POVERTY | Here are some numbers that should make you angry. New Census data show that the poverty rate for youth (ages 5 to 17) has risen significantly in our region over the course of the recession.
- In Montgomery County, the rate has almost doubled, from 5.4% in 2007 to 9% in 2010.
- Manassas rose from 11.6% to 15.8%.
- And the District rose from an already ridiculous 24.5% to a whopping 30.5%.
That puts the District in the rare and sour company of just 73 jurisdictions in the country with a youth poverty rate above 30%. The Examiner has a chart with numbers from each jurisdiction – and they are all higher than they were four years ago. (Examiner, 11/30)
HIV/AIDS | A new report from the CDC finds that only 28 percent of Americans living with HIV are getting optimal care. (WaPo, 11/30)
In the District, the Washington AIDS Partnership is ahead of the curve. Its Positive Pathways initiative is working to get people living with HIV/AIDS into care and measuring viral load to assess success.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING | The developers of the Hubbard Place affordable housing complex in Columbia Heights were expecting a line of people to sign up for 100 spots on the apartments’ waiting list. They were not, however, expecting people to wait overnight in a line that extended for blocks. (WaPo, 11/30) And that was just to get on the waiting list.
EDUCATION | The Freddie Mac Foundation has awarded $250,000 to Prince George’s County schools for the “principal pipeline” initiative which is designed to improve principal recruitment, training, and evaluation. (Patch, 11/29)
JUVENILE JUSTICE | The New York Times has identified five nonprofits that are making big strides with only a little money. One is the District’s Youth Court which allows first-time, non-violent teenage offenders the chance to be reviewed by a group of peers and given alternatives to formally entering the juvenile justice system. (NY Times, 11/30)
Related: Be sure to check the Daily tomorrow for a new funder-commissioned report on major reform success in the District’s juvenile justice system in recent years.
WORKFORCE | Tamara found this hilarious re-imagining of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine. Written by Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson, it mocks the twisting of unemployment numbers to trick the public. (HuffPo, 11/28)
TUNES | The D.C. Public Library announced that cardholders can now download and keep more than 2 million songs for free (at a rate of 3 per week) from the library’s website. That works out to about a free album per month!
TRANSIT | The District has installed 9 new speed cameras. Fortunately, WAMU mapped them out so you can avoid them. (WAMU, 11/30)
FACTOID | Today’s Philanthropy Factoid Wednesday mixes history, law, academia, and manufacturing to give you…the origins of corporate philanthropy! (WG Daily, 11/30)
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There are lots of problems to face in today’s news. But to end on a positive note, here’s a really neat list of ten futuristic engineering projects (both real and hypothetical) that could help save the environment and boost the global economy. My favorite is an elevator to space.
