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…”

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…”

• 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…”

• Jobless benefits change to start this week, By Josh Lintereur and Chad Dally, January 2, 2012, Wausau Daily Herald: “A new state budget provision requiring a one-week waiting period before unemployed workers can begin collecting unemployment benefits takes effect this week. The new provision will affect the newly unemployed and those already collecting benefits. In some cases, it will result in a laid-off worker receiving one less check than he or she would have in the past. State lawmakers made the change as part of the 2011-13 biennial budget, meaning Wisconsin will join more than three dozen states that already have instituted waiting periods. State labor officials said the delay will save an estimated $45.2 million a year by allowing additional time to determine eligibility and reduce improper payments, and by pushing the payment schedule back…”
• Many of state’s jobless struggle: No benefits, no job and no luck finding one, By Scott Davis, December 29, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “Thousands of Michigan’s unemployed have a renewed lifeline with last week’s extension of federal jobless benefits. But Virona Brown could be among the thousands who will begin the New Year with no job prospects, unreturned calls on employment applications and no unemployment check to pay basic necessities. Though Michigan’s unemployment rate dipped to 9.8 percent last month, the Lansing woman and several others say they are still struggling to find employment in the region…”

• Michigan’s homeless students: Foreclosure crisis takes toll on 31,000 kids, By Jeff Seidel, December 18, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Like a silent epidemic, the number of homeless children in Michigan schools is growing. In the 2010-11 school year, more than 31,000 homeless students attended school — 8,500 more than in the previous school year, a 37% spike attributed to the weak economy, loss of jobs and the foreclosure crisis. Overall, the number of homeless students in Michigan has jumped more than 300% in the last four years. Most experts say those numbers are low because many parents are embarrassed to admit they are homeless. And many school districts lack the resources to identify these kids, as required by federal law. Advocates say there’s also a disincentive to find homeless children. Once a district finds them, it has to pay to transport them to school and provide other services — a tough job for many cash-strapped districts. School officials who deal with these children say the numbers are likely to grow next year because of the thousands of families who have lost jobless benefits and other cash assistance…”
• For Michigan’s homeless students, a storage room of backpacks shows community support, By Jeff Seidel, December 19, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “The small cluttered motel room is filled with all their worldly possessions — bags of clothes from a free clothes locker, a fistful of utensils standing up in a Mason jar, a deep fryer, a toaster oven, a Crock-Pot, a box of food donated from a nearby church, and a backpack that links thousands of homeless children across Michigan. The backpack was given to 11-year-old Amber Phillips by the Macomb Intermediate School District because she is a homeless student. She has been living in this motel for two months..”
• Covenant House is a haven for Michigan’s homeless students, By Jeff Seidel, December 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Even before the downturn in the economy, there were thousands of homeless children across the state — kids who ran away from home because of family squabbles or because of abuse or because of myriad other reasons. Some children now might have a new reason to run away. ‘Now, we are seeing kids who leave home because they feel their parents can’t afford them anymore and they feel like, ‘I have to go on my own and spare them paying for me,” said Pamela Kies-Lowe, the state coordinator for Homeless Education at the Michigan Department of Education. ‘They are trying to be magnanimous to their families. They strike out on their own and figure out they can’t make it.’ She said even those who leave for reasons of abuse might have an underlying tie to the economy…”
• Love from new families turns lives around for Michigan’s homeless students, By Jeff Seidel, December 21, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Traverse City and Adrian are running two of the most unusual programs in the state to help homeless children — families taking in a homeless child for a year so he or she can finish high school. It’s an idea that could be replicated around the state to help agencies already besieged by too many people who need help and not enough money to go around. In both cities, homeless children are placed in mentor homes for the entire school year. Last year, 15 students were in the Traverse City program; all seven seniors graduated. In Adrian, 13 children were in the program last year and all of them also graduated from high school, including two valedictorians. Beth McCullough, who runs the Adrian program, said 87% of the homeless students in the program have gone on to higher education…”

• Unemployment fell in 43 states in November, By Martin Crutsinger (AP), December 20, 2011, Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most number of states to report such declines in eight years. The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row - the first time that’s happened since 2006, before the Great Recession. Only three states reported higher unemployment rates in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Four states showed no change…”
• Bills to restructure Michigan jobless, workers comp insurance systems signed, By Dawson Bell, December 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Monday to restructure Michigan’s unemployment and workers compensation insurance systems, changes he said would ‘ensure their solvency and integrity.’ The bills, approved earlier this month by the Legislature, authorize the issuance of revenue bonds to pay off the state’s $3-billion federal unemployment insurance debt, saving the state about $117 million in 2012 and sparing employers more than $270 million in federal penalties, administration officials said. The debt arose from a decade of high unemployment in Michigan, as unemployment taxes assessed on employers have not kept pace with claims made by Michigan workers…”

• 160,000 jobless Michiganders at risk of losing safety net, By Katharine Yung, December 5, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Unless Congress acts to continue extended unemployment benefits, it could be a grim holiday season for nearly 160,000 Michiganders. An end to the extended benefits would immediately impact 61,000 state residents who are getting this federal aid after exhausting their 26 weeks of state-funded assistance. Another 98,743 people who are receiving state benefits would no longer get additional help if they are still jobless after 26 weeks…”
• Jobless benefits a holiday uncertainty, By Catharine Candisky, December 4, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “For the second year in a row, thousands of unemployed Ohioans face the holidays uncertain about whether their jobless benefits will continue into the new year. Nearly 77,000 jobless Ohioans - more than a quarter of whom rely on unemployment to pay their mortgages, utility bills and grocery bills - will exhaust benefits in early January unless Congress agrees to fund another extension of federal assistance. By early April, 107,000 more workers would fall off the rolls, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said…”
• Clock ticking on Mainers’ unemployment benefits, By Susan McMillan, December 4, 2011, Morning Sentinel: “Maine is bracing for a new wave of need as extended federal unemployment benefits near their end. If Congress does not reauthorize extended benefits, 17,000 Mainers will see their benefits run out by May, Department of Labor spokesman Adam Fisher said. The department and its 12 regional Career Centers will increase outreach to unemployment claimants and add workshops to help the long-term unemployed find work…”

• Number of N.J. residents receiving food stamps doubled in last four years, By Eric Sagara and Stephen Stirling, November 27, 2011, Star-Ledger: “The number of New Jersey residents receiving food stamps has doubled in the past four years and is at its highest level in more than a decade as the nation’s still sputtering economy continues to take its toll on the poorest residents of the Garden State, state and federal data show. As of September, the most recent data released by the state Department of Human Services, more than 400,000 households and nearly 822,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program, meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance.As of September, the most recent data released by the state Department of Human Services, more than 400,000 households and nearly 822,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program, meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance…”
• Michigan ranks third in use of food stamps, By Maureen Groppe, November 21, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “Michigan households relied on food stamps last year more than all but two other states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the 16.9 percent of Michigan households that received food stamps in 2010 was up from the 14.5 percent that did in 2009. The figures released last week come from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey. Participants were asked whether anyone in the household received food stamps in the last 12 months…”
• Food stamp divide grows, By Bob Smietana, November 23, 2011, The Tennessean: “David Shelley of Nashville used to work two jobs to feed his wife and two children, but it still wasn’t enough. So, for a few months, they used food stamps to make ends meet. Two decades later, he’s a Baptist pastor and small businessman, and he’s joining a growing number of people critical of the food stamp program at the same time participation is at a record high. He fears it’s becoming an entitlement program people don’t try to leave. ‘If you are working and you are doing your best and you need food stamps, then God bless you,’ he said. Otherwise, he believes the Bible message is clear: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Nearly 46 million Americans participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps. That’s up from 17 million in 2002 and includes 15 percent of households in Tennessee, according to the Census Bureau. The price of the program - about $68 billion annually - and the nation’s budget crisis have opened it to scrutiny and revealed deep divides in American culture…”
• Food stamp usage sticking, By Joan Garrett, November 25, 2011, Chattanooga Times Free Press: “As Tennessee families paused to give thanks around the dinner table Thursday, one of every six households was getting help from Uncle Sam. A new study found that Tennessee ranked second behind only Oregon in the share of households receiving food stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Payments (SNAP), during 2010. The U.S. Bureau of Census reports that 45 states provided more federal help with groceries last year, swelling the number of U.S. households getting food stamps to 13.6 million…”

• Malloy touts new tax credit, By JC Reindl, November 23, 2011, The Day: “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday joined Democratic lawmakers and social services advocates to herald the implementation of Connecticut’s new Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The credit was included in the governor’s biennial budget plan that passed the General Assembly this spring. The cost to the state is a projected $110 million this fiscal year. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now offer some type of earned income tax credit. Under Connecticut’s program, the approximately 190,000 state households that are eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit will receive an additional credit equal to 30 percent of the federal one…”
• Taxing the working poor back to starting line, Editorial, November 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “As much as younger pensioners may howl about the state income taxes they’ll have to pay come Jan. 1, the hardest hit group of people who file income tax forms may be the poorest — workers whose wages barely bring their families up to the poverty level. That’s because the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit will drop from 20% of the federal payment to 6%. Although this is better than nothing — which, in fact, was what Michigan had until three years ago — it will return the state to the unwelcome status of taxing some people back into poverty…”

Families to lose welfare benefits after appeals court overturns Genesee County judge’s ruling, By Kristin Longley, November 4, 2011, Flint Journal: “More than 1,200 families in Genesee County will lose their cash assistance benefits this weekend after the Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a local judge’s ruling. Genesee County Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut had issued a temporary injunction as part of a lawsuit that argues the state can’t use a five-year time limit based on federal regulations to end benefits for some welfare recipients. But the appeals court reversed that order Thursday, ruling that Neithercut’s ‘issuance of the temporary injunction was inappropriate.’ The cash assistance cutoff will start Saturday, the Department of Human Services said in a statement…”

Genesee County judge halts cash assistance cutoff; State attorney general files appeal, By Kristin Longley, November 1, 2011, Flint Journal: “A Genesee County judge Monday halted the state from cutting some cash assistance benefits, a move that could affect an estimated 1,500 families here and 11,000 families statewide. Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut granted a temporary injunction that would prevent the Michigan Department of Human Services from using a five-year time limit based on federal regulations to end benefits for some welfare recipients. Benefits would have ended this month for those who received termination notices. The Michigan League for Human Services has said that Genesee County would feel the effects of the assistance cutoff more than almost any other part of the state, since an estimated 13 percent of all families that lost benefits live in the area…”

More low-income residents with housing vouchers are moving to the suburbs, study finds, By Ted Roelofs, October 18, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “The stereotype of public housing as an inner city landmark is belied in communities across West Michigan, where Grand Rapids ranks No. 9 in the nation’s metropolitan areas for growth in suburban housing vouchers. Equal-access housing advocates maintain the trend is better for both city and suburb alike, affording low-income residents economic opportunity while broadening diversity within the metropolitan area…”

• Delay in welfare cuts could cost Michigan $2.5 million, By Karen Bouffard, October 6, 2011, Detroit News: “The delay in ending welfare to nearly 41,000 Michiganians could cost the state at least $2.5 million. The Department of Human Services must rewrite and resend letters to everyone who was scheduled to lose their cash assistance on Saturday after U.S. District Judge Paul Borman on Tuesday blocked the cutoff of benefits. After the letters are sent, clients have 10 days to appeal the move. ‘We are working diligently to comply with Judge Borman’s order,’ DHS spokeswoman Colleen Rosso said Wednesday. ‘I anticipate that the notices will be mailed in the coming days, but will have a more definitive time frame (today).’ Republicans, who have control of the Legislature and the Governor’s Office, figured savings from the cuts into the budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1…”
• Judge delays welfare cuts, says state didn’t follow the rules, By Kathleen Gray, October 4, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “A federal judge ordered the state Tuesday to temporarily stop enforcing a new law ending cash assistance to 11,162 poor Michigan families who have collected welfare for at least 48.months. The state did a poor job of notifying the recipients, giving them less than three weeks to plan for the end of assistance, Borman wrote in his opinion, granting a temporary restraining order against the cuts. The state passed a law in July that capped cash assistance at 48 months during a recipient’s lifetime. It was supposed to take affect Oct. 1, but U.S. District Judge Paul Borman in Detroit delayed the implementation until he ruled. The 11,162 families represent about 40,000 people, two-thirds of whom are children or teenagers…”

Judge halts welfare cuts for 41,000 Michigan residents, By Doug Guthrie, October 4, 2011, Detroit News: “A federal judge today accused the state of ’slight of hand,’ and halted plans to end welfare benefits to nearly 41,000 Michigan residents. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman determined after a hearing today that the state failed to give proper notice to those it planned to cut off, and although the issue was brought to the federal court in a lawsuit filed by just three plaintiffs, the judge also granted class status to include everyone affected by the state’s decision…”

• Heating assistance in jeopardy for low-income families, By Oralandar Brand-Williams and Karen Bouffard, October 1, 2011, Detroit News: “As thousands of state welfare recipients are cut off from cash assistance today, another program to help low-income families pay winter heating bills is in jeopardy. Money for the Low Income Energy Efficiency Fund is tied up in a legal fight challenging the authority of the Michigan Public Service Commission to distribute money to local programs. The news came on the same day a group announced a legal challenge to a new state rule cutting off cash assistance after 48 months. A hearing in federal court is scheduled for Tuesday. The PSC collects the heating aid money from utility companies that funnel a portion of the rate charged to customers into the fund. Agencies such as the Heat and Warmth Fund then draw from the pot of money, which totals about $90 million annually, to help people with their heating and utility bills. Today is the first day of the new fiscal year when the local agencies normally tap the fund, but no money will be available until the court decides the issue…”
• Home heating program may see deep cuts, By Pamela M. Prah, October 3, 2011, Stateline.org: “With Congress in a cutting mood, states are worried they may have to deny home heating help to as many as 2 million families this winter. ‘We’re working against a worst-case scenario and we are very worried,’ Richard Moffi, fuel assistance program chief for the Vermont Department for Children and Families, told The Associated Press. Congress has yet to decide on the funding level for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for the coming winter, but ‘all signs point to at least a $1.1 billion cut,” says Mark Wolfe, executive director, of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, an organization that represents state LIHEAP directors. LIHEAP is a federal block grant program that provides grants to states to help low-income families pay their heating and cooling bills…”

Community colleges taking hits in Michigan, By David Jesse, September 30, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Fewer students are enrolling and others are taking lighter class loads at Michigan’s community colleges, the result of federal worker retraining money drying up and health care reform that expanded a student exception to insurance rules. Federal health care law now allows part-time students to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies, which could account for a decline in credit hours as students look to save money by paring class loads. Enrollment at Michigan’s 28 community colleges is down 4% compared to last fall, and the number of credit hours taken is down 6%. Falling credit hours is a bigger deal to school officials than enrollment, because tuition revenue is based on classes taken and not enrollment…”

• House OKs tighter rules on food aid for criminals, By Karen Bouffard, September 8, 2011, Detroit News: “The state House tightened rules for Bridge Card users Wednesday, giving Michigan State Police powers to help root criminals from the welfare system. The legislation passed Wednesday would set up an automated program to compare lists of public assistance recipients with lists of people with outstanding warrants and bar anyone with a warrant from getting public assistance. It also prohibits people who are jailed from receiving food stamps or other assistance, bans dispensing cash from Bridge Cards at ATMs in casinos and bars the cards from being used to buy alcohol, tobacco or lottery tickets…”
• State House passes new restrictions on Bridge Cards; bills go to Senate, By Kathleen Gray, September 8, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “New restrictions on the use of Michigan’s Bridge Cards, which operate like a debit card for food and cash assistance to low-income residents, were passed without debate Wednesday in the House. Jail inmates would no longer be able to use the cards, nor could they be used to get cash from ATM machines in casinos or to buy alcohol, lottery tickets or tobacco products. Approximately 1.3 million bridge cards are in circulation in the state. The amounts the state loads onto the cards are determined by the level of income and family size of recipients…”

Gov. Rick Snyder says Michigan welfare system returned ‘to its original intent’ after signing law putting tighter 48-month limit on benefits, By Peter Luke, September 6, 2011, Kalamazoo Gazette: “Legislation that puts in place a more strict 48-month time limit on cash assistance benefits was signed into law today by Gov. Rick Snyder. ‘We are returning cash assistance to its original intent as a transitional program to help families while they work toward self-sufficiency and also preserving our state’s integral safety net for families most in need,’ Snyder said in a statement. ‘Affected recipients are able-bodied and have had at least four - some as long as 14 or more - years to transition to independence.’ Tighter enforcement of the four-year limit begins on Oct. 1 and some 11,000 households will lose their $500-a-month benefit. The Department of Human Resources is scheduling appointments with affected families to extend housing and job placement assistance for three months to those actively seeking employment…”

• Vendors multiply for food stamps, By Jonathan Ellis and Megan Luther, August 27, 2011, Argus Leader: “The number of people on food stamps in South Dakota has jumped 75 percent in the past five years, meaning one of every eight South Dakotans now is in the program. In 2009, the latest year numbers were available, food stamp participants in this state spent $111.2 million. For companies that sell food, those statistics represent opportunity. And that’s why from 2005 to 2010, the number of vendors certified by the United States Department of Agriculture to take food stamps in South Dakota rose 19 percent to 622 vendors, according to an Argus Leader analysis of USDA data…”
• Fast-food restaurants lobby for slice of food stamp sales, By Jonathan Ellis and Megan Luther, August 27, 2011, Argus Leader: “The main goal of the nation’s food stamp program has been to supplement the buying power of low-income residents when they shop for unprepared foods at grocery stores. But a major restaurant company is lobbying the federal government on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, federal lobbying records show. Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands has allies among advocates for the hungry who hope to give restaurants a greater role in SNAP…”
• Michigan restaurants hungry to accept Bridge Cards, By Jaclyn Trop, September 1, 2011, Detroit News: “Michigan has experienced an explosion in the number of restaurants participating in a program that allows some residents who receive food assistance to redeem their benefits for a hot meal. In the past year and a half, the number of restaurants approved to use Michigan’s Bridge Cards - debit-style cards - to serve food to recipients who are blind, homeless or 60 years and older has grown to 105 restaurants from eight, said Christina Fecher, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Human Services, which oversees the program. That is a jump of 1,200 percent. Prior to this, the program that started around 1996 had only three restaurants participating, she said. The reason behind the surge of interest among local eateries isn’t clear to state and restaurant industry officials. But it has coincided with the growth of Michigan’s overall food assistance program - including a 57 percent increase in the state’s recipients from 2006 to 2010 and a 127 percent jump in its funding to $2.8 billion during the same time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture…”

48-month cap on welfare benefits heads to Snyder, By Karen Bouffard, August 24, 2011, Detroit News: “About 12,600 families will be thrown off cash assistance starting Oct. 1 if Gov. Rick Snyder signs a 48-month cap on welfare passed in the House and Senate today. The legislation passed 73-34 in the House, mostly along party lines, after it was granted immediate effect earlier today in the Senate. It now heads to the governor to be signed into law. The cap is opposed by Democrats and child advocates who say Michigan’s high unemployment rate means parents removed from the rolls won’t be able to find jobs. About 25,000 to 30,000 children would be affected, according to estimates…”

• National report says Minnesota is No. 2 in child health and well-being, By Richard Chin, August 17, 2011, Pioneer Press.
• Minnesota, North Dakota rank high for kids’ well-being, By Ryan Johnson, August 18, 2011, Fargo-Moorhead Forum.
• Report: 36% of Michigan kids live in jobless households, By Karen Bouffard, August 17, 2011, Detroit News.
• More kids in region live in poverty, according to Kids Count report, By Deborah Yetter, August 17, 2011, Louisville Courier-Journal.
• Children’s well-being ranked 31st in nation, By Angela Mapes Turner, August 17, 2011, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
• Annual report: Recession took a toll on kids, By Erin Andersen, August 17, 2011, Lincoln Journal Star.

• State educators: Michigan accreditation system ‘no longer has relevance’, By Dave Murray, August 15, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “Michigan’s school accreditation system ‘no longer has relevance’ state educators say, as every school in the state has met state criteria despite sliding backward on federal testing goals. The state Education Department released announced Monday that 79 percent of Michigan’s public school buildings and 93 percent of the school districts made federal testing goals - called ‘adequate yearly progress’ - for the 2010-11 school year. That’s down from 86 percent of schools and 95 percent of districts making AYP the previous school year…”
• Income gap can be bridged, starting with expectations, educators say, By Dave Murray, August 15, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “It’s not that children from poor families can’t do well in school, Northview Superintendent Mike Paskewicz says. But they might not be as prepared when they arrive in kindergarten, so schools need to find ways to help them. ‘Parents might not be able to spend time reading with their kids at night when their priorities are trying to get food on the table or a roof over their heads,’ he said. A Press study of U.S. Census figures shows school districts with the lowest reading and math test scores often have the highest poverty rates. The most affluent West Michigan districts - including East Grand Rapids and Forest Hills - have six-figure family incomes and test scores well above the state average. Those with the highest rates of poverty, Godfrey-Lee and Grand Rapids Public Schools, also have the lowest average achievement on the 2011 Michigan Merit Exams given to high school juniors. A family’s income can explain academic struggles, but should not be an excuse, Paskewicz and other educators say. All students have needs, and districts both rich and poor are working to meet them…”

Poverty, academic achievement intertwined, census figures show, By Lynn Moore, August 12, 2011, Muskegon Chronicle: “Many of those who don’t live there - who don’t walk in parents’ and students’ shoes - don’t have a problem beating up on Muskegon Heights schools, especially its high school. Just read the online comments left on stories about the high school’s struggles with academic achievement. Plenty of blame is heaped on parents, students, teachers and administrators. But would they have the same opinion if the topic was the poverty plaguing those families and schools? We’re not talking poor people, but desperately poor. Nearly half of children in the Muskegon Heights school district live in poverty. That would include, for example, a child living with a parent and sibling in a home with an income of no more than $17,285 a year. The question is raised because new data shows academic achievement and poverty are intertwined - not just for Muskegon Heights, but in communities throughout the state. The trend is undeniable when the poverty rates of school districts recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau are placed next to student test scores…”

• 30,000 college students kicked out of food aid program in Michigan, By Paul Egan, August 8, 2011, Detroit News: “Michigan has removed about 30,000 college students from its food stamp program - close to double the initial estimate - saving about $75 million a year, says Human Services Director Maura Corrigan. Federal rules don’t allow most college students to collect food stamps, but Michigan had created its own rules that made nearly all students eligible, said Brian Rooney, Corrigan’s deputy director. As a result, the number of Michigan college students on this form of welfare made the state a national leader. For example, Michigan had 10 times the number of students on food stamps as either Illinois or California, Rooney said. Cutting off the students is part of what Corrigan says is an effort to change the culture of the state’s welfare department and slash tens of millions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse…”
• Michigan will cut public assistance to families who received federal aid, By Robin Erb, August 10, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Federal assistance may be running out for nearly 14,000 of Michigan’s needy families. The five years allowed to them have expired, and the state no longer is willing to extend the time through hardship exemptions. At the same time, the state is revamping how it hands out the assistance and plans to limit the total time allowed to four years in most cases, likely beginning Oct. 1, according Maura Corrigan, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. On Tuesday, DHS began sending out notices that assistance will end to Michiganders who had passed their five-year federal limit, but received extensions…”

Michigan jobless rate hits 10.5%, highest since January, by Melissa Burden, July 21, 2011, Detroit News: “Michigan’s unemployment rate climbed for the second straight month to 10.5 percent in June, but economists see the increase as something temporarily tied to Japan’s March earthquake and not a cause for concern for the state’s economic recovery. June’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose two-tenths of a percentage point from May and is above the state’s low this year of 10.2 percent in April, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. That puts last month’s rate back almost where it stood in January, when it was 10.7 percent…”

• Poverty study: 1 in 3 Michigan senior citizens struggles with money, By Robin Erb, July 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “A third of Michigan’s seniors are considered ‘economically insecure’ - far more than the federal poverty limits would suggest, according to a new study. Moreover, even in counties that are home to some of the most affluent suburbs where the wealthiest will buoy the overall median household income, at least one in four seniors on the other end of the economic scale struggles to make ends meet, according to the paper, ‘Invisible Poverty: New Measure Unveils Financial Hardship in Michigan’s Older Population…’”
• Study: Third of Lansing-area seniors are struggling financially, By Kathleen Lavey, July 19, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “More than one-third of Michigan’s senior citizens are struggling to pay for food, housing, transportation and medical care they need, according a report to be released today. Those who do not own homes or who rely solely on Social Security payments to live are at much greater risk, says the report by Wayne State University researchers. ‘These numbers are very frightening,’ said Kate White, executive director of Elder Law of Michigan, an advocacy and service group that is releasing the Michigan- focused report today along with the report’s authors…”

Michigan Senate passes 48-month limit on welfare, raises wage cap, By Karen Bouffard, July 13, 2011, Detroit News: “Welfare benefits are limited to 48-months under a bill passed today in a special summer session of the state Senate. Democrats voted as a bloc against the legislation, which passed 24-12. The two-bill package would extend to all recipients a 48-month limit that now applies only to those eligible to participate in the state’s Work First program and who live in an area where the Jobs, Education and Training (JET) program is available. The 48-month limit for those enrolled in JET is due to expire Sept. 30. Eliminating that sunset will throw 12,600 families, with an average monthly benefit of $515, off the welfare rolls Oct. 1. Savings to the state would total $77.4 million, including $65 million in the general fund. The bill includes some exemptions to the cap, and the Department of Human Services would be allowed to exempt up to 6,100 cases during the 2012 fiscal year. The House already approved the bill, but it was changed slightly by the Senate, which gave more discretion to the state Department of Human Services to grant exemptions to the time limit. The package now returns to the House for concurrence and must also be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law…”

Michigan town shows promise and pitfalls of job retraining, By Don Lee, July 10, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “When the Electrolux refrigerator factory shut down in 2006, idling almost 3,000 workers, this self-proclaimed Refrigerator Capital of the World put the last two locally produced units in a museum. And the town itself might follow - a once-thriving community overwhelmed by economic forces beyond its control and seemingly bound for history’s dustbin. Waves of layoffs hit other factories. New start-ups cut back. Hard times hit local stores, service firms and government agencies. Like hundreds of other American towns ravaged by the recession, Greenville learned how losing jobs can spread like a contagion through families and institutions that form the heart of a community. Things got so bad that a special office was created recently to help more than 1,000 schoolchildren who had no real homes. ‘It’s a heinous situation,’ said Brenda Greenhoe, director of the office. Greenville, though, is more than a sad story. It’s a petri dish for testing one of the most widely prescribed remedies for reviving troubled communities - job training…”

• Michigan’s sharp rise in births to unwed moms means ‘a lot more children growing up in poverty’, By Sue Thoms, July 7, 2011, Grand Rapids Press: “A sharp increase in the number of unmarried women having babies means trouble ahead for mothers and children in Michigan, according to the Michigan League for Human Services. ‘We’re going to see a lot more children growing up in poverty,’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrill, director of a report released Wednesday on trends in maternal and infant health from 2000 to 2009. The study found 40 percent of births in Michigan in 2009 were to unmarried woman — a 20 percent rise since 2000. Two of every three births to women in their early 20s were to unwed mothers…”
• Study: Fewer teens, more singles giving birth in Michigan, By Chris Christoff, July 7, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “The percentage of babies born in Michigan to unmarried mothers rose significantly during the last decade, but fewer teens are giving birth, a new study shows. About half of all births in 2000-09 were to low-income mothers eligible for Medicaid health insurance, according to the Kids Count in Michigan report by the Michigan League for Human Services. The trend is troubling because babies born to unmarried women are more likely to live in poverty and have health and learning problems, said Kids Count in Michigan Director Jane Zehnder-Merrell…”

The art of luring ‘poor’ cities into energy-saving projects, By Ellen M. Gilmer, June 27, 2011, New York Times: “The decay of Michigan’s many rusted-out towns doesn’t strike most as fertile ground for any kind of green movement. But entrepreneur Sean Reed sees the state as a prime spot for energy efficiency measures to take root. Through the Clean Energy Coalition, where he is executive director, Reed is aiming to bring those cash-strapped cities into the sustainability fold by making available more clean energy technology in the local building and transportation sectors. Change, though, is not likely to come easily. One CEC project — Cities of Promise — targets municipal energy use in struggling communities, like Flint and Hamtramck. Using a $4.4 million grant issued last year by the Michigan Public Service Commission, CEC has performed energy audits of city-owned and -operated buildings in eight towns…”

New study: You can’t live on minimum wage, By L.L. Brasier, May 30, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Cameo Thomas of Jackson works two jobs as a nursing home aide to support her 4-year-old twin sons. One job pays $9.50 an hour, the other $13.05. Sometimes she works 60 hours a week to make ends meet — hard physical labor, most of it on her feet. ‘Sometimes I get off work and think, ‘Man, I’m going to need a new pair of shoes,” the 23-year-old said. Working harder and longer may not be enough to support a family in Michigan, particularly for employees in low-paying jobs such as retail sales, clerical work and home health care, according to a new study released today…”

ACLU: Michigan’s public defender system among worst, By Doug Guthrie, May 18, 2011, Detroit News: “Michigan’s system of appointing lawyers to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford to hire their own is among the worst in the nation, according to a report issued today by the American Civil Liberties Union. Using numerous prior studies by others that condemned the state’s dependence on a patchwork of dissimilar systems run separately by 83 counties, the report blasts a lack of oversight, funding, training and failure to meet national standards…”

New version of Snyder tax plan saves Earned Income Tax Credit for working poor, By Dawson Bell, May 10, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Michigan’s working poor would continue to receive supplemental income from the Earned Income Tax Credit - albeit at a significantly reduced level - under the latest revision to Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed business and income tax overhaul plan. The credit, currently set at 20% of the federal EITC, would be reduced to 6%, under a proposal announced by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley this morning during a Senate committee hearing on the overhaul. That would mean about $108 million in relief to low-income wage earners in 2012, down from a projected $360 million under current law…”

• Snyder agrees to $25 per child tax credit, By Paul Egan, April 20, 2011, Detroit News: “The Snyder administration has agreed to a House lawmaker’s proposal that would restore part of the Earned Income Tax Credit, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said today. Calley said Gov. Rick Snyder is prepared to support a proposal from Rep. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, that would give a tax credit of $25 per child for families that would have been eligible for the EITC. Snyder’s Feb. 17 budget proposed eliminating the state version of the credit, which is equal to 20 percent of the federal credit for the working poor. Adding the $25-per-child credit is expected to cost about $20 million, Calley said. He said changes Snyder made to his proposal for the Homestead Property Tax Credit give another $80 million in relief to low-income earners. Eliminating the EITC is expected to save the state about $340 million. Families that received the credit received an average of $432 last year…”
• Gov. Rick Snyder agrees to restore part of Earned Income Tax Credit, By Dawson Bell, April 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “A new change agreed to in Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to overhaul Michigan’s tax code would restore a portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, administration and legislative officials said today. The administration has agreed to give EITC-eligible income tax filers a $25/child credit, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said in testimony before the House Tax Policy Committee. Coupled with changes to Snyder’s original proposal announced last week that more narrowly target the Homestead Tax Credit to low-income filers, the revised proposal would provide about $100 million in payments to the working poor…”

• Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signs bill to cut unemployment benefits in 2012, By Chris Christoff, March 29, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “As Gov. Rick Snyder and lawmakers struggle to erase a looming $1.4-billion state deficit, another deficit nearly three times as large hangs over the head of Michigan employers. They owe the federal government about $3.96 billion that the state borrowed to pay unemployment benefits during the worst economy since the Great Depression. That’s on top of the regular unemployment tax businesses and other employers must pay. The growing cost is a reason the Republican-led Legislature approved a new law that extends unemployment benefits this year, but next year will reduce to 20 weeks the maximum the state will pay unemployment benefits — down from 26. That means lower unemployment taxes for Michigan employers in the future…”
• Michigan cuts jobless benefit by six weeks, By Michael Cooper, March 28, 2011, New York Times: “Michigan, whose unemployment rate has topped 10 percent longer than that of any other state, is about to set another record: its new Republican governor, Rick Snyder, signed a law Monday that will lead the state to pay fewer weeks of unemployment benefits next year than any other state. Democrats and advocates for the unemployed expressed outrage that a such a hard-hit state will become the most miserly when it comes to how long it pays benefits to those who have lost their jobs. All states currently pay 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, before extended benefits paid by the federal government kick in. Michigan’s new law means that starting next year, when the federal benefits are now set to end, the state will stop paying benefits to the jobless after just 20 weeks. The shape of future extensions is unclear…”

Michigan first to act as states weigh reductions in unemployment benefits, By Peter Whoriskey and Michael A. Fletcher, March 24, 2011, Washington Post: “Michigan moved Thursday to significantly cut its unemployment program, becoming the first of what could be a flurry of debt-laden states to reduce aid even as high jobless rates persist. The Michigan measure reduces the maximum period a person can receive state unemployment benefits from 26 to 20 weeks, the lowest in the nation, officials said. Gov. Rick Snyder (R) indicated Thursday that he would sign the bill. The state’s economic troubles, aggravated by the recession and its shrinking manufacturing base, have turned Michigan into a bellwether of bust. Its unemployment rate stands at 10.7 percent - one of the worst in the country. The move comes as other Republican-dominated legislatures, including Florida’s, are weighing similar efforts to restrict payments to the jobless, and states such as Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana are implementing far-reaching, controversial plans to close budget gaps…”

• Michigan may cut length of jobless benefits, By Todd Spangler, March 24, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, finds himself immersed in the affairs of the Capitol in Lansing because of a piece of legislation - now on the governor’s desk - that could make Michigan’s unemployment benefits the skimpiest in the nation, in terms of how long they can last. In a hastily called conference call with reporters and two state legislators this morning, Levin railed against the bill passed by the Republican-controlled state House and Senate as having ‘potentially dire ramifications’ if it goes into effect- which is almost certain to happen, at least in the short term, since Gov. Rick Snyder, also a Republican, has said he will sign it…”
• Levin, Dem leaders urge Snyder not to sign jobless measure, By Karen Bouffard, March 24, 2011, Detroit News: “U.S. Rep. Sander Levin and Democratic leaders of the state House and Senate called a rare joint press conference this morning to urge Gov. Rick Snyder not to sign legislation that will permanently reduce state-level unemployment benefits to 20 weeks from 26. The bill provides a 20-week extension in federal unemployment benefits for about 150,000 laid-off Michigan workers set to lose benefits by the end of the year, including 35,000 slated to fall of the rolls at the end of this month. The governor is expected to sign the bill into law, according to Snyder spokesman Sara Wurfel…”

Bill would eliminate state tax credit for working poor, By Karen Bouffard, February 8, 2011, Detroit News: “Tax credits for Michigan’s working poor would be eliminated under a bill introduced in the state Senate today. The bill to repeal the state earned income tax credit (EITC) was met with strong opposition by Democrats and family advocates, who said it would amount to a tax increase for low income workers. The bill was introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, who said Michigan can’t afford the $370 million cost. If the bill passes in the Senate and House, and is signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder, the credit would be eliminated at the end of this calendar year…”

• Kids Count report shows poverty, test scores up in Greater Muskegon area, By Lynn Moore, February 8, 2011, Muskegon Chronicle: “‘Resilient.’ It’s a word educators use to describe students who deal every day with poverty, the stress of job losses in their homes and even neglect, and yet show up to school ready to learn and achieve. Teachers hear the stories about the heat being turned off in students’ homes. They can tell when a student’s day got off to a rough start, even before they walk in the classroom. And they’ve seen the growing lines of children taking advantage of free breakfast programs in school cafeterias. And yet, according to the annual Kids Count report released today, despite worsening conditions in their lives, children’s performance in school is improving. While childhood poverty and the often related incidents of child abuse and neglect are increasing, so are the numbers of students who are passing state assessment tests and staying in school…”
• Poverty, abuse surge among Michigan children, By Catherine Jun, February 8, 2011, Detroit News: “Nearly half of Michigan’s public school students qualified for free and reduced-price lunches in 2009, just one troubling statistic on how the economic crisis has affected the state’s youngest residents. The rate of those who qualified jumped 26 percent in three years, rising to almost 46 percent of children in 2009 from 36 percent in 2006, according to the annual “Kids Count in Michigan” report released today. In Detroit, 81 percent qualified. The lunches, funded by the federal government, are designed for students whose families have gross incomes below $40,200 for a two-parent family of four…”
• More than one-fourth of Saginaw County children living in poverty, By Lindsay Knake, February 8, 2011, Saginaw News: “More than one quarter of Saginaw County children and teens live in poverty. The Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan’s Children partnered for Kids Count, a project to measure the well-being of Michigan children, released state and county data about children’s education and health. Michigan’s Children is a group that works with lawmakers, business leaders and communities to promote children’s prosperity…”
• More kids in Michigan are raised in poverty, By Kathleen Lavey, February 7, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “More kids are slipping into poverty due to Michigan’s fragile economy, putting them at higher risk for abuse and neglect. That’s the word from the new Kids Count in Michigan survey, which compiles data on the well-being of kids and families. ‘Child poverty is such a critical issue,’ said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, project director for Kids Count in Michigan and senior research associate at the Michigan League for Human Services. ‘It has an impact on outcomes for kids across the board…’”

• Downturn’s ugly trademark: Steep, lasting drop in wages, By Sudeep Reddy, January 11, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “In California, former auto worker Maria Gregg was out of work five months last year before landing a new job-at a nearly 20% pay cut. In Massachusetts, Kevin Cronan, who lost his $150,000-a-year job as a money manager in early 2009, is now frothing cappuccinos at a Starbucks for $8.85 an hour. In Wisconsin, Dale Szabo, a former manufacturing manager with two master’s degrees, has been searching years for a job comparable to the one he lost in 2003. He’s now a school janitor. They are among the lucky. There are 14.5 million people on the unemployment rolls, including 6.4 million who have been jobless for more than six months. But the decline in their fortunes points to a signature outcome of the long downturn in the labor market. Even at times of high unemployment in the past, wages have been very slow to fall; economists describe them as ’sticky.’ To an extent rarely seen in recessions since the Great Depression, wages for a swath of the labor force this time have taken a sharp and swift fall…”
• Residents out of work for longer periods during ‘10, By Christopher Behnan, January 9, 2011, Livingston Daily: “Michigan’s unemployed were without work for an average of 40 weeks in 2010, compared to 30 weeks in 2009 and nine weeks a decade earlier, according to the most recent state data. More than 50 percent of Michigan’s unemployed were without work for at least 27 weeks - the federal definition of long-term unemployment - compared to around 44 percent of the nation’s unemployed in 2010. ‘We do have a greater portion of our unemployed who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more,’ said Mark Reffitt, a state regional economic analyst. Data released Friday showed a steady increase in the number of long-term unemployed workers in the nation, for 27 or more weeks toward the end of the year. There were 6.23 million Americans who were unemployed for 27 or more weeks in October, 6.34 million in November and 6.44 million in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 308,000 more people unemployed for 27 weeks or more nationwide last month than in December 2009…”

• Shelters try ‘housing first’ protocol to help homeless people, By Bill Laitner, December 29, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “An innovative way to help homeless people, called housing first, has dramatically shortened their stays in the South Oakland Shelter system based in Royal Oak and could make shelter programs statewide more effective, experts said. By making permanent housing the first priority at the South Oakland Shelter and addressing other needs — such as job training — later, average stays dropped from four months to 28 days since summer, Executive Director Ryan Hertz said. The organization houses an average of 30 men, women and children at a time, rotating them through 67 churches and synagogues, where volunteers set up cots and serve meals. ‘We’re turning over our beds much faster, so we can help more people,’ Hertz said. But the housing-first approach has taken more than a decade to gain wide acceptance across Michigan because it requires homeless people, shelters’ clients, to have incomes, and there must be safe housing available that they can afford, Wayne State University psychologist and homelessness expert Paul Toro said…”
• New face of homelessness is a family, Dallas-area agencies say, By Kim Horner, January 7, 2011, Dallas Morning News: “First, they stayed with family. Then, they rented a trailer. Finally, they went to a shelter. Katrina Stephens, Alan Charles Walker and their three young children became homeless after Walker’s construction work dried up. Now, the family lives in a modest East Dallas apartment as part of Family Gateway’s transitional housing program. Stephens plans to finish school to become a medical assistant this spring. ‘We’re back on track,’ she said. The economy has taken a similar toll on thousands of families nationwide - and the numbers are rising. About 80,000 families - typically a single woman with young children - are homeless on any given night, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Families are the fastest-growing homeless population, according to Family Gateway and other local agencies…”

Decade of change: Education system deals with fewer students, more poverty, less control, By Julie Mack, January 5, 2011, Kalamazoo Gazette: “Michigan educators found they had some learning of their own to do in the past decade, and the subject was ‘change.’ People leading both the K-12 systems and the colleges find themselves in very different places at the start of 2011 than they did 10 years ago, working through an unprecedented transformational period. Districts statewide have about 200,000 fewer students - but more children from impoverished homes - as the economy took its toll and competition with charter schools and choice plans offered parents other options. And the federal and state governments claimed more of a role in decision-making, leaving fewer things for local districts to control. Meanwhile, public universities and, especially, community colleges, enjoyed tremendous growth despite a gradual decline in state assistance - made up by nearly doubling tuition during the decade. But as state officials look to education to pull Michigan from its economic doldrums, they can point to some success…”

• Medicaid squeeze: Shrinking federal reimbursements cause doctors to limit care to needy, By Louise Knott Ahern, November 14, 2010, Lansing State Journal: “In a 16-county swath across Northern Michigan, pregnant women have to drive an hour or more to reach a hospital where they can deliver their babies. From Cheboygan to West Branch to Clare, hospitals have been closing their obstetrics units since last summer in a startling domino effect that has health care activists worried about care availability for rural mothers and babies. But they’re equally alarmed about the reason behind the hospital closures. The hospitals blame, in large part, Medicaid. And health care reform advocates say that reflects a broader problem. Since 2002, the state has been chipping away at how much it reimburses doctors and hospitals for treating Medicaid patients to a point where some say they’ve reached a painful bottom-line reality: It has become too expensive to treat poor people…”
• Conservative legislators in Texas seek to opt out of Medicaid, By Dave Montgomery, November 13, 2010, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “A push from conservative legislators for Texas to opt out of Medicaid is stirring alarm among healthcare providers and nursing homes, which say the potential loss of billions of federal dollars could drastically undercut efforts to provide healthcare for the poor. The opt-out plan has quickly emerged as another high-profile topic for the 2011 Legislature, pushed by Gov. Rick Perry and a number of conservative lawmakers who believe that Texas can provide health coverage to the indigent more efficiently with a state-run plan free of federal mandates…”

• Colleges aim to boost low grad rates; many students unprepared, By Lori Higgins, October 24, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Colleges today face a dilemma: They can get students in the door. But keeping them enrolled, and getting them to graduate, is a tough task. In Michigan, just a little more than half the students who enter college as first-time students graduate within six years. At individual universities, the rates are even lower: 32% for Wayne State University, 38% at Saginaw Valley State University, 40% at Eastern Michigan University. The rates are worse for minorities. The reasons: too many academically unprepared students, financial struggles forcing students to drop out, part-time students who take longer to graduate. Officials are working to turn around the numbers with tutoring, mentoring and academic counseling…”
• Report: ‘Horrendous’ black-white gap at Wayne State, By Lori Higgins, October 24, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Graduation rates overall show a need for improvement, but they’re particularly dismal for some minority groups. In Michigan, about 59% of students who enrolled in 2002 graduated within six years, but the rate is only about 36% for African-American students. In contrast, white students have a graduation rate of about 61%. Similar gaps can be seen between white and Hispanic groups at some universities, though the overall rate for Hispanic students, 56%, is more comparable to that of white students…”

• Many Lansing babies ‘at high risk’, By Louise Knott Ahern, October 13, 2010, Lansing State Journal: “More than 60 percent of all births in Lansing are paid for by Medicaid, and babies here are nearly twice as likely as the statewide average to be born to a mom without a high school diploma, according to a report released Tuesday. It’s an indication, say some social service advocates, that the effect of rising poverty, falling incomes and cuts to programs for poor moms is finally reaching the most vulnerable among us: babies…”
• Report calls city ‘high risk’ for health of moms, infants, By Tarryl Jackson, October 12, 2010, Jackson Citizen Patriot: “The number of babies born pre-term and to unwed mothers and black teens in Jackson jumped during the past decade, according to a statewide report released today. The Right Start in Michigan report, produced by the Michigan League for Human Services, measured maternal and infant health from 2000 to 2008 for 69 Michigan communities. It declared Jackson one of 13 that are ‘high risk.’ Of 934 births to mothers who lived in Jackson in 2008, Medicaid paid for 64 percent. Medicaid typically covers the cost of prenatal care and delivery for pregnant women without health insurance and in households with income below 185 percent of the federal poverty level…”

Debit card refunds for lower-income folks should work in Michigan, By Susan Tompor, September 12, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “The U.S. Treasury plans to test the delivery of tax refunds in plastic for lower-income individuals who do not have bank accounts, and Michigan seems to me like a no-brainer for a pilot program. ‘I think Michigan would provide fertile ground,’ said David Marzahl, president of the Center for Economic Progress, the nation’s largest tax-preparation provider for low-income families. The Chicago-based center leads the National Community Tax Coalition, a group of community-based tax and financial services programs that serve more than 1 million low-income families nationwide. Marzahl noted that communities in Michigan offer racial, ethnic and economic diversity. Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael S. Barr has a Michigan connection, too, having taught at the University of Michigan Law School. More important, consumers in metro Detroit — and other cities in the Midwest — have long been targeted by tax-preparation companies that pitch high-cost refund-anticipation loans to individuals who do not have bank accounts…”

Flint eyes drug tests for public housing, By Kim Kozlowski, September 13, 2010, Detroit News: “Flint’s public housing authority, in an effort to fight crime in the projects, is considering a requirement for all current and prospective residents to take a drug test to keep their federally subsidized apartments. Flint Housing Commission Executive Rodney Slaughter said he wants a drug-testing program modeled after the city of Indianapolis, where public housing residents are required to take annual drug tests. If a resident tests positive, they would have 30 days to test negative or seek help. ‘We’re trying to change the mindset,’ Slaughter said. ‘There is a reasonable amount of negative events that take place … drug dealing, gambling, dice throwing. People should have the right to live in a drug-free, clean community.’ But civil rights advocates said they will fight the effort. ‘Being poor is not a crime in Michigan,’ said Rana Elmir, director of the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. ‘To treat all tenants of public housing as criminals is bad public policy. And it’s unconstitutional.’ Flint’s drug arrests have been steadily declining, from 1,257 in 2005 to 618 in 2009, according to statistics provided by the mayor’s office. But in 2009, Flint had the second-highest violent crime rate among the nation’s largest cities, second only to St. Louis, according to an analysis of data police provided to the FBI…”

• Feds offer aid to renters as well as homeowners, By Kathleen Pender, August 15, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “Congress and the Obama administration have committed tens of billions of dollars to keep homeowners in their homes. Renters, who make up about one-third of households nationwide - and close to two-thirds in San Francisco and other large cities - wish the government would do a little more for them. For homeowners, Obama’s Making Home Affordable program obtained $50 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program plus $25 billion, mainly from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Originally this money was supposed to help homeowners refinance or modify subprime mortgages (which qualified as troubled assets). More recently it has been used to help those who can’t pay their mortgage because they are unemployed. Last week, the Treasury said it is using $2 billion to help unemployed homeowners in 17 states, including California…”
• Habitat for Humanity uses federal funds to rehab metro Detroit homes, By Tammy Stables Battaglia, August 16, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Habitat for Humanity, an agency known for building new houses, is using funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to rehab old ones. The program, created in 2008 under President George W. Bush, provides communities and organizations funding to redevelop residential properties. That money must be allocated to projects by Sept. 19. In 2006, seven of 52 Habitat homes in Michigan were rehabs. The organization rehabbed 104 of its 221 homes during the first three months of this year, and there are dozens more projects to be completed, Habitat officials said…”
• Red tape slows North Texas agencies in disseminating federal funds to fight homelessness, By Neena Satija, August 15, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “Getting federal stimulus money to those in need had a slow start in North Texas, with understaffed agencies bogged down in paperwork. Now that the initiative is in full swing - the job has only gotten harder. North Texas received $25 million for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing program in September. As of March, it had only spent $2 million. Now, it has spent $7 million and helped 7,800 households. But a faster flow of dollars means a bigger maze of red tape…”

No vacation from hunger in Metro area, By Catherine Jun, July 26, 2010, Detroit News: “Access to nutritional food becomes dicey in the summer for many impoverished families, who are forced to go without the free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunches they depend on during the school year. Though a federal program serves free lunches in poorer neighborhoods in the summer, it continues to drawn just a small fraction of these families. And as more households fall into poverty, experts say childhood hunger is growing more acute, and agencies, churches and community centers are taking matters into their own hands to fill the hunger gap. ‘We are hearing more and more about kids suffering,’ said Susan Goodell, president and CEO of Forgotten Harvest. The Oak Park-based food rescue agency this summer is using donations to deliver 1,000 brown bag lunches a day to children in Detroit and Pontiac, including the Spring Lake Village Apartments on Carriage Circle. The effort amounts to a 56 percent increase in food distribution this summer over last, Goodell said…”

Too old for foster care, youths struggle, By Catherine Jun, July 21, 2010, Detroit News:”A growing number of youths in Michigan are reaching adult age while in foster care, a situation experts fear leaves them vulnerable to homelessness, poverty and incarceration.
State and welfare agencies say a lack of funding has been the greatest obstacle to getting these youths the safety net they need when they age out of the system. When they’re pushed out onto the streets at age 19 after years of jumping from home to home, the trauma of being separated from their families and getting inconsistent adult guidance destines them to multiple problems, said Paul Toro, professor of psychology at Wayne State University…”