National Family Week is November 23-29, 2008!

Alliance for Children and Families’ member organizations and partners will again host local observances during National Family Week and involve families, residents, area leaders, and policy makers in various activities such as community forums, resource fairs, volunteer projects, seminars, and awards programs.

For more information, resources, and materials on National Family Week, please visit www.nationalfamilyweek.org. For information about the Alliance for Children and Families visit www.alliance1.org.

News and Resources

College and Workplace Readiness Criteria Omit Key Competencies for Healthy Development Among Youth

A new Child Trends report, A Developmental Perspective on College and Workplace Readiness, finds that there are many opportunities for high schools to widen the road to success by focusing on the competencies necessary for the development of the whole young person.  The report cross-walks research on college readiness, workplace readiness, and youth development, identifying areas of consensus as well as gaps.  It also focuses on successful strategies for groups of students that face greater challenges in preparing for college, the workplace, and the transition to adulthood. The report identifies several critical gaps in the criteria used by colleges and employers to determine the competence of young applicants and identifies strengths valued by colleges and employers, but largely overlooked in the youth development research literature. Click here.

The Next “Big idea” That Will Improve the Prospects of America’s Children

First Focus has solicited large-scale policy proposals from leading and emerging thought leaders in an effort to find the next “big idea” that will exponentially improve the prospects of children in America. First Focus has commissioned Big Ideas for Children: Investing in Our Nation’s Future to illustrate the universal recognition among thought leaders that children are not a major priority at the federal level, and that creative solutions are needed to once again increase the federal investment in children. The proposals included in this book encompass various issue areas, including poverty, child health, early childhood, education, home and community, child welfare, and child safety. Click here.

Medicaid Family Planning Services Reduces Unplanned Pregnancies

This brief from the Brookings Institution describes a recent analysis of the impacts of state policies that expanded eligibility for Medicaid family planning services to women who do not meet regular Medicaid eligibility criteria. The results of this research show that these expanded eligibility policies had a significant impact on reducing unplanned births. Data on individual behavior confirms that this reduction in births was achieved through increased use of contraception among sexually-active women. The authors estimate the policy cost of preventing an unwanted birth to be around $6,800. They conclude that this is a cost-effective policy intervention relative to other policies and programs targeted at reducing teen and unwanted births. Read more..

State Budget Troubles Worsening

Just weeks after more than half of the states closed shortfalls in their 2009 budgets totaling $48 billion, the budgets in 13 of those states have fallen out of balance again, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  In the six of these 13 states that have made specific estimates, the new gaps total $4.4 billion, or 4 percent of their budgets.  These new shortfalls, which reflect the continuing weakness of the economy, highlight the growing need for the federal government to provide fiscal relief to states, as it did in the last downturn. Spending cuts around the country include: At least 13 states have implemented or are considering cuts that will affect low-income children’s or families’ eligibility for health insurance or reduce their access to health care services. Read More..

Census Bureau Numbers Show More Children in Poverty
The U.S. Census Bureau has released its report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States in 2007. According to the report, the number of children living in poverty increased by at least 500,000 between 2006 and 2007. The Census Bureau found the official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5%. The Census Bureau also found the percentage of individuals without health insurance fell from 15.8% in 2006 to 15.3% in 2007, with the number of uninsured Americans in 2007 being 45.7 million. The percentage of people covered by private insurance dropped, while the percentage of people covered by government-sponsored health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program increased. Much of this has to do with declining employer-based coverage, and many are thankful the public programs were able to more than offset this erosion. To read more. See also the analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Jobs Continue to Shrink

The August jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were grim. The Economic Policy Institute reports that the unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% last month, the highest in five years, and payrolls fell by 84,000 jobs, the eighth month in row of consecutive declines. Job losses were accelerating, and the underemployment rate (which includes part-time workers wanting to be full time) was at a recessionary level. Read more..

Both Social Security and Private Savings Needed for Secure Retirement
Retirement policy debates often pit Social Security against private savings. Advocates of private savings often suggest that personal accounts are superior to Social Security and should replace the current retirement benefit program. Nearly all retirement policy experts agree, however, that both Social Security and private savings are needed for a financially safe and secure retirement. This brief from The National Academy of Social Insurance explains the complementary roles of Social Security and voluntary personal savings. Click here.

Progress on Human Service Issues Despite Wall Street Bail Out...

Historic Kinship Care Legislation Passes

On September 22 the United States Senate unanimously passed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 sending the bill to the President for his signature. The bill is bi-partisan compromise between the House and Senate that includes many of the provisions of the Kinship Caregiver Support Act. The bill is the most significant recognition to date of the contribution grandparents and other relatives make in raising the nation`s children. The bill will provide supports for grandfamilies by: authorizing subsidized guardianship to enable children in the care of grandparents and other relatives to exit foster care into permanent homes, and establishing Kinship navigator programs to help link relative caregivers both inside and outside of the formal child welfare system to a broad range of services and supports that will help them meet the needs of the children in their care. For more info ..

Congress Expands Student Aid and Funds Innovation in Student Success, Basic Skills and Workforce Partnerships

On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed into law P.L. 110-315, Higher Education Opportunity Act, the long-awaited reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Center on Law and Social Policy summarizes the key provisions that will influence postsecondary access and success for nontraditional students, including year-round Pell Grants and new pilot programs championed by CLASP for Student Success Grants, Business Workforce Partnerships, and basic skills Bridges from Jobs to Careers programs. Click here.

Congress Passes Community Health Center Bill

This week, Congress passed the "Health Care Safety Net Act of 2008" (H.R. 1343). This bill authorizes $13.1 billion in funding through FY 2012 for community health centers that serve low-income families and the uninsured. Community health centers play a vital role in providing medical care to the uninsured, serving about 17 million people a year in more than 6,300 sites across the country. For more info.

Senate Passes Legislation to Assist Low-Income Seniors

On September 25, the U.S. Senate passed the "QI Program Supplemental Funding Act of 2008" (S. 3560) by unanimous consent. This legislation would authorize $45 million in additional funds to assist "qualifying individuals" in paying Medicare premiums. "Qualifying individuals" are those who fall between 120 to 135 percent of the federal poverty line, have limited assets, and do not qualify for Medicaid. The QI program was created in 1997 to expand the government assistance for low-income seniors. For more info.

The Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA), was introduced in the House on Wednesday, September 24th by Representative John Yarmuth (D-KT). Provisions in the bill include the creation of a White House Office of National Youth Poilcy to facilitate interagency collaboration, coordinate federal research and replicate model programs. The Director of the White House Office would have to submit a  "National Youth Strategy" to the President and Congress on a yearly basis. In addition grants would be available to state youth advisory boards and coordinating entities. 

Recommended Reading List

Listed below are books of relevance to the nonprofit human service sector that come highly recommended by colleagues.  Those that you are interested in can be purchased through Amazon.com.

Hold your computer mouse over the book cover to learn more about that title.

Click on the image to be directed to Amazon.com where you can read more about the book, including price and reviews, as well as purchase the title.