‘Heart-wrenching’ Catch-22: Homeless families who turn to city for help find no rooms, risk child welfare inquiry, By Annie Gowen, June 23, 2012, Washington Post: “When Shakieta Smith, a homeless mother of two, called the District’s shelter hotline in March, she was told the city’s shelters were full — and then the intake worker added a chilling warning: If she and her kids had nowhere safe to sleep, she’d be reported to the city’s Child and Family Services Agency for a possible investigation into abuse and neglect. Since then Smith has spent her days looking over her shoulder and her nights worrying about her family’s uncertain future. Could Child Protective Services investigators find her and her two kids at a cousin’s apartment in Southeast, where they often stay? Would they sweep in and take Da’Quan and Da’Layah from their elementary school one afternoon? The fear haunts her. . .”
Author: irpstaff
OECD 2012 U.S. Economic Survey
- OECD raises red flag on US long-term unemployment, By Lucia Mutikani, June 26, 2012, Reuters: “The lengthy spells many Americans are spending without work risk leaving a lasting scar of higher unemployment on the U.S. economy and training programs are needed to avert the damage, the OECD said on Tuesday. The warning from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development comes against the backdrop of stalled U.S. jobs growth and an uptick in the unemployment rate in May. In a report on the U.S. economy, the Paris-based OECD estimated the unemployment rate which the economy could sustain without generating inflation at 6. 1 percent, up from 5.7 percent in 2007. In May, the rate stood at 8.2 percent. “However, structural unemployment may well already have risen more than this estimate would suggest, and there is a risk that it could increase still further, given the still high levels of long-term unemployment,” the OECD said. Before the 2007-2009 recession, many economists believed the so-called natural or structural rate of unemployment was around 5 percent. . .”
- OECD Sees U.S. Economic Growth, Stark Challenges, By Michael R. Crittenden, June 26, 2012, NASDAQ: “The U.S economic recovery may be gaining momentum, but the country faces stagnant wage growth, high comparative levels of poverty and income inequality and an educational system that provides few resources to those more likely to need help, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a new report. The OECD’s 2012 economic survey of the U.S. found that the U.S. economy has made some gains and is expected to grow moderately this year and next. A further deterioration of the European crisis or the potential for U.S. policymakers to allow for immediate sharp cuts in government spending could jeopardize the outlook, the report said. . .”
Food Insecurity – Mississippi
Program aims to reduce hunger in Mississippi, By Emily Wagster Pettus, June 22, 2012, Businessweek: “Mississippi has the highest obesity rate in the nation, yet it also has the highest percentage of households unable to afford enough food for a healthy lifestyle. It seems like a contradiction, but state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith says the two problems are intertwined with poverty. “You think hunger-obesity — where’s the connection here? It’s because much of these people do not have access to healthy foods,” Hyde-Smith said Thursday during the announcement of a hunger-fighting effort. The nonprofit National Urban League and meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. are starting a yearlong program to alleviate hunger for about 19,000 people in three Mississippi counties — Hinds County, which is home to the capital city of Jackson, and Warren and Adams counties, which border the Mississippi River. . .”