Poverty Law News

Poverty Law News is published weekly by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

Attorneys/Legal Services

Technology Initiative Grants
The Legal Services Corporation seeks applications for the 2008 Technology Initiative Grant cycle. Approximately $2.1 million is available to fund innovative projects at LSC-funded programs that promote increased access to justice and the provision of high-quality legal services through the use of technology.

Consumer

Financial Literacy Advisory Council
The President has issued an Executive Order establishing an advisory council on financial literacy. The council, operating under the auspices of the Department of the Treasury, will advise the President on strategies to improve financial education efforts, promote effective access to financial services, establish effective measures of national financial literacy, and conduct research on financial knowledge.

Family Law

Stalking Awareness Month
In the past decade interest in stalking has prompted all fifty states and the District of Columbia to create antistalking legislation. This issue of WomanView, published by the Shriver Center, describes Illinois legislation on stalking.

Government

State Budget Shortfalls
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that 17 states face total budget shortfalls of at least $31 billion in 2009, and 11 others expect budget problems.

Health

Human Rights Principles for Health Care
In a health care system based on human rights, the financing and delivery of care prioritizes the protection of health over any other factors. The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative and the National Health Law Program have published "Pursuing a New Vision for Health Care: A Human Rights Assessment of the Presidential Candidates' Proposals."

Increasing Demand for SCHIP and Medicaid
The Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress has released a report asserting that worsening economic conditions will likely create substantial increases in demand for enrollment in states Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) programs. The report estimates that between 700,000 and 1.1 million additional children will enroll in Medicaid/SCHIP and up to 1.5 million total additional persons will enroll in Medicaid each year due to slowing employment growth alone.

Knowing What Works in Health Care
This Institute of Medicine report provides an overall vision and roadmap for improving how the nation uses scientific evidence to identify the most effective clinical services. The report recommends that Congress direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish a program with the authority, expertise and resources necessary to set priorities for evaluating clinical services and to conduct systematic reviews of the evidence.

Housing

Housing 2008
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has launched Housing 2008, a nonpartisan forum for discussing housing issues in the 2008 presidential election debate.

Public Utilities/Energy

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance
The Department of Health and Human Services announced the release of $450 million to help eligible low-income homeowners and renters meet home energy costs. A complete list of state allocations is available.

Welfare

2008 Poverty Guidelines
The Department of Health and Human Services had published poverty guidelines for 2008. These guidelines (or percentage multiples of the guidelines) are used to determine eligibility for several assistance programs, including Head Start, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Job Training
Promising strategies already exist to deliver necessary training and skills to low-paid American workers. Instead of continuing its years-long disinvestment in job training, the federal government can prompt and support the use of these strategies. John Bouman, President of the Shriver Center, argues that it is time for leadership on job training in the latest issue of Poverty Action Report.

Poverty Law News
January 26, 2008