Weekly Insider 20.05.2009

The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools Weekly Insider is a web-enhanced newsletter that offers news alerts, grant announcements and general web site updates delivered directly to your email box on a weekly basis. The Center is located at the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.



New Resources
 
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released  Health Reform: The Cost of Failure, which found that current trends suggest up to 66 million Americans could have no health insurance by 2019 if no measures are taken to reform the nation’s health system.

Early Care and Education Quality and Child Outcomes released by Child Trends, aimed to systematically examine the strength of the relationship between early childhood services and improved cognitive, social skills, and academic development in children.

Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16- to 24-Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School,  released by the Congressional Research Service, recognizes that youth who are not working or attending school become disconnected from social networks that could potentially ensure employment, housing, and financial support.

New from the Center

On Thursday, May 21, 2pm EST the Center held its third webinar on Understanding the rise in suicide attempts in Latina teens presented by Dr. Luis Zayas, professor at the School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. The webinar examined the high rate of suicide attempts by adolescent Latinas in the US and what explains it.  Dr. Zayas also reviewed research findings, and interventions with the teenagers and their families. To access the archived webinar (PowerPoint and audio), click here.

The Center held its annual Caring Across Communities and Fresh Ideas conference in Chicago, April 21– 23, 2009. Resources from the meeting are available here.


Important Topics

School-Centered Telemedicine Treatment Option for Children with Type I Diabetes

Resources for School Management of Type II Diabetes


Upcoming Meetings

  • Washington, DC: National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, 20th Anniversary Conference. December 3-6, 2009. For more information and to register for the event, please visit: http://www.ffcmh.org/conference2009/hotel.html

Previously Posted Meetings
  • Webcast: 15th Annual Summer Public Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health – Breaking the Cycle: Investigating the Intersection of Educational Inequities and Health Disparities. June 9, 2009. 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm EDT. For more information and to register for the event, please visit: www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2009/
  • Boston, MA: Summer Seminars 2009 for Afterschool Program Professionals. July 13-16, 2009. For more information and to register for the event, please visit:  http://www.niost.org/summerseminars

Job opportunities

  • National Assembly on School-Based Health Care – Paid Internship (Washington, DC)
  • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Director, Development (Austin, TX)
  • Funders Concerned About AIDS – Research Consultant (NY)
  • Children’s Aid Society – National Training Center – Mental Health Specialist (Baltimore, MD)
  • University of Illinois at Chicago, Healthy Youths Program – Interviewer (Chicago, IL)
  • Nevada State Health Division, Health and Human Services – Developmental Specialist (Various, NV)


    Grant Alerts

    The Home Depot Corporation – Building Healthy Communities Grant Program  (Deadline: 6/15/09)
    The Home Depot Corporation is seeking to improve the physical health of communities. In particular, The Home Depot supports projects that are planting trees, developing green spaces, and updating school facilities and community centers so that healthier and more stable communities can thrive.

    The National Association of Elementary School Principals – Sharing the Dream Grant Program      (Deadline: 7/08/09)
    The National Association of Elementary School Principals and The MetLife Foundation offer the Sharing the Dream Grant opportunity to support elementary and middle school principals as they work to foster strong school-community relationships.

    American Dental Association – Samuel Harris Fund for Children’s Dental Health (Deadline: 7/17/09)
    The American Dental Association has a permanent endowment dedicated to the prevention of childhood caries and oral health for children. Projects that promote oral health programs and are designed to improve and maintain children’s oral health with community education are encouraged to apply for support from the Harris Fund.

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Active Living Research: Investigating Policies and Environments to Support Active Communities (Deadline: 7/29/09)
    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living Research supports research to identify promising policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity, decreasing sedentary behaviors, and preventing obesity in children and adolescents.

    The Verizon Foundation – Verizon Foundation Community Investments  (Deadline: 10/31/09)
    The Verizon Foundation seeks to fund projects that work to increase literacy and educational achievement, prevent domestic violence, and achieve and sustain health and safety in communities.

    Community Capacity Development Office – Weed and Seed Communities Competitive Program (Deadline: 11/10/09)    
    The Community Capacity Development Office is seeking applications from organizations that are adopting the Weed and Seed strategy. Weed and Seed aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, criminal drug-related activity, and gang activity in a community-based, comprehensive multi-agency approach.



    • New Resources

    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released      “Health Reform: The Cost of Failure”, which found that current trends suggest up to 66 million Americans could have no health insurance by 2019 if no measures are taken to reform the nation’s health system. Notably, the middle-income families will suffer will be most affected by inability to afford health insurance given their reduced access to public coverage. The report, based on Urban Institute findings, describes predicted results under three distinct economic environments: 1) Slow income growth and high growth for health care costs; 2) moderate grown in incomes but lower growth rate for health care costs; 3) faster income growth and slower growth in health care costs. The Urban Institute predicts that with no health reform progress, family spending on premiums and out-of-pocket spending could rise by 68%, spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program could increase from the current $251.2 billion in 2009 to $519.7 billion in 2019, and the totals for uncompensated care could double.

    Early Care and Education Quality and Child Outcomes, released by Child Trends, aimed to systematically examine the strength of the relationship between early childhood services and improved cognitive, social skills, and academic development in children. Findings indicated that the quality of children’s early care and education is associated with academic, language, social skills, and cognitive development when controlling for background characteristics. These associations were generally found to be modest. Interestingly, associations were found to be stronger for 2, 3 and 4 year-olds in terms of academic and language improvements, but not for social improvements. This resource then provides a series of policy, program, and measurement of quality implications.  

    Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16- to 24-Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School,  released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), recognizes that youth who are not working or attending school become disconnected from social networks that could potentially ensure employment, housing, and financial support. Historical precedence suggests that these disconnected youth are placed at an increased level of vulnerability to negative outcomes. CRS research indicated that female youth (16 to 24 years) were more likely to be disconnected than their male counterparts (6.4% and 3.8%, respectively). Furthermore, minority youth were more likely than their white counterparts to be disconnected (11.2% Black females, 9.5% Hispanic females, and 4.2% white females were disconnected). A similar trend was observed for males across race and ethnicity. CRS also analyzed how poverty, educational attainment, and health insurance influenced disconnectedness. Finally, this CRS report delineates recommendations for policy makers aiming to protect and improve the living conditions for disconnected youth. (Under the “Investing in Older Youth Means Investing in America).
     

    Job opportunities

    National Assembly on School-Based Health Care – Paid Internship  (Washington, DC)
    The National Assembly on School-Based Health Care is seeking an intern that will be responsible for researching and compiling information for updating website content, developing web pages and fact sheets related to ongoing and special projects in school-based health and mental health, identifying and cataloguing resources and materials produced by school-based health care associations, attending meetings, and providing general administrative and logistical support. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://www.nasbhc.org/site/c.jsJPKWPFJrH/b.3092031/apps/cf/jobsoffered/view.asp?ad_id={0AAADEEE-5EF6-4F93-A619-5D183FBA03FB}&category_bin_id={A9563DD7-ACB8-4FB1-ADBC-6B7077DEFE99}

    National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Director, Development  (Austin, TX)
    The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children seeks a Director of Development. Responsibilities include leading, planning, and coordinating primarily Texas-based fundraising events and activities for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://philanthropy.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000599575-01

    Funders Concerned About AIDS – Research Consultant  (New York, NY)
    Funders Concerned About AIDS is seeking a Research Consultant for its Global HIV/AIDS Resource Tracking project. Responsibilities include meeting with relevant staff, updating and expanding the appendix from previous reports, finding, researching and reporting on additional HIV/AIDS grantmakers in regions outside the US and Europe, and writing profiles on notable grantmakers in specified regions. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://philanthropy.com/jobs/id.php?id=0000600554-01

    Children’s Aid Society – National Training Center – Mental Health Specialist  (Baltimore, MD)
    The Children’s Aid Society is seeking a Mental Health Specialist to facilitate weekly, theme-based groups called “Power Group”, which emphasize group work and strength-based approaches. Additional responsibilities include providing individual counseling, crisis intervention, and case management services for all students that attend the partnered KIPP Ujima Village Academy. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://www.publichealthjobs.net/search/detail.cfm?jobID=8134

    University of Illinois at Chicago, Healthy Youths Program – Interviewer  (Chicago, IL)
    The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Healthy Youths Program is seeking an individual to be an interviewer for a study on the relationship between mental health and substance abuse. Responsibilities include conducting in-person interviews for a study of comorbid substance use/dependence and mental illness. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://www.opportunityknocks.org/JobSeekerX/ViewJob.asp?JobID=3tUvcyuGXiU1tCTFy2%2B0IgFW1Kd6&Keywords=child+AND+health 

    Nevada State Health Division, Health and Human Services – Developmental Specialist  (Various, NV)
    The Nevada State Health Division’s Early Intervention Services Program is seeking Developmental Specialists to provide early intervention diagnostic and treatment services for children under the age of three who exhibit developmental delays to facilitate development of social, motor, communication, cognition, and behavioral skills. For more information and to apply to this position, please visit:  http://www.opportunityknocks.org/JobSeekerX/ViewJob.asp?JobID=siZiTgr3AzJSAuoVqvo1Ns2XIDmD&Keywords=mental+AND+health