hsn / human service newsbytes

Children and Youth

The National Human Services Assembly’s Family Strengthening Policy Center and Peer Network  are now the National Collaboration for Families (NCF)! As part of our move towards promoting more holistic family strengthening practices, we’re re-branding the network in order to raise it to the level of NHSA’s longest standing coalition, the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY). Together the NCF and NCY will work to support all members of a family - children, youth, parents, guardians, and allies - and ensure that they thrive.  The NCF will also be more dedicated to collaborative, on-the-ground projects, and will explore the different aspects of family strengthening through year-long themes. Learn more about the National Collaboration for Families.

Who’s Giving to Nonprofits?
Older donors (those 70+) are equal in number to younger donors (those 18-24), yet give three times as much as younger donors. Yet, younger donors are more likely to respond to both mail and online solicitations. Read more about the whos and whys of nonprofit donors.

Children and Youth

Promoting Benefits in Schools – A Two-fold Benefit for Children and Families
Communities across the country are finding that pairing antipoverty strategies with schools result in positive student outcomes, while improving the delivery of important public benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  Read the Center for American Progress report.

Despite Growing Poverty Rates, Kids Are Staying Covered
The number of children living in poverty continues its steady increase, up 1.8 million from 2008-2009, but public health insurance programs like Medicaid and CHIP have helped to keep an upswing in uninsured kids to a minimum.  Learn more about children, poverty, and health care coverage from First Focus. 

City Versus Country – New Study Released on Geographical Differences in Afterschool Program Participation
An Afterschool Alliance survey of nearly 30,000 households looking at regional differences in afterschool programming indicates that while 26% of kids in urban, rural, and suburban areas are on their own after school, only 11% of youth in rural areas participate in afterschool programming compared with 18% of urban kids.  Learn more about the geographic differences in afterschool participation.

Older Americans

Launch of Resource Center Marks Landmark Moment for LGBT Seniors
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)—in partnership with 10 organizations—has just launched the country’s first and only technical assistance resource center aimed at improving the quality of services and supports offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Visit the new site to explore resources, register for updates, and donate.

Older Americans Having to Cut Essentials from Budgets
One in five adults age 45+ has reported having problems paying for essential items such as food and utilities, according to a survey released by the AARP.  Additionally, many have reported cuts in hours and wages. Read the full report.  Also read about Americans filing for social security early in response to financial hardships.

Poverty and Community

Hard Data on Hard Times, Census Shows that 1 in 7 Americans Live in Poverty
According to statistics released by the Census Bureau, nearly 44 million individuals – or 1 in 7 Americans – and 8.8 million families were impoverished in 2009. This is the highest recorded level of poverty since 1994. Read more about the Census Bureau’s findings. 

Advocates Wonder – Who’s Caring for the Caregivers?
The average salary for the nation's 2.3 million child-care workers is $19,605 – just above the poverty line – leading some advocates to call for increased subsidies that could help train and pay childcare professionals.  Last year the federal government issued $7 billion in child-care vouchers.  Learn more about the issue.

Foreclosure Crisis Leads to Widespread Probe
50 state attorney generals are undertaking a coordinated probe of improper foreclosures performed by the nation's largest loan servicers to determine if shortcuts jeopardized the accuracy of foreclosure proceedings.  Meanwhile, bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit record levels in the third quarter – 372,445 auctions and 288,345 repossessions.    Read about the investigation on CNN Money.

Emergency Fund Temporarily Extended, Meaning 250,000 Won’t be Out of Work
President Obama signed a last minute stopgap – the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 – on September 30th extending programs like the TANF Emergency Fund that subsidized work for 250,000, until December.  Read the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities’ report Walking Away on a Win-Win-Win and see why the fund is so vital for working families.  Also read more about the Continuing Appropriation Act in the CHN Spotlight on Poverty.

The Feds Call the Shots on Immigration
An anti-immigrant ordinance in Pennsylvania has been struck down by a Federal court. The decision comes in the wake of a judge’s decision to block the most controversial aspects of Arizona’s immigration law.
Read more about the decision in the Washington Post .

Thousands of Poor Refugees Face Loss of SSI Benefits
Over the next 13 months  up to 11,000 poor refugees and other impoverished individuals admitted to the United States because they faced persecution in their home countries will lose badly needed benefits from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.  Read more at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

A Blessing in Disguise for School Meal and SNAP advocates?
Congress adjourned for the November elections without reauthorizing the federal law that controls the nation’s school meals program. But school nutrition and anti-hunger advocates say that delay could be a blessing in disguise as it may prevent $2.2 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  Learn more about the pending Senate and House nutrition assistance bills at EdWeek.

Listen, Learn and Be Inspired About School Turnarounds
Access the audio, video and other materials from the lecture, Turning Around 1,000 Schools: The Story of "Success for All" on scalable models for school turnaround byRobert E. Slavin, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University School of Education at Child Trends last week.  Download the lecture.

Información en español
Spanish-speaking human services professionals can now access recent research in their native-tongue, as the Center for American Progress has launched a new Spanish-language website.
Check out the site today. 

Standards-Based Interactive Service-Learning Tool Complete!
Check out the latest additions to NYLC’s interactive tool for teachers, Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice. Designed to support professional development, these modules illustrate high-quality practice through video clips profiling three sites across the country.  Access the tool. 

There’s a place for us at the BigTent.  Will you be there? Come to the first-ever BigTent Conference for inspiring speakers, 150+ practical workshops, and celebratory community building to advance the health and well-being of families and children.  Dozens of other national youth-serving organizations are partnering with conference host Search Institute, bringing together thousands of professionals and youth from all youth-serving sectors, this first of its kind, Asset-rich conference.  It will energize and inspire those of us committed to the success of children and youth in our communities. Nov. 18–20, 2010, Houston, Texas Register now and find out more great info about the BigTent Conference.

DC-Residents: Don’t Miss this Important Briefing on the Ready By 21 Program and Policy Goals
Attend a Congressional lunch briefing on October 19 as community and business leaders in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville discuss the model partnerships they are building to ensure that all youth are ready to succeed in college, work, and life. 

October 19 – Washington, DC
Register for the Briefing.