Since the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (welfare reform), impoverished children in single-parent families receive less aid than under the previous system, and the most disadvantaged of these children have slipped deeper into poverty. This research brief summarizes a study that explored the economic well-being…

This Kids Count issue brief details the strides made in Rhode Island over the last 10 years to improve maternal and child health, focusing on efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. The brief notes that Rhode Island has made significant progress in several areas of maternal and infant care, most notably in access to insurance and early…

Families with incomes between the official poverty level and the minimum economic security level face many of the same material hardships and financial pressures that officially poor families face, partly because as their income grows, they lose eligibility for public benefits. This report focuses on the role that public policies play in…

Policies to regulate and support labor markets in the United States have mainly been an initiative of the federal government. Historically, states and localities were reluctant to act independently to build up worker rights and protections for fear of competitively disadvantaging resident industries with added costs. Federal constitutional…

Employment rights of the handicapped are examined in this collection of symposium papers. Addressed are: procedural aspects of plaintiff litigation, job relatedness and bona fide occupational qualification doctrines, plaintiff's private right of action, arbitration, insurance, state fair employment legislation, and federal and constitutional…

Economic trends in health care delivery and medical education in the United States are examined. It is noted that the market for physician services is being more extensively socialized due to insurance practices and it is suggested that there is a trend toward desocializing medical education and transferring a greater share of the cost to the…

Discusses the disparity in research funding for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the future of health-care policy and the need for reform. Provides an annotated bibliography of sources related to AD, long-term care, and health policy. The types of documents covered include journals, government documents, and grey literature (material not readily…

Explores the legal ramifications of malpractice among librarians and the possible impact on services due to fear of being sued. Topics include identification of potential malpractice areas; cooperative electronic reference services; use of reference standards; insurance; contract; disclaimer; updating library collections; using Internet resources;…

Examines liability incurred by university-sponsored information technology internships and consulting relationships with the business community. In these outreach engagements, the university takes the role of primary insurer for the business client and provides an indemnity shield for the university's representatives. As the number of engagements…

School districts have come up with some money-saving practices that include auditing utility bills, turning off lights, installing light fixtures that are more cost-efficient, keeping track of what the district owns, and shopping for better deals with utilities. (MLF)

Explains that this student forum provides students with an opportunity to learn more about human rights through role-play and specifically allows them to debate the issue of whether U.S. citizens should have an absolute right to adequate health care. Offers roles for students who intend to share their views in the panel discussion. (CMK)

Seldom do the needs of children with disabilities divide neatly along program lines. Instead, children and their families navigate a large, complex, and fragmented array of programs with inconsistent eligibility standards, application procedures, and program goals. "Meeting the Needs of Children with Disabilities" examines these programs, focusing…

Following an ecological framework, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the adjustment needs of international students within their academic and social communities. Focus group interviews revealed that students are more in need during their initial transition after arrival to the U.S. and that they experience a number of barriers in…

There are numerous financial planning and money management handbooks, but few focus on the needs of young adults between 16 and 25 years of age. Colleges and some high schools are increasingly offering courses covering money management, but the materials are more "economics-focused" than "real-world" focused. Young people are huge consumers who…

Parents and relative caregivers of children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often report high levels of strain associated with the care of that child. This study compares how parents and other relative caregivers, and different family caregiver groups, experience strain. Overall, we found that Medicaid care-givers (n = 648)…