Trendspotting: top 2007 issues in U.S. human service

Social justice news
February 2007

CRS enters new Fair Trade partnership
Ecumenical Advocacy Days expects record numbers
Mining a new way to a fair share of world resources
Pax Christi USA seeks Haiti delegation
Simple math: housing program cuts=more homlessness
Trendspotting: top 2007 issues in U.S. human service
Upsurge in workplace raids suggest change of tactic on immigration
U.S. religious leaders urge Bush support for Middle East Peace

Trendspotting: top 2007 issues in U.S. human services
An annual report on trends in human services details scores of issues affecting American society in categories such as the economy, population and immigration, drugs, education, health care, poverty and homelessness, violence, technology, disasters and the workforce.

The report, "Scanning the Horizons 2006-2007," is published annually by the Alliance for Children and Families, a national association of private, nonprofit human service agencies and organizations. The Severson Center, as part of the Alliance, is a national clearinghouse of information and knowledge for nonprofit human service professionals.

The trend report provides a broad and detailed look at factors affecting society which helps human service organizations develop targeted plans and programs while offering valuable data for the public, the media and policymakers. (The report is available free of charge to Alliance members and to non-members for a small fee).

Among key trends outlined in the 2006-2007 report are:

The gap in income equality continues to widen dramatically.

Technology is making us more connected technologically but more isolated socially; Americans have fewer friends or family to confide in and rely on for emotional support.

Emerging generations of Americans are not adequately educated to lead the nation.

The U.S. reports the highest infant mortality rate and the lowest life expectancy for people over 60 compared to other industrialized countries.

A record number of Americans have no health insurance; half of adults in middle-income families reported they've had serious problems paying for their health care.

Some 28 percent of veterans return from the Iraq war with health problems that require medical or mental health treatment.

Correcting problems in the juvenile justice system requires prevention strategies and alternatives to juvenile detention centers; detention not only increases the odds that youth will return to the justice system, but many emerge from detention with worse problems than when they went in.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among children and youth aged 10-24.

The number of single mothers who are jobless has increased significantly since 2000; yet single mothers leaving welfare for work remain poor or near-poor.

School dropouts cost the U.S. more than $260 billion dollars in lost wages, lost taxes and lost productivity over their lifetimes; in federal dollars, that would buy 10 years of research at the National Institutes of Health.

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