be compounded by medical problems.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/tu-rew111804.php

Social Supports Lessen effects of Maltreatment on Children Vulnerable to Depression

According to a Yale study, maltreated children who are genetically pre-disposed to depression can be spared lifelong emotional problems if the necessary social supports are made available to them.  "A lot of people think that maltreatment or having 'bad' genes leads inevitably to bad outcomes.  This study demonstrates that this need not be the case, and that positive supports can help promote resiliency, even when there is maltreatment and a genetic predisposition for psychiatric illness."

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/yu-ssl111804.php

Long-Term Study of Adults Who Received High-Quality Early Childhood Care and Education Shows Economic and Social Gains, Less Crime

A long-term study conducted by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, of the effects of high-quality early care and education on low-income three- and four-year-olds shows that adults at age 40 who participated in a preschool program in their early years have higher earnings, are more likely to hold a job, have committed fewer crimes, and are more likely to have graduated from high school. Overall, the study documented return to society of more than a $17 for every tax dollar invested in the early care and education program.

http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20041117.073318&time=07%2000%20PST&year=2004&public=1

**Community Development

Affordable Communities Awards

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a new national awards program designed to recognize local governments for reducing regulatory barriers to affordable housing.  HUD is accepting nominations and intends to recognize 10 local governments for their outstanding work to encourage the production of homes affordable to working families.  The Affordable Communities Awards Program builds on the Administration’s proposed Opportunity Zone Initiative to create more jobs and expand homeownership opportunities for lower income families living in transitioning communities.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr04-138.cfm

**Economic Security

Lower-Income Households Spend Largest Share of Income

According to the Urban Institute there has been a renewed interest in large-scale tax reform, namely a broad-based tax on consumption. Data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey give reason to worry about the likely regressivity of a consumption tax. The data indicate that low-income households spend virtually all of their income while high-income households spend less than 40 percent.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9054

Low-income Families in Delaware: Results from the Family Resource Simulator

The National Center for Children in Poverty has developed the Family Resource Simulator which charts the resources and expenses of two hypothetical Delaware families.  The Simulator illustrates the state’s public policies and whether they reward and encourage employment.  The Simulator is state-specific but takes both state and federal policies into account.

http://www.nccp.org/pub_frs04f.html

Social Security and Income

The Snapshot from the Economic Policy Institute examines the importance of Social Security benefits and finds that these benefits account for the majority of income for many elderly households.

http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_11182004

Catholic Charities USA Survey Shows More Families Seeking Help for Food and Housing

As working poor individuals and families struggle to make ends meet, Catholic Charities agencies from New Hampshire to Hawaii continue to experience an increased demand for emergency services, especially from people needing food and help in paying their rent.  According to a new survey of 86 local Catholic Charities agencies by Catholic Charities USA, the need has been great in 2004 with 73 percent reporting an increased demand for rent/mortgage and utilities assistance and a 69 percent growth in requests for food. In addition, the survey indicated that 77 percent of the Catholic Charities agencies surveyed are experiencing an increase in the number of families seeking help and a 63 percent rise in the number of seniors coming to them for aid.

http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/content_displays.cfm?fuseaction=display_document&id=521&location=3

Bush Administration Tax Policy: Down Payment on Tax Reform?

The Urban Institute reports that the Bush Administration tax policy has sometimes been defended as a piecemeal approach to fundamental reform. Consistent with fundamental reform, the tax cuts reduced marginal capital income tax rates and flattened rates. But the similarities end there. A well designed consumption tax would (a) be revenue-neutral; (b) broaden the base; (c) tax existing capital-that is, not provide transition relief; and (d) treat interest income and expense in a consistent manner. The recent tax cuts have none of these features and in many cases have the opposite effects. The result is the worst of both worlds: lower growth, increased shelters, and increased regressivity.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9052

**Education

Most Middle School Math Curricula Not Based on Evidence of Effectiveness, Study Finds

According to a report released by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education, only a small number of the nation's middle school mathematics curricula have scientific evidence of effectiveness.  The report represents one of the first efforts by the Department to inform the nation's parents, educators and policymakers of the most effective school programs and curricula-as judged by scientific evidence.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=39875

**Health

Long-Term Care Strategic Initiative

The Commonwealth Fund and AcademyHealth have launched a strategic initiative, Building Bridges: Making a Difference in Long-Term Care, with the first annual colloquium on June 5. The venture brought together policy leaders, providers, consumer representatives, researchers, and funders around critical issues in long-term care.

http://academyhealth.org/ltc/2004/summary.htm

National Survey on Consumers' Experiences With Patient Safety and Quality Information

A survey from The Kaiser Family Foundation assesses Americans' perceptions about the quality of health care, their awareness and reported usage of information in making their health care choices, and their experiences with their health care providers five years after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report on medical errors.

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr111704pkg.cfm

NCQA Awarded Contracts to Monitor the Quality of Medicare Advantage Health Plans

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded it two contracts to continue important work NCQA has been performing for the Medicare program.  This work allows CMS to monitor and publicly report on Medicare Advantage (formerly Medicare plus Choice) health plan quality using NCQA's HEDIS measures Medicare Advantage plans contract with Medicare to provide both Part A (hospital) and Part B (physician) services to enrolled beneficiaries. Currently, 4.6 million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in managed care plans.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=39745

The Potential Impact of Eliminating TennCare and Reverting to Medicaid: A Preliminary Analysis

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that on November 10, governor of Tennessee announced, “I have set in motion a process to dissolve TennCare and replace it with a traditional Medicaid program.”  The governor estimated that 430,000 low-income Tennesseans could lose TennCare coverage if the state eliminates the eligibility expansions instituted under its TennCare waiver and reverts to a more traditional Medicaid program.  This plan to curtail eligibility is the most recent development in an ongoing debate over the future of TennCare.  In September, Tennessee submitted a waiver request to the federal government to restructure TennCare substantially, stating that the proposed changes were necessary to save the state money.

http://www.cbpp.org/11-15-04health.htm

Medicaid and Breast and Cervical Cancer in California

A report from The Kaiser Family Foundation "Hearing Their Voices: Lessons from the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act (BCCPTA)," reports on the impact of the BCCPTA on low-income women in California, using focus group analysis.  In 2000, Congress passed a landmark law that gave states the option of extending Medicaid coverage to certain low-income women with breast or cervical cancer. In California, approximately 10,000 women have been assisted by this program.

http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/7146.cfm

Immigration, lack of partner support are postpartum

According to a University of Toronto researcher recent immigration, lack of partner support and pregnancy-induced hypertension are significant factors in predicting whether women will experience depressive symptoms soon after giving birth.  Early detection is important since low mood shortly after delivery is a reliable predictor of later developing postpartum depression.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/uot-ilo111504.php

**Hunger & Nutrition

Participation by Low-Income Children in School Breakfast Jumps

According to the annual School Breakfast Scorecard released by the Food Research and Action Center, participation by low-income children in the nation's School Breakfast Program rose by more than 353,000 in the 2003-2004 school year, the biggest jump in nine years.  More than 7.1 million children received free or reduced price meals, a 5.2 percent increase in the number of low-income children eating breakfast at school compared to the prior year. Since 1990, the number of low-income students receiving free or reduced price breakfasts has more than doubled.

http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/11.18.04.html

Reducing Paperwork and Connecting Low-Income Children with School Meals: Opportunities under the New Child Nutrition Reauthorization Law

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in enacting the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress made several changes in the eligibility determination process for free and reduced-price school meals.  The eligibility determination process has two parts: “certification,” in which children are approved to receive meal benefits, and “verification,” in which school districts obtain documentation of eligibility for a small sample of certified children.  The changes in the legislation were aimed at improving the accuracy of eligibility determinations without hindering access to meals or overly complicating program administration.  As a result of these changes, school districts face new requirements this year and in coming years.

http://www.cbpp.org/11-16-04fa.htm

**Substance Abuse

Proposed Addiction Treatment Successful, Safe in Second Small Trial

A second, small-scale clinical trial of a proposed addiction treatment originally investigated at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has produced favorable results in the treatment of long-term addiction to methamphetamine and/or cocaine, with no visual side effects in any of the 30 patients enrolled.

http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=04-103

**Welfare Reform

New Jersey Work First Evaluation: The Benefits of Housing Subsidies for TANF Recipients: Evidence from New Jersey

A brief based on Mathematica Policy Research’s comprehensive evaluation of Work First New Jersey (WFNJ), the state’s welfare reform initiative. Through a series of five annual surveys, the evaluation has tracked the progress of a representative statewide sample of 2,000 welfare recipients who received cash assistance in 1997 and 1998, during the first 18 months of the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  The final survey was conducted in 2003, about five and a half years after clients entered the TANF program.

PDF: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/wfnjhousing.pdf