IRP Poverty Dispatch

Medicaid and Emergency Room Visits - Washington

townsend — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:04:42 +0000

State Medicaid to quit paying for ER visits deemed unnecessary, By Carol M. Ostrom, February 7, 2012, Seattle Times: “Intent on cutting state budget health-care costs, Medicaid officials say the program will no longer pay for any medically unnecessary emergency-room visits, even when patients or parents have reason to believe they’re having an emergency. The rules - arguably more drastic than an earlier proposal to limit Medicaid patients to three visits per year for nonemergency conditions - would block payment for ER visits for about 500 different conditions. They would apply to all adults and children on Medicaid, with no exceptions, such as someone being brought in by ambulance or from a nursing home, or when patients have neurological symptoms or unstable vital signs. The new rules are to begin April 1, but a statewide group of emergency doctors, backed by the Washington State Medical Association and the Washington State Hospital Association, are pressing lawmakers to stop the plan, arguing it would shift costs to hospitals and ER doctors and deny care to people with real emergencies…”
Medicaid may stop covering visits to ER later deemed ‘unnecessary’, By Jordan Schrader, February 8, 2012, Tacoma News Tribune: “Medicaid soon might stop covering emergency-room treatment that state officials decide afterward was ‘not medically necessary.’ A state Health Care Authority rule putting a three-visit limit on unnecessary ER use by poor patients was blocked in court on procedural grounds. The agency has replaced it with a new policy planned to take effect April 1 that would reduce the number of conditions deemed non-emergencies but would forbid even a single unnecessary visit. The doctors and hospitals who sued over the old rule blasted the new plan Tuesday, saying it would leave it up to a ‘faceless bureaucrat’ to decide what’s an emergency. They weren’t ready to say they’ll go to court again over it…”

US Teen Pregnancy Rate

townsend — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:42 +0000

Teen pregnancy rate hits 40-year low, By Joel Provano, February 8, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The U.S. teen pregnancy rate has reached a 40-year low, a new study finds. The study, by the Guttmacher Institute, found that the pregnancy rate declined 42 percent from its peak in 1990, according to the study released Wednesday. The teen pregnancy rate in 2008 was 68 per 1,000 girls age 15-19, down from 117 per 1,000 in 1990. That means about 7 percent of girls in that age group became pregnant that year. In addition, the survey showed the birthrate declined 35 percent between 1991 and 2008, from 61.8 to 40.2 births per 1,000 teens…”
Teen pregnancy, abortion rates at record low, study says, By James B. Kelleher, February 8, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Birth and abortion rates among U.S. teens fell to record lows in 2008 as increased use of contraceptives sent the overall teen pregnancy rate to its lowest level since at least 1972, a study showed on Wednesday. But disparities among racial and ethnic groups continued to persist, with black and Hispanic teens experiencing pregnancy and abortion rates two to four times higher than their white peers, the Guttmacher Institute, the nonprofit sexual health research group that conducted the analysis, said…”

Recession and Demographic Groups

townsend — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:21:09 +0000

Latinos, hit hard by job losses, are making strong comeback, By Don Lee, February 5, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he’d have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere. Then Qintana got a call last month from Chevron Mining, which runs a mine 20 miles away. Would he be interested in hauling muck from the molybdenum mine for $17.05 an hour? He leaped at the offer. ‘Thank God,’ said Qintana, 45, a Latino who had worked as a general contractor. ‘I was able to hang in there and not have to move.’ About a dozen other workers, most of them Latino, also were hired. Like Qintana, many Latinos with ties to the home building industry got slammed by the recession, which wiped out about 2 million construction jobs. But now, as the economic rebound picks up a bit of steam, Latinos are scoring bigger job gains than most other demographic groups and proving to be a bright spot in the fledgling recovery…”
For some black women, economy and willingness to aid family strains finances, By Ylan Q. Mui and Chris L. Jenkins, February 5, 2012, Washington Post: “The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson. She had always been the one her family turned to when they needed help, and she didn’t hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent. She made room for her nephew when her brother died of AIDS. And even now in her 50s, she took in a baby that wasn’t her own. But help was easier to give when the economy was booming and Ladson was bringing home $4,000 a month as a mechanic at Amtrak. Even an injury on the job turned into a blessing in disguise when she collected a $700,000 settlement that allowed her to build her dream home in Clinton and help her longtime partner start her own hair salon. Then the recession hit, and fate twisted the other way…”
Unemployment drop still leaves low skill workers behind, By Michael A. Fletcher, February 6, 2012, Washington Post: “The nation’s jobless rate has declined to its lowest level in three years, a fact that has left Jamie Bean, an unemployed air-conditioner repairman, feeling more left out than ever. Bean, 36, lost his job in December. Now he is scrambling to keep up with child-support payments to his wife, who is also unemployed. ‘As it stands now, I can’t afford to get divorced,’ he said, managing a wry smile. Bean’s predicament is not unlike that of many people who have a high school education or less. Not only were they hit especially hard by the recession but they have continued losing ground in the recovery that has followed. By disproportionate numbers, these Americans have given up looking for work, making the nation’s recovery appear better than it is. If the unemployment rate counted the 2.8 million people who want jobs but have stopped looking, it would sit at 9.9 percent rather than its current 8.3 percent…”

Child Poverty - Maine

townsend — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:15:19 +0000

Census data shows poverty hitting Washington County children hard, By Tom Walsh, February 7, 2012, Bangor Daily News: “Nearly one in three children living in Washington County lives in poverty. A recent study titled ‘Poverty in Maine’ shows 30.9 percent of those under age 18 are living in Washington County households with incomes below the federal poverty level. On a county-by-county basis, that is the highest childhood poverty rate in Maine. Statewide, the childhood rate is 18.2 percent, which is less than the national rate of 21.6 percent…”

Prisoner Re-Entry Program - Michigan

townsend — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:11:39 +0000

Audit: Michigan’s prisoner re-entry initiative harms public safety, fails to track ex-convicts, By Mike Martindale, February 8, 2012, Detroit News: “A much heralded Michigan prisoner release program is only moderately effective, not sufficiently monitored and lacks proper record-keeping, according to a state audit released Tuesday. The audit is the second in less than a year criticizing the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, which the Department of Corrections has held up as a successful model of how to safely blend ex-convicts back into society. Corrections officials claim the initiative - which has received more than $175 million since 2007, including $52 million last year - has cut recidivism by giving ex-convicts aid for housing, transportation, employment, health care and education. The 32-page audit focuses on shortcomings and provides support to critics who say the department has put budget issues before public safety…”

State Medicaid Programs - Maine, California

townsend — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:36:15 +0000

Maine Governor LePage backs nation’s toughest Medicaid cuts, By Christine Vestal, February 6, 2012, Stateline.org: “Medicaid spending is a matter of urgency almost everywhere in the country right now, but in few places is the urgency as palpable as it is here, where the governor refers to the federal-state health insurance program for the poor as ‘welfare,’ says it’s necessary to eliminate coverage for 65,000 adults, and wants to stop paying room and board for some 2,000 elders who live in group homes. All these ideas are part of Republican Governor Paul LePage’s plan to close a $220 million hole in the state’s biennial Medicaid budget. ‘If we are to bring our welfare system to a manageable level that Maine can afford,’ LePage insists, ‘we must make the necessary structural changes … The state can no longer use gimmicks to fill the hole.’ The size of Maine’s Medicaid shortfall is substantial, but it pales in comparison to gaps in many other states. In fact, health experts in Maine say the program has survived far bigger shortfalls in recent years without cutting the rolls. Still, LePage argues that the program can no longer provide a ‘free lunch’ to poor 19- and 20-year olds, or to healthy adults responsible for the care of others…”
Obama administration rejects Medi-Cal copayments, By Judy Lin (AP), San Francisco Chronicle: “Federal health officials on Monday said California cannot force Medi-Cal recipients to make a co-pay for doctor visits and prescription drugs, a decision that brings relief to low-income patients but complicates the state’s effort to close a $9.2 billion budget deficit. A letter from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said agency officials were ‘unable to identify the legal and policy support’ for the state’s request. The decision is the latest in a string of legal and regulatory challenges that have made it difficult for the state to reduce spending and balance its budget. Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers were planning to save $511 million a year in the health insurance program by requiring low-income patients to pay a share of their medical costs…”

High School Graduation Rate - Indiana

townsend — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:31:01 +0000

Indiana’s graduation rate is up; so is waiver use, By Scott Elliott, February 7, 2012, Indianapolis Star: “The graduation rate at Indianapolis Public Schools gained for the fifth straight year, to 64 percent, but at some schools, many of those graduates earned diplomas without passing state exams. Those IPS graduates were not alone last school year. The statewide use of waivers - exempting students from the requirement to pass state tests in English and algebra - has been creeping up, reaching 8 percent last year. Five percent of Indiana graduates used waivers in 2005. Factors playing into that trend include pressure on schools to achieve good state ratings, the difficulty of new high school end-of-course exams students are required to pass, and the use of alternative programs that aim to keep kids in school by letting them make up credits on the side…”
Indiana’s rate of graduation at record 85%, By Devon Haynie, February 7, 2012, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: “Indiana’s graduation rate improved to 85.7 percent in the 2010-11 school year, breaking state records and increasing by 1.6 percentage points over last year. The graduation rate is the highest Indiana has achieved since the state began measuring the four-year cohort graduation rate in 2005, according to the Indiana Department of Education, which publicly released the data today. A record-high 171 public schools reached 90 percent or more of their students graduating in four years. In 2009, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett listed a 90 percent gradation rate as one of his primary goals for most Indiana schools…”

Prisoner Re-Entry Program - Michigan

townsend — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:27:58 +0000

Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry program keeping more parolees out, audit finds, By Dawson Bell, February 7, 2012, Detroit Free Press: “A Michigan prison program to aid parolees’ transition to life on the outside has produced a ‘notable’ reduction in recidivism in recent years, according to an audit released today. The report by the Office of the Auditor General found that parolees enrolled in the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative were significantly less likely to end up back behind bars. The reduction was even more pronounced among parolees who had a history of parole failure before widespread use of the program in 2007, the report said…”

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Pennsylvania, Connecticut

townsend — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:32:21 +0000

Corbett raises limit on assets for food stamps, but critics blast the idea of a test, By Alfred Lubrano, February 2, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Modifying its original proposal, the Corbett administration is raising the amount of assets a person can have to retain food stamps, drawing the ire of critics who say the asset test itself is improper. The state Department of Public Welfare on Wednesday announced that households with people under age 60 will be limited to $5,500 in assets. For households with people 60 and above, the figure is $9,000. Houses, retirement benefits, and one car would not be counted as assets. Any additional vehicle worth more than $4,650 would be counted. Asset testing will begin May 1…”
Pa.’s food stamp asset test will be easier than planned, By Karen Langley, February 2, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “The state said Wednesday that it is easing limits of an asset test it plans to reinstate for Pennsylvanians receiving food stamps. A total of 4,000 households are expected to lose their food stamps under the revised proposal by the state Department of Public Welfare. The plan sparked criticism from Democrats and advocates for the poor when it became public last month. Older people and the disabled with more than $9,000 in assets would no longer qualify for food stamps under a plan submitted Wednesday to federal officials. Those under age 60 would be disqualified if they have more than $5,500 in assets…”
Conn. working to fix troubled food stamps program, By Susan Haigh (AP), February 4, 2012, Boston Globe: “While a fraud scandal cast a cloud over a special emergency food aid program following Hurricane Irene, the state is working to address deeper troubles that have plagued the traditional food stamps program, including high error rates, slow response times and an antiquated computer system. Connecticut is ranked last among all the states and territories for processing applications for the federal program in a timely manner. In 2006, the state was processing 81 percent of applications on a timely basis. But that dropped to 59 percent in 2010 and the head of the Connecticut Department of Social Services said the current rate is even worse…”

Homeless Rate - New Orleans, LA

townsend — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:26:32 +0000

Report places New Orleans’ homeless rate at second in the nation, By Katy Reckdahl, February 5, 2012, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “With a homeless population estimated at almost 6,700, the New Orleans metro area has the second-highest rate of homelessness in the nation. So says a new report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The report, which focused on the years 2009 to 2011, found the national rate of homelessness was 21 per 10,000 residents in 2011. New Orleans’ rate was nearly three times the national average, at 56 per 10,000, barely lower than Tampa, Fla., which ranked highest with 57…”

Aging Out of Foster Care - Nebraska

townsend — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:23:31 +0000

Neb. bill would expand foster care benefits, Associated Press, February 5, 2012, Fremont Tribune: “Children who age out of Nebraska’s foster care system could qualify for medical benefits, financial aid for school and caseworker help until they turn 21, under a measure in the Legislature. Advocates said the measure would help young adults in foster care adjust to adulthood when they have no other support. But the bill will likely face strong resistance from budget-conscious lawmakers as they sort through a priority list that includes the governor’s tax cut plan, funding for higher education and other child welfare reforms…”

State Minimum Wages

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:02:45 +0000

Minimum wage rates may climb this year, By Paul Davidson, February 2, 2012, USA Today: “At least 17 states recently raised the minimum wage or are considering doing so in 2012, the most in at least six years. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney broke with GOP conservatives this week, renewing his call for automatic federal minimum wage increases to keep up with inflation. President Obama has backed raising the U.S. basic wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $9.50 and indexing future automatic increases to inflation. Many economists cite a growing divide between rich and poor. The federal minimum wage rate applies everywhere except in states that set higher minimum rates…”
Washington state bills targeting minimum wage die, By Jonathan Kaminsky (AP), January 31, 2012, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Washington state lawmakers have shelved a series of bills that would lower wages at the bottom of the income scale in an effort to spur private-sector hiring. The five Republican-sponsored bills failed to come up for a House committee vote Tuesday ahead of a key deadline. Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, said his goal in sponsoring the bills was to encourage employers to hire more workers, particularly in struggling areas of eastern Washington. ‘The little guys are what’s getting hurt,’ said Condotta. ‘They can’t push the prices up any more. They can’t complete.’ Among the bills was one to implement a tip-credit allowing restaurant owners to pay waiters and other tipped employees less than the minimum wage…”

State Medicaid Programs - Louisiana, Kentucky

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:57:42 +0000

Louisiana Medicaid overhaul begins its first day in operation, By Bill Barrow, February 1, 2012, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “The first leg of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Medicaid overhaul goes live today, with more than 180,000 southeast Louisiana residents, most of them children, being shifted from the state-run insurance program to private insurance networks. Jindal’s signature health care initiative, the Bayou Health rollout involves the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain from St. Bernard Parish to Jefferson Parish, and the north shore parishes of St. Tammany, Washington, Tangipahoa, St. Helena and Livingston…”
Medicaid managed care system draws sharp complaints, By Deborah Yetter, February 2, 2012, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Complaints about the state’s new Medicaid managed care system boiled over Wednesday at a legislative meeting, where a top Medicaid official acknowledged major problems since the state hired three outside companies to provide services. ‘It is a drastic change to the system,’ Neville Wise, the state’s acting Medicaid commissioner, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. ‘We didn’t expect the level of issues that we had.’ Lawmakers voiced growing dissatisfaction with managed care, citing complaints about lack of payments for medical services, difficulty in getting patient medications approved and delays in authorizing services…”

Homeless Families - New York City

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:52:29 +0000

Homeless families, cloaked in normality, By Alan Feuer, February 3, 2012, New York Times: “On the sixth day she was homeless, Tonya Lewis overslept. She woke in the dark, in Room 6E at the 93rd Avenue Family Residence, a privately run shelter in Jamaica, Queens. It was 4:45 a.m. She was already running late. Rousting her children - Unique, 15, and Jacaery, 2 - from their beds, Ms. Lewis got them dressed and started shoving DVDs and diapers into two bulging tote bags. When the boys were ready - sleepy, sullen, hoodied, backpacked, in hats and winter jackets - she pushed them out the door (’Come on, we gotta go!’) to begin their daily routine…”

January 2012 US Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:48:32 +0000

U.S. jobless rate falls to 8.3 percent, a 3-year low, By Motoko Rich, February 3, 2012, New York Times: “The United States economy gained momentum in January, as employers added 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains. And in a separate measure, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the central issue in the presidential election. Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless - which fell to 12.8 million - it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market. The last time the figures were as good was February 2009, President Obama’s first full month in office…”
Unemployment rate hinges on more than job gains or losses, Associated Press, February 3, 2012, Washington Post: “For most people, the 8.3 percent unemployment rate is the most visible sign of the economy’s health. The rate’s every movement is closely watched, especially in an election year. But when the rate declines, it’s not always because many more people were hired. The unemployment rate can rise or fall even when no jobs are created or lost. Last month, the rate fell because jobs were added. But that hasn’t always been the case in the 2½ years since the Great Recession ended. One reason for the rate’s decline is that fewer people are looking for work…”

No Child Left Behind Waiver Requests

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:45:26 +0000

Education Dept.: States seeking waivers should do more to make sure no student is left behind, Associated Press, January 31, 2012, Washington Post: “In its initial review of No Child Left Behind waiver requests, the U.S. Education Department highlighted a similar weakness in nearly every application: States did not do enough to ensure schools would be held accountable for the performance of all students. The Obama administration praised the states for their high academic standards. But nearly every application was criticized for being loose about setting high goals and, when necessary, interventions for all student groups - including minorities, the disabled and low-income - or for failing to create sufficient incentives to close the achievement gap…”
Eyebrows raised over initial NCLB waiver bids, By Alyson Klein, January 31, 2012, Education Week: “A pair of Democratic education leaders in Congress have raised red flags about the first batch of state applications for waivers that would give states flexibility from some requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The lawmakers-U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Rep. George Miller, of California, the House education panel’s ranking member-worry that accountability under the law’s current version, the No Child Left Behind Act, will be significantly watered down if many of the applications are approved as submitted. They’re urging U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to adhere to the very high bar he says he’s set for approval, and to work with states to improve their plans…”

States and Jobless Benefits

townsend — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:05:20 +0000

99 week maximum for jobless benefits may drop as low as 59 weeks, By Olivera Perkins, January 26, 2012, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “People thrust out of work in Ohio might have to settle for a much shorter period of unemployment benefits. Jobless workers here have been able to count on 99 weeks of benefits, but the maximum could fall to as low as 59 weeks. That possibility raises a divisive question: Is 99 weeks — almost two years — too long to draw jobless benefits…?”
Jobless benefits to expire unless Pa. House acts, By Laura Olson, January 31, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Thousands of Pennsylvanians will see their federally funded unemployment benefits expire after this week, with legislation to extend those checks lingering in the state House of Representatives. A pending measure, which passed the state Senate last week, would offer 13 additional weeks of benefits to the state’s jobless residents. The federal funding was approved by Congress in December but requires the state to tweak its unemployment compensation rules in order to receive those dollars. That bill is awaiting consideration by a House panel, which has a vote scheduled for Monday. Legislative staffers say the belatedly approved benefits would be retroactive, but pressures to also enact broader changes to the state’s unemployment compensation system could further hold up that assistance…”
Study: Safety net misses many jobless in Nevada, By Ed Vogel, January 30, 2012, Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Las Vegans Dylan Wikoff and Jorge Suescun Hijuelos know firsthand the downward spiral that occurs once you lose your job and then exhaust your unemployment benefits without finding work. ‘I ended up homeless on Fremont Street,’ said Wikoff, a 36-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was laid off more than two years ago from a sales job at a construction supply company. ‘It was a slow downward spiral for me,’ said Hijuelos, 51, a longtime union construction worker who had never been without work for more than a few weeks until the completion of the CityCenter project. ‘I sold my car, sold my bedroom set, sold everything to pay my rent. I went from a beautiful condo to renting rooms by the week. I slept in a couple of fields.’ These polite and bright men are not unusual. They actually are some of the lucky ones in the never-ending recession in Nevada…”
Tension rises over Maine bill tackling unemployment insurance fraud, By Steve Mistler, January 30, 2012, Lewiston Sun Journal: “A controversial bill that would increase the penalties for unemployment fraud and the qualifications to receive out-of-work benefits is meeting stiff resistance from worker advocates. The proposal, LD 1725, was presented by the Department of Labor, which argued that an increase in unemployment claims has been accompanied by an increased possibility of fraud. Additionally, employer advocates are championing a provision in the proposal that would stop exempting vacation pay from the waiting period to receive benefits. Opponents, however, say the bill’s proposal to increase potential criminal penalties for unemployment fraud from a maximum of one year to 10 years in prison is extreme for a state that has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment fraud rates. In addition, they say the bill’s increased work-search mandates will force unemployed workers to take a job well beneath their skill and wage level…”
Senators want to end jobless benefits for fired workers, By Gina Smith, January 26, 2012, The State: “State senators said Wednesday that they want to make sure that workers who were fired cannot get state unemployment benefits in the future. A Senate panel Wednesday advanced a bill that would prevent workers fired for misconduct from receiving any state unemployment benefits. Under current law, these workers can get jobless benefits for from five to 20 weeks, depending on the type and severity of their workplace infraction. The fired workers still would be eligible for up to 58 weeks of federal unemployment benefits under the proposal…”

Earned Income Tax Credit

townsend — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

IRS encourages people to apply for earned income tax credit, By Rachel McGrath, January 27, 2012, Ventura County Star: “The Internal Revenue Service is urging low- to middle-income earners in Ventura County to find out whether they qualify for a tax credit that could put thousands of dollars into their pockets. The earned income tax credit is intended to help those who work hard but don’t make much money, reporters were told Friday by Verlinda Paul of the IRS. An estimated one in five workers nationwide fail to claim the credit. One of the main reasons Americans don’t apply for the credit is because they don’t know about it, Paul said. The director of the earned income tax credit for the IRS, she spoke to reporters in a conference call. Ironically, many who might be eligible earn so little that they are not required to file a tax return and yet in order to claim the credit, a tax return must be filed and the credit applied for…”

Eliminating Disease in Poorest Nations

irpstaff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:44:30 +0000

Engineering a Healthy Tomorrow for the Poorest Billion, By Muhammad H Zaman, February 1, 2012, Huffington Post: “It is not everyday that you hear the words big Pharma, billionaires, philanthropists and eradication of diseases in the same sentence. Well, Monday, January 30th was one such spectacular day. Bill Gates, WHO Director General, leaders of major Pharmaceutical companies and senior government officials from around the globe unveiled in London, a joint declaration and a strategy to rid the world of ten neglected diseases that afflict the poorest of the poor in the world within a decade. The vision, goal and mission is bold, tremendously exciting, timely and hopefully a catalyst for a healthier world for all…”
Joint Effort Announced Against Tropical Diseases, By Donald G McNeil Jr., January 30, 2012, New York Times: “Thirteen drug companies, the governments of the United States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lions Club and other smaller charitable organizations on Monday announced a joint effort to tackle 10 neglected tropical diseases in a coordinated fashion.The diseases, with multisyllabic names like lymphatic filariasis, visceral leishmaniasis and dracunculiasis, are almost never found in rich countries. Most are usually not fatal - but they still ruin the lives of subsistence farmers and rural craftsmen by causing blindness, grotesque swelling, chronic anemia, excruciating pain or other symptoms…”

Infant Death Rate - Scotland

irpstaff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:25:30 +0000

Revealed: Infant death rate five times worse in Scotland’s poorest areas, By John Ferguson, February 1, 2012, Daily Record: “Babies from Scotland’s poorest neighbourhoods are almost five times more likely than those from the richest to die before they are one. The shocking statistic was revealed yesterday in an NHS report that analysed the postcodes of newborns for the first time. Of 59,082 births in Scotland in 2010, 15,361 mums lived in the most deprived fifth of postcode areas, while 9453 were from the most affluent. In the poorest areas, 85 children died before reaching one. In the best areas there were 11 deaths…”

State SNAP Policies - Florida, Kansas, New York

townsend — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:05:21 +0000

Food stamp bills seek to restrict junk food, By Richard Fausset, January 29, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Ronda Storms is a Republican state senator from Florida. She is also a mom who buys the groceries for her family of four. A few months ago, Storms, 46, started noticing that some fellow shoppers were using federal food stamp money to purchase a lot of unhealthful junk. And it galled her - at a time when Florida was cutting Medicaid reimbursement rates, public school funding and jobs - that people were indulging in sugary, fatty, highly-processed treats on the public dime. ‘If we’re going to be cutting services across the board,’ she said, ‘then people can live without potato chips, without store-bought cookies, without their sodas.’ That sense of unfairness, plus a concern about the health of needy children, is the motivation behind a bill Storms sponsored that would prohibit people from purchasing ‘nonstaple, unhealthy foods’ with funds provided by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP…”
No more treats with food stamps?, By Kathleen Haughney, January 31, 2012, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Should the state be able to prevent people from using food stamps to buy junk food at the grocery store? For Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, and Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, the answer is yes. The two lawmakers are sponsoring legislation - HB 1401 and SB 1658 - that would ban the use of food stamps to buy items such as soda and sweets like candy, cake or ice cream. ‘Should the taxpayer foot the bill for Mountain Dew?’ Storms asked the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee last week. Said Plakon to the House Health and Human Services Access Subcommittee on Monday: ‘You can’t buy certain items in the grocery store right now with food stamps. We’re just talking about how big that list is.’ But the issue has ignited criticism, generating complaints even from Plakon’s and Storms’ GOP colleagues…”
Brownback officials defend Kansas’ new food stamp policy, By Brad Cooper, January 31, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration on Monday fended off suggestions that it is trying to ferret out undocumented immigrants with a new Kansas policy that cuts food stamp benefits for anyone in the country illegally. Appearing before the House Appropriations Committee, a top official at the state social services agency said the new food stamp policy is only intended to level the playing field between U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants. Michelle Schroeder, the agency’s policy director, told the committee that the new food stamp policy is intended to eliminate discriminatory elements of the old policy. ‘We could have kept the previous policy,’ Schroeder told the committee. ‘We just thought it was better policy to equalize the way we treat income for all households.’ Under the new formula, the state uses the entire income of all members of a household in determining eligibility…”
The clash over fingerprinting for food stamps, By Cindy Rodriguez, January 30, 2012, National Public Radio: “Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants New York City to stop requiring fingerprinting of its food stamp recipients, a stance that puts him at odds with the city’s mayor, who favors the practice. Cuomo says fingerprinting stigmatizes needy people and stops them from applying for help. In a recent State of the State speech, Cuomo pledged to stop fingerprinting food stamp recipients this year. But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says without fingerprinting, fraud would escalate. Besides Arizona, New York is the only place where the policy still exists…”

Rural Poverty in the US

townsend — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

U.S. recession hikes rate of rural poverty, By Bill Bishop, January 31, 2012, Daily Yonder: “The percentage of people living in poverty was higher in rural America than in either exurban or urban counties in 2010, according to the U.S. Census. And these rates have increased since the recession began in 2007. In 2007, before the recession began, 15.8 percent of those living in rural counties fell under the poverty line. Three years later, that rate in rural counties had increased to 17.8 percent…”

State Medicaid Programs

townsend — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:43:12 +0000

State Medicaid programs face $141 million shortfall, report says, By Jason Stein, January 31, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Wisconsin’s health programs for the poor have a $141 million shortfall in state money over the next year and a half, new estimates show. So far, GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has saving plans that would more that cover that potential deficit in the state’s Medicaid health programs. But a new report by the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office questions whether all of the saving will materialize. With costs in the program still substantial and the saving uncertain, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau found in its new report that the finances of the health programs will need careful monitoring. The report comes ahead of new estimates expected next week that should shed more light on the overall condition of the state’s strained budget…”
Medicaid rolls rose even as Pa. disqualified many, new calculation shows, By Don Sapatkin, January 26, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s stepped-up efforts over the summer to target waste, fraud, and abuse quickly bore fruit in the fall. Adult Medicaid enrollment alone was down 109,000 through November. Cause and effect seemed clear. Advocates for the poor and disabled were outraged. Now, DPW has suddenly changed its reporting method. Revised calculations show a decline of just 6,000 participants for the same period. And when December is added in, enrollment is up by 23,000 since August - a time when officials agree that tens of thousands of people lost benefits after overdue reviews found they were ineligible. DPW says the new reporting method is just as accurate as the old one, merely different. But it will not disclose its new method or recalculate the latest Medicaid data using the old formula…”
Medicaid copays could increase in South Dakota, By Megan Luther, January 31, 2012, Sioux Falls Argus Leader: “Medicaid recipients in South Dakota will face larger copays for their medication if the federal government signs off on a state plan designed to drive down costs in the program that provides health care to poor people. Requiring the larger copays is one of 11 recommendations put forth by the Medicaid Solutions Work Group, an assembly of health care providers, lawmakers and state employees assigned with finding savings the the program. The group began work last year at the request of Gov. Dennis Daugaard…”
Medicaid change to cut pharmacy payments in Texas, By Jim Fuquay, January 28, 2012, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “When Marwan Hattab opened Wedgwood Pharmacy just over a year ago, he knew from his previous years in the business how much it costs to fill a prescription. And he knows it’s quite a bit more than he’ll be paid under a new reimbursement system for Texas’ Medicaid program. The state’s move to managed care for Medicaid prescriptions goes into effect March 1, and Hattab and other independent pharmacists say they stand to lose money on every prescription they write for the federal/state healthcare program for the poor. A coalition of Texas pharmacies said last week that the dispensing fee that pharmacists receive for filing a Texas Medicaid prescription will plunge from about $6.50 to as little as $1.35. The change is part of legislation passed last year that aims to save the state an estimated $100 million over the next two years…”

Asset-Poor Households in the US

townsend — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:42:53 +0000

Number of asset-poor Americans rising, By Becky Yerak, January 31, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Luz Pagan, 45, has been working as a part-time cashier at a discount store in downtown Chicago for nearly three years, her requests to become a full-time employee with benefits having gone nowhere. The single mom and her 12-year-old son, Marvin, have been living in a $575-a-month studio apartment on the North Side since November. But with a work schedule averaging 15 to 20 hours a week, in a job paying about $8.75 an hour, Pagan is struggling to cover living expenses and has to scrape together money from friends and family. Her last paycheck netted $64. ‘I’m underemployed,’ said Pagan, who previously lived in a shelter for two months. She has an associate’s degree and would love an office job. Marvin’s dad helps with expenses, but she said she and her son - a mostly A and B student who wants to be a doctor - are living paycheck to paycheck, with no savings. Pagan’s plight is becoming more commonplace. Nationwide, 27 percent of households are ‘asset poor,’ meaning they don’t have enough money tucked away to cover basic expenses for three months in case of a layoff or other emergency that saps income, according to a study to be released Tuesday by the Washington-based Corporation for Enterprise Development…”

State Minimum Wage - New York

townsend — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:04:05 +0000

With focus on income inequality, Albany bill will seek $8.50 minimum wage, By John Eligon, January 29, 2012, New York Times: “The Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park is no more, but the focus it brought to income inequality is having an impact in Albany and beyond. The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, plans to introduce a bill on Monday to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, a 17 percent increase. The bill also calls for the minimum wage to be adjusted each year for inflation. Mr. Silver’s action follows similar steps by lawmakers across the country: Delaware recently passed a minimum wage increase, and raises are being considered in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and New Jersey…”

Medicaid Patients and Dental Care

townsend — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:01:44 +0000

Without dental coverage, patients seek pain relief in ER, By Alison Bath, January 28, 2012, Shreveport Times: “Louisiana spent $1.7 million on Medicaid patients who visited statewide emergency rooms seeking pain relief from toothaches during fiscal year 2010-11. The year before, the state paid $1.66 million for the same reason, according to Department of Health and Hospitals data. Those hospital visits didn’t solve the problem. Unlike dentists and oral surgeons, ER doctors and other physicians can’t pull a tooth. So, the thousands of Medicaid and other government health program recipients who visit an ER each year in Louisiana seeking help for toothaches, tooth abscesses and other dental emergencies receive only palliative care and a referral to an oral surgeon…”

State Medicaid Program - Colorado

townsend — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:59:10 +0000

Medicaid dispute pits ’shared responsibility,’ care of poor, By Michael Booth, January 29, 2012, Denver Post: “Colorado policymakers are wrestling to bring the burgeoning Medicaid budget under control, as critics fear health insurance for the poor will consume the state budget. But even the smallest cuts or cost-shares raise protests from patient advocates and objections that such measures will prove more expensive in the long run. ‘Sharing responsibility’ by raising co-pays and enrollment fees for public health care actually discourages patients from seeking care until they require budget-busting emergency or specialty help, researchers say. ‘There is indisputable evidence that when you ask poor people to pay more for medical care, some of them cannot afford it, so they avoid seeking the doctor or cannot afford their medications,’ said Leighton Ku, director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University. Some of those patients, Ku said, will eventually require ‘the most expensive forms of care at emergency rooms or in hospitals.’ The constraints inherent in Medicaid - a tangled web of mandates, entitlements and patients’ behavior - frustrate critics, who see the program growing even more onerous. Federal health reform and expansions from a state hospital fee will add hundreds of thousands of people to public insurance rolls who are unlikely to ever leave…”

State Medicaid Programs - Maine, Kansas

townsend — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:48:44 +0000

Feds confirm high hurdle for DHHS cuts; LePage officials prepared to take case to D.C., By Steve Mistler, January 27, 2012, Lewiston Sun Journal: “The federal agency that will decide whether some of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed Medicaid cuts qualify for waivers to make the reductions legal reaffirmed Thursday that the exemptions face long odds. In a written response to the Democratic leads on the Legislature’s budgetary committee, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed that legislative action was not a consideration in whether the agency will grant a waiver from the federal health care law…”
Kansas governor has no plans to slow Medicaid overhaul, By John Hanna (AP), January 26, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Kansas asked the federal government Thursday to waive some of its rules so that the state can overhaul its $2.9 billion Medicaid program, despite concerns among legislators that Gov. Sam Brownback is moving too quickly to turn all of it over to private health insurance companies. Brownback expects the state to issue contracts this year to three companies to manage the program, which provides health coverage to poor families and disabled and elderly Kansans. The contracts would take effect Jan. 1, 2013, and Kansas wants federal officials to issue a waiver so the state can include services for the disabled and elderly and build in financial incentives for improving services while controlling costs…”

Child Care Subsidies - New Jersey

townsend — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:44:05 +0000

Report: N.J. subsidized child care program hobbled by poor oversight and long waits, By Susan K. Livio, January 25, 2012, Star-Ledger: “New Jersey could be wasting millions of dollars a year on its subsidized child care program for thousands of working poor families by overpaying day care providers and failing to catch parents lying about their income, according to an audit state Comptroller Matthew Boxer released today. The comptroller’s team found glaring problems with the oversight of the N.J. Cares for Kids day care assistance program that eluded the state Department of Human Services and 15 regional agencies that manage its vast referral network, according to the audit…”
NJ comptroller criticizes state-administered child care program in audit, By John Reitmeyer, January 25, 2012, The Record: “Parents who cheated a $124 million state-administered program that helps low-income families afford child care - a program that has 8,000 children on a waiting list - could face criminal prosecution. An audit of the state Child Care Assistance Program released Wednesday by the Office of the State Comptroller found a series of other problems not detected by administrators, including overpaying child care centers with inflated attendance figures and enrolling children without proper Social Security numbers. In some cases, Comptroller Matthew Boxer said, the errors were likely honest. But others could eventually give rise to a criminal case, he said…”

Mobile Banking - Haiti

townsend — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:39:39 +0000

How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash, By Margo Conner, January 27, 2012, Christian Science Monitor: “In Haiti, cash is escaping from wallets and savings accounts are breaking free from brick-and-mortar banks. Two years after 2010’s devastating earthquake, mobile money has taken off in the island nation. While the country has seen setbacks in many areas and continues to struggle, one bright spot is the transformation of the country’s traditional banking sector. Physical banks were wiped away by the quake and subsequent hurricane, and a mobile banking network that uses cell phones has grown up in their place…”

Unemployment Rate - Spain

townsend — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:36:49 +0000

Spain unemployment hitting nearly 1 of 4 workers, rises to 22.8 percent, Associated Press, January 27, 2012, Washington Post: “Spain’s brutal unemployment rate soared to nearly 23 percent Friday and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people - or almost one out of every four - out of work as the country slides toward recession. Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported that 5.3 million people were jobless at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter - a jump in the unemployment rate from 21.5 percent to 22.9 percent in the fourth quarter. For those under age 25, the rate hit a whopping 48.5 percent, and the institute also reported that Spain now has 1.6 million households in which no one has work…”

High School Dropout Ages and Graduation Rates

townsend — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:29:20 +0000

Obama wades into issue of raising dropout age, By Tamar Lewin, January 25, 2012, New York Times: “President Obama’s State of the Union call for every state to require students to stay in school until they turn 18 is Washington’s first direct involvement in an issue that many governors and state legislators have found tough to address. While state legislative efforts to raise the dropout age to 18 have spread in recent years, many have had trouble winning passage. Last year, for example, such legislation was considered in Alaska, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland and Rhode Island - but only Rhode Island actually changed its law…”
Missouri, Illinois educators debate raising high school dropout age, By Jessica Bock, January 26, 2012, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The legal age at which students in Missouri and Illinois can drop out of high school has inched up to 17 in recent years. Now, President Barack Obama wants states to do more. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, he called on every state to require students to stay in high school until they either graduate or turn 18. But some educators and researchers question the cost and effectiveness of such a measure. And they say that truly addressing the dropout problem requires far more than changing a number…”
In Ohio, dropout law hard to enforce, By Charlie Boss, January 26, 2012, Columbus Dispatch: “During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama urged states to require students to stay in school until they graduate or turn 18 - a law already in effect in Ohio and 19 other states. Still, at least 23,000 Ohio teens dropped out in the 2010-11 school year. And only a small number of those kids took advantage of an Ohio provision that lets them ‘officially’ leave school if they’re at least 16, have a full-time job and have permission from a parent and the district. Most of those 23,000 were out of school illegally and could face penalties - if they could be tracked down…”
City students at small public high schools are more likely to graduate, study says, By Winnie Hu, January 25, 2012, New York Times: “New York City teenagers attending small public high schools with about 100 students per grade were more likely to graduate than their counterparts at larger schools, according to new findings from a continuing study released on Wednesday night. The findings are part of a study that tracked the academic performance of more than 21,000 students who applied for ninth grade admission at 105 small high schools, mainly in Brooklyn and in the Bronx, from 2005 to 2008. The study appeared to validate the Bloomberg administration’s decade-long push to create small schools to replace larger, failing high schools…”

Drug Testing and Assistance Programs - Virginia, Indiana

townsend — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:20:43 +0000

Welfare drug testing bill whips up debate in state legislature, By Mike Sluss, January 25, 2012, Roanoke Times: “A House of Delegates committee has advanced legislation that would require drug testing of Virginia welfare recipients, despite objections from Democrats who argued that the proposal amounts to a targeted attack on poor people. The legislation - House Bill 73 - would require local social services agencies to screen recipients in the state welfare program to determine whether they use illegal drugs. Those who refuse to comply or fail a drug test would lose Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits for one year unless they enter a drug treatment program. A recipient would have one opportunity to be reinstated to the program by complying with screening, assessment and treatment requirements…”
Welfare drug-testing bill passes on to vote from full House, By Maureen Hayden, January 25, 2012, News and Tribune: “Indiana lawmakers are pushing forward on legislation that would cut off cash assistance to welfare recipients who fail drug tests. In a 15-5 vote that crossed party lines, the House Committee on Ways and Means approved a bill that would require the state’s Family and Social Services Agency to test out a drug-screening program on a small scale before it was launched statewide. It now goes to the full House for a vote. The focus is narrow: The FSSA would implement the drug-screening program in three test counties for a two-year period, then report back to the legislature. The drug-screening would only apply to adults who are receiving cash payments through a program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF…”

Politics and Poverty

townsend — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:12:23 +0000

Welfare issue makes political comeback, By Dawn Turner Trice, January 22, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich recently offered to attend an NAACP convention to explain why African-Americans ’should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.’ And he has described President Barack Obama as ‘the most successful food stamp president in American history.’ While the Republican presidential race has brought the welfare issue to the forefront, critics say it has also resurrected stereotypical images of the black ‘welfare mother’ having out-of-wedlock babies so she can stay home and live large off the taxpayers. When it comes to welfare, perceptions have often trumped reality…”

Kids Count Report - Michigan

townsend — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:31:57 +0000

Kids Count 2011 report shows children on Medicaid, food assistance doubled in past decade in Southwest Michigan, By Fritz Krug, January 24, 2012, Kalamazoo Gazette: “More children are living in poverty in Southwest Michigan than a decade ago, and the number receiving Medicaid and the Food Assistance Program (food stamps) has nearly doubled over the last 10 years in four counties in the region. The findings are part of the annual Kids Count in Michigan Data Book, released today by the Michigan League for Human Services…”
Many Michigan kids living in poverty, report finds, By Robin Erb, January 24, 2012, Detroit Free Press: “Fewer Michigan teens are having babies or dropping out of school, and educational benchmarks for some of the state’s youngest students have improved, according to the new Kids Count report. Still, more of Michigan’s families continue to slip into poverty, threatening the health and future of the state’s youngest residents, according to the annual measure of the well-being of the state’s children. More than 1 in 10 children live in extreme poverty — twice as many as a decade ago, according to the report, which draws from several sources, according to the Kids Count in Michigan project at the Michigan League for Human Services, an advocacy group for poor people in Michigan…”
Kids Count: Nearly half of Michigan students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, By Dave Murray, January 24, 2012, Grand Rapids Press: “Nearly half of Michigan’s students now qualify for free or reduced-priced school lunches, a sign that any economic recovery has not filtered down to the state’s youngest residents, according to a report from two children’s advocacy organizations. The Kids Count in Michigan report also finds that the number of children living in poverty has jumped from 14 percent to 23 percent between 2000 and 2009, and that the number of children in extreme poverty has more than doubled, reaching 11 percent at the end of the decade. But advocates said there is good amid the economic statistics. Teen pregnancies are declining, as are the number of students dropping out of school. Death rates also are slowing, though children are experience more chronic illnesses…”
Recession affecting Michigan, Great Lakes Bay Region children, Kids Count data shows, By Kathryn Lynch-Morin, January 24, 2012, Saginaw News: “Today’s release of Kids Count in Michigan data paints a bleak picture of kids’ well-being in the Great Lakes Bay Region. More children are living in poverty in Saginaw and Bay counties than were in 2005, and rates of abuse and neglect have increased in both counties over the course of the decade, the report shows…”

Food Assistance and Immigrant Families - Kansas

townsend — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:25:24 +0000

Kansas Gov. Brownback to review state’s food stamp policy, By Laura Bauer, January 25, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday that he would review a new policy that has eliminated food stamps for hundreds of low-income children who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are illegal immigrants. The Star reported Sunday how the new way the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services counts income for food stamp eligibility has affected families across Kansas. Since the new policy went into effect Oct. 1, more than 1,000 households have lost their food stamps. Many said they had relied heavily on benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Brownback told reporters Tuesday that he would look into the new policy and talk to SRS workers in the field to see how families have been affected. Advocates for low-income families were encouraged by Brownback’s words, although the governor’s spokeswoman said no changes are planned…”

State Minimum Wage - Hawaii

townsend — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:23:37 +0000

Hawaii minimum wage could rise to $8.14 in January, Associated Press, January 25, 2012, CBS News: “A bill moving through the state Legislature could increase Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007, but opinions are mixed as to whether elevating the wage floor would help or hinder Hawaii’s economic recovery. According to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the current $7.25 minimum wage is worth 84 cents less than when it was set five years ago due to inflation. A minimum wage increase would help Hawaii workers recover lost purchasing power and encourage more spending that can contribute to the state’s economic recovery, the Labor Department suggests. That’s not the way the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii sees it, however…”

Student Homelessness - Maryland

townsend — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:02:16 +0000

State’s student homeless population doubles, By Jessica Anderson, January 22, 2012, Baltimore Sun: “For a few hours after school, Ryan Johnson is just like most 16-year-olds. He lounges on the couch with his favorite Xbox game or checks his Facebook page. But then reality sets in. He decamps from his cousins’ house for the Howard County cold-weather shelter. Dinner is a meal with his father and 20 other homeless people. He goes to bed early, on a green plastic mat next to strangers, who also have no other place to go in one of the state’s wealthiest counties. ‘It has been really hard,’ said Ryan, a junior at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia. ‘I look at it like a detention I have to do every day, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.’ Ryan’s experience is becoming increasingly common. The number of homeless students in Maryland has more than doubled in the past five years, rising from 6,721 to 14,117 last school year, according to the Maryland State Department of Education…”

Food Assistance and Immigrant Families - Kansas

townsend — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:57:45 +0000

Kansas slashes food aid for children of illegal immigrants, By Laura Bauer, January 22, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Pedro moved to the Kansas City area about 13 years ago and has held the same job for 11. Though he sometimes struggles to pay bills, he knows most people think he should receive no public aid. He’s an illegal immigrant. He doesn’t deserve handouts. He understands that. ‘I’ve never asked for anything for myself,’ said Pedro, who didn’t want his last name used to protect his family. ‘Never. I just work. Work hard.’ A new debate swirling around Kansas, though, isn’t about Pedro. It’s about two of his three children. They were born here, and one day they will have driver’s licenses and the right to vote, just like any other U.S. citizen. Early last year, when they needed food assistance, they got it. Pedro’s family received nearly $300 a month in food stamps. Enough to buy milk, eggs and meat, fruit and yogurt. Now, they get nothing. Neither do hundreds of other Kansas families who, like Pedro’s, are a mix of undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens. At a time when Gov. Sam Brownback has vowed to reduce child poverty, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services - a state agency the governor controls - made a policy change that eliminated food stamps for hundreds of low-income U.S. children whose parents are illegal immigrants. For more households, benefits were reduced…”

States and Health Insurance Coverage

townsend — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:52:06 +0000

3 of 4 uninsured Americans in states that have yet to adopt health overhaul plans, Associated Press, January 23, 2012, Washington Post: “Here’s a reality check for President Barack Obama’s health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care. This is the year that will make or break the health care law. States were supposed to be partners in carrying out the biggest safety net expansion since Medicare and Medicaid, and the White House claims they’re making steady progress. But an analysis by The Associated Press shows that states are moving in fits and starts. Combined with new insurance coverage estimates from the nonpartisan Urban Institute, it reveals a patchwork nation. Such uneven progress could have real consequences…”

Teen Pregnancy

townsend — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:30:06 +0000

U.S. teen pregnancy rate remains highest in developed world, By Shari Roan, January 19, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Battles over how to best prevent teen pregnancy may be to blame for the continued high rate in the United States. Abstinence-only programs are favored in some areas while education and improved access to contraception are supported in others. The most recent controversy stemmed from the federal government’s refusal in December to allow emergency contraceptive pills to be sold over-the-counter to girls age 16 and younger…”
CDC: Many teen moms didn’t think it could happen, By Mike Stobbe (AP), January 19, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant. In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant. Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile…”
Roanoke’s teen pregnancy rate plunges 32%, By Courtney Cutright, January 20, 2012, Roanoke Times: “Roanoke’s rate of teen pregnancies dropped nearly 32 percent from 2009 to 2010, moving the city out of the top 10 localities in Virginia with the highest rates. Roanoke still ranks 12th in the state. But the city’s teen pregnancy rate for 2010 is one of the lowest since 1996, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics posted online recently…”

Politics and Poverty

townsend — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:24:38 +0000

Food stamp recipients to critics: Walk in our shoes, By Jesse Washington (AP), January 20, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “Some have advanced degrees and remember middle-class lives. Some work selling lingerie or building websites. They are white, black and Hispanic; young and old; homeowners and homeless. What they have in common: They’re all on food stamps. As the food stamp program has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary, with candidates seeking to tie President Barack Obama to the program’s record numbers, The Associated Press interviewed recipients across the country and found many who wished critics would spend some time in their shoes. Most said they never expected to need food stamps, but the Great Recession, which wiped out millions of jobs, left them no choice. Some struggled with the idea of taking a handout; others saw it as their due, earned through years of working steady jobs. They yearn to get back to receiving a paycheck that will make food stamps unnecessary…”
The Americans no one wants to talk about, By Michael Gerson, January 19, 2012, Washington Post: “It is an achievement of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements to have raised large issues of economic freedom and economic inequality. It is a paradox that their arguments have generally been vague, ideological and unhelpful. Elements on the right reject the whole ideal of distributive justice - opposing most taxation as theft and embracing a utopian project involving the abolition of the modern state. Elements on the left seek a substitute for capitalism - a utopian project that has been tried and found frightening. The political debates on free markets or the privileges of the 1 percent seldom touch on the actual struggles of citizens - say, living in the shadow of foreclosure, or attending a failing school, or surviving in a gang-occupied neighborhood. Ideology is abstract. Hardship is lived concretely. I like a good political philosophic debate as much as the next columnist. Give me a soy latte and a libertarian, and I’m set for the night. Ideas do have consequences. But many Americans are being overlooked in this bipartisan conspiracy of economic abstraction. A significant and growing portion of the population lives in poverty…”
GOP presidential candidates wade into politically tricky territory of food stamp spending, By Associated Press, January 9, 2012, Washington Post: “Politicians normally shy away from saying they want to cut food stamps, but this year’s Republican presidential candidates are using domestic food aid as an example of a welfare state gone awry. Supporters of the program say it is one of the most reliable safety nets for families who suddenly find themselves unable to pay for food, and politically the program has proved almost untouchable over many decades. More than 45 million people received the benefit last year at a $75 billion cost to the government, a record number as the economy has flailed. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and fellow contender Rick Santorum, both heavily involved in congressional welfare reform efforts in the mid-1990s, say the government should stop promoting a welfare-like state and convert food stamp spending to block grants to states, a move that could freeze spending and cut the benefit to many who now receive it. A spokesperson for Republican Mitt Romney says the former Massachusetts governor also supports turning the nation’s food stamp program into state block grants, though he rarely mentions it…”

High School Dropout Age - Kentucky

townsend — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:18:27 +0000

House committee approves dropout bill, By Mike Wynn, January 18, 2012, Louisville Courier-Journal: “A long-debated push to raise Kentucky’s high school dropout age received a green light from the House Education Committee Tuesday and now heads to the House floor, where lawmakers expect it to win approval. House Bill 216 - approved 21-1, with one member passing - would increase the dropout age from 16 to 17 by July 2016 and raise the age to 18 one year later, changing a provision that has been in place since the 1920s. The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg, has pushed for the change during the past two legislative sessions. He said Tuesday that raising the dropout age will keep students on the path to long-term success and promote a more competent workforce to grow the state’s economy…”

States and Children’s Health Care Coverage

townsend — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:47:44 +0000

State steps up health care coverage for kids, By Deborah Barfield Berry, January 18, 2012, Montgomery Advertiser: “Alabama’s successful efforts to increase the number of children with health care coverage has made it a standout in the region, according to a national study released Wednesday. The study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured lists Alabama among four states that are regional leaders in making gains in children’s health care. The others are Iowa, Massachusetts and Oregon. Alabama recognizes the importance of health care coverage for kids, said Trisha Brooks, a co-author of the report and a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families…”

Recession and Child Well-being

townsend — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:45:04 +0000

Recession’s toll touches children, By Michael Martinez, January 14, 2012, Reno Gazette-Journal: “Heidi Lanini and her four kids live an austere life — by necessity. Lanini, 37, has lived in her southeast Reno apartment for eight years but hasn’t worked in six for a variety of reasons. These include health issues, the inability to find a new job as the economy soured and a lack of training in the technological skills required for her work. And then there are her kids, who require resources she has struggled to provide, leaving the children living on the edge, struggling with everyday life, school work and uncertainty about their futures. She and her family have survived on subsidized housing, food stamps, welfare and Medicare. Lanini’s family could be a portrait of a growing national trend described in a report on how the recession has affected families — particularly children. The report released by Washington, D.C.-based First Focus shows that Nevada children fared worse than American children overall on several key economic indicators of child well-being…”

US Homelessness Rate

townsend — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:18:31 +0000

Homelessness down but seen rising anew: report, By Ian Simpson, January 18, 2012, Orlando Sentinel: “U.S. homelessness slipped 1 percent from 2009 to 2011, but the sluggish economy left more poor people struggling to pay for housing and just a step away from shelters, an advocacy group said in a new study on Wednesday. The drop to 636,017 homeless people last year could prove short-lived, since it was likely due to $1.5 billion in federal aid that will run out this year, the National Alliance to End Homelessness said in its report…”
Stimulus money kept Americans off the street, study finds, By Matt Smith, January 18, 2012, CNN.com: “Federal aid helped many cash-strapped Americans keep a roof over their heads during the prolonged economic slump, but the number of people living a step away from the streets has grown sharply, researchers reported Wednesday. The estimated U.S. homeless population dipped about 1% between 2009 and 2011 despite the lingering effects of the 2007-2009 recession, the Washington-based Homelessness Research Institute concluded. About $1.5 billion from the 2009 economic stimulus measure went toward rental assistance and programs steering recently evicted people toward new housing, ‘and it seems likely that that has worked,’ said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness…”

No Child Left Behind Waiver - Oregon

townsend — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:13:28 +0000

Oregon seeks OK to judge schools on overall performance, not success with small groups that typically struggle, By Betsy Hammond, January 8, 2012, The Oregonian: “Oregon schools that serve a concentration of low-income students will face a distinctly different accountability system this fall if the U.S. Department of Education approves the state’s plan. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, Oregon schools that receive federal funds to help disadvantaged students have been judged since 2003 mainly by whether they got enough low-income, special education, minority or limited-English students to pass state reading and math tests. Schools that didn’t — more than 80 in 2011 — faced a series of escalating consequences, such as having to offer students a transfer to another school or free private tutoring. Now Oregon, like many other states, proposes to scrap that system for one that measures success in a whole new way — and offers more flexible consequences to schools whose results are deemed inadequate…”

Public Prekindergarten Programs

townsend — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:22:57 +0000

Growth in prekindergarten slowed in recession, By Kimberly Hefling (AP), January 17, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool. Kids from low-income families who start kindergarten without first attending a quality education program enter school an estimated 18 months behind their peers. Many never catch up, and research shows they are more likely to need special education services and to drop out. Kids in families with higher incomes also can benefit from early education, research shows. Yet, roughly a quarter of the nation’s 4-year-olds and more than half of 3-year-olds attend no preschool, either public or private. Families who earn about $40,000 to $50,000 annually face the greatest difficulties because they make too much to quality for many publicly funded programs, but can’t afford private ones, said Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University…”

Child Poverty - Virginia

townsend — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:18:18 +0000

Poverty level of children in Bristol, Va., among worst in the state, By David McGee, January 17, 2012, Bristol Herald Courier: “One out of every three city children lives below the poverty level - a figure that ranks among the worst in Virginia, a new report shows. Nearly 34 percent of children in Bristol, Va., live in a household where the median income is below $22,000, according to a report released Monday by Voices for Virginia’s Children. The city is tied with Roanoke for having the seventh highest rate statewide. The problem is acute across Southwest Virginia, where the number of children living in poverty is double the state average and significantly higher than the national figure. Released Monday, the report uses information from the 2010 census, which is the most recent data available…”

Public Program Overpayments - Wisconsin

townsend — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:15:25 +0000

Investigator finds overpayments in food-stamp system, By Jason Stein, January 15, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “In just two months, private investigators found nearly a half-million dollars in overpayments and cost savings in two state aid programs for the needy in Milwaukee County, with much more expected to be added up in the coming weeks. The findings of fraud in public food assistance and health care programs come after budget cuts left such investigations painfully neglected in many parts of the state, including Milwaukee County - the state’s largest urban area. For the past year, the Journal Sentinel has been reporting about fraud and other problems in the FoodShare program. The contractor looked at 111 suspicious cases in FoodShare and Medicaid health programs such as BadgerCare Plus and found overpayments in every case. So far, the total overpayments have been tallied up in only 62 of those cases, or just over half. But the total overpayments and future cost savings will likely come close to $1 million when it’s all added up, with most of that due to fraud, said Ed O’Brien, who heads the investigative firm O’Brien & Associates…”