|
School-Based Drug
Prevention: What Kind of Drug Use Does
It Prevent?
A report from RAND
analyses whether school-based prevention programs should be viewed as weapons
in the war against illicit drugs or do they benefit students and society most
by reducing use of alcohol and tobacco? The authors compare social benefits of
school-based prevention programs' long-run impacts on a diverse set of
different substances.
http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB6009/
**Community
Development
USDA Offers $6 Million for Rural Economic Development
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of $6 million
in USDA Rural Development grant funds to support rural economic and community
development efforts. USDA's Rural
Community Development Initiative provides funds to help nonprofit,
community-based development organizations, federally recognized Indian tribes
and low-income communities improve their ability to develop rural housing and
community facilities and to improve economic growth.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-19316.htm
Linking Education and Economic Development: A Unique Approach
A
report form MDC studies the connection between community colleges and community
change efforts. Standard approaches to
economic development have started with government or chambers of commerce
setting goals for economic growth and taking steps to bring new businesses to
rural communities. But the Rural Community College Initiative is unique and
nontraditional in its approach. RCCI
makes the important link between the need for economic development and the gaps
in the education of local residents — a critical issue for poor, rural regions.
Recognizing the inextricable relationship between economic opportunity and
education, The Ford Foundation challenged community colleges in rural areas to
serve as catalysts and leaders of community change.
PDF: http://www.mdcinc.org/rcci/leadership.pdf
** Economic Security
Improve
Auto Access to Pave the Way to Work
A brief from the Brookings
Institution argues that the strong link between car ownership and employment
suggests automobile access assistance should play a key role in efforts to
support low-income workers.
http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/20030801_Waller.htm
**Education
A Conversation on School
Vouchers
The Economic Policy Institute
released a transcript of a press conference which provides a window into a
discussion that took place in a conference call between five nationally known
and respected education researchers from Columbia, Duke, Princeton, and
Stanford Universities, who spoke with journalists on what policy significance,
if any, can be derived from the body of research on school vouchers
PDF: http://www.epinet.org/webfeatures/viewpoints/vouchers_transcript_20030612.pdf
**Health
Children's
Insurance Coverage and Service Use Improve
The Urban Institute analyses
data from the third round of the National Survey of America's Families. The findings show that between 1999 and 2002,
the number of uninsured children under age 19 fell from 9.6 to 7.8 million. The
uninsurance rate among low-income children declined
by nearly six percentage points. Regardless of family income, uninsurance rates among black and Hispanic children
declined by more than four percentage points each. Receipt of well-child care,
office visits, and dental care by low-income children increased by 3.5
percentage points, 4.5 percentage points, and 2.1 percentage points
respectively. More than 4 million uninsured children appear eligible for
Medicaid or SCHIP.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8496
Familiarity
with Medicaid and SCHIP Programs Grows and Interest in Enrolling Children Is
High
An analysis from the Urban
Institute shows that between 1999 and 2002, the share of low-income uninsured
children whose parents had heard of their state's separate SCHIP program
increased from 47.2 to 70.6 percent. Among families familiar with Medicaid or
SCHIP, 81.7 percent of low-income uninsured children had parents who said they
would enroll their child if told the child was eligible.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8497
HHS Awards $45.7 MILLION
in Grants to Plan and Care for Americans with HIV/AIDS
The Department of Health and
Human Services announced 61 grants totaling more than $45.7 million to help
states, territories and communities plan for and provide comprehensive health
care services, including medications, for Americans living with HIV/AIDS.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20030731.html
How Many Low-Income Medicare
Beneficiaries In Each State Would Be Denied The Medicare Prescription Drug
Benefit Under The Senate Drug Bill?
According to the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, the Senate's version of the prescription drug
bill would make 6.4 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries who also
participate in Medicaid ineligible for the new Medicare drug benefit. This
report provides estimates the number of low-income seniors and people with
disabilities in each state who would be denied the Medicare drug benefits.
http://www.cbpp.org/7-31-03health.htm
Senate Prescription Drug Bill
Would Exclude Millions of Low-income Beneficiaries,
An analysis from the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities considers the importance of making all Medicare
beneficiaries — regardless of income — eligible for the new Medicare
prescription drug benefit, and examines problems that a Senate provision
excluding more than 6 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries would pose.
http://www.cbpp.org/7-31-03health2.htm
**Hunger
Exploring Food
Purchase Behavior of Low-Income Households How do They Economize?
A
report from the Department of Agriculture compares food purchases by US
households of different income levels and finds that low-income shoppers spend
less on food purchases despite some evidence that they face generally higher
purchase prices.
PDF: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib747/aib74707.pdf
Overcertification
For Free Or Reduced-Price School Meals Has Been Overstated
An analysis from the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities of census data shows that a USDA analysis based
on inappropriate data overstated the extent to which ineligible children may be
certified to receive free or reduced-price meals. As the reauthorization of the child nutrition
programs approaches, considerable attention has been paid to a USDA comparison
that appears to show that substantial numbers of ineligible children are
receiving free or reduced-price school meals.
http://www.cbpp.org/7-15-03wic.htm
**Welfare& Welfare Reform
Rural
Welfare Reform: Lessons Learned.
A
report from the Department of Agriculture addresses two questions to inform the
policy debate surrounding reauthorization of TANF. What have we learned from empirical studies
about rural-urban differences in welfare reform effects on program
participation, employment, and poverty? Do rural and urban low-income families
have different needs that might be reflected in the design of policies meant to
provide assistance?
PDF: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/june03/pdf/awjune2003ruralrefromfeature.pdf
Welfare Dollars No Longer an Increasing Source of Child Care
Funding
An analysis from the Center
for Law and Social Policy shows that between 1997 and 2000, federal and state
spending on child care more than doubled, and much of the increase was due to
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. After growing steadily
from 1997 through 2000, state use of TANF for child care leveled off in FY
2001. New data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicate
that state use of TANF for child care has essentially remained flat for FY 2002.
Furthermore, TANF might soon become a declining source of child care funding,
in light of dwindling or exhausted reserves of prior year TANF funds and
increases in cash assistance caseloads in many states.
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1059656252.76/2002_TANF_CC.pdf
State Fiscal Relief Funds Do Not
Address The Need For Substantial Increases In Child Care Funding
This analysis from the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities explains why state fiscal relief and TANF
reserve funds do not obviate the need for substantial increases in child care
funding as part of TANF reauthorization legislation.
http://www.cbpp.org/7-25-03tanf.htm
|
