Human Services News

A new national survey assesses the public's views towards Medicaid and knowledge of how the program operates. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM

Justice Dept. Asks for $14 Billion from Tobacco Industry

The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge to require the tobacco industry to spend $10 billion on a stop-smoking campaign and $4 billion on tobacco-education programs as its racketeering case came to a close. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:35 PM

Drug Abuse Warning Network Implements New System

A new system for DAWN data collection and reporting was implemented in January 2003; data and estimates for 2003 are not comparable to those for previous years. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:34 PM

AMA Calls for Higher Alcohol Taxes

The American Medical Association (AMA) says that members should lobby lawmakers to raise alcohol taxes and to tax drinks based on their alcohol content, not volume. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:33 PM

The Graetz Tax Reform Plan And The Treatment Of Low-Income Households

A tax reform plan designed by Yale Law School professor Michael Graetz would replace much of the income tax with a Value Added Tax. The plan would essentially repeal the regular income tax, retain the Alternative Minimum Tax, and establish a $100,000 exemption from the AMT for married filers so that no couples with incomes under $100,000 would owe any income tax. (The exemption would be set at $50,000 for single filers.) The plan also would lower the AMT tax rate and cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent. In place of the lost personal and corporate income tax revenue, a broad-based Value Added Tax would be established, with a rate set somewhere between 10 percent and 14 percent.
Whatever its other pluses and minuses, the plan could pose significant problems for low- and moderate-income households. There are three key issues here. First, the proposed changes in the income tax would result in the elimination of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit, both of which provide substantial support to low-income working families with children. Second, the imposition of the VAT would increase the prices of goods and services that low-income families (along with other families) consume. Third, the proposed plan may result in the loss of significant amounts of state government revenue; if that occurred, it would likely lead to state reductions in various benefits and services on which low-income families rely (and possibly also to increases in state taxes, which tend to be regressive).Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:59 PM

FTCR: Canada Threatens to Ban Prescription Drug Imports; U.S. Seniors Left With No Alternative

Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced today that he will introduce legislation this fall to ban bulk export of prescription drugs to the U.S by likely requiring Canadian doctors to examine patients before writing prescriptions. Under current practice, ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:08 PM

Health Groups Expect to Miss AIDS Target

From NYT > Health:

Two major health groups said that they would not reach their goal of treating three million H.I.V.-infected poor people by the end of 2005. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:58 PM

Americans Migrate to Cities in South, West (AP)

AP - Skyrocketing housing prices are driving people from San Francisco, Boston and other big cities. Warm weather and more affordable living are behind the rapid growth in midsize cities in Florida, Arizona, Nevada and California. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:45 PM

June 29, 2005

Changing job criteria to discriminate in employment

A Yale study finds that shifting hiring criteria after learning the gender of job applicants is one way that employers engage in sex discrimination, despite laws and policies banning it. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:42 PM

Women's health suffers under welfare reform, study says

Women who are current and former welfare recipients suffer a whole host of health problems---and getting a job doesn't always help matters. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:41 PM

National Children's Charity Opens Doors to D.C. Children for Whom Many Doors Have Closed; New Foster Care & Family Services Center

In an effort to fill a burgeoning need by helping more of the 1,100 local kids now in need of foster homes in and around the nation's capital, the 123-year-old national children's charity KidsPeace is opening a Foster Care and Family Services center in Washington, ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:33 PM

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Aids in Reducing Childhood Obesity and Strengthening Family Ties; Photo Available

Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center, part of Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, facilitates a program designed to impact families with children who are obese. This program, Fun with Fitness, creates the ability for children and families to learn about ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:32 PM

New Interactive Timelines Highlight Key Developments in Medicaid and Medicare

These interactive timelines provide information about policy developments since the creation of the and programs 40 years ago. These timelines will be updated with new developments as they occur. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:37 AM

The Importance Of Social Security To The Hispanic Community

Social Security is of particular importance to Hispanic Americans. In fact, research demonstrates that Hispanics benefit more from the Social Security system than does the rest of the population.
Specifically, Hispanics receive higher average returns on the taxes they have paid into the system than do other workers. Hispanics also rely on Social Security for a greater share of their income in retirement.

Despite this, there has been a campaign to sell the Hispanic community on the notion that the current Social Security system is a bad deal for Hispanics and that Hispanics would be better off if part, or all, of Social Security were replaced by private accounts. An extensive body of research and data allows us to assess these claims. The research and data show that arguments being spread about Social Security being disadvantageous for Hispanics rest on serious distortions and, in fact, that the opposite is the case. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:34 AM

Tax Subsidies to Help Low-Income Families Pay for Child Care

Low-income working families face enormous challenges. Key among them is how to pay for decent child care. The federal income tax code subsidizes child care in several ways. The largest subsidy is the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), a nonrefundable tax credit that offsets up to 35 percent of working parents' child care costs, subject to limits. Though not earmarked specifically for child care, the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) provide more help to low-income working families. This paper considers options to reform the CDCTC to assist low-income families. The paper also examines expansions to the refundable tax credits that help families with children. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:27 AM

Small Business and Microenterprise as an Opportunity- and Asset-Building Strategy

Small business and microenterprise are important because of their role in the economy, their role in the American dream, and their economic development and self-sufficiency objectives. They are attractive because they create more economic development and self-sufficiency than income redistribution or meeting a minimum consumption level do. However, small business and microenterprise subsidies are often criticized because they are directed toward a narrow, entrepreneurial segment of the population that is not necessarily disadvantaged. This brief examines small business and microenterprise programs and subsidies, and offers recommendations to improve the evaluation and administration of these programs. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:26 AM

Testimony Before Aging Committee Discusses the Future of Medicaid

Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging on the future of Medicaid and its role for low-income Americans, particularly the elderly. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:15 AM

June 28, 2005

New drug abuse treatment shows promise

Patients who receive buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in an office-based setting are more likely than those receiving methadone treatment to be young men, new to drug use, and with no history of methadone treatment, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM

The health effects of weight loss need more research

Although it seems obvious that when overweight people lose weight their health should improve, the relationship between weight loss and health may not be assimple as that, suggests previous studies from Finland and Denmark. In the people who were otherwise healthy losing weight seemed to be associated with higher mortality. What makes these results quite difficult to interpret is that it is not clear what caused the increased risk, but nonetheless intentional weight loss did not improve mortality. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:12 PM

$5.1 billion would save 6 million children

According to researchers from the JHSPH, six million children could be saved if $5.1 billion in new resources for preventive and therapeutic interventions were provided each year in the 42 countries around the world where approximately 90 percent of all child deaths occur. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:08 PM

Congress plans emergency funds for vets health care (Reuters)

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Reuters - As U.S. war injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan mounted, Congress on Tuesday hurriedly crafted legislation to provide around $1.5 billion in "emergency" funds for veterans' health care programs stretched thin by combat and aging veterans of past wars. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:01 PM

VA Faces $2.6 Billion Shortfall in Medical Care

The Bush administration disclosed yesterday that it had vastly underestimated the number of service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking medical treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and warned that the health care programs will be short at least $2.6 billion next year...

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:53 PM

Low birth weight of a baby entails risks for the baby's father

Parents whose children are born with a low birth weight run greater risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases. Even the fathers are at greater risk. These findings are published in a new report by Karolinska Institutet. The report shows that genetic factors affect both birth weight and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:30 PM

Keep an Ear Out for Language Delays in Children

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:28 PM

June 27, 2005

Hospital outcomes for women improve, but some hospitals fall far behind: Healthgrades study

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

American hospitals improved women's survival rates by 11 percent for cardiac disease and stroke from 2001 through 2003, according to the HealthGrades Women's Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals study, released today. But a "quality chasm" was clearly visible, with the best-performing hospitals registering a 39 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate than the poorest-performing hospitals in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:45 PM

U.S. Report Faults States' Medicaid Tactics

From NYT > National:

Two-thirds of the states use consultants to help them get more federal Medicaid money, often by using "questionable billing practices," Congressional investigators said. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:34 PM

Study Says Weight Loss May Raise Risk of Death

Overweight people who are otherwise healthy may increase their risk of dying by intentionally losing weight, according to provocative new research.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:31 PM

Coalition Leaders to Learn Key Nonprofit Management and Fundraising Skills at Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's Mid-Year Training Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., July 25-28

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) will hold its Fourth Annual Mid-Year Training Institute at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Ariz., July 25-28, 2005. Attendees can choose from a menu of intensive day-long workshops, with an emphasis on the everyday challenges of running an effective organization-from fundraising to board and volunteer management. By mastering key non-profit management skills, grassroots leaders can provide more effective leadership, regardless of their mission. CADCA designed these courses to appeal to a broad audience, whether their primary focus is in the sphere of public health, education or criminal justice.
Speakers will include some of the nation's leading experts in nonprofit management, fundraising and human resources, including keynote speakers Keith Timko and Geneva Johnson from the Leader to Leader Institute, formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Non-profit Management. Other presenters include Bill Harrison, a nationally-recognized fundraiser and author from the Arizona State University Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management, who was named the 2005 Outstanding Fundraising Executive by the Arizona Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Harrison will lead a workshop for coalitions on Fundraising Methods and Strategies. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:22 PM

Once in the doctor's office, racial and ethnic disparities in care nearly disappear: Stanford study

A new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found that once U.S. patients visit a doctor for outpatient care, their race and ethnicity make little difference in the quality of care they receive. But the study also found that health-care providers have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to caring for all of their patients. In fact, it suggests there were only limited improvements in outpatient care during the 10-year study period. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:16 PM

Stanford Business School Research: Unlocking The Mystery Of Poverty

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:15 PM

Infant abuse linked to early experience, not genetics

Intergenerational transmission of infant abuse is more likely caused by early experience than genetic inheritance, a new University of Chicago research on macaque monkeys shows."Maternal abuse of offspring in macaque monkeys shares some similarities with child maltreatment in humans, including its transmission across generations," said Dario Maestripieri, an Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:09 PM

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Aids in Reducing Childhood Obesity and Strengthening Family Ties

Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center, part of Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, facilitates a program designed to impact families with children who are obese. This program, Fun with Fitness, creates the ability for children and families to learn about ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:07 PM

June 26, 2005

Look to the future: Preparing for baby boomer dementia epidemic

Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute, Inc. researchers begin to answer a question of how US health-care system and more specifically, primary care doctors - the physicians from whom older adults receive most of their care - can prepare for the huge wave of dementia patients expected to engulf US in 2010, the year the baby boomers begin to reach 65. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:48 PM

End-of-life study to focus on needs of Sikh and Muslim patients

A new project to help terminally ill Sikh and Muslim patients to have 'a good death' sensitive to their cultural and religious beliefs is to begin at the University of Edinburgh. The research -- the first in-depth study of its kind -- will aim to identify ways in which health professionals can better understand the palliative care needs of minorities and give patients the opportunity to die with dignity. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:37 PM

Pelosi: Democrats Seek Swift Action to Restore Funding for Veterans' Health Care

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement this afternoon after Republicans admitted that they have underfunded veterans' health care by $1 billion. Despite that admission, Republicans once again rejected Democratic efforts this afternoon to restore the funding.Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:33 PM

In Effort to Pare Medicaid Rolls, Long-Term Care Is the Focus

From NYT > Health:

Lawmakers, health policy experts and stakeholders in the long-term-care industry are proposing to remove from the Medicaid rolls people who are not poor by standard definitions. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:30 PM

Patients' Diversity Is Often Discounted

Scientists have played down the role of culture in mental disorders but are rethinking that approach as the U.S. population grows more diverse. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:30 PM

Worry Over Public Housing

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

PHILADELPHIA -- The Bush administration's proposal to eliminate many of the federal rules requiring public housing authorities to serve extremely low-income people has generated widespread concern among housing advocates who say the change could prove ruinous for the nation's poorest families who have nowhere else to turn for affordable housing. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:20 PM

Healers Prescribe Tribal Tradition

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

When a chronically depressed 9-year-old girl at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota became so sad that she stopped eating, Ethleen Iron Cloud-Two Dogs came up with a treatment plan: not antidepressant drugs, but a spiritual assessment, followed by a healing ceremony at a Lakota... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:10 PM

June 25, 2005

Leveraging the Power of the Media to Combat HIV/AIDS

Featured in the May/June 2005 edition of is an article describing the Kaiser Family Foundation’s unique public education model to combat HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and around the world. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:21 AM

New Website for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Information: GlobalHealthReporting.org

Designed to help journalists, researchers, policy makers and NGOs efficiently sort through the latest and most accurate information on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, this new website provides the latest news, information and data on the three diseases, information by country and reporting resources for journalists. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:15 AM

Briefing and Webcast on the Basics of the Medicare Program

The Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform cosponsored a Washington, DC. Capitol Hill briefing, on Monday, May 16. The briefing featured presentations by Tricia Neuman, a vice president and director of the Foundation’s Medicare Policy Project; Linda Fishman, director of the Office of Legislation in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and William Scanlon of Health Policy R&D. of the briefing on kaisernetwork.org. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:12 AM

Latest Data on Medicaid Spending on Mandatory and Optional Populations and Services

Two new Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured reports show that although optional populations account for 29 percent of Medicaid enrollment, 60 percent of all Medicaid spending (whether for mandatory or optional populations) is optional and 86 percent of optional spending is for the elderly or individuals with disabilities. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:07 AM

"Ask the Experts" Live Webcast on Health Information Technology

On , kaisernetwork.org will host a live "Ask the Experts" discussion on improving the nation’s health technology infrastructure, addressing questions about the government’s role in developing an electronic medical information network, what steps are necessary to protect patient privacy and more. for guests David Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS; Winston Price, M.D., FAAP, President, National Medical Association; and Dean A. Rosen, Director of Health Policy, Office of Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D. or call 1-888-524-7378 during the scheduled showtime. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:06 AM

Antisocial Disorders More Common Among Addicted

A new government study concludes that people with alcohol and other drug addictions are more likely to have antisocial personality disorders, conduct disorders, and adult antisocial behavior disorders. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:02 AM

June 24, 2005

KaiserEDU.org – Redesigned With New Features and New Tools

KaiserEDU.org, a comprehensive website for health policy students, faculty and others has been redesigned to include new features and tools providing easier access to the latest data, literature, news, and developments in health policy. The site features from the home page; consisting of searchable databases and links to publicly-available national surveys and data sources; a with links to the most recent table of contents of leading health policy journals; and a directory of in health policy. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:50 PM

New KCMU Brief Finds Most Elderly Do Not Have Assets Sufficient to Pay For a One Year Nursing Home Stay

More at - http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=view&id=2854

A new Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured issue paper finds that most elderly people living in the community do not have assets, excluding home equity, sufficient to finance a nursing home stay of one year or more. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:49 PM

New Resource about Social Security Privatization

At a hearing about design issues with private accounts in Social Security, held on June 23 by the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, testimony by Joan Entmacher of the National Women’s Law Center raised a series of questions about how, precisely, the funds in a private account would be paid out to try to make up for cuts in the benefits that Social Security provides, not just when individual workers retire, but for workers—and spouses, surviving spouses, divorced spouses and children—when workers retire, die, or are disabled.

Posted by Michael at 10:33 AM

Family and Medical Leave at Risk; Millions of Americans Could Lose Access to Leave If Bush Administration Revises Regulations, Warns President of National Partnership for Women and Families

Many more Americans will have to choose between job and family when medical crises strike or babies are born if the Bush Administration rolls back the 12-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act, the nation's leading expert on the law warned today. Speaking before a hearing organized by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, National Partnership for Women and Families President Debra Ness cautioned that changes being considered by the U.S. Department of Labor could deny job-protected leave to nearly half those who currently benefit from the law.
"This is a moment to stand up for working families," Ness told lawmakers. "Changes such as forcing employees to take unpaid leave in half-day increments would be devastating and would greatly diminish the impact of the law. The Family and Medical Leave Act has helped more than 50 million Americans, without causing any significant hardship to businesses."

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:15 AM

Gov't OKs First Racially Targeted Drug (AP)

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

AP - The heart failure drug BiDil was approved Thursday by government regulators for use by blacks. It will be the first medication marketed for a specific racial group. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:11 AM

FDA Approves Controversial Heart Medication for Blacks

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the controversial drug BiDil to treat heart failure specifically in black patients, marking the first time a medication has been targeted at a racial group. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:05 AM

Pelosi: Labor-HHS-Education Bill Does Not Meet the Needs of America's Children, Workers, or Seniors

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this afternoon on the House floor in opposition to the Republican Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which underfunds investments that are crucial to America's future. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:42 AM

June 23, 2005

Connect for Kids Teen Essay Contest: Youth Writers, Youth Judges; Contest Invites 14- to 18-Year-Olds to Write Essays on the Decisions That Affect Them

Connect for Kids is inviting youth ages 14 to 18 to share their ideas in a summer essay contest. Submissions will be judged by young writers from DC WritersCorps, a non-profit literacy organization. Four winners will have their essays posted on www.connectforkids.org in August, and receive a $100 award.
"We think it's important to have young people looking at the work of their peers to make decisions about quality and creativity," explains Cecilia Garcia, director of Connect for Kids. "The writing talents and media experience of the DC WritersCorps youth make them perfect candidates to judge this contest."

The contest, "Speak Out! Let Your Voice Be Heard," allows teens to share their ideas on what political decision-makers need to know about youth with Connect for Kids' worldwide audience.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 4:01 AM

Teacher's little helpers: Robots attend UCSD nursery school in research study

Humanoid robots RUBI and QRIO, both of whom are research platforms for advanced robotic technologies, are attending the Early Childhood Education Center at the University of California, San Diego as part of a long-term research study to investigate the uses of interactive computers in educational environments and to advance the field of real-time, social robotics. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:02 AM

NCLR Hails Groundbreaking Decision: California Court of Appeal Holds That Lesbian Co-Parent Is Entitled to Seek Visitation

Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights hailed a groundbreaking decision by the California Court of Appeal holding that a lesbian co-parent is entitled to seek visitation. The Court held that Angela G. is entitled to seek visitation with the child that she jointly brought into the world and co-parented with her former same-sex partner. The legal issues presented in the case are the same as those in three other cases currently pending before the California Supreme Court.
Angela and her former partner were in a committed relationship and decided to have a child together through alternative insemination, using an anonymous sperm donor. Angela paid for the insemination and participated fully in preparing for the child's birth. After the child was born in 1988, Angela and her partner raised the child together in a two-parent family. Angela put the child on her health insurance and took him to medical appointments. When the couple separated in September of 2000, Angela initially had regular visitation and paid child support.
Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:00 AM

June 22, 2005

Tax Policies to Help Working Families in Cities

This paper examines how existing federal tax rules affect low- and middle-income working families in cities, and finds that several tax policy options could provide better economic opportunities and incentives for these households. Policies that expand and modify the child care and dependent care tax credit, the saver's credit, and subsidies for health insurance, or that alter the structure of homeownership subsidies away from deductions and toward capped credits for homeownership, could improve the welfare of millions of working families in cities, and should receive the attention of both urban leaders and federal policy makers in the future. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:31 PM

Protecting Low-Income and Moderate-Income Families' Savings

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and The Retirement Security Project
This policy brief describes the steps that both the federal government and state governments can take to reduce an important barrier to retirement saving among low-income families: the asset tests in means-tested benefit programs. A growing body of evidence suggests that low-income families will contribute to retirement accounts if they are presented with effective and transparent incentives to do so and have easy access to a savings vehicle. The asset tests associated with means-tested benefit programs, however, often penalize those who do save, undermining the broader goal of encouraging retirement saving. Furthermore, the rules applied under these tests to retirement accounts are confusing and often treat 401(k) accounts and IRAs in a seemingly arbitrary manner.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:18 PM

Ill-health and unhappiness among the risks for older mothers

Although there are considerable risks to becoming pregnant later in life, more and more women are choosing to do it, a scientist reported at the 21st annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Tuesday 21 June 2005). Professor Michael de Swiet, from Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London, UK, said that in the UK in 2000-02, 10% of women in their first pregnancy were over 35 compared to 3% in 1988-90. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:36 PM

Children's Defense Fund Opposes the Unfair 'Consent Decree Fairness Act'

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) opposes the so-called "Consent Decree Fairness Act" because it could destroy protections for the most vulnerable children in the United States. This misguided piece of legislation would undermine enforcement of federal rights of neglected children, disabled children, abused children and others who truly need federal legal protections.
"This legislation is directly aimed at allowing state and local governments to renege on their agreements to comply with federal law. There is nothing 'fair' about it," said CDF Founder and CEO Marian Wright Edelman.

A consent decree is a settlement between a wronged party and a state or local government
Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:03 PM

June 20, 2005

Improving Homeownership Among Poor And Moderate-Income Households

No asset is more important in expanding opportunity and hedging against economic uncertainty than owning a home. While homeownership may not be for everyone, strong disincentives are created by existing federal policies that subsidize poor families to rent but cut off these subsidies should they choose to buy. Meanwhile, federal tax incentives for homeownership only go to those households owing tax--and typically the higher their income and the more expensive their homes, the larger the tax subsidy they receive. A significant change in ownership incentives is needed to correct this inequity and better promote homeownership among the poor. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM

Can Today's Preschoolers Save Tomorrow's Social Security? WestEd Report: Funding Preschool May Help Solve Budget, Social Woes

Investing immediately in a national preschool program would yield high returns - including possibly shoring up an ailing Social Security system - says a new WestEd report.
According to economist Robert G. Lynch, funding a national, high-quality, early childhood development program would help balance cash-strapped government budgets by creating year-over-year incremental savings. This includes the Social Security program, which some experts project will begin facing financial difficulties in the year 2018, about the time when the first class of today's preschoolers would enter the workforce.

By selecting all three- and four-year-olds who fall below the poverty line, Lynch's proposed national preschool program would enroll the very 1.6 million youngsters who, as they grow up, would otherwise cost taxpayers most. A national preschool program would also directly benefit the children and families it would serve. When poor children are provided access to high-quality preschool, research shows they perform much better in school, experience higher graduation rates, and tend to stay out of trouble with drugs, alcohol, and crime. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:13 PM

Thirty Outstanding Hong Kong Students to Visit New York City and Washington, D.C., for Global Citizenship Program

Thirty outstanding students from universities in Hong Kong will visit New York City and Washington, D.C., from June 17-25 to participate in The Dragon Foundation's Global Citizenship Program, designed to develop the skills and qualities they will need to be global citizens in the 21st century. The students will have the opportunity to learn from outstanding world leaders, collaborate on a group project, learn about opportunities for community building, and explore the New York area with local mentors and host families, and they will also visit the World Bank and other important sites in Washington, D.C.
For the second year, The Dragon Foundation, based in Hong Kong, has joined in partnership with the Institute of International Education (IIE), a New York-based not-for-profit international educational and professional exchange organization, to create this interactive leadership program for students in all disciplines from Hong Kong universities. The 30 undergraduate students who will take part this year were selected through a highly competitive application and interview process based on their academic accomplishments and potential to become global citizens and leaders in an interconnected world. Before coming to the U.S. to attend the Global Citizenship Conference, the students participated in an orientation and commissioning ceremony in Hong Kong. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:11 PM

Teens' Take: Sex Is All Around Them (washingtonpost.com)

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

washingtonpost.com - This is what teenagers at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School tell you: They talk about sex.
In the hallways. At lunch tables. Who's doing it. Who's not. Girls talk to their girlfriends. Boys talk to boys. Girls talk with boys who are friends, or their boyfriends.

"People talk about sex all the time," said 16-year-old Claire Davey-Karison. "It's casual [conversation], you know. You'll hear gossip. It's no big deal."

But sex education has become a big deal in some Montgomery County schools -- a deal that involves lawyers, organized parent groups and a federal court. Although students like Claire talk about sex in the same casual manner they might discuss last night's homework or the hijinks of Marissa and Ryan on "The O.C.," some adults are less than comfortable with them learning about it -- or certain aspects of it -- in class.Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:09 PM

Sometimes It's Better Just to Do Less Harm

From NYT > Health:

Sometimes doing the right thing medically means risking lesser harm to avoid greater harm, especially when it comes to treating addiction. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:38 PM

Health Care Costs, Spending Up

After hints that the rapid growth in health care spending was slowing, a report being released today suggests the brief reprieve has stalled and the soaring costs are likely to force more people out of the market. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:25 PM

Personal debt: envy, penury or necessity?

What part does envy play in the apparently spiralling stock of personal debt in the UK, which last year passed the .1 trillion mark? New research by Stephen McKay, published in ESRC's new report Seven Deadly Sins, indicates that people who are envious of what others have, and dissatisfied with their own incomes, do tend to have higher levels of credit and greater difficulties making repayments. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:24 PM

Low-income seniors skimp less on prescription drugs with pharmacy assistance programs

A new study by Brandeis University researchers shows that state-run pharmacy assistance programs in Wisconsin and Illinois reduce by one-half the number of seniors who either forgo necessities or skimp on prescribed drugs. In January 2006, Medicare will offier its prescription drug benefit, known as Part D, for all seniors. The federal benefit is not expected to be as generous as the Wisconsin and Illinois programs, known as SeniorCare, for most seniors. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:22 PM

Study examines barriers to disclosure of childhood abuse

Children who don't tell anyone about being sexually abused often come from families that have rigid gender roles and other similar characteristics, says a University of Toronto researcher. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:12 PM

Violent boys in unsafe conditions less prone to depression

Violent adolescent boys in neighborhoods where they routinely witness violence tend to be less depressed than other violent youths, says a new study by Raymond Swisher of Cornell University and former student Robert D. Latzman. The study is published in the Journal of Community Psychology (33: 355-371, May 2005). Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:11 PM

Gun Violence Prevention Advocates Observe National Ask Day; Educate Public About Risks to Children Posed by Guns in the Home

WHAT: An educational press conference to inform parents and physicians of strategies to reduce the threat of gun violence to children. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:10 PM

Rep. Markey, PBS Characters, Peggy Charren, PTA, Children NOW, Friends of Public Broadcasting Rally to Protect America's Favorite Programming

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will be joined by Clifford the Big Red Dog, Arthur and other PBS characters, the Founder of Action for Children's Television, National ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:09 PM

High Court Blocks Pa. Inmate's Death Sentence

The Supreme Court overturned the sentence of a death row inmate in Pennsylvania yesterday, ruling that his attorneys failed to investigate readily available evidence of child abuse and mental illness that might have persuaded the jury to sentence him to life imprisonment. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:07 PM

Drug Abuse Prevention and Intervention Research Grants

From Substance Abuse Funding News:

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has issued a call for research into the effects of drug abuse prevention and intervention. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:14 AM

Suddenly, nonprofits seek profits

From Christian Science Monitor | Work/Money:

Leveraging unique physical and intellectual assets found at schools, museums, and charities can generate much-needed revenue.
Others in the nonprofit world are discovering the same thing. For-profit side businesses that leverage unique physical and intellectual assets found at schools, museums, and charities are generating much-needed revenue in a time when few nonprofits can thrive on beneficence alone.

One contest in particular bears witness to the trend. For the third year in a row, about 500 nonprofit organizations have submitted for-profit business plans in a competition cosponsored by the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Yale School of Management. This month, the contest announced eight winners who will share $500,000 in prize money. One example: EcoLogic Finance, a microlender in Cambridge, Mass., that over five years has largely weaned itself of its original reliance on grant funds to encourage eco-friendly farming in Latin America. Instead, it borrows its capital at 2 or 3 percent, loans it out to farmers at 9 percent or higher, and secures collateral in the form of signed purchase contracts for organic and otherwise environmentally friendly crops.Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:02 AM

June 19, 2005

Housing Envy: Soaring Prices Create Divide (washingtonpost.com)

washingtonpost.com - Lorna Dressendorfer and Erin Call, both single women in their early thirties, work side by side as labor and delivery nurses in the busy maternity ward at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Northwest Washington.
They make roughly the same salary at their full-time jobs there, and both also have part-time jobs to supplement their incomes, Dressendorfer at Williams-Sonoma and Call installing IVs as a home nursing aide.

But there is one big difference in their financial fortunes that divides the two friends sharply: Call owns an Alexandria townhouse, bought two years ago, while Dressendorfer remains a renter.

As a result, Call is worth substantially more than her friend.

The sharp increase in housing values in the Washington area has created a great divide between those who own houses and those who do not, and nowhere does this play out more than in the workplace. Those who do not own homes look enviously at their colleagues who do, and their different financial situations can lead to strains, stress and some veiled anger. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:08 PM

Corporate Donors Want Their Gifts to Help Bottom Line, Says Article in Stanford Social Innovation Review

It is part of a broad, historic shift in the nature of corporate philanthropy. It goes by a variety of names - strategic philanthropy, cause marketing, values-led marketing, or just plain corporate citizenship - but what is happening here is clear: In an attempt to become more strategic in their philanthropy, corporate donors are tying their gifts more closely to their company's business objectives, according to a special investigative article in the Summer 2005 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review (www.ssireview.com).
"Where ten years ago, a corporation might fund just about anything the office felt was a good cause, now they tie the giving directly to the bottom line," observes John Harvey, executive director of Grantmakers Without Borders in the article. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:02 PM

New research evidence on anger in children and adults

New research uses longitudinal evidence to help understand anger and distinguish between people for whom anger is an occasional experience - and therefore quite normal - and those for whom it is more persistent. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:54 PM

Marin, Bay Area Leaders Honored for Alcohol Prevention Work; Youth, Adults Recognized With First Annual Community Prevention Leadership Awards

Four San Francisco Bay Area leaders in the fight against community alcohol problems have been chosen by the Marin Institute to receive Community Prevention Leadership Awards for their efforts. The awards are designed to highlight the often unsung heroes who dedicate themselves to working for healthier and safer neighborhoods by addressing the factors that shape community alcohol problems: community norms, access and availability, media messages, and policy and enforcement. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:50 PM

Church Adopts Sex Abuse Reporting Changes (AP)

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

AP - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has formally adopted constitutional changes aimed at preventing and punishing sexual abuse by clergy. The ratification of 11 constitutional changes by presbyteries, or regional governing bodies, of the Louisville-based denomination comes three years after a report on the sexual abuse of children of missionaries at boarding schools in the Congo, the church announced this past week. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:49 PM

Laws May Reduce Unwed Fathers

SEATTLE, June 18 -- Tough child support laws may dissuade men from becoming unwed fathers, as states with the most stringent laws and strict enforcement have as much as 20 percent fewer out-of-wedlock births, a new study shows. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:47 PM

June 17, 2005

Medicare Drug Benefit Resources

As President Bush calls for a national outreach effort to help seniors and people with disabilities understand the new Medicare drug benefit, the Kaiser Family Foundation has a number of Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:35 AM

Jobless at retirement

From Economic Policy Institute:

Some policy makers have suggested that raising the retirement age would address the projected long-term gap in Social Security finances by inducing Americans to work long and postpone claiming their benefits. This recommendation, however, ignores the fact that a large number of workers lose employment before they reach Social Security. For more information about how Americans have greater difficulty securing and retaining employment as they age, see this week's Snapshot. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:15 AM

Making Tax Incentives for Homeownership More Equitable and Efficient

While many recent evaluations of the effects of housing subsidies in the tax code focus on the choice between renting and owning, this paper examines the distribution and effectiveness of various changes to these subsidies. Specifically, we examine several revenue-neutral reforms that would level out the current U-shaped curve of housing benefits and deliver ownership subsidies more equitably and efficiently to lower-to-middle-income households. Implementing reform requires careful design, administrative, and behavioral considerations. Appropriately done, converting home-related tax deductions into refundable, capped credits could encourage homeownership at lower incomes and curtail government subsidies for ever greater amounts of home borrowing. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:13 AM

Students revamp tractor for use by worlers with disabilities

Undergrad engineers answer challenge to make tractor useable by disabled volunteers at southern Maryland state park. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:41 AM

Walk slowly for weight loss, according to University of Colorado study

Leisurely walking for distance combined with low-impact cardiovascular activity appears to be the best formula for obese people seeking to get into shape and stay healthy, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder study. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:30 AM

Bush Begins Campaign to Publicize Medicare Drug Benefit

From NYT > Health:

President Bush opened a nationwide campaign to publicize the value of Medicare's new drug benefit, and he urged everyone on Medicare to sign up for it. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:07 AM

The bigger the serving, the more young children will eat

Preschool children do not adjust for how much they've already eaten in the past 24 hours or how calorie-rich their meal is. Rather, how much kids eat is determined by how much food is put on their plate, says Cornell University's David Levitsky and a former graduate student in the journal Appetite. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:50 AM

Why being a teenage mum could be good for you!

A unique breed of cockroach may hold the key to explaining why women who delay having children until later life have lower fertility compared to women who gave birth in their teens. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:47 AM

June 16, 2005

Tax Credits for Health Insurance

Over 40 million Americans under age 65-the overwhelming majority of them in working families-lack health insurance. The public ultimately shoulders the burden of paying for the medical treatment of those lacking insurance, either through higher taxes or higher health care costs. Expanding health coverage through the tax system may not be the most efficient path, but tax subsidies appear the only game in town for expanding the federal role in the provision of health insurance. This paper examines implications of major expansions in tax credits for health insurance, starting with the President's refundable tax credit proposal. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:53 AM

Social Security--A Labor Force Issue

Since Social Security was first enacted, vast changes have occurred in the economy, life expectancy, health care, the physical demands of jobs, the labor force participation of women, and even the age at which one can be considered old. As it stands now, the Social Security system--the cornerstone around which other social insurance or compensation programs are built--is a middle age retirement system that serves the truly old and vulnerable less and less each year. This testimony focuses on ways in which benefits can be reoriented to the old, by raising the retirement age, encouraging longer labor force participation, and addressing the inequities and inefficiencies in the present system. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:51 AM

Robert Greenstein Comments on the National Governors Association's Medicaid Recommendations

Today, the National Governors’ Association outlined NGA’s preliminary recommendations for Medicaid. Several of the NGA proposals are promising. Others are troubling and likely would be damaging to low-income people.
On the positive side, the proposals dealing with prescription drug costs, for example, hold the potential to reduce state and federal Medicaid costs in ways that do not harm coverage for low-income beneficiaries. These proposals could help states and the federal government become smarter purchasers of drugs without compromising access to, or the quality of care for, Medicaid beneficiaries.

Certain other NGA proposals, however, likely would cause harm to low-income people who rely on Medicaid, including low-income children, working-poor parents, and low-income people who are elderly or have serious disabilities.
6/15/05 Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:39 AM

Tobacco Policy Change Awards

From Substance Abuse Funding News:

Groups advocating for policy changes to promote effective tobacco prevention and cessation strategies may apply for grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:37 AM

Public Housing Transformation and the "Hard to House"

Public housing transformation has largely failed to address the more complex needs of "hard-to-house" residents who have relied on public housing as a source of stable, if less than ideal, housing. The hard-to-house include a range of high-need households, such as grandparents caring for grandchildren, families with disabled members, very large households, and multiple-barrier families coping with an array of difficult problems. For these vulnerable families, the same public housing transformation that may offer better housing and new opportunities for other tenants can be just one more blow. In this brief, we lay out a strategy for effectively serving hard-to-house residents who remain in distressed public housing or who are experiencing hardship as a result of HOPE VI-related relocation. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:35 AM

Building Learning Communities

From MDRC:

Opening Doors Learning Communities, a program serving mostly low-income freshmen at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY, improved course and test pass rates, particularly in English. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:18 AM

June 15, 2005

Case finds oral health of residents in nursing homes needs more attention

The oral health of nursing home residents needs more attention. A study from Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine found half of executive directors of nursing homes in Ohio, responding to a survey on oral health care, rated the oral health of their residents as poor or fair, yet 60 percent reported that they were satisfied with the care their residents received. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:06 PM

A poor child may be left behind

The tables are turned as tests show that standardized testing in public schools favors the wealthy with access to better instruction. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:05 PM

Senior citizen support for school spending is growing

Local school districts can take heart from trends in senior citizen attitudes toward school spending since each succeeding bloc of senior voters attaches increased value to public school education, according to a Penn State study. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:53 PM

New Columbia Business School Web Portal 'Columbia Ideas at Work' Links Faculty Research With Business Practice

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:52 PM

Student Loan Loophole Cost Millions

It is an obscure government report that could have big consequences for taxpayers. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:48 PM

'Hazardous' drinking and drug use have serious health implications

Individuals with alcohol and drug dependencies tend to have a greater incidence of health-related problems as well as higher health-care costs. New research has found that primary-care patients with less severe drinking and drug use still have several serious health problems. The same patients also have a high incidence of co-occurring psychiatric problems. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:45 PM

Medicare's investment in quality improvement may not be paying off

Medicare's quality improvement organizations are charged with improving the medical care of Medicare beneficiaries. A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reports that hospitals that actively participate with these quality improvement organizations do not consistently show any greater improvement than hospitals that do not. The findings are published in the June 15, 2005, edition of the JAMA. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:40 PM

Teenagers at Risk for Range of Health-Threatening Weight Problems, From Obesity to Anorexia: Can Parents Help Them Avoid One Without Encouraging the Other?

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:32 PM

Medicare Officials Insisting on Wider Choices in Drug Benefits

From NYT > National:

As companies devise insurance policies for the new Medicare drug program, federal officials are pressing them to offer a surprisingly generous array of choices. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:26 PM

NAACP Turns to Business Community for New Chief Executive Officer

In a move that departs from its leadership choices of recent decades, the NAACP will choose Bruce S. Gordon, a former senior executive at Verizon Communications Inc., as its next president and chief executive officer, according to sources inside and outside the organization. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:20 PM

New program focuses on the sometimes neglected needs of siblings of sick children

A sick child in the family sometimes means that well children don't always receive a proportional share of parents' attention; a new program focuses on the needs of well children dealing with thecomplexity of having an ill sibling. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:13 PM

Good friends, rather than close family ties, help you live longer in older age

A network of good friends, rather than close family ties, helps you live longer in older age, suggests research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:08 PM

Maryland's poor, African-American communities suffer disproportionate cancer risk from air pollution

New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that Maryland communities that are poor and predominantly African-American incur a disproportionate cancer risk from ambient exposure to airborne toxins. Further, the researchers were able to identify the sources underlying the inequities. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:06 PM

Government Acting Like 'Flat Earth Society' Promoting Abstinence-Only Programs; Study Demonstrates No Evidence of Increasing Youth's Intention to Remain Abstinent

A long awaited report on the impact of federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs was released today in concert with the Administration for Youth and Families' Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference. An objective reading of the study, ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:05 PM

2005 Could Be Another Record Year, According to Top Housing Industry Economists

The nation's top housing and mortgage finance economists told financial analysts 2005 could be yet another record breaking year for the industry during a biannual call sponsored by the Homeownership Alliance. However, the economists did say affordability ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:03 PM

Governors' Group Proposes Medicaid Curbs

From NYT > Washington:

The National Governors Association offered sweeping bipartisan proposals to rein in the growth of Medicaid. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:01 PM

Agreement Reached on Major Foster Care Legislation; Increases Opportunity for Relatives to Become a Child's Foster Parents

AARP will hold a press conference with the Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Children and Families announcing an agreement on major legislation to help ensure that when a court determines a child must be removed from his or her home and ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:50 PM

AWWA, EPA, Dept. of Education Sign Pact to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water at Schools, Child-Care Facilities; New AWWA Report Helps Utilities Communicate with Schools on Lead

A "Memorandum of Understanding" signed this week by the American Water Works Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Education, the Centers for Disease Control and other water organizations seeks to reduce children's exposure ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:49 PM

New Clinical Building at Children's Hospital Boston Home to First Intraoperative MRI Suite of Its Kind in the World; Photo Available

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Children's new clinical expansion building is home to the world's first-of-its-kind Intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system, where a magnet suspended from the ceiling moves in and out of the OR on rails, allowing the patient to remain in place ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:48 PM

Nuclear Monitor for U.N. Has His Pivotal Role Extended

Mohamed ElBaradei was virtually unknown when the United States engineered his candidacy eight years ago to run the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency. He was a soft-spoken lawyer then, who left the Middle East of his youth for New York, first as a diplomat, then as an academic and finally as a... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:47 PM

Jury Acquits Jackson on All Charges

From washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.:

Jury of eight women and four men concluded that the evidence was not sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt that pop star isa predatory child molester. The jurors found him not guilty on all 10 counts. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:46 PM

Paternity Disestablishment in 2004-2005

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Paula Roberts. This memo analyzes the statutory and case law developments in paternity disestablishment from late 2004 and early 2005, as well as recently enacted statutes. The first appendix describes in detail the reported cases in 2004 and early 2005. The cases are divided by topic and listed alphabetically by state. The second appendix contains a chart listing the major state cases in the last eight years in regard to paternity disestablishment for marital children. The third appendix charts similar case law as regards non-marital children. Pub No. 05-30. 27 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:48 AM

Designing a Work-Friendly Tax System: Options and Trade-Offs

The federal tax system often imposes its highest effective marginal tax rates on low- and moderate-income individuals. This paper suggests several ways to reduce those high effective marginal rates but illuminates the large trade-offs involved. One approach would replace the current earned income credit (EIC) with a $2,000 EIC for working parents and a refundable $1,000 per child tax credit. A more comprehensive approach would integrate the individual income and Social Security tax systems into a single tax system with just two tax rates and a refundable $2,000 EIC for working parents and a $1,000 universal grant for every person. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:41 AM

Promoting Student Success in Community College and Beyond

From MDRC:

The Opening Doors Demonstration is designed to show how community colleges can help more low-income students remain in school and improve other outcomes, including degree attainment, labor market success, and personal and social well-being. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:33 AM

June 14, 2005

Nation's Mayors Give NEA President Standing Ovation at Annual Conference

In a rousing speech on Sunday (June 12) before mayors of the nation's largest cities, National Education Association (NEA) President Reg Weaver identified the challenges facing public education -- chief among them the faulty implementation of the No Child ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:08 AM

Homeless prefer aggressive medical treatment

A new study published in the June issue of Chest, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, reports that homeless persons are more likely than physicians to want lifesaving procedures performed on them. As a result, homeless persons who must rely on physicians as surrogate decision makers for medical care may receive less aggressive treatment than they would choose for themselves. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:47 AM

Pediatricians lack confidence in managing obesity, and their own weight might be an important factor

If North Carolina reflects what is happening nationally, most pediatricians across the country lack confidence in their ability to treat obesity, which is increasingly recognized as robbing children of physical vigor now and good health in later life, a new study shows. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:40 AM

Brookings Health Policy Initiative Public Forum: Biting the Bullet on Health Care Costs

WHAT: A Brookings Health Policy Initiative Public Forum: Biting The Bullet on Health Care Costs Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:35 AM

Teen-agers with Type 1 diabetes already developing cardiovascular disease

Youths with type 1 diabetes, especially boys, already show early signs of cardiovascular disease by their teen-age years. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:09 AM

Children need 60 minutes of daily physical activity, expert panel says

School-age children should participate in 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily, according to an expert panel. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:05 AM

June 13, 2005

Tough child support laws deter single men from becoming dads