Economic Opportunity Report articles from March 2004

Economic Opportunity Report archives from March 2004

D.C. voucher program touted amidst community's anti-voucher sentiment.
March 1, 2004... As Secretary of Education Rod Paige talked about the Bush administration's battle to win school vouchers for students of the District of Columbia's embattled school system, scores of protesters marched in front of the Department of Education's...

Bush's low-income marriage proposal will be ineffective, researchers argue.
March 1, 2004... The White House plans to spend $1.5 billion to promote healthy marriages among low-income Americans, but two new long-range studies suggest that money may be wasted. Those studies found that after the first year of marriage nearly 75 percent of...

United we ride campaign launched during transportation conference.
March 1, 2004... A national campaign to improve access to public transportation for low-income Americans was officially launched last week, when transportation officials from around the country gathered for the National Coordination of Human Service...

S.D.'s low-income families would get refund on food sales taxes under bill.(South Dakota)
March 1, 2004... Low-income families in South Dakota would receive a refund on sales taxes for food purchases under a bill that passed out of the state legislature last week. The bill (HB 1308), proposed by Gov. Michael Rounds (R), passed the House by a...

Bill that would extend TANF program introduced by House Committee chair.(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families )
March 1, 2004... Legislation that would extend the TANF program and encourage states to move more recipients into work was introduced last week by the chairman of the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Way and Means Committee. On Feb. 26, Rep. Wally...

Md.'s Medicaid population would jump by 50,000 under proposed state bill.(Maryland)
March 1, 2004... Eligibility for Maryland's Medicaid program would be expanded by more than 50,000 low-income individuals under a bill introduced last month in the Maryland Senate. The bill, the Access to Health Care and Community Health Care Safety Net...

Health care tax credits would not help uninsured low-income citizens: HSC.(Health System Change)
March 1, 2004... The number of low-income uninsured Americans would remain high even if they had a health care tax credit to offset the out-of-pocket expenses, a policy expert with the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) said last week. In an...

Head Start participants would receive dental care under new Oklahoma bills.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Oklahoma House last week passed two new bills that would allow dental hygienists and dental assistants to play a role in improving the oral health of the state's low-income children. The two bills, HB1443 and HB1445, would allow both...

Food stamp participation rate varied across the country, report notes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Food stamp participation rates in individual states varied widely from state to state in 2001, with some rates under 55 percent and some over 70 percent, according to a study conducted by Mathematic Policy Research, Inc. The study,...

CAPLAW Conference.(Community Action Program Legal Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CAPLAW Conference. Community Action Program Legal Services Inc. (CAPLAW) will hold its National Training Conference June 16-18 in Boston. The scheduled sessions include: providing affordable housing for community action agencies (CAAs); a...

Head start alumni search.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Head Start Alumni Search. The National League of Cities (NLC) is planning a media event to tout the success of the Head Start program and is looking for local elected officials who graduated from Head Start programs to highlight positive Head...

GAO's HUD report.(General Accounting Office)(Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... GAO's HUD Report. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) provision of additional data could help efforts to preserve housing for low-income tenants, according to the finding of a new General Accounting Office (GAO) report...

New Rural Housing initiative.
March 1, 2004... New Rural Housing Initiative. A new Rural Housing and Economic Development Gateway will help rural communities improve their local housing and economic conditions. The Rural Gateway is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

YouthBuild/OSHA partnership.(Occupational Safety & Health Administration )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... YouthBuild/OSHA Partnership. Improving workplace safety and health for young low-income workers in New York and New Jersey is the goal of a new alliance between the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration...

Homeless Veterans meeting.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Homeless Veterans Meeting. The U.S. Department Veterans' Affairs' (VA) Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans will meet March 22-24 in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the meet is to assemble and review information relating to the needs of...

Legal Services income levels.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Legal Services Income Levels. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has revised its maximum income levels regarding eligibility for legal services. LSC regulations establish a maximum income level equivalent to 125 percent of the federal poverty...

Regulatory barriers comments.(Federal Register)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Regulatory Barriers Comments. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is soliciting comments on its proposal to collect information in support of its America's Affordable Communities Initiative focusing on regulatory barriers...

Alcohol abuse grants.(Grants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Alcohol Abuse Grants. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools is accepting applications for its Fiscal Year 2004 grants to reduce alcohol abuse in secondary schools. The Education Department is making...

NEFE grants.(Grants)(National Endowment for Financial Education)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... NEFE Grants. The American Express Foundation and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) are seeking applicants for financial education projects whose purpose is to increase the financial literacy of underserved population in ways...

Rural Poverty grants.(Grants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Rural Poverty Grants. The University of Kentucky's Center for Rural Poverty is seeking proposals from social science research on issues salient to low-income population in the American south. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:...

CDFI grants.(Grants)(Community Development Financial Institutions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CDFI Grants. The U.S. Department of the Treasury is accepting applications for the Financial Assistance Component of its Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) program. Awards under this program will be provided to CDFIs that use...

Maine.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... MAINE: The state's Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) last month awarded more than $1 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The monies fund Downtown Revitalization and Community Enterprise programs. The nine...

California.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CALIFORNIA: Sunne Wright-McPeak, secretary of the state's Department of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (DBTH), last week awarded $23.8 million to increase affordable housing supply through locally funded housing trust funds. The...

Minnesota.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... MINNESOTA: Low-income taxpayers will be provided free use of Internet-accessible computers at several Hennepin County sites to file their taxes electronically as part of the county's initiative to assist taxpayers in e-filing tax returns. The...

Texas.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... TEXAS: The state's Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has introduced a new Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program aimed at helping low-to moderate-income families purchase their first home. TDHCA is making $15 million...

Missouri.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... MISSOURI: The state's Department of Health and Senior Services' Division of Community Health (DCH) is seeking sponsors to operate meal service sites for its Summer Food Service Program, which it administers in the state on behalf of the U.S....

Pennsylvania.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... PENNSYLVANIA: The state's Department of Education will award six school districts and one charter school more than $13 million during the next five years as part of the federal Reading First competitive grant program. The amount received by...

Happy anniversary, WIC.(Slants & Trends)(Women, Infants and Children)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, WIC--Begun at one site under a pilot project in 1974, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program has grown 30 years later to encompass 46,000 authorized retailers and 10,000 clinic sites. Better yet, the program has been...

Privatized food stamps.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... PRIVATIZED FOOD STAMPS--Reports surfaced in Washington last week that USDA would think about allowing states to hire private contractors to process food stamp registrations. That was after Eric Bost, under secretary for food, nutrition and...

Senate budget plan would expand eligibility for free school meals.
March 29, 2004... More low-income children would get free school meals under a Senate spending plan that would raise the eligibility threshold for the federal child nutrition programs. Under the plan, added to the fiscal 2005 budget resolution on an...

House approves bill to extend child nutrition, WIC programs.(women, infant and children)
March 29, 2004... The House last week approved legislation to extend the school meals and WIC programs, in ways that backers say will increase access and enhance services for low-income children and their families. The reauthorization bill, H.R. 3873, "will...

Senate clears amendment to continue two welfare-to-work programs.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... Two work-to-welfare partnership programs would continue for another two years under an amendment added on the Senate floor last week to a bill designed to create and protect American jobs. Sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), the...

Women ex-cons flood CAAs seeking housing, job help.(Community action agencies)
March 29, 2004... Community action agencies have been caught by surprise by the numbers of women leaving prison who now need help in getting back on their feet. They overflow waiting rooms weeping over lost children, lousy guys and the felonies--mostly selling...

Low-income parents targeted in family library literacy program.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... Low-income, low-education parents are reading to their children more often--and reading more books themselves--after participating in a new public library-based early literacy program. In fact, the results are so dramatic that a month after...

Minnesota seeks to bar junk food purchases by food stamp recipients.
March 29, 2004... If Minnesota gets its way, food stamps will no longer be able to be used to buy soda, candy or other junk food. The state, in what is the first request of its kind, has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a waiver to define the...

One million long-term unemployed denied aid since TEUC ended.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... Since the federal program to help the long-term unemployed expired last December, some 1.1 million jobless people have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits and gotten no additional aid, a new report says. "In no other comparable...

Unemployment, layoffs.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... UNEMPLOYMENT, LAYOFFS--Jobless rates were down in 231 of 331 metropolitan areas in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Eighty areas had higher rates, and 20 were unchanged, BLS said. Fifteen areas--nine of which are in...

New tools, grants available for summer meals programs.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... With summer around the corner, a new tool to help expand sponsorship of summer food service sites is available. The Summer Food Service Program has traditionally been underutilized, with many children who receive subsidized lunches during...

Food Stamp Employment and Training.(Regulations)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Food Stamp Employment and Training: Rules proposed March 19 would implement provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill that establish formulas for allocating federal funds under the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program. The program allocates up...

LIHEAP family income.(Regulations)(Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * LIHEAP Family Income: State median income estimates for four-person families have been published for use under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP grantees can use these estimates beginning March 17 or later. This...

WIA allotments.(Regulations)(Workforce Investment Act)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * WIA Allotments: Funding allotments to states have been published for 2004 under the Workforce Investment Act Title I Youth, Adults and Dislocated Worker programs, Dislocated Worker National Emergency Reserve, Employment Service Activities...

Social service providers.(Regulations)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Social Service Providers: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed rules to clarify that faith-based and community organizations may participate in DOL social services programs "without regard to their religious character or...

Advisory panel to investigate test used to assess head start children.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... A new advisory panel is in the works to look into the controversial new National Reporting System (NRS) used to assess 4-year-olds from low-income families who participate in the Head Start program. The Bush administration plans to appoint...

Children's well-being.(Research)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Children's Well-Being: The first half of the 1990s marked a low point for children, as the percentage of children living below the poverty line during that time rose to its highest level in recent decades, according to a new report from the...

Food stamp numbers up.(Research)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Food Stamp Numbers Up: Food stamp participation rose in December 2003 to 23,313,767 people, up 287,463 from the month before, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has reported. FRAC attributes the rise to continuing high unemployment,...

Watching the kids.(Research)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Watching the Kids: Child care centers, which have long helped low-income workers stay in the workforce, are no longer growing by leaps and bounds. After many years of expansion, the number of regulated programs increased by less than 1...

Shift in racial balance.(Research)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Shift in Racial Balance: Whites will make up only half of the total population by 2050, as the numbers of Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. will triple in the next half-century, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported. The Census report attributes...

Second-hand smoke.(Research)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Second-Hand Smoke: Infants and toddlers who experience socioeconomic hardships--including living in substandard housing and not having enough food or clothing--suffer more from prenatal exposure to second-hand smoke than do their more...

Food stamp campaign.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * Food Stamp Campaign: A national media campaign has been launched to help get the word out about the availability of food stamps for eligible people. The campaign, "Food Stamps Make America Stronger," will broadcast radio messages in English...

New CMS head.(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * New CMS Head: The Senate this month confirmed Dr. Mark McClellan as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. McClellan has been commissioner of food and drugs...

School choice administrator.(Washington Scholarship Fund)(Brief Article)
March 29, 2004... * School Choice Administrator: The Washington Scholarship Fund (WSF) has been chosen to administer the new Washington, D.C., Choice Incentive Program--the federal government's experiment with school vouchers. The $14 million, five-year program...

Calendar.(Calendar)
March 29, 2004... * The Office of Community Services in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is holding a conference March 30-31 in Los Angeles to discuss more than $110 million in funding opportunities to communities to fight poverty. The conference...