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NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE ON SEPTEMBER 11
From:
One Day’s Pay
Seeking
to recapture the spirit of national unity following the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks on America, relatives of 9/11 victims, business leaders and
prominent nonprofit organizations have together launched a coast-to-coast
initiative urging all Americans, businesses, schools and other groups to honor
the victims of the terrorist attacks by permanently observing September 11 as a
National Day of Voluntary Service, Charity and Compassion.
http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=4640
HELP US PUT A FACE ON THE
NUMBERS
OMB Watch, through its Social
Investment Initiative project, is launching a new website and database to
collect stories about real people or communities and allow searches by issue
area, keywords, city, state, or congressional district. Face on the Numbers is a way to allow the
people you serve to actually tell their story to a nation-wide audience and
make a difference.
http://d1.rtknet.org/sii/faq.php
**Children, Youth &
Families
Meeting Great Expectations: Integrating Early Education Program
Standards in Child Care
An analysis from the Center
for Law and Social Policy finds that in the past decade, expectations have been
raised about early care and education programs ensuring that young children are
ready for school. However, child care
policy and funding is often left out of this discussion. In order to achieve improved child outcomes,
policymakers must invest in improved program standards in child care. This report, part of the Foundation for Child
Development’s Working Paper Series, examines three strategies in seven states
that have integrated program standards into child care by directly tying
standards to funding.
Policy Brief PDF: http://www.clasp.org/Pubs/DMS/Documents/1061231579.27/meeting_brief.pdf
PDF: http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1061231790.62/meeting_rpt.pdf
Recent Federal Guidance on Important Child Support Program
Issues
In the last few months, the
federal Office of Child Support Enforcement has issued a number of important
Action Transmittals (ATs) and Policy Information Questions (PIQs), covering a
range of child support issues. A report
from the Center for Law and Social Policy summarizes these ATs and PIQs, which
clarify adjustment of child support orders, paternity disestablishment,
recoupment of child support overpayments, payments in foreign currency, and
private health care coverage for dependents.
http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1060953795.87/view_html
Math,
Reading Gaps between White, Minority Kindergarteners are Large at Start of
Kindergarten
According to a Penn State researcher, Black and Hispanic children enter
kindergarten with lower average levels of math and reading skills than White
children, largely because of socioeconomic differences between White and
minority families. In addition, the gaps
between Black and White students grow substantially in kindergarten and first
grade, largely because of differences in the school experiences of Black and
White children.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/ps-mrg081803.php
**Civic
Engagement
The Latino Coalition to Release the 2003 National Hispanic Survey
The
Latino Coalition (TLC) will released its 2003 National Hispanic Survey covering
a wide range of political questions including the California recall and
governor's race, as well as the 2004 Presidential primaries and congressional
elections. The survey also includes a wide range of questions on issues that
affect the U.S. Hispanic community, such as the economy, immigration,
education, affirmative action, and health care, among others.
PDF:
http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/news/pdf/LatinoVoters.pdf
Powerpoint
PDF: http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/news/pdf/2003NationalSurveyOfHispanicAdults.pdf
Full
Survey PDf: http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/news/pdf/2003NationalSurveyOfHispanicAdultsTopline.pdf
**Community
Development
Community Technology Centers as Catalysts for Community Change
A
report prepared with support from the Ford Foundation presents the findings
from exploratory research into how community technology centers could function
more effectively as public spaces and as forces for positive social change at
the community level. In understanding
the dynamics of their work at present, it hopes to inform community technology
researchers, practitioners, and funders as to the ways in which the movement
can leverage its accomplishments of the past in order to serve communities more
broadly as it looks toward the future.
PDF:
http://www.bctpartners.com/resources/CTCs_as_Catalysts.pdf
National Vacant Properties
Campaign Launches
LISC, working in partnership
with Smart Growth America (SGA) and the International City/County Management
Association (ICMA), launched the National Vacant Properties Campaign. The Campaign, which has received seed funding
from the Fannie Mae Foundation and the US Environmental Protection Agency, has
the primary goals of making vacant property reclamation a national priority and
giving communities the tools they need to effectively address the issue.
http://www.vacantproperties.org/
House Funding Level Would Lead To
More Than 60,000 Fewer Families Receiving Housing Voucher Assistance
An analysis from the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that if the funding level approved by the
House is enacted and no additional resources become available from other
sources, approximately 63,000 vouchers in use serving families at the start of
fiscal year 2004 will be left unfunded. While less harmful than the larger loss
of vouchers that would occur under the Administration's budget, this would
still constitute an unprecedented reduction in assistance under the voucher
program.
http://www.cbpp.org/8-13-03hous.htm
Rapid
Suburban Growth Strains Miami-Area Schools, Cities
An analysis from Brookings of
Miami-area schools shows that growth on the suburban fringe is increasing
economic school segregation across the entire region. Increasingly, inner
suburban communities must address growing school needs with declining
resources. The concentration of
poor and minority students in a particular school can fuel the flight of
middle-class families from the surrounding neighborhood. These changes
contribute to a vicious cycle of sprawl and disinvestment from existing
communities. To help reverse some of these patterns, state and local leaders
should explore reforms in land use, taxes, and regional governance.
http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/publications/200308_Orfield.htm
**Disabilities
Community-Based Services Work
The
National Council on Disability released a comprehensive, online analysis of
federal and state implementation of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision that unnecessarily maintaining individuals with mental
illnesses in institutions, who are able to live in the community, is a form of
disability-based discrimination and a violation of Title II of the Americans
with Disabilities Act. The analysis
finds that community-based
services work, but more needs to be done.
The report, "Olmstead: Reclaiming Institutionalized Lives,"
measures progress to date in the implementation of the landmark U.S. Supreme
Court case and related federal and state government initiatives.
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/news/r03-433.html
**Education
Report Examines What Makes Good Teachers
A
new Economic Policy Institute report shows the impact of what traits in such as
areas as teacher certification, experience, degrees, test scores have on
teacher effectiveness and student achievement. The report also contradicts
assumptions from such policies as No Child Left Behind, which overlooks what
training contributes most to classroom success as the book's research shows.
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/books_teacher_quality_execsum_intro
What the 35th Annual Phi Delta Kappa Poll Tells Us About
'No Child Left Behind'
The
public sees itself as uninformed on NCLB with more than two-thirds saying they
don’t know enough to say whether they view the Act favorably or unfavorably.
Forty percent say they know very little about NCLB, with an additional 36
percent saying they know nothing at all. Somewhat surprisingly, public school
parents consider themselves just as uninformed as others. However, when queried
on the strategies used in NCLB, the public’s responses suggest that greater
familiarity is likely to bring public disapproval.
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0309pol.htm#a
Phi Delta Kappa Poll on 'No Child Left Behind' Flawed, House Education
Chairman Says
U.S.
House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH)
today raised doubts about a new Phi Delta Kappa opinion poll that allegedly
explores public attitudes about the No Child Left Behind
Act. The poll results were generated by
questions that inaccurately describe the details of the No Child Left Behind
law, said Boehner, the lead House author of the legislation. "The conclusions reached by the authors
of this poll are based on a flawed and inaccurate description of what the No
Child Left Behind Act actually calls for,"
Boehner said.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/08aug/poll082003.htm
**Health
Private Sector Health
Insurance for Children is on the Decline
New findings from the Urban
Institute show that private sector health insurance coverage for children
decreased between 1999 and 2002. Fortunately, expansion of Medicaid eligibility
and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has more than offset
the shrinkage. However, the Bush Administration’s budget reorganization for
2004 threatens to reduce funding to these organizations in the long term.
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots
Unfair Treatment
Means African Americans Prefer Same-Race Doctors
A new study by a University of Cincinnati researcher suggests that African Americans who choose black
health-care providers do so because of personal experience with unfair
treatment in the medical system. One in
five African Americans states a preference for a same-race health-care
provider. Up until now the assumption has been that this inclination was based
on knowledge of current racial disparities in medical treatment or knowledge of
the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments.
http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.asp?id=793
Many Low
Income Medicare Beneficiaries will still face High Drug Bills Under Proposals in Congress
According to a new report
from The Commonwealth Fund, although Medicare beneficiaries with very modest
incomes are the ones least likely to have drug coverage, many would receive
only limited help under the Medicare drug bills being considered in
Congress. Average out-of-pocket costs
for a couple at 160% of poverty would be reduced only slightly under both the
House and Senate bills.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/cf-mli081303.php
**Technology
Software Available to Help
Nonprofits Centralize Efforts
With
a grant from TechFoundation, Cambridge, Mass., SeniorNet has
developed a prototype solution for nonprofit organizations that want to
efficiently register people for classes, conventions, seminars and other
programs via the Internet. This software is being made available, free, to
nonprofits.
http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=4642
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