THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS
AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) Secretary Thompson to lead panel at White House Conference on
Missing and Exploited Children
2) HHS rewards states for increasing adoption
3) President Bush announces nomination of Mark McClellan as FDA
head
4) NIH Research Leads to More Hope for People Suffering from Parkinson's
5) HHS awards $8.4 million to address nation’s nursing shortage
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Secretary Thompson to lead panel at White House Conference on Missing and Exploited Children
Secretary Thompson will lead a roundtable discussion group on "Caring for Missing Children and their Families" at the White House Conference for Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The Secretary's panel will convene at 2pm in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.
"In Washington, there are an abundance of conferences of all types. Many are very important. A few are absolutely essential. This conference is one of those few," Secretary Thompson said.
Earlier in the day, President George W. Bush will address the Conference. Other panels will be led by Attorney General Ashcroft, First Lady Laura Bush, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Secretary of State Colin Powell will deliver concluding remarks.
The Department of Health and Human Services is an essential part of the nationwide effort to end child abuse and exploitation. The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information offers not only hard data but also practical plans for how to prevent child abuse in neighborhoods and communities.
HHS is also home to the Administration for Children and Families' National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and its Resource Center on Child Custody and Child Protection. The Resource Center provides information, materials, consultation and technical assistance related to child protection and custody within the context of domestic violence. And the Children's Bureau, also located within ACF, is responsible for assisting states in the delivery of child welfare services - services designed to protect children and strengthen families.
Head Start is a crucial part of making sure that the basic needs of small children in underserved populations are met. The Administration has requested $130 million in Head Start funding for fiscal year 2003, bringing the total to nearly $6.7 billion - the most funding Head Start has ever received. Parents of Head Start children are receiving copies of "The Parent's Guide to Safety." It will give parents and guardians helpful information about protecting their children from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
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HHS rewards states for increasing adoption
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded nearly $17.5 million
in bonuses to 23 states and Puerto Rico for increasing the number of children
adopted from state-supervised foster care in fiscal year 2001.
"In each of these states, more children found permanent adoptive families
in 2001 than the previous year - an achievement worth recognizing," HHS
Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Behind the statistics there are real
children whose lives are better for having been adopted. We encourage states
to do everything they can to find permanent, loving homes for all children who
are waiting."
HHS' Administration on Children and Families (ACF) provides the bonuses to states that exceed the number of children adopted compared to the previous year. States receive a bonus of $4,000 for each additional child adopted in fiscal year 2001 compared to fiscal year 2000.
States also receive $2,000 for each additional special needs child who was adopted in fiscal year 2001 compared with fiscal year 2000.
"Every child deserves to be part of a safe and secure family, whether it is a biological family or an adoptive one," said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., assistant secretary for children and families. "I commend both the state agencies for their efforts and the parents who are welcoming these children into their homes and their hearts."
Other HHS efforts to promote adoption include a new Web site that links children in foster care with potential families across the country. Launched by President Bush in July, the AdoptUSKids site features photographs and biographies of more than 6,500 children in foster care and steers interested families to the appropriate state agency for information about specific children. HHS helped to develop the site, which is the product of a public-private partnership.
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President Bush announces nomination of Mark McClellan as FDA head
President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Mark B. McClellan to be Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on September 25. Dr. McClellan is currently a member of the President's Council on Economic Advisors (CEA), and he also serves as a senior policy director for health care and related economic issues for the White House.
"As a doctor and researcher, Mark McClellan is uniquely qualified to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration," President Bush said. "His experience will be very valuable as the FDA faces new challenges in the coming year."
"We live in an era where sound public policy depends on informed analysis and scientific knowledge combined with strong, compassionate leadership," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Dr. McClellan will bring all of those attributes to the FDA."
Before joining the CEA, Dr. McCellan was Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford Medical School, a practicing internist, and Director of the Program on Health Outcomes Research at Stanford University.
He earned his MD degree from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and his PhD in Economics from MIT. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and he is board-certified in Internal Medicine.
Dr. McClellan is married and has two three-year old daughters.
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NIH Research Leads to More Hope for People Suffering from Parkinson's
Two experimental drugs appear to prevent Parkinson's disease-like brain damage and motor dysfunction in mice, according to investigators at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Research conducted by HHS' National Institute on Aging (NIA) Gerontology Research Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found the link, which was announced last week.
The finding identifies a new approach for slowing or halting the progression of Parkinson's disease that may one day help treat people who have it. The study is available online at the Annals of Neurology website.
In the study, dopamine-producing nerve cells in mice treated with the experimental cancer treatment were more resistant to being killed by environmental toxins that are suspected of increasing the risk of Parkinson's disease in humans. The drugs also helped preserve motor function in mice exposed to these compounds.
Parkinson's disease occurs when nerve cells in a specific region of the brain die or become impaired and are unable to produce dopamine. Without dopamine, individuals can develop trembling in their hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; slowness of movement; and impaired balance and coordination. Patients may also have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. Parkinson's is not usually inherited, but incidence of the disease increases with age, with an average onset at about 60 years. It afflicts about 50,000 Americans annually.
Press releases, fact sheets, and other materials about aging and aging research can be viewed at the NIA's general information Web site.
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HHS awards $8.4 million to address nation’s nursing shortage
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced 34 grants worth more than $8.4 million to expand the nation’s nursing workforce and increase diversity in the nursing profession.
“This funding will help to ensure that America has enough qualified nurses to meet the growing demands across the country,” Secretary Thompson said. “Nurses make a real difference in our lives, one patient at a time. President Bush and I are committed to taking appropriate steps to address the threat to quality care posed by the nation’s shortage of nurses.”
The grants announced today are designed to improve the education of the basic nursing workforce and increase nursing opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Studies have shown that the demand for nursing services is growing faster than the number of trained nurses, placing an increasing strain on the nation’s health care system. In July, HHS released a report showing that, if recent trends were to continue unchecked, the nation’s nursing shortage would continue to worsen significantly over the next two decades. In 2000, the shortage was estimated at 6 percent; by 2020, it is expected to reach 29 percent, the report said.
Early in his tenure, Secretary Thompson identified the nursing shortage as a critical national priority. In June, HHS awarded $30 million in grants to increase the number of qualified nurses and the quality of nursing services across the country. President Bush’s fiscal year 2003 budget for HHS also proposes to increase funding for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment program to a total of $15 million, nearly a 50 percent increase above the current year’s funding.
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Last updated 29 September 2002
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