Human Services
Community Building
Digest

FROM: Welfare Made A Difference National Campaign

As the welfare debate heats up in Congress the Welfare Made A Difference National Campaign invites you to JOIN this national grassroots effort to bring the message to the public and policymakers that the welfare proposals before Congress will take the shirts off the backs of poor people.  On October 27, 2003 we took our message to Congress. At the event people heard from former and current welfare recipients from across the country, viewed T-shirts and photographs from throughout the United States that tell the stories of poverty and despair that families face on a daily basis when they are unable to obtain basic benefits. They also had the opportunity to learn from the experiences of people for whom access to a supportive, accessible, adequate welfare system made a difference.  Since the T-shirt display was so powerful it was suggested that it be offered to local groups.

http://www.chn.org/alerts/evdetails.asp?evid=48

**Children, Youth & Families

Survey Shows Teens Continue to Express Cautious Attitudes toward Sex

An annual survey of adults and teens released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy suggests that teens are more cautious about early and casual sex than perhaps is generally believed.  Two-thirds of teens who have had sex wish they had waited longer. Nearly eight in ten sexually experienced teen girls and six in ten sexually experienced teen boys report that they wish they had waited.

http://www.teenpregnancy.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Kinship Care Resource Kit

The Children's Defense Fund has produced a Resource Kit which enables community or faith-based organizations support grandparents and other relatives raising children.  One in 12 American children is living in a household headed by a grandparent or other relative.  In providing a vital safety net for children, grandparents and other relative caregivers often face serious challenges as they try to find health care or child care for the children they are raising, apply for public benefits, enroll the children in school, and address their basic needs. Like all parents, they also may need extra support as they struggle to give their children the best possible care.

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

New Findings can Help Parents Looking to Combat Number of Kids' Sick Days

Canadian researchers report that children who spent more time in sports activities and had higher aerobic fitness reported fewer "sick" days; children with more than 25% body fat had significantly more.

http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/29.htm

Young Adult Fitness Protects Heart Health in Middle Age

According to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, cardio-respiratory fitness in early adulthood significantly decreases the chance of developing high blood pressure and diabetes -- both major risk factors for heart disease and stroke -- in middle age.  Fitness also reduces the risk for the metabolic syndrome, a constellation of factors that includes excess abdominal fat, elevated blood pressure and triglycerides, and low levels of the high-density lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/nhla-yaf121103.php

**Community Development

HUD announces $44 million to Increase Self-Sufficiency among Public Housing Residents and Aid Elderly, Disabled

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $44 million in grants that will be used to help public housing residents become economically self-sufficient and give elderly and people with disabilities supportive services to allow them to live independently.  The Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency Program grants are awarded to public housing authorities, resident organizations or non-profit organizations acting on behalf of residents.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr03-138.cfm

American Dream Down Payment Act - Program Will Help Thousands of Low-Income Families to Become Homeowners

President Bush signed The American Dream Down Payment Act into law which will allow as many as 40,000 low-income families to afford the down payment and other upfront closing costs required to qualify for a mortgage.  The annual $200 million down payment assistance program is part of the Administration's "Homeownership Challenge" to increase minority homeownership by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr03-140.cfm

**Economic Security

The Ferrara Social Security Plan

An analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that a new plan being promoted as showing that one can replace much of Social Security with private accounts and also restore long-term Social Security solvency — and do so without either benefit cuts or payroll tax increases — achieves these goals by assuming general revenue transfers that equal nearly twice the Social Security shortfall.

http://www.cbpp.org/12-10-03socsec.htm

The Omnibus Appropriations Bill: Are Appropriations for Domestic Programs Exploding?

An analysis from the Center on Budget Policies of the pending omnibus appropriations bill shows that contrary to popular impression, there will be no increase in overall funding in FY 2004 for domestic discretionary programs outside homeland security (after adjustment for inflation), that funding for this part of the budget declined in 2003, and that recent growth in discretionary spending is dominated by increases in defense, homeland security, and international affairs.

http://www.cbpp.org/12-16-03bud.htm

**Education

National Assessment Reports Mathematics and Reading Results for 10 Big-City School Districts

The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported results of the 2003 assessments in mathematics and reading, providing data for ten of the nation's largest urban school districts.  The two reports issued today are The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Mathematics Highlights 2003 and The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Reading Highlights 2003. In addition to scale scores, results are presented in terms of achievement levels, set by the Governing Board, which describe standards for Basic, Proficient, and Advanced performance for each grade and subject tested.

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/

Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap: How Three Bay Area Schools Do It

Three very different public schools in three very different communities with one major commonality: all three successfully accelerated the learning of their under-performing students - while raising student performance over all - by employing strategies specifically aimed at closing the achievement gap between their black, brown and English language students and their white and Asian peers.

http://www.basrc.org/news_events/press_releases/press_release_121703a.html

**Health

A Penny a Month Could Bolster Kids' Immunization Practices

According to a new study from researchers at the University of California at San Diego, Improving childhood immunization practices would cost slightly more than a penny per child per month.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/cfta-apa121103.php

'Healthy Steps' Improves Care for Young Children

A Commonwealth Fund-supported study of the Healthy Steps for Young Children program finds that a large clinical trial designed to improve delivery of developmental and behavioral services to young children has enhanced quality of care and communications between pediatricians and parents, as well as helped children get appropriate preventive services.

http://www.cmwf.org/programs/child/minkovitz_healthysteps_itl_697.asp

Race affects Older Americans' Likelihood of Getting Flu Shot

A new Duke University Medical Center study reveals a major gap in vaccination rates between older African-Americans and whites of the same age. The researchers also found that while vaccination rates in older Americans are on the rise, the elderly as a whole are still under-vaccinated.

http://dukemednews.org/news/article.php?id=7293

New Washington Health Policy Update

The Commonwealth Fund has launched a new Web feature—Washington Health Policy Week in Review, featuring selected stories from the daily newsletter Washington HealthBeat.  The inaugural edition reports on a decline in growth of health care spending by insured Americans, the trend toward cost-sharing in employer-based insurance, the latest on implementing the discount card piece of the new Medicare prescription drug legislation, and more.

http://www.cmwf.org/programs/healthbeat_2ndpg.asp

New Washington Health Policy Update

The Commonwealth Fund has launched a new Web feature—Washington Health Policy Week in Review, featuring selected stories from the daily newsletter Washington HealthBeat.  The inaugural edition reports on a decline in growth of health care spending by insured Americans, the trend toward cost-sharing in employer-based insurance, the latest on implementing the discount card piece of the new Medicare prescription drug legislation, and more.

http://www.cmwf.org/programs/healthbeat_2ndpg.asp

*****Medicare Legislation

Changing the Age of Medicare Eligibility

A report from the Urban Institute studies the growing concerns about health insurance coverage for near elderly adults have recently prompted calls to lower the age of Medicare eligibility, while increases in the normal retirement age for Social Security and concerns about Medicare's financial health, particularly as the population ages, have led others to suggest delaying it. This report reviews the available evidence on how changes to the age of Medicare eligibility might affect government costs and rates of health insurance coverage and employment for near elderly adults (ages 55 to 64) and young elderly adults (ages 65 to 66).

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8672

**Philanthropy

Online Ethics Self Test

The ePhilanthropy Foundation has launched its online Code of Ethics Self Test. The Self Test is a Web-based tool that helps charitable organizations adhere to sound ethical online fundraising and other philanthropic practices. According to the Foundation's president, Ted Hart, launching the Ethics Self Test during the holiday season made sense, given the increase in online charitable giving. "This is a critical step in maintaining donor confidence," Hart emphasized. "More and more donors are using the Internet to give to charity and they need to be confident that the charities they support are aspiring to the highest online standards."

http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=4889

**Societal Trends

Foreign-Born A Majority in Six U.S. Cities; Growth Fastest in South, Census Bureau Reports

According to an analysis of census results by the U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign-born people constituted the majority in six cities of 100,000 or more population in 2000 -- two of them in Florida and four in California.  The report chronicles the increase of the foreign-born population over the last decade: from 19.8 million in 1990 to 31.1 million in 2000. All regions of the country experienced increases in the foreign-born population -- by nearly 90 percent in the South, 65 percent in the Midwest, 50 percent in the West and nearly 40 percent in the Northeast.

PDF: http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf

Generation Gap Explains Decline in Feminist Ranks

According to a study conducted in part by the University of Pennsylvania, despite gains brought about by the women's movement, young adults are far less likely than their middle-aged counterparts to call themselves feminists.

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=570

**Welfare and Welfare Reform

Administration Is Misstating Amount of Child Care Funding in Pending TANF Reauthorization Bills

A report jointly prepared by the Center for Law and Social Policy and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzes recent Administration misstatements about the level of child care funding included in the TANF reauthorization bills that have been approved by the House and the Senate Finance Committee.

http://www.cbpp.org/12-15-03wel.htm