Foundation Trustee Fees: Uses and Abuses
Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership
The report brings to light a seldom-discussed issue: Why are foundation board members compensated – many at considerable levels – while members of most other nonprofit organizations are not? The center analyzed fees paid to the board members of 238 foundations (both large and small) using their federal tax forms from 1998. The total amount paid to trustees of the foundations was nearly $44.9 million, all of which can be applied against the federal requirement that foundations donate 5 percent of their assets each year to charitable causes.
Several heavy-hitters in youth grant making were among those paying the highest trustee fees of the foundations studied, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Casey Family Programs, the Lilly Endowment and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Other sizable youth grant-making foundations did not report paying trustees fees, including the Packard, Gates, William Penn, and William and Flora Hewlett foundations. 62 pages. Free online. National Center for Responsive Philanthropy, 2001 S St. NW, Suite 620, Washington, DC 20009. (202) 362-0256, www.ncrp.org.
Identifying and Addressing the Needs of Children in Grandparent Care
Urban Institute
A survey of adults who care for the children of other family members (a/k/a “non-parental relative caregivers”) found that the grandparent caregivers tended to be less educated and in worse health, and to care for younger children, than the others. The report, based on an institute survey of 44,000 households in 1999, also indicates that while 48 percent of children under grandparent or other relative care faced food insecurity, fewer children under grandparent care faced crowding or housing problems. More than two-thirds of the grandparent caregivers in the study were not receiving foster care payments or other financial aid for which they were qualified. Both groups of relative caregivers showed moderate rates of emotional problems. 9 pages. Free online. Urban Institute, 2100 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20037. (202) 833-7200, www.urban.org/urlprint.cfm?ID=8561.
Bullying Prevention Is Crime Prevention
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development survey of 15,686 youths, this study seeks to demonstrate the deleterious effect of bullying on both the victims and the bullies. The study says that approximately 30 percent of all kids are bullies, victims of bullies, or both. Frequent victims of bullying are far more prone to depression than children who are not victimized. Nearly 60 percent of boys classified as bullies in the sixth through ninth grades had been convicted at least once for a crime by age 24, and 40 percent had been convicted three times. The report profiles three bullying prevention models considered highly effective: The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers, and The Incredible Years. 24 pages. Free online. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000 P St. NW, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 776-0027, www.fightcrime.org.
Physical Activity Levels Among Children Aged 9-13 Years, United States 2002
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A random telephone survey of approximately 3,600 households released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 61 percent of the children surveyed did not fill their free time with organized physical activity and 23 percent did not participate in any sort of free-time physical activity in the days preceding the survey.
Black and Hispanic children were nearly 25 percent less likely than non-Hispanic white children to participate in organized physical activities. Children from low-income families or those whose parents were less educated were less likely to participate in organized activities; their parents more frequently cited economic and transportation barriers. 5 pages. Free online. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Mailstop C-08, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333. (404) 639-4198, www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
How Young People Express Their Political Views
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement
Many people ages 15 to 25 are willing to express themselves politically, this report says – as consumers. Half the respondents to a survey said they had refused to buy a product because they disagreed with the conditions under which it was made, and 45 percent said they had bought products because they agreed with a company’s values. A surprising 41 percent of youth had participated in a walk, run or bike ride for charity, while fewer than 20 percent said they had written to their local newspapers or taken part in a protest. 6 pages. Free online. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement. University of Maryland, 2101 Van Munching Hall, College Park, MD 20742. (301) 405-2790, www.civicyouth.org.
Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshot: A Review of Out-of-School Time Program Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Evaluation Results
Harvard Family Research Project
Examining the effectiveness of 27 out-of-school time (OST) programs, this report finds a positive correlation between the frequency and duration of youth participation in OST programs and the benefits they gained.
Youths who attended the OST programs more frequently or for longer periods were more likely to exhibit behavior and learn skills consistent with the goals of the programs. (Educational, youth development and substance abuse prevention programs were measured.)
While programs that fared the best offered more contact time with youth, those that served youth for less than 9 1/2 hours per week actually had negative effects on academic performance. The authors could not explain the negative correlations, and encouraged programs to scientifically collect information in order to better assess how much participation is needed to achieve good results. 12 pages. Free online. Harvard Family Research Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 3 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138. (617) 495-9108, www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp.
Mentoring Children of Prisoners in Philadelphia
Public/Private Ventures
This report profiles the achievements and importance of the Amachi program, a mentoring collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America that focuses on the children of incarcerated parents. The report focuses on Amachi’s early years in partnering these youth with mentors in Philadelphia. 60 pages. Free online. Public/Private Ventures, 2000 Market St., Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA 19103. (215) 557-4400, www.ppv.org.
What Makes a Solution? Lessons and Findings from Solutions in America
Pew Partnership for Civic Change
By profiling 19 initiatives to address pressing community problems, Pew shows how a variety of approaches can meet its standards for effectiveness: connecting citizens, promoting democracy, thinking locally and changing the way community members think. The initiatives range from a youth empowerment program in Big Ugly Creek, W.Va., to a neighborhood revitalization effort in New York City. 53 pages.
Free online. Pew Partnership for Civic Change, 5 Boar’s Head Lane, Suite 100, Charlottesville, VA 22903. (434) 971-2073, www.pew-partnership.org/pdf/Freedman_Report.pdf.
No More Islands: Family Involvement in 27 School and Youth Programs
American Youth Policy Forum
This study highlights 27 school and youth programs that successfully incorporate family participation, a component that the forum says was missing from 75 percent of the more than 100 programs it evaluated for family involvement. Researchers found that while many youth programs focused positive attention on youth by zeroing in on their strengths and talents, they did not apply this concept to family involvement.
Instead, the programs often related to families in a more problem-based manner and looked for ways to “fix” family problems. The study refutes myths that might discourage organizations from involving families, and provides tips on how to work family involvement into youth programs. 152 pages. $10. American Youth Policy Forum, 1836 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 775-9731, www.aypf.org.
Status of the American Public School Teacher: 2000-2001
National Education Association
This mammoth report presents and analyzes a wealth of data from a survey of 1,467 teachers, covering everything from their social lives to staffing patterns. Asked whether they would teach if they had it to do over again, 60 percent gave an unequivocal yes, while about one-fifth said they would not. 394 pages. Free online.
National Education Association, 1201 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 833-4000, www.nea.org.
TANF and the Status of Teen Mothers Under Age 18
Urban Institute
This report compiles and summarizes data on the birth rates and behavioral patterns of 15- to 17-year-old girls before and after the 1996 welfare reforms. The authors say that no data directly correlate changes in birth and fertility rates with welfare reform, but they note that the percentage of minor teen mothers living with their parents has increased by 11 percent during the imposition of welfare reform. 7 pages. Free online. Urban Institute, 2100 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20037. (202) 833-7200, www.urban.org/urlprint.cfm?ID=8419.
