community news blurbs

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA KIDS COUNT PUERTO RICO PROJECT TO RELEASE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE DATA BOOK ON CHILDREN IN PUERTO RICO

San Juan --  The National Council of La Raza KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Project will release the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book, which presents data on the major population, health, and socioeconomic characteristics of the child population, for the island as a whole, at a news conference Aug. 2 in Guaynabo.
The report presents a mixed picture of the status of children and youth in Puerto Rico. In terms of positive trends, the 2004 KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico Data Book shows that the number of low birth weight babies and the rate of infant and child mortality declined from 1990 to 2000. In addition, the number of births to teenagers, while still high and concentrated in specific municipalities, has also dropped, both for adolescents 15 to 17 years old and for girls under 15 years old.
But the book also highlights several worrisome indicators: child and youth homicide in Puerto Rico is alarming; during the last decade Puerto Rico lost more than 1,500 youth to homicide and 93% of these were males. Moreover, the proportion of children born to and living with only one parent increased from 1990 to 2000. The data book concludes with several recommendations and points to challenges and opportunities for policy-makers, the private sector, and nonprofit and community-based organizations to improve the lives of children in Puerto Rico.
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Puerto Rico Self-Determination has a New Forum

Washington, DC--(HISPANIC PR WIRE – US Newswire)--July 26, 2004--The Citizens’ Educational Foundation – US (CEF), is pleased to announce the launching of a new initiative that provides another forum for the discussion of Puerto Rico Self-Determination: http://www.LetPuertoRicoDecide.org. As the name implies, the new website can be found at: http://www.letpuertoricodecide.org. “Our goal with “Let Puerto Rico Decide.org”, is to provide the public with an action-oriented site that would permit them to learn about the issue of Puerto Rico self determination and then be able to actually do something about it,” said CEF Executive Director, Jose E. Aponte. Mr. Aponte also added that, “With this website, the public will not only be able to support Puerto Rican self-determination by contacting their members of Congress, as well as President Bush and the campaign of Senator Kerry, but they will also be able to remain active on this issue by participating in the new CEF web log called Blog Puerto Rico.” “Blog Puerto Rico is our effort to take part in this new media wave that has already had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the candidates and the overall electoral process. Blog Puerto Rico will introduce an ongoing discussion about the unfinished business of American democracy represented by the issue of Puerto Rico’s unresolved political status dilemma,” Aponte said. This year, for the first time, Bloggers will actually be given press credentials in both party conventions. For those who wish to conduct additional research on the issue of Puerto Rico self-determination, CEF still has its original website http://www.cefus.net, where the status issue is discussed in greater detail and the public has access to a growing number of resources and materials. The Citizens’ Educational Foundation-US is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes the right of the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico to a process of Self-Determination.