States are facing shortages of foster parents, despite a nationwide decline in the number of children in need of foster care.
Officials in states including California, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida report having fewer foster homes available than needed. But a study released this month by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the number of children in foster care has dropped from 460,416 in September of 2008 to 423,773 in 2009 — and is down from about 523,000 in 2002.
READ MORE:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-23-fostercare23_ST_N.htm
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Annual Fall Workshop of the New York State Infant Mental Health Association
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
5:30-8:30 pm
Topic:
The Collaborative Process for Caring for
Very Young Children with Mental Health Issues
Panel Presenters:
Dr. Anthony Malone, Developmental Pediatrician
Dr. Julie Simon, Psychologist
Dr. Dawn Abbuhl, Psychologist
Here is a link to Directions: http://www.ellishospital.org/ellishealthcenter/directions.aspx
5:30-8:30 pm
Topic:
The Collaborative Process for Caring for
Very Young Children with Mental Health Issues
Panel Presenters:
Dr. Anthony Malone, Developmental Pediatrician
Dr. Julie Simon, Psychologist
Dr. Dawn Abbuhl, Psychologist
Here is a link to Directions: http://www.ellishospital.org/ellishealthcenter/directions.aspx
More Teens Get Unapproved Weight-Loss Surgery
A type of weight-loss surgery not approved for adolescents is becoming more and more common among teens in California, according to a report published today.
Most of the patients are white girls, although they make up less than half of overweight youth, researchers say.
From 2005 to 2007, they found rates of so-called gastric banding, in which a silicone band is placed around the top portion of the stomach to restrict food intake, rose five-fold. However, use of gastric bypass -- which surgically reduces the size of the stomach -- dropped, leaving the overall rate of weight-loss procedures constant.
READ MORE:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/09/20/teens-unapproved-weight-loss-surgery/
Most of the patients are white girls, although they make up less than half of overweight youth, researchers say.
From 2005 to 2007, they found rates of so-called gastric banding, in which a silicone band is placed around the top portion of the stomach to restrict food intake, rose five-fold. However, use of gastric bypass -- which surgically reduces the size of the stomach -- dropped, leaving the overall rate of weight-loss procedures constant.
READ MORE:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/09/20/teens-unapproved-weight-loss-surgery/
Monday, September 13, 2010
News Around the World: China Could Overthrow One-Child Rule
The Chinese government is beginning to rethink its famed one-child limit as it begins to lift the restriction in five provinces with low birth rates.
The pilot projects, which are set to begin in 2011, allow for a second child per family if at least one spouse is an only child. USA Today reports that Beijing, Shanghai and four other provinces will follow suit in 2012, with nationwide adoption of the new policy expected by 2013 or 2014. In 1979, China's one-child policy was introduced after decades of huge population boom followed by mass death due to resulting food shortages. The policy, which has prevented 400 million births, restricted the country's ethnic Han majority to have only one child per family (exempting most ethnic minorities) and has remained nearly the same since, though a few exceptions have been made. (Some rural farm families have been allowed to have a second child if the first is a girl.)
READ MORE: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/09/china-could-overthrow-one-child-rule/#ixzz0zQFmQhlv
The pilot projects, which are set to begin in 2011, allow for a second child per family if at least one spouse is an only child. USA Today reports that Beijing, Shanghai and four other provinces will follow suit in 2012, with nationwide adoption of the new policy expected by 2013 or 2014. In 1979, China's one-child policy was introduced after decades of huge population boom followed by mass death due to resulting food shortages. The policy, which has prevented 400 million births, restricted the country's ethnic Han majority to have only one child per family (exempting most ethnic minorities) and has remained nearly the same since, though a few exceptions have been made. (Some rural farm families have been allowed to have a second child if the first is a girl.)
READ MORE: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/09/china-could-overthrow-one-child-rule/#ixzz0zQFmQhlv
A New Generation of Caregivers Takes Control of Kids
The number of children being raised by their grandparents has risen sharply since the start of the recession in 2007, according to a new Pew Research Center study that found one in 10 children in the U.S. now lives with a grandparent.
The trend was most noticeable among whites, Pew said in its analysis of census data. Those whites who were primary caregivers for their grandchildren rose 9 percent from 2007 to 2008, compared with a 2 percent increase among black grandparents and no change among Hispanics. In all, 2.9 million children are being raised mainly by at least one grandparent, or 4 percent of all children.
READ MORE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090906576.html
The trend was most noticeable among whites, Pew said in its analysis of census data. Those whites who were primary caregivers for their grandchildren rose 9 percent from 2007 to 2008, compared with a 2 percent increase among black grandparents and no change among Hispanics. In all, 2.9 million children are being raised mainly by at least one grandparent, or 4 percent of all children.
READ MORE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090906576.html
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Teens' 'unhealthy' sex exposure blamed on TV, music, Web
"The media represents arguably the leading sex educator in America today," said Dr. Victor Strasburger, the lead author of the paper. "We do such a poor job of educating kids about sex in sex education classes in school, and parents are notoriously shy about talking to kids about sex. The media picks up the slack."
Seventy percent of teen shows contain sexual content, Strasburger added, "and less than 10% of that content involves what anyone would classify as being responsible content. There's no mention of contracting an STD (sexually transmitted disease) or the need to wait to have sex until later."
The United States leads the western world in teen pregnancy rates and American teens have an alarmingly high rate of STDs — one in four children.
READ MORE:
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-09-06-sex-education_N.htm
Seventy percent of teen shows contain sexual content, Strasburger added, "and less than 10% of that content involves what anyone would classify as being responsible content. There's no mention of contracting an STD (sexually transmitted disease) or the need to wait to have sex until later."
The United States leads the western world in teen pregnancy rates and American teens have an alarmingly high rate of STDs — one in four children.
READ MORE:
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-09-06-sex-education_N.htm
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Addressing Hospital Acquired Infections in NYS: Improving Patient Safety
Free live webcast - September 16, 2010
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Eastern Time
Rachel Stricof, MPH, CIC
Bureau Director
Bureau of Healthcare-Associated Infections
New York State Department of Health
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a major public health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections and 99,000 deaths from those infections in 2002. 1 A recent CDC report estimated the annual medical costs of healthcare-associated infections to U.S. hospitals to be between $28 and $45 billion, adjusted to 2007 dollars. 2 The speaker will discuss the development of the New York State HAI reporting system, describe HAI rates in NYS in the three years since mandated reporting began; and describe activities underway in New York to support hospitals to reduce risk and enhance patient safety.
REGISTER HERE:
http://www.informz.net/ualbany-sph/event.asp?eid=3725&uid=237207396&minst=1072948
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Eastern Time
Rachel Stricof, MPH, CIC
Bureau Director
Bureau of Healthcare-Associated Infections
New York State Department of Health
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a major public health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections and 99,000 deaths from those infections in 2002. 1 A recent CDC report estimated the annual medical costs of healthcare-associated infections to U.S. hospitals to be between $28 and $45 billion, adjusted to 2007 dollars. 2 The speaker will discuss the development of the New York State HAI reporting system, describe HAI rates in NYS in the three years since mandated reporting began; and describe activities underway in New York to support hospitals to reduce risk and enhance patient safety.
REGISTER HERE:
http://www.informz.net/ualbany-sph/event.asp?eid=3725&uid=237207396&minst=1072948
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