Human Services News

January 31, 2008

Achieving a US Health Care System 'Second to None'

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

All candidates running for office in 2008 should commit to an agenda to create a health care system for the United States that is second to none the American College of Physicians (ACP) said in its annual report on The State of the Nation's Health Care.

In its report, ACP offers a five-point Candidate's Pledge designed to gain candidate commitments to support a series of recommendations.

The recommendations result from a new ACP evidence-based policy paper, Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries.

Propose immediate action items that President Bush and the 110th Congress can take to help - transition to a high performing health care system.

Create workforce and payment polices to increase the numbers of primary care physicians, recognize the value of primary care, and support care organized through a patient-centered medical home.

By providing ACP's members---125,000 internists and medical students nationwide---with a Web-based tool to evaluate the candidates' positions (www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/election) based on ACP's benchmarks for a high performing system, it hopes to challenge the candidates to embrace ACP's proposals and to help our members evaluate the candidates accordingly.

Primary care physicians would receive higher compensation commensurate with their critical role in helping patients get high quality and efficient care.

Patients and their physicians would have electronic health records to provide them with evidence-based treatment guidelines, laboratory and diagnostic test results, medication lists, and medical histories at the point of care.

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Posted by Michael at 7:52 PM | TrackBack

Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on the Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Plans

From The Commonwealth Fund:

The 13th Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey asked a diverse group of experts for their perspective on the health care reform proposals of the 2008 presidential candidates.

Survey participants strongly support reform proposals that applied a mixed private/public market approach.

Additional favored policy strategies for reform include a requirement for individuals to obtain health insurance, new private market regulations, and a requirement for employers to provide coverage or contribute to a coverage fund.

Alternatively, respondents think proposals that focus on tax incentives to purchase individual private health insurance are not an effective method for controlling the rising costs of health care or achieving universal coverage.

Health care opinion leaders call for the next president to simultaneously address universal coverage and quality, efficiency, and cost containment policies to move our health care system toward high performance.

Also available are two related commentaries, Reform Is No 'Either-Or': We Must Fix the Payment System Along with Access by Darrell Kirch, M.D, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Tough Choices Ahead: Candidates Ignore Pain of Needed Cuts to Health Costs by Dallas L. Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute and a member of The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.

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Posted by Michael at 7:45 PM | TrackBack

The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study

From MDRC:

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a majority of ninth-graders in low-performing high schools begin their freshman year with significant reading difficulties.

This report presents early findings from the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study, a demonstration and random assignment evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs --- Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading --- that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers.

The supplemental literacy programs are full-year courses targeted to students whose reading skills are two to five years below grade level as they enter high school.

This report focuses on the first of two cohorts of ninth-grade students who are participating in the study and discusses the impact that the two interventions have had on their reading comprehension skills.

On average, across the 34 participating high schools, the supplemental literacy programs had a statistically significant impact on improving student reading comprehension test scores.

The average student in the study sample started the year reading at a grade-level equivalent of 5.1.

Those students assigned to the ERO classes were reading at a 6.1 grade equivalent by the end of the year, compared to a 5.9 grade equivalent for students in the control group.

Despite the improvement in reading comprehension, however, 76 percent of the students who enrolled in the ERO classes were still reading at two or more years below grade level at the end of ninth grade.

First-year implementation was not without its challenges.

The ERO classes did not begin until six weeks into the school year on average, and implementation fidelity was classified as poorly aligned with the program model in 10 of the schools.

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Posted by Michael at 7:42 PM | TrackBack

Final TANF Rules Include Modest Improvements; Further Action Needed to Restore the Safety Net

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Elizabeth Lower-Basch. This week, the Department of Health and Human Services placed on public display the final rules implementing the changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The rule includes several modest but positive changes affecting the work participation rate requirements, but does not change the overall focus on documenting participation. Many of the changes respond to concerns that CLASP and numerous other organizations submitted in response to the interim final rule. 1 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:39 PM | TrackBack

Summary of TANF Rules

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Elizabeth Lower-Basch. The final rules implementing changes in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on February 5, 2008; this summary is based on the pre-publication version made available for public inspection. 7 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:38 PM | TrackBack

Time to Apply for the Sector Skills Academy!

Sector Skills Academy

There's still time to submit applications for the Sector Skills Academy, an initiative sponsored by the Aspen Institutes's Workforce Strategies Initiative and Public/Private Ventures.

The Academy is a year-long program involving three 3-day workshops, as well as mentoring, technical assistance, and peer support, designed to support and help grow sectoral workforce development strategies.

As an integral part of the Academy, each participant will have the opportunity to reflect on and refine his/her vision, strategy and implementation plan for a specific sectoral initiative, compatible with his/her own organization's vision and goals.

The application deadline is March 3, 2008. More information about the Academy is available at: www.sectorskillsacademy.org. Questions about the application process or the Academy can be sent to: wsi@aspeninstitute.org.

About Skills Sector Academy

Interest in sector-oriented workforce training is growing dramatically, largely because such approaches hold the potential to improve employment opportunities for low-wage workers, while also supporting business competitiveness.

That potential has prompted a variety of institutions---including community-based organizations, community colleges, labor-management partnerships and business associations---to launch new initiatives.

Several states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois, have developed workforce development systems that are organized around a sectoral approach.

To build on the momentum of sector work and to strengthen, sustain and grow the field, the first Sector Skills Academy was initiated in June 2005 by three well-known organizations in the sectoral workforce development field: The Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative, the National Network of Sector Partners, and Public/Private Ventures.

The Academy consists of three workshops over roughly a 12-month period that allow participants to acquire new skills, engage in peer exchange and benefit from relationships with mentors.

Academy participants are known as "Marano Fellows," in honor of the late Cindy Marano, a respected leader in the field of sectoral workforce development who at one time headed NNSP.

Posted by Michael at 12:05 PM | TrackBack

January 30, 2008

Two-Thirds of Illinois Public Schools Provide Comprehensive Sex Education

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A study of sex education in Illinois public schools found that one out of three teachers did not meet a very forgiving definition of comprehensive instruction, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the February 2008 issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Only 65 percent of teachers who responded to the survey covered the four basic topics required to be rated "comprehensive:" abstinence until marriage or older, HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and contraception.

When the researchers added a widely recommended fifth topic--where to get condoms, birth control and health related services---only 42 percent of sex education teachers passed the comprehensiveness test.

The survey also found that 30 percent of the State's sex-education teachers had never received sex-education training, well above the national average of 18 percent.

Although most teachers with training reported that they felt, "very comfortable" teaching adolescents about sex, only 56 percent of those who lacked such training said they felt as comfortable.

"Our children learn many of the skills they need to be healthy citizens and to take responsibility for their own health in school," she said.

"Working with college students, I have witnessed this firsthand.

The most frequently taught topics, covered by 96 percent of teachers, were HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Only 32 percent of teachers brought up homosexuality or sexual orientation, 34 percent taught how to use condoms, 37 percent taught how to use other forms of birth control, 39 percent discussed abortion and 47 percent taught students where to access contraception and sexual-health services.

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Posted by Michael at 11:08 PM | TrackBack

CCDBG State Plan Reported Activities to Support Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Immigrant Communities

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

This paper provides examples of activities that states reported within the Child Care and Development Block Grant program to better serve immigrant and LEP communities.

CLASP reviewed FY 2006-2007 CCDBG state plans for references to initiatives that would support immigrant families and/or providers, Limited English Proficient (LEP) families and/or providers, English Language Learners, or linguistic and cultural diversity.

We find that state reported activities in these areas were often vague and few states reported carrying out multiple strategies.

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Posted by Michael at 10:59 PM | TrackBack

Study shows variety of approaches help children overcome auditory processing and language problems

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A study comparing four intervention strategies in children who have unusual difficulty understanding and using language found that all four methods resulted in significant, long-term improvements in the children's language abilities. The aim of the study was to assess whether children who used commercially available language software program Fast ForWord-Language had greater improvement in language skills than children using other methods. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 10:53 PM | TrackBack

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Applauds Resolution Naming Feb. 11-16 National Drug Prevention & Education Week

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

As the national voice for 5,000 drug prevention organizations around the country, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) applauds Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for introducing a resolution today designating February 11-16 as National Drug Prevention and Education Week.

National Drug Prevention and Education Week encourages parents, youth, schools and communities to carry out prevention and education activities to reduce and stop drug use.

"On behalf of our 5,000 members, I applaud Senators Biden and Grassley for focusing national attention on the critical role that drug prevention and education - especially when combined with comprehensive community coalitions - plays in keeping kids drug-free," remarked General Arthur T. Dean, Chairman and CEO of CADCA.

For example, nearly 6 percent of 12th graders have used over-the-counter cough and cold medications in the past year for the purpose of getting high, and one in ten 12th graders has reported non-medical use of the powerful painkiller Vicodin within the past year.

These problems do not simply pose serious health risks, but they are also closely linked to low educational achievement and increased risk of illegal activity and crime.

By utilizing multiple strategies across multiple sectors of the community, community coalitions work with the community to organize and develop comprehensive plans to achieve population level changes in local drug problems.

CADCA's mission is to build and strengthen the capacity of community coalitions by providing technical assistance and training, public policy advocacy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences, and special events.

For more information about CADCA, visit http://www.cadca.org.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 10:50 PM | TrackBack

LA84 Foundation Awards $2.2 Million to 28 Sports Programs for Youth in Southern California

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The LA84 Foundation today announced $2,238,199 million in grants to support sports programs serving more than 57,000 youth in Southern California.

Nearly half of the money will go to organizations providing after-school sports programs in elementary, middle and high schools where budget constraints have forced cuts in school-funded programs.

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Posted by Michael at 10:49 PM | TrackBack

HUD Delivers $49 Million to Support Homeless Programs in Chicago

From HUD Press Releases:

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson presented Chicago Mayor Richard Daley with $49 million in grants to support more than 150 homeless programs in the Windy City.

The grants announced today will support the full spectrum or "continuum of care" for homeless individuals and families - from street outreach and emergency shelter to transitional and permanent housing.

 Jackson made the presentation at a Northside apartment complex that provides permanent supporting housing to homeless persons with disabilities.

In addition, the funding will provide critically needed services including job training, child care, substance abuse treatment and mental health.

For a detailed local summary of the projects awarded funding, visit www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/budget/2007/07_illinois_totals.xls.

Nationally, HUD is awarding a record $1.5 billion to more than 6,000 local housing and service programs.

HUD's Continuum of Care programs provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons.

In addition, Continuum grants fund important services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care.

Emergency Shelter Grants provide funds for the operation of local shelters and fund related social service and homeless prevention programs.

By helping to support emergency shelter, transitional housing and needed support services, Emergency Shelter Grants are designed to move homeless persons away from a life on the street toward permanent housing.

For six years, ending chronic homelessness has been one of President Bush's national goals.

Total funding to these projects is more than $14.6 million, a commitment that directly supports the national goal of ending chronic homelessness.

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Posted by Michael at 12:34 AM | TrackBack

January 29, 2008

State Education Spending: Current Pressures and Future Trends

From Urban Institute:

Education expenditures are one of the largest spending areas for state and local governments, and per-pupil expenditures have been growing over time.

We examine trends in state aid for education and overall education spending and decompose the existing drivers behind growing state costs. We then explore how predicted future demographic trends will affect education spending levels, as the percent of the population that is of school age falls.

We conclude that there will continue to be a large state role in education funding, but demographic changes may lead to reduced political support for schools in the future.

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Posted by Michael at 7:58 PM | TrackBack

Current Approaches to Improving the Value of Care: A Physician's Perspective

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Payers are trying new ways to bring rapidly increasing health care costs under control, from pay-for-performance programs and public reporting of quality and cost information, to tiered provider networks and consumer-directed health plans. A new Commonwealth Fund report assesses these strategies. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:51 PM | TrackBack

New CDC Study: Well-Funded Tobacco Control Programs Can Reduce Number of Smokers by Millions

From PR Newswire:

As state legislatures across the country convene their 2008 sessions, an important new study provides powerful evidence of the direct relationship between increased funding for state tobacco prevention and cessation programs and declines in adult smoking.

The study, being published in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, examined state tobacco prevention and cessation funding levels from 1995 to 2003 and found that the more states spent on these programs, the larger the declines they achieved in adult smoking, even when controlling for other factors such as increased tobacco prices.

The researchers also calculated that if every state had funded their programs at the levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) during that period, there would have been between 2.2 million and 7.1 million fewer smokers in the United States by 2003.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates that such smoking declines would have saved between 700,000 and 2.2 million lives as well as between $20 billion and $67 billion in health care costs.

These studies, along with reviews by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, the President's Cancer Panel and numerous other experts demonstrate conclusively that state tobacco prevention and cessation programs work to prevent kids from smoking and help adults quit, thereby saving lives and health care dollars.

This overwhelming evidence that state tobacco prevention and cessation programs work and deliver so many health and financial benefits leaves elected leaders with no excuse for failing to fund such programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.

Right now, the states are spending less than 3 percent.

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Posted by Michael at 7:39 PM | TrackBack

Tough Choices Ahead: Candidates Ignore Pain of Needed Cuts to Health Costs

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Commentary on The Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey on the Presidential Candidates Health Reform Proposals by Dallas L. Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute and a member of The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's tenure saw the first proposals for universal health insurance.

The creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 was seen by most as major reform, but by 1968 President Nixon was talking of a health care cost crisis, demanding more reform and proposing a universal coverage program.

The nation experimented with managed care just long enough to determine that although it did hold down costs, it also limited individual choices and allowed tough decisions on care that consumers did not like.

Researchers at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, suggested in that debate of the early 1990s that the answer was an individual mandate, an end to employment-based coverage and major changes in the tax treatment of health insurance benefits.

Most would support the option of purchase into the federal employee program.

Barack Obama (D-Ill.) does not favor a mandate, but did say in New Hampshire that his first preference was a single-payer system---he just doesn't think it could become law.

As recently as the final New Hampshire Republican debate the candidates condemned the "socialist" proposal of an individual mandate "coming from the Democrats."

Republicans mainly suggest that moving to an individually based system where individuals have to pay more will bring a market solution: lower spending.

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Posted by Michael at 7:36 PM | TrackBack

Child Support: Ripple Effects Throughout the Community

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

The child support program helps families become stronger and more self-sufficient.

The program has other bridges into the community as well---to employers, financial institutions, property owners, health insurers, and many other sectors.

For example, the Milwaukee County child support program answered over 8,000 employer questions between January and September 2007.

A substantial number of our military personnel are non-custodial parents, and pay child support though payroll allotments.

The child support program has the authority to attach a lien against any real or personal property for past-due support.

That means if someone tries to sell or trade a car, the dealer needs the child support program to respond efficiently to clear the title.

Again, the lending institutions and real estate agents are counting on the child support program to complete paperwork in a timely manner to make a closing date.

Again, financial institutions need a well-run child support agency as a partner.

Child support programs have the authority to request drivers and other license suspensions and reinstatements.

Both citizens and motor vehicle agencies need to know that the child support program has the capacity to respond promptly, provide accurate information, and help solve problems.

Child support programs also can request the State Department to suspend passports for nonpayment of child support.

The child support program needs resources to ensure that this system works smoothly and efficiently so that business travelers and other citizens can travel ontime with valid passports.

The county is averaging 30-35 real estate transactions each week, closing or re-financing.

Last week, the county filed 23 claims involving foreclosure actions.

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Posted by Michael at 7:31 PM | TrackBack

Destined to cheat? New research finds free will can keep us honest

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

It is well established that changing people's sense of responsibility can change their behavior. Surprisingly, the link between fatalistic beliefs and unethical behavior has never been examined scientifically -- until now. In two recent experiments, psychologists Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota and Jonathan Schooler of the University of British Columbia decided to see if otherwise honest people would cheat and lie if their beliefs in free will were manipulated. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:30 PM | TrackBack

Are Employers Willing to Hire and Retain Older Workers?

From Urban Institute:

Older adults' employment is attracting attention as many baby boomers approach traditional retirement ages.

This fact sheet examines employers' current attitudes toward older workers and the likely future demand for their services.

They view older white-collar workers as more productive than younger white-collar workers.

Yet, employers express concern that older workers may be less creative, less willing to take initiative, less willing to learn new things, and less able to perform physically demanding jobs.

In some cases, age--wage rate relationships reflect historical seniority arrangements instead of relationship of age and experience to productivity.

Most employers report that older workers' high productivity offsets their higher costs.

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Posted by Michael at 7:30 PM | TrackBack

Do Married Couples Prosper with Age?

From Urban Institute:

Using data from the Federal Reserve Board's Surveys of Consumer Finances (SCFs), we follow one segment of a cohort over its life cycle, married couples as the husband ages from 36 - 44 in 1989 to 51 - 59 in 2004.

We find that middle-income and lower-middle-income married-couple households experienced modest income growth but rapid growth in net worth.

Overall, the evidence documents significant gains in income and wealth as married couples aged from their late 30s to their 50s.

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Posted by Michael at 7:27 PM | TrackBack

The Potential Impact of Increasing Child Support Payments to TANF Families

From Urban Institute:

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 includes incentives for states to increase the amount of child support that is "passed through" to families on welfare, rather than retained to offset welfare expenditures.

Beginning October 1, 2008, the federal government will share in the costs of a $100 per month pass-through for families with one child and a $200 per month pass-through for families with two or more children.

This brief discusses the potential benefits and costs to families, states, and the federal government if all states implemented a $100/$200 pass-through and disregard.

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Posted by Michael at 7:22 PM | TrackBack

The Debenture Small Business Investment Company Program : A Comparative Analysis of Investment Patterns with Private Venture Capital Equity

From Urban Institute:

The SBIC program provides venture capital and mezzanine finance to start-up and expanding small businesses through SBICs, and is intended to fill the gap in smaller debt/equity financings, and to expand the reach of venture capital into underserved urban and rural markets.

We find that debenture SBIC investments varied substantially from comparable private venture capital. Total financings by SBICs are much less likely to be in high-tech industries than those made by venture capital firms, are more dispersed regionally, and appear more likely to be in low- and moderate-income areas.

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Posted by Michael at 7:21 PM | TrackBack

Child Support: Restored Federal Funding Needed to Implement to Implement New Child Support Pass-Through Options

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

by Vicki Turetsky. Effective next year, new state options included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) will allow states to pay up to 100 percent of collected child support to current and former TANF families - up to $2 billion more money for families every year. States and advocates alike support the new DRA distribution options. However, a cut in federal funding for child support enforcement also included in the DRA threatens state implementation of these new options. The third fact sheet in this series examines this issue. 2 pages. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 7:16 PM | TrackBack

Workforce Leaders Academy 2008 Now Accepting Applications

Public/Private Ventures |

Now in its forth year, the Workforce Leaders Academy is a year-long peer-learning community engaging executive and senior practitioners in New York City in a combination of retreats, seminars and action-based projects. The Academy provides opportunities for learning, reflection and exposure to prominent leaders from around the country who are advancing the workforce development field.

Built upon current effective leadership development practices, as well as the input of researchers and peer-selected leaders in the field, the Academy examines key issues in workforce development, such as:

* Connecting strategy to economic and labor market data;
* Driving organizations and teams toward outcomes;
* Understanding research and evaluation of the workforce field;
* Influencing public policy to support effective practice;
* Self-reflecting on personal leadership and organizational effectiveness; and
* Workforce program and financing strategies.

The 2008 Workforce Leaders Academy is now accepting applications.

Join a select group of executive and senior management professionals from New York City's community-based organizations, public agencies and educational institutions in the 2008 Workforce Leaders Academy.

Posted by Michael at 6:22 PM | TrackBack

January 28, 2008

Marijuana Withdrawal as Bad as Withdrawal from Cigarettes

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes.

Abstinence from each of these drugs appears to cause several common symptoms, such as irritability, anger and trouble sleeping - based on self reporting in a recent study of 12 heavy users of both marijuana and cigarettes.

Admissions in substance abuse treatment facilities in which marijuana was the primary problem substance have more than doubled since the early 1990s and now rank similar to cocaine and heroin with respect to total number of yearly treatment episodes in the United States, says Vandrey.

He points out that a lack of data, until recently, has led to cannabis withdrawal symptoms not being characterized or included in medical reference literature such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, (DSM-IV) or the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10).

What makes Vandrey's recent study unique is that it is the first study that compares marijuana withdrawal symptoms to withdrawal symptoms that are clinically recognized by the medical community - specifically the tobacco withdrawal syndrome.

"Given the general consensus among clinicians that it is harder to quit more than one substance at the same time, these results suggest the need for more research on treatment planning for people who concurrently use more than one drug on a regular basis," says Vandrey.

None of the subjects intended to quit using either substance, did not use any other illicit drugs in the prior month, were not on any psychotropic medication, did not have a psychiatric disorder, and if female, were not pregnant.

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Posted by Michael at 10:18 PM | TrackBack

Mental Health Screenings, Risk Behavior Interventions Needed in Juvenile Justice System

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Kids who have been arrested and are depressed are more likely to use drugs and alcohol and engage in unsafe sexual activity that puts them at greater risk for HIV, according to new research from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center.

Findings of the study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, suggest the need for depression screenings as part of the juvenile intake process in order to determine appropriate mental health, substance use and HIV risk behavior interventions.

"We know that symptoms of depression may be a factor that is linked to both drug and alcohol use and sexual risk-taking behaviors," said lead author Marina Tolou-Shams, Ph.D., of the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and an assistant research professor of psychiatry at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

"However, juvenile offenders aren't routinely screened for emotional difficulties, such as depression or anxiety -- rather, everyone tends to focus more on their conduct or behavioral problems."

The current study is one of the first to examine the link between substance use, mental health and sexual risk among high-risk youth who have an arrest history but may not have been detained or incarcerated.

They found that juvenile offenders with significant symptoms of depression, such as feelings of loneliness or worthlessness, reported much greater drug and alcohol use.

They were also more likely to use these substances during sex, used condoms less, and had more psychiatric hospitalizations and suicide attempts than arrestees without depressive symptoms.

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Posted by Michael at 10:15 PM | TrackBack

New Study Shows Fully Funded Tobacco Control Programs Reduce Number of Smokers

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

A new study in the American Journal of Public Health adds to the overwhelming evidence that comprehensive tobacco control programs save lives.

The study indicates that the U.S. would have between 2.2 million and 7.1 million fewer smokers if states had funded their tobacco control programs at the levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 1995 and 2003.

"It's time for Governor Schwarzenegger and the California legislature to marshal the political will to fully fund these life-saving programs," said Paul Knepprath, Vice President of Government Relations for the American Lung Association of California.

Conducted by researchers from the CDC's Office of Smoking and Health and research and technical service firm RTI International, the study finds that state spending on comprehensive tobacco control programs results in fewer adults smoking.

CDC now recommends that California spend $441.9 million each year on comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

As the number one cause of preventable deaths in the U.S., tobacco takes a toll on the economy, health care costs, and lives.

- In 2003, New York State's adult smoking rate declined by 12 percent in just one year - from 21.5 percent in 2003 to 18.9 percent in 2004 - according to the New York State Department of Health's Adult Tobacco Survey.

In contrast, adult smoking rates nationwide declined just four percent from 2002 to 2003.

The recommended spending levels reflect overall state population, the prevalence of tobacco use, the proportion of the population that is uninsured and a number of other factors, including the cost and complexity of conducting mass media to reach targeted audiences.

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Posted by Michael at 10:13 PM | TrackBack

California Lags Nation in Tracking Students' Educational Progress, RAND Study Finds

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

While California has basic tracking system architecture in place to allow the state's educators to closely follow the progress of students from kindergarten to post-secondary education, officials must overcome political and financial barriers, according to a RAND Corporation study.

The study shows that by developing such a data system -- known as a "student unit record" data system -- California policymakers and educators will be better equipped to create policies and adopt changes that decrease student dropout rates, encourage a smoother transition from secondary to post-secondary education and increase student retention in college.

"Such a system would enable California to answer important questions, such as how to improve course articulation between high school and college, what classes of students may need special intervention, and whether students are prepared to meet future labor demands," said Georges Vernez, the report's lead author and a senior social scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

But the study finds that California would need to overcome a number of challenges to integrate a student unit record system, such as eliminating the protective mindset that each of the state's four education segments has developed.

- The California School Information System, a mandated public K-12 system that has limited enrollment and demographic student data.

The sequence might be: integrating the four existing systems "as is"; adding data elements now collected at the school and campus levels; and linking the K-20 student data file to other state and federal data systems, such as preschool, employment and private universities.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 10:11 PM | TrackBack

Underserved Children to Benefit From Annual Give Kids a Smile Events

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

February is National Children's Dental Health Month and on Feb. 1, more than 51,000 dental professionals will provide free dental services to more than 500,000 children from low-income families, at more than 2,000 sites nationwide.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease affecting American children, five times more common than asthma according to a report by the U.S. Surgeon General.

"The ADA and dentists across the nation are engaged in creating public awareness of this critical need and trying to extend access to dental care to more low-income children.

The ADA launched its national Give Kids A Smile program to combat what the U.S. Surgeon General called "a silent epidemic" of dental disease and to encourage parents, health professionals, policymakers and everyone who cares about children to address this important health issue.

Because of inattention and other barriers to oral care, more than half (52 percent) of children ages six to eight have tooth decay, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its Healthy People 2010 oral health update.

Give Kids A Smile events are offered by groups of dentists in their private practices and by individual dentists in a variety of locations, coast to coast.

JADA, a monthly journal, is the ADA's flagship publication and the best-read scientific journal in dentistry.

For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site http://www.ada.org/.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 9:32 PM | TrackBack

A Prescription for Our Nation's Ailing Health Care System

From The Commonwealth Fund:

The last time health care reform was on the national agenda, a fictional couple named Harry and Louise helped ensure its demise with the refrain, "There has to be a better way."

The couple, who appeared in advertisements sponsored by the Health Insurance Association of America, decried what some viewed as the bureaucratic nature of the 1993 health care reform proposal and urged viewers to contact their congressional representatives to vote against it.

The ads put a human face on the issue for millions of Americans.

Nearly 15 years later, the U.S. health care system---despite some incremental reforms---is, if anything, worse off.

Today, Harry and Louise might very well be among the 47 million uninsured Americans who are struggling to pay for needed medical care, possibly bankrupting themselves in the process.

Or they might be one of millions of Americans unable to obtain the coordinated, quality care enjoyed by residents of so many other countries and instead experiencing lost medical records, redundant tests, and poor oversight of chronic health conditions.

Or they might already be victims of one of the thousands of medical errors that occur in the United States every year---most of which would be preventable with better information systems and more reliable care processes.

One thing is for certain: On the eve of a presidential election in which health care promises to play a prominent role, Harry and Louise, as well as others like them, still do not have access to a high performance health system.

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Presidential Oratory Can Trump Ideology for Voters, Research Shows Most Highly Educated Voters Swayed by Rhetoric

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

To influence voters, especially those without strong ideological beliefs, presidential candidates should pay as much attention to their oratorical skills as to their stances on issues, according to research by Vanderbilt University political scientist Christian Grose.

"We find that most voters prefer more sophisticated speech in their presidential candidates," said Grose, who has co-authored an article on the importance of rhetoric and persuasion in presidential campaigns.

Sometimes, however, voters can be convinced to vote contrary to their issue preferences if a candidate's rhetoric is impressive enough."

The findings also show that highly educated voters are more likely than those with fewer years of schooling to be influenced by complex speech.

To evaluate the quality of emotional connections by various candidates, the researchers used the Roderick Hart's Diction algorithm, which attempts to measure the tone of speech.

The researchers also used data from the National Election Survey, 1976-2004, to determine whom people voted for in the general presidential elections and whether or not they were in agreement with the candidates on the issues.

"When a voter is close to a candidate on the issues, yet that candidate is a poor speaker, the voter will still vote for that candidate," Grose said.

Even though the research focused on general elections for the presidency, the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination is pertinent to these findings, according to Grose.

Barack Obama has succeeded in moving up in the polls in part due to what some perceive as superior rhetorical skills compared to Sen.

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January 24, 2008

ACTION Campaign to Combat Substance Abuse Meets Initial Goal to Enlist 500 Agencies Nationwide

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

In the four short months since its launch in October 2007, the University of Wisconsin-Madison-based ACTION Campaign to combat substance abuse has already met its initial goal to enlist 500 agencies nationwide.

Among the partners are the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the Legal ACTION Center, the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx), the National Council on Community Behavioral Healthcare (NCCBH), and the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC).

Previous research completed by NIATx suggests that one small improvement in each of the 500 agencies is expected to make a difference in the lives of 55,000 people affected by substance abuse.

Bill Rowan, program director for Outpatient/Intensive Outpatient Counseling Services at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was among the first to enroll his agency in the Campaign.

Rowan and his staff have used the step-by-step instructions provided through the ACTION Web site and technical assistance calls to conduct a walk-through of their agency admission process and test a promising practice to reduce the waiting time between referrals and access to service.

Johnson is pleased with participant response to the campaign tools.

ACTION Campaign tools and technical assistance are free to all who register at http://www.actioncampaign.org.

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Campaign for High School Equity Urges Senate to Hold Schools Accountable for Increasing Graduation Rates

From PR Newswire:

The Campaign for High School Equity, the only coalition of leading civil rights groups to focus on high school education reform, today urged policymakers to ensure productive futures for all students by holding school systems accountable for getting students successfully to graduation.

One third of American students -- about 1.2 million each year -- leave high school without a diploma, and graduation rates for poor and minority students are even lower.

At a congressional briefing today, speakers discussed the significant need to include meaningful graduation rates in federal school accountability requirements and outlined the personal and societal costs associated with high school dropout rates, especially among poor and minority students.

Graduation rate information should be used to inform decision-making and to improve policy and practice around strengthening student outcomes.

For those statistics to be valuable, NCLB needs to ensure that educators and policymakers actually know how many students are graduating.

Schools cannot be considered successful if large percentages of their students, particularly those who are of color and/or low-income, are dropping out or being pushed out.

Members of the Campaign include the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the National Indian Education Association, the National Urban League, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

The Alliance for Excellent Education serves as the Campaign's convener and coordinator.

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Less Education May lead to Delayed Awareness of Alzheimer's Onset

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A review of epidemiological data has found evidence that people who spend fewer years in school may experience a slight but statistically significant delay in the realization that they're having cognitive problems that could be Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reviewed data on 1,449 Alzheimer's patients from their center and 21,880 patients from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC), a collaboration of approximately 30 Alzheimer's disease research centers nationwide.

"We may have a group of people who are at risk for slightly delayed detection of Alzheimer's disease," says lead author Catherine Roe, Ph.D., a neurology research instructor at the ADRC.

In an earlier study of patients with a form of Alzheimer's disease linked to a genetic mutation, Roe and other Washington University researchers found patients with more years of education were likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier.

This suggested to the researchers that those with lower education levels may be slower to notice the early signs of disease, only going to see a specialist after their symptoms become impossible to ignore.

"People with higher education levels may be more likely to have a job or a hobby that highlights early cognitive impairment as well as better access to medical care," Roe says.

The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

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Project to Develop and Sustain New Methods To Improve Undergraduate Education: Goal is to Spark Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The Teagle Foundation and The Spencer Foundation today announced a funding commitment of $1,493,920 for a program based at Duke University in support of efforts to systematically strengthen undergraduate education at major research universities.

When the project is completed, it will offer valuable new insights into best pedagogical practices and help spark new interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

That requires continuous experiment and evaluation," said W. Robert Connor, president of the Teagle Foundation.

"Bob Thompson and his colleagues at Duke will bring leadership and insight to this process."

The participating faculty at ten major research universities, to be selected through a competitive process, will focus on teaching and learning initiatives that develop the core intellectual skills of a liberal education: writing and critical thinking.

Over a three-year period, the universities involved will develop initiatives that specify student learning outcomes, evaluate those outcomes and then use the results to revise and improve educational practices.

The project is to begin immediately, funded initially by a $493,920 grant to Duke University, and subsequently by $1,000,000 in grants to the ten participating campuses.

From the first, the Foundation has been dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to improvement in education.

The Foundation is thus committed to supporting high-quality investigation of education through its research programs and to strengthening and renewing the educational research community through its fellowship and training programs and related activities.

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Posted by Michael at 7:22 PM | TrackBack

U.S. Department of Labor Announces $1.25 Million to North Carolina to Help Trade-Affected Workers Pay for Health Insurance

From PR Newswire:

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1,250,000 National Emergency Grant to the state of North Carolina to help provide assistance in paying health insurance premiums to approximately 1,800 dislocated workers who are eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit.

The assistance is available through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Reform Act of 2002.

"This $1.25 million grant will help provide health care coverage for these workers as they transition to new careers," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

The TAA Reform Act of 2002 established mechanisms by which trade-certified individuals and members of other eligible groups can receive assistance to partially cover the costs of qualified health insurance coverage.

The primary mechanism is a federal tax credit administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Payments made through this grant will cover up to 65 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums during the one to three months required for the IRS to enroll, process and begin providing payments for eligible individuals.

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary of labor's discretionary fund and are awarded based on a state's ability to meet specific guidelines.

The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request.

Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations.

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Posted by Michael at 7:18 PM | TrackBack

Language Barriers in Health Care

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Approximately 47 million people in the United States speak a language other than English at home, and more than 21 million have problems speaking or understanding English, according to the 2000 census.

When seeking health care, patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) often have worse access to care and lower satisfaction levels compared with English speakers.

A special supplementary issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine (Nov. 2007), which includes three Commonwealth Fundsupported articles, examines language barriers in health care.

While it has been shown that interpreting for LEP individuals can improve doctor--patient communication and facilitate the delivery of high-quality care, little is known about the relative effectiveness of different interpreting methods.

The interpreter can be located in the room with the provider and patient (proximate interpretation), or outside the room and linked to the physician and patient via telecommunication (remote interpretation).

The authors find that "encounters were more accurately and quickly interpreted with RSMI than with the more commonly used methods" of remote consecutive medical interpreting, proximate consecutive medical interpreting, and proximate ad hoc interpreting (a common method that uses family or friends of patients or untrained hospital staff).

For example, the researchers' analysis shows the non-RSMI interpreting approaches were associated with a 12-fold greater rate of potential medical errors of moderate or greater clinical significance, compared with RSMI.

Patients with language-concordant providers received usual care.

In "Providing High-Quality Care for Limited English Proficient Patients: The Importance of Language Concordance and Interpreter Use," Quyen Ngo-Metzger, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, and colleagues find that LEP Chinese and Vietnamese patients in cities throughout the United States reported receiving less health education and worse interpersonal care when compared with patients with language-concordant providers.

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Posted by Michael at 7:09 PM | TrackBack

American Dental Association Honored for Older Adults Oral Health Program

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The Associations Advance America Awards program has named the American Dental Association (ADA) to its 2008 Honor Roll, a national awards competition for innovative projects sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives & The Center for Association Leadership, Washington, D.C.

It focuses on improving and maintaining good oral health for older adults throughout their lives.

The oral health initiative includes providing older adults, their families, caregivers and dental professionals with education and other free resources to increase the awareness of and need for better oral health.

It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase this activity as an example of the many contributions that associations are making to advance American society," said AAA's Committee Chair Matthew D'Uva, CAE, president of SOCAP International.

The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public's health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859.

The ADA's state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive.

The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer and professional products.

For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site at http://www.ada.org/.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.

AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press.

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Posted by Michael at 7:07 PM | TrackBack

ZERODIVIDE Raises $1,000,000 for Technology Programs in Underserved California Communities

From ZERODIVIDE:

AT&T is presenting its $1 million grant at an event attended by representatives from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, the California Public Utilities Commission and the San Francisco Mayor's office.

"We are pleased to be able to provide this support to ZeroDivide and its mission to bring technology and other resources to communities across California," said Ken McNeely, President, AT&T California.

"Our support for this organization goes back many years, and it gives us great pleasure to see the tremendous impact the Community Technology Foundation has had, and will continue to have now as ZeroDivide."

The Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), an independent media organization, will use ZeroDivide funding and support to create new media tools for other nonprofit organizations.

"Investment from ZeroDivide and corporations like AT&T, is critical to BAVC's ability to bring technological innovation and efficiency to non-profit organizations and the public sector," said Ken Ikeda, BAVC's Executive Director.

As a foundation, ZeroDivide provides more than just funding; through community, philanthropic and corporate partnerships, the organization helps nonprofits find new revenue sources to become more self-sustaining.

"Whether the divides are social, economic, political or cultural, technology can help overcome these divides.

By redefining the role of philanthropy, we are bridging the digital divide, reshaping communities and moving toward a ZeroDivide."

ZeroDivide(TM), formerly The Community Technology Foundation, invests in community enterprises that accelerate civic engagement and economic empowerment.

Founded in 1998, ZeroDivide operates a portfolio of innovative investments, initiatives and leadership programs through an array of partnerships with nonprofits, philanthropy and corporations.

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January 23, 2008

Education Politics - What's Fear Got to Do with It?

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

The education world is under more scrutiny than ever before.

Reports, political platforms, test result comparisons, and various articles in newspapers and magazines all criticize a field that just a generation or so ago was considered an unabashed American success.

Educators, students and parents each experience significant fear as it relates to the education system, fearing such things as job loss, testing, bullying, or poor educational quality.

The current special issue of Educational Policy, named the Politics of Education Association Yearbook, explores the use of fear in the politics of education and its impact.

"The 2008 Yearbook examines the underlying elements of fear in education politics, among groups, constituencies, and levels of government--as a way of understanding the dynamics of school change and reform in a complex post-modern society," commented Journal Editor Ana M. Martinez Aleman.

"This volume of the Politics of Education Yearbook covers some new ground in the field of the politics of education," write the guest editors in the introduction.

Politics of Education Yearbook, guest edited by Rick Ginsberg and Brice Cooper, is available at no charge for a limited time at http://epx.sagepub.com/content/vol22/issue1/.

Blending the best of educational research with the world of practice, the journal publishes articles about the practical consequences of policy decisions and alternatives, examining the relationship between educational policy and educational practice for educators, policy makers, administrators, researchers, and graduate students.

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets.

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What Role Do Teachers Play in America's Educational Crisis?

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

What role do teachers play in America's educational crisis?

A special issue of Public Finance Review, published by SAGE, examines those questions, addressing one critical dimension of the debates about educational quality and equity, namely, the role of teachers, focusing especially on the hiring and retention of qualified teachers -- even in disadvantaged districts.

Publishing these articles in a special issue of Public Finance Review is the end result of papers presented at "The Teacher Quality and Teacher Retention Conference," held at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in May 2005.

"Like the conference where we first heard the research presented," commented James Alm, journal editor, "this special issue represents an important addition to the policy discussion on how to improve education in the United States."

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets.

Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine.

A privately owned corporation, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore.

Public Finance Review is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to economic research, theory, and policy applications, focusing on a variety of allocation, distribution, and stabilization functions within the public sector economy.

It publishes rigorous empirical and theoretical information on public economic polices, examining and critiquing their impact and consequences, providing comprehensive coverage of the public sector economy today.

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Posted by Michael at 8:42 PM | TrackBack

A Good Fight May Keep You and Your Marriage Healthy

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A good fight with your spouse may be good for your health, research suggests.

Couples in which both the husband and wife suppress their anger when one attacks the other die earlier than members of couples where one or both partners express their anger and resolve the conflict, according to preliminary results of a University of Michigan study.

Researchers looked at 192 couples over 17 years and placed the couples into one of four categories: both partners communicate their anger; in the second and third groups one spouse expresses while the other suppresses; and both the husband and wife suppress their anger and brood, said Ernest Harburg, professor emeritus with the U-M School of Public Health and the Psychology Department, and lead author.

"Comparison between couples in which both people suppress their anger, and the three other types of couples, are very intriguing," Harburg said.

In 27 percent of those couples who both suppressed their anger, one member of the couple died during the study period, and in 23 percent of those couples both died during the study period.

The paper only looks at attacks which are considered unfair or undeserved by the person being attacked, said Harburg.

Harburg stresses that these preliminary numbers are small, but the researchers are now collecting 30-year follow-up data, which will have almost double the death rate, he said.

The paper, "Marital Pair Anger Coping Types May Act as an Entity to Affect Mortality: Preliminary Findings from a Prospective Study (Tecumseh, Michigan, 1971-88) will appear in January in the Journal of Family Communication.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health has been working to promote health and prevent disease since 1941, and is consistently ranked among the top five public health schools in the nation.

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Posted by Michael at 8:39 PM | TrackBack

Community Technology Foundation Changes Name to ZeroDivide

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Effective immediately, the Community Technology Foundation will be officially named ZeroDivide.

The Board of Directors made this decision in order to reflect the evolving strategy of the California-based foundation to help non-profit organizations overcome socio-economic barriers for communities in need.

ZeroDivide provides funding to foster community enterprises, which use technology to strengthen low income, minority and others in underserved communities.

"Whether the divides are social, economic, political or cultural, it is increasingly the case that technology can help overcome these divides, however, access to technology is just the starting point," said Tessie Guillermo, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Focused on funding innovative, entrepreneurial, and transformative grants in the areas of civic engagement and community asset building, ZeroDivide will invest its philanthropic resources in a portfolio of information and communications technology and focus on three technology areas: wireless access, mobile applications, and social media/networking.

For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.ZeroDivide.org.

ZeroDivide operates a portfolio of innovative grantmaking, initiatives and leadership programs through an array of partnerships with nonprofits, philanthropy and corporations.

Through engaged grantmaking, ZeroDivide invests in community enterprises that accelerate civic engagement and economic empowerment.

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Posted by Michael at 8:28 PM | TrackBack

1 out of 4 Children Involved in a Divorce Undergoes Parental Alienation Syndrome

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

In the 1980's, PAS was defined by scientist Richard Gardner of Columbia University.

Men are usually the target parent, since in most cases the mother has custody of the child.

According to Mª Rosario Cortés, "the so-called alienating parent is the one who has custody and uses it to brainwash the child, turning him or her against the alienated parent".

As pointed out by the group of researchers of the University of Granada, there are many other factors which influence PAS apart from the unacceptable attitude of the custodial parent, such as children's psychological vulnerability, the character and behaviour of parents, dynamics among brothers, or the existing conflicts between the two divorced parents.

Among other symptoms, Professor Cortés points out that children tend to find continual justifications for the alienating parent's attitude.

They denigrate the target parent, relate negative feelings unambivalently towards that parent, deny being influenced by anyone (pleading responsibility for their attitude), feel no guilt for denigrating the alienated parent, or recount events which were not experienced but rather came from listening to others.

The authors of Marital Conflicts, Divorce, and Children's Development, state that PAS is more frequent among children aged 9 to 12 than among teenagers, and that there are no relevant gender differences in PAS.

The professor of the UGR underlines that in every case of SAP, "the family must be provided with a family-mediation programme for equal treatment of all members affected by this problem, which is increasingly more frequent."

Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology of the University of Granada.

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Posted by Michael at 8:28 PM | TrackBack

Low-Income US Children Less Likely to Have Access to Qualified Teachers

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Children from low-income families in the United States do not have the same access to qualified teachers as do wealthier students, according to a University of Missouri study.

Compared to 46 countries, the United States had the fourth largest opportunity gap, the difference between students of high and low socioeconomic status in their access to qualified teachers.

Comparing eighth grade math teachers from around the world, the study defined highly qualified teachers as ones who have full certification, a degree in math or math education and at least three years of teaching experience.

"When students are not taught by highly qualified teachers, their opportunity to learn is considerably lower," said Motoko Akiba, assistant professor of educational leadership and policy analysis in the College of Education at MU.

29.7 percent of U.S. eighth grade math teachers did not major in mathematics or mathematics education; the international average is 13.2 percent.

60.3 percent of U.S. eighth graders are taught mathematics by teachers with full certification, who were mathematics or mathematics education majors and had at least three years of teaching experience; nearly 40 percent of U.S. eighth graders do not have access to highly qualified teachers.

The study supports No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) requirement of full certification and subject-specific preparation.

However, Akiba said NCLB's requirements will not be enough to close the opportunity gap without providing equal and continuous learning opportunities and resources for instructional improvement.

In high-poverty areas, districts may not have resources or the capacity to recruit highly qualified teachers.

The study "Teacher Quality, Opportunity Gap and National Achievement in 46 Countries," was published in the Educational Researcher.

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Posted by Michael at 8:26 PM | TrackBack

Parents Anonymous Inc. Honors 35th Anniversary of Jolly K's Courageous Testimony Before Congress; 2008 National Parent Leadership Month to Observe the Anniversary

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

A hush fell over the room when Jolly K. testified before Congress about her abusive behavior toward her child and how she successfully turned her life around through Parents Anonymous. She was considered by leading experts as the single most effective witness because her personal story humanized the problem of child maltreatment by focusing on effective prevention programs. This courageous testimony in 1973 ensured the passage of the first federal legislation to focus on prevention: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 (CAPTA). Her appearance, which was reported on nationwide television and in the Los Angeles Times, had a major impact on Congress and on public opinion. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 8:24 PM | TrackBack

Teen Pregnancy and Poverty: 30-Year-Study Confirms That Living in Economically-Depressed Neighborhoods, Not Teen Motherhood, Perpetuates Poverty

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

For the past 15 years, political pundits have been telling us a dark fairy tale about American teens, blaming America's high poverty rates on the actions of teenage girls who have babies out of wedlock.

But a new longitudinal study by Frank Furstenberg (University of Pennsylvania) shows that fairy tales have no place in the realm of policy-making. His data reveal that teen childbearing is NOT the reason that many Americans have been trapped in poverty over the past three decades.

For details and policy recommendations, please read Furstenberg's full briefing report, below, or at www.contemporaryfamilies.org.

The United States, one of the richest nations in the world, has higher poverty rates than any advanced Western country other than the former Soviet Union.

The teen mothers in Baltimore did better than most observers would have predicted in continuing their education, and did not fare substantially worse than their counterparts who postponed parenthood until their twenties.

This finding from my Baltimore study is supported by a growing body of research by economists, demographers, and sociologists.

They typically used the support that they received to return to school or invest time in childrearing when their children were young.

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We also feed news to major news retrieval database services, online publications and to developers of web sites and Intranets.

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Posted by Michael at 8:23 PM | TrackBack

Piper Trust Focuses on Maricopa Model for Living Last Third of Life

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has awarded grants that will move Maricopa County closer to creating a model for living the last third of life.

Grants totaling $3.7 million will go to promote civic engagement among older adults, enhance resources for children, build important skills at local nonprofit organizations and support new construction, among other efforts.

"The seeds planted in support of older adults at the very beginning of the Trust's competitive grantmaking in 2001 are bearing fruit," said Judy Jolley Mohraz, Ph.D., president and CEO of Piper Trust.

The new $250,000 grant will help determine how to link together the work of now many Maricopa County agencies interested in engaging older adults in paid or volunteer service to the community.

Community Services of Arizona, serving economically disadvantaged people in Chandler, Ariz., will use an $85,000 grant to implement a new way to serve meals to older adults at the Gilbert Community Center.

City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department is completing the renovation of the 1922 Memorial Hall building at Steele Indian School Park.

The ASU Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management will select up to 10 local consultants to work individually with about 20 nonprofits in developing fundraising work plans.

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Posted by Michael at 8:23 PM | TrackBack

Kids Learn More When Mom Is Listening

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Kids may roll their eyes when their mother asks them about their school day, but answering her may actually help them learn.

"We knew that children learn well with their moms or with a peer, but we did not know if that was because they were getting feedback and help," Bethany Rittle-Johnson, the study's lead author and assistant professor of psychology at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of education and human development, said.

Rittle-Johnson, along with co-authors Megan Saylor, assistant professor of psychology, and recent graduate Kathryn Swygert, set out to determine if 4- and 5-year-olds learn more when they have to explain the solution to a problem to someone else.

They were shown a series of plastic bugs, and then had to say which bug should come next in the series based on color and type of bug, a problem that is challenging for 4- and 5-year-olds.

The researchers found that explaining the answer to themselves and to their moms improved the children's ability to solve similar problems later, and that explaining the answer to their moms helped them solve more difficult problems.

"This is one of the first studies to examine whether or not explanation is useful in helping children under 8 apply what they've learned to a modification of a task," Rittle-Johnson said.

Rittle-Johnson and Saylor are Learning Sciences Institute and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigators.

Vanderbilt University's Peabody College was ranked as the No. 3 education school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in 2007.

We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 8:22 PM | TrackBack

January 21, 2008

Warnings of Steep Increase in Black Unemployment

From Economic Policy Institute:

As the nation prepares to commemorate Martin Luther King Day, the Economic Policy Institute warned that a national economic recession will result in disproportionately high unemployment rates for African Americans unless Congress enacts an emergency program to reduce joblessness and restore working people's purchasing power.

"When white America is in recession, black America is in an economic depression," declared Algernon Austin, director of EPI's Race, Ethnicity and the Economy program.

"The black unemployment rate is typically about double the white unemployment rate, and in the last two recessions, it rose faster than the overall unemployment rate.

This would be a social catastrophe as well as an economic calamity, with racial inequalities worsening, communities and families facing new stresses and strains, and the gains of recent decades eroding."

"What black America needs is what all of America needs: a stimulus package that will help average Americans and those with the most insecure jobs," Austin concluded.

The $140 billion program includes $40 billion in repairs on schools, bridges, highways, and environmental facilities; $30 billion in emergency assistance to state governments to avoid cutbacks in services and jobs and increases in taxes; and $5-10 billion for making jobless benefits available to the long-term unemployed.

For more information, see the new EPI Issue Brief, What a recession means for black America.

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January 20, 2008

California Flood Risks Are 'Disaster Waiting to Happen'

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

While flooding in California's Central Valley is "the next big disaster waiting to happen," water-related infrastructure issues confront almost every community across the country, according to engineers at the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering in separate reports to California officials and in the journal Science.

The panel's report, "A California Challenge: Flooding in the Central Valley," was commissioned by California's Department of Water Resources.

The panel pointed out that many of the area's levees, constructed over the past 150 years to protect communities and property in the Central Valley, were poorly built or placed on inadequate foundations.

The panel recommends that state and local officials take swift action to reduce the risk to people and the environment.

"The challenges that California faces are widespread across the nation," Galloway said.

Another civil engineering researcher from the Clark School, Dr. Lewis "Ed" Link, also served on the California panel.

They are looking strategically at measures that can create long-term solutions, a model for others to follow."

Galloway is also co-author of an article in the January 18, 2008 issue of Science -- "Aging Infrastructure and Ecosystem Restoration" -- which calls for the targeted decommissioning of deteriorated and obsolete infrastructure in order to support the restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Link and Galloway were prominent figures in the review of the levee system around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.

Galloway is a former brigadier general with the Army Corps of Engineers and has been part of the State of Louisiana review team looking at long-term plans for restoration of the Gulf Coast.

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Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut Airs First Presidential Get-Out- the-Vote Ad Aimed at Youth

From PR Newswire:

Pizza Hut is airing a new ad encouraging young Americans to get involved in the political process by voting for the next U.S. President.

Pizza Hut is the first company in this Presidential election to remind Americans to vote with the tagline, "It's your choice."

The new 30-second ad features two college students, one of whom is questioning whether he should vote in this year's Presidential election.

The other student stresses the importance of voting, and encourages the doubting student to let his voice be heard by voting, convincing him to cast his ballot.

This is the first time in Pizza Hut's 50-year history the company has run an ad to promote a public policy issue rather than promoting its pizza.

At a time when the number one issue in this election is the economy, we're using our new Pizza Mia ad to encourage everyone to vote and make sure their voice is heard," said Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut president.

"There's something about pizza and politics -- they just go hand-in-hand," Bergren said.

It will run in the Presidential primary states of South Carolina and Nevada just before the primaries, and on national network television.

The company's first political ad, which debuted during the Iowa Caucuses and featured snippets of each of the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates appearing on a debate stage together to address concerns about the economy.

It was the first time a company had used actual Presidential candidate snippets in a commercial ad, and was well-received by youth on blogs and social media sites.

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January 19, 2008

Applications to Vanderbilt Increase 30 Percent in One Year; Rise in Students From Under-Represented Groups Mirrors Overall Increase

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Students seeking admission to Vanderbilt University's fall 2008 freshman class rose 30 percent in one year, far exceeding past undergraduate application records.

The university saw a comparable increase among diverse populations as well as rises in all geographic regions, with the largest increases coming from outside the region, Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Douglas Christiansen said.

Every measure of academic quality is up - standardized tests, class ranking, high school GPA, and number taking Advance Placement, International Baccalaureate and honors courses."

The number of minority applicants increased almost as much - 28.7 percent - with the largest increase coming among Hispanics at 34 percent, followed by Asians at 29 percent, African Americans at 24 percent and American Indians at 17 percent.

Christiansen said the university has made a concerted effort in its recruitment programming and strategy to reach out to under-represented groups as well as students from throughout the world.

Applicants from other countries and from U.S. territories rose 76 percent from 653 to 1,168.

"Clearly the dramatic increase in students' interest in coming to Vanderbilt is a reflection of the trajectory we, as a university, are on - our faculty are internationally renowned, our reputation is growing as a welcoming environment, and our varied and innovative learning opportunities both within and outside the classroom are being recognized," Christiansen said.

We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.

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January 17, 2008

Fall Prevention Program Study For America's Seniors

From PR Newswire:

Bankers Life and Casualty Company has joined LifePlans, Inc. and the United States Department of Health and Human Services in implementing a study with senior Americans on fall prevention.

"Over thirty-percent of adults over age 65 fall each year, and falls are a leading cause of injury deaths and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries," said Scott Perry, president of Bankers, a health and life insurance company specializing in seniors.

"The majority of falls - which are preventable - occur at home and are a chief contributor to nursing home admissions and long-term care claim costs.

With the retirement of the Baby Boomers, the cost for providing long-term care will be a major expense for American households, insurers, states and the federal government.

The study, commencing in February 2008 and running two-to-four years, will include a sample of the insurer's long-term care policyholders.

LifePlans, which specializes in creating products and services for long- term care clients, spent three years researching and designing a model program with the Department of Health and Human Services, who will provide financial backing for the study.

Bankers Life and Casualty's participation in this project underscores their on-going commitment to better the lives of seniors through insurance products and programs."

"This very important program could significantly impact the quality of life for our customers," said John Wells, Senior Vice President of Long-Term Care for Conseco, Inc., Bankers' parent company.

The nationwide company, a subsidiary of Conseco, Inc., offers a broad portfolio of health and life insurance and retirement savings products designed especially for seniors.

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Do Today's Young people Really Think They Are so Extraordinary?

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

An article appearing in the February issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, found no evidence that today's young people have inflated impressions of themselves compared to the youth of previous generations.

Psychologist Kali Trzesniewski of the University of Western Ontario and her colleagues Brent Donnellan and Richard Robins measured narcissism --- a personality trait encompassing characteristics like arrogance, exhibitionism, and a sense of entitlement --- in over 25,000 college students from 1996 to 2007.

Levels of "self-enhancement" --- the tendency to hold unrealistically positive beliefs about the self --- were also assessed in a sample of high school seniors.

As with college students, the high school seniors showed no prominent increase on this component of narcissism.

"Today's youth seem to be no more narcissistic and self-aggrandizing than previous generations," write the authors.

The findings run counter to previous research and media reports claiming that narcissism has been steadily increasing among college students, leading some behavioral scientists to dub today's youth as "generation me."

But it appears, at least for now, that the youth of American have won a reprieve from being scolded as more aloof and self-involved than previous generations.

Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information.

For a copy of the article "Do Today's Young People Really Think They Are So Extraordinary" An Examination of Secular Trends in Narcissism and Self-Enhancement" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Catherine West at (202) 783-2077 or cwest@psychologicalscience.org.

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Shifting Trends Among Adults About Benefits, Consequences of Children Going Online

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The 2008 report of the Digital Future Project has identified several sobering trends in views about going online -- in particular in adults' opinions about Internet use by children.

- The percentage of adults who said that the children in their households spend too much time using the Internet reached 25 percent of respondents -- an increase for the third year in a row and the highest percentage yet reported in the seven years of Digital Future Project studies.

The findings about adult views of children's online behavior and more than 100 other issues are published by the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, the comprehensive annual examination conducted since 2000 on the impact of online technology on America.

The Digital Future Project found that the Internet is perceived by users to be a more important source of information for them -- this over all other principal media, including television, radio, newspapers, and books.

The Digital Future Project found profound social impact produced by growing participation in online communities.

More than half of online community members (54 percent) log into their community at least once a day, and 71 percent of members said their community is very important or extremely important to them.

For example, almost two-thirds of users (64 percent) agree that the Internet has become important for political campaigns, and more than half of users age 16 or older (55 percent) said that using the Internet allows people to better understand politics.

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January 16, 2008

Teens Confident in Their Inventiveness; Hands-On, Project-Based Learning Needed

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

American teens are confident they can invent solutions to some of the world's pressing challenges, such as protecting and restoring the natural environment, but more than half feel unprepared for careers in technology and engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index has found this year.

The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, which gauges Americans' attitudes toward invention and innovation, also found there is an important need for more project-based learning in high schools.

Nearly three out of four American teens (72 percent) believe technological inventions or innovations can solve some of our pressing environmental issues within the next decade, including global warming, water pollution and fossil fuel depletion.

This contrasts with only 38 percent of adults who believe they could invent something to help protect and restore the natural environment.

The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index found that more than half of American teens (59 percent) do not believe their high school is preparing them adequately for a career in technology and engineering.

"Learning to invent is really no different than learning to throw a touchdown pass or play the trombone," said Schuler, noting that 40 percent of the teens who are most confident in their ability to invent are most likely to believe their high school is preparing them for a career in technology or engineering.

Students need the opportunity to get their hands dirty and invent," he said.

"Generally speaking, there's not enough 'learning by doing' taking place in today's high schools, and our survey found that students recognize this."

A vast majority of teens (79 percent) believe there is value in hands-on, project-based science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and learning in high school.

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Posted by Michael at 10:25 PM | TrackBack

The Public's Views on Health Care Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election

From The Commonwealth Fund:

A Commonwealth Fund survey of adults age 19 and older, conducted from June 2007 to October 2007, finds that large majorities of the public, regardless of political affiliation or income level, say that the candidates' views on health care reform will be very important or somewhat important in their voting decision.

Moreover, they believe employers---long the cornerstone of the health insurance system---should retain responsibility for providing health insurance, or at least contribute financially to covering the country's working families.

A majority of adults would also favor a requirement that everyone have health insurance, with the government helping those who are unable to afford it; support for such a requirement, however, is not strong and varies by political affiliation, geographic region, and income.

There is overwhelming agreement that financing for health insurance coverage for all Americans should be a responsibility shared by employers, government, and individuals.

Also read a related report, Envisioning the Future: The 2008 Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Proposals.

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Posted by Michael at 10:11 PM | TrackBack

Community Action Agencies Welcome Low-Income Heating Assistance

From PR Newswire: Government and Policy:

The nation's Community Action Agencies welcomed today's news from Washington that more funds are on the way to help low- and moderate-income Americans pay their rising energy bills.

President Bush released $450 million from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) contingency fund, which Community Action Agencies across the country will deliver to energy consumers in their communities.

David Bradley, executive director of the National Community Action Foundation, which represents the nation's 1,100 Community Action Agencies in Washington, called the increment a "good down-payment on the ballooning debt Americans owe energy suppliers."

"Community Action Agencies all across the nation are struggling to help millions of energy consumers whose wages or pensions are not adequate to keep their homes warm and safe," Bradley said.

"We are grateful to the bipartisan group of Senate and House leaders that has carried our case to the President.

According to Bradley, 37 million low- and moderate-income households need more than $62 billion to keep their heat and lights on this year.

That is money not used to buy food, medicine and other necessities.

Community Action Agencies report that this year they are getting applications from families that have never before asked for help."

National Community Action Foundation is supporting passage of Independent Vermont Sen.

Bernard Sanders' Keeping Americans Warm Act, Senate Bill 2405, to provide $800 million or more in emergency energy appropriations.

Visit http://www.ncaf.org/press for a state-by-state LIHEAP funding chart and for forecasts for low-income consumers' 2008 energy bills.

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Posted by Michael at 10:10 PM | TrackBack

HHS Provides $450 Million in Energy Assistance to Low-Income Families

From PR Newswire:

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the release of $450 million to help eligible low-income homeowners and renters meet home energy costs.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds will provide states, territories, tribal areas and the District of Columbia with heating assistance for the winter months ahead.

"Shelter is a basic human need," Secretary Leavitt said.

"These funds will enable states to make sure no one is left out in the cold."

LIHEAP helps eligible families pay for home cooling, heating and insulation in summer and winter months.

Every year, more than five million low-income households across the country receive assistance under LIHEAP.

"The Bush Administration is committed to protecting the vulnerable," Daniel Schneider, acting assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families said.

"This new release of funds will further ensure our low-income neighbors are able to keep warm no matter how cold winter becomes."

Including block grant allocations, the money released today through the LIHEAP contingency fund brings the total delivered to approximately $2.22 billion this fiscal year.

$160 million remains available for unanticipated events in the emergency contingency fund.

Individuals interested in applying for energy assistance should contact their local/state LIHEAP agency.

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Posted by Michael at 10:10 PM | TrackBack

759,000 Children with Asthma Endure Gaps in Insurance Every Year

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Every year, 759,000 children with asthma may be at risk of a major asthma attack while they have no health insurance.

About 30 percent of those families earn more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, putting them above the threshold for the state children's health insurance program in most states.

"Too many children with this chronic condition are without insurance at some point during the year," said Jill Halterman, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester and author of the study that appears in Ambulatory Pediatrics today.

"These children need to have ongoing treatment from a primary care provider to avoid serious health complications.

Those same children were 14 times more likely to have had an unmet need for medication than children with private insurance.

The study, which is an analysis of data from the National Survey of Children's Health (conducted by the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics between January 2003 and July 2004), also showed that many children with asthma were not seeing a regular physician often enough.

More than one-third of parents of children who had lost insurance and about half of parents of children with no insurance for a full year said their child hadn't seen a personal doctor for preventive care in the past year.

Children with asthma need even more consistent care to prevent asthma attacks and other related illnesses.

No differences were found between children with private and public insurance, when it came to unmet needs, discontinuity in care or poor access.

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Posted by Michael at 10:05 PM | TrackBack

Sense of Personal Control Influences Latinas' Decisions about Sexual Debut

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A sense of personal control over sexual behaviors strongly influences Latina women's decisions of when to first engage in sex, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

This suggests that Latina women's own beliefs regarding timing of first sexual intercourse may outweigh the influence of family, friends, and partners.

The study also revealed a high correlation between a young Latina's decision about when to first initiate sexual activity and her family's expectations.

"Both personal control and family expectations had a very important role in delaying early initiation of sex," said study author Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH, section chief of Family Planning at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Gilliam and colleagues conducted seven focus groups to determine survey questions most relevant to the culture and experience of the young Latina population.

The age at the time of sexual initiation ranged from 12 to 24 with 16.15 years as the mean.

The study also found a strong correlation with the young woman's mother's age at first pregnancy and the age of the young woman's first sexual partner.

Statistics from previous studies show that compared to African-American and white adolescents, the Latina population has higher rates of teen pregnancy despite lower rates of sexual activity, and they are less likely to use contraception the first time they have sex.

Many times researchers presuppose the questions that should be asked and design questionnaires based on those suppositions, said Gilliam, whose work identifies populations most at risk for unintended pregnancy and ways to improve education.

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Posted by Michael at 10:03 PM | TrackBack

UNC, Duke Lead First Statewide Shaken Baby Prevention Research Project in US

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Child abuse prevention experts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Injury Prevention Research Center and School of Medicine and Duke University Medical Center will undertake a $7 million statewide shaken baby prevention project.

The project, the largest and most comprehensive in the country, is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Duke Endowment and is led by a broad coalition of stakeholders from the National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome, University of British Columbia and state and county agencies, service providers and non-profit organizations.

It is designed to reach the parents of every baby born each year in North Carolina with the goal of significantly reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur when frustrated caregivers shake crying babies.

Of those, 10 die and the other 27 suffer serious long-term health problems such as mental retardation, blindness, or cerebral palsy as a result," Runyan said.

"As a pediatrician and a long-standing member of the N.C. Child Fatality Task Force, I know how devastating shaking a baby can be -- to the infant and to the family.

North Carolina's project plans to provide every parent of the approximately 125,000 babies born in the state annually with an intervention program called "The Period of PURPLE Crying," which was developed by Dr. Ron Barr, a professor of community child health research and a developmental pediatrician at the University of British Columbia, and Marilyn Barr, founder and executive director of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided a five-year, $2.9 million grant and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation provided a $2 million grant, both to the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center.

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Posted by Michael at 10:02 PM | TrackBack

Researchers Find Association between Food Insecurity and Developmental Risk in Children

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC), in collaboration with researchers from Arkansas, Maryland, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, have found that children living in households with food insecurity, are more likely to be at developmental risk during their first three years of life, compared to similar households that are not food insecure.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 16.7 percent of all U.S. households with children less than six years of age had food insecurity in 2005, reporting limited or uncertain availability of enough food for an active healthy life.

The target child from each household was weighed and weight-for-age score was calculated.

Household food insecurity, (with or without the report of family hunger), even in the presence of appropriate weight-for age, is an important risk factor for the health, development and behavior of children less than three years of age.

"Providing nutritional and developmental interventions to young children and their families is a proactive step that might decrease the need for later, more extensive interventions for developmentally or behaviorally impaired children of school age," said lead author Ruth Rose-Jacobs, ScD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at BUSM and a research scientist at BMC.

"Interventions for food insecurity and developmental risk are available and overall have been successful.

Linking families to the Food Stamp Program and/or the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is an important intervention that should be recommended if indicated by risk surveillance or developmental screening," she adds.

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No Child Left Behind: Researcher Finds Misplaced Focus on High-Stakes Testing

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

New research by University of Maryland Education Associate Professor Linda Valli provides clear evidence that the No Child Left Behind Act's focus on high-stakes testing has "actually undermined the quality of teaching in reading and math."

Valli says that declines her research found in high quality teaching are directly related to "the pressure teachers were feeling to 'teach to the test'.

In a recent interview by the College of Education's Bruce Jacobs, Valli talked about her research and recent appointment as the inaugural holder of the Jeffrey and David Mullan Professorship in Teacher Education-Professional Development at the University of Maryland.

I am now finishing up a five-year study on fourth and fifth grade reading and math instruction, trying to better understand what good teachers do to help students who are struggling at grade level.

I will use my new professorship to work with my colleagues here in the department to create computer-simulated experiences of teacher learning - classroom scenarios where pre-service teachers would have to decide what to do based on teacher theory and best practices.

We started planning the study in 2000, before the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the subsequent emphasis on testing.

The task for teacher educators is to help teachers meet these new challenges in ways that are healthy for both them and their students.

It is increasingly important for us to help teachers create supportive communities in their schools, to involve parents and to find oases of support among other teachers and administrators.

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Posted by Michael at 1:01 AM | TrackBack

January 15, 2008

Health Care Reform and 2008 Elections: New Reports Examine Candidates' Plans, Public's Views

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Eighty-one percent of Americans believe that in order to help reach the goal of health insurance for all, employers should either provide health insurance to their workers or contribute to the cost of their coverage, according to survey data released today by The Commonwealth Fund.

Nearly nine of 10 (88%) Democrats, nearly three-quarters (73%) of Republicans, and nearly four of five (79%) Independents would support such an employer "play or pay" requirement.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans favor such a proposal, with 80 percent of Democrats in support, and more than half of Republicans (52%) and two-thirds of Independents (68%) in favor, according to a report on the survey findings, The Public's Views on Health Care Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election.

The Commonwealth Fund today also released a report that describes and evaluates the Presidential candidates' health reform plans.

The analysis found that both leading Democratic and Republican candidates seek to expand health coverage through the private insurance market, but the leading Democratic candidates would require employers to continue participating in the health insurance system either by providing coverage directly or contributing to the cost of their employees' coverage, whereas the Republicans support changes in the tax code that have the potential to significantly reduce the role of employers in the provision and financing of health insurance.

"In some ways, the Republican proposals seek bigger changes to the way most people currently obtain coverage," said lead author Sara Collins, Assistant Vice President at The Commonwealth Fund.

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Posted by Michael at 9:14 PM | TrackBack

TV Show To Examine No Child Left Behind's Six Years Of Progress

From Education Newsfeed:

Marking the sixth anniversary of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act, the U.S. Department of Education's monthly TV show, Education News Parents Can Use, will explore progress in American education under the act with examples of achievement gains, parental choice options and award-winning schools.

The program will air from 8 to 9 p.m. ET tonight on the Dish Network, dozens of PBS stations and numerous cable outlets.

Others, including The Learning Channel, will broadcast the show on a tape-delayed basis.

-- What are the core principles of the law and what do they mean?

-- How can the reforms of the law be extended to high school and beyond, and why is this important to American competitiveness?

-- What kinds of options does No Child Left Behind offer to parents, especially those of students struggling in school?

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will open the show with a taped greeting, followed by a live appearance by Deputy Secretary Simon, the Education Department's No. 2 official who oversees the key program offices that administer No Child Left Behind.

Also on hand will be Blue Ribbon School Principals Jennifer K. Moore of J.E.B. Stuart Elementary in Richmond, Va., Patricia Hunter of Maple Elementary in Seattle and Matthew Devan of Viers Mill Elementary in Rockville, Md.

The final segment, entitled, "What Parents Need to Know About Preparing for and Excelling in School," will feature Mike Hudson, president of the National Center for Educational Accountability/Just for the Kids and Gerard Robinson, president of Black Alliance for Educational Options.

The Education News Parents Can Use TV series airs monthly during the school year.

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Posted by Michael at 9:13 PM | TrackBack

Substance Abuse Among the Developmentally Disabled: An Infrequent But Troubling Concern for Society

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

While mentally retarded or developmentally disabled people may be as vulnerable to substance abuse as the population at large, common approaches for substance abuse treatment often conflict with standard practice in managing MR/DD needs.

This important issue is examined in a thoroughly research report contained in the latest issue of Families in Society, a scholarly journal for social services and health professionals.

The journal, published by the Alliance for Children and Families, notes that, while overall prevalence of substance abuse (SA) within the mental retardation/developmental disability (MR/DD) population is low, the potential for increased risk of vulnerability and consequences (such as being victimized while under the influence) raise the weight of the issue as a societal concern.

Author Elspeth Slayter reports in "Substance Abuse and Mental Retardation" that mentally retarded and developmentally disabled people tend to be less able to assess their substance abuse problems, to find information, and to seek SA treatment, compared with the public at large.

A lack of empirical research and communication gaps in the social service system prevent these special needs clients from receiving the unique assistance they need to overcome SA issues, she adds.

The publication - available in print, CD-ROM, and online - represents the largest single edition of the journal ever produced in its 88 years of publication.

The Alliance for Children and Families is the nation's largest association of private, nonprofit human service agencies and organizations.

AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press.

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Posted by Michael at 9:08 PM | TrackBack

Mothers' Stress May Increase Children's Asthma

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
Children whose mothers are chronically stressed during their early years have a higher asthma rate than their peers, regardless of their income, gender or other known asthma risk factors.

"Evidence is emerging that exposure to maternal distress in early life plays a causal role in the development of childhood asthma.

The findings appeared in the second issue for January of the American Journal or Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.

Dr. Kozyrskyj and her colleagues analyzed the medical records of nearly 14,000 children born in Manitoba in 1995 who were continuously registered with Manitoba Health Services until 2003.

They determined whether the children had current asthma at age seven by analyzing records of doctor visits, hospitalizations and medications in the year of the child's seventh birthday, and related it to maternal distress as defined by doctor visits, hospitalizations and medication for depression and anxiety.

Maternal distress was categorized according to onset and duration into four categories: no distress, postpartum distress only, short-term distress and long-term distress.

"Unlike existing studies that have measured maternal stress during the first few years only, the longitudinal nature of our health care study enabled us to characterize maternal distress over time to identify whether it continued," said Dr. Kozyrskyj.

Even after controlling for the known risk factors of male gender, maternal asthma, urban location and total health care visits, long-term maternal stress was associated with an increase of nearly a third in the prevalence childhood asthma.

This is the first study of a non-high-risk cohort of children to report an association with childhood asthma.

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Posted by Michael at 9:05 PM | TrackBack

New Resources Offered To Rural Homelessness Organizations

From: Housing Assistance Council:

A new Rural Homelessness Capacity Building program launched this month will support the work of faith-based and community-based organizations serving homeless populations in rural America.

"Many small rural community organizations just don't have the funding, networks, and information they need in order to help their homeless neighbors," explained Moises Loza, executive director of the Housing Assistance Council, which created the new program.

"Through the Rural Homelessness Capacity Building program, they can access tools and resources that will enable them to better serve homeless people."

One-on-one technical assistance, audio web trainings, and online information will be available for rural homelessness provider organizations over the course of the three-year initiative.

Selected organizations working in high need communities will also receive for grants to pursue training opportunities, purchase equipment, or undertake other activities that will improve their ability to meet the needs of homeless people in their areas.

RHCB is funded by a Department of Health and Human Services Compassion Capital Fund grant.

The Housing Assistance Council is operating it with help from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

For more information about the program, visit www.ruralhome.org/rhcbindex2.php or contact RHCB staff at 1-877-842-RHCB or RHCBinfo@ruralhome.org.

Founded in 1971, the Housing Assistance Council is a national nonprofit corporation headquartered in Washington, D.C. that helps local organizations build affordable homes in rural America by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, research, training, and information services.

HAC's programs focus on local solutions, empowerment of the poor, reduced dependency, and self-help strategies.

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Posted by Michael at 2:07 PM | TrackBack

January 14, 2008

Weight-loss Tips Differ in African-American, Mainstream Magazines

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Magazines catering to African-Americans may be falling short in their efforts to educate readers about weight loss, a new University of Iowa study suggests.

African-American women's magazines are more likely to encourage fad diets and reliance on faith to lose weight, while mainstream women's magazines focus more on evidence-based diet strategies, according to the study by UI researcher Shelly Campo, published in a recent issue of the journal Health Communication.

"Three-quarters of African-American women are considered overweight or obese, compared to one-third of all U.S. women," said Campo, an assistant UI professor with appointments in community and behavioral health in the College of Public Health and communication studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

"African-American magazines tend to embrace a mission of advocacy for the African-American community, but if you're not covering evidence-based weight-loss strategies, you're not really helping your community."

The magazines suggested many of the same weight-loss strategies, but mainstream magazines were twice as likely to suggest eating more whole grains and protein, smaller portions, and low-fat foods.

Mainstream magazines offered more strategies per article than African-American magazines.

And, while mainstream magazines increased fitness and nutrition coverage during the second decade as the severity of the obesity epidemic unfolded, African-American magazines did not.

The first study showed that food and nonalcoholic beverage ads outnumbered fitness and nutrition articles 16 to 1 in Ebony, Essence and Jet between 1984 and 2004.

African-Americans represent at least 90 percent of the readership of Ebony, Essence and Jet, but 11 percent or less of Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping and Ladies' Home Journal.

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Posted by Michael at 9:29 PM | TrackBack

Health Literacy Practices in Primary Care Settings: Examples From the Field

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Low health literacy is widespread among U.S. patients, yet limited research has been done to assess the effects of health literacy practices designed to combat the problem, particularly among safety-net providers in primary care settings.

This report presents findings from a 2005 study in which the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved first did an online survey of health care facilities across the country and then followed it up with visits to five selected sites for staff and patient interviews.

The study identified five health literacy practices that staff considered especially valuable for their group's patients and potentially applicable to other clinics: a team effort, beginning at the front desk; use of standardized communication tools; use of plain language, face-to-face communication, pictorials, and educational materials; clinicians partner with patients to achieve goals; and organizational commitment to create an environment where health literacy is not assumed.

Patients with low health literacy are at greater risk of misunderstanding treatment recommendations, having problems in accurately taking prescription medications, and experiencing lower health status and poorer health outcomes.

Although low health literacy can affect all populations, it is a particular problem among those of modest financial means, many of whom are older adults or people with limited education or English proficiency.

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Posted by Michael at 9:27 PM | TrackBack

Negative Campaign Ads Contribute to a Healthy Democracy

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Political attack ads, widely demonized by pundits and politicians, are instead a kind of multi-vitamin for the democratic process, sparking voters' interest and participation, according to a new book co-authored by University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Kenneth Goldstein.

"There's this gut reaction that if a political advertisement is negative, it must have a deleterious affect on American politics," says Goldstein.

The book, "Campaign Advertising and American Democracy," published by Temple University Press, pokes holes in the prevailing wisdom that negative ads are bad for democracy and tend to suppress voter involvement.

The authors analyzed mountains of data, including ad buys, advertising content, voter surveys, and election results, and consistently found that the advertisements that had the most pronounced effect on voters were negative ads.

Goldstein directs the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which tracks and catalogs political ads and which was a major source of the data used in the book.

He says negative ads are designed to teach, while positive ads many times are designed to play on voters' emotions.

Goldstein's co-authors include Michael Franz, assistant professor of government and legal studies at Bowdoin College; Travis Ridout, assistant professor of political science at Washington State University; and Paul Freedman, associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

"It's for the same reason why when you heard there was a fight behind the school in the seventh grade, you went," Goldstein says.

"For those people who aren't getting information from the news, that ad can be a shortcut and cue to go out and search for other information," Goldstein says.

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Posted by Michael at 9:26 PM | TrackBack

Strategy for an Economic Rebound

From Economic Policy Institute:

Because the United States is either already in a recession or is headed for one, policy makers need to act now to craft an effective economic stimulus package to spur growth and job creation.

Without a stimulus of sufficient magnitude, the U.S. economy is likely to see a decline in growth or even a formal recession, leading to higher unemployment, declining or stagnant wages, and a host of other economic problems.

A package that provides $140 billion of stimulus--1% of GDP--would begin to reverse our economic course by creating an additional 1.4 to 1.7 million jobs. EPI unveils a broad-based, three-part prescription for stimulating the economy in its new Briefing Paper, Strategy for Economic Rebound--Smart Stimulus to Counter the Economic Slowdown.

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Posted by Michael at 9:23 PM | TrackBack

New Book Explores History of Racism in America

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The origins and development of racism in North America are traced in a new book by St. Lawrence University Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Richard J. Perry.

"'Race' and Racism: The Development of Modern Racism in America" was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The book explores the diverse ways in which people in a variety of cultures have perceived, categorized and defined one another without reference to any concept of "race."

In the book, Perry examines the inception and persistence of the concept of "race," and discusses the biology of human variance, addressing the fossil record of human evolution.

University of Michigan Professor of Anthropology C. Loring Brace, curator of biological anthropology at the University of Michigan's Museum of Anthropology, says of "'Race' and Racism," "Perry clearly understands that 'race' has no scientific basis, and his treatment of racism throughout is admirable.

Perry retired from St. Lawrence, in Canton, New York, in 2004, after being on the faculty since 1971.

Perry has done field work on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona and co-directed the St. Lawrence University Kenya Semester program.

He is the author of four other books, "Western Apache Heritage"; "Apache Reservation"; "From Time Immemorial: Indigenous Peoples and State Systems"; and "Five Key Concepts in Anthropological Thinking."

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Posted by Michael at 9:23 PM | TrackBack

What Are the Causes and Consequences of Childhood Obesity?

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

The January 2008 special issue of The Annals, published by SAGE, explores the problem of obesity in the young, providing kids, their parents and caregivers a road map for a healthier lifestyle both for them and for future generations.

"Clearly we need to help the 9 million children in this country who are overweight, and we need to do it now," writes Amy Jordan, Guest Editor, author, and director of the Media and the Developing Child sector of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

"The authors in this special issue provide a research agenda that, if implemented, will continue the interdisciplinary approach we have taken to understand the problem of childhood overweight and obesity and the collective effort we will need to solve it."

The Annals is the official bimonthly journal of The American Academy of Political and Social Science, which was created in 1889 to promote the progress of the social sciences.

It did so by creating a forum in which research on contemporary political, economic, and social issues could help inform public policy as well as enlighten the intellectually curious.

Each volume is guest edited by outstanding scholars and presents timely, in-depth research on a significant topic of concern.

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January 10, 2008

Pennsylvania Gov. Commits Nearly $5 Million to Spur Economic Growth in 5 Counties

From PR Newswire: Government and Policy:

Governor Edward G. Rendell today said a new $5 million investment by the commonwealth will result in the creation and retention of nearly 400 jobs in five counties.

The low-interest loans from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority will: help seven projects -- primarily with companies in the manufacturing industry; leverage more than $8.6 million in private sector funding; and add more than 250,000 square feet of infrastructure.

"Through PIDA, we are able to partner with companies to improve their short- and long-term growth, foster statewide economic development and job creation, and ensure Pennsylvania's competitiveness in the global economy."

A.E. Real Estate, beneficial-owner of polysilicon manufacturer AE Polysilicon Corporation, will receive a $2.25 million PIDA loan to renovate and expand a building in Falls Township.

Relocating from New Jersey, the company will house its global headquarters in its new 16,000-square-foot facility.

The $5.8 million project is expected to create 145 new jobs.

The Bucks County Economic Development Corporation is the sponsor of this project.

Upon completion of the 17,000-square-foot facility, all 21 employees will be transferred to the new site.

Welch Phoenixville LLC, beneficial-owner of biotechnology companies Mitos Technologies, Mito Molding and Mitos BioSystems, will receive a $642,177 PIDA loan for enhancements to a new facility in Upper Providence Township.

The Montgomery County Industrial Development Corporation is sponsoring this $2.1 million project.

The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses.

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Posted by Michael at 6:09 PM | TrackBack

For Nutrition Info, Moms Like the Web Best

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A Web site is a better source of information on nutrition than a video game or printed pamphlet, according to a study of low-income mothers reported in the January issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (http://www.jneb.org/).

One group played a video game in which a series of entertaining activities were used to communicate nutrition facts.

Other groups received the same information in a Web site format or a printed pamphlet.

Responses suggested that the mothers liked the Web site format best. They paid more attention to information presented on the Web site and understood it better. They were also more likely to say they would go back to the Web site for nutrition information, compared to the video game or pamphlet.

"Nutrition literacy" scores were higher for women who viewed the Web site. On follow-up testing two weeks later, mothers assigned to the Web site were no more likely to retain the information than those who saw the other two formats.

Video games seem to be a promising "edu-tainment" approach to communicating health information---the game holds the person's attention while communicating the health message.

The researchers conclude, "Future interventions that integrate media need to consider how people use media in addition to what media they use."

The purpose of JNEB is to document and disseminate original research, emerging issues and practices relevant to nutrition education and behavior worldwide.

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Posted by Michael at 6:01 PM | TrackBack

Teens Getting Help for Suicidal Behavior from an Online Community

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

According to a University of Alberta researcher, teens are difficult to reach and there have traditionally been few services that directly target adolescent suicidal behavior.

Elaine Greidanus says many teens aren't picking up a phone, or seeing a counsellor, they're more likely logging on for emotional support.

Greidanus, a grad student in Educational Psychology, did a study to see how helpful cyber support really is.

Trained volunteers, who helped the adolescents, would write messages including: "It sounds like you are experiencing a lot of pain right now," "What are some things that give you strength in your life"" and "If you read some of the other threads, you may be surprised that several people have similar feelings."

Greidanus also found that volunteers would frequently suggest specific resources including local telephone distress lines or talking to a counsellor.

Not only would the teens get advice from the site volunteers but from other adolescents who were online.

She found these messages helped the participants develop a relationship and a sense of community with their peers.

Understanding how adolescents interact and communicate with each other on the internet can open new channels for connecting with distressed youth.

Everall says it's encouraging to know that well designed and monitored cyber communities are being used.

Greidanus' research found the teens emphasized the importance of expressing their thoughts and feelings to a community who understood, suggesting the online community created an opportunity to seek and receive social support they would not otherwise have.

She also found several of the participants who initially began asking for support, began writing to support others.

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Posted by Michael at 5:59 PM | TrackBack

Eat Less or Exercise More? Either Way Leads to More Youthful Hearts

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"They're virtually guaranteed that it will have a salutary effect on their cardiovascular system."

Studying a group of healthy, overweight but not obese, middle-aged men and women, the researchers found that a yearlong regimen of either calorie restriction or exercise increase had positive effects on heart function.

Their analysis revealed that heart function was restored to a more youthful state so that during the heart's filling phase (called diastole) it took less time for participants' hearts to relax and fill with blood.

"During filling, the left ventricle is a suction pump," Kovács explains.

Similarly, the heart's muscle and connective tissue are elastic, and after ejecting blood to the body during contraction (systole), the left ventricle springs back to draw in new blood (diastole).

By the end of the yearlong study, both the calorie restriction and exercise groups of volunteers lost 12 percent of their weight and 12 percent of their body mass index (BMI), a measurement considered to be a fairly reliable indicator of the amount of body fat.

Cardiologists can measure delicate alterations in diastolic function because of the work of Kovács, also professor of cell biology and physiology and adjunct professor of physics and of biomedical engineering, who developed a methodology called parameterized diastolic filling (PDF) formalism, which analyzes the filling of the heart according to physical laws and determines the chamber's elasticity and stiffness.

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Posted by Michael at 5:59 PM | TrackBack

Location of Business by Women Entrepreneurs Leads to Lost Economic Opportunities

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Greater family responsibilities and feeling shut out of "the old boys' club" can lead women entrepreneurs to locate their businesses away from a city's economic hub and closer to home, a recent paper has found.

But this phenomenon also leads to a type of business segregation similar to housing patterns for blacks and whites, resulting in lost economic opportunity.

The decision to run a business closer to home because a woman wants to spend more time with her children is a reasonable choice most would defend.

To locate closer to home because of exclusion from business networks "is a negative segregation process that makes the whole country poorer," says paper co-author William Strange, a professor of real estate and economics at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

The paper is the first to identify gender differences in where female and male entrepreneurs choose to locate their businesses.

Located in the world's most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions.

The School is currently raising $200 million to ensure Canada has the world-class business school it deserves.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 5:57 PM | TrackBack

Education Nonprofit GLOBIO Receives Google Grant

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

GLOBIO, an education nonprofit based in Portland, Ore., that serves children in homes and schools around the state and across the world, announced today that it has been awarded a Google Grant.

The Google Grants program helps registered nonprofit organizations leverage the power of Google AdWordsT advertising to engage and inform their online constituents.

"We are thrilled with this opportunity to get our message out to a targeted audience of Google users," stated Gerry Ellis, who founded GLOBIO in 2001 to develop online resources and learning activities that increase children's interest in and understanding of our world.

GLOBIO will focus its efforts on keywords that direct traffic to its main program, Glossopedia, a free, multimedia, online interactive online encyclopedia where children age 7-12 can explore their interest in nature, people, and places.

GLOBIO releases new articles each month through a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation and provides free online content to complement articles in National Wildlife Federation's award-winning Ranger Rick magazine.

GLOBIO is an education nonprofit organization that develops online resources and learning activities that increase children's interest in and understanding of our world, encouraging them to become better global citizens and environmental stewards who make healthy choices and use natural resources wisely.

GLOBIO's main program, Glossopedia, is a free online encyclopedia of life where children age 7-12 can explore their interest in nature, people, and places.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Preventing Child Abuse and Strengthening Families are Focus of National Parent Leadership Month

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

February has been designated National Parent Leadership Month (NPLM) by Parents Anonymous(r) Inc., the nation's oldest child abuse prevention organization. Now in its fourth year, NPLM was created as a means of educating the public about the importance of Parent Leadership in preventing child abuse and neglect.

"Parent Leadership is an essential ingredient in all effective family strengthening and family support programs," says Dr. Lisa Pion-Berlin, president and CEO of Parents Anonymous Inc. "Better outcomes for families are achieved when parents have the opportunity to use their expertise through meaningful and active roles in the planning, implementation, oversight and evaluation of programs that affect families and children. Parents find themselves achieving things that seemed impossible before."

Headquartered in Claremont, Calif., Parents Anonymous Inc. is the nation's premier family-strengthening organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The organization has helped millions of parents and their children create positive long-term changes through its evidence-based Parents Anonymous Programs.

A new National Outcome Study, conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, demonstrates that Parents Anonymous is an evidence-based program that prevents child abuse and neglect. Read more from this post.

Posted by Michael at 5:56 PM | TrackBack

Alinsky, Clinton, Obama

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

The principal difference between Hillary and Obama is not race or gender at all, but Saul Alinsky.

I overstate the case, but it is worth noting that where Clinton wrote her thesis on Alinsky's organizational theory, Obama lived it. Where he rejected it as "quaint" and moved on to law school and hitched her wagon to Bill's star, Obama went to the church basements of Chicago; that experience brought him to prominence at Harvard. Hillary became a master of the knife fight, Obama guerilla warfare. Hillary's weapon is influence, Obama's is people.

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Posted by Michael at 3:34 PM | TrackBack

U.S. Department of Education Seeks Nominations for American Stars of Teaching

From Education Newsfeed:

The U.S. Department of Education is seeking nominations for its fifth annual American Stars of Teaching project, which recognizes exemplary teachers who raise student achievement, use innovative classroom strategies and make a difference in their students' lives, Secretary Margaret Spellings announced today.

"The American Stars of Teaching are but a fraction of the committed teachers across the country who spend the time, effort and energy necessary to ensure the academic success of every student," said Spellings.

"Recognizing these teachers is a small way to show our gratitude for making a difference in the lives of students."

Its overall goal is to engage some of the nation's best teachers and practitioners in sharing strategies for raising student achievement and informing teachers of the latest successful research-based practices.

The initiative also includes regional and district summer workshops for teachers, roundtables, regular e-mail updates, digital learning and other professional development opportunities.

One teacher will be recognized from every state and the District of Columbia.

Colleagues, parents, students, school administrators or members of the community may nominate a teacher they believe has demonstrated the skills, talents and qualities that personify an American Star of Teaching.

Last year the Department received more than 4,000 nominations for the program.

Honorees were selected by a committee composed of former K-12 teachers who now work for the U.S. Department of Education.

As in the past, Education Department officials will again visit the schools of American Star teachers to congratulate them on their success.

Nominations for American Stars must be submitted to the Department by March 31.

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Posted by Michael at 12:45 AM | TrackBack

Census Bureau Releases Poverty Estimates for States, Counties and School Districts

From PR Newswire:

The U.S. Census Bureau today released 2005 poverty estimates for each of the nation's almost 14,000 Title I-eligible school districts.

The estimates are produced in order for the Department of Education to implement provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The school district data, part of the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, are contained in data tables showing the number of poor children ages 5 to 17 in families.

The tables also contain 2005 state- and county-level estimates of median household income and the total number of poor children younger than 18, related children between 5 and 17 in families; and for states, through age 4.

Included as well are estimates of the total number of people of all ages in poverty in states and counties.

These estimates are the only source of income and poverty data for counties and poverty statistics for school districts with populations of less than 65,000.

The estimate tabulations, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, are one of the criteria used to allocate federal funds to local jurisdictions.

The Census Bureau has, for the first time, produced the estimates by using results from its American Community Survey (ACS).

ACS data were combined with aggregate data from federal tax information, administrative records on food stamp program participation, Census 2000 statistics and annual population estimates.

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Posted by Michael at 12:29 AM | TrackBack

Supporting Families, Nurturing Young Children: Early Head Start Programs in 2006

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

Elizabeth Hoffmann and Danielle Ewen. This policy brief analyzes the 2006 Program Information Reports (PIR) data for the Early Head Start program, which serves children under age 3 and pregnant women.

In 2006, Early Head Start supported families with working parents from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds through a broad range of services, including medical, dental, and mental health services.

Since 2004, more Early Head Start children and pregnant women received dental exams; more pregnant women had health insurance; and more pregnant women received mental health services.

As in previous years, teacher education levels increased, but salaries remained stagnant. Also, more Early Head Start children are in informal care outside program hours.

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Posted by Michael at 12:25 AM | TrackBack

Foster Youth Deliver Recommendations From First Statewide Career Development Summit at Legislative Hearing

From PR Newswire: Government and Policy:

"Foster Youth needs what every young person needs - support, connections, and experiences that prepare them to be successful as adults," said Steve Trippe, President and Executive Director, New Ways to Work.

"While there are a wide number of programs and initiatives in local communities that seek to address their transition from care, California needs to step up and ensure that every foster youth is prepared life as a working adult and contributing citizen when they 'age out' of the system."

A cross-disciplinary workgroup including youth should work with the Legislature and create uniform policies and an efficient coordinated service system in which foster youth receive priority for services across departments.

-- Ensure that all existing laws directly related to transition issues, career development, and/or employment preparation are fully implemented and resourced appropriately.

-- Bring together the multiple plans that guide a youth's transition by creating a system for and requiring a common, youth-centered and youth-led transition plan across all agencies, departments, and programs that work with transitioning youth.

-- The Child Welfare Council should prioritize the creation of common assessments and outcome measures in the areas of permanence, education, and employment across all systems working with transitioning youth.

unites transitioning foster youth, social service agencies, educational institutions and committed community members to help young people become independent adults and engaged citizens.

This summit's focus is to share approaches and solutions and help communities build and strengthen networks of support that can be counted on," said Miryam Choca of Casey Family Programs.

Janay Swain, a 23-year old young woman that has been a part of the Sacramento County Independent Living Program (ILP), was also present at the summit today.

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Posted by Michael at 12:20 AM | TrackBack

California Gets Mixed Grades in Tobacco Report Card

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

California scored a range of grades from A to F in the American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2007 report, which highlighted success in smokefree air and youth access and detailed challenges regarding the state's cigarette tax and tobacco prevention and control spending.

The annual American Lung Association report card grades each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on four key tobacco control policies: smokefree air laws, cigarette tax, tobacco prevention spending and youth access laws.

California received a D grade for cigarette taxes, an A grade for smokefree air, an F grade for tobacco prevention spending, and an A grade for youth access.

Raising cigarette taxes prevents kids from starting to smoke and has motivated thousands of Americans to quit smoking, and California's grade is based on its 87-cent-per-pack tax.

Currently, the average state cigarette tax nationwide is $1.11 per pack, an increase of about 11 cents from last year.

The state's grade for youth access reflects enactment and enforcement of policies that restrict the sale and distribution of tobacco products to minors, despite the tobacco industry's continued tactics to lure young smokers.

"Despite all of our efforts, tobacco remains a significant public health challenge for our state," said David Burns, MD, an American Lung Association of California volunteer.

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Posted by Michael at 12:14 AM | TrackBack

January 8, 2008

Apply Early for Federal Student Aid with the FAFSA

From Education Newsfeed:

The start of the calendar year also marks the beginning of the college financial aid season with the release of the U.S. Department of Education's 2008-09 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The FAFSA is the qualifying form for all federal grants and loans as well as many state and private student aid programs.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education disburses more than $80 billion in higher education grants and loans to students attending postsecondary schools, but, to qualify, students must first complete the FAFSA.

"We want to make sure students and families take full advantage of the billions of dollars in federal financial assistance available to them for postsecondary education each year," Secretary Margaret Spellings said.

More than 95 percent of FAFSAs are submitted online, and now, with several added features, it is easier than ever to apply online.

List up to 10 schools to receive the provided financial aid information.

To determine aid eligibility, students and families should fill out the FAFSA as early as possible after Jan. 1 for the academic year beginning July 1.

Many factors contribute to a student's eligibility for federal financial aid besides income, such as the size of the family and the age of the oldest parent.

Completing a FAFSA is the only way students and families can find out how much federal aid they are eligible to receive.

Although completing the FAFSA online is the preferred method for most families, there are other FAFSA filing options available, including downloading the form or ordering a hard copy.

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Posted by Michael at 10:44 PM | TrackBack

New Media, New Voters: The 'Giant Conversation' on ABC and Facebook Comes Up Short

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Following is commentary by Tova Andrea Wang, Democracy Fellow at The Century Foundation, and Michael Cornfield, Adjunct Professor at The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) of The George Washington University and director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

- - - We have seen several experiments in old media/new media debate format fusion, and we will probably see more before the election.

But last Saturday 's ABC/Facebook mash-up of a televised debate and an online chatfest occurred at a special moment in the presidential contest.

Thanks to the Internet, ABC and Facebook had a chance to move this word of mouth affect from the offline world to the online by creating an interactive environment for viewers of the televised debate.

If you participated, your word would have gone forth, and maybe back and forth with other debate watchers, and best of all, maybe back and forth and outward to members not already tuned into the debate and the Web page.

More than one million people activated the Facebook application, we were told.

But during the debate, ABC gave the Facebook connections about as much time and seriousness as a couple of advertisements - perfunctory invitations to participate.

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Posted by Michael at 10:36 PM | TrackBack

Higher Costs and Stagnant Incomes Increase Financial Burden of Health Care

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Rising out-of-pocket expenses and stagnant incomes increased the financial burden of health care for more Americans between 2001 and 2004, especially for the privately insured, according to a national study supported in part by the Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February edition of Health Affairs.

More than one in six Americans---or 17.7 percent of the nonelderly population---lived in families spending more than 10 percent of after-tax income on health care in 2004, up from 15.9 percent in 2001.

Conducted by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the study defined people living in families spending more than 10 percent of after-tax income on health care---including health insurance premium payments and direct spending on services---as having a high financial burden.

The increase in financial burden was driven entirely by people with private insurance, most of whom had employer-sponsored coverage: one in six people (17%), or 29 million people, with employer-sponsored insurance faced high burdens in 2004, up from one in seven people (14.7%) in 2001, the study found.

For people with employer coverage, out-of-pocket spending for premiums and services rose $553 to $3,211, a 21 percent increase between 2001 and 2004 after accounting for inflation.

Given projections that overall private health insurance costs and out-of-pocket spending will rise 6 percent to 7 percent annually through 2016, the authors conclude that high financial burdens for health care are likely to continue to affect more Americans since growth in incomes is unlikely to keep pace with increases in the cost of care.

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Posted by Michael at 10:35 PM | TrackBack

Connection Between Job Loss and Poor Health

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Employees who lose their jobs because of their health suffer more significant depression and detrimental health outcomes than people who lose their jobs for non-health reasons, new research shows.

It's not clear how many people involuntarily lose their jobs for health-related reasons, but shaping policy to meet the needs of this population of the unemployed is critical, a University of Michigan professor says.

"We need to know more about this population for intervention and policy reasons," said Sarah Burgard, assistant professor of sociology with appointments in the Institute for Social Research and the School of Public Health.

People who have lost their jobs and want to get back to work may need the assistance of interim health insurance coverage, unemployment benefits, and re-employment programs.

Increasingly, part-time, temporary or short-term service industry jobs are replacing the standard, full-time jobs disappearing from manufacturing and other industries, and the new jobs often lack health insurance coverage or unemployment insurance eligibility.

This means that people working part-time or with other nonstandard employment contracts will face the greatest challenges getting back into the labor force if they experience a job loss; they don't benefit from these programs, Burgard says.

For example, since health insurance is often tied to full-time, long term employment, the most vulnerable workers in the new service economy have no access to employer-sponsored health care while they are employed.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health has been working to promote health and prevent disease since 1941, and is consistently ranked among the top five public health schools in the nation.

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Posted by Michael at 10:28 PM | TrackBack

Lack of Imagination in Older Adults Linked to Declining Memory

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Most children are able to imagine their future selves as astronauts, politicians or even superheroes; however, many older adults find it difficult to recollect past events, let alone generate new ones.

A new Harvard University study reveals that the ability of older adults to form imaginary scenarios is linked to their ability to recall detailed memories.

According to the study, episodic memory, which represents our personal memories of past experiences, "allows individuals to project themselves both backward and forward in subjective time."

Therefore, in order to create imagined future events, the individual must be able to remember the details of previously experienced ones extract various details and put them together to create an imaginary event, a process known as the constructive-episodic-simulation.

Harvard psychologists Donna Rose Addis, Alana Wong and Daniel Schacter supported the hypothesis using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Interview in which young and older participants responded to randomly selected cue words with past and future scenarios.

The results of the study, which appear in the January 2008 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, not only reveal that there is a link between age-related memory deficits and future planning in older adults, but raise questions concerning the involvement of other types of memory, as well.

Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information.

For a copy of the article "Age-Related Changes in Simulation of Future Events" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Katie Kline at (202) 783-2077 or kkline@psychologicalscience.org.

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Posted by Michael at 10:22 PM | TrackBack

Research Finds Disordered Eating Less Common Among Teen Girls Who Regularly Eat Family Meals

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Adolescent girls who frequently eat meals with their families appear less likely to use diet pills, laxatives, or other extreme measures to control their weight five years later, according to research led by Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., lead investigator of Project Eating Among Teens (Project EAT) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Neumark-Sztainer and Project EAT colleagues studied 2,516 adolescents at 31 Minnesota schools over the course of five years.

Participants completed two surveys---an in-class survey in 1999 and a mailed survey in 2004---regarding how often they ate with their families as well as their body mass index, feelings of family connectedness, and eating behaviors.

Among teen girls, those who ate five or more meals with their families each week in 1999 were significantly less likely to report using extreme measures---including binge eating and self-induced vomiting---to control their weight in 2004, regardless of their sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, or family connectedness.

Among adolescent boys, regular family meals did not predict lower levels of disordered eating behaviors five years later.

The reasons for the gender differences are unclear.

Boys who engage in regular family meals may be different in some way that increases their risk for disordered eating behaviors.

"Health care professionals have an important role to play in reinforcing the benefits of family meals, helping families set realistic goals for increasing family meal frequency given schedules of adolescents and their parents; exploring ways to enhance the atmosphere at family meals with adolescents; and, discussing strategies for creating healthful and easy-to-prepare family meals," said Neumark-Sztainer.

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Posted by Michael at 10:20 PM | TrackBack

January 7, 2008

Financial Burdens of Health Care, 2001 - 2004

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Rising health care costs, combined with slowed economic growth, have created greater financial burdens for U.S. families in recent years---and raised the likelihood that they will face problems paying bills, accumulate medical debt, and even forgo needed medical care.

In a Commonwealth Fund supported study examining families' financial burdens and out-of-pocket spending between 2001 and 2004, researchers found that by 2004, more than 45 million Americans lived in families with high financial burdens---spending more than 10 percent of their after-tax income on health care.

"Financial burdens have increased to the point at which private insurance is no longer able to provide financial protection for an increasing number of families," say the authors.

In the first part of this decade, with health care costs continuing to grow faster than inflation, employers shifted more of their expenses to workers through higher premiums, deductibles, and copayments.

At the same time, families faced economic pressures because of slower income growth, which resulted in increased poverty rates and a swelling of the ranks of the uninsured.

Between 2001 and 2004, the percentage of the nonelderly population living in families with high out-of-pocket health care burdens rose from 16 percent to 18 percent.

After adjusting for inflation, total out-of-pocket spending rose by $373, from $2,283 to $2,656, a 16 percent increase over the three-year period.

The uninsured and those with public coverage did not see their financial burdens change between 2001 and 2004.

Financial burdens were highest among poor and low-income people with private insurance.

Fifty-four percent of poor and 37 percent of low-income people with private insurance faced high financial burdens in 2004.

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Posted by Michael at 11:30 PM | TrackBack

U.S. Ranks Last Among Other Industrialized Nations on Preventable Deaths

From The Commonwealth Fund:

The United States places last among 19 countries when it comes to deaths that could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care, according to new research supported by The Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February issue of Health Affairs.

In "Measuring the Health of Nations: Updating an Earlier Analysis," Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine compare trends in deaths that could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care.

Nolte and McKee found that while other countries made strides and saw these types of deaths decline by an average of 17%, the U.S. experienced only a 4% decline.

"It is notable that all countries have improved substantially except the U.S.," said Nolte, lead author of the study.

The authors also note that "it is difficult to disregard the observation that the slow decline in U.S. amenable mortality has coincided with an increase in the uninsured population, an issue that is now receiving renewed attention in several states and among presidential candidates from both parties."

"It is startling to see the U.S. falling even farther behind on this crucial indicator of health system performance," said Commonwealth Fund Senior Vice President Cathy Schoen.

The fact that other countries are reducing these preventable deaths more rapidly, yet spending far less, indicates that policy, goals, and efforts to improve health systems make a difference."

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Posted by Michael at 11:29 PM | TrackBack

4 Health Behaviors Can Add 14 Extra Years of Life

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

People who adopt four healthy behaviours -- not smoking; taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day -- live on average an additional fourteen years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behaviours, according to a study published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

Rather than focusing on how an individual factor is related to health, the study calculates the combined impact of these four simply-defined forms of behaviour.

There is overwhelming evidence showing that lifestyles such as smoking, diet and physical activity influence health and longevity but there is little information about their combined impact.

Furthermore the huge amount of information provided by these studies and the varying definitions of a health behaviour that these studies use can often make them confusing for public health professionals and for the general public.

In order to examine the combined impact of changes in lifestyle, Kay-Tee Khaw and colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council used a health behaviour score that is easy to understand in order to assess the participants in the study (who were from Norfolk, United Kingdom).

Between 1993 and 1997, 20,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 79, none of whom had known cancer or heart or circulatory disease, completed a questionnaire that resulted in a score between 0 and 4.

The results of this study need to be confirmed in other populations and an analysis of how the combined health behaviours affect quality of life is also needed.

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Posted by Michael at 11:27 PM | TrackBack

PA Announces Debut of Career Guide to Help Students, Job Seekers

From PR Newswire: Government and Policy:

Governor Edward G. Rendell said today students and job seekers now have a new resource to help them explore the educational and career opportunities in the commonwealth.

The departments of Agriculture and Labor & Industry announced the availability, in print and online, of the 2007-08 Pennsylvania Career Guide during the Farm Show.

The publication is designed for students, parents, counselors, first-time job seekers and those considering a career change.

This year's version of the manual spotlights occupations in two of Pennsylvania's most important industries: agriculture and manufacturing.

"Agriculture is our number one industry, providing not only the food and fiber we use everyday, but also generating $45 billion for the state's economy," said Governor Rendell.

"Modern agriculture and agribusinesses require an understanding of many disciplines, from biology and environmental sciences to marketing and business management.

The opportunities for young people to study a wide array of topics and enter the field of agriculture have never been greater."

The Pennsylvania Career Guide provides job seekers with information about careers in advanced materials & diversified manufacturing; agriculture & food processing; building & construction; business & financial services; education; information & communication services; life sciences (includes health care); logistics & transportation; lumber, wood & paper; and other industries.

"Workers must have the skills necessary to compete and succeed in an increasingly challenging, knowledge-based workplace," Governor Rendell said.

The Pennsylvania Career Guide is produced by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry's Center for Workforce Information & Analysis and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

It is distributed to Pennsylvania's 501 school districts, PA CareerLink offices and is also available online at http://www.dli.state.pa.us, Keyword: Career Guide.

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Posted by Michael at 11:26 PM | TrackBack

Heart Patients Find Education Programs Lead to Better Health

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Older women heart patients benefit from educational programs as a supplement to clinical care to help significantly lower cardiac symptoms, lose weight and increase physical activity, a new study shows.

The new research from the University of Michigan suggests that if hospitals and clinicians offered specially designed group or individual programs, depending on the desired outcome, female heart patients over 60 would need less health care and have a better quality of life.

Noreen Clark, professor in the U-M School of Public Health and director of the University's Center for Managing Chronic Disease, said the results will help clinicians treat patients more successfully.

Doctors, she said, are unable to personally offer in-depth education and counseling, yet they know that their patients need some type of supplemental support to adhere to prescribed cardiac care regimens.

"The information was the same, but the method of delivery was different," said Nancy Janz, associate director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease.

The women were assigned to one of three groups: the self-directed program, the group program, and the control group, which only had usual care from the doctor without any follow-up education program.

Ideally patients and their physicians should first decide on desired treatment outcomes, and then the physician should recommend a program.

But, Clark said, in the country's health care system, which values technology and pharmaceuticals over health education, one of the big problems is a dearth of well-designed programs.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death among women, and management problems are prevalent as women live longer.

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Posted by Michael at 11:25 PM | TrackBack

Physically Active Teens Less Likely to Become Overweight as Young Adults

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Participating in school-based physical education and certain extracurricular physical activities during adolescence may be associated with a lower risk of being overweight as a young adult, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

About 16 percent of U.S. teens are overweight or obese, according to background information in the article.

Eighty-five percent of obese adolescents become obese adults.

In 1996, participants took an in-home survey, reporting on how often they participated in physical activities both at school and outside of school.

"Increasing participation in certain extracurricular physical activities and physical education decreased the likelihood of young adulthood overweight," the authors write.

"Regarding extracurricular physical activities, the likelihood of being an overweight adult was reduced most (i.e. 48 percent) by performing certain wheel-related activities (i.e. rollerblading, roller skating, skateboarding or bicycling) more than four times per week."

For every weekday that teens participated in physical education at school, their risk of being overweight as young adults was reduced by 5 percent.

Those who had physical education five days per week had 28 percent lower odds of being overweight as young adults.

In general, the effects of physical activity were stronger for teens who began as normal weight than those who were overweight, suggesting that exercise is more effective for maintaining a normal weight than encouraging weight loss.

"In the current climate of decreasing adolescent physical activity in and out of school, it is important for policy makers to have firm evidence that justifies increasing time and bolstering resources for quality exercise programs and sports," they conclude.

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Posted by Michael at 11:24 PM | TrackBack

Despite Efforts, Significant Racial Disparities in Cancer Therapy Still Exist

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Black patients are significantly less likely than their white counterparts to receive therapy for various kinds of cancer, despite recent efforts to close gaps in treatment, according to a study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine published in the January 7 online issue of the journal Cancer.

Prior research revealed racial disparities in cancer care in the early 1990s.

They evaluated patients in the SEER database who had been diagnosed with breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer between 1992 and 2002.

After identifying therapies for which racial disparities had been previously reported, the investigators determined whether there had been any changes in care for the overall Medicare population or for white and black patients considered separately.

The team found that throughout the study period, black patients were significantly less likely than white patients to receive therapy for cancers of the lung, breast, colon and prostate.

For both black and white patients, there were little or no improvements in the proportion of patients receiving therapy for most cancers.

These racial disparities persisted even after limiting the analysis to patients who had access to a physician prior to their cancer diagnosis.

"Efforts to mitigate cancer care disparities between 1992 and 2002 appear to have been unsuccessful," said Gross, a member of Yale Cancer Center and co-Director of the Center's Office of Eliminating Cancer Disparities.

Other authors on the study included Elizabeth Wolf and Martin Andersen at Yale and Benjamin D. Smith, M.D., of Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

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Posted by Michael at 11:23 PM | TrackBack

The Balance Sheets of Low-Income Households : What We Know About Their Assets and Liabilities

From Urban Institute:

This report synthesizes current research and other available information on the assets and liabilities of low-income households into a variety of portraits.

These data allow practitioners and researchers to begin to form a comprehensive representation of the balance sheets of low-income households and sets the stage for future research and policy discussion around the finances of low-income households.

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Posted by Michael at 11:19 PM | TrackBack

Job Market Flashing Recession

From Economic Policy Institute:

The unemployment rate jumped up to 5% last month, and non-government payrolls fell by 13,000, in a far weaker job report than was expected, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the labor market for December 2007.

Total payrolls rose by 18,000 the weakest month for job growth since August 2003, the last month of the jobless recovery.

While monthly values from the BLS Household Survey are too volatile to be reliable, over the year, employment in this survey was essentially unchanged, up 0.2%.

While the jobless rate remains relatively low, at 5%, an uptick of this magnitude (up 0.3%) has historically been either a symptom or a harbinger of recession.

The private-service sector, the core sector of job growth in our economy, added only 62,000 jobs last month, its lowest month since October 2005.

Manufacturing and construction both posted large negatives last month, down 31,000 and 49,000, respectively.

EPI's housing employment index, which includes sectors directly and indirectly related to the housing market (i.e., real estate and credit intermediaries), shows the dramatic turnaround in housing jobs as a result of the bursting housing bubble.

These output gains have not yet, however, translated into job gains.

The softening of the job market has predictably translated into weaker earnings growth for the 80% of workers who are blue-collar in manufacturing and non-managers in services.

Given the decline in home values and the negative national savings rate, it is difficult to see how consumers will be able to provide the needed stimulus to keep the economy from falling into recession, if it hasn't already.

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Posted by Michael at 11:17 PM | TrackBack

Three Ways To Lower Pre-K Expulsion Rates

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

Yale University's Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy will release a new report, "Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion," at an audio press conference on January 10.

Two years ago, the Zigler Center published the heavily reported first research ever on the rate of expulsion in prekindergarten programs for three- and four-year-olds.

That study found that pre-K students are expelled at a rate more than three times that of children in the K-12 grades.

The original report can be obtained at http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=464280.

The new study identifies ways policymakers can reduce expulsion rates.

It is based on data from the National Prekindergarten Survey of 4,800 classrooms in the 40 states that fund prekindergarten.

"Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion" was supported by the Foundation for Child Development, the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, and the Schott Center for Public Education.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The complete report, policy brief, and covering press release will be available online on an embargoed basis on Wednesday, January 9 at 4 p.m. (EST) at http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=636702.

AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 11:14 PM | TrackBack

January 4, 2008

Final Report from the National Community Building Network

Building a Community of Community Builders

After many accomplishments through the support of our members and supporters, the NCBN Board has decided to cease operation as an organization effective at the end of 2007. For twelve years NCBN provided the framework for a diverse group of community builders across the country to improve conditions in low-income communities, a venue for them to share their strategies and lessons, and a platform for collective action.

At its peak, NCBN had more than 800 members from 200 organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico.

"Community building" was a relatively new and unfamiliar concept; its components and strategies were just taking shape, and its individual proponents often felt isolated and misunderstood.

Along the way, NCBN leaders and members learned a lot about the challenges and potential of community-building efforts.

It was no longer clear that a national organization like NCBN was the best vehicle for serving today's community builders.

And so the National Community Building Network came to a natural end, although the work of revitalizing low-income communities continues.

Community building is an approach to improving conditions, expanding opportunities, and sustaining positive change within communities by developing, enhancing, and sustaining the capacities and relationships of those who make up the community.

It is a framework for addressing interrelated troubles---poor schooling, crime, bad health, unemployment and underemployment, family instability---that ensnare people in chronic poverty.

Its practitioners believe that comprehensive, community-driven efforts offer the best hope for revitalizing neglected neighborhoods, especially in the urban core.

Community building puts residents at the forefront of efforts to rebuild their neighborhoods.

It is done by and with neighborhood residents---with the residents as the dreamers, planners, and implementers of a collective vision for their neighborhood.

For more information please visit - http://www.handsnet.org/NCBN.php

Posted by Michael at 3:14 AM | TrackBack

January 3, 2008

College Navigator Named One of Top 28 Web Sites by Money Magazine

From Education Newsfeed:

College Navigator, the Department's Web site for information for students and families about colleges, has been named by Money magazine as "the best first screen" for researching colleges.

It was cited in the magazine's Dec. 4 issue naming the 28 top Web sites in seven categories, one of which was college search tools.

In addition, Money points out that the Navigator, unlike many other college search tools, is not tied to a marketing department seeking students' personal information.

The magazine also credits the site for being "one of the simplest to use," for having "a good comparison tool," and for providing "a full set of the latest data on expenses, aid, enrollment, admission and graduation rates, majors, along with a Google map pinpointing location."

In addition to the characteristics cited by Money, College Navigator also allows users to modify and fine-tune criteria without starting over, to build a list of favorites, and to search by such specifics as distance from home, intercollegiate athletic programs and size of school, to name a few.

For adult learners, it finds programs that offer extended learning opportunities such as weekend or evening courses, distance learning and credit for life experiences.

Launched last September, College Navigator is one of several resources the Department has developed to provide the public with clear and reliable information about federal financial aid and the college selection process.

They are part of Secretary Margaret Spellings' plan to improve the U.S. higher education system and make it more accessible, affordable, accountable and user-friendly.

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Posted by Michael at 9:55 PM | TrackBack

First Autism Prevention Study Launched by University of Washington

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Autism researchers at the University of Washington will take the initial step in attempting to prevent the developmental disorder when they launch an $11.3 million study this week.

While the latest research shows that autism affects as many as one in every 150 newborns in the United States, about one of every 20 infants who have an older sibling with autism will develop the disorder.

"This is the first trial to attempt to intervene and treat infants who are at risk for autism at the earliest time that symptoms are present," said Annette Estes, associate director of the UW Autism Center and research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior science, who will head clinical assessment component of the new study.

One of our goals is to be able to identify autism as early as possible before obvious symptoms show up so we can intervene while the connections in a child's brain are still plastic.

We will be looking at genetics, neurobiology and a number of early behavioral measures to predict which children will develop autism," she said.

The other infants and their mothers will participate in an intervention at the UW Autism Center that promotes first relationships.

Mothers will be trained to engage their infants in eye contact and each mother and child will be videotaped interacting once a week for nine weeks.

The research is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development, which recently named the UW Autism Center one of six new Autism Centers of Excellence.

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Posted by Michael at 9:49 PM | TrackBack

Children Are Introduced to Sipping and Tasting Alcohol in the Home

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Very little is known about alcohol use by children.

Sipping and tasting reflect exposure to parental alcohol use in the home and do not reflect a proneness to engage in delinquent behavior or other problem behaviors.

Most studies of alcohol use among youth have focused on drinking by children in middle or high school.

Findings indicate that the introduction to alcohol occurs long before adolescence, and it is an experience that occurs in the home.

"Almost all of the limited scientific literature on alcohol use in children has focused on drinking, not sipping or tasting alcohol," said John E. Donovan, an associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh.

"Local community studies seem to show that drinking by children -- not sipping -- correlates with higher levels of disinhibition, more positive alcohol expectancies, more peer alcohol use, and lower school grades, just as it does in adolescence."

Donovan, also the corresponding author for the study, added that most surveys of adolescent and child drug and alcohol use ask about ever having had more than a few sips of alcohol.

"This type of question essentially ignores the alcohol experience of those who have only had sips and tastes of alcohol, which can be a substantial number of children," he said.

"Nearly forty percent of children aged eight to 10 have sipped or tasted alcohol, whereas only six percent have ever had a drink of alcohol," said Donovan.

Third, children in families in which the parents drink are at greater risk for having sipped or tasted alcohol as young as age eight or 10.

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Posted by Michael at 9:44 PM | TrackBack

Mom's Obesity During Conception Phase May Set the Stage for Offspring's Obesity Risk

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

The number of overweight and obese Americans continues to grow rapidly.

Research studies have found that pregnant women who are overweight/obese are more likely to give birth to heavier babies, and the risk of overweight children becoming obese adults is nearly nine times greater than for children who are not overweight.

Inheritance studies show that a child's body mass index (BMI) correlates more closely with the mother's BMI than with it's father's, suggesting that an interaction of both genetic and intrauterine influences, may contribute to later-life obesity risk in the offspring.

In a new report, investigators studied whether fetal exposure to gestational obesity leads to a self-reinforcing viscious cycle of excessive weight gain and body fat which passes from mother to child.

The journal is one of 11 published each month by the American Physiological Society (APS; http://www.the-aps.org/).

To test the theory that obesity in adulthood may be subject to programming during fetal development, the researchers developed an overfeeding model which was used in rats.

The model allowed the investigators to replicate many of the metabolic and hormonal features of overweight human individuals.

They were also able to exclude parental genetic influences, match gestational weight gain, limit the exposure of maternal obesity in utero, and control lactation efficiency, all of which can be difficult confounding variables in studies with human subjects.

In the preliminary experiments, the rats consuming the normal caloric intake had weight gains similar to controls while those being fed the obesegenic diet had become substantially overweight.

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Posted by Michael at 9:42 PM | TrackBack

January 2, 2008

Blacks, Hispanics Less Likely to Get Strong Pain Drugs in Emergency Rooms

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Despite increases in the overall use of opioid drugs to relieve severe pain, black and Hispanic patients remain significantly less likely than whites to receive these pain-relievers in emergency rooms, according to a new national study.

The study examined treatments for more than 150,000 pain-related visits to U.S. hospitals between 1993 and 2005.

It found that 31 percent of whites received opioid drugs compared with only 23 percent of blacks and 24 percent of Hispanics.

About 28 percent of Asians received the drugs.

In contrast, non-opioid pain relievers, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen were prescribed much more often to non-whites (36 percent) than to whites (26 percent).

"Studies in the 1990s showed a disturbing racial or ethnic disparity in the use of these potent pain relievers, but we had hoped that the recent national efforts at improving pain management in emergency departments would shrink this disparity," said Mark Pletcher, MD, a UCSF assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and lead author of the study.

Opioids are narcotic drugs used to treat patients with moderate to severe pain.

National quality improvement guidelines on pain control in 2001 called for increased monitoring of pain status and stressed the need for adequate pain control.

The new study is the first to assess national opioid prescribing patterns in the emergency room setting since implementation of the guidelines.

Blacks were prescribed opioids at lower rates than other groups for almost every type of pain-related emergency department visit, including back pain, headache, and abdominal pain.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to defining health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

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Posted by Michael at 3:50 PM | TrackBack

Kauffman Foundation Announces 2008 Entrepreneurship Dissertation Fellowships

From Ascribe Newsfeed:

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced today the 2008 recipients of the Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship awards.

Sixteen fellowships in the amount of $20,000 each will be awarded to current Ph.D. students who are engaged in the study of entrepreneurship at U.S. universities.

The fellowships will be presented at the American Economic Association's annual meeting in New Orleans on Jan. 4, 2008.

"An increasing number of doctoral students are choosing a dissertation topic related to entrepreneurship," said Robert J. Strom, Ph.D., director of Entrepreneurship Research and Policy at the Foundation.

"The purpose of the Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship Program is to recognize excellence among a select group of the nation's future entrepreneurship scholars."

- Jason Greenberg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Is it the Network or the Neighborhood?

Including the current class of fellows, 78 awards have been made since the program was created in 2002.

Information regarding the 2009 Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship Program will be available on the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Research Portal by Aug. 1, 2008.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth.

The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman.

AScribe provides direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.

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Posted by Michael at 3:43 PM | TrackBack

Census Data on Growing Number of Uninsured Make Clear: National Health Care Strategy Is Needed

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Today, the Census Bureau released the latest data on the number of Americans without health insurance: in 2006, the number of uninsured rose to 47 million, from 44.8 million in 2005.

If not for coverage through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), even more children would be without coverage.

In 2006, an additional 1.3 million working adults were uninsured, of which 1.2 million worked full time.

Both younger adults ages 25 to 34 and older adults ages 45 to 64 experienced major increases in the number of uninsured, a sign of the difficulty of obtaining health coverage in entry-level jobs and of staying covered as older adults experience serious health problems.

Those particularly affected by the loss of coverage have incomes between $25,000 and $75,000.

But even among those in families earning more than $75,000, the number of uninsured grew by 1.4 million.

One immediate action Congress could take is reauthorization of SCHIP, which is essential to prevent a reversal of the progress made through public health insurance programs over the last six years.

In a recent Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare survey, health care leaders said loud and clear that children up to 300 percent of the poverty level need to be covered by SCHIP and that the federal government can play a strong role in reforming health care overall.

The SCHIP reform bills currently in Congress are an unprecedented opportunity to expand coverage and improve the quality of care for all of us, but they are only a beginning.

The Commonwealth Fund is an independent foundation working toward health policy reform and a high performance health system.

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Posted by Michael at 3:31 PM | TrackBack

Tips to Prevent Adverse Drug Events in Older Adults

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Adverse drug events are more common in older adults because they are prescribed more drugs and are effected differently by these drugs than their younger counterparts.

A review article written by Tufts University School of Medicine clinicians, published in American Family Physician, summarizes steps that physicians and other healthcare providers can take to avoid overuse, misuse, and underuse of medication in older adults.

"About one in three older persons taking at least five medications will experience an adverse drug event each year, and about two-thirds of these patients will require medical attention.

Approximately 95 percent of these reactions are predictable, and about 28 percent are preventable," cite the authors, Cung Pham, MD, fellow in the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency at Cambridge Health Alliance's Malden Family Medicine Center, and Robert Dickman, MD, Jaharis Family Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Pham and Dickman summarize interventions for reducing inappropriate prescriptions as follows, while noting that there is limited research to support clear interventions.

Polymedicine describes the use of an increasing number of drugs related to an increasing number of medical problems, while polypharmacy is defined as inappropriate use of multiple drugs.

"Much drug therapy in older adults is to prevent illnesses by decreasing risks that will never affect them," writes Allen Shaughnessy, PharmD, associate director of the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency, in an accompanying editorial.

Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University are international leaders in innovative medical education and advanced research.

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Posted by Michael at 3:30 PM | TrackBack

Health of Previously Uninsured Adults After Acquiring Medicare Coverage

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Health care coverage leads to dramatic improvement in health trends for previously uninsured older individuals, particularly those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A team of Harvard Medical School researchers assessed the effect of acquiring Medicare coverage on the health of previously uninsured adults.

In the article, "Health of Previously Uninsured Adults After Acquiring Medicare Coverage" (Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 26, 2007), J. Michael McWilliams, M.D., and his colleagues present the strongest evidence to date that health improves significantly when people gain health insurance.

For example, for every 100 uninsured adults with heart disease or diabetes before age 65, the researchers found that with Medicare coverage they had 10 fewer major cardiac complications, such as heart attack or heart failure, than would be expected by age 72.

The research team assessed data from the Health and Retirement Study for 7,233 participants, all of whom entered the study in 1992 when they were at least age 55.

Using comprehensive self-reported health measures to assess overall general health, mobility, agility, pain, depression, and cardiovascular outcomes, the team collected survey data every two years from participants between 1992 and 2004.

They also calculated a summary score by adding these components.

Of the participants, 5,006 were continuously insured, while 2,227 were either persistently or intermittently uninsured until they qualified for Medicare at age 65.

"Proposals to extend insurance coverage to uninsured near-elderly adults have been introduced in the U.S. Congress and endorsed by the American College of Physicians.

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Posted by Michael at 3:30 PM | TrackBack

Healthy Steps for Young Children Program in Pediatric Residency Training: Impact on Primary Care Outcomes

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Healthy Steps for Young Children---a program designed to foster closer relationships between health care professionals and parents in addressing the physical, emotional, and intellectual development of young children---significantly improves continuity of care practices among pediatricians in training, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The study, "Healthy Steps for Young Children Program in Pediatric Residency Training: Impact on Primary Care Outcomes" (Pediatrics, Sept. 2007), also found that the program increases pediatric residents' documentation of important psychosocial issues in children "Multiple indices suggest important benefits of incorporating a Healthy Steps curriculum into pediatric residency training," concluded the research team, which was led by Leo G. Niederman, M.D., M.P.H.

Healthy Steps, a national initiative launched with support from The Commonwealth Fund and others, seeks to improve the quality of preventive health care for infants and toddlers.

A key program element is the introduction of the Healthy Steps Specialist---a co-practitioner with training in early childhood development---into the pediatric practice setting to focus on behavioral, developmental, and psychosocial issues.

Incorporating Healthy Steps into practices has been shown in several previous studies to have positive effects for children and families.

This is the first study to report on primary care outcomes following the introduction of Healthy Steps into pediatric residency training.

The researchers tracked three groups of children, from birth to 36 months of age.

While the difference in developmental, behavioral, and psychosocial diagnoses was not statistically significant, there were significantly fewer diagnoses in these domains at the non-Healthy Steps site, where no residents were exposed to the program.

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Posted by Michael at 3:26 PM | TrackBack

Instructional Leadership, Teaching Quality, and Student Achievement

From MDRC:

Does providing instruction-related professional development to school principals set in motion a chain of events that can improve teaching and learning in their schools? The Instructional Leadership Study provides suggestive although not definitive evidence that it does.

The study examines a theory of school change articulated by the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

The IFL provides technical assistance to school districts, primarily through strategic planning, coaching, and professional development for district and school administrators; it has also enunciated a set of "Principles of Learning" about the ideas and practices that promote students' academic achievement.

According to the IFL's theory, through leadership training, school principals learn about high-quality instruction and about actions that they can take to motivate and support their teachers.

To test this theory, the researchers recruited 49 elementary schools in three districts that had been working with the IFL for one to five years at the time the study began.

Principals and third- and fourth-grade teachers at the schools completed surveys that asked about the professional development activities with which they had been involved and about other matters.

The research team also conducted observations in some 300 third-grade reading and math classes, and school-level data on the achievement of third-graders came from state Web sites.

Teachers who got more professional development taught lessons that were of higher instructional quality.

Because the data were collected during the same time period, however, the time sequence of these phenomena cannot be established, and the absence of a counterfactual (evidence of what would have happened had the principals not received professional development in the first place) makes it impossible to conclude that one event caused another.

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Posted by Michael at 3:24 PM | TrackBack

Pennsylvania Project Wins National 'Economic Development Deal of the Year' Award

From PR Newswire: Government and Policy:

A vital job creation and retention project in southwestern Pennsylvania won the Economic Development Deal of the Year award from a national business magazine for business site selection executives, the Department of Community and Economic Development said today.

The Westinghouse Electric Company project in Butler County won the Gold medal in Business Facilities magazine's EDDY awards for 2007.

The project included a $6 million funding offer to the company from DCED to lay the groundwork for the $200 million project.

The Governor's Action Team, a group of economic development professionals who serve as a single point of contact for businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania, coordinated the efforts to convince Westinghouse to remain, despite aggressive incentive offers from several competing states.

Westinghouse has pledged to create at least 931 jobs over the next five years, bringing its workforce in the area to about 4,400.

The Gold medal EDDY award comes on the heels of Pennsylvania's fourth-place ranking in "insourcing" -- the number of jobs created in-state by companies based abroad -- by the Organization for International Investment, an association of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-based companies.

"We're working Pennsylvania into the global economy from both sides of the equation -- helping Pennsylvania companies do business abroad and creating the right climate for foreign companies to locate or expand here," said DCED Secretary Dennis Yablonsky.

"And because many of our economic development stimulus programs are just beginning to kick in, we know the best is yet to come."

For more information about Pennsylvania's economic development initiatives, go to http://www.newpa.com or call 1-866-466-3972.

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Posted by Michael at 3:23 PM | TrackBack

Who Has Insurance and Who Does Not in the District of Columbia?

From Urban Institute:

DC fares better than the nation as a whole in the share of its population that is uninsured.

Lower rates of employer-sponsored coverage are more than offset by higher rates of public coverage.

The District's relatively generous Medicaid eligibility standards, and the DC HealthCare Alliance, a locally funded coverage program, contribute to the high share of publicly insured residents.

These are among the findings of this data brief on insurance status in DC by age, employment, income, family status, and health status.

They often have lower health status and reduced ability to work, save, pay taxes, and contribute to community life.

Thus, uninsurance affects not only the uninsured individual but also the larger community.

The data presented below show how insurance status relates to age, family income, work status, and health status in the District of Columbia.

The differences are even greater when D.C. is compared to it neighbors, Virginia and Maryland, where employer coverage is higher than the national average and public coverage is lower (exhibit 1).

Employer-sponsored coverage is lower in the District despite the fact that District employers are more likely to offer coverage to employees than employers in the rest of the nation---in large part because nearly three-quarters of people who work in D.C. live elsewhere.

The lower rate of employer-sponsored coverage is more than made up for by the higher rates of public coverage.

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Posted by Michael at 3:22 PM | TrackBack

Evolution Education is a 'Must' Says Coalition of Scientific and Teaching Organizations

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A coalition of 17 organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Institute of Physics, and the National Science Teachers Association, is calling on the scientific community to become more involved in the promotion of science education, including evolution.

According to an article appearing in the January 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal, the introduction of "non-science," such as creationism and intelligent design, into science education will undermine the fundamentals of science education.

"In an age when people have benefited so greatly from science and reason, it is ironic that some still reject the tools that have afforded them the privilege to reject them," says Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal.

The article is based on a national survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters.

Survey respondents were queried on their attitudes toward science and scientists, their views on evolutionary science in the context of education, and their opinions regarding the means through which the scientific community can effectively bolster support for teaching evolution and related subjects.

The survey revealed that respondents favored teaching evolution over creationism or intelligent design.

The survey also revealed that respondents were more interested in hearing about evolution from scientists, science teachers, and clergy than Supreme Court Justices, celebrities, or school board members.

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Posted by Michael at 3:21 PM | TrackBack

Federal Housing Subsidies: To Rent or To Own?

From Urban Institute:

A family's housing can take one of two forms: renting and homeownership. Although both provide shelter, they differ significantly in their implications for asset accumulation.

Direct outlays made up 87.1 percent of federal rental-assistance spending in 2006, while tax breaks provided over 98 percent of federal homeownership subsidies. This breakdown reveals that the federal government places a priority on homeownership as opposed to rental housing; however, the distribution of homeownership tax breaks suggests that they provide little benefit to low-income families.

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Posted by Michael at 3:20 PM | TrackBack

The Impact of Late-Career Health and Employment Shocks on Social Security and Other Wealth

From Urban Institute:

About one-quarter of workers age 51 to 55 in 1992 developed health-related work limitations and about one-fifth were laid off from their jobs before age 62.

Although late-career health and employment shocks often derail retirement savings plans, Social Security's disability insurance, spouse and survivor benefits, and progressive benefit formula provide important protections.

In fact, health shocks increase Social Security's lifetime value, primarily because the systems disability insurance allows some disabled workers to collect benefits before age 62. However, if the systems disability insurance program did not exist, the onset of health-related work limitations would substantially reduce Social Security wealth.

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Posted by Michael at 3:20 PM | TrackBack

Public Policy Fails to Address the Effects of Media Violence on Children

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Highly publicized events such as school shootings arouse public interest in the effects of media violence exposure on children, yet there is still considerable public debate about whether to take this issue seriously.

A recent article in Social Issues and Policy Review summarizes the research on the effects of media violence and convincingly demonstrates the profound influence that media violence is having in our society.

Despite the abundant research documenting the harmful effects of media violence, few people seem to get the message.

For example, over half of American parents believe that violence makes children more aggressive, yet only a small percentage establish rules regarding content for their households.

Because of First Amendment concerns, the courts are less concerned tolerant of government restrictions on media violence than on other public health risk factors.

Douglas Gentile, Muniba Saleem, and Craig Anderson are affiliated with the Center for the Study of Violence in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and can be reached for questions at ferlazzo@iastate.edu.

The mission of Social Issues and Policy Review (SIPR) is to provide state of the art and timely theoretical and empirical reviews of topics and programs of research that are directly relevant to understanding and addressing social issues and public policy.

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Posted by Michael at 3:18 PM | TrackBack

Length of Children's Sleep Duration Varies; Can Influence Their Weight, Behavior

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Further, children who don't get enough nightly sleep are more likely to be overweight and have behavioral problems, according to a study published in the January 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study, authored by Professor Ed Mitchell, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, focused on 591 seven-year-old children whose sleep duration was assessed by actigraphy (a non-invasive method used to study sleep-wake patterns and circadian rhythms by assessing movement) at four different stages of their young lives: at birth, at one year, at three-and-a-half years and at seven years.

Children who slept less than nine hours were more likely to be overweight or obese and to have a 3.34 percent increase in body fat than those who slept for more than nine hours.

"Sleep is important for health and well-being throughout life," said Professor Mitchell.

Short sleep duration was associated with a three-fold increased risk of the child being overweight or obese.

Attention to sleep in childhood may be an important strategy to reduce the obesity epidemic."

Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep each night.

Keep your children from TV programs, movies, and video games that are not right for their age.

Parents who suspect that their child might be suffering from a sleep disorder are encouraged to consult with their child's pediatrician or a sleep specialist.

SLEEP is the official journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society.

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Posted by Michael at 3:17 PM | TrackBack

Smoking Rate Among New York City Teens Was Lowest on Record in 2007

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz released new data today from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) showing that cigarette smoking among New York City teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007.

The Mayor linked the continuing decline --- which far exceeds the national decline --- to the City's sustained efforts to reduce smoking among adults.

Today, that has fallen to about one out of every 12 --- or about 8.5 percent of students," said Mayor Bloomberg.

"The reduction in teen smoking we've achieved in New York City will eventually prevent at least 8,000 premature deaths.

"Preventing youth smoking will further reduce adult smoking and premature deaths in years to come.

"With our Youth Tobacco Enforcement and Prevention Program, we are conducting more undercover inspections than ever, and under the Mayor's leadership, raising compliance to levels never before seen," said Commissioner Mintz.

In FY07, 89 percent of businesses were in compliance for not selling cigarettes to teens, while in November alone, 93 percent of businesses --- an all-time record high --- stopped selling cigarettes to kids after being issued a violation.

Bronx public high school students have the lowest prevalence of smoking in the city at 6.2 percent --- a tremendous benchmark as historically, communities with socioeconomic challenges often have significant health disparities compared to other parts of the City.

For example, compared with other boroughs, the Bronx has the highest HIV and diabetes death rates.

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Posted by Michael at 3:15 PM | TrackBack

Statement Prepared for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance; Community College Symposium

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

Community colleges play a critical role in increasing economic opportunity for adults by helping individuals move out of dead-end, low-wage jobs into careers that can support a family.

In a statement prepared for a symposium on issues effecting community colleges hosted by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, Senior Policy Analyst Amy-Ellen Duke focuses on two areas integral to the success of low-income adults at community colleges-policies to support student success and improve developmental education-and highlights successful programs across the country.

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Posted by Michael at 3:15 PM | TrackBack