[Fwd: HandsNet WebClipper Digest 11/12/99]
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From: HandsNet Sue Dormanen <SDORMANEN@handsnet.org>
Subject: HandsNet WebClipper Digest 11/12/99
HandsNet WebClipper Digest
The WebClipper Digest is HandsNet's weekly overview of cross-cutting human services news from throughout the World Wide Web.
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November 12, 1999
** Alerts:
"WELFARE MADE A DIFFERENCE" NATIONAL CAMPAIGN - Join advocates and grassroots
welfare rights groups in making a difference in the upcoming welfare debate
during the 2000 elections and the 2001 federal welfare reauthorization, a
singular time in history to reframe the poverty issue in our nation. The
Campaign seeks to educate the public on the virtues of a fair, supportive social
welfare system and the consequences of punitive welfare policies. They will
collect and publicize heretofore "hidden" stories of successful women and men
who were once on welfare. "Count Me In" forms are available to document
individual's stories and sign on your organization to participate. For
information contact Liz Accles, 212/894-8082 email: accles@yahoo.com. See
http://www.handsnet.org/alerts1242/alerts_show.htm?doc_id=20875
URGE SENATE TO ACT ON INDEPENDENT LIVING BEFORE ADJOURNMENT - The Senate needs
to act quickly to pass legislation to assist older youths aging out of foster
care. The House passed the Foster Care Independence Act (H.R. 1802) in June, but
the Senate has not yet voted on its companion bill, S. 1327. Urge Senators to
take action this year, says Child Welfare League of America.
http://www.cwla.org/publicpolicy/alrt111199.html
OPPOSE HR 2376: EXPEDITED WAIVER APPROVAL - The bill is unnecessary and has the
potential for negative effects, says OMB Watch. The purpose of waiver requests
is to allow experimentation by states with new and innovative ways of providing
services under grants. This requires careful and discriminating evaluation.
There is no good reason to expedite waiver requests, especially not on the basis
of some claimed similarity with another waiver request.
http://www.handsnet.org/alerts1242/alerts_show.htm?doc_id=20721
** Children, Youth & Families:
STUDY FINDS CHILD CARE DOES IMPACT MOTHER-CHILD BOND - Quality of child care,
maternal education and depression, child's temperament are also key factors says
a study published by the American Psychological Association.
http://www.apa.org/releases/childcare.html
PAYING PARENTS TO STAY HOME WITH NEWBORNS - The Christian Science Monitor
reports Minnesota's unique-in-the-nation program is symbolic of the small, but
growing, support for parents who choose to stay home and raise their kids.
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/11/12/fp1s5-csm.shtml
DISPUTE ON JOBLESS AID FOR PARENTAL LEAVE - The administration is preparing new
regulations to allow states to pay unemployment benefits or maternity and
paternity leave, a plan protested by many employers and state officials.
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/110899clinton-benefits.html?Ref
MAKING ENDS MEET: How Much Does It Cost To Raise A Family In California? A
report from California Budget Project finds a two-parent family of four needs at
least $44,880 a year to make ends meet in CA: 2 1/2 times the federal poverty
level of $16,700. In the San Francisco Bay area, with the state's highest cost
of living, a two-parent family with two children needs $53,736 to live modestly.
http://www.cbp.org/reports/r9911mem.html
CHILDREN NOW CA REPORT CARD 1999 - First-ever county-by-county look at the
well-being of California's young children found 30% under age 5 live in poverty.
http://www.childrennow.org/california/RC99/index.html
TRENDS IN PREMARITAL CHILDBEARING - First births conceived out of wedlock nearly
tripled over the past six decades, to 53% in the early 1990s, according to a new
Census report. http://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p23-197.pdf
EFFORT TO BOOST MARRIAGE, FATHERHOOD - The House of Representatives, seeking to
reverse decades of rising out-of-wedlock births, approved a $160-million effort
aimed at boosting marriage among the nation's poor and teaching fathers to
uphold their parental responsibilities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/front/19991111/t000102535.html
BEYOND WELFARE: THE CASE FOR CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE - Nearly half of American
children will spend at least part of their childhood in a single parent family.
Unfortunately, over 40% of custodial parents do not even have a child support
order and those who have orders rarely receive the full amount due. One of the
most promising approaches to ending the poverty of children being raised in
single parent families is Child Support Assurance, says a report from CLASP.
http://www.clasp.org/pubs/childassurance/CSAPaper.htm
IMPACT OF CHILD SUPPORT ON COGNITIVE OUTCOMES OF YOUNG CHILDREN by L.M. Argys
is one of dozens of new abstracts added to the National Center on Fathers and
Families FatherLit Database. http://www.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu/database/index.html
U.S. YET TO RATIFY RIGHTS OF THE CHILD TREATY - Save the Children is releasing
Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?, a comprehensive look at how far the
world has come in realizing the vision of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. http://www.savethechildren.org/press/pr99_childrenrights.html
POWER UP - A Coalition of business, nonprofits and government will provide
technology access and help to underserved youth in thousands of communities and
schools. http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1108-106.htm
** Community Reinvestment-Financial Modernization:
CLINTON SIGNS BANKING OVERHAUL BILL - "Anti-consumer and anti-community," said
Ralph Nader and community groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Financial-Overhaul.html
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT REPORTER - On the House floor, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
said the bill so over-burdens community groups with reporting requirements that
"the activists will go away." While we understand her spirit, we don't see it
happening... says Inner City Press. http://www.innercitypress.org/crreport.html
** Education
AMERICANS SEEK TO SUPPORT, NOT ABANDON, PUBLIC SCHOOLS - A new national poll
shows most want to become more, not less, involved in improving their local
schools. http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1111-110.htm
PILOT PROJECT FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT - The National School Boards Foundation
AOL Foundation announced an online network to actively involve parents in the
school decision-making process.
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1111-104.htm
** Health Policy:
HEALTH PLAN PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT: WHY CHILD ADVOCATES SHOULD CARE - Outreach
and enrollment activities related to CHIP/Medicaid currently have top billing on
the agenda of many child advocates. After enrollment come pressing questions of
access and delivery of health care services to enrolled children. The National
Association of Child Advocates recently released "Health Plan Performance
Measurement: What It Is, How It Impacts CHIP and Medicaid, and Why Child
Advocates Should Care," an issue brief on tools for measuring access and quality
in the delivery of health care services to children enrolled in CHIP and
Medicaid programs. http://www.childadvocacy.org/perfmeas.pdf
HEALTH ADVOCATES' GUIDE TO THE INTERNET - A new publication from the National
Health Law Program. Hard copies are $10 from NHeLP, 2639 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los
Angeles, CA 90034, email: nhelp@healthlaw.org. Free online at
http://www.healthlaw.org/pubs/199910HAInternet.html
HCFA PROPOSES NEW CHIP REGULATIONS - Including basic consumer protections,
published in the 11/8/99 Federal Register. Comments due 1/7/2000; see:
http://www.hcfa.gov/init/chnprm.htm. Analysis by National Health Law Program
at: http://www.healthlaw.org/pubs/199911CHIPregs.html
BIG HMO ENDS PREAPPROVAL - Marking a major shift in managed care's approach to
controlling costs, UnitedHealth announced it will let physicians make the final
decision on what treatments their patients receive rather than reviewing medical
services. A recent survey of managed-care firms suggests that at least some may
be moving in the same direction, possibly rendering the right-to-sue debate
moot. http://www.dallasnews.com/business/1108biz999united.htm
LEAVING THE MARKET - Many of the 400,000 older Americans who had to switch
insurance because their HMOs pulled out of Medicare in 1999 have lost benefits,
had to change doctors, or must now pay more, according to a survey from the
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. http://www.kff.org/content/1999/1547/
HEALTH CARE TOP CONCERN - About 19% of respondents selected health care as
their top concern, putting it at the top of the list in the latest Harris Poll.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/pdf/nov05_1999.pdf
** Housing - Homelessness:
PUBLIC HOUSING EXPERIMENTS WITH TIME LIMITS - Delaware is one of the first
states to impose time limits on public housing residents under a national pilot
project reminiscent of the early years of welfare reform, reports stateline.org.
http://www.stateline.org/story.cfm?StoryID=51136
PASSPORT TO HOMEOWNERSHIP - HUD and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America
announced a consumer education campaign to increase homeownership by helping
people better understand all aspects of the home loan process.
http://www.hud.gov/pressrel/pr99-231.html
FACE OF HOMELESSNESS - Despite an economy that is booming, homelessness in
America is still on the rise. An Issue Brief from National Association of
Counties looks at who is homeless and why, and highlights solutions and best
practices being used by counties.
http://www.naco.org/pubs/research/issues/homeless.cfm
** Hunger:
KENNEDY-SPECTER/WALSH HUNGER RELIEF ACT - S. 1805, H.R. 3192 would restore food
stamp eligibility for low-income legal immigrants; update vehicle value rules
for food stamp households; increase food stamp allotments for families with
children with high shelter costs; and supplement funding for The Emergency Food
Assistance Program. Newest co-sponsors of the bipartisan Hunger Relief Act are
Representatives Quinn (R-NY), Brown (D-OH), and Strickland (D-OH), reports FRAC.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/hungerreliefact.html
** Juvenile Justice:
NEW APPROACH TO YOUTH VIOLENCE In what represents a slow-spreading but radical
change in the way America views crime, law enforcement officials, judges and
prosecutors are favoring prevention and intervention over punishment.
http://www.apbnews.com:80/newscenter/breakingnews/1999/11/09/youth1109_01.html
JUVENILE JUSTICE STATE ROUND-UP - The head of VA's Dept of Juvenile Justice
decided to ignore a vote to end the state's controversial 'Handle with Care
Plus' program. http://www.handsnet.org/index_show.htm?doc_id=20832&frame_id=1131
** Legal Services:
MEDICAID AND FOOD STAMP ACCESS INITIATIVE - Private firms across the country
will join forces with the Welfare Law Center and the National Health Law Program
and local legal services attorneys in a new nationwide pro bono initiative
designed to help low-income families moving from welfare to work access and
retain Medicaid and Food Stamp benefits.
http://www.healthlaw.org/pubs/199911initiative.html
** Poverty:
PLIGHT OF THE WORKING POOR - Whatever the merits of welfare reform, it seems
U.S. policy has finally taken note of the working poor. Yet the financial
stability of low-wage working families remains precarious, says a report from
the Brookings Institution Children's Roundtable.
http://www.brookings.edu/comm/ChildrensRoundtable/Issue2/issue2.htm
THE POVERTY OF AMERICAN POLITICS - Instead of making real policy decisions to
solve poverty, mainstream politicians exploit the issue for sound bites,
stereotypes and excuses to give corporate tax breaks. Developing a program of
adequate prerequisites for a minimal quality of life would help and be helped by
a reexamination of our stereotypes regarding the poor, write John Buell and
David Wagner, Progressive Populist. Provided by AlterNet:
http://www.alternet.org/PublicArchive/Buell1112.html
** Welfare Reform:
CURRENT AND FORMER WELFARE RECIPIENTS: HOW DO THEY DIFFER? Rapidly declining
welfare rolls have led many to ask whether those who have left the cash
assistance program tend to be a more able group, leaving behind an increasingly
disadvantaged caseload. A new report from The Urban Institute's Assessing the
New Federalism compares obstacles to work, work activity and economic struggles
for these two groups. http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/discussion-99-17.html
CHILD CARE AND TRANSPORTATION AS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS
- Welfare Information Network examines how state efforts to fill the gap between
supply and demand in child care and transportation can create jobs for welfare
recipients. http://www.welfareinfo.org/childtrans.htm
Another new WIN publication on State Policies and the TANF Time Limit Clock is
posted at: http://www.welfareinfo.org/jantimelimit.htm
TANF: RESOURCE FOR YOUTH PROGRAMS - Many cash-strapped youth employment and
development programs can be shown to serve the wider purposes of TANF, writes
CLASP. http://www.clasp.org/pubs/teens/TANF%20Funds%20&%20Youth%20Programs.htm
JUDGE BLOCKS MI DRUG TESTS - A federal judge temporarily blocked Michigan's new
requirement that welfare applicants be tested for drugs, saying requiring the
tests without suspicion is likely unconstitutional.
http://www.msnbc.com:80/news/333650.asp?cp1=1
Mail Sent: November 12, 1999 7:45 pm PST Item: R01Vk59
************************************
The WebClipper Digest is compiled by:
Sue Dormanen
HandsNet Editor
sdormanen@handsnet.org
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