Economic Opportunity Report articles from July 2005

Economic Opportunity Report archives from July 2005

No to 'SACI' plan.(Slants & Trends)(Strengthening America's Communities Initiative)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... NO TO 'SACI' PLAN--While a report is expected this month outlining recommendations for President Bush's Strengthening America's Communities Initiative, Congress has so far put the kibosh on the plan. The House June 30 approved a FY06 HUD...

House approves funding bill halving CSBG funding; action shifts to Senate.(Community Services Block Grant)
July 11, 2005... All eyes are on the Senate this week, as the fight to keep the Community Services Block Grant funded at current levels shifts to that side of the Capitol. The action there comes as the House June 24 approved, 250-151, a fiscal year 2006...

House hands some funding victories to housing assistance programs.(Community Development Block Grant Program)
July 11, 2005... The Community Development Block Grant would drop to $3.8 billion, while Section 8 housing funding would rise to $15.6 billion, under a housing appropriations bill cleared by the House late last month. The fiscal 2006 bill rejects the...

Weatherization Funding Holds at $240 million in House, Senate.(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... The Weatherization Assistance Program has emerged with $240 million for next year in both the Senate and House, seemingly assuring that level for the program to help low-income people make their homes more energy-efficient. That amount...

Participation continues to drop in summer meals program for kids.
July 11, 2005... Fewer poor children got subsidized meals last summer, marking the fifth consecutive year that participation fell in summer meals programs. And once again, children from low-income families were far less likely to get a summer meal than to...

Conditions set for long-time missouri Head Start operator after trouble.(KCMC Child Development Corp)(Head Start programs)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... The federal government is setting tough conditions for a Kansas City, Mo., organization with a long history of running Head Start programs. The Health and Human Services Department's Inspector General's Office is seeking $953,245 from KCMC...

Bush signs another stopgap bill to extend current TANF program.(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families )(Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... Once again the welfare program has been extended as is, with Congress having failed to reach any kind of agreement on a reauthorization bill for the long-overdue program. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program has been...

Benefits found in placing welfare recipients in long-term care jobs.
July 11, 2005... More than half of welfare recipients could be successfully trained to fill jobs in the long-term care industry, solving two problems at once, a new study suggests. The study, which looked at this model in three states and the District of...

Food stamp program achieves a record high accuracy rate in '04.
July 11, 2005... Sixteen states are sharing a $30 million bonus for "exemplary" administration of the Food Stamp program, in a year in which the program has achieved a record 94.12 percent overall payment accuracy rate, the federal government has announced. ...

Study: illegal immigrants found in many segments of workforce.(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... Illegal immigrants are found in many sectors of the U.S. workforce, not just in agriculture or construction as is popularly believed, a new portrait shows. The report from the Pew Hispanic Center dispels other myths as well: a quarter of...

Seven communities get CAP grants to establish anti-terrorism programs.(Community Action Partnership)
July 11, 2005... Seven communities have been awarded grants to implement anti-terrorism programs to help protect their low-income residents. The effort is part of an ongoing Community Land Security program begun in 2002 by the Community Action Partnership...

Family literacy.(Funding Opportunities)
July 11, 2005... Family Literacy: Applications are being accepted for five new sites under a $2.97 million expansion of the Toyota Family Literacy Program. The program, which involves adults and their children in grades K-3, targets Hispanic and other immigrant...

SCHIP allotments.(Federal Register)(State Children's Health Insurance Program)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... SCHIP Allotments: Allotments available to each state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories have been announced for FY06 under the State Children's Health Insurance Program. These allotments are to match expenditures under an approved...

Section 8 fraud.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... Section 8 Fraud: A Fraud Information Bulletin has been issued on detecting and preventing embezzlement of Section 8 funds by housing authority officials who issue vouchers on behalf of low-income renters. The notice gives specific examples of...

Resources.
July 11, 2005... * Workplace Essential Skills, from KET Enterprise, is now available on DVD. The set of 25 programs is on seven DVDs, including: communication, writing, reading and math on one disk each; employment on two disks; and orientation, with two...

Calendar.(Calendar)
July 11, 2005... * July 11-13: The Labor Department and American Society for Training and Development will hold a Workforce Innovations conference in Philadelphia. Contact: www.workforce innovations.org.

Medicaid commission.(political aspects)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... Medicaid Commission: The Medicaid Commission being put together by HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt was supposed to include eight members of Congress, and the Democrats have already declined to participate. Now Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), chairman...

ED confirmation.(appointment of Tom Luce as assistant secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Education Department)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... ED Confirmation: The Senate has confirmed Tom Luce as assistant secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the Education Department. Luce comes to ED after founding and serving as chairman of Just for the Kids, a...

ED nomination.(appointment of Terrell Halaska as assistant secretary of education)(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... ED Nomination: President Bush last month nominated Terrell Halaska as assistant secretary of education for congressional affairs. Halaska currently is a special assistant to the president for domestic policy and previously served as deputy...

College money.(Brief Article)
July 11, 2005... College Money: For the first time in six years, saving money for college was the number-one reason teens gave for working over the summer, a new poll shows. A third of teens--33.2 percent--said saving for college was their primary reason for...

Reauthorization.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... REAUTHORIZATION--While worries have been focused all year on funding for the Community Services Block Grant, a key underlying issue--reauthorization of the program itself--remains on the table. David Bradley, executive director of the National...

Senate panel doubles house level, restores funding for CSBG in FY06.(Community Services Block Grant)
July 25, 2005... Senate appropriators came through for community action programs this month, as a bill rejecting the administration's plan to end the Community Services Block Grant and instead continuing it at current funding cleared the Senate Appropriations...

Senate panel falls in line with House, continues funding for CDBG in FY06.(Community Development Block Grant)
July 25, 2005... The Community Development Block Grant's survival seems all but assured, as a Senate Appropriations subcommittee this month approved $3.7 billion to keep the endangered program alive. In so doing, the panel fell in line with the House--but...

Study bodes well for Early Head Start: finds long-term gains from model.
July 25, 2005... Low-income students enrolled in a 1970s preschool program grew up to perform better academically and be in better physical and mental health, according to a new study that may have implications for the Early Head Start program. "This study...

House rejects another attempt from democrats to increase minimum wage.(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... Another effort to raise the minimum wage has gone down to defeat, as the House this month rejected a two-year increase to $7.25 an hour for the nation's lowest wage-earners. The vote came July 12 as Democrats George Miller (Calif.) and...

New tool designed to help Medicare drug program reach the poor.(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... As the Social Security Administration begins taking applications this month for the low-income subsidy under the new Medicare drug program, it will try to succeed where other federal programs have never measured up to their potential. Only...

Government reports early success for abstinence education programs.
July 25, 2005... Abstinence education programs appear to be achieving some measure of success among their youngest enrollees, as a new interim government report shows elementary and middle school students in such programs are more receptive to the no-sex...

Head Start.(Funding Opportunities)
July 25, 2005... Head Start: The Health and Human Services Department is seeking one or more Head Start grantees to operate programs in Union County, N.J. Three agencies previously served the county, and HHS said new applicants may apply to operate a program in...

HOPE VI.(Funding Opportunities)
July 25, 2005... HOPE VI: Applications are due Sept. 2 for HOPE VI Main Street Grants, for which HUD has $5 million available in FY04 funds. The program provides grants to small communities to help rehabilitate old housing and build new housing to revitalize...

Job opportunities.(Funding Opportunities)
July 25, 2005... Job Opportunities: Applications are due Aug. 19 for grants under the Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals. Ten to 12 awards of up to $500,000 are expected under anticipated funding of $5 million. Average project awards are projected at...

HUD handbook.(Federal Register)(Department of Housing and Urban Development)
July 25, 2005... HUD Handbook: HUD has announced it is revising its handbook entitled "Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs." A draft copy will be posted on the HUD website, and comments are due Aug. 9. See...

Reading first deadline.(Federal Register)
July 25, 2005... Reading First Deadline: The Education Department has set July 30 as the deadline for submitting annual performance reports to apply for a Targeted Assisted Grant under the Reading First program. State Education Agencies are eligible if they can...

Community Technology Centers.(Federal Register)
July 25, 2005... Community Technology Centers: Effective Aug. 11, changes have been made in rules for Community Technology Centers, with the removal of requirements that novice and nonnovice applicants be ranked and funded separately and that at least 75...

Child nutrition.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... Child Nutrition: Reimbursement rates for the 2005-06 school year have been published, reflecting the annual rate adjustments for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast and Special Milk programs. The rates, which took effect July 1, give...

CACFP program.(Federal Register)
July 25, 2005... CACFP Program: USDA also published the new reimbursement rates, effective July 1, for the Child and Adult Care Food Program. These new rates include National Average Payment Rates, Day Care Home Food Service Payment Rates and Administrative...

Calendar.(Calendar)
July 25, 2005... * July 28: The Education Department will host the second of three webcasts on the adult education component in Even Start. This session will focus on adult reading assessment. The first webcast, which was broadcast June 30, focused on...

Head Start.(Funding Awards)(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... Head Start: Head Start Innovation and Improvement Project awards totaling $2.199 million have been announced by the Administration for Children and Families. The grants, which were made under the president's Good Start, Grow Smart early...

WAP Awards.(Funding Awards)(Weatherization Assistance Program)(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... WAP Awards: The Energy Department this month announced disbursement of $92.5 million to 19 states under the Weatherization Assistance Program. The program this year is expected to fund energy upgrades for about 92,300 lowincome homes this year....

New NGA head.(National Governors Association)(appointment of Mike Huckabee )(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... New NGA Head: Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is the new head of the National Governors Association, replacing outgoing Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) at the helm. The new vice chair is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the group announced after...

Housing costs.(Brief Article)
July 25, 2005... Housing Costs: A quarter of likely voters say they have had trouble paying their housing expenses in the past year, a new poll shows. Moreover, 27 percent of likely voters said paying for housing made it hard for them to afford health care or...