Human Services
Community Building
Digest

From: Center for Community Change

For over five years, states have been making up over $1 billion a year in cuts to the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), which provides critical services to state and local child welfare systems, elderly adults, persons with disabilities, and families. Due to budget crises, states can no longer make up the federal cuts, and services to our most vulnerable Americans are being cut.  This year the Senate passed by a vote of 95-5 the Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment Act (CARE) S. 476. The legislation provides $1.375 billion new funds in the SSBG over the next two fiscal years. A similar bill to this, HR 7, the Charitable Giving Act was introduced in the House WITHOUT funding for SSBG.

http://www.communitychange.org/alerts/default.htm#4

**Children, Youth & Families

Helping Children Cope with Violence

Investigation by RAND has found a simple school-based program can help students suffering from emotional and behavioral problems that are caused by exposure to multiple acts of violence.

http://www.rand.org/hot/press.03/08.05.html

Teens Confident in Government as Pressure Rises to Get Good Grades

A study from the Horatio Alger Association allows America's teens to present their thoughts and feelings on a wide range of issues affecting the country and their lives.  The president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates notes in analyzing the survey, "It is clear that students continue to struggle with the pressures they face, particularly in their schools where pressure is increasing, but despite these pressures students are looking to the future with optimism and confidence."

http://webx.handsnet.org/webx?13@@.1dcf487f

End of Days of Carefree Youth?

According to a survey of 4,023 youth interviewed by telephone, the carefree days of youth apparently aren't so carefree anymore – if they ever were.  The study finds that roughly 16 percent of boys and 19 percent of girls met the criteria for at least one of the following diagnosis: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive episode and substance abuse/dependence.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/apa-hpo072803.php

Forum to Develop Strategies to Implement Responsible Sex Education in Connecticut Schools

The forum organized by youth affiliated with Advocates for Youth will provide youth, adults, and interested members of the media the opportunity to learn about current sex education policies in Connecticut and ways to improve young people’s access to life-saving information.  The program is based on My Voice Counts!,  a national campaign created by and for young people to demand responsible sex education in our nation’s schools. The Campaign brings together youth interested in creating a coordinated movement to advocate at local, state, and federal levels for honest sex education.

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/myvoicecounts/index.htm

**Civic Engagement

Businesses Urged to Give Back to the Community

The US Small Business Administration is encouraging business owners this summer to help young people develop new skills, give their employees opportunities to contribute to the quality of life in their communities, and renew civic pride among their customers by supporting USA Freedom Corps http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/.

PDF: http://www.sba.gov/news/03-53.pdf

Study Examines Role of Faith-Based Groups in Helping Ex-Offenders

According to a report by the University of Iowa, nearly 500,000 people annually are released from prison in the United States. Their success at re-entering society depends on the support they receive. Faith-based groups play an informal but significant role in helping ex-offenders rebuild their lives.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/uoi-uoi080603.php

**Community Development

Aging Society Alters Transportation Landscape

A brief from the Brookings Institution finds that America's aging population will exacerbate existing transportation problems while requiring new approaches to meet changing needs. Pushing beyond the stereotypes of elderly mobility, this analysis looks at a host of emerging issues and proposes a menu of policies to meet the diverse mobility and access needs of older Americans.

http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/20030807_Rosenbloom.htm

Residents At Risk

A study from the Urban Institute focuses on the demolition of the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago and the question of whether the remaining residents will fit into the new community. A real concern for policymakers and administrators is that the residents who were easy to relocate have already moved, while many of those who remain may be at risk of losing their housing.  The purpose of this study is to help inform the city, the Chicago Housing Authority, community groups, and private agencies involved in planning and implementing relocation plans for Wells and CHA's other public housing developments by systematically documenting the characteristics and needs of remaining Wells residents.

http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&NavMenuID=3&Template=/TaggedContent/NewReports.cfm&PublicationID=8500

** Economic Security

Employment Alone is Not Enough for America's Low-Income Children and Families

A report from the National Center for Children in Poverty, Living at the Edge: Employment Alone is Not Enough, shows why work is not enough to help people move into economic self-sufficiency. As families increase their earnings above the federal poverty level, they rapidly lose eligibility for the kinds of benefits like health care and child care subsidies that help them keep their jobs and work themselves into a better standard of living.  At least 27 million children live in such families.

http://www.nccp.org/rel_3.html

**Education

Accountability, Not Money, is Answer to California’s Education Woes

A new study released by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank, challenges the assumption that money will somehow catapult California's K-12 students from near the bottom of the performance charts to the top. Accountability at all levels -- from students and teachers to parents and administration -- will be more effective than money at producing results. This assertion is supported extensively in the California Report Card: Index of Leading Education Indicators, Third Edition.

http://www.pacificresearch.org/pub/sab/educat/03_ed_index/00_summary.html

**Health

Latino Immigrants Exposed to Political Violence

According to UCLA researchers, a survey of a U.S.-based Latino immigrant population shows that more than half have been exposed to political violence, including torture, in their homeland. However, very few patients inform their primary-care physician about their experiences. The combination of exposure to violence and non-disclosure to the doctors affects the patients' overall health, diagnosis and treatment.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/uoc--lie080503.php

**Hunger

Eliminating Hunger in a World of Plenty

According to a new position statement by the American Dietetic Association, an estimated 840 million people in the world do not have enough to eat, and more than half of all child deaths worldwide are associated with malnutrition. It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that access to adequate amounts of safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food at all times is a fundamental human right. Hunger continues to be a worldwide problem of staggering proportions. The Association supports programs and encourages practices that combat hunger and malnutrition, produce food security, promote self-sufficiency and are environmentally and economically sustainable.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/ada-ehi080503.php

**Welfare& Welfare Reform

Teen Parents and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

A paper from the Center for Law and Social Policy summarizes Congressional action in 2001-2003 related to teen parents and TANF. It also includes actions on second chance (maternity group) home provisions even if they do not amend the TANF statute.  The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program contains two provisions relate to minor parents and their families: 1) minor parent recipients are required to participate in education or training and 2) minor parents are required to reside in an approved living situation, typically with a parent or other adult relative.

http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1060261485.99/view_html

Improving Access to TANF for Teen Parents: Recommendations for Reauthorization

A companion brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy describes the unintended consequences of the minor parent rules in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and offers specific recommendations to strengthen the TANF program for teen parents and their children. Nearly 120 national, state, and local organizations have endorsed these recommendations.

http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1060174403.92/view_html