State of Latinos in America.

One of the key recommendations of a preliminary report on the state of Latinos in the United States is to establish a presidential advisory committee on Latino issues to increase the access of the Latino community to vital educational, health, economic, and civic opportunities.

The University of Denver(DU) and Grupo Salinas’ Fundacion Azteca America, the non-profit arm of the Azteca America Network, present the preliminary findings of a comprehensive study on the state of Latinos in the United States.

The full report, which was produced by DU’s Latino Center for Community Engagement and Scholarship (DULCCES), includes detailed policy recommendations for the incoming Administration and Congress and will be presented to members of Congress during a televised forum in Washington, D.C. September 23.
“We’re looking forward to presenting the findings and policy recommendations to the camps of both Republican and Democratic candidates, as well as to key members of Congress and other policy makers in September,” said Luis J. Echarte, chairman of Azteca America and Fundación Azteca America. “A stronger Latino community means a stronger nation as a whole. It’s time to take the next step from diagnosis to action.”

The report, entitled “The State of Latinos 2008: Defining an Agenda for the Future,” is the result of exhaustive academic research and consultations with panelists at the State of Latinos event held in Denver on May 30, which included participation by the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute; the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; the National Council of La Raza; Voto Latino; NDN; the League of United Latin American Citizens; the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials; the Latino Issues Forum; the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. Audience members also included local Latino community leaders, Senator Ken Salazar, D-Colo. and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.
DULCCES also held a forum with prominent local community leaders and leading academics to complement the consultation process.

“We are proud of the Latino Center and pleased they are engaged in this important work with Fundacion Azteca America in an attempt to address one of the great issues of the day,” said DU Chancellor Robert Coombe.

The report focuses on five issues of importance to the Latino community: education, health care, the economy, immigration and the Latino vote.
Among the general findings are that Latino communities want to be self-sufficient and contribute to the U.S. society. However, Latinos face major challenges in accessing quality education, health care, and economic services. And a lack of comprehensive immigration reform widens disparities and limits the future progress of the Latino community and the nation.

The topics covered are of vital importance to the nation as a whole. However, the efforts take on special significance due to the high and growing number of Latinos in U.S public schools, and their overrepresentation of the community in high school dropout rates. Cultural and communication barriers for public services such as health care are very costly to the nation in the near and long term. Although the state of the economy affects citizens across the nation, the predominance of the housing downturn among current economic woes is especially difficult for the Latino community, given its ties to the construction industry.

To download report CLICK on link below )Adobe Acrobat Reader required):
https://hispanicad.combanners2/Azteca/AgendaLatina2008.pdf>