California

"The California Community Foundation is to announce Friday that it has received $1.5 million from the Ford Foundation to give children in impoverished communities the same enriched learning activities typically enjoyed outside school hours by their wealthier peers. The California foundation also contributed $200,000 to the efforts."

"As a veteran who has emerged from chronic homelessness, Stone symbolizes the success federal officials would like to repeat. In a plan called Opening Doors, the government has set a goal of preventing and ending homelessness for veterans by the middle of the decade."

"Low-income students and students who lag behind academically comprise the largest portion of students enrolled in summer school classes. These students are often hardest hit by scaled-back or eliminated summer-school programs. They may also struggle to make up the for the time lost over the summer, educators say."

"In-home care workers serve low-income disabled or elderly residents who need help bathing, cooking or cleaning, at rates that range from $8 to $14.78 per hour depending on the county, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. An estimated 72 percent of IHSS recipients receive care from a relative."

"State officials, grappling with several years of budget deficits, have been searching for a way to rein in the ballooning Cal Grant program that gives scholarships to low-income students. In 2003, the state spent $460 million to give out 147,000 Cal Grants."

"The California Department of Education denied grant applications from about 60% of Fresno County high schools wanting to continue or expand after-school programs. No school in Central Unified, Sanger Unified or Clovis Unified got new funding for the 21st Century programs, a federally funded program for high-poverty, low-performing schools."