Economic Opportunity Report articles from January 2004

Economic Opportunity Report archives from January 2004

Republicans, democrats will focus on terrorism, not social programs.(Outlook 2004)
January 5, 2004... Elected officials will continue to focus on terrorism and the economy in 2004, which could mean another lean year for social service programs, according to sources within the Democratic and Republican parties. Republicans will stress the...

N.C. communities band together to save local child care programs.(North Carolina)
January 5, 2004... Two North Carolina county agencies will continue caring for the children of low-income residents through before- and after-school programs because community leaders and local businesses have provided financial assistance to shore up a...

CAP plans to shine spotlight on poverty in 2004, Span says.(Outlook 2004)(Community action partnership )
January 5, 2004... With its annual convention taking place in Washington, D.C., later this year, the Community Action Partnership (CAP) has a golden opportunity to bring the plight of low-income residents to the forefront of the nation's conscience, CAP President...

1.6m low-income Americans uninsured due to state budget cuts, CBPP finds.
January 5, 2004... Approximately 34 states have made cuts over the past two years to public health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that resulted in as many as 1.6 million low-income Americans losing...

Low-income Americans still struggling 40 years after EOA passed, experts say.(Retrospective)(Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 )
January 5, 2004... "Because it is right, because it is wise and because for the first time in our history, it is possible to conquer poverty.... I submit, for the consideration of the Congress and the country, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (EOA)." ...

Pressure from Va. tenants association leads to new low-income housing law.
January 5, 2004... Communities across the country have contacted a Winchester, Va., based nonprofit organization about fighting for low-income tenants' rights, since the group was instrument in forcing its own city council to approve a new citywide health and...

Study: Georgia failing to protect foster children from re-abuse.
January 5, 2004... Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) is failing to protect from re-abuse the 3,000 children who are in foster care in DeKalb and Fulton counties, according to a report issued last week by Children's Rights, a New York...

HUD awards more than $1b in grants to agencies that fight homelessness.
January 5, 2004... Thousands of local programs that house and serve the homeless will share in the nearly $1.3 billion in grants that were awarded last month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grants are part of a larger...

Pa. mortgage lender agrees to end alleged predatory lending practices.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... American Financial Business Services Inc. (AFBS), a Philadelphia-based mortgage lender, will not face predatory lending charges after it agreed late last month to make changes to its forbearance policy, thus ending an investigation into that...

Food Stamp Program Applications.(Federal Register)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting comments on its revised its Food Stamp Program Application for Meal Services (Form FNS-252-2). The form was revised to make it easier to read and to simplify information collected from meal...

HUD study.(Federal Register)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is requesting approval to conduct a study to update its estimates of the extent and type of errors associated with income, rent, and subsidy determinations for the 4.4 million...

DOI guidance.(Federal Register)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is soliciting comments on its interim final guidance on federal financial assistance recipients regarding Title VI prohibition against national origin discrimination affecting Limited English Proficient...

Education department evaluation.(Federal Register)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Education is soliciting comments on its Social and Character Development (SACD) National Evaluation, which will evaluate the success of seven school-based interventions designed to promote positive social and character...

Child support grants.(Federal Register)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is soliciting applications for grants to fund a number of special improvement projects which further the national child support mission to ensure...

'Difficult Development Areas' designation.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last month issued its annual notice regarding the localities designated as "Difficult Development Areas" (DDAs) based on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) under the Internal...

New York.(Around The States)(Statistics of poverty rate)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... NEW YORK: Hunger rose somewhat faster, and homelessness rose at about the same rate in New York City than in the other major cities across the United States in the last year, according to a comparison between local statistics and a bipartisan...

Oregon.(Around The States)(Survey on income rate)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... OREGON: Nearly 40 percent of all children in Oregon lived in poverty in 2003, according to the findings of a study conducted by Children First for Oregon, a Portland-based nonprofit organization. The study found that 321,000 children in...

Alabama.(Around The States)(Medicaid agency)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... ALABAMA: Gov. Bob Riley (R) late last month named Carol Herrmann as the new director of the state's Medicaid agency. She succeeds former Acting Medicaid Director Mike Lewis, who resigned from the position on Nov. 21 to return to his previous...

Tennessee.(Survey on food stamp program 2002-2003)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... TENNESSEE: The number of households enrolled in the state's Food Stamp program increased by 17 percent between November 2002 and November 2003, according to findings issued last month by the state's Department of Human Services (DHS). The...

Wyoming.(Family Services)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... WYOMING: The state's Department of Family Services (DFS) will partner with Casey Family Programs to improve services to abused and neglected children in the foster care system and to children at risk of abuse or neglect, Gov. Dave Freudenthal...

Texas.(Around The States)
January 5, 2004... TEXAS: The state's Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) last month awarded more than $15 million to help approximately 344 low-income homeowners. The funding contracts, which were awarded to 58 local agencies and nonprofit...

TANF reauthorization may not be high priority for Congress.(Outlook 2004)
January 12, 2004... TANF experts are worried that neither Democrats nor Republicans claim the TANF reauthorization bill as their top priority in this election year. Without support when Congress reconvenes Jan. 20, the bill could continue to languish, just as it...

Congressional leaders create caucus to address substandard rural housing.
January 12, 2004... A new congressional caucus aimed at improving rural housing could help erase the estimated 1.6 million substandard homes in rural communities throughout the country through the rehabilitation of existing structures and construction of new ones....

Boxer, Collins urge President Bush to fully fund afterschool programs.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Afterschool programs are valuable tools that enhance a child's education, which is why President Bush should fully fund them in his Fiscal Year 2005 budget request, according to a letter written to the president last week by Sens. Susan Collins...

Bush failing to live up to promises, community action groups argue.(No Child Left Behind Act)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... With the second anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) having come and gone, there is no evidence at the local level of the promises or progress under the NCLB that President Bush claimed was occurring, community action agencies...

New technology should be integrated into low-income schools, SIIA argues.(Software and Information Industry Association)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Because the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), among other things, holds schools accountable for student technology literacy, federal, state and local governments should create opportunities to integrate technology-based and distance learning...

Immigrant teens have social problems due to language barrier, expert notes.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Teenage immigrants typically face significant psychological and social problems because they cannot speak the language and their family is poor, according to an expert at the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). In an...

Calif. housing agency to provide $10m to assist low-income homebuyers.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Low-to moderate-income families throughout California will receive a $10 million boost from the state's Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) in their efforts to purchase a home. Late last month, CalHFA's Housing Enabled by Local Partnerships...

Study finds health disparities between low-income, wealthy Chicagoans.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Low-income and predominately minority communities in Chicago face far more serious health problems and have considerably less access to health care and treatment than their higher income non-minority counterparts, according to the findings of a...

Labor Dept. soliciting applications for homeless vets pilot program.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) is soliciting applications for a grant competition for up to four pilot programs that comply with the requirements of the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive...

N.C. nonprofit group allows families to reach out and touch services.(North Carolina)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... A North Carolina-based nonprofit organization is making access to social services for low-income families in rural northeastern North Carolina as easy as picking up a telephone. Connectinc, a nonprofit group headquartered in Rocky Mount,...

Texas consolidates HHS' services; less red tape for poor residents.(Department of health and human services)
January 12, 2004... Texas' low-income residents will have less bureaucracy to wade through in their efforts to access such services as Medicaid and the CHIP program after Gov. Rick Perry (R) last month approved legislation requiring the state's Health and Human...

Gonzalez tapped to replace Dorr as USDA deputy undersecretary.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Gilbert Gonzalez, a former banker from San Antonio, has been appointed as the new deputy undersecretary for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), replacing embattled former undersecretary Thomas Dorr. Gonzalez's...

FHA increases mortgage limits for low-income homebuyers.(Federal Housing Administration)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Low-income and first time homebuyers will have even more opportunities to purchase homes following the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) decision to increase its single-family home mortgage limits by more than 3 percent. Under the...

Former CMS administrator hired by Washington D.C. law firm.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Tom Scully, former administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), late last month accepted a job with the Washington, D.C. office of Alston and Bird, an Atlanta-based...

FNS reimbursement rates.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has revised the reimbursement rates for meals served through the Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSP). Effective Jan. 1, the maximum per meal reimbursement...

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.(Federal Register)
January 12, 2004... The U.S Department of the Treasury has amended its rules regarding the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) for individuals who own low-income housing developments. The amendment is based on changes made to the Internal Revenue Code by the...

Amended HMDA rules.(Federal Register)(Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Amended HMDA rules: The Federal Reserve Board is amending its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act regulations to use new definitions of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. In addition, the asset size threshold for lenders subjected to...

Staff development.(Calendar)
January 12, 2004... Jan. 25-27. The Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH) will hold its mid-year meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. The meeting features sessions covering the major trends occurring in the affordable rural-housing arena. Among the seminars are...

Idaho.(Around The States)(housing loans)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... IDAHO: The state's Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) in December received a $2.1 million award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be used in support of Idaho's homeless shelters and transitional housing...

Kansas.(Around The States)(housing rehabilitation)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... KANSAS: The state's Department of Commerce last week awarded seven cities with a total of $2.1 million in federally funded housing rehabilitation grants through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The housing rehabilitation...

Ohio.(Around The States)(housing finance)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... OHIO: The state's Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) approved more than $1.2 million in Housing Development Assistance Program (HDAP) loans for two housing projects in Ohio. The funds will be used to construct and/or rehabilitate 102 units of...

North Carolina.(Around The States)(housing)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... NORTH CAROLINA: Officials with the state's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said in late December that they are moving forward on a plan to develop affordable housing in Butner. DHHS is working with Volunteers of America in the...

Arkansas.(Around The States)(adoptive homes for children)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... ARKANSAS: The state's Department of Human Services (DHS) in December was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will assist in finding adoptive homes for children in foster care. The grant provides $386,000 per...

Oklahoma.(Around The States)(home for teenage girls)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... OKLAHOMA: The Deborah Rothe Group Home, a facility run by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) that provides long-term group home care for teenage girls in state custody, last month received a $4,000 donation from O'Reilly...

Northeast states asking Congress for additional LIHEAP funding.
January 19, 2004... Barely halfway through the winter season, low-income residents throughout the northeastern United States have already exhausted their LIHEAP benefits. To that end, local service agencies are calling on Congress and the White House to allocate...

Illinois governor seeking to revive program linking parents to services.
January 19, 2004... Low-income parents in Illinois will soon have better access to social services such as afterschool tutoring, Head Start and substance abuse treatment under a program that Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is looking to revive this year. The...

HUD IG promises an investigation into Jackson's union statements.(Department of Housing and Urban Development, Inspector General, Alphonso Jackson )(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Inspector General said last week that he will investigate allegations that acting HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson made anti-union statements late last year. In a Jan. 12 letter to...

Texas' Medicaid agency must honor consent decree's terms, S. Ct. says.
January 19, 2004... The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HSSC) cannot renege on a consent decree requiring it to provide certain services to more than 1 million low-income children, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week. In the case...

Low-income residents would suffer if Wisc. law passes, advocate says.(Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... Residents of low-income neighborhoods throughout Wisconsin would not be able to protect themselves from the long-term health effects of pollution if a bill that would repeal numerous state environmental regulations becomes law, an advocacy...

Bush's marriage initiative draws fire from low-income, women's advocates.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... President Bush's proposed $1.5 billion effort to promote "healthy marriages" among the poor is too much too fast, low-income advocates said. In his Fiscal Year 2004 budget, Bush allocated $1.5 billion for his marriage initiative, which...

National School Lunch Program safe from Mad Cow Disease, ASFSA says.(American School Food Service Association)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... Participants in the National School Lunch Program do not have to worry about contracting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)--also known as "Mad Cow Disease"--because the infected cow never entered the program's food supply, according to an...

More low-income parents are working, but wages are insufficient, NCCP finds.
January 19, 2004... It will take more than providing jobs to reduce the number of children living in low-income families, according to findings issued by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). However, cuts to social service programs at the federal...

Frozen orange juice.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will purchase up to $50 million of canned and frozen orange juice for donation to child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs. So far this fiscal year, USDA has purchased $4.3 million of...

Anti-hunger conference.(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The Food Reseach and Action Center will hold its National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference Feb. 22-24 in Washington, D.C. The conference will bring together advocates from anti-hunger, food bank, child care, direct service, human needs, religious,...

EPA disadvantaged business hearing.(Environmental Protection Agency )(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to increase the participation of small, disadvantaged, or women-owned businesses, will hold a public hearing on the agency's upcoming proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Rule in...

Programs awarded $17.6 M by HUD for housing discrimination initiative.(Housing and Urban Development )
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week awarded $17.6 million in grants to fair housing groups in 39 states and the District of Columbia. HUD received applications from 215 groups seeking grants for the Fiscal...

ACLU report documents disparities in test scores based on buildings.
January 19, 2004... There is a 5-to 10-percent differential on achievement tests between students in schools in higher income areas and those in buildings in low-income areas, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. The ACLU...

Child support data collection.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration on Children and Families (ACF) is collecting comments on its 2004 Current Population Survey on Child Support. Collection of the data will assist legislators and policymakers in...

President's Volunteer Service Award.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The Corporation for National and Community Services (CNCS) is soliciting nominations for its President's Volunteer Service Award. In order to recognize individuals, schools and organizations, the program must collect information about the...

Improving literacy through libraries.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Education is soliciting comments on its proposal to add a competitive preference priority to the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program to reflect the importance of mastering reading skills in grades K-3. To...

Welfare-to-Work Voucher Program.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is soliciting comments on its evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Voucher Program. The goal of the evaluation is to assess the impacts of receiving a Welfare-to-Work voucher on improving...

Title VI guidance.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes policy guidance regarding Title VI's prohibition against national origin discrimination as it affects limited English proficient persons and assists them in fulfilling their...

Parent Corps Evaluation.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is soliciting comments concerning a new information collection for the Parent Corps Evaluation. The Parent Corps program is a three-year effort to create a national training system and...

Minnesota.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... MINNESOTA: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) laid the foundation for his administration's plan to end long-term homelessness by including $20 million in capital bonding funds in his 2004 bonding proposal. During the 2003 legislative session, at Pawlenty's...

Oregon.(Around The States)(office of Housing and Community Services)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... OREGON: The state's office of Housing and Community Services (OHCS) received more than $1.9 million in federal Continuum of Care grant funds to help the homeless in rural Oregon. OHCS will work closely with partner agencies to use these funds...

Kentucky.(Around The States)(Housing Corporation )(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... KENTUCKY: The state's Housing Corporation (KHC) awarded nearly $250,000 to three local organizations that provide housing for low-income residents and homeless individuals, among others. The Mayfield-Graves County Habitat for Humanity received...

Alabama.(Around The States)(government services)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... ALABAMA: The state's Housing Finance Authority (AHFA) joined with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Rural Development in the creation of the Rural Alabama Mortgage Program, which will provide low-interest mortgages and...

Maryland.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... MARYLAND: Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) said he intends to make a $495,000 investment over the next two fiscal years in the Wellmobile program. Developed by the University of Maryland School of Nursing, as well as other state agencies, the Wellmobile...

Illinois.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
January 19, 2004... ILLINOIS: Because schools teach students values as well as math and science, Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) said he will propose legislation requiring all high school students to complete 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. The...

District Court rejects NHSA's lawsuit against HHS over head start survey.(National Head Start Association)
January 26, 2004... All Head Start programs must provide the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with detailed information about financial compensation to senior staff members for the past three years, a federal district court in Washington, D.C....

Missouri group hopes research leads to fewer program cuts.
January 26, 2004... A Missouri group that advocates for the state's low-income children hopes that its research showing that, among other things, the number of children participating in the free-and reduced-priced school lunch program is growing will lead to fewer...

Senate approves appropriations bill; key social service programs funded.(FY 2004 Omnibus Appropriate Bill)
January 26, 2004... Funding for key social service initiatives for low-income Americans, such as the Food Stamp, Section 8 and AmeriCorps programs, took a huge step forward as the Senate last week passed an $873 billion omnibus appropriations spending bill for...

Federal agencies coordinating efforts to improve transportation services.
January 26, 2004... Low-income Americans who need access to public transportation will soon have their problems resolved by a national campaign that seeks to reduce their difficulties in getting travel support. The "United We Ride" initiative is a joint effort...

Virginia CAA receives state grant to create pilot homeless program.
January 26, 2004... A pilot program created by the New River Valley Community Action Agency (NRVCAA) has received a $150,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to improve the current approach to addressing homelessness...

Homelessness should not inhibit voting rights, Iowa agency says.
January 26, 2004... Tenacity is needed to encourage homeless people to exercise their constitutional right to vote, said Amy Knudsen, assistant director of the Iowa Coalition for Housing and the Homeless. Because of this tenacity, more than 200 homeless...

DOL's overtime proposal debated during Senate Committee hearing.
January 26, 2004... A proposal that would drastically revamp the nation's overtime rules for millions of low-income Americans will "most likely" become law shortly, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said last week. During a Jan. 20 hearing...

Michigan HIFA approved.(Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week approved Michigan's request under the new, more flexible Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) Initiative to expand the use of SCHIP funds to offer health...

N.C. AmeriCorps grants available.
January 26, 2004... AmeriCorps grants are now available for nonprofit organizations and government agencies in North Carolina working to address educational, public safety, homeland security, environmental and human service needs, Gov. Mike Easley (D) said last...

Nebraska's poor students faring better in smaller school systems, study finds.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Creating smaller school systems in low-income communities throughout Nebraska has led to greater achievement among students, according to a study conducted by the Rural School and Community Trust. The report, "Small Works in Nebraska: How...

Mississippi provides sub par services to poor defendants, NAACP finds.(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Low-income defendants in Mississippi are receiving substandard legal representation from the state's public defenders, according to the findings of a yearlong report conducted by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. The report,...

IRS: low-income workers must review EITC eligibility in light of revisions.
January 26, 2004... Because of a series of changes that were made to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program, the IRS is urging low-income workers to doublecheck their eligibility for the program. The new maximum refund credit for the 2003 tax year is...

Education Department Grants.(Federal Register)
January 26, 2004... Education Department Grants. The U.S. Department of Education is accepting applications for its Fiscal Year 2004 Individual Development Grants and Cooperative Arrangement Development Grants under the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions...

Rural Housing Grants.(Federal Register)
January 26, 2004... Rural Housing Grants. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published the list of recipients of its Fiscal Year 2003 Rural Housing and Economic Development Program. The program is designed to build capacity at the state...