With wedding season over and many young families seeking to put down roots in places of opportunity, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019's Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family as well as accompanying videos.
To determine the most family-friendly places in America, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 47 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to school-system quality to share of families with young kids.
Best Cities for Families
Worst Cities for Families
1
Overland Park, KS
173
Augusta, GA
2
Fremont, CA
174
Baltimore, MD
3
Irvine, CA
175
Hialeah, FL
4
Plano, TX
176
San Bernardino, CA
5
South Burlington, VT
177
Wilmington, DE
6
Bismarck, ND
178
Shreveport, LA
7
Gilbert, AZ
179
Memphis, TN
8
Fargo, ND
180
Cleveland, OH
9
Scottsdale, AZ
181
Newark, NJ
10
Boise, ID
182
Detroit, MI
Best vs. Worst
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-families/4435/
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Press Release
USDA Proposes to Close SNAP Automatic Eligibility Loophole
USDA is working to ensure benefits are provided with integrity to those most in need
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today proposed closing a loophole that allows states to make participants receiving minimal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits automatically eligible to participate in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The proposed rule published today in the Federal Register would limit SNAP/TANF automatic eligibility to households that receive substantial, ongoing TANF-funded benefits aimed at helping families move towards self-sufficiency. The proposed rule would fix a loophole that has expanded SNAP recipients in some states to include people who receive assistance when they clearly don’t need it. In fact, the depth of this specific flexibility has become so egregious that a millionaire living in Minnesota successfully enrolled in the program simply to highlight the waste of taxpayer money. This proposal gives USDA the ability to save billions of dollars, ensuring nutrition assistance programs are delivered with consistency and integrity to those most in need.
“For too long, this loophole has been used to effectively bypass important eligibility guidelines. Too often, states have misused this flexibility without restraint,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “The American people expect their government to be fair, efficient, and to have integrity – just as they do in their own homes, businesses, and communities. That is why we are changing the rules, preventing abuse of a critical safety net system, so those who need food assistance the most are the only ones who receive it.”
Currently, benefits may be as minimal as simply providing a household with an informational brochure describing social services or access to hotline numbers. These nominal benefits are often given without conducting a robust eligibility determination. Congress has established clear eligibility standards. It is USDA’s responsibility to make sure those who receive benefits are eligible.
To confer automatic eligibility for SNAP under the proposal, a household must receive TANF-funded cash or non-cash benefits valued at a minimum of $50 per month for at least 6 months. In addition, non-cash benefits that could convey automatic eligibility would be restricted to subsidized employment, work supports, or childcare. By establishing clear standards and requiring that benefits be ongoing and substantial, the proposal will ensure SNAP benefits go toward Americans most in need.
USDA encourages all interested parties to provide input on the proposed rule through www.regulations.gov. The comment period will be open for 60 days.
To learn more about this proposed rule, view this fact sheet.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) works to reduce food insecurity and promote nutritious diets among the American people. The agency administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that leverage American’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.
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Is Mouth Breathing Harming Your Health?
4 Ways To Ensure Your Lips Are Sealed
Even a small child knows that people breathe through their noses.
Except, of course, that little fact of anatomy isn’t always true. Often, people breathe through their mouths, unaware that this habit could be a sign of potential problems brewing.
“In many cases, people breathe through their mouths because the airways through their noses are blocked,” says Dr. R. Craig Miller (www.themillercenter.com), a dentist and author of Get Back Your Smile, Take Back Your Life.
“If the situation isn’t addressed, the airway issues can just get worse.”
Among the problems caused by or connected to blocked airways and mouth breathing are misaligned teeth, inflammation of the tonsils and adenoids, an enlarged uvula, obstructive sleep apnea and TMD, a disorder of the jaw muscles or joints.
A variety of treatment options can help alleviate some of these problems, Miller says. Just a few of those treatments are:
Laser light therapy. This therapy can provide immediate relief for TMD, although its effects are temporary. “In spite of its name, there is no heat or burning sensation as you might think, which is why we refer to it in my practice as cold laser,” Miller says. This therapy has been shown to increase circulation by stimulating the formation of additional blood vessels to replace damaged ones. The therapy also stimulates the production of collagen, the essential protein used to repair and replace damaged tissue.
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). With a CPAP machine, patients wear a mask during sleep that seals over their nose and mouth, or over their nose only. The CPAP opens up the airway, Miller says, by feeding positive air pressure though the mask via a hose connected to the CPAP machine. CPAPs have their problems, though, he says. They can cause laceration of the bridge of the nose, rawness in the throat, bloating in the stomach, nasal congestion and sleep deprivation. People also aren’t always good about using them.
Oral appliance therapy for OSA. An oral appliance that is custom-designed and fabricated for the individual patient can provide relief for sleep apnea, Miller says. Known as mandibular-repositioning appliances, they are worn during sleep and reposition the lower jaw, advancing it forward to change the shape of the airway and open it up to make breathing easier.
Surgery. Surgery can be helpful where there is an anatomical obstruction, such as large tonsils or adenoids, or an enlarged uvula, Miller says.
“It’s better for your health to take care of your mouth-breathing problem, perhaps in more ways than people realize,” Miller says. “Nose breathing is proper breathing. It allows you to smell some of life’s beautiful scents, but also acts as a detector when air is unhealthy.
“Breathing through the nose also promotes a more meditative state, helping you stay calmer by reducing anxiety while improving your ability to think clearly. All in all, it’s important to remember that noses are for breathing, mouths are for eating.”
About Dr. R. Craig Miller
Dr. R. Craig Miller (www.themillercenter.com), author of Get Back Your Smile, Take Back Your Life, is a dentist who offers general, cosmetic, restorative, and surgical services. He is on staff at Saint Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ, and at Newark Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, NJ, where he teaches dental residents restorative, implant, and advanced cosmetic dentistry, along with dental sleep medicine. He earned his doctor of dental medicine degree (DMD) from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now known as the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine.
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