Economic Opportunity Report articles from May 2005

Economic Opportunity Report archives from May 2005

No worries.(Slants & Trends)(Community Development Block Grant Program)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... NO WORRIES--Washington's leading advocate for the Community Services Block Grant sees nothing negative in last month's request for a federal probe into the CSBG program. "It's pretty natural. I don't read anything negative into it," said David...

Dear colleague.(Slants & Trends)
May 9, 2005... DEAR COLLEAGUE--By deadline day, 122 House members had signed on to a "Dear Colleague" letter seeking at least level funding of $636.6 million for CSBG in FY06. The letter was circulated by Reps. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.), Brian Baird (D-Wash.) and...

Congress passes budget resolution with cuts to low-income programs.
May 9, 2005... Funding for some antipoverty programs will face an uphill battle in the coming years, as Congress last month cleared a budget blueprint calling for large cuts in entitlement programs. Agriculture programs are targeted for a $3 billion cut,...

House approves bill to reauthorize, strengthen voc ed, training programs.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... President Bush's plan to curtail the federal investment in vocational education looks like it will be derailed, as the House last week overwhelmingly passed a bill to continue career and technical education programs. By a 416-9 vote, the...

Administration-backed bill offered on housing reform, faces opposition.
May 9, 2005... Section 8 vouchers for the lowest-income public housing residents would be dramatically altered under administration-backed housing reform legislation introduced in Congress last month. In the Senate, Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) sponsored the...

Administration calls for WIA-plus block grant for workforce training.(Workforce Investment Act)
May 9, 2005... Administration officials last month laid out their plans for workforce training efforts of the future, though it looks like Congress has its own ideas on that front. In Senate testimony, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao outlined a new...

House Republican head start legislation draws praise for omitting block grants.
May 9, 2005... New Head Start legislation introduced last week by House Republicans has drawn cautious praise in large measure for what it does not include: state block grants. The legislation, which is sponsored by House education committee leaders,...

First lady travels country to promote youth initiative to fight gang activity.(Helping America's Youth)(Laura Bush)
May 9, 2005... First lady Laura Bush has been crisscrossing the country promoting her Helping America's Youth initiative--a $150 million pledge over three years for anti-gang programs. From Baltimore to Portland, Ore., Bush has visited elementary...

Head Start.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Head Start: The federal Head Start Bureau is seeking new grantees in 10 areas in a competition with a June 10 deadline. New competitions include more than $18 million for early childhood programming in Missouri for Head Start projects formerly...

CSBG asset building.(Funding Opportunities)(Public Notice)
May 9, 2005... CSBG Asset Building: Applications are due June 20 to fund up to 10 capacity-building collaborations to establish or expand asset formation and financial literacy services under the Community Services Block Grant to help low-income people become...

Compassion Capital Fund.(Funding Opportunities)(Public Notice)
May 9, 2005... Compassion Capital Fund: Applications are due June 13 for 17-month demonstration grants under the Compassion Capital Fund to help faith-based and community organizations build capacity in leadership development, organizational development,...

Compassion Capital Fund Capacity Building.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... Compassion Capital Fund Capacity Building: Applications are due May 31 for the Targeted Capacity Building Program under the Compassion Capital Fund to help faith-based and community groups aid distressed communities--those with unemployment...

WIA incentive funding.(Funding Opportunities)(Workforce Investment Act)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... WIA Incentive Funding: Nineteen states are eligible to apply for incentive awards under WIA for program year 2003 performance. Applications for the funding, which comes from appropriations for the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and the...

Head start grad student research.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... Head Start Grad Student Research: Applications are due June 24 for $200,000 in grants to interest graduate students in research partnerships with Head Start agencies. Four to eight two-year Graduate Student Research Grants are to be awarded to...

American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start: Applications are due July 1 for a grant to create an American Indian Alaska Native Head Start Research Center to provide leadership and collaboration with researchers for Head Start programs in Native...

Head Start Partnership Grants.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... Head Start Partnership Grants: Applications are due July 1 for research and curriculum enhancements under Head Start-University Partnership Research Grants and Curriculum Development and Enhancement for Head Start and Early Head Start. The...

Job Training Grants.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... Job Training Grants: Applications are due July 6 for about $125 million in Community-Based Job Training Grants. The grants will be awarded to community and technical colleges to train workers for high-growth and high-demand industries. See the...

WIA migrant/seasonal workers.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... WIA Migrant/Seasonal Workers: Applications are due May 27 for $71.69 million in program year 2005 under the National Farmworker Jobs Program of WIA. The program provides training and workforce development services to migrant and seasonal...

HOPE VI mentoring.(Funding Opportunities)
May 9, 2005... HOPE VI Mentoring: Applications are due July 7 for $525,000 for HOPE VI housing grantees to establish mentoring demonstration projects. HUD expects to award four grants of up to $175,000 each. All public housing authorities with HOPE VI...

Investment in early childhood education yields large returns in family finances.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Investing in early child care and early childhood education yields a larger financial return for low-income families than previously thought, a new study has found. Early care and education returns $13 for every $1 invested, according to...

Elderly housing projects.(Funding Awards)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Elderly Housing Projects: HUD has awarded more than $20 million in grants for predevelopment funding to 104 sponsors of Section 202 Elderly Housing projects in 38 states. The grants were made under the Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grant...

Housing counseling.(Funding Awards)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Housing Counseling: HUD also has announced housing counseling grants under fiscal year 2004 program funding. In all, the department awarded $35.28 million in grants to 361 housing counseling organizations across the country. In addition, a...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 9, 2005... * May 16-17: The Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration will hold a public meeting in Arlington, Va. Contact: Anthony Swoope, ETA, (202) 693-2796. * May 19: The National...

New names in the administration.(appointment of Josephine B. Robinson in Office of Community Services)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... New Names in the Administration: Josephine B. Robinson is the new director of the Office of Community Services. Robinson comes to OCS from another office in the Health and Human Services Department, where she served as chief of staff to the...

HUD takeover.(United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... HUD Takeover: HUD has assumed responsibility of the City of Sarasota Housing Authority in Florida and named HUD senior public housing specialist Carmen Valenti as the receiver. Effective April 12, the move is aimed at correcting problems in the...

D.C. school choice.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... D.C. School Choice: More than 1,000 disadvantaged students benefited from the Washington, D.C., Scholarship Fund in its first year of existence, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) said last month. Boehner, chairman of the House Education and the...

Healthy marriages.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Healthy Marriages: A healthy marriage program is being extended based on promising results of efforts to date, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement announced. A single-source contract of $99,227 is being awarded to Community Services...

Veneman takes over.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Veneman Takes Over: Former Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman is the new executive director of the children's relief agency UNICEF. Veneman, who headed USDA throughout George W. Bush's first term as president, becomes the fifth head of the...

Spanish fair housing campaign.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Spanish Fair Housing Campaign: Spanish-speakers in 14 cities are being targeted in a new federal fair housing campaign. The Housing and Urban Development Department effort--which is in conjunction with the Hispanic Radio Network--aims to make...