Federal Programs Available to Unemployed Workers

[Excerpt] Four groups of federal programs target unemployed workers: income support, health care assistance, job search assistance, and training. Unemployed workers and their families may experience substantial income loss and, as a result, may qualify for a number of other federal programs that determine eligibility based on income (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or Medicaid). This report presents information on federal programs targeted to unemployed workers specifically, but does not attempt to discuss means-tested programs. A variety of benefits may be available to unemployed workers to provide them with income support during a period of unemployment. When eligible workers lose their jobs, the Unemployment Compensation (UC) program may provide income support through the payment of UC benefits (often referred to as Unemployment Insurance, or UI, benefits). Certain groups of workers who lose their jobs on account of international competition may qualify for additional or supplemental income support through Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) programs. If an unemployed worker is not eligible to receive UC benefits and the worker’s unemployment may be directly attributed to a declared major disaster, a worker may be eligible to receive Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) benefits. Two federal laws may aid unemployed workers in the purchase of health insurance. The first, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), allows unemployed workers in certain circumstances to purchase continued health insurance coverage. The second, the Health Care Tax Credit (HCTC), allows certain TAA and Alternative TAA (for older workers) participants to receive an advanceable and refundable tax credit for purchasing health insurance. Federal support for Americans seeking assistance to obtain, retain, or change employment is undertaken by a national system of local One-Stop Career Centers (One-Stops) that were established by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA, P.L. 105-220). A variety of services and partner programs — notably including UC and TAA — are located within or linked to One-Stops, which primarily provide job search assistance, career counseling, labor market information, and other employment services. Core labor exchange services (matching job seekers and employers) are provided by the U.S. Employment Service, which was first established by the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 and most recently amended under Title III of WIA. In addition to ES, Title I of WIA authorizes resources for similar core and intensive employment services for youth, adults, dislocated workers, and targeted populations. WIA Title I is also the nation’s central job training legislation, providing funds for traditional, on-the-job, customized, and other forms of training to individuals unable to obtain or retain employment through other services. This report will be updated as new legislation warrants

Mind the gap! Why are black Caribbean girls underachieving in secondary education?

Recent statistics reveal 65% of Black Caribbean female students achieved A*- C in GCSE English and Maths compared with 88% of Chinese female students. The discourse of underachievement for Black Caribbean female students has been a common feature of secondary education in the UK for decades, yet there are few studies undertaken. Instead, the overcrowded debate often leans towards boys. My research aims to explore the complexities of underachievement by ethnicity, focusing on Black Caribbean female students. My purpose is to ascertain the combination of factors that contribute to this discourse as well as drawing comparisons with high achieving Chinese female students. My findings shall determine factors that contribute to achievement for Black Caribbean female students and will recommend sustainable solutions to raise the achievement of Black Caribbean female students in secondary education in the UK

Cultivating Healthy Communities: Refugee Urban Farmers in Providence, RI: Report No. 2 of Land Conservation and Inequality Series

Urban farming programs for refugees have become more common across the U.S. (Jean, 2015). Access to agricultural space, whether community gardens or market farms, can lead to improved health for those who have faced forced displacement, violence, and difficulties associated with resettlement. Community gardens in particular offer a range of benefits to refugees, including improvements to physical and mental health, food security, and social support (e.g., Malberg Dyg, 2020). Community gardens also provide refugees with opportunities for economic development (e.g., Banulescu-Bogdan, 2020). However, access to agricultural space in a dense urban area is challenging, particularly for groups from marginalized backgrounds, such as refugees. To better meet the needs of refugee farmers in urban areas, it is critical to identify the barriers that impede access to agricultural space. This report explains the challenges and needs related to farmland access among a group of refugees in Providence, Rhode Island. This report comes from a larger study investigating inequality and environmental justice in the context of farm and open space conservation. Distributional Impacts of Farm and Open Space Conservation is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA Award No. 2018-67024-27695). Principal investigator is Corey Lang in the Department of Environmental & Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island, with co-investigator Amy Ando in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, and co-investigator Julie C. Keller in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Rhode Island

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at New England Land Trusts: Report No. 1 of Land Conservation and Inequality Series

With over 1,200 organizations registered with the Land Trust Alliance (LTA 2021), land trusts are often viewed as successful models of market-based solutions to environmental and social problems. Yet, the role of these organizations in making open space and farmland accessible to groups from marginalized backgrounds remains unclear. This report (No. 1) discusses findings from interviews conducted in 2021 with key experts at 15 land trusts in New England. The goal of the research was to understand organizational engagement with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values, with a special emphasis on how land trusts facilitate access to land for underrepresented groups. Interviewees and organizations are referred to using pseudonyms throughout the report. This report comes from a larger study investigating inequality and environmental justice in the context of farm and open space conservation. Distributional Impacts of Farm and Open Space Conservation is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA Award No. 2018-67024-27695). Principal investigator is Corey Lang in the Department of Environmental & Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island, with coinvestigator Amy Ando in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, and co-investigator Julie C. Keller in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Rhode Island

What did the national curriculum do for poetry? Pattern, prescription and contestation in the poetry selected for GCSE English Literature 1988-2018.

For schools in England and Wales, the 1988 Education Reform Act established the foundation for a national curriculum and a new type of public examination for all pupils at the end of their compulsory schooling. In the statutory orders for English in the national curriculum and the new GCSE qualifications in English and English literature, the study of poetry was made mandatory. My object of enquiry is the poetry selected and prescribed as material for the GCSE English literature examination between 1988 and 2018. Configuring these poems, poets and collections in an original database underpins a “scalable reading” method derived from Digital Humanities. This method uses quantitative data and close reading to track the effect of policy on the poetry set text. That effect is striking: in 1988 there was a combined GCSE corpus of 6,903 poems by 1,039 poets, in 2018 there were 119 poems by 73 poets. This study explores the shifting pattern of government prescription and professional contestation over 30 years. By tracking the relationship between poets named in the national curriculum and those featured in six series of GCSE anthologies, I show the dynamics by which the pedagogical canon was reshaped. Through close reading of the most salient poems I demonstrate how this process operated within a longer historical stewardship of the pedagogical canon rooted in the poetry of Victorian mass schooling. Quantitative analysis allowed me to model the process of real-time canon formation I observed using a theoretical framework derived from anthology studies, literary reception history and period studies. This contributes a case study to debate about how schooling shapes public taste and understanding of poetry. I argue that the possibilities of poetry as encountered by young people at school have been diminished, in part the consequence of a depletion of the state’s processes and infrastructure for principled expert curriculum review. I conclude that it is timely for a less polarised debate about the place of poetry in the English curriculum, more securely grounded in the empirical evidence of subject history.Non

An exploration of the lived experiences of Black Caribbean girls in secondary schools in England in the twenty-first century

This thesis reports a study on the school experiences of Black Caribbean girls in England. It focuses on the everyday interactions of Black Caribbean girls in school and identifies the strategies they employ in pursuing academic success. Drawing from Critical Race Theory and intersectionality perspectives, semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen school aged participants exploring nuanced accounts of their everyday experiences and the strategies they employ, as they attend secondary schools in England. The narratives reinforce earlier findings from Fuller (1980), Mirza (1992) and Rollock (2007) and confirm that, even in a presumed ‘post-racial' society, Black Caribbean girls perceive that they are working harder than their peers. Findings are critically examined with reference to notions of agency, neoliberal policies and meritocratic values. The thesis argues that Black Caribbean girls continue to be ignored from educational policymaking resulting in negative educational outcomes. Recommendations include that policymakers and educators should focus on the underachievement of Black Caribbean girls and consider the effects of neoliberal meritocracy, and post-racial ideologies, on their psychological well-being

Differential effects of health-promoting behaviors on wellbeing among adults

As people age, identifying lifestyle choices that promote and support physical and emotional wellbeing becomes more important. Using the Reserve Capacity framework to explore psychosocial contributions to health disparities (Gallo, 2009), we examined the influences of age, gender, race, education, and income difficulty on engagement in two health-promoting behaviors: healthy eating and physical activity. We further examined how these factors relate to physical and emotional wellbeing in adults of varying ages. Data from 456 adults (M age = 50.7) were used to test a model in which demographic variables, healthy eating and physical activity were expected to relate to both physical and emotional wellbeing. The model adequately fit the data [x2(df = 47, N = 456) = 150.57, p < .001; CFI = .90; TLI = .84; RMSEA = .07], accounting for 40.1% of the variance in physical wellbeing and 21.4% of the variance in emotional wellbeing. Physical activity directly influenced both physical and emotional wellbeing. Healthy eating related directly to emotional wellbeing, but not physical wellbeing. Race exerted neither direct nor indirect effects.  Indirect effects of age on emotional wellbeing via healthy eating, and indirect effects of gender on both forms of wellbeing via physical activity were observed.  Education was associated with physical wellbeing directly and indirectly, via physical activity. Education was indirectly associated with emotional wellbeing via healthy eating. Income difficulty exerted both direct effects on wellbeing and indirect effects via both health-promoting behaviors. The independent contribution of sociodemographic influences and the importance of looking beyond age, race and gender as correlates of wellbeing are discussed

An exploration of the outdoor play experiences of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: Outdoor play is seen as a crucial and valuable experience for all children. It is not an optional extra, but an essential component of a child’s everyday life and environment. Nonetheless, the literature consistently demonstrates that children with disabilities participate less in outdoor play in comparison to their typically developing peers. However, little research exists with regards to the play experiences of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in outdoor play. Thus, establishing the outdoor play experiences of children with ASD is of utmost importance. Aims: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and understand the outdoor play experiences of preschool children with ASD, as a means to better understand what play meant to them, how they experienced play, and to identify the supports required to facilitate their participation in outdoor play in their preschool setting. Participants: Seventeen participants informed the findings of this study: six children in a special ASD class, five mothers, and six members of preschool staff. Materials and Methods: A qualitative methodology was used. The study employed a multi-method approach combining one focus group, semi-structured interviews, playground observations, and projective techniques. First-person perspectives of the children were sought, a rarity in research, that their voices might further illuminate their needs. Findings: Three core themes emerged: features of play (freedom to do my thing, being with others), opportunities for play (what is available, when it is available, why it is available), and power of play (how I feel about play, what play does to me). Conclusion: The findings of this study support the premise that outdoor play is important to children with ASD, and necessary and valuable for them. In this study, outdoor play was highly valued by all participants and strongly supported by teachers and parents. The children with ASD had varied outdoor play experiences relating to affordances at school and home, including social, sensory and physical dimensions. While the children experienced challenges to their play, particularly in social domains, the outdoor context provided unique opportunities for these to be addressed and explored