Programs for Children and Youth in a Community Context

Shares insights from a discussion on integrating evidence-based out-of-school time programs into community initiatives to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Outlines issues and the need for adaptable, data-driven programs with defined outcomes

Teen Births: Examining the Recent Increase

This research brief explores whether the data reflect a short-term blip or a true reversal in the decline of the U.S. teen birth rate. It also considers potential explanations for the uptick in teen births, and raises data and research gaps that must be filled to inform public and private prevention efforts. Among the findings: --Declines in teen contraceptive use may have played some role in the teen birth rate increase. Between 2003 and 2005, a slightly greater percentage of high school girls reported using no method of birth control the last time they had sex. --Recent declines in teen sexual activity have stalled. --Economic hardship and the rising cost of certain birth control methods may also have made contraception less affordable for some teens.--National data indicate a significant decline between 1995 and 2002 in the percentage of students who report having received formal contraceptive education.This brief is based on a paper by Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D., that resulted from a meeting of experts and researchers convened by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

What Works for Adolescent Reproductive Health: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions

This Child Trends fact sheet reviews evaluated programs that focus on adolescent reproductive health. Among the findings: Many different types of programs have been shown to positively affect reproductive health outcomes. Not only school- and community-based sex education programs, but also clinic-based programs, youth development programs, service-learning programs, early childhood programs, and programs for young mothers have been found to be effective. Comprehensive sex education can improve adolescent reproductive health. Of the 21 comprehensive sex education programs that have been experimentally evaluated, 11 had a significant positive impact on the behavior of the youth studied or important subgroups of the sample. No abstinence-only interventions have yet been shown to positively affect any behavioral outcomes. Six abstinence-only interventions have had their impacts on behavioral outcomes experimentally evaluated. None has had an impact on initiation of sexual intercourse, frequency of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, use of condoms, use of contraceptives, pregnancies, births, or STD contraction. None of these six abstinence-only interventions have been shown to negatively affect any behavioral outcomes, either. In particular, in spite of their exclusive focus on abstinence, none have served to significantly decrease condom or contraceptive use. The fact sheet includes a table that shows whether the evaluated programs were found to work, not proven to work, or had mixed findings

Reading, writing, and raisinets: are school finances contributing to children’s obesity?

The proportion of adolescents in the United States who are obese has nearly tripled over the last two decades. At the same time, schools, often citing financial pressures, have given students greater access to “junk” foods and soda pop, using proceeds from these sales to fund school programs. We examine whether schools under financial pressure are more likely to adopt potentially unhealthful food policies. Next, we examine whether students’ Body Mass Index (BMI) is higher in counties where a greater proportion of schools are predicted to allow these food policies. Because the financial pressure variables that predict school food policies are unlikely to affect BMI directly, this two step estimation strategy addresses the potential endogeneity of school food policies. ; We find that a 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of schools in a county that allow students access to junk food leads to about a one percent increase in students’ BMI, on average. However, this average effect is entirely driven by adolescents who have an overweight parent, for whom the effect of such food policies is much larger (2.2%). This suggests that those adolescents who have a genetic or family susceptibility to obesity are most affected by the school food environment. A rough calculation suggests that the increase in availability of junk foods in schools can account for about one-fifth of the increase in average BMI among adolescents over the last decade.Overweight children ; Education ; Junk food

Neighborhood Support and Children's Connectedness

Summarizes research on the links between levels of neighborhood support, such as neighbors helping one another, and other types of "connectedness" that contribute to children's healthy development -- with family, peers, community, and activities

The Development and Use of Child Well-Being Indicators in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

Summarizes the conceptual framework and development of outcomes-based, measurable indicators focused on child safety, permanency, and well-being to help monitor the status of children in the child welfare system. Outlines recommended indicators

Effective and Promising Summer Learning Programs and Approaches for Economically-Disadvantaged Children and Youth

Reviews research on summer learning program outcomes for low-income children and identifies the characteristics of effective programs such as experienced teachers, small groups, and fun activities. Finds reading and math achievement gains are possible

Reading, Writing and Raisinets: Are School Finances Contributing to Children's Obesity?

The proportion of adolescents in the United States who are obese has nearly tripled over the last two decades. At the same time, schools, often citing financial pressures, have given students greater access to "junk" foods, using proceeds from the sales to fund school programs. We examine whether schools under financial pressure are more likely to adopt potentially unhealthful food policies. We find that a 10 percentage point increase in the probability of access to junk food leads to about a one percent increase in students' body mass index (BMI). However, this average effect is entirely driven by adolescents who have an overweight parent, for whom the effect of such food policies is much larger (2.2%). This suggests that those adolescents who have a genetic or family susceptibility to obesity are most affected by the school food environment. A rough calculation suggests that the increase in availability of junk foods in schools can account for about one-fifth of the increase in average BMI among adolescents over the last decade.

Women and the Phillips curve: do women’s and men’s labor market outcomes differentially affect real wage growth and inflation?

During the economic expansion of the 1990s, the United States enjoyed both low inflation rates and low levels of unemployment. Juhn, Murphy, and Topel (2002) point out that the low unemployment rates for men in the 1990s were accompanied by historically high rates of non-employment suggesting that the 1990s economy was not as strong as the unemployment rate might indicate. We include women in the analysis and examine whether the Phillips curve relationships between real compensation growth, changes in inflation, and labor market slackness are the same for men and women and whether measures of “non- employment” better capture underlying economic activity, as suggested by Juhn, Murphy, and Topel’s analysis. From 1965 to 2002 the increase in women’s labor force participation more than offsets the decline for men, and low unemployment rates in the 1990s were accompanied by historically low overall non- employment rates. We find that women’s measures of labor market slackness do as well as men’s in explaining real compensation growth and changes in inflation after 1983. We also find some evidence that non-employment rates are more closely related to changes in inflation than other measures of labor market slackness; however, we do not find the same for real compensation growth.Labor market ; Phillips curve ; Wages ; Inflation (Finance)

"We'd go home if we could" : political xenophobia, citizenship and human rights of asylum seekers and refugees : Cape Town - a pilot study

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106).This thesis is concerned with the conceptions of three key and interactive groups - human rights lawyers/advocacy officers, asylum seekers and refugees, and Department of Home Affairs officials - who are in different ways involved with asylum seekers and refugees in Cape Town in the dual contexts of the new rights-based Constitution and the recurrence of political xenophobia. More specifically the thesis investigates their respective conceptions of (human/constitutional/legal) rights, citizenship and political xenophobia. The findings suggest that although the respondents hold the Constitution in high esteem in providing for the rights of everyone they also argue that in practice there is a denial of refugee and asylum seekers' rights under the Constitution, making them effectively rightless