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August 30, 2006L.A.'s Homeboy Industries Intervenes With Gang-Involved Youth
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Homeboy Industries is a job-training program that educates, trains, and finds jobs for at-risk and gang-involved youth. Through its Gang Reduction Program (GRP), OJJDP supports a number of local gang prevention and intervention...
The Changing Role of Welfare in the Lives of Low-Income Families with Children
The Urban Institute: Individuals no longer have an entitlement to welfare, and states have changed how they administer cash assistance. Numerous other safety net programs also changed, as the 1996 legislation limited immigrant eligibility for food stamps, scaled back children's...
August 29, 2006
Stories of Women's Hope, Activism and Leadership Across the Gulf Coast
From Ms. Foundation: Women are building houses and communities, sheltering the homeless and preventing domestic violence, and advocating for policies and approaches that improve life in the areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with help from the Ms. Foundation...
Realistic Child Support Policies that Support Successful Re-entry
From Center for Law and Social Policy: These slides describe 8 child support strategies to improve employment and long-term child support outcomes for parents leaving prison. Why Deal With Child Support? One half of parents in prison have an open...
Teen Career Plans Out of Sync with Reality
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Unfortunately, the goals of too many teens now outpace what they are likely to achieve, a problem that can lead to wasted time and resources, not to mention anxiety and distress, according to a new...
A Closer Look at Charter Schools
National Center for Education Statistics: A special over sample of charter schools, conducted as part of the 2003 fourth-grade NAEP assessments, permitted a comparison of academic achievement for students enrolled in charter schools to that for students enrolled in traditional...
August 28, 2006
U.S. Education Department Grants Provide Over $11.6 Million for 23 Native Hawaiian Education Programs
From Education Newsfeed: Nearly two dozen Native Hawaiian Education (NHE) programs on Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii have been selected to receive $11,609,750 to develop, assist and expand innovative programs that provide supplemental services and address the educational...
Statement by Secretary Margaret Spellings on Release of NCES Study on Charter Schools
From Education Newsfeed: Many charter schools are still relatively new, and we need to examine how they improve student performance over time for a better picture of how they compare to traditional public schools. Charter schools are empowering low-income parents...
U.S. Department of Education Awards $16.7 Million in Grants to Alaska Organizations
From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the award of $16.7 million in grants to 32 Alaska organizations to help them support the unique educational needs of Alaska Native children and adults. The three-year grants will...
Education Department Announces New Aid for Hurricane-Affected Schools
From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today that over $60 million in foreign aid donations have been awarded, and $235 million in supplemental funding from the Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students program also has been...
Study shows aggressive students often lack psychological evaluations and effective treatment
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: As the disturbing trend of school violence continues to plague our education system, it is important for caregivers, educators, and doctors to join forces to be proactive in its prevention. A study in the August...
Analysis shows blacks have poorer diabetes control than whites
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: An analysis combining 11 separate research studies found that blacks with diabetes have poorer control of blood sugar than whites, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues. "This lower level...
Alcohol Wholesalers Say Kids Get Alcohol from Internet
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: The trade association for the wine and liquor wholesalers industry -- a group that stands to lose big from direct sales of alcohol -- has released a study saying that 2 percent of...
Fight Teen Drinking from the Outside
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: A researcher encourages the use of environmental stategies to reduce underage drinking. When considering how to prevent use of the No. 1 drug of choice for youth - alcohol - people usually think...
Levels of Serious Mental Illness in Katrina Survivors Doubled Compared to Earlier Pre-Katrina Survey
From Ascribe Newsfeed: According to the most comprehensive survey yet completed of mental health among Hurricane Katrina survivors from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the proportion of people with a serious mental illness doubled in the months after the hurricane compared...
READERS RESPOND: War on Drugs (Part 3)
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Passionate, thoughtful responses to Join Together's feature story on a June gathering of former drug czars (part 3 of 3). I can remember driving by the Ship Channel in Houston in 1952, past...
National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. Calls for National Day of Prayer, Remembrance in Wake of Anniversary of Katrina
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) has called for a National Day of Prayer for the families and communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Mayors from across the country will come together in unity to...
New Study Seeks to Lower Diabetes Risk in Youth
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: As schools across the country reopen their doors this fall, hundreds of sixth graders in 42 middle schools will begin taking part in a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The HEALTHY...
More than Meets the Eye: Head Start Programs, Participants, Families, and Staff in 2005
From Center for Law and Social Policy: This policy brief examines the latest data from the Program Information Reports (PIR) that all Head Start programs must submit to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Since 1965, the federal...
August 24, 2006
Grassroots & Groundwork: What Communities are Doing to Get Out and Stay Out of Poverty
Northwest Area Foundation: The 2006 Grassroots & Groundwork conference, scheduled from September 16-19, 2006, promises to be a valuable, memorable event featuring: 20 break-out sessions focused on microenterprise development, living-wage jobs, collaboration between businesses and nonprofits, community-driven initiatives and other...
The Role of Medicaid and SCHIP as an Insurance Safety Net
The Urban Institute: Most people with private health insurance in the United States get it through an employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) plan. However, in recent years, the likelihood of having ESI has been falling, as it becomes more and more difficult...
An Overview of Selected Data on Children in Vulnerable Families
The Urban Institute: This paper presents trends over time in the number of children in particularly vulnerable families, including families facing such risks as domestic violence, child maltreatment, substance abuse, depression, and childhood disabilities. These families are of particular importance...
Anti-Poverty Practitioners Gear Up for Orlando Convention After Hurricane Katrina Shuts Down Their 2005 Meeting
Community Action Partnership: WASHINGTON, DC - One year after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans along the Gulf Coast---many of them low-income---and caused the cancellation of a convention for the...
Local Costs of the Iraq War
National Priorities Project: The taxpayer cost of the Iraq War is broken down for various towns, cities and counties across the U.S. The breakdown is based on a total cost of $318.5 billion. That is $2,844 for every American household...
Thirteen Community Action Leaders 'Certify' Their Promise to Help Low-Income Families
Community Action Partnership: WASHINGTON, DC - Thirteen individuals who are helping low-income families change their lives have become Certified Community Action Professionals (CCAPs). The CCAP program, sponsored by the Washington, DC-based Community Action Partnership, is a national certification program for...
Enhancing Health Care Delivery for People in Connecticut with Limited English Proficiency
Mathematica Policy Research: Seeking ways to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health care to an increasingly diverse population is a growing policy concern. Public hearings held in Connecticut revealed that many of the state's residents with limited English proficiency (LEP)...
August 23, 2006
Wealth Inequality is Vast and Growing
From Economic Policy Institute: Inequality in the United States is on the rise, whether measured in terms of wages, family incomes, or wealth and is much higher than that of other advanced countries. This week's Snapshot looks at the rising...
Adolescent condom use with 'casual' versus 'main' partners
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: This week, a new study from researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Brown Medical School, finds that teen attitudes toward condom use with whom they perceive as casual sexual partners versus main...
A Look at the 2005 Census Data and What the Numbers Mean for Children and Families
From Brookings Institution: The Census Bureau will release new data on poverty and family income for 2005 on August 29. Poverty declined every year between 1993 and 2000, reaching its lowest level ever for black children, but then increased during...
August 21, 2006
2006 Teen Survey Reveals: Teen Parties Awash in Alcohol, Marijuana and Illegal Drugs -- Even When Parents Are Present
CASAColumbia.org: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse One-third of teens and nearly half of 17-year olds attend house parties where parents are present and teens are drinking, smoking marijuana or using cocaine, Ecstasy or prescription drugs, according to the...
August 20, 2006
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education on the Class of 2006 ACT Scores
From Education Newsfeed: Today's ACT results show a nation that is on the right track and moving forward, but far too slowly for the 21st century. The increase in the ACT composite score---the largest in 20 years---reflects the progress our...
Rough Start for Effort to Remake Faltering New Orleans Schools
From New York Times: On Debra Smith's third attempt to enroll her younger sister in a public high school here last week, patience evaporated. For the student, disappointment turned into tears. Smith said the school her sister, now a 10th...
Readers Respond: War on Drugs (Part 2)
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Joined Together received an unprecedented number of passionate, thoughtful responses to "Mission Accomplished" in War on Drugs? Cancer a Better Analogy for Drug Problem It's easy to characterize overcoming an evil entity as...
Ten Years after Welfare Reform, It's Time to Make Work Work for Families
From Center for Law and Social Policy: Along with a strong economy, expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and children's health care coverage, more money to help low-income families pay for child care and improved child support enforcement during...
August 18, 2006
New study examines children's exposure to neighborhood poverty
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: University of Cincinnati researchers are reporting two key findings as they examine neighborhoods where American children live and play -- the 1990s were a pretty good decade for minority children, yet African-American, Hispanic and American...
August 17, 2006
Education Department of Releases Results of State Plans for Highly Qualified Teachers in Every Classroom
From Education Newsfeed: The U.S. Department of Education today released initial peer review feedback and related information on revised comprehensive state plans for ensuring that all public elementary and secondary school students are taught by highly qualified teachers. Based on...
Fox and Kaiser Form Partnership To Inform Young People on Risk and Responsibility
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: The PAUSE campaign is a public education partnership of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Fox Networks Group to help young people (ages 15 and older) to make smart choices and maintain healthy life-styles. The PAUSE...
Skin tone more important than educational background for African Americans seeking jobs
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Everyone knows about the insidious effects of racism in American society. But when it comes to the workplace, African-Americans may face a more complex situation--the effects of their own skin tone. For the first time,...
Two-fifths of US adults report experiencing unsafe, wasteful, or poorly coordinated health care
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Patients, who experience the health care system on a first-hand basis, find much that could be improved. According to a new survey from The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, a surprisingly...
Release of Mississippi Gulf Coast 'Recovery' Report Will Mark First Anniversary of Katrina
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Mississippi State Conference NAACP will release a wide-ranging report on the state and federal government recovery efforts on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's first anniversary, Wednesday, August 23. The report will be edited and published by the...
August 16, 2006
Bayer Foundation Awards $150,000 Grant to Nationally Recognized Bay Area Biotechnology School-to-Career Program
From U.S. Newswire Releases: The Bayer Foundation tonight awarded Biotech Partners (formerly Berkeley Biotechnology Education Inc., or BBEI) a $150,000 grant, further demonstrating the foundation's commitment to education and workforce development and to ensure today's students are well- prepared to...
Innovative 'Social Norms' Campaign Targets Fla. Students
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: The Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse has partnered with Broward County Schools to target students at Everglades High School in South Broward, Florida, with a "social norms" campaign, the Sun-Sentinel reported on...
Study Says Vancouver Injection Site Caters to Longtime Users, Not New Addicts
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: The Insite safe-injection site in Vancouver doesn't encourage people to start using drugs, with 1,000 interviews showing that clients have been using heroin, cocaine, or other substances for an average of 15 years....
Children of Smokers Face Future Drug Problems, Study Says
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Children of smokers are more likely to smoke themselves as well as use other types of legal and illicit drugs, Medical News Today reported Aug. 14. "If your parents were smokers it is...
New study links higher income with lower disability rates
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Numerous studies have already established the link between extreme poverty and poor health, but a new study led by a public health researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that health disparities exist...
Community model effective in allotting anti-AIDS meds
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: When there are millions of patients clamoring for anti-AIDS drugs and precious little to go around, who decides which patients go to the front of the line? The answer, says Stanford AIDS researcher Dennis Israelski,...
Breaking Through Adoption�s Racial Barriers
From New York Times: A growing number of white couples are pushing past longtime cultural resistance to adopt black children. In 2004, 26 percent of black children adopted from foster care, about 4,200, were adopted transracially, nearly all by whites....
August 13, 2006
XVI International AIDS Conference: Free Online Access to Sessions and Resources,
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: Live and tape-delayed webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions, including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other sessions and press conferences. News summaries from international media in the Kaiser Daily...
'Thirdhand Smoke' Can Imperil Babies
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Babies can absorb particles and gases emitted by cigarettes from walls, clothes, hair and skin -- including up to 90 percent of the nicotine found in tobacco smoke -- experts warn. George Matt...
On Eve of Welfare Reform's 10th Anniversary New Report 'Follows the Money'; Temporary Assistance No Longer 'Welfare,' But Many Policymakers Have Yet to Adjust to New Realities
From Ascribe Newsfeed: The Brookings Institution is releasing a national report on how states spend Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Temporary Assistance) block grant funds. The report is being issued on the eve of the 10th anniversary (August 22) of...
Planned Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States
From New York Times: The White House is clashing with governors of both parties over a plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes that care for millions of low-income people. The White House says the changes are...
Readers Respond: War on Drugs (Part 1)
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Join Together received an unprecedented number of passionate, thoughtful responses to "Mission Accomplished" in War on Drugs? Here in Baltimore, our new Health Commissioner, Joshua Sharfstein, began his term by reviewing 15 years...
Checklist improves assessment of aggressive boys' needs
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A decision support system, in form of a checklist with 20 risk- and need factors, complements clinical evaluation of boys between the ages of six and twelve with behavioural problems, according to new research from...
U of M study shows teen body dissatisfaction predicts use of behaviors that can lead to poor health
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Adolescents who feel dissatisfied with their bodies are at higher risk for future binge eating, smoking, poor eating, and decreased physical activity, according to new research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health....
Parental cigarette use is 'double whammy' for children
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new study exploring smoking, heavy drinking and marijuana use across three generations indicates that the children of a parent who uses any of these substances are more likely to smoke, binge drink or use...
Study finds parental time to be key in fight against childhood obesity
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The fight against obesity in children just got a new weapon, thanks to a multi-year study by researchers from Texas A&M University. The study found that the amounts and quality of time parents spent with...
The 'Good Life' elusive for middle class working couples with children
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In research to be presented at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting, Phyllis Moen, McKnight Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, says that middle class couples who both work struggle to compete...
Work, poverty, and single-mother families
From Economic Policy Institute: This month marks the 10th anniversary of the welfare reform legislation signed in August 1996. Those touting the program's success often cite the sharp decline in the poverty rates of single-mother families over the course of...
Childhood obesity caused by 'toxic environment' of Western diets, study says
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A UCSF researcher has determined that a key reason for the epidemic of pediatric obesity, now the most commonly diagnosed childhood ailment, is that high-calorie, low-fiber Western diets promote hormonal imbalances that encourage children to...
Experts challenge popular belief that today's children are 'over-scheduled'
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Leading child development experts are challenging the popular notion that today's children are "over-scheduled" as a result of the hurried and stressful lives from participating in too many organized activities. In fact, an analysis of...
Is Your Child a Victim or a Bully? Expert Offers Advice
From Ascribe Newsfeed: It's a concern for parents and children alike during the school year: What if not all that goes on at a school playground is fun and games? According to a study by James Snyder, a child psychologist...
August 10, 2006
Kids in the City: Indicators of Child Well-Being in Large Cities
Brookings Institution: Findings Analysis of data from the Census Bureau's 2004 American Community Survey on the 50-largest cities in the U.S. reveals that: In 2004, the child poverty rate in the nation's 50 largest cities was 28 percent, much higher...
Adolescents Who Listen to a Great Deal of Music with Degrading Sexual Lyrics Have Sex Sooner
RAND: A RAND Corporation study issued today presents the strongest evidence yet that sexually degrading lyrics in music encourage adolescents to more quickly initiate sexual intercourse and other sexual activities. The study found that the more time adolescents spend listening...
Looking Foward, Looking Back: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform
National Center for Children in Poverty: As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), commonly referred to as "welfare reform," pundits are rushing to declare the effort either an...
The Federal Government - the Indispensable Player in Redressing Poverty
Food Research and Action Center: This article was written by FRAC's President Jim Weill for the May-June issue of the Clearinghouse Review -- the publication of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. That issue was a special one...
Food Stamp Program Participation Data
Food Research and Action Center: In May 2006 food stamp participation at 26,013,901 persons was virtually unchanged overall from April 2006 (a dip of 5,661 persons nationwide). The overall caseload for May 2006 was more than 600,000 persons higher than...
Title I Funds - Who's Gaining and Who's Losing: School Year 2006 - 07 Update
Center On Education Policy: For the coming school year, nearly all (90 percent) of the nation's school districts participating in the federal Title I program and half of the states will have their Title I funding cut or frozen, according...
Assisting Students Who Enter High School with Poor Academic Skills
MDRC - Issue Focus: Too many students in the United States arrive at high school unprepared academically. Many of these students fail to make the critical transition from middle school to high school successfully and drop out of school, often...
JFF Announces "Portfolio" of Proven Models for Advancing Low-Income Workers
Jobs for the Future JFF created the Career Advancement Portfolio as central to our commitment to developing, implementing, and advocating for models, strategies, and policies that enable adults to advance toward economic self-sufficiency for themselves and their families. The Portfolio...
August 09, 2006
Report Finds Child Poverty Has Surged in Midwest Since 2000
From Ascribe Newsfeed: While overall child poverty in the United States has risen dramatically since 2000, a new report by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) reveals that children and families in some regions have been harder hit...
Study demonstrates successful HIV-prevention program for Latino youth
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A culturally tailored HIV-prevention program can help reduce risky sexual behaviors among Latino adolescents, even a year after students attended the training, according to a study led by University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania...
August 08, 2006
Kids need more time than adults give them, study finds
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Further proof that children require more time comes via a study to be published today in Developmental Science asserting that the fast pace expected by adults--both parents and educators--can be beyond chindren's perceptual abilities. "Children...
Puerto Rican and African-American children show different patterns of asthma care
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Asthma has been on the rise for the past two decades, and minority populations have an especially high prevalence. A study in the August issue of the journal Chest suggests that Puerto Rican children with...
Study finds firearms are stored less safely in homes with older children
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: More than 1.6 million U.S. children live in homes with firearms that are stored loaded and unlocked. Because the guns used in youth suicides and unintentional injuries primarily come from victims' homes, storage practices that...
Socially isolated children may become unhealthy adults
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Social isolation in childhood may be associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives...
Children and teens taking antidepressants might be more likely to attempt, complete suicide
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Antidepressant medications may be associated with suicide attempts and death in severely depressed children and adolescents but not in adults, according to an article in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of...
Africans much better than North Americans at taking anti-HIV meds
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: The review was directed by researchers from the Centre for International Health and Human Rights Studies and the University of California, San Francisco. "This review contradicts a historical anticipation of poor adherence by Africans to...
$20.5 Million in Grants Awarded Under Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program
From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the award of 33 new grants totaling more than $20.5 million that will directly benefit Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education. "Under No Child Left Behind, Hispanic students' scores have...
Furniture for Schools Heads to the Gulf Coast
From Education Newsfeed: Furniture for Schools has now delivered more than 10,000 items to schools in need to help them prepare for students returning this school year. This week the Furniture for Schools project will make another delivery of surplus...
Medicare Payments to Doctors Face Cuts
From New York Times: WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 --- The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed a cut of 5.1 percent across the board in Medicare payments for services provided by doctors to elderly and disabled patients in 2007. The increase directly...
Health Care One Year After Hurricane Katrina
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: August 29, 2006, marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic landfall. The Kaiser Family Foundation continues its commitment to help respond to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina with new resources about the health care...
Doing one's duty: Why people volunteer in a deprived community
From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In recent years the government has been pushing volunteering as a way of reconnecting people with the labour market. However, in a recent study published today and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council,...
Post-Katrina, New Orleans Again Struggles with Drugs
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Drugs are flooding back into New Orleans as the city tries to recover from Hurricane Katrina, in part because local dealers made new connections with overseas suppliers while they were relocated to Houston,...
Online Chat: Katrina -- One Year Later
From Ascribe Newsfeed: August 29 will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. While Katrina "fatigue" has hit many of us, Connect For Kids and other organizations champion the notion...
Back to School: Top Five Tips for Healthy Students
From Ascribe Newsfeed: Thousands of Bay Area children are heading back to the classroom, out on the playground, and to the lunch table. The physicians of Camino Medical Group (CMG) suggest these five simple, yet essential, things you can do...
More Child Support Dollars to Kids: Using New State Flexibility in Child Support Pass-Through and Distribution Rules to Benefit Government and Families
From Center for Law and Social Policy: by Paul Legler (PSI) and Vicki Turetsky. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 provides new state flexibility to pass through more child support dollars to current and former TANF families. This policy brief...
August 06, 2006
U.S. Department of Education Awards $11.8 Million to Help Recruit, Train and Retain New Teachers
From Education Newsfeed: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded 31 grants totaling $11.8 million under the Transition to Teaching program to help high-need school districts recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals, including qualified paraprofessionals, and recent college graduates...
Neurobiology Added to Social, Moral Debate on Teen Drinking
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: Experts once believed that it took a long period of heavy drinking to injure the brain, but mounting research suggests that alcohol may readily damage the developing brains of teenagers, the New York...
Prescription Drug Abuse Rising Among Hispanic Youth
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: More Hispanic youths are using prescription drugs to get high, according to federal officials who unveiled a new prevention program aimed at Latinos, the Associated Press reported July 26. The rate of prescription-drug...
12-Step Programs Offer Broad Benefits, Study Says
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: A study of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step oriented self-help programs finds that they can help most people recover from alcoholism, even those who are not religious or have mental-health problems. The Pacific...
"Mission Accomplished" in War on Drugs?
From Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs News: A mostly overlooked article published in late June put forth an interesting proposition: that the U.S. war on drugs has already been won. Writing in the Columbus Dispatch on June 30, Ohio State...
Scaling Back Changes to Medicare Payments
From NYT > Health: Under intense pressure from health care lobbyists and lawmakers, the Bush administration says it will scale back and delay proposed changes in Medicare payments to hospitals that would have created clear winners and losers. The proposals...
August 03, 2006
Education Department Announces Partnership with States to Improve Accountability for Limited English Proficient Students
From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced a partnership with states to improve and develop fair and accurate testing designed for limited English proficient (LEP) students. "The goal of No Child Left Behind is to give...
Professional Development Programs in Seven States Awarded $3,793,537 to Improve Education for Indian Students
From Education Newsfeed: Education programs in seven states---Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin---have been selected to receive $3,793,537 to provide training programs to recruit and graduate new American Indian teachers and school administrators, U.S. Secretary of Education...
Education Department Announces New Special Education Regulations
From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the new regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The final regulations further the president's goal that no child---including each and every one of America's...
Survey: Seniors' Early Experiences With Their New Medicare Drug Plans
From The Kaiser Family Foundation: More than eight in 10 seniors who are enrolled in a Medicare drug plan are satisfied with their plan, although almost two in 10 say they encountered a major problem in using it, according to...
MDRC's Evaluation of Project GRAD
From MDRC: Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) is an ambitious education reform initiative designed to improve academic achievement, high school graduation rates, and rates of college attendance for low-income students. Launched first in Houston, Texas, it is an unusual...
More Child Support Dollars to Kids
From Center for Law and Social Policy: The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) provides new state flexibility to pass through more child support dollars to children who currently receive or formerly received welfare. States are searching for ways to...
Starting Off Right: Promoting Child Development from Birth in State Early Care and Education Initiatives
From Center for Law and Social Policy: Starting Off Right: Promoting Child Development from Birth in State Early Care and Education Initiatives describes a menu of strategies some states are using to improve early care and education for infants and...
Professional Development Programs in Seven States Awarded 3,793,537 Dollars to Improve Education for Indian Students
Department of Education: Education programs in seven states---Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin---have been selected to receive $3,793,537 to provide training programs to recruit and graduate new American Indian teachers and school administrators, U.S. Secretary of Education...
Hispanic and African American Adults Much More Likely to Lack Insurance
Commonwealth Fund: Analysis of the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey (2005) finds that uninsured rates for Hispanic and African American adults are one-and-a-half to three times greater than the rate for white adults. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of working-age Hispanics...
U.S. Senate Again Rejects Comprehensive Sex Education
U.S. Senate Again Rejects Comprehensive Sex Education Today, fifty-one United States Senators told American families that sound, proven, science-based sex education is not for their teens. Today, fifty-one United States Senators told American families that they have no right to...
Fighting Childhood Obesity
Children's Defense Fund Former President Bill Clinton and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee are from different political parties, but they've teamed up on a new campaign: battling childhood obesity. The American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation have partnered to create...
Critical Issues in Adolescent Participation in Out-of-School Time Activities
Harvard Family Research Project One key issue for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers interested in out-of-school time (OST) is youth participation rates. Practitioners, for example, want to know how to attract and sustain participation to maximize the potential benefits to...
Public Housing for Seniors Must Meet Today's Needs
The Urban Institute: While many of the country's public housing developments are designed for and occupied by senior citizens, it is surprising that a recent Urban Institute study of five family developments found that 13 percent of their households were...
Getting On, Staying On, and Getting Off Welfare
The Urban Institute Congress reauthorized Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the nation's primary cash assistance program for families with children, in February 2006 as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Under reauthorization, Congress increased the share of...
Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates in 2002-2003 for All Eligible People and for the Working Poor
Mathematica Policy Research The Food Stamp Program is a central component of American policy to alleviate hunger and poverty. The Food Stamp Program is the largest of the domestic food and nutrition assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of...
On Their Own Due Out in Paperback This Month
From: Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative On Their OwnOn Their Own, the prize-winning book chronicling the lives of ten young adults as they transition from foster care, will be released in paperback and available in stores August 15. Co-authored by...