Economic Opportunity News
"Three of the 19 affected Planned Parenthood programs (northern Colorado, Orange County, Calif., and Waco, Texas) will continue to be funded because they are the only services for low-income women in their communities, Brinker says. The other programs will be funded through the end of the year. 'There will be no gap in services to these low-income women,' she said."
"The veterans group is new and growing. The first meeting was Dec. 6, said Paul Dickerson, a certified addiction professional in charge of the veterans group. Many of the people who show up to the meetings are homeless, Dickerson said, and the group works to connect those people with the resources available to them."
"County commissioners Thursday decided to direct county staffers to join with their Bradenton counterparts and local civic activists in an effort to more effectively deal with the homeless."
"Mitt Romney said in an interview set to air Thursday evening that he 'misspoke' when he said that he was 'not concerned about the very poor.'"
"Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing state lawmakers to raise the age students can legally drop out of school from 17 to 18, a move aimed at improving graduation rates but one that local educators say won't accomplish much unless the state also provides the money to keep at-risk students in school."
"In an interview with CNN Wednesday morning that should have been a Florida victory lap, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made a fumble that could give rivals an attack ad sound bite."
"First, take in the landscape of what our children and families are up against. The number of children living in poverty in our state jumped from 21.4 percent in 2000 to 40.7 percent in 2010. Nearly half of our state's children are living in poverty."
"The American Lung Association opposes the proposed co-payment. There is no evidence that it would encourage smokers to quit, said Jennifer Singleterry, the association's manager of cessation policy. Instead, low-income smokers on Medicaid would just have to pay more. 'We feel that this is a punitive measure for smokers,' she said."
"Free medical care provided by hospital systems to low-income patients continued to rise in 2010 amid the ongoing backdrop of a sluggish economy. Carilion Clinic saw its charity care, which is given to people on a sliding scale by discounting either a portion or all of the costs, grow to $63.2 million for the 2010 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2010."
"Storms is pushing a bill that would prohibit recipients of food stamps from using them to buy soda, candy or snacks that she considers unhealthful."
"As a result, thousands of pregnant women are pushed out of jobs that they are perfectly capable of performing -- either put on unpaid leave or simply fired -- when they request an accommodation to help maintain a healthy pregnancy. Many are single mothers or a family's primary breadwinner. They are disproportionately low-income women, often in physically demanding jobs with little flexibility."
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants New York City to stop requiring fingerprinting of its food stamp recipients, a stance that puts him at odds with the city's mayor, who favors the practice."
"As state Assembly Democrats rolled out a bill to boost the state’s minimum wage yesterday, a new study revealed that such a hike could lead to double-digit job losses among the hardest-to-employ New Yorkers."
"House Republicans have hit upon a noxious scheme to help pay for an extension of the payroll tax cut: a tax increase on millions of poor working families."
"According to the New Jersey Education Law Center, low-income students make up 70 percent of students in the former Abbott districts, but only 27 percent of enrollment statewide. The state's 31 poorest districts -- the so-called Abbotts, which receive additional state aid as a result of a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings starting in 1985 -- also serve more than half of the state's black and Hispanic students."
"A shelter with 16 beds for homeless youths could be completed in two months, Northwest Youth Services Executive Director Riannon Bardsley said, if the agency gets the money it needs to finish the work."
"They’re often places where two-lane highways wind around wooded hills, where mining or manual farm labor once put food on the table, and access to medical care has long been limited. Poverty begets bad health and greater rates of disability, experts say, and disabilities often lead to deeper poverty."
"A report from Portland State University and the Coalition of Communities of Color delivers grim news about Latinos living in Multnomah County: They are poorer, their jobless rate is higher, and the teen birth rate is six times that for whites."
"The chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund committee thinks the state could reduce Medicaid costs by putting the Alabama Medicaid Agency in the hands of a private firm. The proposal has drawn criticism from physicians' groups and an advocacy group for low-income Alabamians, both of which say there's nothing left to cut in Medicaid except essential care."
"The survey by the Pew Hispanic Center said that 54 percent of Hispanics believe that their group has been the one most harmed by the economic decline of the last four years."
"Under the deal, 40% of those hired must come from low-income neighborhoods, and 10% must be 'disadvantaged' -- meaning they fit at least two of nine criteria, including homelessness, single parenthood and veteran status."
"'If you are to look nationally, a lot of these dollars were cut,' Commissioner Paula Brooks said. 'Our population has grown, while other urban counties have gone in the other direction.'
The money comes in three ways: About $1.8 million is through the Community Development Block Grant program, a 9 percent increase over last year. Officials had expected a 12 percent cut. About $144,000 is for emergency shelter grants for the homeless, 80 percent more than expected."
"De Andre Hill, 19, is the first to admit it: He grew up way too soon. He was raised in Greensboro, N.C., and spent his teenage years looking after three half-sisters, preparing dinners of burger patties and spaghetti for them, insisting they do their homework and comforting them when they cried themselves to sleep."
"Governor Deval Patrick proposed a $32.3 billion annual spending plan yesterday that would eliminate 240,000 free and subsidized lunches for senior citizens, apply the sales tax to candy and soda, and close a prison in Norfolk while boosting spending on education to unprecedented levels."
"The state's Community Care Program serves about 80,000 low-income people 60 and older. About 10 percent of the program's clients are 90 or older, according to Mary Killough, deputy director of the Illinois Department on Aging."
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