Michigan Falling Behind Other States in Offering Universal Pre-School

"When do children learn the fastest? Scientific studies are unanimous that it's from birth to age five.

So when do we start sending them to school?

In most cases, not till Kindergarten, which usually begins at age five. In other words, there's a vast disconnect between what we know and what we do. Which brings us to the "Pre-K" movement, which recognizes that what happens from birth is hugely important, and that kids ought to be going to school earlier.

Now let's look at the record. The Center for Michigan, the non-partisan, non-profit "think and do tank" (Phil Power) founded, had an education action group meeting this March. An issues guide prepared for that meeting revealed that as of two years ago, 16 percent of Michigan four-year-olds were in federally funded Head Start preschools. State-funded pre-K programs served another 18 percent.

But that leaves out nearly two-thirds of the rest. How do we do in comparison with other states? Not as well as we should. Currently, Michigan ranks 19th as a proportion of population served, while we rank 16th in support per child enrolled — below where we should be."

More of Phi Power's comments at the Center for Michigan:

www.thecenterformichigan.net/blog/missing-the-potential-of-michigans-youngest-students/

Battle Creek Schools Announces Locations for Free Meals During the Summer

Children ages 18 and younger may qualify for free meals during the summer at 10 Battle Creek Schools.

The list of participating schools may be found in the Battle Creek Enquirer at:

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20100429/NEWS01/304290009/1002/BCPS+announces+free+summer+meals

May 8: National Assoc. of Letter Carriers Nationwide Food Drive for the Needy

"For local food pantries it is one of the most affecting days of the year.

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will hold its nationwide food drive on May 8. On that day, postal workers across the country will once again pick up bags of canned good and non-perishable food items left out by residents to help those in need.

“Millions and millions of families are suffering – struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table,” said Frederic Rolando, NALC president. “Food banks, pantries and shelters need our help more than ever this year. As families count on them for support, they’re counting on us and we will not back off on our commitment.”

In the NALC’s announcement for this year’s drive, Rolando “also noted that donations are particularly critical at this time since most school lunch programs are suspended during the summer months and millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.”

Countless food pantries benefit from the donations collected during the drive, including the Niles Salvation Army.

“We have seen a lot of new faces, new people who have never been (in) the system, so to say,” Captain Bill Walters said Thursday. “That’s just one of the changing things of the times, we’re seeing a lot of people needing assistance right now.”'

- Niles Daily Star

Read more at:

www.nilesstar.com/2010/04/23/letter-carriers-to-deliver-help-for-needy/

Fiesta 2010: April 30 and May 1 in Holland Michigan

There was a small but wonderful reminder in the Grand Rapids Press over the weekend of the Fiesta 2010 to be held in Holland on April 30 and May 1. To me, it sounds like it will be a beautiful celebration of Latino culture and heritage.

Unfortunately, in the "comments" concerning the celebration, the first person to comment suggested that:

"Its time to send in ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and start to arrest the illegals at these events."

Our Latino brothers and sisters in Holland are getting ready to have a party, a fiesta. I would hope that the only police or law enforcement presence is there to maintain order, direct traffic, etc., no different than any other large gathering of people be they of European, Asian, African, Pacific Islander, or Native American descent.

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/fiesta_translates_into_inclusi.html


P.S. I also wish that folks had to identify who they are when they submit comments to the on-line editions of responsible newspapers and magazines. For what it is worth, I'm Roblloyd in the comments section of the GR Press and MLIVE.com.

Should the Federal Government Extend Unemployment Benefits Again?

"Up to a million people could find themselves with neither a paycheck nor an unemployment check by year's end, according to preliminary estimates by one advocacy group.

These folks are begging lawmakers to extend the duration of benefits into the triple digits. Scores have emailed CNNMoney.com, detailing their desperation. But there's no movement currently in Congress to add more weeks.

"People will endure extreme hardship," said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project. "We can't just let everyone fall off of this cliff."

But a growing chorus of economists and lawmakers say another extension would be the worst thing for the unemployed. It would likely further delay these Americans' re-entry into the workforce.

"If you are subsidized to stay out of the workforce, many people will," said Alan Reynolds, senior fellow at The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank."

- CNN Money.com

money.cnn.com/2010/04/23/news/economy/extending_unemployment_benefits/index.htm

Battle Creek Teens Volunteer for United Way Day of Caring

Friday, some 300 Battle Creek area youth volunteered for the United Way's Youth Day of Caring.

"Brittany Cole, a senior at South Hill Academy, had never helped with a car wash but has volunteered at the Battle Creek animal shelter for two and a half years." Brittany was one of several teens working side by side with clients of the Haven, a "a place where the homeless can go to get their lives back on track."

Seems to me with teens like Brittany, we old folks can stop worrying about the future. "It's really fun. I enjoy it," said Brittany.

For the article in Saturday's Battle Creek Enquirer see:

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20100424/NEWS01/4240318/1002/NEWS01/Teens-volunteer-for-United-Way-Youth-Day-of-Caring

The End of Income Tax Season

For the most part, income tax season has ended. VITA and AARP tax volunteers throughout Michigan are closing down their tax sites, deleting personal tax files from computers, and preparing reports for the various funding agencies which support the EITC (earned income tax credit) tax assistance programs.

In Berrien County, we are getting ready to celebrate and honor volunteers next Monday night at a dinner at the Niles District Library. Nothing fancy, really. A few words will be spoken, perhaps a blessing will be said, some food will be eaten together, certificates of appreciation passed out, and then we will be "officially" done until next tax year.

The problems that our clients experience are not just during tax season, but are 365 days of the year.

Yesterday, I had a follow up call with a young woman. (OK, she's in her early 40's, but that is young to me.) The volunteer preparer who completed her tax return had made an error on the return. When she left our tax site, she was under the impression that she was entitled to a refund of about $500 for the Michigan renter's credit (Michigan Form MI-1040CR, commonly referred to as the homestead property tax credit.)

She had not received her refund from the State, except for about $90 in home heating voucher rebate. So, she had returned back to the site, wondering what happened to her $500 refund. To this day, I am still not sure what the tax preparer (a new volunteer this year) had done. It appears to me that he randomly entered $500 in the wrong line. Maybe it was a sticky keyboard (since our equipment tends to be hand me down). Who knows?

When she returned to our tax preparation site in downtown Benton Harbor, I told her that it appeared to be a mistake and that she was not entitled to the $500 refund. She was in tears. So, I promised to look into it further and call her back to confirm this, one way or the other.

Volunteers who work on taxes know that the last week or two of tax season is busy (like the start of tax season) with last minute procrastinator tax filers. (Imagine that! Not everybody likes to get their taxes prepared!) So, I forgot to call her back. Or perhaps more likely, dreaded calling her back because I was not sure what I was going to say other than: "I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

Yesterday, the caller i.d. on my home phone indicated that someone had called. The caller had not left a message, but once I thought about the name, I realized it was the young lady. I had not yet called her back and it was now a week or two later.

So, that was my cue. I did call her yesterday afternoon and let her know. "I'm sorry. It was a mistake." And she said, "That's OK. I have stopped beating myself up over it. I guess it wasn't meant to be."

Our phone call ended with a few pleasantries. "God bless you" and such.

However, this morning, it has got me to wondering. A woman who was "beating herself up" over not receiving a tax refund of $500. What does a woman who lives off of an annual income of $8,300 do the other 364 days of the year when she is not getting her taxes prepared? Maybe wondering will she get lucky on her taxes next year? Or how to pay the bills? Or hoping that she does not get sick?

This morning driving into work, I heard one of my favorite songs, a Motown oldie from the Five Stairsteps, before the Jackson 5 -- the "First Family of Soul."

Somehow, it seems fitting today. So, as a former disc jockey, please allow me to dedicate this to a young lady in Benton Harbor. I hope her boss gives her a raise this year:

"O-o-h child things are gonna get easier
O-o-h child things 'll get brighter
O-o-h child things are gonna get easier
O-o-h child things 'll get brighter

Someday we'll get it together and we'll get it undone
Someday when the world is much brighter
Someday we'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Someday when the world is much lighter"

www.last.fm/music/The+Five+Stairsteps/_/O-O-H+Child

for the full version, and not just a preview of O-o-h child:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVF4r3fLBrU

Business leaders agree: Education critical to economic success

Business leaders in Kalamazoo understand that education is a cornerstone and precedent to successful, productive workers and careers in our region. Several business leaders weighed their opinions in a recent Kalamazoo Gazette Article:

That the state spends more on the Department of Corrections than it does on higher education could hurt high-growth local companies such as MPI Research and Stryker Corp., which rely on educated and talented workers in Southwest Michigan.

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said William Johnston, owner of The Greenleaf Cos.

“I shudder to think that the corrections budget is higher than our education budget,” Johnston said. “We know that the only way out (of the economic slump) is through education.”

“One of the concerns I do have is increasingly the U.S. isn’t putting out as many engineers,” said MacMillan, who noted that Stryker needs talented engineers to develop the medical technology it sells.

Read the Full Article: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/04/education_critical_to_economic.html

Don’t Blame Extension of Jobless Benefits for unemployment levels

According to a paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the high duration of unemployment has a “quite small” relationship with the maximum amount of time one can draw unemployment benefits. From the Wall Street Journal:

“Extended [unemployment insurance] benefits have had a relatively modest effect” on the jobless rate. “We calculate that, in the absence of extended benefits, the unemployment rate would have been about 0.4 percentage point lower at the end of 2009, or about 9.6% rather than 10.0%.”

The paper notes the economic crisis of the last few years has generated an “unprecedented” level of unemployment duration. Those unemployed for more than six months hit 4.3% in March, “well above” the previous high of 2.6% in 1983. The economists note that the current situation is all the more striking because the unemployment rate peak was quite a bit higher in that downturn, relative to what’s been seen in this episode.

With all the rhetoric out there that unemployment insurance is actually raising unemployment, it is refreshing to see some statistics that show that extended unemployment benefits do not encourage job seekers to quit.

Read the full article: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/04/19/dont-blame-unemployment-extension-for-high-jobless-rate/

Survey of Kalamazoo County shows tie between joblessness, homelessness

Some interesting statistics from the point-in-time survey in Kalamazoo were released this week:

• For the third straight year, unemployment was the top reason homeless people in Kalamazoo County gave on how they ended up without a permanent residence, according to the findings of a point-in-time count performed in late January.
• About 20 percent of those surveyed at homeless and drop-in day shelters and other areas around the county on Jan. 27 said that inability to find work or the loss of a job had led them to lose their homes, stay in shelters or in transitional housing or to reside with friends or family — all circumstances defined as homelessness.
• Among those surveyed, the employment rate fell from 31 percent to 24 percent between 2009 and 2010. During the same period, the number of adults in the survey with an education beyond high school rose to 36 percent from 30 percent.
• The total number of homeless households dropped from 549, representing 985 people, in January 2009 to 409 households, representing 650 people, in January of this year.
• The number of children in homeless households dropped from 402 in 2009 to 238 in the January 2010 count.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/04/survey_of_kalamazoo_county_sho.html

Count of Homeless Students in Michigan Schools Increases by 96% in One Year

"Michigan Department of Education officials say they're only now starting to get a handle on how many students statewide are homeless. And the numbers they've collected are startling.

The number of homeless students enrolled across Michigan jumped from 7,500 in the 2007-08 school year to 14,682 in the 2008-09 school year -- a 96% increase.

A big reason is the economic situation in Michigan, which has led to massive unemployment and home foreclosures . Another reason is more accurate counting required of school districts under McKinney-Vento ...

... Kathleen Kropf, Macomb Intermediate School District's Homeless Education Liaison, said between 75% and 80% of the county's homeless students in the past year have never been homeless before."We are seeing a whole new group, mainly our middle-class citizens who have lost their jobs, and therefore their homes," Kropf said."

- Detroit Free Press

www.freep.com/article/20100418/NEWS05/4180582/1320/School-districts-face-more-homeless-students

Shutting Off Utilities for the Poor Causes Rash of Illegal and Unsafe Electric Hookups

"On a recent sunny morning, Mark Johnson, head of DTE's revenue protection unit, drove through east-side Detroit neighborhoods pointing out illegal electric hookups.

At a complex of 12 apartments on Whittier in Detroit, all of the meter boxes had been opened and rigged with wires that span the bare connectors and allow power to flow into the units without being measured.

"That's 240 volts going through wires that are barely heavy enough to power a light switch," says Johnson, whose 61-man crew dismantles up to 500 illegal hookups a day. "If someone brushes up against that box, they're gone."

A few blocks away on Kilbourne, a 14-gauge wire runs from a utility pole into a tumble-down home that appears to be barely habitable. The wire snakes across piles of garbage and brush in the backyard before slipping through a hole in the exterior wall.

It's a fire waiting to happen. If a refrigerator or large space heater kicks on, the load could cause the wire to overheat and ignite any combustible material it contacts.

That's what may have happened in two fatal fires last month in Detroit. On March 4, a home on Bangor Street with an illegal hookup burned down, killing Travion Young, 5; Fantasia Young, 4; and Salena Young, 3. Two weeks later, a flophouse in the Cass Corridor burned, killing boarder Travis Marshall, 26. A witness said the illegal wire strung from the electric pole to the back of the hotel was glowing red before the fire started.

For advocates of the poor, the answer is simple: If DTE would stop disconnecting electric and gas services, the need for illegal hook-ups -- and the fire deaths -- would go away."

- The Detroit News

www.detnews.com/article/20100416/OPINION03/4160390/Electricity-theft-rising-in-Detroit

Unemployment climbs among black men even as nationwide jobless rates level off

Yesterday I wrote that the face of poverty was changing in West Michigan and the United States as more suburban families lose their jobs. I stand by this claim.

However, as jobless rates are beginning to level off nation-wide, unemployment for black men is still rising. The Problem is that even before the recession began, black men were already struggling. The recession has brought necessary attention to their plight, but has only exacerbated the situation. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

As the grip of the recession eases, U.S. unemployment has leveled off at 9.7 percent for the past three months. But unemployment among black males hit a record 19 percent in March. And in Michigan, the 2009 jobless rate was worse than one in four for the black male population: 26 percent.

"One of the hard realities is, whether you are being released from work like myself, or you've been just getting out of prison, the situation is pretty much the same," Beattie said. "As far as looking for a job, you're a black male."

Beattie, 53, got cut by his longtime employer in January 2009, a year when office furniture sales plunged more than 30 percent industrywide.

"I was one of the folks they didn't want to let go," he said. "Prejudice didn't have anything to do with it."

But once he joined the swelling crowd of jobless, the search quickly turned sour.

"The pool is large, and the opportunities are starting to shrink, especially for someone who was not a majority class. When you're in an employers' market, folks are going to go for the known."

Nationwide, men of all races have borne the brunt of the recession. Since 2007, four of every five jobs lost were from male-dominated categories.

"It has affected men more than women, dramatically more so," labor analyst Jason Palmer said. "And it's affected black men more than white men. A lot of jobs that were lost were tough, lower-skilled jobs."

Read the full Article: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/04/unemployment_climbs_among_blac.html

The face of poverty is changing

The face of poverty is clearly changing. It seems no longer are the days where poverty was an either an urban or rural challenge; it is now hitting suburban neighborhoods hard as well. In West Michigan, suburban unemployment is much higher than any economic recession of recent times.

According to the Brookings study, West Michigan suburban unemployment grew by 46 percent from 2007 to 2008, compared to 44 percent in Grand Rapids. The suburban figures include Kent County outside the city, and Barry, Newaygo and Ionia counties, all part of the same Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

What does this mean? That it is even more important we reserve judgments about those who struggle with financial instability and poverty. In fact, the rise in suburban areas for food stamp use has seen a higher increase in suburban areas than urban areas, though urban counties remain home to a larger number of recipients.


One families story is detailed here:

"I think some people would be surprised to know some of the situations that people are in," said Moore, 29.

The Belmont resident lost his tool-and-die job in 2009 and later, his suburban home to foreclosure.

He and his wife, Hope, 32, now reside with their two children in a single-wide mobile home as they apply for food stamps for the first time in their lives.

Enrolled in a state retraining program for computer technology, Moore is determined to remain optimistic.

"I think with some training and a little bit of time, we'll build back up again," he said.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/report_shows_recession_hitting.html

New Orleans to Detroit March Seeks to "Fulfill the Dream"

"In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. urged the nation's dispossessed to 'organize a revolution' against the injustice of poverty. Forty-three years later, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign has organized a march hoping to revive that call.

The "March to fulfill the dream" began last week in New Orleans and will end in Detroit, culminating in the U.S. Social Forum June 22-26. Organizers say thousands will participate in the march, which will cover 2,300 miles and 24 cities in 12 weeks."

- MLIVE.com

For more information, see:

www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/04/new_orleans_to_detroit_march_s.html

United States Has Lowest Tax Burden of G7 Nations

According to the Christian Science Monitor, "With the April 15 filing deadline in view, American taxpayers may be surprised to find that their tax burden is less than those in most industrialized countries." Indeed, the United States "... matches Japan for the lowest ratio of tax revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) among the G-7 nations. France and Italy score highest."

The G7 nations include: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.

For more information, see:

www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0411/US-tax-bite-smaller-than-other-nations

Not just a number: At 56, former woodworker is not a 'hot commodity'

Michigan Job Search is asking readers to share their stories long-term unemployment to put a face on the unemployed. This powerful story covers the heartbreaking story of 56 year-old Ken Benjamin's struggle to find a job.

I have been unemployed since October 2008, and I have only one week of unemployment left. I am a 56-year-old husband, the father of three adult daughters and the grandfather of seven wonderful grandkids.

I worked at a company that builds grandfather clocks for 15 years and was laid off from there. Then, I took a job building store display units from blue prints, even though it was a 30-minute drive (when gas prices when through the roof) and I took a pay cut. I worked there for five years until I was laid off in October 2008.

I have worked in the woodworking industry for just about all of my adult life (30+ years). I am a wood craftsman. I tried to start my own business, but no one wants to buy what I build in this economy. I even went out of Michigan to try to sell some things I built. Again, no success. I love to build with wood, to study the pattern of the wood and to create something with my own hands that will be an heirloom that can be passed down through the generations.

No one wants to hire a 56-year-old man when they can hire someone younger. They want someone in their 20s or 30s, with 30 years experience! For minimum wage!

I am in the "No Worker Left Behind" program, and I have applied and applied and applied for jobs. At 56, I am not a hot commodity. But I am not just a number! I am a man who wants to work, who wants to spoil my grandchildren and to support my wife.

I don't want to have to worry about how I am going to make my house payment, my car payment or replace the brakes on our 1998 minivan. Please extend unemployment so I have more time to look for a job and PLEASE help me find a job doing what I am skilled at instead of having to be on unemployment.

Ken Benjamin

For all the rhetoric out there about people being lazy or irresponsible for being unemployed, this puts a real face on someone who is trying to make it but cannot seem to get there. We need to do more to take care of each other in this troubled time, and refrain from making quick judgments about those who are in hard times.

Read the article at: http://www.mlive.com/michigan-job-search/index.ssf/2010/04/not_just_a_number_at_56_former_woodworke.html

Researchers find Michigan tax credits well spent on job creation

So it appears there are some initiatives existing in Michigan that actually ARE creating jobs at a high return. Michigan Tax Credits are proving well beyond their worth, with every $3,500 spent returning $20,000 to the economy. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Researchers for the Upjohn Institute found the Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credits spend about $3,500 to create one job for one year, but those "job years" spur more than $20,000 in economic benefits for the state.

"When you bring additional job growth to a state or local area, you increase wage rates, allowing some people to get better paying jobs," Upjohn Senior Economist Tim Bartik said. "Those benefits are worth something to people.

"Higher employment rates and higher wage rates are worth quite a bit to people -- especially now."

According to the study, which Bartik co-authored with Senior Economist George Erickcek, for each job that received a MEGA incentive, nearly three more jobs were created.

"The program has high economic benefits because of its high multiplier effect," Erickcek said in a statement.

And MEGA grants increased tax revenues faster than public service costs, the study found.

"These fiscal benefits for the state offset about two-thirds of the financial costs of the MEGA credits," Erickcek said.

The report looks at the economic impact of MEGA compared to the alternative of funneling its resources to other government spending. In doing so, researchers estimate the program increased the state's employment by 18,000 jobs between 1996 when it was created and 2007, according to the report.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/04/researchers_find_michigan_tax.html

Homelessness Prevention is More Cost Effective Than Shelters

"A new federal survey finds that housing the homeless in emergency shelters can be more costly than the typical cost of rent or transitional housing.

For Grand Rapids, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is just under $600, compared to a cost of $744 a month at the Guiding Light Mission.

And while the mission also offers three meals a deal and day shelter for that cost, Executive Director Stuart Ray said the point is this: It costs more to house the homeless than prevent the loss of a home in the first place.

"My belief system says we ought to do everything we can to help people reach their full potential. This is the last place they want to be.""

For the full article, see the Grand Rapids Press at:

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/federal_survey_finds_homelessn.html

Low-income Michigan families can apply for free cell phones

A new program through Assurance wireless is offering free phones and up to 200 minutes a month for low-income Michigan families who qualify. This could be a very effective idea, as it will make it a lot easier for unemployed/underemployed families and individuals to both apply for jobs and access services. Imagine the challenges of applying for a job if you do you not have a steady phone line of which to receive calls from. From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Many low income families in Michigan can now qualify for a free phone with 200 free minutes per month through a program run by one of Sprint's prepaid plans, Virgin Mobile.

More than 835,600 families who qualify for a variety of social services, including Medicaid and the free lunch program, will qualify for the Assurance Wireless program.

The program, which began in December 1999, is available in Michigan for the first time. It also is offered in North Carolina, New York, Tennessee and Virginia, and plans call for expanding it.

Families that make an income of 150 percent of the poverty guidelines or below qualify for the service -- the levels vary for different-sized households.

The service provides a phone, free voice mail, call waiting and caller ID, along with the 200 free minutes.

It is supported by the Universal Service Administrative Company, an arm of the Federal Communications Commission which stipulates that low-income customers be able to have access to communication devices.

For more information or to apply, visit www.assurancewireless.com or call 1-888-898-4888.

Article Found at: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/04/low-income_michigan_families_c.html

An Easter Sunday Song for the Homeless

A Franciscan Friar sings about the homeless in downtown Detroit:

"With three CDs under his knotted belt, Brother Al feels closely connected to Franciscan friars of the Middle Ages called minstrels of God (the Latin term is joculatore domini), who traveled Europe singing and preaching the philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of their religious order.

"I can tell stories, I think, better through songs," says the friar. "I am able to provide those who attend the concerts a little bit of insight into the lives of those we serve here.

"The little songs serve as windows into these lives to help personalize our ministry and to humanize those who are so frequently de-humanized and marginalized by our society. So songs with the names of people we serve are one of my favorite things to do."

From The Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100404/OPINION03/4040302/Friar-sings-in-the-suburbs-to-keep-Detroit-homeless-center-running#ixzz0k8HJ9c4p

Boosting education key to solving health disparities and high costs

Yesterday, the “Kalamazoo Matters” presentation kicked off at WMU’s Fetzer Center. The series is aimed at finding ways to foster equality in health, education and economics. From the Kalamazoo Gazette article:

“Even with improved health care coverage, we’ll all pay higher premiums and have higher health-care costs because of health inequalities.”

Eliminating inequalities between “haves” and “have-nots” would save the health care industry billions of dollars a year, according to Smedley. Between 2003 and 2006, a total of 30.6 percent of direct medical care costs for blacks, Asians, and Hispanics were excess costs due to health inequalities, he said. Eliminating these inequalities would have reduced medical expenditures by $229.4 billion, he said.

Much of his presentation focused on the role of segregation in creating health disparities. “If you compare apartheid South Africa and the United States, they’re a lot closer than you think,” Smedley said. “For my hometown of Detroit to be integrated, 85 percent of the people would have to move. That’s only 5 percent lower than apartheid South Africa.”

Smedley emphasized that while poverty as a whole has decreased since 1960, the percentage of minorities living in high-poverty neighborhoods has increased. Blacks are more than 36 times more likely than whites to live in a neighborhood where 40 percent or more of the population lives in poverty. Compare that to 1960, when blacks were only 13 times as likely to live in a high-poverty area.

This situation limits the access that minorities have to “mainstream resources needed for success.”

“In the entire city of Detroit, there isn’t a single major grocery store or department store,” Smedley said. “Differences in behaviors are strongly connected to neighborhoods and the connected environment. It’s tough to tell someone to eat five fresh fruits and vegetables a day when there are no grocery stores around.”

Smedley offered a number of solutions, including improving the physical environment of communities, improving food and nutrition through incentives for farmer’s markets and grocery stores, and regulating fast food and liquor stores.

Read the full article: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/04/segregation_blamed_for_health.html

What do you think, are these our best opportunities to improve health conditions in our communities?