Human Services News

The U.S. Conference of Mayors/Sodexho USA annual hunger and homelessness survey released yesterday reports increased need for emergency food and shelter in 24 U.S. cities, especially among the nation's working poor families. Requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 12 percent in the past year with 76 percent of the cities surveyed reporting an increase in demands.
"The report reinforces what many of our 210 food banks and food-rescue organizations are experiencing," said Robert Forney, president and CEO of America's Second Harvest – The Nation's Food Bank Network. "More people are in need of emergency food assistance while many of our Members are experiencing a decline in both food and funds." Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:53 AM

December 20, 2005

New Reports & Audio Briefing Explore State and Beneficiary Challenges in Transitioning Drug Coverage from Medicaid to the New Medicare Drug Benefit

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured convened a focus group of state Medicaid officials to discuss the impact of the new Medicare drug program on states and Medicaid enrollees. State insights on the transition of dual eligibles and some beneficiary experiences are discussed in new materials and an audio briefing. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:21 PM

National Panel Examines State Alcohol and Drug Systems

A diverse panel led by former Massachusetts governor Michael S. Dukakis will begin determining which state organizational and financial structures most effectively support policies to prevent and treat substance-use problems. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:20 PM

Budget Cuts to Prevention Programs to Blame for Stalled Youth Smoking Declines

Declines in youth smoking rates have slowed or perhaps even stalled over the past two years, and funding cuts to tobacco prevention programs are to blame. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:14 PM

2005 Monitoring The Future Survey Shows Continued Decline In Drug Use By Students

While the 2005 survey showed a general decline in drug use, there are still high rates of non-medical use of prescription medications. The MTF survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescents since 1975. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:13 PM

Conference TANF Agreement Requires States to Increase Work Participation by 69 Percent, but New Funding Meets Only a Fraction of New Costs

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Mark Greenberg. The budget conference agreement includes a mandate that states meet a 50 percent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation rate in order to avoid federal penalties. The bill forces states to make an unpalatable choice: increase work participation rates by an estimated 69 percent or cut the number of families receiving assistance-or both. What's more, the bill provides states with new funds that amount to less than $70 per new participant per month. Pub No. 05-55. 4 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:38 PM

Assessing the Effects of the Budget Conference Agreement on Low-Income Families and Individuals

NLIHC: Out of Reach, 2005

Congressional leaders are claiming that the low-income provisions in the conference agreement on the budget reconciliation bill are modest and will not harm vulnerable families. Many of the legislation’s key provisions were altered behind closed doors in weekend negotiations, and the legislation was not released until after 1:00 Monday morning, just hours before House members had to vote on the legislation. Not surprisingly, there is considerable confusion over what the legislation actually does.
Careful examination of the 774-page legislation shows that the conference agreement would, in fact, cause considerable hardship among low-income families and individuals. The legislation contains cuts in various areas, including Medicaid, that would directly affect low-income families and individuals and are closer to provisions in the original House-passed reconciliation bill than to the provisions of the Senate bill. This is due in no small part to action by the conferees to shield certain powerful special interests — principally pharmaceutical companies and the managed care industry — and instead to extract sizable savings from low-income families.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:36 PM

Out of Reach - 2005 - Housing Affordability

Despite the emphasis on homeownership and the marginalization of renters, renter households still make up fully one-third of the households in the United States - nearly 36 million households. Out of Reach is a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, Metropolitan Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United States.

For each jurisdiction, the report calculates the amount of money a household must earn in order to afford a rental unit at a range of sizes (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 bedrooms) at the area's Fair Market Rent (FMR), based on the generally accepted affordability standard of paying no more than 30% of income for housing costs. From these calculations the hourly wage a worker must earn to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom home is derived. This figure is the Housing Wage.

Posted by Michael at 11:25 AM

December 18, 2005

New Report on Adult Literacy Levels, First Since 1992, Shows Need for High School Reform

Washington, D.C. - American adults can read a newspaper or magazine about as well as they could a decade ago, but have made significant strides in performing literacy tasks that involve computation, according to the first national study of adult literacy since 1992. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:10 PM

Center for Rural Education Established at Education Department

Tucson, Ariz. - The U.S. Department of Education today announced the creation of the Center for Rural Education to address challenges facing rural schools and named former U.S. Commissioner of Education William L. Smith as its director.
Housed within the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) and working in tandem with the Secretary's Task Force for Rural Education, the center will serve as an information resource for policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that nearly 42 percent of the nation's public schools are in rural communities or small towns.

A primary goal of the center will be to update The Condition of Education in Rural Schools, a report last released by the U.S. Department of Education in 1994. The center will also host a series of focus groups and forums to highlight issues facing rural education.
Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:08 PM

Being a Patient: Sick and Vulnerable, Workers Fear for Health and Their Jobs

From NYT > Health:

How an employee is treated after becoming ill is determined by things like the culture of the workplace and the boss's sensitivity. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:02 PM

Economic View: Health Care for All, Just a (Big) Step Away

From NYT > Health:

By reallocating money already devoted to health insurance, the government could go a long way toward giving insurance to the 45 million Americans who lack it. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:00 PM

Alcohol's Role in Fall-Related Injuries in Younger and Older Adults

Alcohol's involvement in falls among younger adults emphasizes that further attention should be given to this issue. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:56 PM

Conditions for slavery: New study sheds light on the development of early social hierarchies

An important new study argues that inconsistent weather and spotty resources prevented enduring inequality from emerging in some early hunter-gatherer societies. By contrast, pre-colonial indigenous societies of the northwest coast of North America and the American southeast are notable for their marked social hierarchies, including chiefdoms and, in some cases, slavery. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:33 PM

Kellogg Foundation's 75th Anniversary Year Ends With 7 Percent Growth in Assets

As it concludes its historic 75th Anniversary year, the Kellogg Foundation has reported assets of $7.3 billion - a $500 million increase over last year. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:26 PM

Congress Passes Violence Against Women Act; Reauthorization Provides New Tools for Communities to Prevent Violence and Support Survivors, Says National Network to End Domestic Violence

Working over the weekend, Congress renewed legislation to continue nationwide efforts to combat domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. Passing with overwhelming support in the House and Senate, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:24 PM

Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Bay Area Employment

This 2005 survey provides an in-depth look at workers in the Bay Area, their professional and financial challenges, and their views of the area's job market and quality of life. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:52 PM

Post-Katrina: Lead in disturbed soil may pose heightened health risk

Unsafe levels of lead have been found in soil and sediments left behind in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and could pose a heightened health threat to returning residents, particularly children, according to a new study published in the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology. Some soil samples contained lead concentrations as much as two-thirds higher than what the US Environmental Protection Agency considers safe, according to researchers at Texas Tech University. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:51 PM

Conference Agreement TANF Provisions Impose Expensive New Work Requirements on States And Will Result In Loss Of Child Care Subsidies For Working Poor: CBO Projects Costs Equal Those In House Bill

The conference agreement on the spending reconciliation bill (S. 1932) includes a major restructuring of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation requirements, imposing expensive and unfunded new requirements on states and severely limiting the flexibility they were afforded under the 1996 law that created the TANF block grant. While some have suggested that the TANF changes represent only minor changes from current law, that is incorrect. In fact, a new Congressional Budget Office analysis shows that the work requirements would be even more expensive for states to meet than those included in the controversial House-passed bill.
Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:46 PM

Budget Conference Agreement Contains Substantial Cuts Aimed at Low-income Families and Individuals

hopeful_workers_marginal_jobs.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Some are claiming that the conference agreement on the budget reconciliation bill is closer to the Senate-passed bill in the low-income area than to the House bill and does not harm low-income Americans to any significant degree. While some low-income cuts in the House bill have been dropped, the conference agreement contains numerous cuts in various low-income areas — including Medicaid — that are much closer to those in the House-passed bill than to the provisions of the Senate bill.
Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:43 PM

December 16, 2005

Hopeful Workers, Marginal Jobs: LA's Off-The-Books Labor Force

This report examines the extent and nature of the 'informal' labor force in LA. Included in the report: an overview of the 'informal economy', how many informal workers exist in LA, characteristics of these workers (by gender, occupation/industry, immigration status), and public costs of the informal economy. Undocumented workers as a significant portion of informal workers are examined (by service planning area, industry, and total numbers). Also included are general policy recommendations, an overview of the LA labor market and more.

Posted by Michael at 10:35 AM

Impact of Disaster-Relief Fundraising on Nonprofits

New US Giving Survey Released: Impact of Disaster-Relief Fundraising on Nonprofits

~ 72% of respondents believe that fundraising for disaster-relief missions has reduced giving to other missions ~ Trust & donor fatigue are issues ~ Small to Medium size nonprofit organizations most impacted by funding shortfalls.

A new national survey released today by several firms working with nonprofit organizations confirms that donors need to dig deeper in 2005. Funding shortfalls at nonprofit organizations are another disaster in the making–-loss of key services.

Charley Shimanski, President/CEO of the Colorado Nonprofit Association says, “The results of this survey are critical to us because many nonprofits receive 50% of their charitable gifts in November and December and we now have the data to deliver our message of the need for charitable giving ‘at home’.”
The survey gathered information from over 500 donors, nonprofits and nonprofit consultants nationwide.

Posted by Michael at 10:22 AM

December 15, 2005

Emphasis on individuality in college admissions disadvantages minority students

Some students need more than test prep classes to overcome the psychological blocks that keep them from going to college. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:45 PM

Bridges to the Future Afterschool Program Funded for 2005-06 School Year, Thanks to $2.17-Million Mott Foundation Grant to United Way of Genesee County, Mich.

The award-winning Bridges to the Future afterschool program has secured funding for the full 2005-06 school year, thanks to a one-year, $2.17-million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to United Way of Genesee County. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:43 PM

Essay Contest for High School Juniors, Seniors on 'Teens and Driving: Changing the Rules of the Road'

High school students can have their say on stricter traffic safety laws for teen drivers in an essay contest announced by LegiSchool, a non-partisan civic education effort of Sacramento State's Center for California Studies and the State Legislature. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM

Congressional Budget Office Estimates Reveal Severity of Medicaid Cuts in House-Passed Reconciliation Bill

Edwin Park Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:51 PM

Public Backs Federal Alcohol Tax Hike, Survey Says

The federal government could raise $20 billion over the next five years by raising alcohol taxes by five cents per drink, a move supported by most Americans, a new survey says. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:46 PM

PSAs Focus on Parents' Role in Preventing Underage Drinking

The federal government is running ads warning against underage drinking, telling parents that "young people drink to get drunk." Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:44 PM

Bringing Data to Life: Census Bureau Kicks Off Community Forums on Emergency Planning in Los Angeles and New York City; Data Valuable to Local Communities for Emergency Preparedness and Planning

The U.S. Census Bureau and the City of Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Department today held a community forum with more than 30 community organizations and other first-response officials about the need for timely demographic and economic data to enhance emergency ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:12 PM

American Institutes for Research Experts Assist in National Assessment of Adult Literacy

The Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will be releasing data on Thursday, December 15, 2005, based on the first National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) in the United States in more than a decade. Experts for the American Institutes for Research (AIR) were responsible for developing the assessment instruments, and analyzing and reporting the data. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:54 AM

House passes health, education spending cuts

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed a $602 billion bill to cut funds for health, education and labor programs nearly one month after a slightly different version of the measure was unexpectedly rejected.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:50 AM

Adapting to life in the US can increase alcohol consumption among Latinas

As Hispanic or Latino immigrants adapt to life in the United States, exposure to more favorable drinking norms and significant social stressors may provoke increased alcohol consumption. Acculturation may especially take its toll on women in this group, called "Latinas." A study in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research uses sophisticated data analysis to confirm that Latina women who are highly acculturated to American society tend to drink more than those who are not so highly acculturated. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:25 AM

Carnegie Mellon researchers find links between happiness and health, but questions remain

There is growing evidence that positive emotions such as happiness are linked to good health and increased longevity, but too many questions remain unanswered to draw definitive conclusions, according to a review of research conducted over the past 10 years by Carnegie Mellon University researchers. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:11 AM

December 14, 2005

To Raise Achievement of Students with Disabilities, Greater Flexibility Available for States, Schools

COLUMBIA, Md. -- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced proposed regulations to enhance the ability of schools and states to more effectively measure the achievement of America's students with disabilities. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:48 PM

Nurse shortage puts school kids at risk (USATODAY.com)

USATODAY.com - According to a USA TODAY examination, at some schools, a lone nurse, often a part-timer, is forced to juggle multiple medical demands. At others, there are no nurses on staff. An analysis showed roughly 56,000 full-time nurses worked at public schools. That's one for every 950 students, well above federal guidelines. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:44 PM

New Report on Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

In recent years, there has been a big increase in new electronic media products for very young children, including those as young as one month old. A driving force behind this new market is the advertising and package labeling that makes claims about the educational benefits of specific products. A new report examines the educational claims about commercially available educational media products (videos and DVDs, computer software, and video games) for very young children and the research to substantiate the educational claims. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:43 PM

New Problems in Medicare Drug Benefit

From NYT > Health:

Insurers said government delays in handling applications for the new prescription drug benefit could create trouble for some beneficiaries. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:42 PM

CBPP: Administration Preventing States From Adjusting Food Stamp Benefits to Reflect Impact of Higher Home Heating Costs on Food Budget

The Administration announced yesterday that it will not allow states to update their food stamp benefit levels now to reflect the higher home heating costs that will leave low-income households with less money for food this winter, a new Center analysis explains. ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:29 PM

Mental health of children most harmed before divorce

The most harm to a child's mental health takes place in the years before parents split up, according to a University of Alberta study that suggests staying together for the sake of the kids is not always the right choice. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:11 PM

Worker centers

From Economic Policy Institute:

Low-wage workers in the U.S. face obstacles including racial and ethnic discrimination, a pervasive lack of wage enforcement, misclassification of their employment, and for some, their status as undocumented immigrants. In the past, political parties, unions, and fraternal and mutual-aid societies served as important vehicles for immigrant workers who hoped to achieve political and economic integration. As these traditional civic institutions have weakened, these workers must seek new structures for mutual support. Worker centers are among the institutions to which workers turn as they strive to build vibrant communities and attain economic and political visibility. Learn more about this path-breaking trend in the EPI Briefing Paper, Worker Centers--Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:07 PM

Declining Share of Adults Receiving Training under WIA are Low-Income or Disadvantaged

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Abbey Frank and Elisa Minoff. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) significantly changed the way federally funded job training and employment services are structured, and has impacted who receives training under the program. In particular, the share of training recipients who are low-income or have barriers to employment has dropped since WIA was enacted. This paper examines the data, considers some possible explanations for this decline, and offers recommendations for WIA reauthorization and state and local action to increase the share of training resources directed to adults who are low-income, single parents, or have other barriers to finding and keeping employment. Pub No. 05-54. 8 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:53 PM

December 13, 2005

Returning Troops Abusing Alcohol

U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are abusing alcohol in greater numbers, as well as experiencing marital and anger-management problems.
Army researchers found that 21 percent of soldiers returning from combat areas were misusing alcohol a year after their return home; just 13 percent were found to misuse alcohol prior to deployment. Soldiers with anger and aggression problems increased from 11 percent to 22 percent, and the divorce rate rose from 9 percent to 15 percent.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:23 PM | TrackBack

Parents' Anti-Drug Talk Called Effective

Parents who are intolerant of drug use and let their children know it are less likely to have kids who use drugs, according to researchers at Brigham Young University. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:17 PM | TrackBack

Elderly Caught Selling Prescription Drugs

More than 40 people age 60 and over have been caught illegally selling prescription painkillers in Kentucky since April 2004, according to a local anti-drug task force. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:16 PM | TrackBack

The Truth About Teacher Tenure

No one, especially another teacher, wants bad teachers in classrooms. Yet, based on a recent newspaper series that argued that "teacher tenure" keeps insufficient numbers of Illinois teachers from being fired, some might think otherwise. They would be wrong.
The false premise is rooted in a lack of understanding of what "teacher tenure" means.

Every new teacher has a probationary period, during which the teacher can be dismissed for any reason. This safeguard winnows out those incapable of teaching at a "satisfactory" (the term used in the state statute) level. Every year thousands of people not cut out for a teaching career leave Illinois classrooms during their probation.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:08 PM | TrackBack

More Blacks Live With Pollution

AP - An Associated Press analysis of a little-known government research project shows that black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:45 PM | TrackBack

December 12, 2005

Census Bureau Bringing Data to Life: Spotlight on Los Angeles Emergency Planning

The U.S. Census Bureau will host a community forum with the City of Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Department to explore how census data can be used in emergency planning, preparedness and recovery in the event of a natural disaster. The Census Bureau assisted officials in the Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, providing a wealth of demographic, socioeconomic and geographic data, as well as housing and industry profiles.
This is the second in a series of discussions to be held around the nation about emergency preparedness by the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau, which held a similar meeting in New York City last week, hopes to receive valuable input from local planners and community organizations about the kinds of data it can provide that would be most beneficial during natural-disaster emergencies.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM | TrackBack

December 11, 2005

Medicaid Provisions of House Reconciliation Bill Both Harmful and Unnecessary Senate Bill Achieves Larger Savings Without Reducing Access to Care

The House and the Senate are attempting to work out a conference agreement on a budget reconciliation bill that reduces funding for a range of programs, including Medicaid. The House and Senate bills differ dramatically in their approach to Medicaid.
The House bill would significantly increase the co-payments and premiums imposed on low-income Medicaid beneficiaries and restrict the availability of important health care services. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that if these provisions become law, many low-income people would forgo health care services, and others would lose health coverage altogether.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:40 PM | TrackBack

25 Chosen for NEA Arts Journalism Institute at USC Annenberg School for Communication

Twenty-five arts journalists have been chosen from 20 states to participate as fellows in the second National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. Through the generous support of the NEA, the Institute will be conducted by USC Annenberg's School of Journalism in Los Angeles from Jan. 9 - 20, 2006. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:39 PM | TrackBack

CiviConnections -- Call for Applications

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) issued a call for applicants for the 2006-07 CiviConnections program. This is the third year of a three-year teacher grant program funded by the Federal Corporation for National and Community Service and NCSS. The program will award $7,500 grants to 33 teams consisting of three teachers each. CiviConnections links local historical inquiry with community service-learning activities nationwide in 3rd-12th grade classrooms. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:31 PM | TrackBack

Mental distress due to abortion lasts for years

Women who have had an abortion still experience mental distress related to the abortion years after it happened.
A study published today in the open access journal BMC Medicine reveals that five years on, women who have had an abortion suffer higher levels of mental distress than other women and than women who have had a miscarriage. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:07 PM | TrackBack

House and Senate Still Far Apart on Medicaid Changes

From NYT > National:

Medicaid is a flash point in a larger budget bill on which Republican leaders say they plan to reach agreement by year's end.
The Bush administration and the National Governors Association support changes approved last month by the House as a way to curb the explosive growth of Medicaid, which is financed jointly by the federal government and the states.

Many federal and state officials have concluded that Medicaid, which insures more than 50 million low-income people, is unsustainable in its current form. The cost shot up 54 percent in the past five years and now exceeds $300 billion a year.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:58 PM | TrackBack

New Film Promotes Alternatives to Institutions for People with Intellectual Disabilities

A short film released today documents a groundbreaking initiative to provide alternatives to institutional confinement for Croatians with intellectual disabilities.
The film, "Living
Proof: The Right to Live in the Community," depicts the
stories of people with intellectual disabilities who have
spent a large portion of their lives in long-stay
institutions and are now living in their own apartments. It
is premiering on International Human Rights Day, which the
World Health Organization has dedicated to mental health. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:28 PM | TrackBack

MN: Blue Cross Cleared to Spend Tobacco Money

From Substance Abuse Funding News:

Minnesota residents will finally begin reaping the rewards of a $469-million settlement between the tobacco industry and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:28 PM | TrackBack

Solid month for jobs, but long-term growth still lags

From Economic Policy Institute:

For an analysis of the latest employment data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, read EPI's Jobs Picture. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:13 PM | TrackBack

Researchers Find Youth Involvement in Various Extracurricular Activities Has Social, Psychological, Academic Benefits; 'The More Activities the Better,' Says Connecticut College Researcher

Forget what you've heard about over-scheduling and over-stressing your teen-agers. It just may be that those dance classes, soccer practices, piano lessons and church groups may lead to better academically- and socially-developed adolescents. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:11 PM | TrackBack

Groundbreaking Abortion Report Approved in South Dakota

After hours of debate, the South Dakota Taskforce to Study Abortion approved a groundbreaking report on the effects of abortion on women, children and society. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:06 PM | TrackBack

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for Dec. 11: A Special Little Girl

Following is the daily "Profile America" feature for Dec. 11 from the U.S. Census Bureau: Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 9:04 PM | TrackBack

December 8, 2005

Statement from Education Secretary on Release of Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund Grants

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today released the following statement applauding the release of $90 million in grant relief money from the Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund:
"The announcement today by former Presidents Bush and Clinton exemplifies our nation's spirit of unity and compassion. Their generosity and dedication in establishing this fund has been more than matched by the overwhelming response of Americans, who have dug deep to help their neighbors in need.

"Hurricane Katrina stripped the Gulf Coast region of even its most basic and essential services, shutting down hundreds of schools and displacing hundreds of thousands of students. One-third of the grant funds, $30 million, will go toward repairing or replacing buildings and equipment at institutions of higher learning. It will also support the faculty and staff who have seen their lives interrupted by the storm. We cannot allow the accumulated research and hard work of these fine teachers and scholars to be washed away.

"The U.S. Department of Education continues to do its part as well. We are working with states and schools in the region and elsewhere to ensure a minimum of disruption for students. We've held roundtable meetings with education and mental health experts to help children and families recover. We established the Hurricane Help for Schools online clearinghouse, which enables Americans to match their donations to meet schools' most pressing needs. To date, more than 500 matches have been made. And President Bush has proposed an urgently needed education relief package, which we are eager to see Congress approve.

"In this season of giving, the American people have sent a positive and powerful message to the world—our nation will come together in times of need."Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:08 PM | TrackBack

Nursing home quality stagnates, says HealthGrades

Nursing home deficiencies causing actual harm to residents declined from 7.0 percent to 6.5 percent from 2003 to 2004, while patient abuse remained stable at 17 percent of complaints, according to a new analysis of the ratings HealthGrades annually gives to nearly every nursing home in the country. Overall, the deficiencies cited per nursing home declined 2.0 percent from 2003 and 2004, the analysis found. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:59 PM | TrackBack

Access to existing medical treatments could save more lives than spending to improve the treatments

More lives could be saved in the United States by spending less money on making medical treatments better and more on getting existing treatments to the patients who need them, according to a study published by a Virginia Commonwealth University family medicine and public health physician. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:57 PM | TrackBack

Percentage of North Carolinians lacking health insurance rises, UNC study shows

The proportion of North Carolinians under age 65 who lacked health insurance for at least a year rose from 15.3 percent in 2000 to 17.5 percent in 2004, according to a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:49 PM | TrackBack

Study Finds Alcohol Education Effective with Elderly

Senior citizens tended to reduce their drinking when provided educational information about the hazards of alcohol consumption. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:37 PM | TrackBack

The latest information coming from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

In a small study publishedin the December 2005 issue of the medical journal Diabetes Care,researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center onAging at Tufts University discovered that a diet's overall "glycemicload" may be an important determinant of weight loss, but only for somepeople. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:30 PM | TrackBack

U.S. Life Expectancy Hits All-Time High (AP)

AP - After a century of nearly uninterrupted medical improvements and longer lives, it looks like the baby boomers could screw things up.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:02 PM | TrackBack

Have Domestic Appropriations Exploded?

To comply with budget targets it set last April, Congress this year has cut fiscal year 2006 funding for domestic programs by $9 billion, or 2.3 percent on average, below the 2005 level adjusted for inflation.
Now, some Members of Congress and Congressional leaders are calling for annual appropriations for 2006 be cut further, by one or two percent beyond the reductions included in appropriations bills that have already been enacted or for which there is a conference agreement. It is expected that such an across-the-board cut will be inserted in the final appropriations conference report of the year. The across-the-board cut may — or may not — affect defense as well as domestic programs.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:55 PM | TrackBack

Tufts professor chews on the nutrition-oral health connection

Sitting and snacking on treats in front of the television for severalhours a day increases a child's risk of developing . dental decay? Many would probably have finished that sentence with the word, "obesity."Actually, both versions are correct, according to Carole A. Palmer, EdD,RD, professor of general dentistry at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:53 PM | TrackBack

Adult children in the dark about aging parents

A random stranger might have the same chance at guessing parental wishes as some children would. According to Brian Carpenter, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences, there is no clear indicator of which children will be "good" predictors, nor which ones will be "bad" predictors of their parental lifestyle preferences. There is some evidence that children who perceive their relationships as emotionally closer are better. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:50 PM | TrackBack

To Reduce Childhood Obesity, Fast-Food Companies Should Offer Smaller Sizes of Soft Drinks, Duke Business Professors Say

This week's Institute of Medicine recommendation that companies advertise only healthy food choices to children takes a heavy-handed approach to stemming the nation's obesity crisis, said Richard Staelin, a professor in Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:48 PM | TrackBack

Focus Action Praises Obscenity Ruling; 3rd Circuit Court Applauded for 'Looking Out for Families and Children'

Focus on the Family Action Senior Analyst for Media and Sexuality Daniel Weiss issued the following statement today regarding the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals' overturning federal district judge Gary Lancaster's tossing of a federal obscenity prosecution earlier ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:46 PM | TrackBack

Statement by Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman on Tax Cut Bill

Following is a statement by Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman: Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:44 PM | TrackBack

Cities Announce Immigration Task Force

The National League of Cities (NLC) today announced the formation of a task force on immigration issues. The task force is expected to assess enforcement policies, educational opportunities, labor issues, health care, and resources for children of immigrant ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 6:42 PM | TrackBack

December 7, 2005

Study Assesses Impact of Medicare Drug Law on Retiree Health Benefits

This new Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses provides an in-depth look at the impact of the Medicare drug law on both retirees and employers in 2006 and beyond. It also looks more broadly at changes in retiree health benefits this year. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:42 PM | TrackBack

Report Says States Aim Low in Science Classes

From NYT > National:

The report says nearly half the states are doing a poor job of setting high academic standards for science in public schools. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:23 PM | TrackBack

Child Support Cooperation Requirements and Public Benefits Programs: An Overview

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Paula Roberts. The TANF and Medicaid programs impose assignment and child support cooperation requirements on participating adults. The Food Stamp, SCHIP and child care programs may also contain child support cooperation requirements. This paper examines the rules in each separate program and then describes what happens if an individual is subject to a cooperation requirement in more than one program. The author makes recommendations for streamlining the requirements and making sure that individuals who are subject to the requirement of more than one program are treated fairly. Pub No. 05-51. 27 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:10 PM | TrackBack

African American Leaders Meet with President Bush to Discuss Critical Issues Facing the Nation