This issue of "The Future of Children" focuses on efforts to provide publicly funded health insurance to low-income children in the United States through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The articles summarize current knowledge and research about which children are uninsured and why, discuss ways to…

Two alternative paradigms can be identified in the concepts and programs of training and employment policy in Europe. One approach focuses on developing a secure status for young people beginning their working life. An alternative approach concentrates more on strengthening individual responsibility to empower individuals to find their own way in…

First authorized in 1994, the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers program supports after-school programs in approximately 7,500 rural and inner-city public schools . A distinguishing characteristic of 21st-Century programs is the inclusion of academic activities. This report presents the first-year findings from an evaluation of the program.…

To assess the current connections between the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and One-Stop (OS) systems, case studies were conducted of eight states and eight local areas. Findings indicated the major factor that influenced UI's role in the OS design was whether the state took initial claims by telephone or in-person; UI played differing roles in…

This book is a directory of about 1,100 discretionary projects supported by the Office of Special Education Programs and focuses on projects concerned with personnel preparation. This second volume of four presents projects designed to help address state-identified needs for qualified personnel in special education, related services, early…

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the landmark legislation known as the Inspector General Act (IG Act). The IG Act created independent inspectors general, who would: protect the integrity of government; improve program efficiency and effectiveness; prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse in federal agencies; and keep agency heads,…

The years since the fall of the Soviet Union have seen dramatic changes in international relations, global economics, global communications, population migration, and international organized crime. A survey of language needs in the federal government identified 43 countries of primary importance, 19 of secondary importance, and 30 languages…

Providing a summary of legislative activity in the First Session of the 105th Congress, this report describes the current status of legislation and appropriations of key interest to community colleges and presents the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC's) position on these issues. Summaries are provided of 1997 Congressional…

The U.S. Department of Education has produced a national educational technology plan, calling for the placement of high-quality computers--one for every student-- in U.S. schools by the year 2000. Strategies for meeting the plan's funding challenges are the focus of this document. The report provides state and local policy makers some tools and…

The Gila Literacy Program, a project of the Gila County Library District (Miami, Arizona), involved recruitment, retention, coalition building, public awareness, training, rural oriented, basic literacy, tutoring, computer assisted, and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. The project served a community of 10,000-25,000 and was targeted at…

This report recommends passage of the Workforce Investment Partnership Act of 1997. It describes this bill as one that streamlines the current federal job training system, making it more user-friendly, and consolidates the numerous federal job training programs, eliminating confusing and redundant mandates and creating integrated statewide work…

This final performance report for the Eagle Valley Library District literacy project begins with a section that provides quantitative data. The next section compares actual accomplishments to the following objectives for 1992-93: (1) design and implement a literacy program that provides instruction to adults who wish to develop or improve reading,…

The Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma, Ohio) conducted a project that involved recruitment, coalition building, public awareness, training, collection development, and intergenerational/family programs. The program, Bringing Up Readers: Family Literacy Program, was successful in encouraging and promoting family reading, community cooperation,…

This digest of a full report of the same title critically examines the cost controversy in higher education to better understand the types of financial strategies that can help resolve the crisis in college costs. A look at why these costs are so controversial finds that rapid rise in tuition, public debate about educational expenditures and real…

This document focuses on technologies that can be used to improve federal government services. Reference Point, a foundation based in New Jersey, was chosen by the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress to study the application of advanced information. The applications selected for the study were: Electronic Information…