October 28, 2009

National Children's Alliance (NCA), under agreement with the United States Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), announces that it will administer $10,125,000 in federal funds during the 2010 calendar year to support Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) and Multidisciplinary Teams nationwide. A request for proposal has been posted to the NCA website www.nationalchildrensalliance.org. The deadline for grant proposals is December 2nd, 2009 and awards will be announced January 1st, 2010. The objective of the funding is to further the development and implementation of multidisciplinary child abuse investigation and prosecution programs. The multidisciplinary approach is a child-focused method in which representatives from many disciplines, including law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical and victim advocacy, work together to conduct interviews and make team decisions about the investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse cases. Full release.

The Pew Environment Group today called on the world's governing body for conserving Antarctic marine life to geographically spread out krill catches in the Southern Ocean. This would prevent the concentration of the fishery from significantly reducing the amount of krill available for key predators including whales, penguins and seals. Krill are tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans that serve as the "bread and butter" of the Southern Ocean food chain. But an expanding commercial krill fishery poses serious threats to the shellfish and its iconic predators. The greatest demand today for Antarctic krill comes from the fish farming industry which uses krill for feed. Commercial fishing boats also catch and process krill, high in beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids, for dietary supplements. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was created 28 years ago to preserve krill, but there is still no effective management system in place to protect this linchpin of the Antarctic ecosystem. Full release.

Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), today testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on the use of target date funds as investment options for 401(k)-type plans. An estimated 75 percent of 401(k) plans offer so-called life cycle or target date funds as investment options for retirement plans. "The retirement security of American workers increasingly depends on their investment decisions. The department is reviewing issues on the use of target date funds and exploring a number of regulatory initiatives to assist plan fiduciaries, participants and beneficiaries in understanding target date funds," said Borzi. Full release.

The National Runaway Switchboard (NRS) is reporting an increase of more than 200 percent since 2006 in the number of crisis calls to its 1-800-RUNAWAY hotline from or about youth who identify economics as one of the reasons for their call. Meanwhile, the majority of crisis calls continue to be from 15 to 17 year olds (52 percent in 2008), and the number of crisis callers age 18 to 21 has increased by more than 500 percent since 2000. The information is presented in the second annual National Runaway Switchboard Crisis Caller Trends report released today by the non-profit organization, which serves as the federally designated national communication system for homeless and runaway youth. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the U. S. reached 9.8 percent in September. Maureen Blaha, NRS executive director, said the increase in older youth calling the crisis line is most likely related to the economic downturn. Full release.

Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, on behalf of the American Association for Homecare's more than 4,000 member locations serving Medicare beneficiaries in every state in the nation, we appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding the need to eliminate waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) represents durable medical equipment providers, manufacturers, and other organizations in the homecare community. Members serve the medical needs of the millions of Americans who require oxygen equipment and services, power wheelchairs, inhalation drug therapy, home infusion, hospital beds, diabetic supplies, and other medical equipment, supplies, and services in the comfort of their homes. Receiving these services and equipment in the home reduces the need for lengthy, expensive institutional stays. AAHomecare applauds Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary William Corr's statement to the Judiciary Committee this morning that the federal government is committed to "stop fraud before it happens," which is the goal of the American Association for Homecare's 13-Point Medicare Anti-Fraud Legislative Action Plan. Full release.

Sarah Stephens, Executive Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, released the following comments about the vote in the UN General Assembly today against the United States embargo of Cuba: "President Obama inherited a Cuba policy that doesn't fit him -- it's unilateral, it doesn't work, and it puts us at odds with the region and the world. The message of the UN vote is that he should follow his instincts on Cuba and push forward, faster and further, beyond the incremental reforms he has already undertaken. "My hope is that this vote will force the administration to ask itself 'why are we enforcing a failed, hand-me-down policy that hurts Cubans and injures the image of the U.S., when we are trying to get international cooperation on problems that actually threaten our interests?' "Whenever I travel in Latin America, I meet people who are genuinely surprised that President Obama, who represents such a sharp departure from the past, would continue enforcing an embargo that he inherited from the Cold War. They are the audience for a policy change that shows he sees the world differently. Full release.

Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, and Southern Research Institute, a not-for-profit contract research organization conducting basic and applied preclinical drug research, today announced that several bioactive hits from a set of 15,000 diverse small molecule compounds screened under contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) exhibit antiviral activity against HIV-1 infected cells. Among the compounds tested at Southern Research using the Trana HIV 201 High-Throughput Screening (HTS) assay, 16 compounds demonstrated inhibition of HIV replication in infected human cells and several of these compounds were judged to be "potentially druggable." The screening assay used to identify the compounds is based on the premise that HIV-1 has evolved to use tRNALys3 as a primer for initiation of reverse transcription. Therefore, the interaction between tRNALys3 and viral genomic RNA represents a potential novel target for HIV-1 drug development. The biochemical assay to identify inhibitors of the interaction between tRNALys3 and HIV-1 genomic RNA was developed by Trana and transferred to Southern Research for high-throughput screening. Southern Research converted the assay to a homogeneous amplified luminescent proximity assay using AlphaScreen(R) reagents from PerkinElmer. Full release.

The following is being released by the Community Cares Coalition: With pending health reform legislation in the U.S. Congress containing cuts of up to $32 billion over ten years to Medicare-funded nursing home care, a diverse national coalition of front line caregivers, state health care providers and local small business owners joined together at a Capitol Hill news conference to warn deep cuts must be reigned in to safeguard the care of America's most vulnerable seniors, preserve the jobs of the key frontline caregivers who make the difference in patient outcomes, and protect the ongoing viability of local small businesses oriented towards serving the long term care sector. "The very deep Medicare funding reductions like those now being considered by Congress represent a direct, immediate threat to every U.S. seniors' nursing home care, and to the ongoing operational stability of skilled nursing facilities throughout the nation," warned Rick Erb, Executive Director of the Maine Health Care Association (MHCA), in Augusta, ME. "We are thankful Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have recently focused much-needed attention on the unique challenges our sector faces as we battle not just Medicare cuts from Washington, but state Medicaid funding crises in state capitols across America." Full release.

During its ninth annual Latino Economic Forum held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the New America Alliance, a national network of prominent Latino and Latino business leaders, will address the following topics: the upcoming 2010 census, utilizing untapped Latino talent to ensure optimal results in the economic recovery, creating a new landscape within the financial system to include Latinos as decision makers and the power of shareholders in corporate democracy. This annual forum convenes CEOs, entrepreneurs, top business leaders, high ranking government officials and other thought-leaders to discuss Latino participation in building the economic vitality of our nation. For more information about the summit, visit www.naaonline.org/news-and-events/. "Our goal for the forum is to equip business leaders with the knowledge and network necessary to highlight the importance and increase the impact of the American Latino community on the U.S. economy," said Carlos Loumiet, NAA Chair of the Board and Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP. Full release.

Calling the next few years a transformational time that could define the future of our civil justice system, speakers at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's (ILR) 10th Annual Legal Reform Summit urged U.S. decision makers to consider the costs of expanding liability for job creators during the economic recovery. "When making any decision that impacts our civil justice system, our leaders should ask themselves one fundamental question: 'Will this help put people back to work, or will this seed the ground for more job-killing litigation?'" said ILR President Lisa Rickard. "As elected officials, they are entrusted with pursuing policies that help revitalize the economy and bring back the jobs that have been shed across the country. The American people expect them to live up to this obligation." Full release.

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