|
State Juvenile Justice Profiles
The State Juvenile Justice
Profiles web site features rich, descriptive information and analysis regarding
each state's juvenile justice system, illustrating the uniqueness of the 51
separate juvenile justice systems in this country. Developed in collaboration
with state and local juvenile justice practitioners, the State Profiles offer
an evolving array of information about each state's laws, policies, and
practices, with links to individuals and agencies in the field.
http://www.ncjj.org/stateprofiles/
Children of Recent Immigrants:
National and Regional Trends
Research from the National Center for
Children in Poverty finds that two-thirds of the children of recent immigrants
live in low-income families—and many of them live in the South and West, with
an increasing proportion moving to the South. For these children, the risks to
academic, physical, emotional, and social development usually associated with
economic insecurity are likely to be increased by language barriers, the
process of migration and acculturation, and restrictions on access to safety
net programs.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_cri04.html
Children of Low-Income, Recent
Immigrants
Research from the National Center for
Children in Poverty finds that most children in low-income, recent immigrant
families have parents who are employed and married. But many of the parents
lack a high school degree, almost half of the children are under age 6, and the
use of public benefits is low despite need.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_cli04.html
**Civic Engagement
New Research Tool Aids
Study of National Well-Being
A new research method
developed by Princeton researchers that quantifies people's quality of life
-- beyond how much money they make -- could lead to a national index of
well-being, similar to key measures of economic health. The technique is more
effective than current methods of measuring the well-being of individuals and
of society.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/pu-nrt120204.php
What's in a Racial
Identity? American Latinos All Over the Map
A study by the Pew Hispanic Center finds
that Latinos who view themselves as white are more likely to be
better-educated, earn more, register to vote and vote Republican, according to
a national study to be released today on how Latinos identify racially. The
study also found some notable regional differences not yet fully understood.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/latimests/20041206/ts_latimes/whatsinaracialidentityamericanlatinosalloverthemapstudyfinds
**Community Development
HUD issues 2005 Section
8 funding guidelines to public housing authorities nationwide
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development issued guidance to public housing agencies nationwide on 2005
Housing Choice Voucher program funding guidelines in an effort to provide clear
and early guidance to PHAs prior to implementation in January. The notice
explains how HUD will distribute the recently appropriated $14.8 billion in
voucher funding to approximately 2,500 PHAs in 2005 as directed in the 2005
Consolidated Appropriations Act, which Congress recently passed.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr04-147.cfm
Chicago Prisoners' Experiences Returning Home
A research brief from The Urban Institute presents findings from the
Returning Home study in Chicago Illinois. The first phase of the study analyzed where former Illinois
prisoners settle after release and found that many returned to a handful of
hard-pressed Chicago neighborhoods. The second phase focused on prisoners'
expectations for life after prison and found that most were confident they
would succeed. The third phase--"Chicago Prisoners' Experiences Returning
Home"--followed 205 men who returned to Chicago, examining factors that
may help or hinder successful reintegration, including employment, substance
use, attitudes and beliefs, health status, criminal histories, and family and
community contexts.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9085
**Economic Security
HUD and IRS Partner to
Help Low-Income Families Cut their Tax Bills
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development and the Internal Revenue Service agreed to work together to
help millions of low-income working families save thousands of dollars on their
annual income taxes. The interagency agreement will improve services and
coordination to reach millions of low-income taxpayers, many receiving some
form of HUD assistance. Last year, 21 million families with two or more
children qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit, providing tax refunds of
up to $4,300. IRS studies indicate millions more families are eligible for this
tax credit but fail to claim it.
http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr04-146.cfm
Multiple Work Supports
and Services May Help Low-Wage Workers Climb the Economic Ladder
An article published by the National Center for
Children in Poverty provides a short introduction to the literature on
employment retention and advancement strategies and describes a group of
interventions being tested in a national evaluation.
PDF: http://www.researchforum.org/media/forum73.pdf
Reinventing Workforce
Development: Lessons from Boston's Community Approach
SkillWorks: Partners for a
Productive Workforce is addressing the needs of employers for more skilled
workers and of workers for more and better access to jobs that pay a
family-supporting wage. This five-year, public/private partnership is an
ambitious effort on the part of philanthropy, government, community
organizations, unions, and employers to change how workforce development is
done in Boston.
http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0238
November's Job Growth
Weaker than Expected
The Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported that payrolls expanded by 112,000 in November, far below
the job growth that was expected this month. This level of growth is
insufficient to erase the jobs deficit and existing labor slack that remain a
feature of the labor market.
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20041203
**Education
Graduation Rates: Real
Kids, Real Numbers
According to the Urban Institute, controversies over
graduation rates and No Child Left Behind have raged in research, media and
political circles for almost a year. All too often, though, when complex issues
of social and economic importance collide with policy and politics, heat is
generated but little light. As a result, it may be difficult for local
educators to parse the rhetoric from the reality and to figure out what this
all means for their schools and students.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9078
University of Iowa Gets Grant to Print More Copies of Popular 'Nation
Deceived' Report: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest
Students
The University of Iowa
College of Education has a runaway bestseller on its hands. "A Nation
Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" is a clarion
call to policymakers, educators and parents that schools are not doing enough
to challenge academically precocious students and in some instances are
actively preventing them from reaching their full potential.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20041202.094127&time=10%2043%20PST&year=2004&public=1
**Health
Helping Kids Get Mental
Health Services
The Boston Bar Association,
with support from Children's Hospital Boston, published the How-To Guide to
Children's Mental Health Services in Massachusetts. Written from an advocacy perspective, this
comprehensive guide is a direct response to a key finding of the BBA Children's
Mental Health Task Force: Parents often complain that they do not know where to
turn when their children begin to exhibit mental illness, because the system is
confusing and there is no written guide to help them navigate it.
http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20041207.103029&time=10%2057%20PST&year=2004&public=1
The Guide – PDF: http://www.bostonbar.org/prs/BBA_HowToGuide12-1-04.pdf
Landmark Survey Reveals
Asthma in Children Remains Significantly Out of Control in the United States
A survey presented on behalf
of Asthma Action America, Children and Asthma in America, reveals that more than
half of all children with asthma had a severe asthma attack in the past year
and more than one quarter had an asthma attack so bad they thought their life
was in danger. The survey results released underscore the severity of asthma in
children in the U.S. and the significant impact the disease has on
children and their families.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/cw-lsr120704.php
Diabetics with Mental
Disorders at Increased Risk for Diabetic Complications
According to a study
published in the December issue of Medical Care, diabetics with mental
disorders do not have as good blood sugar control as diabetics without mental
illness and are more likely to suffer diabetes complications than diabetics
without mental illness.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/iu-dwm120604.php
Almost Half of Americans
Use at Least One Prescription
According to the Department
of Health and Human Services annual check-up on Americans health, the Nation’s
medicine cabinets are more crowded than ever, with almost half of all people
taking at least one prescription medicine and one in six taking three or more
medications,.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r041202.htm
Medicare Law Said to
Trouble Nursing Homes
An article in the New York
Times finds that a wide range of experts on long-term care express serious
concern that the new Medicare law will be unworkable for most of the 1.5
million Americans who live in nursing homes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/health/05nursing.html?ex=1260075600&en=b0b112e5e74cbffc&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
The Disparate Consensus on
Health Care for All
An article in the New York
Times finds that among health care experts there is a surprising consensus that
the U.S. must inevitably adopt some kind of universal coverage. Experts agree
that moving toward universal coverage would surely save lives and maybe dollars
as well. A report this year by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences found that the
uninsured are sick more often than the insured and likely to die younger,
resulting in an estimated 18,000 additional deaths a year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/06/business/businessspecial2/06universal.html?ex=1260075600&en=071ef31b76cff721&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
**Hunger & Nutrition
Obesity Gets You Where You
Live
According to a study from the
University of Houston College of Education, low-income, ethnic minority
populations may be more vulnerable to obesity because of inadequate access to
healthy foods. The researchers examined healthful food availability in urban
low-income and urban high-income neighborhoods.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/uoh-ogy120204.php
Grab 'n' Go Breakfast
Better Serves Middle
School Children
According to Penn State
researchers, crunched for time, many parents are sending their children off to
school without breakfast, but a trial program instituted in a Pennsylvania
school may not only feed those in a rush, but better provide for those entitled
to free and reduced price meals.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/ps-gg120604.php
Food Stamp
Participation Increases in September 2004 to Nearly 25 Million Persons
According to the Food
Research and Action Center, participation in the Food Stamp Program in September
2004 increased by 309,321 persons from the previous month, to 24,922,076
persons. Some of this increase was due to continuing high rates of
joblessness, states improving access, and the effects of the food stamp reauthorization
implementation. The September 2004 level of Food Stamp Program participation
represented a rise of nearly 2.2 million persons compared to September 2003,
and 8 million more persons since July 2000, when program participation
nationally reached its lowest point in the last decade.
http://www.frac.org/Printer_Friendly_Script/print_code.php
|
