Recent Research Reports and News: July 2005
Fathers—Research |
Children & Families | Systemic Barriers | Welfare Reform
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Paternity Disestablishment in 2004-2005 by Paula Roberts. This memo analyzes the statutory and case law developments in paternity disestablishment from late 2004 and early 2005, as well as recently enacted statutes. The first appendix describes in detail the reported cases in 2004 and early 2005. The cases are divided by topic and listed alphabetically by state. The second appendix contains a chart listing the major state cases in the last eight years in regard to paternity disestablishment for marital children. The third appendix charts similar case law as regards non-marital children.
http://www.clasp.org/publications/paternity_update_061005.pdf
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Head Start Study: Gains in Reading, Not in Math
A new Administration for Children & Families study of the program’s effectiveness is likely to spark debate. According to the findings, when it comes to naming letters of the alphabet, 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in Head Start showed improvement over their non-enrolled peers. They also showed gains in pre-reading, pre-writing, and vocabulary. Kids who entered Head Start at age 3 showed slight improvements in problem behaviors. Parents of Head Start children were more likely than parents of disadvantaged children not in the program to read to their kids and to report that their child got dental care. Still, Head Start enrollees showed no gains in early math skills compared to the general population. On most measures Head Start graduates and enrollees continue to lag significantly behind children from more economically advantaged families.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/index.html
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Helping Girls Bloom
When you first walk into the church annex that serves as the home for the Blossom Program for Girls, you are surrounded by walls of colorful, handmade posters covered by images of flowers in full bloom. “I’m a beautiful work of art,” reads one. “Blooming for Success,” reads another. “All Girls Deserve to Blossom,” declares a third. From the upstairs mezzanine, surrounded by stained glass, comes the sound of laughter as young girls and program staff gather to chat.
http://www.connectforkids.org/node/3101
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Media as Girls' Sexual "Teacher"
In the May Journal of Adolescent Health, University of North Carolina researchers report that mass media may be serving as a kind of sexual "teacher," especially for earlier maturing girls whose parents may not realize that they are interested in being taught about sex at a younger age. Their research showed that earlier maturing girls reported more interest than later maturing girls in seeing sexual content in movies, television, and magazines, and in listening to sexual content in music, regardless of age or race. Earlier maturing girls were also more likely to be listening to music and reading magazines with sexual content, more likely to see R-rated movies, and to interpret the messages they saw in the media as approving of teens having sexual intercourse. Read the article abstract at www.jahonline.org/article/PIIS1054139X04002654/abstract
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The Motherhood Study
How do mothers in the United States today feel about being mothers? What are their most pressing concerns and priorities? The Motherhood Project explores these and related questions in its latest report, "The Motherhood Study"-- a national investigation of mothers' attitudes, values, concerns, and needs. Read the report at www.motherhoodproject.org.
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Sex-ed opponents part of movement to reclaim schools
Parents who stopped a new sex-education curriculum in Montgomery County, Maryland are at the nexus of a national trend in parental activism in school matters.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050526-102945-6200r.htm
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Inmates & Daughters Connect Through Scout Troop
Lonnie Lively, an inmate at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, has good news for her eight-year-old daughter, Audrey Detrick. “Guess what?” asks Lively, fiddling with a bow on her daughter’s shirt. “I just got three months good time, so I’m getting out June 5th. Count them: March. April. May. We’re down to four months.”
http://www.connectforkids.org/node/3009
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"Public Housing Transformation and the 'Hard to House,'" by Martha Burt, Mary Cunningham, and Susan Popkin
According to this brief, public housing transformation has largely failed to address the complex needs of "hard-to-house" residents who rely on public housing as a source of stable housing. They include a range of high-need households, such as grandparents caring for grandchildren, families with disabled members, very large households, and multiple-barrier families coping with an array of difficult problems. For these vulnerable families, the same public housing transformation that may offer better housing and new opportunities for other tenants can be just one more blow. The report lays out a strategy for effectively serving hard-to-house residents who remain in distressed public housing or those who are experiencing hardship as a result of HOPE VI-related relocation.
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Laboratories of Capitalism: How States Get the Market Right for Working Families
In this presentation at the Federal Reserve 2005 Policy Summit, Mr. Fellowes discussed how low-income families are fairing in the ownership society, what are the different types of state innovations that benefit low-income working families, and what are the promises and perils of this state innovation.
The metro program hosts and participates in a variety of public forums. To view a complete list of these events, please visit the metro program's Speeches and Events page which provides copies of major speeches, PowerPoint presentations, event transcripts, and event summaries.
http://brookings.edu/metro/speeches/20050623_federalreserve.htm
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PERSPECTIVE: SOCIAL SECURITY
"If we aren't getting any closer to resolving the Social Security issue, one reason could be that we're looking at it upside down. That's not my analysis; it's from Eugene Steuerle, who has thought about the subject a lot longer and more intensively than you or I have. Steuerle, a tax-policy expert who served in the Reagan administration and now works out of the Urban Institute in Washington, offered his take on Social Security to a congressional committee last month. It's one of the pithiest statements I've seen on the subject, and well worth sharing with you here."
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9279
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"The Impact of Social Security Reform on Low-Income and Older Women," by Melissa Favreault and Frank Sammartino
This study compares how proposed reforms to the Social Security system might affect women's economic well-being. Although Social Security is vitally important for women, many older women live in poverty. In addition, there is concern that the program provides smaller benefits to some women who contributed to the system than to others who never worked or worked little. The authors examine eight proposals that would increase Social Security benefits and three packages of reforms that combine benefit increases for some women with reductions for others.
http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=9287
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