The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 8/27/2010: A look at one foundation’s achievements in helping low-income and at-risk girls find confidence and empowerment.  Plus, more than half of babies born into poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of depression.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with the Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty. Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

·The State highlights the achievements of the DIVA Foundation, founded by Monicka Carey-Green to help low-income and at-risk girls find confidence and empowerment.

·A new study recently found that more than half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of mild to severe depression, potentially creating problems in parenting and in child development, as reported in The Washington Post.

·In an editorial in the Courier-Post, Donald Norcross criticizes New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for vetoing a bipartisan bill authorizing $7.4 million to help thousands of low-income women and their families receive vital health care services.

·Carrie Morgan Handy, 63, tells the Times-Picayune that after Katrina destroyed her house, she illegally squatted in a foreclosed building for three years until she was discovered by UNITY of Greater New Orleans, who reports that squatters are four times more likely to be elderly and usually choose to avoid shelters.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org

To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team

Tags: spotlight, on, poverty, girls, women, depression, poverty, healthcare

– The Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner) has a new chief executive officer.  Lidia Soto-Harmon took over as CEO last month.  Click here to watch the introductory message she videotaped.

– Early voting starts tomorrow in Maryland.  This is the first time voters in Maryland will have the option of casting their ballots before Primary Day.  For early voting and other election details, please click here.

Tags: maryland, election, early, voting, girl, scouts, lidia, soto-harmon

– Montgomery County schools are being highlighted in a new report for their successful pre-kindergarten programs.  The Pew Center on the States study looks at a decade worth of data and found the extra time in school during pre-K was critical to the school district’s success.  Click here to read more.

– With just a couple of weeks to go before D.C.’s September 14 primary, mayoral candidates Adrian Fenty and Vincent Gray will face off in a Washington Post sponsored debate today at the Newseum.  There aren’t any tickets left, but you can watch the debate live online at Noon.

– Ward 8’s second large grocery store officially opens today.  Yes! Organic is located in the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Ave., SE.  At a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, the store’s owner told The Washington Post “just because people’s incomes are low doesn’t mean that they are not looking for good quality, nutritious food.”

– “Widespread sexism in the media is one of the top problems facing women,” according to NameItChangeIt.org. This new campaign is working to erase sexism against women candidates in the media.  One of their efforts to draw attention to the issue is this funny — though slightly risque — video:

Tags: montgomery, county, education, pre, k, washington, mayor, election, name it change it, yes!, organic

– Nonprofit Montgomery has released the 2010 Candidates Questionnaire — in-their-own-words responses to questions about Montgomery County and the nonprofit community.  Click here to read the responses. (via Washington Grantmakers Daily)

– With just a couple of weeks to go before D.C.’s September 14 primary, mayoral candidates Adrian Fenty and Vincent Gray will face off in a Washington Post sponsored debate tomorrow at the Newseum.  There aren’t any tickets left, but you can watch the debate live online at Noon.

– In spite of the progress that’s been made nationally and locally, we are still a region divided when it comes to race, economics and class, according to Petula Dvorak’s column in today’s Washington Post.

Tags: election, montgomery, county, nonprofit, women, girls, washington, dc

– Residents in Ward 8’s Fairlawn neighborhood will have access to more fresh produce and organic foods when a Yes! Organic grocery opens there later this week.  Food at Yes! Organic tends to be priced higher than at other stores.  As WAMU reports, some wonder if an organic grocer can be successful in the District’s most economically impoverished ward.  Others say they’ll pay a little extra for the convenience of having a grocery store in their community.

– D.C. residents began casting their ballots today in September’s primary election.  Early voting started this morning.  About 20 percent of primary election voters go to the polls early.  Click here for more details.

– Last week we highlighted a story about the racial achievement gap in D.C. public schools.  This week, a Washington Post columnist puts a more positive spin on the same data, saying the achievement gap can’t be a measuring tool for schools’ performance.

The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 8/20/2010: A look at a small nonprofit facing tough times and the impact on one community.  Plus, Wisconsin becomes the latest state to use Medicaid funds for free contraception.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with the Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty. Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

·The Orlando Sentinel interviews Debra Thomas, who, once a homeless single mother, now runs a nonprofit to help others facing tough times and struggles to meet demand in the current economic climate.

·As part of the federal healthcare overhaul, Wisconsin is pushing to expand a controversial program that uses federal Medicaid funds to provide free contraception to low-income women, according to the Wall Street Journal.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org

To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team

– More than half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of mild to severe depression, according to a new study from the Urban Institute, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner.  The study found that just 30 percent of depressed low-income mothers of infants spoke to a professional about a mental health problem during the year before the survey was conducted.  Click here for more.

–”After two years of progress, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s effort to narrow the vast achievement gap separating white and African American students in D.C. public schools has stalled,” reports The Washington Post after analyzing 2010 test score data.

– Coolidge Senior High School’s football team is preparing for their first game under new coach Natalie Randolph.  Randolph is believed to be just the second woman in history to lead a high school varsity football team.  Coolidge opens the season tonight at home against Carroll.  Click here for details.

Tags: women, mothers, depression, poverty, education, schools, natalie randolph, coolidge, high

Suffrage bills were brought before Congress beginning in 1915, but never passed the House and Senate until June 4, 1919.  The amendment then needed 36 states to ratify it.  Tennessee became the 36th in the summer of 1920, and women around the country were able to vote in that November’s presidential election for the first time.  Despite the accomplishments of the suffrage movement, it would be another 45 years before the 24th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 secured the full enfranchisement of all Americans regardless of sex, race or economic status.

Here are a few of the events going on in our area that commemorate Women’s Equality Day:

The Sewell-Belmont House & Museum has launched an online archive honoring inspirational women.

Ain’t I a Woman: A Complicated Story of Women’s Suffrage in Black and White
Tonight at 7:00 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives
Click here for more details.

The League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia will hold an all day rally in front of the White House to draw attention to the lack of full voting representation and autonomy for D.C. residents.  Women and men are invited to join participants anytime at Lafayette Park.  Demonstrators are encouraged to wear white.  D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will address the group this morning.

Photo credit: New York Times via Creative Commons

Tags: women's, equality, day, 19th, amendment, 90th, anniversary

– Maryland and D.C. schools have won a combined $325 million in Race to the Top federal funds.  Over $4 billion in Race to the Top dollars was awarded to 11 jurisdictions nationwide for efforts to enact educational reforms pushed by the Obama administration.

– Now that school is back in session registration is open for this year’s DC Public Education Learning Tours. Each tour will culminate with a “deep dive” panel discussion around the tour theme.  Click here for more details and to register.

– Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website is not adequately blocking ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking, attorneys general in 17 states — including Maryland and Virginia — wrote in a joint letter issued this week. Representatives of the online classified site say they’re working to improve measures to block illegal ads.

Tags: washington, dc, public, schools, maryland, education, race to the top, learning, tours, craigslist

Travis Wright is an assistant professor at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.  If you attended our annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing back in May, you probably heard Travis talk about findings from a four year study he did in a presentation called “Mother Matters: Making It vs. Satisfaction in the Lives of Women Raising Children in Low-Income Environments.”  Travis came to The Women’s Foundation to tell us more about his study, some of the policy recommendations he had based on that study and plans he has to open a school that is both culturally and economically diverse.

The overview of Travis’s study was fascinating and unique for a number of reasons, but what I liked best about it were his suggestions that social service providers focus on what women want, instead of what they assume women need.  Travis started his study by asking the participants who they wanted to be.  He asked about what kind of lives these women wanted to have and what success looked like from their point of view.

Below are some clips of Travis’s presentation at The Women’s Foundation.

In this first clip Travis introduces his study and talks about the unique way in which he started his research:

In this clip Travis talks about “mother blaming” — social policy that views mothers as problematic:

In this third clip Travis discusses the major findings from the study, including how women define success and where happiness factors into their lives:

Doesn’t everyone have the right to be happy? In this clip Travis suggests that organizations need to take happiness into account when helping low-income women:

Clip 5 is about significant findings from the study, including the factors associated with life satisfaction and social policies:

And in clip 6 Travis suggests that social service providers as women what they want and need rather than making assumptions.  “Satisfaction,” he says, “has to matter.

If you’d like to read more about Travis Wright’s study, click here to see the Power Point presentation he made at the research briefing.

And feel free to leave a comment below about your feelings on the presentation.

Tags: women, mothers, low, income, assistance, service, providers, nonprofits, children, education