Human Services News

Antismoking ads produced by the tobacco industry not only don't prevent youth smoking but sometimes actually encourage teens to smoke, according to researchers who studied more than 100,000 teens.

Reuters reported Oct. 31 that researchers examined viewer data from Neilsen Media Research to gauge the impact of industry-sponsored ads on 12- to 17-year-olds in the 75 largest U.S. media markets, alongside surveys on tobacco use among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders.

"This research provides the clearest evidence to date that tobacco-sponsored ads don't work," said lead researcher Melanie Wakefield of the University of Illinois.

Wakefield suggested that ads telling teens not to smoke because their parents don't want them to is a case of the tobacco industry using reverse psychology.

Posted by Michael at 3:29 PM

FTC Solicits Comments on Alcohol Advertising

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment about alcohol advertising practices as it compiles a list of questions for the beer, wine, and liquor industries. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:25 PM

Tax Overreach in California?

Tobacco companies spent millions trying to defeat a cigarette tax hike in California, but the measure may have been rejected by voters largely because backers wanted too big an increase, some experts say. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 3:07 PM

House Passes Underage-Drinking Prevention Bill

A bill that's being called the first national legislation to focus exclusively on underage-drinking prevention has been overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP) Act, H.R. 864, was passed 373-23 on Nov. 14.

"Our nation must no longer be complacent about underage drinking and its alarming consequences," said Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), the lead sponsor of the legislation.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the number of underage deaths due to excessive alcohol use at 4,554 a year.

"Alcohol kills six times more young people than all other illegal drugs combined," added Osborne.

"So the federal government, in response, spends 25 times more annually to combat youth drug use ...

The bill was supported by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the Center for Alcohol Marketing to Youth, and the American Medical Association, as well as alcohol industry groups like the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, and the Beer Institute.

The industry supported the key prevention aspects of the bill, but succeeded in getting allies in Congress to delete legislative "findings" from the measure that detailed the harm caused by underage alcohol use.

Industry supporters also added language that supported the Prohibition-era, "three-tiered" alcohol distribution system that includes wholesalers as the middleman in most alcohol sales.

Posted by Michael at 2:55 PM

Study: Smoking May Make Adolescents More Susceptible to Drinking

Adolescent smokers have a 50-percent greater risk of developing an alcohol-use disorder than nonsmokers, leading researchers to speculate that smoking may make the young brain more susceptible to other addictions. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:40 PM

NIAAA's Alcohol Education Project Grants

From Funding News:

Grants of up to $250,000 will be awarded under the R25 funding mechanism for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Alcohol Education Project Grants. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:33 PM

Alcohol/AIDS Grants from NIAAA

From Funding News:

Researchers interested in the role that alcohol use plays in the transmission of HIV and AIDS can apply for funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:30 PM

The Top 10 Health Stories of 2006, From the Harvard Health Letter

Editors of the Harvard Health Letter, in consultation with the doctors on its editorial board, have chosen the top 10 health stories of 2006.

The newly approved HPV vaccine represents a different approach to fighting cancer.

Instead of just screening patients to spot cancer early, doctors can use this vaccine to actively prevent it.

This year it became easier to avoid trans fats after the FDA required food manufacturers to list trans fat content in the Nutrition Facts portion of food labels, the first major change to the label in over a decade.

The FDA approved Lucentis, an anti-angiogenic drug aimed at the blood vessels that cause wet macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness.

Germ warfare --- and the germs are winning some battles.

"Getting your shots" is becoming a bigger part of adult preventive medicine.

The FDA allowed the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri back on the market, with careful restrictions to ensure patients are closely monitored.

These actions show a shift to modified approvals by the FDA rather than only the traditional yes-or-no rulings.

The report says that more funding for the FDA should come from government funds rather than user fees.

Several new studies suggest that the so-called sunshine vitamin (because it's produced in skin exposed to sunlight) may protect against cancer.

Posted by Michael at 2:30 PM

World AIDS Day: Advocates Call to Lift Federal Ban on Syringe Exchange -- Take Politics Out of HIV Prevention

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

The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, calls on Congress and the Administration to take action on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, to support syringe exchange programs as a proven, ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:25 PM

Small Business: Health Care at a Premium

From NYT > Health:

Experts say rising health insurance costs are causing problems for start-ups and keeping some would-be entrepreneurs from starting businesses. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:22 PM

Fire at Group Home Kills 10 in Missouri

ANDERSON, Mo., Nov. 27 -- Ten people were killed and 24 were injured when a fire gutted a group home for the elderly and mentally ill early Monday, authorities said. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:19 PM

Grants Explore Behavior Changes in Alcoholics

From Funding News:

The National Institutes of Health will fund research into the Mechanisms of Behavior Change in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders under its R21 exploratory/developmental grant process. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:19 PM

Making the Juvenile Justice - Workforce System Connection for Re-entering Young Offenders: A Guide for Local Practice

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

This guidebook is designed to provide advice from the field to communities who are interested in pursuing more formal connections-or strengthening existing connections-between the workforce and justice systems. It draws on experiences in eight communities and focuses on on-the-ground challenges and solutions related to blending the cultures, adapting programming, engaging employers, and meeting performance.

CLASP's mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all.

As part of its commitment to disconnected youth, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has been focusing on communities that have made progress in connecting the different youth-serving systems at some scale.

It was important to demonstrate success in terms of the numbers of youth who were positively engaged and making progress, and in reduced recidivism---doing so strengthened the bond between the two systems.

While the weight of the mayor or an intermediary can help mobilize community leadership, it was not necessary in all cases.

The partners were advised that most information can in fact be shared, provided relevant waivers and staff confidentiality agreements are in place.

Once these issues were addressed, the Workforce Investment System partnered with the juvenile justice system to collaboratively invest $280,000 to procure and install the web-based Integrated Services Information System (ISIS) to both refer, track, and monitor outcomes of probationreferred youth.

Communities reported that over time, the court and probation staff developed a good sense of which youth could best benefit from referral to their programs.

Some agencies---for example, in Southeast Arkansas---hosted day-long workshops that introduced their programs to the justice community.

One respondent indicated that their job was to deprogram all the behaviors that get reinforced when youth spend time incarcerated and repeatedly under the jurisdiction of law enforcement and the correctional system.

Posted by Michael at 2:11 PM

FEMA Ordered to Restore Evacuees� Housing Aid

From New York Times:

FEMA has to restore housing assistance and pay back rent to thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who had been deemed ineligible for long-term housing assistance, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, wrote that the agency also had to improve an appeals process that evacuees had long said was confusing, contradictory and amounted to an arbitrary denial of help.

"It is unfortunate, if not incredible, that FEMA and its counsel could not devise a sufficient notice system to spare these beleaguered evacuees the added burden of federal litigation to vindicate their constitutional rights," Judge Leon wrote.

Michael Kirkpatrick, a lawyer with Public Citizen who represented Acorn, said that as many as 11,000 families could be affected based on numbers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided in court papers.

A spokesman for the agency, Aaron Walker, said it had not decided whether to seek a stay of the decision.

Last spring, the agency began notifying thousands of families given emergency shelter that they did not qualify for long-term help with rent and utility payments.

In a process that Judge Leon called Kafkaesque, families received notification letters with "reason codes" instead of actual reasons, were given different information each time they called the agency help line or found that the agency had erroneously determined that their house had "insufficient damage" or that someone else in their household (often a roommate) had already applied for assistance.

In a statement after the decision, Mr. Walker of FEMA continued defending the process, saying the agency had given applicants 60 days to appeal and had listed the requirements.

Posted by Michael at 2:07 PM

State Minimum Wages: A Policy That Works

From Economic Policy Institute:

Although the federal minimum wage last rose in September 1997, minimum wages in the United States have not been static since then.

For young adults and adults with no college education, groups with smaller percentages of low-wage workers, there is some evidence that minimum wage increases lead to higher wages without reducing either employment or labor supply.

Because of the small numbers in the sample, any results for racial minorities may well be weak.

Many factors other than the minimum wage can lead to different labor market outcomes, including characteristics of both prospective workers and prospective employers.

To answer that question, we need to examine how the different groups in the minimum wage states, those that raised their minimum wages during the years 1998-2005, compare with counterparts in the non-minimum wage states, states that did not.

Racially, they are less white, and, among young adults, more Hispanic.

In the analysis presented in Tables 6 and 7, the minimum wage has been adjusted by dividing through by the previous year's value of the average wage for the lower half of each demographic group's wage distribution.

Evidence of a negative employment affect in Table 6 is even weaker than in Table 5.

Between the last time the federal minimum wage was increased, in September 1997, and the end of 2005, 17 states and the District of Columbia raised their own minimum wages a grand total of 47 times.

Examination of several demographic groups for which wages and employment are thought to be sensitive to minimum wages found some positive effect on wages and scant effect on either employment or labor supply.

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

Posted by Michael at 2:06 PM

Working families falling behind on consumption

From Economic Policy Institute:

Little-known data on consumer spending show that only high-income households have been able to raise their living standards in recent years. A joint report from EPI and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzes U.S. Labor Department data and finds that between 2000 and 2005, consumption grew among high-income households, remained stagnant among middle-income households, and declined among low-income households. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:05 PM

The 50 largest US charities

From Christian Science Monitor | Work/Money:

A chart of US charities ranked by total income.

Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:02 PM

Staying in Work and Moving Up

From MDRC:

This study for the UK Department for Work and Pensions explores the attitudes of a sample of participants in the UK Employment Retention and Advancement program. This rare employment study on low-paid workers in the United Kingdom offers a foundation for understanding the receptivity of low-paid workers to programs that help them remain employed and advance. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 2:00 PM

8 Charged in Death at Fla. Boot Camp

PANAMA CITY, Fla., Nov. 28 -- Seven guards and a nurse at a juvenile boot camp were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child Tuesday in the death of a teenager earlier this year. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 1:57 PM

November 15, 2006

Nonprofits' Decade of Growth Outpaces Economy

The Urban Institute:

While the nation's gross domestic product grew by an inflation-adjusted 36.6 percent from 1994 to 2004, the nonprofit sector's revenues increased 61.5 percent, according to a new compendium of nonprofit facts from the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics.

"The Nonprofit Sector in Brief: Facts and Figures from the Nonprofit Almanac 2007," by Thomas H. Pollak and Amy Blackwood, offers a statistical snapshot of the 1.4 million public charities and other nonprofit organizations registered with the Internal Revenue Service.

These entities recorded $1.36 trillion in revenue in 2004, $1.26 trillion in expenses, and assets of $2.97 trillion.

Hospitals and other health care organizations, 12.9 percent of all reporting public charities, accounted for 58.7 percent of the sector's revenues in 2004, 41.1 percent of its assets, and 60.0 percent of its expenses, dominating each category.

Colleges and other higher education nonprofits, less than 1 percent of reporting public charities, received 11.6 percent of the sector's revenue, controlled 22.3 percent of its assets, and recorded 10.9 percent of its expenses.

Twenty-nine percent of Americans volunteered with a nonprofit in 2005.

Posted by Michael at 7:17 PM

More than 35 Million of Americans Lived In Food Insecure Households in 2005

The Food Research and Action Center:

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) announced that the food insecurity rates in the United States dropped somewhat in 2005, but more than 35 million people were still living in households considered food insecure.

Today's release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual analysis of Census Bureau survey results follows five years of straight increases in the number of Americans living in households that were not able to afford the food they need.

The number of people in the worst-off households (previously called "food insecure with hunger" and now called "very low food security" households) actually rose in 2005, from 10.7 to 10.8 million.

"It is simply unacceptable that after years of economic growth, 35.1 million people in this country face a constant struggle against hunger," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

Millions of people don't have enough to feed themselves, their families or their children," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

The report also includes food insecurity rates for each state, using three-year averages to give a better estimate of the number of households experiencing food insecurity.

"While the federal nutrition programs have been a bright spot in addressing hunger and connecting people to a healthy diet, we need to do more to increase their access to adequate food," continued Weill.

"Each household has its own experience of what these numbers mean, from families having to decide between buying adequate food, keeping current on rent or heating their house to parents who skip meals so their children can eat," said Lynn Parker, FRAC's director of child nutrition programs.

Posted by Michael at 7:09 PM

Administration Policy Change Threatens Health Care Coverage for Poor Infants

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Now, without any change in the law, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has instructed states that they may no longer provide automatic coverage to some babies, even though these babies have been born in the United States and are U.S. citizens and Medicaid has covered the cost of their birth.

Many of the babies affected by this reversal of policy will likely go without needed health care services for some period of time even though Medicaid coverage should be automatic.

For other infants, hospitals and doctors will absorb the cost of care.

For all, the new CMS policy is both misguided and contrary to the Medicaid law.

If new mothers are required to file an application and provide documentation (both of citizenship as well as income and other eligibility requirements) before an infant can receive health care coverage, then coverage of vulnerable babies will be delayed.

In the preamble to the regulations, CMS correctly noted that babies born to mothers receiving Medicaid at the time of their birth are automatically eligible for Medicaid for one year without filing an application.

Because an application is not required, no documentation of citizenship is necessary during the first year of coverage.

Posted by Michael at 6:59 PM

New Orleans Catholic Charities' Operation Helping Hands Marks Milestone

Catholic Charities USA - News and Info

After nearly a year of helping elderly and disabled homeowners begin the clean-up process in flood-ravaged New Orleans, Catholic Charities volunteers their 1,000th home today.

A group of from Dubuque, IA, worked on Isaac Bolden's Gentilly home, which took 10 feet of water in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Like many New Orleanians, Mr. Bolden did not hold flood insurance and suffers from major health problems.

He is currently living in an apartment in Atlanta, but traveled back to New Orleans by train to thank the volunteers for bringing him one step closer to healing.

To date, over 6,800 Operation Helping Hands volunteers from have gutted given 178,641 hours of service.

More than 3,000 volunteers are scheduled to participate in Operation Helping Hands through March 2007 and about 1,300 homes remain on the waiting list.

Volunteers have come from across the United States and as far as Canada and England to join in this effort.

Operation Helping Hands of Catholic Charities of New Orleans volunteers help the elderly, disabled, and those without financial means to reoccupy their homes.

Volunteers remove furniture, appliances, household goods, as well as damaged walls, ceiling, floors.

"We started this project over Thanksgiving weekend last year and are so grateful to see how Operation Helping Hands has taken off," Joan Diaz, project manager for Operation Helping Hands, said.

With the long-term Hurricanes Katrina and Rita recovery work now underway in the Gulf Coast, volunteers are essential part in helping communities and families rebuild in New Orleans and Mississippi.

Learn more about volunteer opportunities in the Gulf Coast.

Posted by Michael at 6:56 PM

November 14, 2006

Food Insecurity and the Risks of Depression and Anxiety in Mothers and Behavior Problems in their Preschool-Aged Children

Mathematica:

We sought to determine if the prevalence of depression and anxiety in mothers and the prevalence of behavior problems in preschool-aged children are more common when mothers report being food insecure.

A cross-sectional survey of 2870 mothers of 3-year-old children was conducted in 2001--2003 in 18 large US cities.

On the basis of the adult food-security scale calculated from the US Household Food Security Survey Module, mothers were categorized into 3 levels: fully food secure, marginally food secure, and food insecure.

The 12-month prevalence in mothers of a major depressive episode and generalized anxiety disorder was assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form.

A child behavior problem in 1 of 3 domains (aggressive, anxious/depressed, or inattention/hyperactivity) was based on the Child Behavior Checklist.

Seventy-one percent of the respondents were fully food secure, 17% were marginally food secure, and 12% were food insecure.

After adjustment for sociodemographic factors plus maternal physical health, alcohol use, drug use, prenatal smoking, and prenatal physical domestic violence, the percentage of mothers with either major depressive episode or generalized anxiety disorder increased with increasing food insecurity: 16.9%, 21.0%, and 30.3% across the 3 levels.

Among children, after further adjustment for maternal major depressive episode and generalized anxiety disorder, the percentage with a behavior problem also increased with increasing food insecurity: 22.7%, 31.1%, and 36.7%.

Mental health problems in mothers and children are more common when mothers are food insecure, a stressor that can potentially be addressed by social policy.

Posted by Michael at 10:22 AM

November 13, 2006

Traditional Books Provide More Positive Parent-Child Interaction

Parents and pre-school children have a more positive interaction when sharing a reading experience with a traditional book as opposed to an electronic book or e-book, according researchers at Temple University's Infant Laboratory and Erikson Institute in Chicago.

This shared positive experience from traditional books characteristically promotes early literacy skills.

The researchers presented the findings of their study, "Electronic books: Boon or Bust for Interactive Reading?"

The first-of-its-kind study was conducted by Julia Parish-Morris, a graduate student in developmental psychology at Temple University, and Molly F. Collins, assistant professor at Erikson Institute.

Parish-Morris and Collins collaborated with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, the Lefkowitz Professor of Psychology and director of the Temple Infant Lab.

"It is very obvious from the media, from toy stores and bookstores that electronic learning products are becoming very, very popular," said Parish-Morris.

Parish-Morris said the researchers were looking at four different questions: do children prefer to electronic or traditional books in the context of parent-child interaction, does the content of parental utterances differ between the types of books, is the context of what parents are saying content- or behavior-oriented, and do parent's comments go beyond the book's story.

"I was struck by the stark difference between the content-related utterances in reading traditional versus e-books; I didn't realize there would be a two-fold difference," said Collins.

"Parents were under the impression that when you are sitting down with a book, you are supposed to read it," she added.

"But what was happening with the e-books is that reading was not even part of the process, probably because these books literally read the story to the child.

"In the later school years, kids enjoy school more, they enjoy learning more and there are a whole host of outcomes that are related to this shared reading experience in the pre-school years.

Posted by Michael at 1:15 AM

What Works in Education - Reading Mastery

Research shows that children's aggressive behavior and reading difficulties during early elementary school years are risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors such as delinquency, academic failure, and substance use.

Oregon Research Institute (ORI) scientists recently received high marks for their work to reverse this trend.

An evaluation of a reading program for elementary students conducted by ORI scientists has been identified as the only study in the country that met the highest standards for research on programs for English language learners.

The What Works Clearinghouse, in their review of research on effective interventions for English language learners, identified the reading program used in ORI's Schools and Homes in Partnership (SHIP) project as having potentially positive effects on the reading achievement of English language learners.

This research was unique because it used the highest standards set for educational research and demonstrated that this kind of study can be done in schools across the state.

Gunn and colleagues tested the Reading Mastery program in a clinical trial conducted in Oregon with Hispanic and non-Hispanic students in early elementary school.

All students received their usual reading instruction and half were randomly assigned to also receive supplemental instruction with the Reading Mastery program.

Results showed that the program had significant effects on oral reading fluency, letter-word identification, word attack, and reading vocabulary.

Reading Mastery is a direct instruction program designed to provide systematic explicit instruction in English language reading.

The What Works Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the U. S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education.

Posted by Michael at 1:13 AM

Most Schools Fail to Fully Adopt Reform Models

Schools that embrace comprehensive reform models designed to improve student achievement frequently do not fully adopt all practices recommended by the model developers, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today.

The findings call into question whether the comprehensive school reform model approach that has been adopted by more than 8,000 schools nationally can become a key strategy to help improve student performance.

A survey of 250 schools from Florida and Texas that embraced comprehensive school reform models found that none had adopted all of the changes the models called for to boost student achievement, according to the study by RAND Education.

The reason most often cited for failing to adopt all aspects of the reform packages was a shortage of support for needed improvements and investments such as teacher training.

"At the current level of implementation, comprehensive school reform models are likely to have only modest or no effect on student achievement," said lead author of the report Georges Vernez, who is a senior social scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

RAND researchers surveyed principals and teachers at the schools in the study, and visited a number of campuses in order to more closely assess adoption of the chosen comprehensive school reform model.

However, in schools where the level of support increased, so did adoption of the developer-recommended practices, according to researchers.

RAND researchers also surveyed a number of similar schools in Florida and Texas that had not embraced a formal reform program and found those schools had adopted many of the same changes in curriculum, instruction and governance as those schools following comprehensive school reform.

Posted by Michael at 1:11 AM

Testing strengthens recall whether something's on the test or not

In three experiments, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis determined that testing enhanced long-term recall for material that was not tested initially.

Untested students recalled significantly less of what they'd studied -- even after having extra time to go over the material.

This confirmation of how mid-term or final-exam type tests foster learning is reported in the November issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

In the first experiment, 84 undergraduates were given 25 minutes to study a long factual article about the biological characteristics and living habits of the toucan bird.

Students in an "extra study" group read 22 additional statements about toucans, essentially giving them a head start -- though they did not take a test.

The lead author, doctoral student Jason Chan, MA, points out that the 24-hour interval simulated the way most students cram the day before a test.

Students tested on related questions on Day 1 significantly outperformed, on the new questions, both students who had received extra study on Day 1 and students in the control group.

In response, accurate recall of the new questions on Day 2 increased with time spent on answering questions on Day 1.

This relation was especially pronounced for students with lower performance on the test, highlighting the value of giving students -- particularly struggling students -- ample time during exams.

Also, students who were encouraged to guess during Day 1's test (an all-inclusive strategy) did significantly better on Day 2 than did students who were discouraged from guessing.

APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students.

Posted by Michael at 12:54 AM

Nonminority medical students more satisfied than minority students, study finds

Minorities account for 30 percent of the US population, but only eight percent of the physician workforce, and experience less personal satisfaction during medical school than nonminority students, finds a Mayo Clinic study published in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

More than 1,000 students from three Minnesota medical schools were surveyed and minority students were found to have a lower sense of personal accomplishment and quality of life than their nonminority peers.

Further study is warranted to assess how to aid minority students during their education to prevent attrition, says Liselotte Dyrbye, M.D., the study's lead author.

"Further research exploring medical school experience of minority students is needed to help understand the barriers to development of a racially and ethnically diverse physician workforce," says Dr. Dyrbye.

Stress among medical students was the subject of a second article in November's Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

This study concluded that a pass fail grading method produces less stress among medical school students than the traditional A--F grading method, without affecting scores on standardized exams.

The authors suggest that the pass-fail grading system should be used more frequently with medical students.

"The quality of future health care is dependent upon the creation of psychologically healthy physicians who work cooperatively in multidisciplinary teams," says Daniel Rohe, Ph.D., lead author of the second study.

Posted by Michael at 12:37 AM

Peer and family support tops needs of young adult cancer survivors

Adolescent and young adult cancer patients rank support from family, friends and other cancer survivors as high priority healthcare needs, according to a new University of Southern California study. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 12:13 AM

November 12, 2006

Administration Opposes Democrats' Plan for Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices

From New York Times:

The Bush administration said on Sunday that it would strenuously oppose one of the Democrats' top priorities for the new Congress: legislation authorizing the government to negotiate with drug companies to secure lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

In an interview, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said he saw no prospect of compromise on the issue.

"In politics," Mr. Leavitt said, "most specific issues like this are a disguise for a larger difference.

Federal price negotiations would unravel the whole structure of the Medicare drug benefit, which relies on competing private plans, Mr. Leavitt said.

The 2003 Medicare law explicitly prohibits the federal government from negotiating drug prices or establishing a list of preferred drugs.

"The government negotiates big discounts for the prices of drugs for our veterans," said Senator-elect Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

"I don't believe I can do a better job than an efficient market," he said.

"We are seeing large-scale negotiations with drug manufacturers, but they are conducted by private drug plans, not by the government," Mr. Leavitt said.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, said competing private plans had already brought down costs more than government price controls would have.

Under federal law, drug makers must provide a discount, or rebate, equal to at least 15 percent of the average manufacturer price for most brand-name drugs covered by Medicaid, the program for low-income people.

Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat poised to become chairman of the Finance Committee, voted in March against a proposal authorizing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM

Secretary Spellings Delivered Remarks at Education Trust Dispelling the Myth Award Ceremony

From Education Newsfeed:

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed the Education Trust's Dispelling the Myth Award Ceremony on Friday, Nov. 3 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. and declared the "greatest myth of all" is that the No Child Left Behind Act's goal of bringing every child to grade-level by 2014 is "impossible." Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM

AMA Honors Oakland Physician for His Dedication to the Asian Community

Health and Human Services:

David. F. Der, M.D., a retired general surgeon and current general practitioner in Oakland, California, is the recipient of the 2006 Benjamin Rush Award for Citizenship and Community Service. Presented by the American Medical Association (AMA), the award ... Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:49 PM

November 9, 2006

Look to Governors Races for Signs of Change

Brookings Institution:

There's another place to look for clues about the direction of American politics, and that is in a group of not-so-tight gubernatorial races.

Less covered than the tensest, most partisan congressional fights, the likely blowout wins of popular governors in both parties, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's race in California and Janet Napolitano's in Arizona, propose a story line as suggestive and deserving of note as the high-profile Iraq referendums and party-line slugfests.

In these gubernatorial blowouts, the easy re-election of nimble, energetic and pragmatic governors in key states marks the success of nonideological problem solving in an era that may be growing tired of ideological partisanship.

In Arizona, Democrat Janet Napolitano is up by more than 30 points in her re-election bid, having appealed broadly in her first term with an eclectic set of pragmatic, nonideological, sometimes bold stances.

Thanks to her, all-day kindergarten is a reality, as are collaborative efforts to promote the state's competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy.

And yet, Napolitano has also balanced the budget without raising taxes; favored smaller, targeted tax cuts rather than broad, budget-busting ones; and attacked government waste and inefficiency.

Schwarzenegger has risen in popularity by setting aside more doctrinaire Republican initiatives and instead joining eight Northeastern governors in a greenhouse-gas-reduction initiative; winning approval for a $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to conduct stem-cell research; increasing the minimum wage; joining Democratic legislative leaders in supporting four infrastructure-development initiatives to rebuild California's roads, schools and communities; and continuing to push for redistricting reform.

True, the pragmatists' cakewalks lack the excitement and hoopla of the congressional horse races.

Posted by Michael at 8:17 PM

Neighborhood Parks Associated with More Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

RAND:

Adolescent girls who live within one-half mile of a public park are significantly more physically active than other girls, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

"Neighborhood and community parks are strongly associated with physical activity," Cohen said.

Using baseline data from the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls --- a national research study focusing on middle school girls --- the RAND study examined the physical activity of 1,556 girls in the sixth grade in six cities.

"The U.S. surgeon general recommends that all children and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, so we still have a long way to go in encouraging girls to be active," Cohen said.

The study also found that parks with "active" amenities --- such as basketball courts, playgrounds and walking paths --- were associated with more physical activity than parks with "passive" amenities, such as picnic areas and lawn games.

Girls were less active if the nearby parks had skateboarding facilities, which Cohen attributed to skateboarding being more popular with males than females.

Previous studies have shown that girls become less physically active once they reach adolescence, and that girls are generally less physically active than boys.

Posted by Michael at 8:08 PM

Most Schools Fail to Fully Adopt Reform Models Designed to Boost Student Achievement

RAND:

The reason most often cited for failing to adopt all aspects of the reform packages was a shortage of support for needed improvements and investments such as teacher training.

Schools were most likely to adopt the curriculum prescribed by the model developer, but were less likely to adopt the recommended instructional practices.

However, in schools where the level of support increased, so did adoption of the developer-recommended practices, according to researchers.

Researchers focused on four models that have been used widely across the nation, but differ from each other significantly.

Posted by Michael at 8:04 PM

HHS Awards $3 Million for Adolescent Family Life Care Demonstration Grants

The Office of Population Affairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced awards totaling $3,213,917.

Nine Adolescent Family Life (AFL) Care Demonstration Grants were awarded to school districts, a faith-based organization and seven community-based organizations.

"These awards are critical to helping the nation's young people become productive, independent contributors to family and community life," said Evelyn Kappeler, acting director of the Office of Population Affairs.

"They not only help families understand the seriousness of teen pregnancy, but they provide them with information and tools to help their children avoid the problems and negative consequences so often associated with teen parenting."

The AFL care demonstration programs establish and evaluate innovative approaches to the delivery of care to pregnant and parenting teens in an effort to ameliorate the effects of too-early childbearing.

The programs provide an array of services to help prevent repeat pregnancies and enhance the well being of teen mothers and fathers, their infants and their families.

Programs include pregnancy testing and maternity counseling; adoption counseling and referral services; primary and preventive health services; counseling and referrals for family planning services; referrals for screenings and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV; and educational services relating to parenting and family life.

Research shows that future educational and economic prospects for teens decline significantly if they have a baby.

Teen pregnancy is closely linked to less than optimal health outcomes for mothers and infants, school dropout, lack of job skills, repeat pregnancies, poverty and unstable home environments.

These nine new care projects will make a total of 31 AFL care demonstration programs currently funded by the Office of Population Affairs.

The AFL care demonstration grants are for five years, based on funds available.

Posted by Michael at 7:55 PM

Post Election Appropriations Outlook

Food Research and Action Center:

Federal government programs (including all food and nutrition programs funded in the Agriculture Approps bill and human needs programs funded in the Labor-HHS-Education Approps bill) continue to operate through funding via a continuing resolution (CR) that expires on Nov. 17th, and decisions must be made as to how to proceed with all remaining spending bills.

With the leadership change in the House shifting to the Democrats, many predict that the Lame Duck session will not last till late December (as previously predicted by Majority Leader John Boehner, R-OH), but that Congress will rather quickly pass another (long-term) CR to fund programs well into the 110th Congress to allow for the organization of the new Congress.

Appropriations Message: Regardless of the manner in which the funding bill gets passed, advocates should urge adoption of the Senate Committee-approved bill (H.R. 5384) which expands the Simplified Summer Food Program (SFSP) to Minnesota.

Advocates also should urge adoption of the House-passed funding of $118 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) (Senate committee funding for CSFP is $108.3).

Posted by Michael at 7:52 PM

The Impact of the Congressional Elections on Health Care

Families USA:

"Big changes in the composition of the House and Senate will have a profound impact on national health policymaking in 2007 and 2008.

As a result, some issues, such as expansion of children's health care coverage and improvements to the Medicare Part D program, will receive a tremendous boost when the new Congress convenes in January.

"Due to its broad bipartisan support, SCHIP no doubt will be reauthorized.

However, since approximately 9 million children continue to be uninsured, the real question before Congress is whether the reauthorization process will expand health coverage and provide adequate SCHIP funding for those children who don't have coverage and whose families can't afford it.

"Another critical issue is skyrocketing prescription drug prices and whether Congress will lift the legislative prohibition that prevents Medicare from bargaining with the drug companies to secure lower prices.

Among all of the top-20 drugs prescribed for seniors, the VA has achieved much lower prices than the lowest prices charged by all Medicare Part D plans.

The median price difference is an astounding 46 percent.

"In addition, the Medicare bargaining issue may open the door to legislation that enables U.S. residents to re-import drugs from Canada and other countries, as well as securing greater transparency in Medicare drug pricing.

Posted by Michael at 7:48 PM

Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools

Center on Education Policy:

TEST-DRIVEN accountability is now the norm in public schools, a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which is the culmination of 15 years of standards-based reform.

Many state and local officials believe that this reliance on tests is too narrow a measure of educational achievement, but NCLB has directed greater attention to lowachieving students and intensified efforts to improve persistently low-performing schools.

Scores on state tests in reading and mathematics that are used for NCLB purposes are going up, according to nearly three fourths of the states and school disScores on state tests in reading and mat hemat ics that are used for NCLB purposes are going up, according to nearly three-fourths of the states and school districts, and the achievement gaps on these same tests are generally nar rowin g or staying the same.

States and districts mostly credit their own policies as important in attaining these results, although they acknowledge that the "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) requirements of NCLB have also contributed.

The most common improvements are greater alignment of curriculum and instruction with standards and assessments, more use of test data to modify instruction, use of research to inform decisions about improvement strategies, improvement in the quality and quantity of professional development for teachers, and the provision of more intensive instruction to low-achieving students.

Similarly, officials don't see the merit in administering an English/language arts test to students who speak little or no English.

About 10% of all schools have been labeled as "in need of improvement" for not making AYP, though these are not always the same schools every year.

Posted by Michael at 7:42 PM

Child Development Campaign Expands to Target More Than 400,000 Child Care Facilities Nationwide

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

This childhood development campaign is designed to help increase awareness about the importance of tracking a child's social and emotional development, including the potential early warning signs of autism and other developmental disabilities.

The new phase targets more than 407,000 child care facilities in the United States and will provide free materials to help child care providers and preschool teachers educate parents about child development and autism.

"Child care providers and preschool teachers are in a special position to watch for delays and to promote early identification and action when a delay is suspected.

Act Early" campaign has developed a free resource kit of materials on child development and autism for day care providers and teachers to share with parents of children in their care.

The kit, available in both English and Spanish, includes a CD-ROM containing fact sheets on age-specific developmental milestones and on developmental disabilities such as autism, a growth chart that allows parents to track specific developmental milestones along with the height and weight of the child, and educational posters.

However, if parents can identify any delay early, they can seek appropriate help right away, which is always in their child's best interest.

Posted by Michael at 7:37 PM

Black Electorate Confront Obstacles at Polls But More Prepared to Make Their Votes Count

An aggressive voter education campaign launched by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP), and its Unity '06 Campaign, resulted in a more informed and determined Black Electorate casting ballots in the Mid-Term Election Cycle.

While numerous instances of voting machine malfunctions, inadequate supplies of ballots and voter registration errors were reported by poll watchers and calls to national election hotlines, Black voters countered by knowing their rights and taking action to protect their vote.

Participants included national Black leaders representing the Black Leadership Forum, National Urban League, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, National Education Association, AFL-CIO, The Peoples' Agenda, Black Youth Vote, Common Cause, National Labor College, Harvard University Law School and NCBCP affiliates in several states.

Marc Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League, Unity '06 co-chair and War Room monitor stated, "E-voting irregularities and machine malfunctions seemed to be the number one barrier voters experienced.

According to Kirk Clay, Director, ECR for Common Cause, callers to the 1-866- MYVOTE1 National Election Hotline reporting voting machine malfunctions increased to 20 percent this election cycle from the 3 percent reported in 2004.

------The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of over 80 member organizations and affiliates in 12 states dedicated to enhancing the full participation of the Black community in all levels of civil society.

Over its 30-year history, NCBCP has served as an effective convener and facilitator at the local, state and national levels of efforts to address the disenfranchisement of African Americans and other marginalized communities.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.ncbcp.org.

Posted by Michael at 12:50 AM

Mental Health Problems From Katrina Persist

From washingtonpost.com :

Hurricane Katrina left more than gutted houses and empty streets along the Gulf Coast.

The most devastating impact of the storm, which killed thousands of people and destroyed entire towns, can be seen in the desperate faces of people more than a year later, survivors and rescue workers said in a panel discussion Wednesday.

The Gulf Coast was hit hard by two massive hurricanes in the fall of 2005.

The panel was part of an annual Carter Center symposium on mental health policy.

This year's focus is on the psychological effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Panelists said mentally ill patients are still unable to get treatment and medicine because so few services are available in New Orleans and other damaged cities.

But the storm also triggered mental problems -- most commonly depression and anxiety -- in people who had never before had them.

With just two of the city's 11 hospitals operating, officers can take only the most serious cases in for medical attention, he said.

Wellborn said many police officers in New Orleans have not sought help for the trauma they suffered from rescuing stranded residents and policing essentially lawless streets.

"Hurricane Katrina is teaching us much about the long-term psychological impact of disasters," Rosalynn Carter, wife of former president Jimmy Carter, said in an e-mailed statement.

Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site.

Posted by Michael at 12:22 AM

Groups Picked to Run $125 Million International Antismoking Campaign

From Join Together:

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization, and the World Lung Foundation have been tapped to administer a new $125-million antismoking campaign funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

The Associated Press reported Nov. 2 that Bloomberg, the New York mayor who intends to retire and devote his time to philanthropy in 2009, announced the five groups this week.

They will work to help smokers quit, raise tobacco taxes, monitor tobacco use, and measure the effectiveness of stop-smoking strategies.

Groups in low- and middle-income countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Bangladesh, will also be eligible to apply for grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000.

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that Bloomberg's international campaign "has the potential to save literally millions of lives."

Posted by Michael at 12:17 AM

Young Voter Turnout Up for Second Major Election in a Row

Turnout among 18 to 29- year-old voters increased by more than 2 million voters in the 2006 elections compared to 2002, according to an early exit poll analysis released today as part of the first comprehensive look at the youth vote in the midterm elections, presented by Young Voter Strategies.

Turnout more than doubled in the 36 precincts where groups like the nonpartisan Student PIRGs' New Voters Project actively turned out this age cohort.

Also released today, a new bipartisan poll by Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake shows that in 2006 young voters were motivated primarily by a strong desire for change, combined with high levels of contact from campaigns and nonpartisan organizations: 61 percent of those who were surveyed said they feel the country is on the "wrong track" and 52 percent report being contacted by a campaign.

"For the second major election in a row, turnout among young voters increased -- yesterday's election showed that 2004 was the start of a trend of increasing young voter turnout.

-- The youth identify with Democrats at 40 percent, Republicans at 30 percent, and Independent at 23 percent.

However, the Democrats win the majority of the Independent votes in a generic ballot question.

There are cost-effective methods to do so and our survey shows that young Republicans are very party-loyal and willing to be turned-out."

At 42 million strong and growing, this generation has arrived as a force in politics and will only grow in importance as more and more vote in each election.

Posted by Michael at 12:13 AM

November 8, 2006

Lessons Learned From Safe Kids/Safe Streets

Publications

Child abuse and neglect can harm young people in ways beyond the immediate pain and suffering inflicted.

Prevention (OJJDP), the Executive Office for Weed and Seed (EOWS), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) agreed to fund and monitor these communities, with OJJDP providing overall coordination. In 1997, DOJ selected five localities to implement SK/SS.

DOJ expected communities to become more comprehensive and proactive in their efforts to combat child abuse and neglect, improve coordination and collaboration across agencies, and deploy resources more effectively.

Overall, 57 percent of responding stakeholders represented the formal child protection system and other public agencies 25 percent from formal child protection agencies and 32 percent from other public agencies.

Huntsville and Kansas City had the largest concentrations of nontraditional stakeholders, accounting for about 30 percent of all respondents at those sites.

For example, closer collaboration between the domestic violence and child protection communities was a particularly noteworthy result of project efforts in several sites.

Most SK/SS sites successfully filled service gaps and made services more accessible, at least during the term of federal funding.

Except in Kansas City (where systems reform was the primary emphasis from the beginning), services were their highest priority during the early phases of implementation.

We encourage you to reproduce this document, share it with your colleagues, and reprint it in your newsletter or journal.

Posted by Michael at 3:25 PM

November 5, 2006

Giving Hope Back to Disabled Veterans

For most people, Veterans' Day means a day off from work or school.

But for more than 26 million veterans--two million who have disabilities--November 11 is a day for reflection and often for those with disabilities, a day of concern about what the future holds.

Kent State University, in partnership with the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, has created a program that offers veterans the opportunity to take control of their future by obtaining entirely online degrees suited to their educational, physical and mental needs.

Created by Dr. Joseph Drew, Kent State professor of political science, the program uses special software and adaptive equipment to allow veterans who are paraplegic or quadriplegic complete their coursework successfully, with the added convenience of working from their homes or the hospital.

This helps these veterans with disabilities overcome multiple challenges they face in attaining a college education and future career.

Drew can be reached at 330-672-3239 or jdrew@kent.edu.

Student interviews may be available upon request.

Posted by Michael at 5:50 PM

Adults with Earlier Onset of Alcohol Dependence More Likely to Wait to Seek Treatment

One-fourth of adults who were ever alcohol dependent sought help or treatment for a reason related to their drinking at some point in their life, according to a recent analysis of data from the National Epidemiologic Study of Alcohol Related Conditions (NESARC).

Among those who sought help, those with earlier onset of alcohol dependence took longer to do so.

Thirty-one percent of persons who became dependent before age 18 waited 10 years or more after the onset of dependence to seek help or treatment, compared to 10% of those who became dependent at age 30 or older.

Yet adults first dependent at an earlier age were significantly more likely to have had multiple dependence episodes, episodes exceeding one year, and more dependence symptoms.

Posted by Michael at 5:32 PM

Schools Face Loss of Federal Funds for Barring Drug Searches

From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News:
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would strip schools of federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools funds if they do not allow searches for weapons and drugs, The Nation reported Oct. 24.

"School officials should have the authority to handle potentially dangerous situations and take the steps necessary to intervene when the safety of our children is in jeopardy," said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The bill comes in the wake of a string of violent school incidents, but is opposed by educational groups like the National Parent Teacher Association and the American Association of School Administrators, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Critics point to a 2003 police raid in South Carolina that resulted in high-school students being handcuffed in a drug raid that turned up no drugs.

Posted by Michael at 5:25 PM

Mental health problems threaten the knowledge economy

The study: "Mental Capital: a preliminary study into the psychological dimension of economic development," was commissioned by the Dutch Council for Health Research.

Weehuizen notes that while this report deals with the situation in the Netherlands, the same is happening in all modern economies.

In the industrial sector you can achieve that by putting in more and better machines, but in the service economy the main way to achieve this is by making people work more and more intensely.

In the modern knowledge economy -- in which increasing numbers of people are working in the services sector - workers need to be autonomous, flexible, adaptive, and able to continuously deal with new circumstances, tasks and knowledge.

Research shows that this is difficult for many workers, and it is leading to greater levels of stress and mental health problems.

Thirty percent of the cost of health care in the Netherlands is directly or indirectly related to metal health problems like work related stress, burn out, depression and other ailments.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) about 4 % of gross national product (GNP) in countries such as the Netherlands is lost due to the direct and indirect costs of mental health problems.

Policy measures Governments should therefore invest more in the mental capital of their economies by putting more money into treatment of mental health related problems and, even more important, into prevention.

Posted by Michael at 5:06 PM

Study Says Incentive-Based Meth Treatment Works

A methamphetamine addiction treatment regimen that combines the Matrix Model of psychosocial therapy with rewards for patients who produce clean urine samples works better than therapy alone, according to researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The CM patients produced more drug-free urine samples, and also were abstinent for more consecutive days than a control group.

"The Matrix Model of psychosocial treatment currently is thought to be the most effective therapy for methamphetamine addiction, and CM has shown itself to increase the therapeutic effectiveness of treatments for other drug abuse disorders.

The research, led by John Roll of Washington State University, was published in the November 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Posted by Michael at 5:06 PM

Voter Suppression Tactics Could Mar 2006 Election, New Publication Finds

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

In communities across the country, voters could be subject to intimidation and a variety of suppressive tactics meant to keep them from casting a ballot.

Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy center, published the details of these potential challenges to voting rights in a new briefing paper this week.

The Voter Intimidation and Vote Suppression briefing paper, part of Demos' Challenges to Fair Elections series highlighting trouble spots and voting rights problems in the '06 election, shows how campaigns to suppress voter turnout take a variety of forms, are often mounted in communities of color, and that many go unnoticed or unchallenged until after it is too late.

- 14,000 Latino residents in Orange County, California, received a letter in October 2006 warning that it was a crime for immigrants to vote and cautioning that they could be jailed or deported if they went to the polls in November.

These are naturalized citizens eligible to vote, as guaranteed by law.

- A fictitious "Milwaukee Black Voters League" distributed fliers intended to suppress black voters in largely African-American neighborhoods in 2004.

- A memo on bogus letterhead of the Lake County, Ohio, Board of Elections was sent to local residents in 2004, stating that registrations submitted through the Democratic Party and the NAACP were invalid.

The targeted area, Columbus' near east side, is predominantly African American.

They variously prohibit attempts to intimidate voters, the spreading of false information about elections, and efforts to deceive people about the time, place, or manner of elections or voter qualifications.

Minnesota and Washington also regulate challenges to peoples' voter eligibility.

Posted by Michael at 4:49 PM

Faith-Based Youth Groups Stand Out in Fostering Teens' Growth Experiences

Of all the organized activities teens participate in, faith-based youth groups provide the highest rates of personal and interpersonal growth experiences, according to a new University of Illinois study published in the September issue of Developmental Psychology.

Religious youth groups also stand out from the classroom, part-time jobs, and hanging out with friends as contexts in which such growth occurs, the study of over 2,000 eleventh graders reported.

For example, in the study, 66 percent of students in faith-based activities reported "This activity got me to thinking about who I am," compared to 33 percent in other organized activities, he said.

Forty percent of students in faith-based groups said they "got to know people in the community," compared to 20 percent of students in other organized activities.

The belief system provided by such groups acts as a "glue" that connects teens to their peers and adults in a positive way, said Larson.

The statistics come from Larson's survey of 2,280 eleventh graders in 19 diverse schools, in which Larson and collaborator David M. Hansen used laptop computers to ask the teens about their learning experiences in extracurricular activities.

The six types of growth experiences surveyed were identity work, initiative development, emotional regulation, teamwork and social skills, positive relationships with peers, and positive relationships with adults.

For example, students in organized sports reported high rates of initiative experiences; 61 percent said that they had "learned to push myself" compared to 36 percent in other activities.

These students also reported high rates of learning about regulating their emotions.

Posted by Michael at 4:34 PM

Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program

From Funding News:

Grants of up to $250,000 will be awarded to Native American tribes to help combat alcohol and other drug use in their communities.

The Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program grants and related technical assistance are available to federally recognized tribal governments.

Funds can be used to enhance anti-drug policing and establish comprehensive community strategies to reduce alcohol and other drug related crime.

"Tribes that want to compete in the application process will link law enforcement and treatment services into a meaningful and effective strategy that they can implement over a 24-month period," the grant announcement notes.

Posted by Michael at 4:29 PM

Needs of Families with Disabled Children Remain Largely Unmet

The social and economic needs of families with a disabled child are high, but remain largely unmet, argue researchers in this week's BMJ.

More than half of families with disabled children live in poverty, yet the costs associated with bringing up a disabled child are estimated to be three times those of bringing up a non-disabled child.

Parents with disabled children also have higher levels of stress and lower levels of wellbeing than parents with non-disabled children.

They can ensure that workers are aware of the needs of disabled children and their families.

Primary care trusts can also promote strong multiagency working and commissioning of services for disabled children.

Posted by Michael at 4:20 PM

Toddlers Learn Complex Actions from Picture-Book Reading

Parents who engage in the age-old tradition of picture-book reading are not only encouraging early reading development in their children but are also teaching their toddlers about the world around them, according to a study in the November issue of Developmental Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Parents of preschool children reported that they own dozens of children's picture books and spend approximately 40 minutes a day reading books to their small children.

To determine the extent of a young child's ability to learn from a picture-book, psychologist Gabrielle Simcock, PhD, University of Queensland and co-author and psychologist Judy DeLoache, PhD, University of Virginia, tested if toddlers could imitate specific target actions on novel real-world objects on the basis of a picture-book interaction.

In the first study, two groups of children ages 18, 24 and 30-months, were given one of two picture books.

This common form of interaction that takes place very early in children's lives, may provide an important source of information to them about the world around them," said lead author, Gabrielle Simcock.

The iconicity (similarity between the actual object and the likeness presented in the book) of the pictures in the books had the most influence on the youngest children's reenactment.

The 18-month toddlers were less able to follow the directions given in the book containing colored-pencil drawings then when they were when given directions from the books containing life-like color photographs.

Posted by Michael at 4:14 PM

Child Care Assistance in 2005: State Cuts Continue

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen. State spending on child care assistance declined in 2005 for the second consecutive year. Twenty-two states made cuts to their child care programs, as the number of children living in low-income families that received help from these programs continued to decline. Many families turn to child care assistance programs to get help paying for the child care they need in order to work and to succeed. This policy brief provides an overview of national expenditure data for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds directed towards child care. 9 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 4:10 PM

Child Care and Early Education State-by-State Data

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

In 2004, CLASP surveyed states with mixed-delivery pre-kindergarten programs to understand the policy choices, opportunities, and challenges of including community-based child care providers in their pre-k programs.

Also included are individual state pages analyzing child care spending from the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds used for child care in federal fiscal year 2005 and in previous years, as well as details on CCDBG participation by state.

CLASP's child care and early education work focuses on promoting policies that support both child development and the needs of low-income working parents and on expanding the availability of resources for child care and early education initiatives.