January is National Mentoring Month. To celebrate, the National Mentoring Center has designed a mentor recruitment postcard that local programs can give to their existing mentors to pass on to people they feel would make good mentors. The site also has tips for making your mentor
recruitment campaign a success.

Local communities can do a lot to improve the lives of children and families -- and the projects profiled by the Solutions for America project are proof. Using collaborative, from-the-ground-up research, the project found that successful community efforts have several common characteristics. They: 1) connect disparate members of the community, not just those in need, and link resources with needs, 2) change the way people think about a problem, themselves, or their communities, and 3) focus on a small, doable objective in a deliberate, democratic way.

Thanksgiving week is also National Family Week, with community festivals, forums, fairs, and award ceremonies to celebrate families and encourage communities to strengthen their child care, employment, education and transportation services. Start planning with your community leaders now, with the help of the National Family Week toolkit.

Mentoring has become a popular strategy for helping youth stay on track, but setting up and sustaining a successful program takes some thought and know-how, according to this new guidebook. The manual includes checklists to gauge the strength of your efforts, and a timeline for setting up new programs.

On a typical school day, 15.5 million children can eat a free or reduced price lunch at school -- but only one in five of these children can get a meal after school lets out for the summer, according to the Food Research and Action Center's latest "Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation" report. This year, Congress will consider changes that could help or harm these children when it reauthorizes the federal Child Nutrition Programs.

During their June 2003 meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted several resolutions -- among them, opposing federal proposals to move Head Start to the states, opposing IRS initiatives to impose difficult new requirements on hard-working, low-income families applying for the EITC, and urging the federal government to boost education funds in order to cover the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

As the fiscal year draws to a close, the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers report that most states are unable to protect their highest priority programs from budget reductions. In fiscal year 2003, 37 states were forced to reduce already enacted budgets by nearly $14.5 billion -- the largest spending cut in the history of the 27-year-old fiscal survey.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development says block granting the Section 8 Housing Program (the mainstay of the federal housing funding for low-income households) will cut red tape and costs. Barbara Sard of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says it will cut more than that -- namely, funding and vouchers for thousands of recipients. Learn more from this feature on the Lehrer News Hour. (See "Fears Over Inadequate Funding," midway down the page.)

Millions of young people in America reach adulthood without the skills, credentials or commitment essential for a productive life. The Center for Law and Social Policy calls for a national commitment to increase the proportion of young people who at age 25 have what it takes for adult success: a high school diploma and postsecondary degree or credential, employment with career advancement possibilities, and no engagement in adverse risk-taking behaviors.

The Housing and Urban Development budget could be especially hard hit, putting Section 8 housing voucher assistance for those already receiving it, and the many more eligible elderly, disabled and children who are on the waiting list. Advocates have designated July 14 and 15, 2003 as call-in days. To add your voice, use the toll-free line: 1-888-818-6641.