Students raised in foster care to get priority housing at California universities, By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times: “It can be lonely spending the summer in a mainly vacant college dormitory. But it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for Daysi Espinoza, who’s grateful to have a room at Cal State Fullerton to call home. For Espinoza and hundreds of other former foster youths attending California’s public universities, dorm rooms provide a much-needed stable residence. While classmates can retreat to childhood bedrooms and their families’ embrace, these students are often on their own and want to stay in their dorms during vacations. ‘It’s definitely important,'” said Espinoza, 19, who lived in foster homes through most of middle school and high school. ‘Personally, having guaranteed housing has helped me so much.’ State universities are paying much more attention these days to the academic, financial and housing needs of the relatively small group of former foster youths who are enrolled there. About 700 are enrolled at UC campuses and 1,200 in the Cal State system, plus several thousand at community colleges who might transfer to those four-year schools, estimates show…”
Day: August 2, 2010
Income and Cancer Survival Rates
Poor people less likely to survive cancer than the rich: study, By Meagan Fitzpatrick, August 1, 2010, Vancouver Sun: “Cancer patients from rich communities have better survival rates than patients from poor ones, according to new Canadian research. The study, being published Monday in the American Cancer Society’s journal CANCER, found significant differences in the survival rates of patients from various socioeconomic backgrounds. With several different cancers, patients living in lower-income communities had a greater chance of dying prematurely than patients from higher-income areas, the study says…”
Child Care Subsidies – South Carolina
Child care subsidies keep ‘poorest of the poor’ at work, By Yvonne Wenger, July 25, 2010, Charleston Post and Courier: “Five months and 100-plus job applications after Tamara Townsend’s boss laid her off from her full-time job with a steady paycheck, the 30-year-old single mother finally found work in May. But this job is commission-only selling alarm systems. Some weeks she doesn’t clear a dime. Whether she scores a sale or not doesn’t change the fact that she has to pay for full-time day care for her 7- and 4-year-old daughters. Townsend moved back into her parents’ West Ashley home after she lost her job at a car dealership that went under in December. She was able to secure a scholarship to help offset her weekly bill at Preschool Academy. Still, juggling the cost of child care and a job that isn’t paying the bills makes it hard to justify working. But Townsend doesn’t want to give up trying. It’s a matter of pride and not wanting to set a bad example for her girls. Townsend has joined the growing ranks of middle- and low-income families that can’t afford child care. The Great Recession and lingering economic slump have left many parents to choose between work or staying home, depending on one income or turning to government assistance…”