 ENERGY DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES THE RESULT OF A
NATIONAL EVALUATION OF THE WEATHERIZATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
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The Energy Department announced today the release of a major national evaluation of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Led by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the purpose of the peer-reviewed evaluation was to conduct detailed analysis of the WAP's Program Year 2008 (Retrospective Evaluation) and operations during the 2010 year of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act Evaluation). The results demonstrate that weatherization provides cost-effective energy savings and health and safety benefits to American families.
CLICK HERE TO TO READ THE WHOLE STORY
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USE OF CSBG RESOURCES TO SUPPORT INFORMATION AND REFERRAL FOR AFFORDABLE CARE ACT BENEFITS AND SERVICES
| September 15, 2015
Dear Colleague:
Please see the published Information Memorandum 143: Use of CSBG Resources to Support Information and Referral for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Benefits and Services<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/resource/csbg-im-143-use-of-resources-to-support-information-and-referral-for-affordable-care-act-aca-benefits-and-services>.
This Information Memorandum addresses recurring questions from States, tribes, territories, and local eligible entities regarding outreach and referral for Affordable Care Act (ACA) services and benefits using Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding. CSBG grantees and local eligible entities can play a vital role in furthering ACA outreach and enrollment, as CSBG reaches many of the populations most in need of health care coverage.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our collaborative work to address poverty in our communities.
Jeannie L. Chaffin Seth Hassett
Director Director, Division of State Assistance
Office of Community Services Office of Community Services
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US CENSUS BUREAU RELEASES 2014 INCOME, POVERTY, AND HEALTH INSURANCE STATISTICS
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The US Census Bureau released the 2014 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance statistics yesterday, and will be releasing the 1-year local estimates from the American Community Survey today. Having access to these current numbers is an incredibly important resource for Community Action. The available statistics allow for historical comparisons, breakdowns by age, gender, and race/ethnicity in order to assess the state of poverty in your community. The statistics can be used for Community Needs Assessments to decipher the need and the change in need; used for program development to see what gaps need to be filled and evaluation of what needs may have decreased; and used for advocacy to highlight that there are still too many children and families living in poverty. View the 2014 Income and Poverty report here.
For a step-by-step guide on how to access the statistics and find the numbers you need, view the Coalition on Human Needs preview webinar here.
The Press Kit from the Census Bureau gives highlights on the data as well as the report, available here.
For more information on the details of the American Community Survey, view the press kit from the Census Bureau here.
Some of our anti-poverty partners have analyzed the data and released statements:
And many more that are soon to come. Keep up with the numbers by following @uscensusbureau and #poverty #talkpoverty on social media. The Coalition on Human Needs is also keeping a running resource page of census poverty data that can be viewed here.
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EXECUTIVE ORDER ON ESTABLISHING PAID SICK LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HIGHLIGHTS NEEDS FOR INCREASED BENEFITS FOR ALL WORKERS
| View the factsheet on the Executive Order and the other actions that are being discussed by those advocating for employment benefits here.
The Department of Labor released a paper recently called The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Price We all Pay Without Paid Leave Policies to Support America's 21st Century Working Families that discusses these issues further.
How can Community Action join the discussion and help the cause? National advocacy groups and the Administration are asking for stories - being able to put a face to the numbers that show what happens to individuals who do not have workforce benefits that they should, and what happens to those as a result of receiving the benefits that they need. Join the conversation on social media with #TalkPoverty to tell the stories you see in your community.
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ORGANIZATIONAL STANDARDS WEBINARS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER
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The CSBG Organizational Standards go live October 1st-Is your CAA ready?
We know many CAAs have been working hard to ensure their CAA is ready for Organizational Standards. The Partnership has been working to providing training and toolkits for each of the Standards areas and is in the midst of hosting a series of webinars this month.
Category 1 - Consumer Input and Involvement
9/22 at 2:00 ET/1:00 CT/12:00 MT/11:00 PT
Category 4 - Organizational Leadership
9/24 at 2:00 ET/1:00 CT/12:00 MT/11:00 PT
Any or all of the webinars listed above can be registered for by clicking here.
In addition, you can listen to recently completed and recorded webinars by clicking here.
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RISK MITIGATION T/TA CENTER (RMC) WEBINARS FOR SEPTEMBER
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Conflict of Interest
Sept. 21, 2 ET/1 CT/12 MT/11 PT
Megan Johnston, Johnston and Associates
Whether you are developing a new policy, updating an existing policy, or have had difficulty with defining or managing conflicts in the past, this webinar will provide clear definitions and the key elements of a strong policy, as well as practical examples of the conflicts - and perceived conflicts - that commonly arise in the community action world. Learn how to handle this complex issue with practical approaches that protect your organization and support ethical leadership.
Review and Wrap up of Risk Mitigation Blog Series
Sept. 28, 2 ET/1 CT/12 MT/11 PT
Ken Ackerman, VirtualCAP
Any or all of these RMC webinars can be registered for here.
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OUT OF THE BOX OUTREACH AND ENROLLMENT STRATEGIES
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Out of the Box Outreach and Enrollment Strategies
September 24th from 2-3:15pm ET
Developing unique outreach strategies - tailored to your community's needs - can boost your Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment efforts. Organizations across the country are thinking outside the box and supplementing their traditional outreach work with innovative practices. On this webinar, you will learn more about these unique efforts and get ideas to implement standout outreach strategies in your own community.Presenters and topics include:
* Monica Fulton, Director of Community Resources, City of Garden City, Garden City, Michigan-
Engaging city officials and other municipal groups in outreach
* Eva Elmer, Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, Savannah, Georgia - Working with the juvenile criminal justice system to enroll children and teens
* Azade Perin-Monterroso, Fiscal and Outreach Coordinator, Healthy Communities Office, City of Providence, Providence, Rhode Island- Empowering youth as "healthy ambassadors" for the whole family
* Teresa Fleming, Director of Financial Affairs, Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation, Whitesburg, Kentucky- Training staff across all levels of organization to enroll familiesTo join, please use this link to register, and feel free to share with your network. |
WORKFORCE INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES ACT AND 2GEN:
WEBINAR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
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Join Ascend and Network partners in a discussion and webinar focused on 2Gen strategies for implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The 2Gen Strategies for WIOA Implementation webinar will take place Monday, September 21, from 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm ET. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 creates career pathways that prepare low-income and out-of-work individuals for living wage, family-sustaining jobs by offering states and local agencies a host of opportunities to think about job training and educational tools in a new way. This webinar will explore local and state opportunities to employ a 2Gen lens to develop WIOA implementation strategies that support families across America. Ascend will share a new policy brief, "2Gen Strategies for WIOA Implementation," which outlines 2Gen opportunities within WIOA as well as additional resources for programs looking to harness the potential of WIOA. Featured speakers will include:
- Kevin Jordan, Ascend Fellow, Vice President, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
- Kim Justice, Senior Budget Analyst, Washington Budget and Policy Center
- Rachel Pollock, Policy Analyst, Ascend at the Aspen Institute
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WEBINAR FROM NONPROFIT QUARTERLY
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How does Widening Inequality Change the Work of Fundraising:
A Conversation with Kim Klein
Presenters: Ruth McCambridge and Kim Klein
Kim Klein is one of this country's best known trainers on grassroots fundraising and author of several books including the classic Fundraising for Social Change, now in its 6th edition. She was the co-founder of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, now a project of GIFT (Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training). She will join Ruth McCambridge, editor in Chief of the Nonprofit Quarterly in a conversation about the changing landscape of philanthropy as it is set against a polarized economy. Should nonprofits be fundraising differently? Are there practices in and around fundraising that should be emphasized right now? Kim brings a social justice perspective to fundraising and strives to help organizations integrate fundraising into all of their work.
This is a BYOQ (Bring your own Question) event. Register now to get a seat and get your question logged in early.
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REGISTER EARLY FOR THE 2016 MANAGEMENT AND
LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONFERENCE AND SAVE!
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Discounted Rates when you register NOW for the
2016 Management and Leadership Training Conference
in New Orleans
Community Action 2016: Leadership & Resilience of Communities in Action
January 6-8, 2016
Click here to reserve hotel rooms online at Westin Canal Place.
Click here for the
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VA AWARDS OVER $3 MILLION TO PARTNERSHIP TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS OF LOW-INCOME VETERAN FAMILIES
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Hundreds of low-income Veteran families will continue to have access to vital housing stability services with the renewal of $3,006,080.86 in grants to the Partnership under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program.
SSVF is a community-based program funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and utilizes the rapid re-housing model in providing supportive services to very low-income Veteran families that are homeless or imminently homeless. The Community Action Partnership currently has three SSVF grant awards and collaborates with six sub-grantee Community Action Agencies, which directly provide a range of supportive services designed to promote housing stability. The six sub-grantee agencies serve clients in Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina communities.
As the grantee, the Partnership administers fiscal, programmatic and administrative oversight of each sub-grantee as they provide eligible Veteran families with case management, outreach, assistance in obtaining VA and other applicable benefits, and provision of payments to third parties that ensure stable transitions to permanent housing.
Together with our sub-grantees, the Partnership's SSVF program is demonstrating that high-impact interventions can successfully assist Veteran families tackle homelessness. The Partnership's SSVF sub-grantees have utilized a "housing first" approach to efficiently serve over 850 Veteran families this program year.
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2015 CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS
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2015 Annual Convention - A Brief Look Back
Thank you to all who took the time and effort to attend the Community Action Partnership 2015 Annual Convention in San Francisco. We had many, many sessions, some great speakers, and opportunities to volunteer; attend a baseball game; watch the movie, Selma, together, and honor some amazing Community Action individuals - and the KCEOC Community Action Partnership - for winning the 2015 Award for Excellence!
We are grateful to speakers such as Susan Nall Bales, who gave a very interesting Opening presentation on reframing attitudes and conclusions about solutions that could help or hurt when talking about poverty, inequality, and opportunity; David Bradley, for his Legislative Update, and to all the mini-general speakers. We are so pleased to be working with some national partners such as Nan Roman at the National Alliance for Homelessness; Erik Stegman at the Center for American Progress; Debbie Weinstein at the Coalition for Human Needs; and Lisbeth "Lee" Schorr at the Center for Study of Social Policy.
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| From left: Susan Nall Bales, Tom Tenorio and Blanca Enriquez
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We were very pleased to host several sessions focusing on homeless Veterans, including a mini-general that featured Col. James McDonough, Jr., from Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Nan Roman, David Bradley, and Adrian Fassett, President of NCAF. The mini-general on Race and Equity in Community Action: A National Agenda was a thought-provoking, topical discussion centered around the challenges facing our communities in a post-Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charleston world.
Dr. Blanca Enriquez, Director of the Office of Head Start, gave a wonderful, informative presentation at the Opening Session, as well as participating in the Head Start Town Hall on Thursday afternoon.
For those who could not attend, we realize that deadlines, budgets, and tremendous responsibilities take priority, and we hope you and members of your staff and board can attend a Partnership convention in the future. Please click here for an array of downloadable photos taken at the Convention and click here for many of the presentations from the Convention sessions.
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ISA is an insurance provider providing property, liability, and risk management services. Click here to learn about the Irwin Siegel Agency alliance with the Partnership or visit their website. |
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