August 1857 - "August 12 - I may as well mention here that, on reaching El Paso, I found myself in a position where, in consequence of the inability to purchase mules, I had either to stop the mail until I could collect them in the towns up and down the valley and over the [Rio Grande] river, or else to take some of these Fort Davis mules further on my journey….August 14 - Our government mules, fresh and cornfed, took us along at a much more rapid pace than we have been in the habit of travelling during the course of the past week. We made 60 miles today.” Journal of I.C. Woods on the Establishment of the San Antonio & San Diego Mail Line, edited by Noel M. Loomis, in Brandbook Number One: The San Diego Corral of the Westerners, Ray Brandes, (ed.), San Diego: San Diego Corral of the Westerners, 1968, 101-102. "    

1857 - "From 1857 to 1861 the Gila trail was used by the overland mail service. First carried by the San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line, from July 1857 through August 1858, and then the Butterfield Overland Mail Company, from September 1858 through June 1861, establishment of the Overland Mail constituted the first regular communication and transportation service across the continental United States, 12 years before completion of the transcontinental railroad.” Stephen R. Van Wormer and others, An Isolated Frontier Outpost: Historical and Archaeological Investigations of the Carrizo Creek Stage Station, June 23, 2006, 3. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24437

The old stagecoach road
History of the old mail routes"    

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• California State Employees may contact the State Information & Reference Center (916-654-0206; cslsirc@library.ca.gov) with the SITN issue number and the item number [S#].

• All other interested individuals should contact their local library - the items may be available there, or may be borrowed by your local library on your behalf.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

CORRECTIONS

Report to the California State Legislature: A Roadmap for Effective Offender Programming in California. By the Expert Panel on Adult Offender and Recidivism Reduction Programs, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (The Department, Sacramento, California) June 29, 2007. 218 p.

Full Text at: www.cdcr.ca.gov/Communications/docs/ExpertPanelRpt.pdf

[“Until California eases prison overcrowding, it can't slow the revolving prison doors that return roughly 70% of freed inmates within a year. The 16-member panel of rehabilitation experts faults California for giving prisoners and parolees little incentive to behave. They recommend that wardens subtract time from the sentences of compliant inmates. They also suggest using nominal payments to encourage people to complete classes. Parolees could get an early discharge for repaying victims, holding jobs or staying off drugs.” Los Angeles Times (June 30, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74301]

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Border Security: The San Diego Fence. By Blas Nuñez-Neto and Michael John Garcia, Congressional Research Service. (The Service, Washington DC) May 23, 2007. 6 p.

Full Text at: fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/87353.pdf

[Congress first authorized the construction of a 14-mile, triple-layered fence along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego in 1996. By 2004, only nine miles had been completed, and construction was halted because of environmental concerns. Congress subsequently allowed the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all legal requirements determined necessary to ensure expeditious construction. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 removed the specific provisions authorizing the San Diego fence and added provisions authorizing five stretches of two-layered reinforced fencing along the southwest border.]

[Request #S74302]

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Youth in Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice System: Current Conditions and Possible Directions for Change. By Jacquelyn McCrosskey, Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council. (The Council, Los Angeles, California) April 2006. 49 p.

Full Text at: www.lapublichealth.org/childpc/resource-files/JuvJustice_yfa_Final4.20.6prot.pdf

[“Recommendations suggest revamping educational programs for incarcerated youths, having a single case manager handle all aspects of a teenager's rehabilitation and creating a separate county department devoted solely to juvenile justice. The council's proposal, which calls for a more holistic, community-based approach to keeping young people out of detention, coincides with county efforts to overhaul the system while under federal scrutiny.” Los Angeles Times (June 19, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74303]

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Ready4Work In Brief: Update on Outcomes; Reentry May Be Critical for States, Cities. By Chelsea Farley and Wendy S. McClanahan, Public/Private Ventures. (The Ventures, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) May 2007. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/216_publication.pdf

[“This report provides updated data from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative, with a focus on the prison crisis occurring in many cities and states. While much more research is needed to understand the true, long-term impact of prisoner reentry initiatives, outcomes from Ready4Work were extremely promising in terms of education, employment and program retention, with recidivism rates among Ready4Work participants 34 to 50 percent below the national average."]

[Request #S74304]

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The Nation’s Most Punitive States for Women. By Christopher Hartney, National Council on Crime and Delinquency. (The Council, Oakland, California) July 2007. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.nccd-crc.org/nccd/pubs/2007_MPS_factsheet.pdf

[“Using the latest available data from prisons, jails, probation, and parole for adult and juvenile women, this report shows how differently women are treated depending on the policies and practices of their state of residence… The disparate incarceration, probation, and parole rates do not correspond to differences in state arrest rates. The most punitive states do not enjoy less crime. In addition the US imprisons more women and girls than any other nation. And within the US, women of color are disproportionately incarcerated compared to whites. Plus the proportion of incarcerated women to men is rising."]

[Request #S74305]

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DEMOGRAPHY

CALIFORNIA

Population Projections of California Counties. By the California Department of Finance, Demographic Research Unit. (The Department, Sacramento, California) July 2007. 10 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/yue25z

[“Over the next half-century, California's population will explode by nearly 75%, and Riverside will surpass its bigger neighbors to become the second most populous county after Los Angeles, according to state projections. But whether sprawl or skyscrapers win the day, the Golden State will probably be a far different and more complex place than it is today, as people live longer and Latinos become the dominant ethnic group, eclipsing all others combined.” Los Angeles Times (July 10, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74306]

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ECONOMY

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development. By the Urban Libraries Council. (The Council, Chicago, Illinois) 2007. 35 p.

Full Text at: www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf

[“Public libraries build a community’s capacity for economic activity and resiliency. Many families and caregivers rely on the library to provide important preschool reading and learning. Many people entering the workforce rely on libraries to get them online. Local businesses are increasingly tapping into the library’s online databases to keep themselves competitive and to find synergistic new business opportunities. Library facilities often anchor downtown and commercial developments, and are attractive neighborhood amenities.”]

[Request #S74307]

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Education, Entrepreneurship and Immigration: America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs. By Vivek Wadhwa, Duke University, and others. (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri) June 2007.

[“More than half of the immigrant founders of tech and engineering firms launched between 1995 and 2005 came to the U.S. to further their education, according to research on 1,572 companies…. Most of the immigrant entrepreneurs came from India, the U.K., China, Japan and Germany, either to study or to work for a U.S.-based corporation. They started a new business 13 years after immigrating, on average. The areas that attracted the greatest percentage of immigrant entrepreneurs were Silicon Valley (52 percent), New York City (43 percent) and Chicago (39 percent).” Fortune Small Business (June 11, 2007) 1.]

Part I. 41 p.
http://www.kauffman.org/pdf/entrep_immigrants_1_61207.pdf

Part II. 30 p.
http://www.kauffman.org/pdf/entrep_immigrants_2_61207.pdf

[Request #S74308]

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The Effects of Living Wages on Workers and Firms: Evidence from the Los Angeles Ordinance. By David Fairris. IN: Policy Matters, vol 1, no. 3 (Spring 2007) pp. 1-12.

Full Text at: policymatters.ucr.edu/pmatters-vol1-3-livingwage.pdf

["The effects of living wage policies are much less deleterious than is commonly viewed by critics. Living wages appear to be properly targeted to needy families. They are tailored to be limited in scope, and perhaps selectively tailored so as to minimize the costs to the community as a whole. And they result from city council deliberations that may more fairly represent the interests of contending parties."]

[Request #S74309]

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EDUCATION

ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind Experiences of Teachers and Administrators in Three States. By Laura S. Hamilton, RAND, and others. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) 2007. 303 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG589.pdf

[“A study tracking the classroom impact of No Child Left Behind in California, Georgia and Pennsylvania suggests that teachers are adjusting their teaching practices in response to the law -- but not always in positive ways. Majorities of elementary and middle school science and math teachers report that they are making effective changes in the classroom by focusing on their states' academic standards. But a sizable percentage of educators are also spending more time teaching test-taking strategies, focusing more narrowly on the topics covered on state tests, and tailoring teaching to the ‘bubble kids’ -- students who fall just below the proficiency cutoffs on state tests.” Education Week (June 15, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74310]

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California's Charter Schools: Measuring Their Performance. By Eric Crane, WestEd, and Brian Edwards, EdSource. (Edsource, Mountain View, California) June 2007. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.edsource.org/pdf/CharterSchools07Final.pdf

[“A study by California researchers trying to learn at last which kind of public school works better -- charter or traditional -- has reached this Zen-like conclusion: It all depends. For elementary schools, forget the charter. Go with traditional. For middle schools, head to the charter. For high schools, well, it's a toss-up. Despite having more disadvantaged students, 4,965 regular elementary schools outperformed 183 charter elementaries; and, despite having fewer experienced teachers, 54 charter middle schools strongly outperformed 1,211 regular middle schools. As a group, the charters that were run by management organizations outperformed the independents.” San Francisco Chronicle (June 13, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74311]

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Ready for What? Preparing Students for College, Careers and Life After High School. By the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. (The Center, Bethesda, Maryland) 2007. 9 p.

Full Text at: www.edweek.org/media/ew/dc/2007/ca_SGB07.pdf

[“Los Angeles Unified has the sixth-lowest graduation rate among large school districts in the nation. The study said the district has a high school graduation rate of 45 percent, compared with a national average of 70 percent. The newest figures track the number of students who enter ninth grade and then graduate in four years with a standard diploma. The information is based on federal figures reported by the districts themselves. Overall, the study found that many schools nationwide are failing to ready students for college and careers.” Los Angeles Daily News (June 12, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74312]

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The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study. By Gary Barnes, National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and others. (The Commission, Washington, DC) June 20, 2007. 97p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/2la54s

[“About 500,000 teachers across the country flee their jobs every year -- a persistent churn and burn that costs public schools an estimated $7.3 billion annually. The yearly turnover is draining resources, diminishing teaching quality, and undermining our ability to close the student achievement gap.... To stem the flow, districts must first fully assess their annual turnover rates and then focus on hiring well-prepared teachers who have a clear understanding of content, curriculum and how to manage a classroom. And then, they need mentoring and other support in their first years.” San Francisco Chronicle (June 21, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74315]

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EMPLOYMENT

RETIREMENT

Retirement Income Adequacy After PPA and FAS 158: Part One—Plan Sponsors’ Reactions. By Jack VanDerhei, Employee Benefit Research Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) July 2007. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.ebri.org/pdf/EBRI_IB_07a-2007.pdf

[“Nearly two-thirds of employers that offer traditional pensions have closed their plans to new hires or frozen them for all employees, or plan to do so in the next two years. The latest numbers show an acceleration in the decline of pensions — retirement plans in which employers, instead of employees, are responsible for investing retirement money and providing benefits. They also illustrate that the trend is no longer confined to troubled industries such as steel, auto and airlines, but now involves healthy companies such as IBM and Verizon.” Los Angeles Times (July 11, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74315]

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ENERGY

NUCLEAR POWER

Nuclear Power Joint Fact-Finding. By the Panel on Nuclear Power. Convened by the Keystone Center. (The Center, Keystone, Colorado) June 2007.

["Nuclear power would only curb climate change by expanding worldwide at the rate it grew from 1981 to 1990, its busiest decade, and keep up that rate for half a century. Specifically, that would require adding on average 14 plants each year for the next 50 years, all the while building an average of 7.4 plants to replace those that will be retired, the report by environmental leaders, industry executives and academics said. Some individuals differed, though, on how much the industry will expand, and said it could still make some impact…." Reuters (June 18, 2007) 1.]

Report. 108 p.
http://www.keystone.org/spp/documents/FinalReport_NJFF6_12_2007(1).pdf

Press release. 3 p.
http://www.keystone.org/spp/documents/TKC%20Nuclear%20Facts%20news%20release%206%2014%2007.pdf

[Request #S74316]

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ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

CLIMATE CHANGE

In Hot Water: Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming. By Barry Nelson, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others. (The Council, New York, New York) July 2007.

[“Drought and dry conditions withering the western U.S. are likely to persist and intensify, jeopardizing the region's water supply and water quality, compromising the health of rivers and lakes, and increasing the risk of flooding.... This report analyzes the effects of global warming on a full range of water management tools and offering recommendations to meet the challenge. Officials responsible for keeping the taps flowing will need to take bold measures now, including conservation and efficiency, and supporting measures to control and reduce global warming in the future.”]

Report. 90 p.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/hotwater/hotwater.pdf

Executive Summary 4 p.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/hotwater/execsum.pdf

[Request #S74317]

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Household Hazards: Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products. By Alexandra Gorman, Women’s Voices for the Earth. (Women’s Voices for the Earth, Missoula, Montana) July 2007. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.womenandenvironment.org/reporters/WVE.CleaningProd.Report%20FINAL1.pdf

[“Dozens of common household cleaning products contain hidden toxic chemicals linked to fertility disorders in lab animals, according to data gathered by a women's research group. A type of glycol ether is frequently found in popular cleaning products The chemical, called ethylene glycol butyl ether or EGBE, is on California's list of toxic air contaminants. Some animal studies indicate that it produces reproductive problems, such as testicular damage, reduced fertility, death of embryos and birth defects.” San Francisco Chronicle (July 24, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74318]

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Down the Drain: Sources of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals in San Francisco Bay. By the Environmental Working Group. (The Group, Oakland, California) July 11, 2007. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.ewg.org/book/export/html/20919

[“Chemicals found in household products like antibacterial soap and plastic bottles are found in sewage water that is discharged into San Francisco Bay, posing a threat to wildlife and humans…. Chemical ingredients are leaching out of toothpaste, deodorant, canned food liners and vinyl and polycarbonate plastics. They pass through the municipal sewage plants virtually untreated, the experts say…. The inspectors found three types of chemicals -- phthalates, bisphenol A and triclosan. All are suspected of interfering with hormone systems of humans and wildlife.” San Francisco Chronicle (July 11, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74319]

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Extinction is Not a Sustainable Water Policy: The Bay-Delta Crisis and the Implications for California Water Management. By Phillip L. Isenberg and others. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Water and Power; House Natural Resources Committee. (The Committee, Washington, DC) July 2, 2007. Various pagings.

Full Text at: resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=32&extmode=view&extid=72

[“A congressional panel warned that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the state's key crossroads for water exports to Southern California, teeters on the verge of crisis. The delta is on the brink of an outright collapse that could threaten water deliveries throughout the state. Lawmakers warned of painful choices that almost certainly will have to be made. They suggested, decisions could be forced on California agribusiness, with some water-intensive, less-pricey crops fallowed to ensure adequate water supplies for homes, businesses and the state's more profitable agricultural commodities.” Los Angeles Times (July 3, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74320]

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A Review of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Retail and Wholesale Customer Water Demand Projections. By Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. (The Institute, Oakland, California) July 2007.

["Two major conservation groups accused the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission of trying to siphon more water out of the Tuolumne River so that suburbanites could continue watering their lawns in the face of global warming. The report says that the PUC has overestimated future water demands and underestimated the effectiveness of conservation when coming up with its water plan for the next 23 years. At issue is where the water will come from to serve 2.4 million residents and thousands of businesses in four counties - San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda." San Francisco Chronicle (July 31, 2007) 1.]

Report. 45 p.
http://www.pacinst.org/reports/tuolumne/tuolumne_sfpuc_report.pdf

Executive Summary. 2 p.
http://www.pacinst.org/reports/tuolumne/tuolumne_exec_summ.pdf

[Request #S74321]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Power Up: The Campaign for Digital Inclusion: Digital Inclusion Imperatives Offer Municipalities New Social and Economic Opportunities. By Maria E. Wynne, Microsoft Corporation, and Lane F. Cooper, BizTechReports. (The Corporation, Redmond, Washington) June/July 2007.

[“It is a fact that those who have online access and are digitally literate are more likely to be economically secure and at less risk than those who do not. State and local government officials are increasingly aware that the concept of an effective ‘Digital Inclusion’ strategy is one of the most significant challenges they face. Efforts to democratize access via Municipal Wi-Fi efforts or related broadband initiatives are under way all across the nation. Access alone, however, does not equal Digital Inclusion. Governments must now actively pursue broader initiatives to meet the challenge."]

Report. 14 p.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/e/1/1e131973-a8e9-4a38-8965-2a9592e6a24d/White_Paper_Digital_Inclusion.pdf

Executive Summary. 4 p.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/e/1/1e131973-a8e9-4a38-8965-2a9592e6a24d/Executive_Summary_Digital_Inclusion.pdf

[Request #S74322]

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Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Do Not Always Use It to Mitigate the Impacts of Casinos, and Its Viability Will Be Adversely Affected by Compact Amendments. By the California Bureau of State Audits. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) July 2007. 109 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2006-036.pdf

[“Hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside to help communities deal with the impacts of Indian casinos went to unrelated projects, such as a rescue ambulance boat and a program for troubled students. The report faulted local committees, made up of city, county and tribal government officials, which dole out money from a special state-managed pot of gambling dollars meant to address casino impacts such as traffic and crime.” Riverside press-Enterprise (July 12, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74323]

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Pedro Lozano, et al. v. City of Hazelton. U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. CV-06-1586. July 26, 2007. 206 p.

Full Text at: www.aclupa.org/downloads/Hazletondecision.pdf

[“A federal judge struck down a Pennsylvania city's ordinance that sought to punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and employers who hire them, ruling that immigration law is the province of the federal government alone…. Activists on both sides of the issue said that the decision -- the first after a trial in federal court -- dealt a major setback, but not a final defeat, to these local initiatives.” Los Angeles Times (July 27, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74324]

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The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act, 2005–2006: A Report to the 110th Congress. By the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. (The Commission, Washington, DC) June 30, 2007. 122 p.

Full Text at: projectvote.org/fileadmin/ProjectVote/Publications/EAC_NVRArpt2006.pdf

["The report includes data on various aspects of voter registration in the past two years. These most recent numbers strongly indicate that many states continue to ignore the requirement that public assistance agencies offer voter registration to clients, while enforcement of the law by the Department of Justice has been virtually non-existent.... Between initial implementation of the law in 1995 and 2006, the EAC's numbers indicate an 80 percent nationwide decrease in voter registrations from public assistance agencies. Nine states reported decreases of 90 percent or more.... Only six states provide training at least every two years to all voter registration agencies." Project Vote press release (July 3, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S74325]

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Top To Bottom Review : Overview of Red Team Reports. By Matt Bishop, University of California, Davis. (California Secretary of State, Sacramento, California) July 2007.

["County election officials and makers of voting machines squared off against critics of electronic voting in a hearing that could determine how the Feb. 5 presidential primary election is run. Allowing a team of computer experts unlimited access to the voting systems, along with any needed passwords, source code and manuals 'is not a real world scenario,' said Steven Bennett, a spokesman for Sequoia Voting Systems... But opponents of the growing use of electronic voting systems hailed the test as proof that the systems can be rigged to change election results and demanded that they either be junked or taken out of the hands of the private vendors." San Francisco Chronicle (July 31, 2007) 1.]

Overview. 14 p.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/ttbr/red_overview.pdf

Individual machines. Various pagings.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm

[Request #S74326]

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HEALTH

CHILDREN

How Did SCHIP Affect the Insurance Coverage of Immigrant Children? By Thomas Buchmueller, University of Michigan, and others. (National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts) July 2007. 29 p.

Full Text at: www.nber.org/papers/w13261.pdf

["An important step to increase enrollment of eligible but uninsured children is to determine how the take-up of public coverage varies within the population. Because of their low rates of insurance coverage and unique enrollment barriers, children of immigrants are an important group to consider. We compare the effect of SCHIP eligibility on the insurance coverage of children of foreign-born and native-born parents. We find similar take-up rates for the two groups. This suggests that state outreach strategies were not only effective at increasing take-up overall, but were successful in reducing disparities in access to coverage."]

[Request #S74327]

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What Does It Take for a Family to Afford to Pay for Health Care? By David Carroll, California Budget Project, and others. (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Los Angeles, California) August 2007.

["This report provides insight into how much Californians can afford to pay for health care by estimating how much they currently pay for health care – including both insurance and out-of-pocket expenses – and how much they pay for the cost of other basic necessities – including housing, child care, transportation, and food.... This research suggests that most Californians with incomes below twice the poverty line – $41,300 for a family of four – may not be able to contribute any resources toward their health care and that partial subsidies are needed for many families with incomes well above three times the poverty line – $61,950 for a family of four."]

Report. 14 p.
report

Appendix. 5 p.
appendix

[Request #S74328]

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The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey. By E. Richard Brown and others, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. (The Center, Los Angeles, California) July 2007. 108 p.

Full Text at: www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/files/SHIC_RT_071107.pdf

[“Despite a strong economy, the number of Californians with job-based health insurance declined from 2001 to 2005.... The decline in insurance was steeper for Californians with moderate or low incomes. For members of a family of three earning $38,000 to $48,000 a year, job-based health insurance fell from 58% to 53%. Paradoxically, over the same period, the proportion of uninsured Californians also declined, from 21.9% to 20%, a drop attributed to a dramatic increase in enrollment in government-funded programs. Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and county-based programs now insure nearly 1 in 3 California children.”]

[Request #S74329]

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HOUSING

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Affordable Housing Needs 2005: Report to Congress. By the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. May 2007. 99 p.

Full Text at: www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/AffHsgNeeds.pdf

[“Growing numbers of the nation's poorest households are using more than half their earnings for rent while waiting years for federal housing assistance that may never come. The phenomenon is largely playing out in urban and suburban locales, but has exploded recently in rural areas as coveted rental assistance becomes harder to get due to high demand and scant funding from Congress. A new report found that 6 million impoverished households used most of their monthly earnings for housing or lived in substandard conditions in 2005. That's an increase of 16 percent, or 817,000 families, since 2003. The number of rural families facing this dilemma grew by 51 percent, to nearly 1 million households over the same two-year span.” Sacramento Bee (July 15, 2007) A6.]

[Request #S74330]

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HUMAN SERVICES

CHILDREN

Keeping Children Safe When Their Parents are Arrested: Local Approaches That Work. Ginny Puddefoot and Lisa Foster, California Research Bureau, California State Library. CRB-07-006. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) July 2007. 98 p.

Full Text at: www.library.ca.gov/crb/07/07-006.pdf

[“Children are often overlooked when their parents are arrested, but they are traumatized by the impact of this arrest on both their immediate circumstances and long-term care. Recent legislation encourages a coordinated local response by law enforcement and child welfare services, and requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop guidelines and training for use by state and local law enforcement officers encountering children at an arrest scene. This report explores how these coordinated responses can best ensure children's safety and well-being and can also have benefits for both law enforcement and child welfare services. It highlights the successful joint protocols developed by several California jurisdictions and identifies key strategies for developing these approaches responses elsewhere in the state.”]

[Request #S74331]

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A Child's Right to Counsel. First Star's National Report Card on Legal Representation for Children. By Whytni Kernodle Frederick and Deborah L. Sams, First Star. (First Star, Washington, DC) 2007. 128 p.

Full Text at: www.firststar.org/documents/FIRSTSTARReportCard07.pdf

[“Nearly half of U.S. states fail to provide legal representation for abused and neglected foster children, leaving them without a voice during judicial proceedings that profoundly impact their futures…. The first-of-its-kind study, found ‘glaring anomalies’ in how states protect the legal rights of foster children, leading to substandard levels of service and unacceptable outcomes in most states. Fifteen states received failing grades and six more received D's. Only five states received A's.”]

[Request #S74332]

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TRANSPORTATION

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION

Financing Freight Improvements. By the Office of Freight Management and Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation. (The Department, Washington, DC) 2007. 161 p.

Full Text at: www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/freightfinancing/freightfinancing.pdf

[“This guidebook was developed as a resource for states, metropolitan planning organizations and other parties involved in the identification of freight needs and development of financing plans. One section describes existing federal funding programs and financing tools. This section provides an overview of several programs available through the States that have been created to support the increasing need for the public sector to invest in freight-related infrastructure. Another section provides brief summaries of how various types of freight-related projects were financed.”]

[Request #S74333]

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