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…”

• Most of America’s unemployed no long receiving benefits, By Christopher S. Rugaber (AP), November 5, 2011, Denver Post: “The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America’s unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits. Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent - a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America’s 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more. Congress is expected to decide by year’s end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would fall further. The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau​ says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual income below $22,314 for a family of four. Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant. They’ve had no job for more than 99 weeks. They’re no longer eligible for benefits…”
• Thousands of Oregon jobless will lose unemployment insurance if Congress doesn’t renew federal benefits, By Richard Read, November 3, 2011, The Oregonian: “Thousands of Oregonians will lose their unemployment benefits early next year if Congress doesn’t extend emergency coverage, state projections show. Now, about 2,000 Oregonians a month exhaust their jobless benefits, having failed to find work after as long as 99 weeks. But that number would jump to 13,400 in January and 12,500 in February, according to the projections by the Oregon Employment Department. Democrats in the U.S. House introduced a bill Thursday to extend the federally funded benefits another year, and Congress has never failed to pass an extension when unemployment rates were this high. But the measure — with a $45 billion price tag, plus a potential $7 billion to help states extend benefits — is not certain to pass given heavy public pressure to cut federal spending…”
• Oregon unemployed allowed to keep jobless benefits paid by mistake, By Richard Read, November 8, 2011, The Oregonian: “More than 600 Oregonians who received unemployment payments in error can keep the money — which totals $615,000 so far — under a state law passed this year. In each case, the Oregon Employment Department determined that recovering the overpayments from people enduring financial hardships would violate equity and good conscience. The total amount forgiven will increase under the system as more people request and receive repayment waivers. The money comes from a state jobless-benefits trust fund financed by employers, not taxpayers…”
• New jobless claims decline to lowest level since April, Reuters, November 10, 2011, New York Times: “New claims for jobless benefits in the United States fell last week to their lowest level since early April and the country’s trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in September, pointing to a slight improvement in the sluggish economy. The Labor Department said on Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell for the second consecutive week, dropping 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 390,000. That is still well above levels from before the 2007-9 recession, but economists say a level below 400,000 could prompt some acceleration in hiring…”

Oregon overpays $392 million in unemployment benefits, fraud investigators swamped, By Richard Read, October 28, 2011, The Oregonian: “As unemployment insurance claims ballooned during the past few years, Oregon overpaid more than $392 million in benefits, a U.S. Labor Department analysis shows. That’s about 12 percent of almost $3.5 billion paid in benefits during the three years that ended in June. Some of the money went out the door innocently enough, paid before the Oregon Employment Department determined a recipient was ineligible for benefits. But other checks went to people who fraudulently collected unemployment without looking for work, or who found a job and continued claiming benefits. Either way, Oregon officials aim to recover the money, which originates from employers, not individual taxpayers. But they say fraud cases have swamped the Employment Department, where caseloads at one point reached 400 per investigator, up from 150 before the recession…”

Oregon’s hunger assistance program receives two awards, By Saerom Yoo, September 29, 2011, Statesman Journal: “There’s a silver lining in Oregon’s record hunger problem - $5 million worth, in fact. The state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp program, has received two awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its successful performance. For the fifth consecutive year, SNAP was recognized for its high participation rate with a $2.6 million award. Almost 92 percent of Oregonians eligible for food stamps are enrolled. It was also awarded $2.4 million for timely processing of applications…”

Minimum wage to rise, By Ilene Aleshire, September 16, 2011, Eugene Register-Guard: “Oregon’s minimum wage will go up 30 cents per hour, to $8.80, next year, state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced Thursday. The increase mirrors a 3.77 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index since August 2010, Avakian said. ‘Safeguarding the wages of low-income workers is especially critical in a tough economy,’ Avakian said in a statement. ‘Oregon’s economy will not rebound if we allow 144,538 minimum wage earners to fall behind inflation.’ Oregon’s current minimum wage is the second-highest among all 50 states, behind only to Washington state’s $8.67, according to the nonpartisan Oregon Center for Public Policy. Washington will announce its 2012 minimum wage on Sept. 30, Avakian said…”

• Unemployment, foreclosures drive more Utah families into poverty, By Brooke Adams, August 17, 2011, Salt Lake Tribune.
• Kids hit hard in recent economic downturn, By Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, August 17, 2011, Contra Costa Times.
• Arizona kids worse than most in poverty, health, foreclosure, By Mary K. Reinhart, August 17, 2011, Arizona Republic.
• Report: Wyoming children fared OK in recession, By Jackie Borchardt, August 16, 2011, Billings Gazette.
• Report: Economy taking toll on Colorado kids, By Barbara Cotter, August 16, 2011, Colorado Springs Gazette.
• Oregon third-worst for percentage of children with unemployed parents, By Richard Read, August 17, 2011, The Oregonian.
• Montana ranks worst in 5-state area for child health, By Charles S. Johnson, August 17, 2011, Billings Gazette.

Think Oregon’s 9.5 percent unemployment is bad? Try 19.6 percent, once everyone’s counted, By Richard Read, August 16, 2011, The Oregonian: “In the official world of government reports, Oregon’s economy has stalled at 9.5 percent unemployment with almost no job growth since February. Economists call the July numbers, issued Tuesday, distressing. And in the real world inhabited by Scott Pickard and many others no longer counted as jobless, actual unemployment is far higher. Pickard, 49, of Tigard, lost a human-resources job in early 2009, exhausted his unemployment benefits and moved in with his mother in February. Pickard scrapes by. He earns a few bucks coaching other jobless people on interviewing skills. He falls into a broader government measure, called the U-6, of under- and unemployed people. Some label this figure, a whopping 19.6 percent in Oregon during the year that ended March 31, the real unemployment rate. Oregon’s ‘U-6′ rate is fourth highest in the country, behind Nevada, California and Michigan. It’s far above the national 16.5 percent U-6 level…”

What welfare cutbacks say about the wisdom of block grants, By Pamela M. Prah, June 24, 2011, Stateline.org: “Welfare advocates in Oregon were confounded this spring when they discovered that Governor John Kitzhaber wanted to limit to 18 the number of months welfare families could get cash benefits over their lifetimes - a stricter limit than existed anywhere in the country. Part of their disappointment stemmed from the fact that the idea came from Kitzhaber, a Democrat and one-time emergency room physician who had been viewed over two earlier terms as a supporter of generous help for the needy. ‘We were surprised that the governor had such an extreme proposal,’ says Charles Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. Kitzhaber, in Sheketoff’s view, ‘went after welfare programs with amputation in mind. We are pleased the legislature did more precise surgery and saved limbs.’ As lawmakers in Salem wrap up their session for the year, Oregon is on track to keep its five-year lifetime limit on cash benefits, the maximum allowed under federal law. But the same cannot be said for other states…”

Budget cuts could give Oregon the shortest time line in the nation for cash assistance program, By Michelle Cole, April 27, 2011, The Oregonian: “Oregon lawmakers are considering budget cuts that would kick families off welfare cash assistance after 18 months. If approved, the proposal, which is also included in the governor’s budget, would leave Oregon with the shortest time limit in the nation. Currently, families may receive government cash assistance for as long as five years. Shortening to an 18-month, lifetime limit would save Oregon $11.6 million over two years. State officials estimate the change could affect 7,500 families. Neither Democrats nor Republicans like the idea but they say there’s no way to protect Oregon’s social safety net completely in light of the state’s $3.5 billion budget hole and the end to federal stimulus dollars…”

• Food-stamp use reaches record level in Oregon, By Michael Rose, January 20, 2011, Statesman Journal: “For 14 months, Oregon’s unemployment rate has hovered between 10.5 percent and 10.7 percent. That’s bad enough, but another sign of economic hardship keeps rising to record levels: food-stamp recipients. People receiving benefits from Oregon’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program increased by 7,467 in December. The total number of Oregonians in the SNAP program - formerly known as food stamps - now stands at 748,886…”
• Food stamps now help 1 in 5 in Jacksonville, By Deirdre Conner, Florida Times-Union: “Food stamp use has more than doubled in Duval County over the past five years. That grim statistic is twice the national average and is the second highest in a study of 22 cities nationwide, according to a report released Monday. The report, issued by the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger advocacy group, showed Jacksonville as second only to Las Vegas in the growth in people who depend on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is commonly called food stamps. It looked at a geographically balanced cross section of urban areas…”

• Hard choices: Oregon can’t keep up with rising health, social services costs, By Michelle Cole, September 28, 2010, The Oregonian: “The Great Recession placed a heavy burden on Oregon: Nearly one in five people relies on the state to help put food on the table. More than 635,000 depended on government-provided health care last year. Tens of thousands of seniors, children and people with disabilities counted on the state for help. Looking ahead to the next state budget, it’s clear that Oregon cannot afford those same services for all who need them. Even if state government spent every dollar of new revenue on health and human services and none of that money on schools, police or prisons, it would still come up $200 million short. Complicating the math: More than $1 billion in federal stimulus and other supports that helped the Oregon Department of Human Services and the newly formed Oregon Health Authority cope with record demand will dry up as of July 1…”
• $281M cut from state social programs ‘devastating,’ advocates say, By Janet I. Tu and Carol M. Ostrom, September 29, 2010, Seattle Times: “Cutting programs for the mentally ill, disabled and poor elderly residents, the state’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) announced Wednesday a wide swath of reductions totaling nearly $281 million and bringing a flood of concern from advocates for the poor and vulnerable. The 6.3 percent across-the-board cuts, some of which will begin in October, include nearly $113 million of state funding for Medicaid programs providing hospice care to the dying, and medical care for those too disabled to work, children and pregnant women, among others. The cuts are being made in response to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s directive to pare spending to help balance the state’s budget, as required by the state constitution…”

Number of homeless students in Oregon continues to increase, By Anne Williams, September 23, 2010, Register-Guard: “Oregon public schools continued to see swelling numbers of homeless students in 2009-10, a testament to the reach and tenacity of a stubborn recession. More than three in every 100 students - 19,040 - met the federal definition of homelessness last year, an increase of 5.5 percent over 2008-09, according to a state report released Wednesday. The uptick surprised no one on the front lines of providing services to homeless families. ‘We see how the recession has hit,’ said Janet Beckman, the liaison to homeless families in the Springfield School District, which counted 482 homeless students last year, up from 464 the year before. ‘We know that we’re seeing families we’ve never seen before, that have never been in this type of situation before. There’s been a shift in the type of people who are needing assistance.’ But the increase between the two years wasn’t as large as the previous year’s 14 percent…”

Oregon gets federal money to help unemployed avert foreclosures, By Charles Pope, August 4, 2010, The Oregonian: “The Obama administration released $600 million Wednesday to help unemployed homeowners in Oregon and four other states avoid foreclosure. Oregon, where one in every 76 homes is facing foreclosure, qualifies for $88 million.The money will be used to help distressed homeowners. The money will be available to state housing authorities in Oregon, Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island and North Carolina “to support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress due to unemployment,” the Treasury Department said…”

Droupouts in Portland Public Schools are entrenched pattern, By Betsy Hammond, July 25, 2010, The Oregonian: “People in other big-city school districts around the country have a hard time thinking of Portland Public Schools as a truly urban district. Not only is Portland tiny (47,000 students, compared with 700,000 in Los Angeles), but only 43 percent of its students are poor (in Chicago, 85 percent are). A majority are white (in Philadelphia, 13 percent are). What’s more, middle- and upper-income professionals in Portland do something their counterparts in Detroit, L.A. or Washington, D.C., rarely consider: They send their children to central-city public schools. But there is one way in which our small, mostly white, heavily middle-class school system is statistically right in line with some of the grittiest urban districts in the nation: A shockingly low share of Portland’s high school students earn diplomas…”

Oregon foster care improves in latest federal review, By Jessica Van Berkel, July 14, 2010, The Oregonian: “Three years after Oregon failed most of the federal requirements for the safety and well-being of children in foster care, a second review has shown significant improvement. Oregon met or exceeded all six federal goals, including returning foster children to their families sooner, reducing abuse and maltreatment, and moving children less frequently while they’re in foster care. Regional officials from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, which conducts the reviews, commended Oregon’s improvement. But there’s still a long way to go, state officials in child welfare said. Three Oregon-specific goals approved by federal officials were not met: keeping children out of long-term foster care, providing services to families to help children remain safely at home, and responding in a timely manner to reports of abuse and neglect…”

More Oregonians than ever are receiving food stamps, By Michelle Cole, May 15, 2010, The Oregonian: “More than 700,000 Oregonians received food stamps last month, which means nearly one in five people in the state are relying on government help to buy their meals. The numbers — the highest in the history of the program — are well above the national average and suggest that families are still struggling financially. Oregon’s high unemployment rate and a push to make the program accessible to all who qualify are driving the record enrollment. Managers at the state Department of Human Services say they do not see any sign of a decrease. Oregon officials first noted the surge in demand for food stamps in 2008, with Bend, Medford and rural counties recording early and substantial increases. More recently, families in the Portland metro area have been seeking help in greater numbers…”

‘Not acceptable:’ Nearly one-third of Oregon high school students drop out, By Betsy Hammond, May 25, 2010, The Oregonian: “Only two of every three students in Oregon’s class of 2009 graduated from high school in four years, while more than 14,000 dropped out along the way, the state education department reported Tuesday. State Superintendent Susan Castillo said she hopes the startlingly low success rate galvanizes Oregonians to provide — and demand that schools provide — more student support. She said she plans to shine a light on districts including Hillsboro and Tigard-Tualatin that, without extra funding, use systematic approaches to get standout results. ‘As a state, this is not acceptable, absolutely not, and we have got to have a coordinated effort on this,’ she said. ‘Whether you have kids or not, this matters to you. When students are not getting the education they need, we all pay the price.’ This year represented only the second time, and the first time that will count toward school performance ratings, that Oregon measured high school graduation rates in a new, more accurate way. Under the old method, which allowed thousands of teens who didn’t earn diplomas to slip away without being counted, Oregon would have posted an 85 percent graduation rate for the class of 2009. Federal rules will require all states to use the new method for the class of 2011. Oregon is ahead in making the switch, so state-by-state comparisons can’t be made yet…”

• Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates, By Joe Rojas-Burke, May 3, 2010, The Oregonian: “Kids in Oregon — unlike those in 49 other states — are getting leaner, a new study suggests. Problem is, experts can’t explain why Oregon has veered from the extreme weight-gain trend that continues at an alarming rate elsewhere. The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, and it doubled among girls in two states: Arizona and Kansas. But Oregon’s youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007, researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week. ‘It seems quite substantial,’ said Gopal Singh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. ‘We don’t know precisely the reasons for it.’ Singh and others tracked obesity using the National Survey of Children’s Health, a telephone survey of parents. The researchers used height and weight to calculate whether children were overweight or obese…”
• Oregon has lowest rate of childhood obesity, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), May 3, 2010, Washington Post: “What’s the magic in Oregon that keeps kids lean? It’s a mystery health officials would like to solve as they admit all states are failing - by a mile - to meet federal goals for childhood obesity. Oregon has the nation’s lowest rate of hefty kids, according to a new government study, which found big gaps between regions and ballooning obesity rates in many states from 2003 to 2007. More than 16 percent of American children ages 10 to 17 years were not just overweight, but obese, in 2007. That’s a 10 percent rise from 2003. Mississippi topped the nation with more than a fifth of its kids obese. Oregon was the star, with the lowest rate of obesity - defined as body mass index in the 95th percentile or above - at just under 10 percent. And Oregon was the only state whose childhood obesity fell significantly from 2003 to 2007…”

Tax break may grow for working poor, By Peter Wong, February 14, 2010, Salem Statesman Journal: “An expansion of a tax break for poor working families won support from Portland to Medford - and Woodburn. The expanded break, in the form of an earned-income tax credit, no longer would benefit Ian Finch of Portland or state Rep. Betty Komp of Woodburn. But both qualified for the federal credit, which is subtracted directly from taxes owed - and they said an expanded state credit would help thousands of families. Finch used the credit while, as a single father of five children, he was working and going to school - even though he said he could have drawn more from welfare payments. ‘Increasing the state earned-income tax credit will help other families who work really hard to break the cycle of poverty,’ Finch told the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee last week. ‘This is also an opportunity for the state of Oregon to send the message to these hard-working families that they are valued and that the state recognizes all their hard work…’”

Oregon’s rich getting richer and all others falling behind, wage study shows, By Jeff Manning, January 24, 2010, The Oregonian: “A new analysis of state wages shows that the gulf between Oregon’s wealthy and everyone else continues to widen. Oregon’s wealthiest are not only earning more, but the rate at which their incomes are growing far outstrips the middle class and the poor. Meanwhile, the middle class continued to encounter stagnant wages this past decade — even during the vaunted economic boom that preceded the bust — and saw its compensation fall back to 2001 levels in the recession-racked year of 2008, according to a draft analysis of wage trends by the Oregon Employment Department. Inflation-adjusted annual wages for Oregon’s top 2 percent of earners hit $153,480 on average in 2008, a 29.5 percent increase from 1990. Workers at the 50 percentile, meanwhile, earned $32,659 in 2008, an increase of just 2.4 percent over 1990 after adjusting for inflation…”

• Salem Statesman Journal Series, Raising a Community: The gap of good intentions in school readiness.
• Louisiana sees boost in pre-K enrollment, By Nicole Blake-Johnson, January 4, 2010, Shreveport Times: “Louisiana is making “significant progress” toward preparing youngsters for kindergarten, according to data released last month, but educators say more must be done to provide universal preschool to all children. The data comes from the 2009 Kids Count Data Book on Louisiana’s Children, which uses various indicators such as health, juvenile justice and family economics to measure child well-being in the state’s 64 parishes. In terms of education, pre-K enrollment in Louisiana public schools increased 57 percent between 2000 and 2009, raising the total head count from 21,290 in the 2000-01 school year to 33,438 during the 2008-09 school year…”

Food stamp numbers soaring, By Brad Cain (AP) and Susan Palmer, December 10, 2009, Eugene Register-Guard: “The number of Oregonians receiving food stamps has risen 36 percent over the past year and is expected to climb through 2010 as the state continues to contend with high unemployment, according to figures released Wednesday. In Lane County, 70,155 people are on food stamps, or about one in five residents. The figures released by the state Department of Human Services show that more than 650,000 Oregonians now rely on food stamps, or one out of six Oregon residents. John Radich, manager of the Lane County DHS branch, said his office has seen a steady increase in applications of 1½ to 2 percent a month for the past 18 months…”

State gives most foster parents a raise; but some see cuts, By Michelle Cole, October 26, 2009, The Oregonian: “Most Oregon foster parents are getting a big raise from the state, part of a compensation overhaul that officials hope will encourage more adults to become foster parents. But the change hasn’t been good for everybody. Some foster parents who care for some of the sickest children are facing deep cuts and are threatening to quit. Nobody was more thrilled than Jeany Stangl when the state raised the basic amount it reimburses foster parents. On Sept. 1, the rate for caring for a child age younger than 5 went up to $639 a month — a $240 increase…”

Blacks, Native Americans more likely to go to foster care, By Michelle Cole, September 28, 2009, The Oregonian: “Child abuse doesn’t discriminate by race in Oregon. Authorities say the abuse rate is the same for white families as it is for minorities. And yet, Native American children are six times more likely to be placed in Oregon foster care than white children and African Americans are four times more likely than whites. Children from both of those minority groups remain in state care longer. Meanwhile, Hispanic children are less likely to be taken into state protective custody. If they do go to a foster home, they’re returned to their families sooner. New research from Portland State University underscores what child welfare officials have known for years: Some minorities are disproportionately represented in the state’s foster care system…”

• Student homelessness soars in Oregon schools, By Betsy Hammond, September 18, 2009, The Oregonian: “Amid the recession, the number of Oregon students who are homeless surged 14 percent in the past year, rising to 18,000 children and teens without a permanent home of their own, the state reported Friday. Schools are required by federal law to help homeless students find security at school during the upheaval in their lives. And many Oregon educators report they are doing a better job helping children remain in the same school, get basics such as food, and find extra academic support. But they said the emotional and practical needs of students who’ve become homeless are huge, and the ranks of students in those straits are still growing…”
• In school, but no home, By Anne Williams, September 19, 2009, Eugene Register-Guard: “A report from the Oregon Department of Education on Friday offers yet more evidence of the recession’s toll on Oregon families. The number of homeless students attending Oregon public schools surged to more than 18,000 in the 2008-09 school year, up 14 percent over the previous year and 122 percent over 2003-04, the first year the state took a count…”
• Database: Student homelessness rises, By MacKenzie Ryan, September 19, 2009, Statesman Journal: “Two thousand more students in Oregon were homeless last year, a “significant” increase and a troubling trend that reflects the state’s dour economy, rise in home foreclosures and high unemployment rate, state education officials said this week. More than 18,000 students, or 3.2 percent of those in grades K-12 statewide, were identified as homeless last school year. That’s a 14 percent increase from the previous school year, according to education data released Friday…”

• Close Oregon’s achievement gap by starting early, study urges, By Kimberly Melton, September 14, 2009, The Oregonian: “A new report from the Chalkboard Project highlights a persistent achievement gap between Latino students and white students in Oregon that starts as early as third grade. It suggests the key to narrowing the gap is to start working with students early. The report, released Monday, echoes the conclusion of an earlier study of the achievement gap between black and white students in Multnomah County that recommended focusing more on prevention than intervention…”
• A blueprint for closing the gap, Editorial, September 15, 2009, The Oregonian: “As a new study of Oregon’s achievement gap makes clear, the state should put more effort into early intervention and dig deeper into what works. The stubborn gap in academic achievement in Oregon between Hispanic students and their white classmates used to be somewhat of a mystery. Not any more. The main causes of this gap are well-diagnosed. So are at least some of the solutions, plus the areas desperately needing further research…”

Even with coverage of two major plans, some Oregonians struggle to get health care, By Andy Dworkin, August 19, 2009, The Oregonian: “Little noticed in the debate on public medical insurance and health reform is a group of 55,000 Oregonians covered by two major public health plans. The so-called ‘dual eligibles’ qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid because they have low incomes and are disabled or over 64. About 9 million Americans have both Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and they tend to be poorer, sicker, less educated and more often women or minorities than other citizens. As some Democrats push Congress to create a national public health insurance option, the dual eligibles show both benefits and pitfalls expanded public coverage could bring. On one hand, dual eligibility gives fairly complete insurance to poor, sick people who can’t afford private insurance, and would likely be rejected by most private plans for their existing health problems. But caring for dual eligibles costs upward of $200 billion a year. And some people covered by both plans still have trouble finding doctors or buying prescriptions — proof that expanding insurance coverage isn’t enough to lower costs or improve health care, two other, competing goals of health reform…”

A summer of rising hunger in Oregon, By David Sarasohn, August 09, 2009, The Oregonian: “This time last year, John Schrader had been working in a lumber mill for six years and was training to become a millwright. This year, the job is gone, he’s studying metal fabrication and welding in community college, and he’s sitting in the gym at Henry Hill Elementary School as his three sons munch through hamburgers, orange sections and carrot sticks. It’s part of the federal summer food program, aimed at kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch during the year, kids who might otherwise face a long hungry summer. In this summer of our discontent, business is booming — at least at the sites still operating, the ones not closed by financial pressures on schools or local organizations…”

• Oregon becomes one of 12 states to cover all kids with health insurance, By Bill Graves, August 3, 2009, The Oregonian: “The state turned away Stacey Babcock when she tried to sign up her daughter for health insurance five years ago. But Babcock, 27, filled out a new application last week with a promise that this time the Oregon Health Plan will find a way to cover her 8-year-old daughter, Keeley Lingley. The assurance comes from Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is scheduled to sign a bill at 10:30 a.m. today at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland extending health coverage to about 80,000 uninsured children in Oregon…”
• Governor signs bill assuring kids health insurance, By David Steves, August 5, 2009, Eugene Register-Guard: “Thousands of Oregon children without insurance can now get coverage for their medical care - and by January the same will be true for all youngsters in the state, following Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Tuesday signing of ‘Healthy Kids’ legislation. The Democratic governor’s signing of House Bill 2116 into law, along with his earlier approval of a companion bill, clears the way for one of Kulongoski’s longest-sought goals: bringing all Oregon children into the ranks of the insured, especially those whose parents don’t have access to private coverage and have not met low-income standards to qualify for the state-run Oregon Health Plan…”

Feeling the heat, By Damian Mann, July 24, 2009, Mail Tribune: “Tara Harper would rather find a good job to support her family, but for the time being food stamps are the lifeline sustaining her two children.  ‘It’s great they have food stamps, but it’s not something I want to rely on forever,’ said the 31-year-old Ashland resident. ‘I do want to go back to work.’ Harper said she’s not surprised that 58,000 people in Jackson and Josephine counties received foods stamps in June, equating to roughly one out of five residents…”

One in three Oregon students failed to get a diploma, By Betsy Hammond, June 29, 2009, The Oregonian: “One in three students in Oregon’s high school class of 2008 failed to get a diploma, a much worse showing than the state previously reported. Under pressure from the federal government, the state adopted a more accurate way of tracking how many students earned diplomas…”