Human Services News

Schools in California, New York, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Mexico will share $15.5 million in grants designed to help them implement programs that teach the principles of character development and the responsibilities of citizenship to their students, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today.

"Character education in the classroom supports students on a path to becoming honorable and compassionate," Secretary Spellings said.

"Lessons in responsibility and respect are just as integral to a well-rounded education as lessons in reading, math and science."

The Partnerships in Character Education Program awards grants for up to four years to eligible state and local education agencies to design and implement character education programs, which teach students core ethical concepts, such as: civics; citizenship; justice; responsibility; and respect themselves and others.

Grant recipients must show how they have integrated character education into classroom instruction and teacher training.

They also must involve parents, students and the community in the process.

The projects are evaluated to determine their success in helping students develop positive character, reduce discipline problems and improve academic achievement.

Projects also must increase parent and community involvement with the school.

This year's recipients were chosen from among 227 applicants.

Since 1994, a total of 136 state and local education agencies have received character education grants.

No Child Left Behind expanded funding for the Partnerships in Character Education Program from $8 million to $24 million.

More information on Character Education grants is available at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/programs.html.

A list of the 2006 grantees is included.

Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM

Education Department Announces Benefit to Students with Extension and Expansion of Pilot Programs

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon today announced the extension and expansion of two pilot programs designed to help struggling K-12 students.

The two pilots, which were initiated by the Department of Education last year, are focused on increasing student participation in the tutoring or supplemental educational services (SES) provisions offered under the No Child Left Behind Act.

One pilot will allow four districts in need of improvement to be providers of tutoring, and the second pilot will allow several districts within five states to offer tutoring ahead of schedule to students in schools in year one of school improvement status.

Supplemental educational services are an important component of No Child Left Behind, giving low-income parents real options to obtain free tutoring and after-school services for their children.

Unfortunately, not enough students who qualify for this help are receiving it; only about 10 to 20 percent of eligible students across the country participated in free tutoring during the 2003-04 school year.

Through a partnership with the Council of the Great City Schools, the Department offered this flexibility to the Chicago and Boston public school systems as part of the "district in need of improvement" pilot for the 2005-06 school year.

Posted by Michael at 11:40 PM

Big Box Living Wage Ordinance Passes in Chicago; ACORN and a Community-Faith-Labor Coalition Secure Living Wage Law

On July 26th, the Chicago City Council approved an ordinance that will require Big Box retailers to pay workers a living wage.

The ordinance will require a $10 minimum hourly wage and $3 an hour in fringe benefits, with annual indexing for inflation, for big box retail stores that are at least 90,000 feet and have gross annual sales of $1 billion.

"When you work for the people doing God's work - fighting to give working families a fair chance to succeed - you're going to win," said ACORN community leader Toni Foulkes after learning about the victory.

The ordinance passed despite opposition and an expensive media and public relations campaign waged by Wal-Mart, other major retailers, and Mayor Daley.

The Brennan Center at NYU helped write the ordinance, and Chicago ACORN and the Grassroots Collaborative initiated a broad-based campaign to win approval of the law.

Posted by Michael at 10:50 PM

Two-Thirds of States Qualify as "Needy States" for Extended Counting of TANF Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

The changes made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the corresponding regulations have increased pressure on states to place TANF recipients in federally countable activities.

"Needy states" may qualify for extended counting of job search and job readiness assistance toward the TANF work participation rate.

The state qualifies as a "needy state" under the provisions of the Contingency Fund section of the law.

The average number of individuals participating in the Food Stamp program has grown at least 10 percent in the most recent 3-month period for which data are available compared to the corresponding period in FY 1994 or 1995, as adjusted for certain eligibility changes made by PRWORA and related legislation (known as the food stamps trigger).

These provisions were not affected by the TANF changes in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 or by the Interim Final Rule published by HHS on June 29, 2006.

If a state reports even one hour of job search and job readiness assistance as counting toward the participation rate calculation during such a 7-day period, it uses up a full week toward the limit.

Specifically, states may wish to use the "excused absence" policy to cover short periods of time spent in job search and job readiness by an individual primarily engaged in a different work activity, rather than counting this time as job search and job readiness.

In addition, if an individual does not participate for enough hours in a month to count toward the participation rate, there is no benefit to the state in reporting any hours they have participated in job search and job readiness.

Posted by Michael at 3:31 AM

New Report Shows Progress in Reading First Implementation and Changes in Reading Instruction

Children in Reading First classrooms receive significantly more reading instruction and schools participating in the program are much more likely to have a reading coach, according to the Reading First Implementation Evaluation: Interim Report, released today by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report shows significant differences between what Reading First teachers report about their instructional practices and the responses of teachers in non-Reading First Title I schools, which are demographically similar to the Reading First schools.

Reading First respondents reported that they made substantial changes to their reading materials and that the instruction is more likely to be aligned with scientifically based reading research; they are more likely to have scheduled reading blocks and spend more time teaching reading; they are more likely to apply assessment results for instructional purposes, and they receive professional development focused on helping struggling readers more often than non-Reading First Title I schools in the evaluation.

As of July 2006, states have awarded sub-grants to approximately 1,600 local school districts, and these districts have provided funds to 5,300 schools nationwide.

A final report in 2008 will include data on changes in student reading achievement in Reading First schools.

Posted by Michael at 12:59 AM

Education Department Announces $19 Million in Library Grants

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced 78 school districts across the country would receive the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant to improve students' reading achievement.

A total of $19 million will be awarded to 26 states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands this year.

"The knowledge we get from books enriches our lives and the knowledge of how to read is the building block for success in life," said Secretary Spellings.

"In today's world it is more important than ever to have this foundation, and these grants will help more children master this critical skill."

The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program provides funds to help schools improve their library media and address the reading and other literacy challenges of their students.

Funds can be used to increase library holdings, improve schools' technological resources and capabilities, facilitate Internet links and other resource-sharing networks, enhance professional development opportunities and expand hours of access to library services.

This program will help improve student reading achievement by focusing on available resources to ensure that no child is left behind.

Posted by Michael at 12:57 AM

July 25, 2006

NARAL Pro-Choice America Calls Passage of 'Child Custody Protection Act' A Threat to Teen Safety

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the Senate's passage of the so-called "Child Custody Protection Act" an irresponsible action that will do nothing to protect young women's safety or improve family communication.

"The passage of this bill will have a chilling and dangerous effect on our most vulnerable teens.

The American public wants teen pregnancy prevented, not punished."

Keenan also noted that anti-choice senators' votes against an amendment that would help prevent teen pregnancy exposes the true political motivations behind this bill, which, like the gay- marriage ban, has been on the right-wing's "to-do list" for some time now.

Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, both Democrats from New Jersey, that would have funded programs to prevent teen pregnancy and help parents talk to their kids about tough topics like sex.

Posted by Michael at 11:45 PM

FRC: U.S. Senate Acts to Protect Parents' Knowledge of Children's Abortions

Today, the U.S. Senate voted 65 to 34 to approve the Child Custody Protection Act S. 403, which would make it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if this action circumvents the application of a state law requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion.

"Today, the Senate acted to affirm the rights of America's parents to know when their child is considering an abortion.

It is unconscionable that abortion clinics from states without parental notification laws advertise their services to minors in states that have them.

By closing the loophole that has allowed people to transport a minor girl across state lines to get an abortion without her parent's knowledge, this bill will protect parents' rights and their children's health and safety..."

Mathematica Policy Research

Posted by Michael at 11:42 PM

July 24, 2006

Early Results from the Healthy Kids Evaluation

Mathematica conducted this survey of parents with children enrolled in the Los Angeles Healthy Kids program. Early findings reveal that the initiative is improving children's access to primary care and easing parents' concerns about meeting their children's health care needs.

Parents believe having their children enrolled in Healthy Kids gives them considerable assurance that they can meet their children's health care needs.

Preliminary findings from a survey of parents with children enrolled in the Los Angeles Healthy Kids program reveal that the initiative is improving children's access to primary care and easing parents' concerns about meeting their children's health care needs.

Initially designed to cover children under age 6, Healthy Kids obtained additional financing and extended eligibility to children though age 18 in May 2004.

Families with incomes above 133 percent of the federal poverty level are required to pay a sliding scale premium and all enrollees face some co-payment at the point of service.

This brief presents preliminary results on differences in perceived and realized access to care from the initial survey of established and new enrollees that was conducted as part of the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Initiative evaluation.

Since new and established enrollees differ in a number of characteristics associated with access to and use of health care services, we use multivariate logistic regression to control for characteristics of the child and the child's family when comparing the experiences of the two groups.

In this brief, we compare the experience of established Healthy Kids enrollees who have been in the program for at least one year with the experience of new Healthy Kids enrollees before they entered the pro-FIGURE 3.

Her research has focused on the impact of expansions of the Medicaid program, insurance coverage, access to and use of health care services, and health outcomes.

Posted by Michael at 9:21 AM

July 23, 2006

Giving up driving may be express lane to long-term care

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Although the slower driving habits of some seniors often steam impatient younger motorists, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have found that elders who stay behind the wheel are less likely to enter nursing homes or assisted living centers than those who have never driven or who have given up driving altogether.

"We are not recommending continuation of driving for seniors who are a threat to themselves or others on the road," said Ellen Freeman, Ph.D., an epidemiological researcher now working with the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute and the study's lead author.

"Instead, we hope that understanding the very real health impact that losing the ability to drive has on seniors will encourage families to plan contingencies to assist elderly members with transportation issues."

The researchers also pointed out that losing the ability to drive poses an especially significant hardship to seniors living in isolated rural areas or any place without good, accessible public transportation for the elderly.

"We set out to learn whether or not the loss of driving ability played a measurable role in an older person's eventual need for long-term care," said Sheila West, Ph.D., a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

"That's a public policy issue of huge dimensions as our population ages."

"This probably isn't so much about the process of driving but rather the larger issue of mobility as it relates to a person's independence," added Freeman.

Posted by Michael at 8:40 PM

Language barriers compromise health care for 50 million Americans who do not speak English

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
While passions flare on all sides of the language debate, the sad truth is that the language barrier negatively impacts health care for 50 million (19 percent) U.S. residents who do not speak English at home and the 22 million (eight percent) with limited English proficiency.

Lack of effective communication also contributes to the high cost of healthcare, according to Dr. Flores, professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and health policy at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and director of the Center for Advancement of Underserved Children at the Medical College and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

"No American should suffer from medical mistakes, preventable hospitalizations, and substandard medical care just because he or she doesn't speak English," Says Dr. Flores.

A resident physician who interpreted a Spanish speaking mother's explanation that her daughter had "hit herself" when she fell off her tricycle assumed the fracture had resulted from abuse, and called the social services department who had the mother sign over custody of her two children.

According to one study, there was no interpreter used in 46 percent of emergency-department cases involving patients with limited English proficiency.

They receive fewer preventive services and are at increased risk of nonadherence to medication.

Posted by Michael at 8:27 PM

New training technique helps alcoholics in battle with the booze

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A new training technique developed in the UK is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse.

Researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council have experimentally tested a computer-based training programme which helps abusive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol, feel more in control of their drinking and drink less.

Researchers at the University of Wales found that excessive drinkers cut down significantly on their drinking following their participation in this project's newly developed Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP).

"AACTP is now a tried and tested training programme which can help improve the effectiveness of treatment for alcohol-related problems," explains researcher Professor W. Miles Cox.

AACTP works by helping excessive drinkers become less distracted by the alcohol stimuli they see around them - stimuli which range from pictures of alcoholic beverages to bottles of alcohol in the local off-licence window or on the shelves of a supermarket.

"Excessive drinkers unconsciously pay too much attention to the alcohol-related stimuli that surround us all," Professor Cox points out.

The ACCTP training procedure developed by Professor W. Miles Cox and Dr Javad S. Fadardi is a computerised programme based on goal-setting techniques with immediate feedback.

For example, two bottles - an alcoholic and non-alcoholic one - appear on the computer screen each surrounded by a different colour.

"Over a course of four sessions, our sample of excessive drinkers showed significant reductions in their attentional focus on alcohol which translated into lower alcohol consumption."

1. The research project 'Developing and evaluating attention-diversion training for excessive drinkers' was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Participants who completed all sessions were (a) 40 social drinkers (14 per cent male, with a mean age of 30 years and a mean weekly drinking of 9 units); (b) 68 heavy drinkers (17 per cent male, with a mean age of 23 years and a mean weekly drinking of 42 units); and (c) 50 excessive drinkers (86 per cent male, with a mean age of 42 years and a mean weekly drinking of 72 units).

As a result of the training, they showed significant reductions in their alcohol consumption that were maintained at the three-month follow-up.

Posted by Michael at 8:07 PM

A Whole 'Nother World

From MDRC:

Each year thousands of young people begin their college careers in community colleges.

The lower cost, more convenient location, and flexible admissions standards of community colleges make them an attractive educational alternative for many students, especially those from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds.

MDRC's Opening Doors Demonstration is measuring the effects of various combinations of curricular reforms, enhanced academic advising, and increased financial aid intended to increase the persistence and improve the academic achievement of students at six community colleges across the United States.

This qualitative study, a complement to the Opening Doors impact evaluation, asked students about the factors that affect their ability to persist in community college.

Posted by Michael at 6:58 PM

Weaker job market re-opens racial income gap

From Economic Policy Institute:

Compared to the full-employment job market of the latter 1990s, the weaker post-2000 labor market has reversed significant progress in racial income gaps.

In 1995, the median income of African-American families was 60.9% of that of white families (in 2004 dollars: $31,966 versus $52,492).

By 2000, when the unemployment rate fell to 4.0%, the ratio was 63.5% (still a very large income gap: $36,939 versus $58,167 in 2004 dollars), the highest level on record, going back to 1947.

But as the third set of bars on the chart below reveals, the racial gap widened by 2004 (most recent data) as a result of the recession and the jobless recovery that followed.

The last bar, based on a statistical model of the historical relationship between the racial income gap and unemployment, shows the ratio that would have prevailed in 2004 had unemployment remained at 4.0% instead of rising.

Posted by Michael at 6:55 PM

Trying to Keep Child Care in the Family

From NYT > National:

States struggling to fill a void left by parents lost to drug addiction, AIDS and incarceration are increasingly using such programs to deal with the rising costs of foster care.

Thirty-eight states have such programs, more than half of them initiated in the last five years.

Now, Congress is considering legislation to finance the programs, correcting what some advocates call a perverse system that provides much more support for children in foster care than it does to get them out of the child welfare system.

"Many of the half million children in foster care are spending years and years stuck without a permanent home, and these programs are an excellent exit strategy for them from the child welfare system," said Carol Emig, executive director of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, a nonpartisan panel of experts convened to study problems with the child welfare system.

States like the programs because they are cheaper than foster homes, which require more oversight.

Child welfare advocates like them, too, because they are more permanent.

Critics say the programs are a new form of welfare and potentially more costly than advocates claim.

Studies show that foster children average more than two years --- double the time that federal law advises --- without a permanent home, often drifting from family to family.

Posted by Michael at 6:50 PM

Employment-Focused Programs for Ex-Prisoners

From MDRC:

In recognition of the enormous human and financial toll of recidivism, there is new interest among researchers, community advocates, and public officials in prisoner reentry initiatives, particularly those focused on employment.

Yet the results described above do not support the view that "nothing works."

Some programs seem to be modestly successful: those for older ex-prisoners, integrated services both before and after release, and perhaps models using financial incentives.

Approaches that might be tested in the future include: earnings supplements and work incentives; employer-focused strategies, such as the federal bonding program and supported placements to give employers incentives to hire ex-prisoners; in-prison vocational training; performance goals for parole officers that emphasize parolees' employment; and programs that address motivational issues, such as faith-based initiatives, therapeutic models, and those that engage ex-prisoners' families.

Posted by Michael at 6:49 PM

Analysis of New Interim Final TANF Rules

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

On June 29, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued regulations regarding the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

In this process, it is critical that states maintain focus on the overall goal of helping low-income families improve their employment outcomes and support their families, not just on achieving the required participation rates.

Job search and job readiness assistance activities must be supervised by the TANF agency or other responsible party on an ongoing basis no less frequently than daily.

In the preamble, HHS explains that a "week" means a seven-day period, and that any amount of counted participation in job search and job readiness assistance within such a period uses up a week that may be counted.

vocational educational training or by being a teen head of household deemed as participating based on satisfactory school attendance or progression toward a General Educational Development (GED) degree.

Similarly, bridge programs --- programs that prepare adults who lack basic skills and/or English language proficiency to enter and succeed in occupationally oriented postsecondary education ---qualify under the new regulatory definition of vocational education.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide intensive basic skills or ESL training to recipients to help them meet the requirements of daily life or to meet the minimum qualifications for entry into an occupational training course.

States should consider allowing such recipients to participate in activities even if the participation is not countable toward the federal requirements.

The general rule under the "work-eligible individual" concept is that when a parent who is not receiving assistance resides with a child who is receiving assistance, the parent is included in the work rate calculation unless specified exceptions are met.

The Brookings Institution:

Posted by Michael at 6:46 PM

July 20, 2006

Secretary of Labor Announces Nearly $6 Million in Grants to Train Workers in the Financial Services Industry

Department of Labor:

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced five grants totaling $5,989,023 to train workers for careers in the financial services industry.

Today's announcements are part of the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, a strategic plan to prepare workers for jobs in expanding industries.

"Financial services has been among the strongest sectors of America's growing economy and there is need for skilled new workers as well as upgrading the skills of existing workers," said Secretary Chao.

These grants will support projects for the financial services industry in Florida., Ohio, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.

Partners in the projects funded through these grants include Allstate, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, First Data Corporation, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, Jobs for America's Graduates, Wachovia Bank, Wells Fargo, Pacific Western Bank, Pershing, PNC Bank, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and state government agencies and community college systems.

"The financial services industry has experienced the combined effects of technology, restructuring, and new service strategies that diversify and expand the education and skill levels required for its workforce," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco.

"At the same time, the strength and stability of the financial services industry are essential to our economic infrastructure, and these public-private partnerships will help develop the skilled workforce critical to the industry."

Through executive forums with leaders of expanding industries, critical workforce gaps and issues are identified.

Solutions are then created in cooperation with employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system.

Posted by Michael at 8:28 PM

Putting the Market to Work for Lower Income Families

Public and private leaders have a substantial, and widely overlooked, opportunity today to help lower income families get ahead by bringing down the inflated prices they pay for basic necessities, such as food and housing.

In general, lower income families tend to pay more for the exact same consumer product than families with higher incomes.

For instance, 4.2 million lower income homeowners that earn less than $30,000 a year pay higher than average prices for their mortgages.

About 4.5 million lower income households pay higher than average prices for auto loans.

At least 1.6 million lower income adults pay excessive fees for furniture, appliances, and electronics.

And, countless more pay high prices for other necessities, such as basic financial services, groceries, and insurance.

Together, these extra costs add up to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars unnecessarily spent by lower income families every year.

Reducing the costs of living for lower income families by just one percent would add up to over $6.5 billion in new spending power for these families.

This would enable lower and modest-income families to save for, and invest in, incoming-growing assets, like homes and retirement savings, or to pay for critical expenses for their children, like education and health care.

The policies needed to capture these savings for families will require few taxpayer dollars and true public-private partnership.

Together, government, nonprofit, and business leaders can pursue a number of market and regulatory initiatives to improve the cost of living for lower income families.

And unlike most traditional anti-poverty initiatives, limited (strategic) public investments can match or seed innovative market solutions.

This report, analyzing both national data and data from 12 major metropolitan areas across the country, is about this opportunity to put the market to work for lower income families.

Posted by Michael at 8:21 PM

Challenges and Opportunities in Children's Mental Health: A View from Families and Youth

National Center for Children in Poverty

This report documents critical issues in children's mental health policy and service delivery from the perspective of the key stakeholders-families and youth.

Based on a meeting to inform a 50-state policy study, the report highlights innovative ways in which families and youth are engaged in research, policy, and advocacy strategies to improve the mental health, school success, living situation, and community engagement of children and youth facing mental health challenges.

Posted by Michael at 8:14 PM

HHS Approves Plan to Expand Coverage to 3,000 Additional Children in Montana

HHS News:

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today approved a Montana plan to expand health coverage to 3,000 additional children from low-income families in the state.

The state's enrollment cap will increase from 10,900 to 13,900, as authorized by the Montana State Legislature in 2005, under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a federal-state partnership program.

The approval made several other changes in Montana's SCHIP, including the elimination of income documentation as a requirement for the application process and providing enhanced mental health services to the enrollees.

The state budget projects $24.7 million in total federal and state costs for the program, including $4.9 million for the 3,000 additional children.

The Montana legislature also has authorized SCHIP to match up to $2.1 million in federal payments with private donations as a new source of funds.

"These changes in the state's plan will provide vital health care services to more children whose families earn a bit too much to qualify for Medicaid," Secretary Leavitt said.

Posted by Michael at 8:00 PM

A Public Education Primer: Basic Facts about the U.S. Education System

Center On Education Policy

This primer provides a comprehensive picture of the nation's public schools with data about students, governance, funding, achievement, teachers, and non-instructional services.

As much as possible, the data compiled here come from the federal government---primarily from the National Center for Education Statistics.

In cases where NCES data are not available, we've carefully chosen data from other reliable sources.

Public elementary and secondary schools educate 88% of the nation's 54.9 million students, while private schools educate 12%.

Although total enrollments are projected to reach 56.7 million in 2014, the public and private school shares are expected to stay about the same.

Overall, more public school students attend school in suburbs, towns, and rural areas than in urban areas.

But more African American and Latino students attend school in urban areas than in suburban or rural areas.

Half of the nation's Latino 4th graders and almost half of African American 4th graders attend public schools in which more than three-fourths of the students come from low-income families (as measured by their eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunch).

Children qualify for free lunches under the National School Lunch Act if their family income does not exceed 130% of the federal poverty level; they qualify for reduced-price lunches if their family income is above 130% but below 185% of the poverty level.

Some districts allow students to attend public schools chosen by their parents instead of their assigned neighborhood school.

In 2003-04, three-fourths of these students with disabilities were educated in regular classrooms with other children for a significant part of the school day.

Sources: NCES, The Condition of Education 2005, table 27-1; and NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, table 50.

Number of local school districts in the U.S., 2003-04

Source: NCES, Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, and School Districts: School Year 2003-04, table C-15.

But the very largest school districts---the top 2%---enroll a third of all students.

Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Although the federal role in education has expanded under the No Child Left Behind Act, most key education decisions are still made at the state or local level.

Unlike most nations in the G-8 group, the U.S. has no national curriculum or national exam.

Source: K. Zinth, What governors need to know: Highlights of state education systems (Denver: Education Commission of the States (ECS), 2005); ECS, Unions/collective bargaining, State Notes (www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/37/48/3748.pdf); ECS, Student promotion/retention policies, State Notes (www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/65/51/6551.htm); Education Week, Quality Counts at 10: A Decade of Standards-Based Education (Washington, DC: Editorial Projects in Education, 2006); National School Boards Association, Key work of school boards (www.nsba.org/keywork2/); and T. Ziebarth, The Roles and Responsibilities of School Boards and Superintendents (Denver: Education Commission of the States, 2002).

The examples in the table below illustrate the funding disparities in the same state between school districts enrolling more than 10,000 students.

The states shown are those with the greatest spending gaps among districts of that size.

Achievement in science has gone up in grade 4, remained unchanged in grade 8, and declined in grade 12.

NAEP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and tests students in grades 4, 8, and 12.

NAEP reports student performance in terms of three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.

Students performing at the NAEP Basic level show partial mastery of the prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade.

Although 12th graders also are tested by NAEP, the government has not reported their scores since 2000 in math and 2002 in reading.

In recent years, fewer high schools have agreed to participate in NAEP; in addition, concerns have arisen about whether high school seniors are motivated to do their best on the NAEP tests.

NAEP did report scores for 12th graders on the recently released science assessment.

Source: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, table 135.

These trends have occurred even as the number of students taking these tests has reached all-time highs and the percentage of minority test-takers has grown rapidly.

Note: In 1995, the College Board, which administers the SAT, recentered the midpoint score on the test.

their international peers, including students in highly industrialized countries.

In addition, U.S. students do relatively well in math and science at the lower grades compared with students in other countries.

In a different study, a 2000 test of applied reading skills by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), U.S. 15-year-olds performed as well as or better than most of their peers in participating countries and at the average for the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Source: NCES, The Condition of Education 2003, table 29-2.

Nine out of 10 teachers are white, and almost 8 out of 10 are female.

The percentage of teachers who are African American has declined since 1971.

And the percentage of teachers who are men has fallen to its lowest level since 1961.

Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Source: National Education Association, Status of the American Public School Teacher, 2001-2002 (Washington, DC: NEA, 2003).

altogether are the main reasons for teacher shortages.

Source: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children, 2003, figure 2.

Teacher turnover and attrition are worse in high-poverty schools.

Note: For this figure only, high-poverty schools are those in which 80% or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, while low-poverty schools are those in which less than 10% of the students are eligible for subsidized lunches.

Source: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children, 2003, figure 3.

The table below gives just some examples of the variety of non-instructional services and educational services beyond the K-12 range that schools provide.

Posted by Michael at 7:49 PM

Catholic Charities USA Criticizes Congress, Administration for Increasing Poor Families' Burdens

Catholic Charities USA

"Ten years after the landmark welfare reform legislation that created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, new regulations set forth recently by Congress and the Administration place unfair burden on married welfare recipients and families struggling to achieve independence, according to Catholic Charities USA.

Recent regulations issued by the federal government will only serve to add to the burdens facing thousands of low-income families and reverse the progress made by millions toward self sufficiency, says Catholic Charities USA, which represents more than 1,700 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide.

The new rules significantly restrict education and training opportunities and will limit the positive programs states and their community partners such as Catholic Charities have developed to help low-income families transition to the workforce.

During the early years of welfare reform, states were given the flexibility that allowed them to help millions of families find employment.

But even during the robust economic conditions of the late 1990s, only welfare recipients with the fewest employment barriers were able to find employment.

Over the last 10 years, research has shown that the most effective path to self-sufficiency for TANF recipients is through a combination of work and education.

These changes to the TANF law overlook the enormous challenges faced by parents with little education and no marketable skills by further restricting access to education and training.

Catholic Charities USA is also concerned that the new law places an additional burden on married TANF recipients by requiring that they work at a higher rate than single recipients.

Posted by Michael at 7:39 PM

The Role of After-School Programs in Children's Literacy Development

Chapin Hall

Children's motivation to write is fueled when they feel they've written something that gets a positive response from important adults, another characteristic of the exemplary programs in our study.

After-school programs are particularly well suited to fostering the social dimensions of literacy, with children sharing ideas, collaborating, helping each other, responding to and critiquing each other, and solving reading and writing problems together.

While coloring, he began telling us that he was reading Romeo and Juliette; that he enjoyed reading the parts of the different characters; and that sometimes he read to his father.

Most children want to share their experiences and internal worlds with others, and most love to experiment with writing in the same way they love to experiment with drawing -- as forms of self-expression, ways of representing experience, their culture, feelings, even questions.

Beyond necessary instruction and guidance in basic skills, that role includes motivating children to include literacy activity in their daily lives by making it enjoyable and a part of their identities.

Adults impact children's learning in a variety of family, school and community settings.

Most after-school programs provide display areas for children's art work, and many also display children's writing, although our observations indicate that the quantity and quality of these display areas vary enormously from one program to another.

Most of the programs we surveyed or observed provide separate areas for reading books.

Journal writing can foster an interest in writing because it gives children an opportunity to express their ideas, concerns, and experiences in their own way, without worrying about criticism by an adult.

In one program we observed, staff insert activities to strengthen areas they perceived a child needing help in, for example, multiplication.

At the same time, they recognized that although parents should spend more time helping their children with homework, they often do not have time and, sometimes skills, to assist their children.

A majority of directors and staff complained that there was not enough time during program hours to interact and talk with individual children.

The survey, along with our observations and interviews, clearly indicated that there is activity going on in the area of literacy in after-school programs.

Nearly all programs provide basic resources like books, writing supplies, and board games for literacy activities and make time for children to do homework after school.

Despite the transient nature of the school-age population, the director has envisioned and implemented a number of large-scale projects to foster children's interest in literacy.

She believes that children realize the fun of literacy when they use reading to read a map, use computers, make their own books, and find items in a scavenger hunt.

Although the programs we studied varied in their specific approaches to literacy and in their overall program quality, fostering literacy was an important objective.

Exemplary practices embodied the view that literacy is not simply about the ability to read and write; it is also the interest in and practice of reading and writing for a variety of personally meaningful and socially valued purposes.

In addition to these challenges, many after-school programs in our study were struggling to find an appropriate stance in relation to schools, and to respond to pressure---from funders, parents and other stakeholders---to become more school-like and help address schoolrelated agendas.

Time constraints on literacy activity are directly related to children's needs after a day at school.

Given the range of other constraints facing after-school programs, lack of an internally generated framework for literacy activity was particularly constraining.

Posted by Michael at 7:07 PM

A Self-Study Guide for Managers and Staff of Primary Support Programs for Young People

Chapin Hall

Parents, teachers, educators, business people, those who work in juvenile justice and law enforcement, health and safety professionals, and the public as a whole sometimes worry about risky behaviors and lack of educational support for young people during unsupervised time.

Through meaningful participation in such programs, children and youth can also develop self-direction and build identities as persons and citizens who believe they can and should contribute to their communities.

This self-study guide is intended to help primary support organizations in their important work.

Primary supports are developmentally appropriate and promote healthy development by expanding opportunities to experiment with a wide range of activities in a variety of settings with a variety of peers and adults.

We believe energy should also be focused on socializing, educating, and caring for all children and youth.

Most families, cultural groups, and societies have some goals for what they believe their children should do to become healthy, competent, and fulfilled adults.

Although goals differ among groups and families, there are minimal skills for life on which most can agree.

We include in this category the ability to speak the language of one's own culture as well as the language necessary for functioning in the wider society.

The self-study guide provides indicators and questions that can assist staff and management to set goals and work towards improvements over time.

A minimum level of physical safety is provided.

Children and youth are safe from physical assault outside or inside.

Staff create an environment that is free from humiliation.

Staff and volunteers speak the language of children and youth in our program.

When children and youth are asked what they like about programs, they frequently report that they enjoy and value the opportunity to interact with their peers and with responsive adults in ways that are free from fights or criticism.

For young people in some neighborhoods, having a place to interact with prosocial peers is extremely important and can serve as a space where their development is fostered and where they are encouraged to stay in school or stay away from gangs, delinquency, drugs, or unsafe sex.

For younger school-age children, having a space to interact with a wider age range of peers in less formal ways than in school offers the chance to develop communication skills and social skills that enhance friendships.

For young people who are still experimenting with and defining who they are, and may feel pressure from school, family, or various peer groups to act certain ways, having a space where they can be themselves may be extremely important.

Staff members interact with children and each other in positive ways.

The developmental quality of programs for older children appears to be associated with staff knowledge of child and adolescent development and staff opportunities to observe and discuss practices that promote the development of young people.

Sometimes, effective staff practices may derive from personal experiences with youth programs and activities while they were growing up.

At a more advanced level, young people can be engaged in constructing activities that not only challenge them to grow but that stretch the possibilities of the activities themselves, the engagement of group members in the activities, or the quality of the products of the activities.

Because of the wide range of activities sponsored by primary supports organizations, the indicators of quality and questions for discussion are quite general.

Developmental goals are explicit and staff members understand the developmental capabilities of the children they serve.

· Do staff members receive regular consultations, in-service workshops, or take time to deepen capacities to do this?

Similarly, larger organizations often limit resources devoted to administrative staff and structure to give as much financial support to programs as possible.

Funds for primary support programs---whether situated within large or small organiza-tions---are often limited and unpredictable.

Staff members make some contact with parents at the time of registration.

The organization has ongoing mechanisms for assessing the quality and usefulness of its services, has developed relationships with the community to facilitate appropriate referrals and to improve its own service quality, and regularly assesses who it is not reaching and considers new approaches to improve mix of participants.

Staff members have opportunities to learn from individuals outside our organization.

When did we last examine our ways of communicating with kids and families?

What relationships do we or should we have with schools, mental health providers, or other primary supports providers to facilitate referrals and improve our own services?

Staff members are encouraged to develop a sense of program ownership by being involved in defining the program's mission and planning for its future.

We engaged in a strategic planning process to involve staff, parents, volunteers, and participants in considering the service needs of our community and our vision for meeting them over the next years.

Do youth have opportunities to provide leadership to younger children through training, coaching, or mentoring?

Posted by Michael at 5:31 PM

Reaching New Heights - Trends in Community Economic Development

National Congress of Community Economic Development

NCCED released its Fifth National Census.The report "Reaching New Heights", measures the quantitative achievements of community-based development organizations. The new census--the fifth since 1988--records significant increases in the number of homes and apartments produced, commercial and industrial space developed, and jobs created by community development organizations.

A handful of CDCs are large organizations --- one group in the survey reported 1,100 employees.

The median CDC, according to this census, has 10 paid employees, an 11-member board of directors, and incorporated in 1987.

The increase in CDC housing production during this census period was impressive.

The census does include housing totals from large, nonprofit housing producers, including organizations which work in multiple states.

Until the mid-1990s, relatively few CDCs developed industrial parks, commercial and retail space, office buildings or community facilities.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the community development field began to attract new money from state and local governments, foundations, banks, corporations, and religious organizations.

A major innovation was the establishment of national and local intermediary organizations to advocate for and coordinate those resources.

Intermediaries also supply technical assistance to CDCs, and create networks to strengthen CDCs as organizations.

The data gathered for the 2005 census makes it possible to explore trends in private funding for CDCs broken down by CDC service areas.

(Some organizations reported that they were not community development groups). To estimate the total number of CDCs nationwide, the research team conducted a telephone survey of groups which had not responded to the survey. Based on the 180 respondents to that follow up, the team estimated the universe of CDCs to be approximately 4,600. This is also the methodology used to carry out the 1998 census. To be consistent with prior reports, and thereby have consistent data for comparison purposes, Habitat for Humanity organizations were not counted in this census. Habitat groups are a major nonprofit producer of affordable housing for low and moderate income persons, but they fall outside the purview of this census. For the first time, the census collected comprehensive data on faith-based CDCs. This strategy was part of the follow-up to our efforts in 1998, when NCCED included a couple of questions to determine how many CDCs considered themselves to be faith-based and what religious denomination played a role in organizing and establishing their presence in the community. The results of those efforts spurred the desire for a more complete picture of faith-based CDCs and a separate section of the questionnaire was devoted to faith-based CDCs. We believed that the data collected through these questions would provide a better understanding of faith-based CDCs, their continued connection with the religious institutions that created them, and how they compare to non-faith-based CDCs. This report includes comprehensive data on faith-based, community-based development groups for the first time anywhere. This data offers significant opportunities for continuing research by NCCED and other national organizations, and we encourage further work in surveying the community economic development field.

Posted by Michael at 7:50 AM

July 19, 2006

Toward a New Child Care Policy

Child care policy in the United States has focused primarily on helping working families (or parents preparing to enter the workforce) afford child care.

A large portion of mothers, including mothers of the youngest children, were in the labor force in 2003.

Support to help parents afford child care is delivered through two major programs: the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a block grant to states primarily designed to provide child care subsidies to low-income working families, and the Dependent Care Tax Credit, designed to give tax breaks to middle-class families to help them afford child care.

Federal block grants to states with federal guidelines, rules, and earmarks have delegated substantial authority and decisionmaking to the states.

However, the federal government remains a key player in two ways: it provides the majority of overall funding and it sets the major policy parameters for child care funding.

Funding for child care subsidies has grown dramatically since welfare reform efforts in the late 1990s, with increases in CCDF funding boosted by state discretionary use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for child care.

Posted by Michael at 7:53 PM

July 17, 2006

Public Schools Perform Near Private Ones in Study

Public Schools Perform Near Private Ones in Study - New York Times

The Education Department reported on Friday that children in public schools generally performed as well or better in reading and mathematics than comparable children in private schools.

The report, which compared fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores in 2003 from nearly 7,000 public schools and more than 530 private schools, found that fourth graders attending public school did significantly better in math than comparable fourth graders in private schools.

Additionally, it found that students in conservative Christian schools lagged significantly behind their counterparts in public schools on eighth-grade math.

The study, carrying the imprimatur of the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department, was contracted to the Educational Testing Service and delivered to the department last year.

"The administration has been giving public schools a beating since the beginning" to advance its political agenda, Mr. Weaver said, of promoting charter schools and taxpayer-financed vouchers for private schools as alternatives to failing traditional public schools.

A spokesman for the Education Department, Chad Colby, offered no praise for public schools and said he did not expect the findings to influence policy.

The official said the warning against drawing unsupported conclusions was expanded somewhat as the report went through in the review.

Two weeks ago, the American Federation of Teachers, on its Web log, predicted that the report would be released on a Friday, suggesting that the Bush administration saw it as "bad news to be buried at the bottom of the news cycle."

Betka said her office typically gave senior officials two weeks' notice before releasing reports.

Posted by Michael at 5:59 PM

Mayor Provides Progress Report on Homelessness in New York City

NYC.gov

In a keynote address to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference in Washington, DC, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced two new efforts to build on New York City's historic efforts to solve homelessness.

New York City will reinvest $10 million that the City has saved because of lower shelter populations to give families who have left shelters, but who are at high-risk of returning to shelter, flexible services to promote housing stability.

Mayor Bloomberg also announced that the Department of Homeless Services has identified 73 locations - under highways, next to train trestles and on City streets - where some 350 homeless men and women in groups of four or five have set up makeshift shelters.

As an extension of its street outreach work, the Department of Homeless Services will humanely, respectfully, but firmly work to get these men and women to enter supportive housing, enroll in treatment programs, or go into shelters.

Mayor Bloomberg also detailed the Administration's progress in reducing homelessness by two-thirds by 2009, noting that there are almost 20 percent fewer individuals and 30 percent fewer children in shelters since 2003.

In addition, the City's recent street count found 13 percent fewer individuals living on the streets and in other public spaces this year compared to last.

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg's address as prepared for delivery to the National Alliance to End Chronic Homelessness Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

In fact, it's so precious that both political parties rarely use it, especially when they're talking about each other.

"And in the spirit of truthfulness, let me say that there is truly no one who does more, day in and day out, to end homelessness in America than you do, Nan.

"Now, there are those who say that ending homelessness is just a dream.

I see hundreds of men and women from every corner of this nation who have devoted your lives to hastening the day when all of our fellow Americans can have what so many simply take for granted: The stability, security, and precious sense of personal worth that comes from waking each morning in our own beds, in our own homes.

"To rid our society of homelessness, we must first liberate ourselves from the chains of conventional wisdom, from the fetters of political correctness, from the tyranny of the advocates and their unwillingness to admit that we're ever making progress, and from the opportunism of those who employ divisive and politically charged rhetoric to score easy points.

We saw New York's best days still ahead.

But to get there, we recognized that we would have to defy the conventional wisdom that our greatest problems-continuing to reduce crime, fostering new economic growth, improving our schools, and creating affordable housing-were simply beyond solution.

"The result: Today our economy is strong.

"The conventional wisdom also said that there really wasn't much we could do to improve our failing public schools.

But by instituting accountability and standards by focusing on line managers in individual schools (called principals), by increasing teacher salaries 33% over the last five years, and by running the system for the students and not the employees, we've lifted student graduation rates and test scores, and begun to close the racial achievement gap in our classrooms.

"Even as housing values have soared, we've launched the biggest municipal affordable housing initiative in the nation's history.

"Its tenets were that street homelessness was essentially a permanent fact of urban life, and that homeless families were deeply troubled and needed long-term counseling and support before they were 'housing ready.'

"As a result, the city's over-riding response to homelessness had been creating emergency shelters.

Over a period of months, the homeless shelter population swelled to more than 38,000 men, women, and children-the largest in our history.

If there was sufficient capacity to meet demand, no matter how large the demand was, then the system must be working.

We invested in the providers that succeeded, and stopped giving free passes to those that did not.

We also made it clear to shelter clients that they had to take greater responsibility for finding permanent housing, too-or face consequences, including having to leave City shelters.

Over the past few years, I know, many of you in cities around the nation have taken part in processes just like that.

"And in the spring of 2004, Linda and her staff presented me with the result: A strategy for ending homelessness in New York City within ten years.

It sets out comprehensive goals and strategies: For reducing street homelessness; For dramatically increasing supportive housing; For continuing to help homeless individuals and families move out of shelters and into permanent housing; And, most importantly, for preventing homelessness before it occurs.

"In that spirit, over the past three years, we've conducted an annual census of the city's street homeless population.

It's our way of getting the facts about who the homeless are, and where they are.

"We use that information in directing the outreach efforts that focus on getting people off the streets and into housing.

"I can tell you our census makes some "advocates" in our city uncomfortable-maybe because keeping numbers vague serves their institutional needs.

"Today, I want to announce that we're launching the next major step to end street homelessness in New York.

Over the past six weeks, our newly named DHS Commissioner, Rob Hess, and his team have identified the 73 sites around our city where some 350 homeless men and women-usually in groups no larger than four or five-have set up makeshift shelters under highways, next to train trestles, and on our streets.

"Our motive is the simple belief that every human being deserves better than to sleep on the streets.

"We're also continuing to move forward with an historic commitment to dramatically increase the stock of supportive housing with on-site social services essential for those who need extra help to get their lives back on track.

A key element of it is a $1 billion partnership we reached with the State of New York last November.

"Supportive housing costs no more than the homeless shelters, emergency rooms, and prison cells that for too long have been the refuges of last resort for too many homeless men and women.

"And the dividends it pays in improved quality of life for the formerly homeless and for the community as a whole are rich indeed.

"Supportive housing reduces reliance on emergency shelter.

It offers homeless clients five years of rental assistance-with the understanding that, as they re-establish themselves in permanent housing, there will be a 20% 'step-down' in their rental assistance grants each year.

Fostering accountability and self-sufficiency is at the heart of our approach to ending homelessness.

Since the program began in late 2004, more than 7,400 men and women in City shelters have signed leases for permanent housing-more than 6,700 of them families with children.

"Not quite two years ago, we launched a program called 'HomeBase' in six communities in our city where residents have historically been at the greatest risk of becoming homeless.

In fact, these communities have traditionally accounted for a quarter of all family shelter residents.

"To date, HomeBase has helped almost 4,000 men, women, and children stay out of shelter and in their homes.

"Now, building on that success, we're going to dramatically expand such targeted prevention.

"We can begin to make this reinvestment because today, the population in City homeless shelters is down 19% from its peak three years ago.

That's more than any other Administration in history accomplished in one term-and that's made all the more remarkable by the steep jump in homelessness we saw in our first months in office.

"It also gives me enormous pleasure to say that the city's old Emergency Assistance Unit-the most visible emblem of the failures of the past and the bankruptcy of the conventional wisdom about homelessness-was permanently shuttered on Independence Day, two weeks ago.

We also need a partnership with the Federal government, too.

"And because many of you will be paying visits on Capitol Hill while you're in Washington this week, let me close with a few words of strong support for the legislative agenda of this National Alliance.

"Our Administration joins you in working to ensure full funding of Section 8 vouchers, and to oppose block-granting Section 8, because that may not give us enough funding to meet rising costs.

"Our city's affordable housing initiative also depends strongly on continued Federal support for public housing, for Section 202 and 811 funding, and for a program that represents federalism at its best: Community Development Block Grants.

"Over the past few years, in New York and across the nation, the march of events-a march with this National Alliance in the vanguard-has begun to replace dependency with self-sufficiency, to supplant false promises with real hope And to redefine homelessness as a temporary condition, not a permanent and debilitating way of life.

Posted by Michael at 5:47 PM

Hard-Working at School, Sluggish at Home

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
What motivates students of different ages to complete their math homework assignments?

A study published in the July/August issue of the journal Child Development sheds new light on the age-old issue of homework, finding that students' general level of conscientiousness predicts how much effort they put into their homework.

The study, from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany, the Leibniz Institute for Science Education in Kiel, Germany, and Humboldt University in Berlin, also found that students' beliefs about how well they will perform on their homework, their interest in the subject and their beliefs about the relevance of the assignments predicts their homework behavior.

They used two questionnaires to collect self-reports from students about their math homework and classwork.

In the first questionnaire, they asked 2,712 students in grades five, seven and nine about the effort and time they invested in their homework, as well as their own perceptions of their ability and interest in mathematics.

In the second questionnaire, 571 students in grades eight and nine answered questions about their homework effort, motivation and the homework assigned by their teacher.

Posted by Michael at 3:25 AM

NAACP Leaders Take HIV Test, Call For National Black AIDS Mobilization

Newswire/ -- The African-American community is facing a state of emergency.

This emergency stems from the epidemic known as HIV/AIDS.

In February, the organization released The Way Forward, a national report on the State of AIDS in Black America.

This sweeping analytical study penned under the guidance of the Black AIDS Institute looked at how a strange illness among five white gay patients at University of California Los Angeles became the defining issue of our time, and its disproportionate impact on African Americans.

The report included critical recommendations for government officials, traditional Black institutions and individuals.

On June 5, 2006, NAACP President and CEO, Bruce S. Gordon joined with other leaders, activists, and celebrities from the African American community in a national press conference sponsored by BET and the Black AIDS Institute to announce the launch of a national Black AIDS mobilization to re-ignite efforts around awareness, prevention, research, medical treatment and the pursuit of a cure and further solidify the Association's commitment to battling the disease.

For the first time at the Annual NAACP convention, HIV testing, counseling and referral services will be available as a part of the NAACP Health Fair.

NAACP chairman Julian Bond and Bruce Gordon, NAACP President and CEO will both take an HIV Test to raise awareness about the importance of HIV testing and counseling.

The NAACP advocates a multi-layered approach to eradicate the epidemic that is desolating the African-American community and is committed to eliminating the disparities that exist in the contraction of HIV, access to treatment, and quality of care for racial and ethnic minorities.

Posted by Michael at 2:36 AM

July 16, 2006

Underage Drinking Costs Society More than Illicit Drugs, Study Says

A new study estimates that underage drinking costs the U.S. $62 billion a year and results in 3,200 deaths and 2.6 million other "harmful events," PNN Online reported June 30.

The study conducted by the Pacific Institute on Research and Education (PIRE) says that while public and government attention is focused primarily on youth use of illicit drugs, underage drinking is by far the greater problem, killing four times as many youths as all illicit drugs combined.

"The problems caused by underage drinking are a devastating tidal wave of alcohol harm," said lead researcher Ted Miller, Ph.D. "Alcohol-related traffic crashes, violence, teen pregnancies, STDs, burns, drownings, alcohol poisoning, property damage and other risks take a human and economic toll that's much greater than illegal drugs."

Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM

Seattle Houses Homeless Alcoholics Who Continue to Drink

"Chronic public inebriates" have been given government-financed apartments in Seattle and allowed to keep drinking, a new twist on addressing the related issues of homelessness and addiction, the New York Times reported July 5.

The 70 men and 5 women housed in the 1811 Eastlake property by King County have each failed attempts at sobriety six times or more; housing comes with no strings attached, such as a promise to stop drinking or attend AA meetings.

County officials say their intent is to save taxpayers money; they estimate that the annual costs of sheltering, jailing, and treating the city's hard-core homeless alcoholics to be about $50,000 annually, while housing them at the Eastlake property costs $13,000 a year.

"Bunks for drunks -- it's a living monument to failed social policy," said John Carlson, a conservative radio talk show host, who accused city officials of "aiding and abetting someone's self-destruction."

But residents like Howard Hunt, 41, said, "We're going to drink somewhere," and city officials have wearied of dealing with the problems of chronic alcoholics living on the street.

"It's a lot cheaper having them spend the night at 1811 than at the E.R. or at the drunk tank," he said.

And Philip F. Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, said every U.S. city should have a similar facility.

Posted by Michael at 11:33 PM

Early Drinking Linked to Alcohol Dependence

Youths who begin drinking alcohol early in life are significantly more likely to become dependent on alcohol later -- many before they even reach the legal drinking age -- according to a study of 43,000 U.S. adults.

For example, 47 percent of those who began drinking before age 14 later become alcohol-dependent, compared to 9 percent of those who started drinking at age 21 or older.

The survey found that people who began drinking in their early teens were more likely to become dependent on alcohol at some point in their lives; in fact, about half met the criteria for alcohol dependence by the time they hit age 21.

"This analysis suggests that interventions that delay drinking onset may not only reduce the acute consequences of drinking among youth, but may help reduce alcohol dependence among adolescents and adults," said Hingson.

Posted by Michael at 11:30 PM

CASAConference on Tobacco and American Youth

The CASACONFERENCE will feature nationally recognized experts and leading television and print journalists, and will explore the issue of tobacco and substance abuse, with a strong emphasis on identifying causes of and preventing teen smoking and nicotine addiction.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO, The American Legacy Foundation, the creator of the truth® youth anti-smoking campaign.

Visit www.casacolumbia.org for registration and conference information.

Posted by Michael at 11:28 PM

Basic, regular training helps doctors treat alcoholism

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A few hours of extra training can dramatically improve doctors' ability to treat alcohol-dependent patients. A study published today in the open access journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy reveals that patients suffering from alcoholism treated by general practitioners (GPs) who received regular extra training were twice as likely to abstain from drinking alcohol as patients treated by GPs who had only received the basic training given at medical school. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:23 PM

Treatment Access Tough for Rural Methamphetamine Users

Experts say that addiction treatment works for methamphetamine users, but those who live in rural areas -- including regions most affected by meth abuse -- often don't have access to treatment, the Arkansas News Bureau reported June 29.

Leah Heaston, a treatment program director from rural Indiana, recently told members of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources that not only is access a problem -- most communities have no public transportation -- but programs located in remote areas have trouble finding and keeping qualified staff.

Posted by Michael at 11:10 PM

Partnership to Deliver High School Courses Online

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The partnership gives students, of all ages around the world, a new way to successfully complete their U.S. high school education, obtain a diploma, take advanced placement (AP) courses or prepare for higher education.

"We are excited to partner with AMDG because of its solid and time-tested reputation for quality course content.

Now we can offer teachers and students more options to fit into their busy schedules and take courses that might not be offered in their high school.

Since 1999, thousands of public, independent, home-schooled and adult students from all over the country have enrolled in AMDG's accredited online K-12 program.

AMDG is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Commission for International and Transregional Accreditation (CITA), and the Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC).

A free service from AOL for teachers and students, the site is designed to help schools make online materials a more effective part of the classroom experience, AOL@SCHOOL's powerful Search of Educator Approved materials simplifies the online experience to locate just the right education materials.

AMDG is one of the nation's most comprehensive education and training institutions providing Internet and site-based programs to learners of all ages.

Posted by Michael at 11:09 PM

Bush Administration Plans Medicare Changes

From NYT > Health:

The Bush administration says it plans sweeping changes in Medicare payments to hospitals that could cut payments by 20 percent to 30 percent for many complex treatments and new technologies.

The changes, the biggest since the current payment system was adopted in 1983, are meant to improve the accuracy of payment rates.

Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said the new system would be more accurate because payments would be based on hospital costs, rather than on charges, and would be adjusted to reflect the severity of a patient's illness.

A hospital now receives the same amount for a patient with a particular condition, like pneumonia, regardless of whether the illness is mild or severe.

Posted by Michael at 10:55 PM

Seeking Help Could Quadruple the Likelihood of Abstinence

To quantify the effect of help seeking on recovery from alcoholism, researchers in the United States analyzed data from 4,422 adults who had participated in a nationally representative survey and developed alcohol dependence at least 1 year before their participation.

Only 26 percent of subjects had ever sought help for their alcohol problems; 3 percent participated in a 12-step program only, 6 percent in formal treatment only, and 17 percent in both.

Help seekers drank more and had higher lifetime prevalences of other drug use, mood disorders, and personality disorders than did subjects who had not sought help.