Economic Opportunity Report articles from January 2005

Economic Opportunity Report archives from January 2005

Happy New Year.(Slants & Trends)
January 3, 2005... HAPPY NEW YEAR--With the start of a new year comes new hope for progress in the fight against poverty. But experts caution there is little to hope for in what is expected to be a continuation of the same during a second Bush administration and...

Keep the faith.(Slants & Trends)
January 3, 2005... KEEP THE FAITH--When President Bush announced his faith-based initiative three years ago, reaction was mixed. Many in the Christian right were delighted to have a way to get federal funds to bring programs to a wider audience, while others...

Administration releases $100 million in emergency LIHEAP funds for '05.
January 3, 2005... Barely two weeks after funding was secured for the current fiscal year, the administration has released $100 million in emergency funds to help low-income families heat their homes this winter. While welcome, the allotment is not enough,...

Targeted job training program helps young Chicago dads stay on the job.
January 3, 2005... A unique job training program for young fathers in Chicago has succeeded in getting jobs for participants and, in 92 percent of the cases, keeping them on the job. Program sponsors consider the job retention--of more than a year in most...

Anti-poverty programs not expected to top the federal agenda in the New Year.(Outlook 2005)
January 3, 2005... Do not expect much change in 2005 when it comes to anti-poverty programs, experts and federal officials predict. At the federal level, time, legislation and money will be spent fighting terrorism, securing social security and advancing tort...

IRS, HUD join to get word out on tax refunds due to working poor.(Internal Revenue Service)(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Millions of low-income working families could save thousands in income taxes under an agreement announced by two federal agencies last month. The plan is aimed at families eligible for refunds under the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) who...

Rental housing is out of reach in record number of counties.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Housing is out of reach to low-income working families in more counties than ever before, with typical workers needing to earn almost triple the federal minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment, a new study has found. The "national...

GAO: more steps needed to make one-stops accessible to disabled.(Government Accountability Office )
January 3, 2005... The Labor Department needs to take more action to ensure that one-stop job centers are accessible to those with disabilities, a government agency has said. Access to one-stops varies, with some sites only beginning to acquire assistive...

Special report: faith-based initiatives.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... George W. Bush's first executive order as president created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the White House. This action expanded on the "Charitable Choice" provision, passed as part of President Clinton's 1996 welfare...

Faith-Based initiative brings federal funds to Christian-based programs.
January 3, 2005... PHILADELPHIA -- Three years ago, President Bush came to this city, where the founding fathers long ago established a new form of government, to set forth his own version of a new government--one that would include faith-based organizations in...

Study: secular job training programs outpace those of faith-based groups.
January 3, 2005... Low-income individuals who participated in job-training programs run by secular organizations generally received better paying jobs with more benefits than did those who participated in programs run by faith-based organizations, according to a...

Civil liberties groups look to monitor faith-based programs.(Anti-Defamation League)
January 3, 2005... In a tacit admission of their inability to block President Bush's faith-based initiative, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other civil liberties groups are shifting their fight to the field in a concerted effort to monitor social service...

Unification church groups get grants for 'Healthy Marriage'.
January 3, 2005... At least four operatives of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church are on the federal payroll or obtaining government grants through President Bush's "Healthy Marriage Initiative" and other faith-based programs, federal documents show....

HOPE VI.(Federal Register)
January 3, 2005... * HOPE VI: HUD made corrections to its Nov. 3 notice of FY04 grant availability under the Revitalization of Severely Distressed Public Housing HOPE VI Revitalization and Demolition Grant program. Contact: Lar Gnessin, HUD, (202) 708-0614. See...

Emergency capital repair grants.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Emergency Capital Repair Grants: HUD provided additional information on information collection requirements under the $10 million available for emergency capital repairs to multifamily projects for elderly tenants. The original notice...

Housing counseling.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Housing Counseling: HUD proposed regulations to "adopt and augment" requirements for the housing counseling program "with which grantees and housing counseling agencies are already familiar." To date, the program has been administered through...

Teen pregnancy prevention.(Grant Awards)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Teen Pregnancy Prevention: A $575,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is aimed at reducing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among at-risk youth in the San Francisco Area. The program involves setting up a...

Job training.(Grant Awards)(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Job Training: Close to 4,000 high school dropouts will get training in construction trades and more than 1,000 homes for low-income families will be built, under $54 million in new HUD Youthbuild Program grants. State and local agencies, job...

Affordable housing.(Grant Awards)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Affordable Housing: Almost $10.3 million has been awarded in grants, loans and rate subsidies to create affordable rental and ownership housing in Boston and other New England communities through a program of the Federal Home Loan Bank of...

Self-sufficiency.(Grant Awards)(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Self-Sufficiency: HUD has announced $44.5 million in grants to public housing agencies to hire coordinators to provide job training, employment and homeownership counseling under the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency Program. See...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 3, 2005... * Feb. 16-17: The 2005 Food Assistance Research Conference: Recent Findings and Emerging Issues will be held in Washington, D.C., by USDA's Economic Research Service. Contact: Victor Oliveira, (202) 694-5454, victoro@ers.usda.gov. * Feb....

Electronic enrollment.(Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Electronic Enrollment: New technology has provided new ways to inform low-income families about assistance programs, and some states now use Web sites to screen for eligibility, calculate benefits and take applications. Still, it remains...

Graduation rates.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Graduation Rates: Federal policy changes are needed to ensure that states accurately report high school graduation rates, the Alliance for Excellent Education said last month. While most states use a method that has produced a national high...

Medicare prescription card.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Medicare Prescription Card: An effort to help get the word out to low-income elderly Hispanics about the new Medicare discount prescription drug program has been launched by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in partnership with AARP. In...

Pre-K spending.(Kindergarten education expenses in United States)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Pre-K Spending: Enrollment in pre-kindergarten classes is up nationwide, but per-student spending is declining as many states struggle to fund initiatives to reach more children, new research shows. Pre-K funding has dropped in 21 states,...

Welfare reform and children.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... * Welfare Reform and Children: Welfare reform could be responsible for up to half the drop in child poverty among African-American and Hispanic households headed by single mothers, a new study reports. Those groups had the highest rates of both...

The year ahead.(Slants & Trends)
January 17, 2005... THE YEAR AHEAD--This year is a potentially big one for the economic opportunity community, with several key laws up for reauthorization--again. A new Congress means another stab at reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families...

Changes at USDA.(Slants & Trends)(United States Department of Agriculture )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... CHANGES AT USDA--Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) is one step closer to becoming the next Agriculture secretary, as he won unanimous approval Jan. 6 from the Senate Agriculture Committee. During a confirmation hearing that day, Johanns said he...

House republicans offer new take on the old: welfare reform again.(Personal Responsibility Work and Family Promotion Act of 2005)
January 17, 2005... House Republicans introduced a new welfare reauthorization bill as Congress convened for the new session, but partisan arguing already has threatened to halt the bill before it even comes up for debate. The bill, H.R. 240, the Personal...

Welfare recipients continue to show decline in work hours.
January 17, 2005... New data show that work by welfare recipients fell in 2003, for the second consecutive year and for the third time in four years, a trend inconsistent with the goals of the 1996 welfare reform law. For all families, only 31.3 percent of...

Tennessee governor drops adults, keeps kids in state Medicaid plan.
January 17, 2005... Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) this month decided to drop 323,000 adults from the state's expanded Medicaid program but preserve health coverage for children. The announcement capped weeks of negotiations between Bredesen and health care...

New leaders, members named to committees for 109th congress.
January 17, 2005... New leadership has been named for several key Senate committees, including those overseeing food assistance, education, health and appropriations. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) is the new chair of the Appropriations Committee, replacing Sen....

Housing Myths.(Confronting Myths and Promoting a Balanced Housing Policy. )(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... HOUSING MYTHS: The Crisis in America's Housing: Confronting Myths and Promoting a Balanced Housing Policy is a new paper from five interest groups that seeks to dispel myths in housing policies and set out a blueprint for a policy that...

Dole seeks funding for pilot program to extend free school meal eligibility.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... More low-income children will have access to free school meals if Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) gets her way. With the new session of Congress barely under way, Dole has already begun a campaign seeking federal funds to implement a pilot...

WIA reauthorization bill is introduced by house leaders as Congress opens.(Workforce Investment Act)
January 17, 2005... Key House leaders this month introduced legislation to reauthorize job training programs that for the most part picks up where the House left off last Congress, but with one key difference: this bill would include worker reemployment accounts....

Democrats move to block plan to alter eligibility formula for student aid.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Democrats in both the House and Senate have announced plans for bills to block a Bush administration plan that would chop $300 million off the Pell Grant program. The Education Department in late December changed the tax tables that...

HHS: head start not meeting goals for child health, school readiness.(Health and Human Services Department)
January 17, 2005... Closer monitoring of Head Start grantees is being sought after a federal report found the federal preschool program is not meeting key objectives for child health and school readiness. In addition, grantees sometimes serve more non-poor...

Judge strikes down restrictions imposed by legal services corp.
January 17, 2005... In a decision that supporters said would help poor people get better legal services, a federal judge has struck down some restrictions imposed by the federal Legal Services Corp. (LSC). Eastern District of New York Judge Frederic Block...

Minimum wage up in five states with start of new year; two more to come.
January 17, 2005... For some employees, the New Year meant a new income. Five states gave the lowest-paid workers a raise Jan. 1, when new minimum wage laws went into effect. The turn of the calendar brought minimum wage increases in Illinois (from $5.15 to...

Early reading grants.
January 17, 2005... EARLY READING GRANTS: Priority will go to projects serving low-income children, under guidelines announced for federal Early Reading First grants. Some $104 million is available for 139 three-year grants. The average grant will be $2.8 million,...

Arkansas.(Around the States)(Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is proposing extended eligibility for state-funded college scholarships to illegal aliens.)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is proposing extended eligibility for state-funded college scholarships to illegal aliens who graduate from Arkansas high schools--an idea that state legislators predict will go nowhere. The governor said it is...

Kansas.(Around the States)(budget time bomb is ticking in the state welfare agency.)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Kansas's budget time bomb is ticking in the state welfare agency, and no one is sure when it will go off. The federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid is auditing several programs in the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services...

Wisconsin.(Around the States)(Finance)(Opportunity Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee misplaces funds)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Wisconsin's beleaguered welfare agency is under scrutiny again for misuse of state welfare-to-work funds. The agency hired by the state, the Opportunity Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee, has "misplaced" $370,000 in public funds...

School Meals.(Federal Register)
January 17, 2005... School Meals: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed changes to the procurement rules for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast and Special Milk programs to address problems found in audits and program reviews. Comments on the...

Summer Food Service.(Federal Register)
January 17, 2005... Summer Food Service: USDA has set new reimbursement rates for the Summer Food Service Program for 2005. The rates take effect Jan. 1 and reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. See the Dec. 30 Federal Register, p. 78386. Contact: Robert...

Mayors: hunger, homelessness continue to rise in major cities.
January 17, 2005... The economy may be recovering, but the mayors in large cities where homelessness and hunger continue to rise are not seeing it. A new survey of the nation's major city mayors found a substantial increase in families with children who sought...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 17, 2005... * Feb. 25: Work-Focus Strategies: Proven Results & Design is being held in Boca Raton, Fla., by the National Center for Family Literacy. The workshop is designed to give adult educators tools for incorporating work-related learning into...

Fledgling senate hunger caucus grows to nearly third of senate.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... The Senate Hunger Caucus, a group devoted to fighting food insecurity, has grown to nearly a third of the Senate since its creation in June. Launched by Sens. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), the...

Housing Awards.
January 17, 2005... Housing Awards: Twenty state and local governments have won the first national HOME Doorknocker Awards for providing affordable housing to low-income and underserved people, HUD has announced. The states and localities were honored for such...

After-school programs.
January 17, 2005... After-School Programs: Increased access to after-school programs is among the goals of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention competition to reduce youth violence through community improvements. Two grants of about $600,000 are...

Hunger Heroes.
January 17, 2005... Hunger Heroes: Nominations are being accepted through March 1 for the Hunger Heroes Program, which honors local offices that go the extra mile in helping eligible people obtain food stamps. Local offices "with a unique and creative approach to...

Verizon Grants.(Thirteen nonprofit groups in Oregon have received grants for workforce development and community technology needs.)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Verizon Grants: Thirteen nonprofit groups in Oregon have received grants worth a total $102,203 for workforce development and community technology needs. The grants include: $9,000 to the Portland Community College Foundation to provide more...

EITC benefits.(Earned Income Tax Credit)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... EITC Benefits: The Internal Revenue Service has conducted three tests to determine whether individuals claim more than their benefits due under the Earned Income Tax Credit. A new General Accountability Office report examines these tests,...

Section 8 hit, again.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... SECTION 8 HIT, AGAIN--Just when public housing authorities thought the fight for this year's Section 8 funding was over, things have heated up again. HUD this month issued a heads-up to PHAs that fiscal year 2005 vouchers would be 4 percent...

New secretaries in.(appointments)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... NEW SECRETARIES IN--Out with the old, in with the new: the Senate has confirmed EPA head Mike Leavitt as the new secretary of Health and Human Services, Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns to head up Agriculture and Bush domestic policy adviser Margaret...

Severe cuts expected.
January 31, 2005... SEVERE CUTS EXPECTED--Anti-poverty and housing advocates are bracing themselves for what are expected to be huge cuts in the fiscal year (FY) 2006 budget request President Bush sends Congress Feb. 7. Early reports show the White House...

Senator introduces welfare bill with expanded work rules.
January 31, 2005... Legislation to reauthorize the welfare law was introduced in the Senate last week, joining the welfare bill offered in the House just as the new Congress got under way. The bill, introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), would emphasize...

Section 8 housing voucher payments to be cut by 4 percent for FY05.
January 31, 2005... Public housing agencies (PHAs) will get 4 percent less than expected in Section 8 voucher payments this fiscal year, the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) said this month. In calculating voucher payments, HUD said it found the...

HUD asks communities to conduct a one-night street count of homeless.(Department of Housing and Urban Development)
January 31, 2005... In an effort to get more data on the need for homeless services, the federal government asked communities across the country to count the number of people on the streets for one night last week. The count is not required, but the...

Social Security changes could affect disability benefits, too.
January 31, 2005... Social Security disability benefits may not be safe from across-the-board cuts that are likely in President Bush's proposal to allow personal investment accounts. Retirement and disability benefits are calculated using the same formula, so...

HHS makes $643 million available for FY05 in unexpended SCHIP funds.(Health and Human Services Department)(State Children's Health Insurance Program)
January 31, 2005... States will be able to divvy up $643 million in old, unspent funds to avoid funding shortfalls this year under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) announced this month. Some...

ACLU seeks contempt finding in La. abstinence education program.(American Civil Liberties Union)
January 31, 2005... The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) this month asked a federal district court to find the Louisiana governor's abstinence education program in contempt of a 2002 order requiring that religion be kept out of the program. In November...

Study: one in nine households face hunger or hunger risk.
January 31, 2005... About one in nine households faced hunger or risk of hunger sometime during 2003, and a new analysis shows that hunger is just one of multiple hardships poor families are facing. Half of poor families faced two or more of some 14 hardships...

Calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 31, 2005... * Feb. 13-19: Career and Technical Education Week. See www.acteonline.org. * Feb. 28: The Mid-Atlantic Anti-Hunger Coalition meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. Contact: Nicole Woo, Food Research and Action Center, (202) 986-2200,...

Governors create special offices to help religious groups get funds.(Faith-based)
January 31, 2005... Mary Whitehurst-Feirick, a pastor of a Dothan, Ala., congregation, hopes to improve health care for the homeless by landing a grant through Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's (R) new office of faith-based initiatives. Riley, who created the office by...

Bush Proposes increased Pell Grant; some lawmakers seek even more.
January 31, 2005... Low-income college students would get higher Pell Grants, an extra $100 a year over the next five years, under a new proposal from President Bush. The president's plan would increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $4,550 by 2010. Critics,...

Judge rules Baltimore has failed to desegregate public housing properly.
January 31, 2005... A U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland judge has ruled that the federal government failed to desegregate Baltimore's public housing appropriately, saying that the city "should not be viewed as an island reservation for the region's...

New Jersey head start.(Funding Opportunities)
January 31, 2005... * New Jersey Head Start: The Head Start Bureau has $4.79 million to run programs in Monmouth County, N.J. With an average cost per child of $8,655 in the state, the new grantee can serve about 554 children. The application deadline is March 16....

Texas head start.(Funding Opportunities)
January 31, 2005... * Texas Head Start: Also up for re-competition is Head Start programming in Aransas and San Patricio counties in Texas. About $3.69 million and $764,800 is available for preschool services in the two counties, respectively. The previous grantee...

Housing NOFA.(Federal Register)
January 31, 2005... * Housing NOFA: Another $947,098 in FY03 funds is available for the Public Housing Neighborhood Networks program because of a cancelled award, HUD has announced. Applications for the funds, which will be awarded under the Super NOFA criteria...

Difficult Development Areas.(Federal Register)
January 31, 2005... * Difficult Development Areas: HUD announced corrections of two technical errors in its Nov. 30 announcement designating Difficult Development Areas for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. See the Jan. 19 Federal Register, p. 3053.

Colorado.(medicaid)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Colorado Democrats are trying quickly to undo a controversial 2003 budget cut that stripped about 4,000 legal immigrants of health insurance under Medicaid. The bill making its way through the state House seeks to reinstate that coverage, using...

Georgia.(Around The States)(capital punishment)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Georgia's death row has come under pressure from prisoners' rights groups. Seven inmates on death row are in their final rounds of appeals but have no lawyer representing them. Georgia does not provide a lawyer in an inmate's second round of...

New York.(Around The States)(income tax credit program for low-income working parents)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... New York Gov. George Pataki (R) has introduced an initiative for low-income, non-custodial fathers to be eligible for expanded tax credits aimed at encouraging them to leave the welfare rolls and pay child support. The initiative would broaden...

Massachusetts.(Around The States)(welfare planning by governor)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) would make pregnant women in their third trimester, mothers with children older than one year and about 5,600 disabled people work as part of his plan to revamp welfare. In addition to making more people work,...

Wyoming.(Around The States)(wages and salaries)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Wyoming lawmakers rejected raising the state's minimum wage amid concerns it would harm business. In a 4-1 vote, the Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee declined to raise the state's minimum wage to $8.75 an hour. The...

New Mexico.(Around The States)(fund for Early childhood education)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) is proposing $16.2 million in new early childhood spending this year, more than half of it for a new pre-K initiative. Pre-K would get $9 million, while the remainder of the new money would expand full-day...

Florida Pre-K.(early childhood education)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... * Florida Pre-K: More children will have access to early childhood education in Florida next fall, as Gov. Jeb Bush (R) signed long-debated legislation for a statewide program into law this month. The law mandates a pre-K program with a 10:1...

Mental health.(Mental health services)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... * Mental Health:. Children in the child welfare system have low rates of mental health services use, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry. The article said children in the system are at high risk...

Predatory lending.
January 31, 2005... * Predatory Lending: A new toolkit is available for rural organizations wanting to conduct anti-predatory lending education and outreach. The Don't Borrow Trouble toolkits are available from Annie Carvalho, Freddie Mac, (703) 918-5045,...