Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From the Coalition on Human Needs:

Take these two quick and easy steps to advocate for low-income families this holiday season:  Email Congress your TANF holiday wish list and an electronic carol.  Take advantage of the holiday season to send Congress a message about the welfare legislation Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  Once you've emailed Congress, take the next step. Help us give every member of Congress a copy of our wish list

http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/alert.asp?art=312#4

**Children, Youth & Families

Motherhood Lessens Teen Delinquency

According to new research from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, unmarried adolescent mothers who keep their babies have lower rates of juvenile delinquency than girls who have abortions or give up their babies for adoption.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/cfta-mlt120103.php

Unsupervised Time: Family and Child Factors Associated with Self-Care

The Urban Institute reports that 3.3 million 6- to 12-year-old children regularly take care of themselves without adult supervision. Seven percent of children ages 6 to 9 and 12 percent of low-income children are in self-care. Self-care is more likely among 10- to 12-year-olds and children from higher-income families. Parents' full-time employment and parental symptoms of poor mental health are related to an increase in self-care for both younger and older children. Full-time employment and an increase in a child's age are related to an increase in self-care for both low- and higher-income children. In both income groups, Hispanic children are less likely to be in self-care than other groups.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8658

Variations in State Laws affect Elder Abuse Documentation

According to a nationwide study, conducted by the University of Iowa, how domestic elder abuse cases are detected and handled differs widely across states because the relevant state laws and regulations vary greatly.  The study is believed to be the first to comprehensively relate domestic elder abuse rates to laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2003/december/120203elder-abuse.html

Domestic Violence by Members of the Military

Two new reports released by RAND focus on domestic violence perpetrated by or against service members.  The reports detail challenges and make suggestions for strengthening military-civilian collaboration in addressing domestic violence.

http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP254/index.html

**Community Development

Lessons from 70 Years of Housing Policy and Practice

A joint effort by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute examines the efficacy of major affordable housing approaches over seven decades in promoting healthy communities and families and distills the implications for local action.

http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/housingreview.htm

HUD Awards over $30 million to Help the Elderly and People with Disabilities Continue to Live Independently at Home

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $30.9 million in service coordinator grants to provide more than 23,000 low-income elderly and residents with disabilities in federally supported housing with assistance to identify and receive health care, meals and other critical support services.

http://www.hud.gov/content/releases/pr03-130.cfm

**Economic Security

Shifting Poverty in the Los Angeles Region

A new study from Brookings shows that poverty increased and suburbanized in metropolitan Los Angeles in recent decades, especially during the 1990s..  The researchers argue that improving economic mobility for immigrants and their children is one of the region's key challenges.

http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/20031124_Ong.htm

Federal Policies Contribute to the Severity of the State Fiscal Crisis

A revised report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that federal policies have cost states $185 billion in additional expenses and reduced revenues during the state fiscal crisis, an amount that dwarfs the $20 billion in fiscal relief to the states the federal government has provided.

http://www.cbpp.org/10-17-03sfp.htm

**Education

Bibliography of Out-of-School Time Evaluations

The Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has added a new resource to the out-of-school time section of its website -- a bibliography of all the evaluations of out-of-school time programs that they are currently tracking nationwide. The bibliography contains about 200 programs and provides the titles of the programs’ evaluation reports and links to those that available online. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool/bibliography/index.html

Community Organizing for School Reform

The Harvard Family Research Project has added a new resource to the Family Involvement Network of Educator section of its website, a paper reviewing current research on community organizing for school reform, entitled, "Transforming Schools Through Community Organizing: A Research Review."  It examines how community organizing differs from traditional parent involvement activities, outlines the characteristic strategies used to engage parents in organizing efforts, and describes the outcomes of these efforts.

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/resources/research/lopez.html

HHS Report Finds States Increasing Pre-Kindergarten Programs

The Department of Health and Human Services released a report showing that some states are major providers of pre-kindergarten programs, a vast change from when Head Start was created in 1965.  The report, State Funded Pre-Kindergarten Programs: What the Evidence Shows, shows that while there is great variation across states, most state-funded pre-kindergarten programs meet widely accepted and research-based quality standards, offer key expanded services to meet children's health and nutrition needs, and use a range of strategies to involve parents in their children's education.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031203a.html

**Health

It’s Never too Late to Start Exercising and Losing Weight

A new study by Joslin Diabetes Center researchers shows that obese adults who lost just 7 percent of their weight – or 16 pounds in a 220-pound, 5'5" tall woman – and did moderate-intensity physical exercise for six months improved their major blood vessel function by approximately 80 percent, regardless of whether or not they had type 2 diabetes.

http://www.joslin.org/news/NeverTooLate.shtml

Whites, African-Americans Better Rate Medical Care Experiences when Seeing Same-Race Physicians

A Johns Hopkins study finds that White and African-American patients who see physicians of the same race rate their medical visits as more satisfying and participatory than do those who see physicians of other races, even when the nature of the conversation in both types of visits is similar.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2003/12_03_03.html

Patients Stop Meds when Benefit Changes

According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, large increases in co-payments in tiered prescription drug plans increase the likelihood that patients will choose not to pay them and to stop taking prescribed drugs, including needed medications for chronic illnesses such as heart disease and acid reflux.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/hms-psm120103.php

HSAs Won't Cure Medicare's Ills

According to a report from the Urban Institute there's one message from the new "bipartisan" Medicare bill currently being debated in Congress: Low-income elderly people are having a hard time paying for their prescription drugs, so we need... another tax cut for rich people! Today's tax cut for rich people--health savings accounts (HSA)--has been all but lost in the debate about the proposed new Medicare prescription drug benefit, but this wolf in sheep's clothing shouldn't be overlooked. It is bad tax policy and bad health policy.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8653

*****Medicare Prescription Drug Legislation

Congress's Work on Medicare Unfinished

The president of the Commonwealth Fund commenting on the Medicare bill passed by the Senate finds that the bill ill help many beneficiaries who have inadequate prescription drug coverage, especially those with low incomes.  But many beneficiaries with very modest incomes will receive only limited help from this legislation, and many will still face high out-of-pocket costs.

http://www.cmwf.org/../../programs/medfutur/postmedicarevote_2ndpg.asp

Backgrounder: Savings for Seniors Under The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

The Department of Health and Human Services has produced a chart of the savings that will accrue to seniors under the new Medicare plan.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031124a.html

Backgrounder: Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the recently developed agreement will give all Medicare beneficiaries access to prescription drug coverage and the buying power to reduce the prices they pay for drugs. The proposal provides enhanced coverage for the lowest income beneficiaries and an immediate prescription drug discount card for all beneficiaries until the full plan is available nationwide. Additionally, the proposal includes savings for many state governments; increased coverage for preventive services; and provisions for modernizing the drug delivery infrastructure.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031124.html

Q&A: Understanding the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

Families USA has produced a series of fact sheets on the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.

http://www.familiesusa.org/site/DocServer/11-25_Q_A.doc?docID=2321

en Español: http://www.familiesusa.org/site/DocServer/Medicare_Rx_Drug_Benefit_Q_A-Spanish.doc?docID=2421

Digging the Medicare Hole Deeper

The Urban Institute reports that government actuaries estimate that the Medicare Health Insurance trust fund will be exhausted by 2026. But if projected expenditures for Medicare's new drug benefit were instead deposited in the trust fund, its life would be extended until 2047.

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1000576

**Hunger and Nutrition

Many Families Turn to Food Pantries for Help

The Urban Institute has synthesized data from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America's Families which documents that the working poor are struggling to cover food costs.  Over 4 million non-elderly low-income families reported using a food pantry in the past year. Working parents with children made up nearly half the families that turned to food pantries. Forty-six percent of low-income families using food pantries also reported receiving federal food stamps.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8655

Using Policy Options in the 2002 Farm Bill to Strengthen the Food Stamp Program

The Welfare Information Network reports that the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 offers several policy options that can be critical to state and local efforts to ensure access to the Food Stamp program.  The farm law restores food stamp benefits to legal immigrants and the law allows states to streamline Food Stamp program administration, align Food Stamp program rules with those for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid, and provide transitional food stamp benefits to families leaving welfare.  As a result, states have new flexibility to determine how food stamp benefits are delivered and new tools to address the nutritional needs of their citizens so these individuals can move toward self-sufficiency.

http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/Publications/foodstampprogramIN.htm

**Wellfare and Welfare Reauthorization

Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty, and Welfare Reform

The Brookings Welfare Reform & Beyond initiative and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life convened a public forum to address the moral issues implicit in the injunction that individuals and the government have a responsibility to help the poor. Despite the fact that policymakers, advocates, and others who debate the causes and cures of poverty often speak from religious convictions, researchers rarely examine the influence of personal religious commitment on policy decisions..  Transcripts of the session which included authors of a new book from the Brookings Institution Press, Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty, and Welfare Reform are available. 

http://www.brookings.org/comm/events/20031121.htm

HHS Announces Decline in TANF Caseloads

The Department of Health and Human Service announced that the number of families and individuals receiving assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program declined slightly between March and June 2003.  There were 2,032,157 families receiving TANF cash benefits in June 2003.  The total represents a 0.3 percent decrease from March 2003 and a 54 percent decrease from August 1996, when TANF was enacted.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031202.html

Children's Defense Fund Responds to Announcement that Says Welfare Caseloads are Declining

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) responded to an announcement by Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson that said welfare caseloads are declining. CDF said the decline would be good news if families were leaving welfare for work. But research by CDF, the Urban Institute, and others has found that more and more families are losing welfare assistance without getting work. The result appears to be an increase in extreme poverty for children and economic hardship for their families.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=159-12022003

Recent Cases on a Variety of TANF/Child Support Issues

The Center for Law and Social Policy reports that in the last three years there have been a number of reported cases dealing with the child support program and its relationship to the federal welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This memo summarizes cases that deal with issues commonly faced by child support clients and their attorneys.

http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1069881513.48/view_html

Assessing TANF Recipients Who May Be Eligible for SSI

A new report from the Welfare Information Network finds that many recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) face significant barriers to employment, including severe mental or physical disabilities, which may prevent them from fulfilling the TANF work requirements. Without the appropriate intensive services and supports, these individuals may be sanctioned or may reach the time limit on federal assistance before they are able to achieve self-sufficiency. These individuals may be included in the 20% of the caseload that states may exempt from the federal time limits, but at least some of these individuals may be better served by securing cash benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/Publications/assessingtanfssiRN.htm

Child Support and TANF Agency Coordination

The Welfare Information Network reports that the 1996 welfare reform law includes performance measures for state child support enforcement agencies. Failure to meet the performance measures due to inaccurate or incomplete data received from the TANF agency may result in state’s loss of child support incentive payments and a penalty of one to five percent of its TANF grant.  Clearly, states have multiple reasons to ensure that TANF and CSE agencies cooperate effectively to serve families. Recognizing this, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement and the Office of Family Assistance recently issued a joint “Dear Colleague” letter that highlights the importance of good cooperation between TANF and CSE agencies.

http://www.financeprojectinfo.org/Publications/childsupportandtanfRN.htm