The CONVENTION BROCHURE is now available to download, click here.

Click here for Convention reservations at the Marriott Marquis

Keep an eye on this link for more information!

The CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS is now open! 

There have been a number of Dear Colleague Letters recently from OCS and we wanted to make sure this recent one hit your radar screen from OCS Director Jeannie Chaffin.

Dear Colleagues:
 
We in the Office of Community Services (OCS) want to make sure you are aware of the President's 2016 Budget proposals for programs you administer.  Please note that appropriation levels and policy proposals are only final upon Congressional approval.
 
OCS Director Jeannie Chaffin published a blog recently outlining these proposals.  Please see the following link and share across your social media outlets:  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2015/02/ocs-programs-strengthening-accountability-promoting-opportunity-and-fostering-innovation.
 
For more details on these proposals and those of other programs within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), please view the 2016 ACF Congressional Budget Justification at the following link:  https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/olab/2016_acf_cj.PDF.
 
We are excited to see what the future may hold for these critical programs, and ultimately for our customers.  Thank you for the contribution you make every day to this work.  If you have any questions regarding these proposals, please contact your designated OCS program specialist.
 
 
Jeannie L. Chaffin                                                Seth Hassett
Director                                                                 Director, Division of State Assistance
Office of Community Services                              Office of Community Services  

Community Action Opportunities in Asheville, North Carolina was included in a February 20th segment on PBS News Hour discussing how many low-income families in the area are struggling to pay their energy bills.

The segment featured the CAA's Weatherization efforts (including sealing ducts, insulating doors and windows, and installing energy efficient light bulbs) which help local residents stretch their energy dollars and stay warm during this extremely cold winter. The agency's work is making a big difference in the community, as many residents live in "drafty older houses" or "poorly insulated mobile homes."
 
Click here to watch the segment: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/heat-hunger-low-income-families-struggle-cope-cool-temperatures/

As you know, IM 138 was issued by OCS in late January and contained two new Standards as well as some other modifications. 

The Partnership's Organizational Standards Center of Excellence (COE) has updated several of its available resources to reflect the finalized COE-developed CSBG organizational standards in Information Memorandum (IM) 138.  These include: 

• A list of the COE-developed organizational standards available with the standards for Private/nonprofit CEEs and Public CEEs next to each other or separated.
• Self-Assessment Tools that offer guidance as to the intent of the CSBG Working Group in the development phase of the COE-developed standards, and gives a format for thinking about what documentation you may use to show compliance.  There are two assessment tools - one for Private CEEs and one for Public CEEs - and they are available as both a fillable PDF and Microsoft Word for your convenience.
• Sample State Assessment Tools that offer the same guidance as the self-assessment tools.  These tools also reflect the divide between Private CEEs and Public CEEs and are available in PDF and Microsoft Word.
•  Glossary of Terms that gives additional framework as to the intention of the CSBG Working Group and its committees in the development phase of the COE-developed standards.  There are additional terms that have been added since this tool was released in Fall 2014.

SAVE for All Letter: The Community Action Partnership has signed on and 

we hope your CAA and State Association will sign on, too!

Among hourly workers, erratic and volatile schedules are common, wreaking havoc on child care arrangements, class attendance, and transportation access.  And when hours are unstable, so is income, making it impossible to effectively budget for rent and other necessities.

Sign up now for audio conferences throughout 2015 that will tackle key implications of unstable and unpredictable job schedules.  The conferences will focus on these intersections:  workforce development; higher education; scheduling software; and, the safety net.  We will conclude the year with a review of public policy developments in 2015--already, scheduling bills have been introduced in California, Indiana and Oregon--and take a crystal ball to 2016.  This follows on the heels of San Francisco's 2014 enactment of a Retail Worker Bill of Rights and introduction of a scheduling bill in Michigan and of the Schedules that Work Act in the U.S. Congress.

In these audio conferences, you will hear from workers, experts, organizers, and others sharing their perspectives on challenges and solution.

Each audio conference will be held at 3:00 P.M. (ET) on the third Thursday of the month.

 

Many of you will remember Gene Nichol who has spoken at both state and national Community Action events in recent years.  Gene heads the University of North Carolina Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and his words never fail to inspire and motivate.  His work has been in the press recently as the UNC Board of Governors has voted to close the Center... 

We have included the New Republic article as well as Gene Nichol's response

The War on the War on Poverty 
 

Click here to read the full story in the New Republic.   

The working group of the UNC Board of Governors on Wednesday recommended closing UNC-Chapel Hill's Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Here is a statement from Gene Nichol, the center's director:    

Poverty is North Carolina's greatest challenge. In one of the most economically vibrant states of the richest nation on earth, 18 percent of us live in wrenching poverty. Twenty-five percent of our kids. Forty percent of our children of color. We have one of the country's fastest rising poverty rates. A decade ago, North Carolina had the 26th highest rate among the states. Now we're ninth, speeding past the competition. Greensboro is America's second-hungriest city. Asheville is ninth. Charlotte has the nation's worst economic mobility. Over the last decade, North Carolina experienced the country's steepest rise in concentrated poverty. Poverty, amidst plenty, stains the life of this commonwealth. Even if our leaders never discuss it.

March 24-27
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill
Washington, DC 

REGISTER HERE  

• Anna Cielinski, Senior Policy Analyst, CLASP
• Judy Mortrude, Director of Alliance for Quality Career Pathways, CLASP

• Michele Brielmaier, Director of Allied Health and Nursing, South Central College
• Sara Carrigan, Career Pathway Navigator, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
• Diane Halvorson, Executive Director, South Central WorkForce Council
• Karen Wolter, Adult Basic Education Director, Mankato Adult Education

• Kisha Bird, Director of Youth Policy, CLASP
• Susan Lange, Vice President of Youth Pathways, Commonwealth Corporation

*  $625 per participant registering on or before July 27, 2015.