Community Action Partnership eNewsletter, September 27, 2016

September 27, 2016

PARTNERSHIP NEWS

Partnership's Statement on Recent Gun Violence
Hockett Retires from Community Action

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Opinion: States And Local Areas Should Act Now To Improve WIOA Services To Low-Income People, Setting A Solid Baseline For Future Performance Goals

TRAININGS AND WEBINARS

Learning Community: National Poverty Trends Webinar
Head Start Program Performance Standards Webinars
CCAP Webinar Wednesday Series
Live Event and Webinar: Reconnecting Justice

PARTNERSHIP NEWS

PARTNERSHIP ISSUES STATEMENT ON RECENT GUN VIOLENCE

The Partnership released the following statement last week following recent shootings in Tulsa, OK and Charlotte, NC:

"The Community Action Partnership extends sincere condolences to families and communities impacted by ongoing gun violence tragedies in our nation, most recently in Tulsa, OK and Charlotte, NC. We look forward to an expedited, yet thoughtful resolution of all of these issues, which have bruised our nation near and far. We remain committed to supporting Community Action Agencies, which are often embedded in communities on the front lines of social unrest in our country.

Click here to read our full statement, "A Renewed Commitment to Making America A Better Place," released July 2016."

HOCKETT RETIRES FROM COMMUNITY ACTION

After nearly 30 years in Community Action, Tim Hockett, Executive Director of Community Action of Ventura County will retire.

Tim moved to Washington State to start a career at Olympic Community Action Programs. He spent 23 years with that agency, the last six years as Executive Director. Tim has served the last four years as ED of Community Action of Ventura County, an organization dedicated to helping people overcome poverty through advocacy, partnerships and services that promote dignity and self-sufficiency. Tim's research focuses on the causes and solutions to poverty. Tim has written extensively about both the causes and effects of poverty. He has been a member of NCAF, CAPLAW, and the Partnership. He has served as an officer in both the Washington State (WASCAP) and California Community Action Associations (CalCAPA). Tim has also been responsible for very innovative work; he developed the OlyCAP Oral Health Center and the CAVC Kayak program.

Tim was born and raised in California. He holds a BA from Columbia Christian College in Portland, Oregon, an MA equivalent from the Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel and completed 5 languages and 3 years of doctoral work at UC Berkeley.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

OPINION: STATES AND LOCAL AREAS SHOULD ACT NOW TO IMPROVE WIOA SERVICES TO LOW-INCOME PEOPLE, SETTING A SOLID BASELINE FOR FUTURE PERFORMANCE GOALS

On September 21st, CLASP released a memo discussing performance policies in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that can encourage services for those most in need. The memo is part of CLASP's "Opportunities for Action" series.

Under WIOA, performance management provisions empower states and local areas to serve more individuals with barriers to employment. This includes an "objective statistical adjustment model" that adjusts state and local performance targets based (in part) on the level of WIOA services provided to individuals with the highest needs. It also includes a new interim progress measure, "Measurable Skills Gain," that allows states and local areas to get credit for serving those who may take more than one year to meet other milestones, such as employment or credential attainment.

More recently, the federal government has announced policies that complement these provisions. During the next two years of WIOA, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education (DOL and ED) will not apply sanctions to States that do not meet their negotiated levels of performance. States and local areas should act now to serve more individuals with barriers to employment, so that future revisions to the statistical adjustment model will better reflect the realities of serving those with the greatest needs. The participants that states serve and the results they achieve over the next two years can help build a realistic baseline into the adjustment model, enabling DOL and ED to set future performance targets that encourage states to provide robust services to greater numbers of individuals with significant barriers to employment.

Read More

TRAININGS AND WEBINARS

LEARNING COMMUNITY: NATIONAL POVERTY TRENDS WEBINAR

National Poverty Trends Session 4

Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 1 pm ET

The Partnership is pleased to collaborate with the Center for Community Futures to provide our next national webinar series event, National Poverty Trends Session 4. Panelists are Jim Masters, President, Center for Community Futures and Allen Stansbury, Senior Associate, Economic and Public Policy Analysis, Center for Community Futures

In previous webinars, experts from the Center for Community Futures have dissected various aspects of poverty in the United States: the decline of social mobility, wage stagnation, increasing inequality, the decreasing middle class, and the erosion of The American Dream. These trends are caused by a number of factors such as automation, offshoring of jobs, business practices and government failure to deal with these causes. The think tanks and other advocates have developed strategies and policies that might stop, slow, or at least offset the effects of these trends.

We compiled the best ones in the White Paper on Strategies Recommended to Reduce Poverty and Enhance Economic Security, which is now in its third edition. In this upcoming webinar, experts from the Center on Community Futures will review the key policies and strategies and invite your input as to which of these would be most effective in helping people with low incomes.

Register

HEAD START PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS WEBINARS

Given the complexity of the topic and to ensure we cover all the issues, this will be a two part webinar series. We ask all those planning to attend the webinar to:

Register for each of the webinars below. Sessions are free, but we do ask you register;
Use the links at the end of this announcement to visit the Office of Head Start's Home Page and download materials beforehand;
Review the preamble and sections of the Head Start Program Performance Standards specific to the webinar(s) you are attending in advance; and
Submit questions to the Partnership at the email provided below to help us focus on high priority issues.

Note, these sessions are not meant to be an introductory review. We ask that attendees come prepared and provide questions in advance if possible. We will also take questions during the webinar.

The first webinar will be held on Monday, October 3rd from 2:00-3:30 PM ET/1:00-2:30 PM CT/12:00-1:30 PM MT/ 11:00 AM-12:30 PM PT. To register, click here. This webinar will cover:

1301. Governance
1302. Subpart B Program Structure
1302. Subpart J Program Management and Quality Improvement
1303. Financial and Administrative Requirements.

The second webinar will be held on Monday, October 24th from 2:00-3:30 PM ET/1:00-2:30 PM CT/12:00-1:30 PM MT/ 11:00-12:30 AM PT. To register, click here. This webinar will cover:

Subpart C Education and Child Development Services
Subpart D Health Program Services
Subpart E Family and Community Engagement Program Services
Subpart F Additional Services for Children with Disabilities
Subpart G Transition Services
Subpart H Services to Enrolled Pregnant Women
Subpart I Human Resources Management.

To access the HSPPS, click here.

To access the Preamble, click here.

To access the OHS Fact Sheet on the HSPPS, click here.

To access CAPLAW's recent enews on the HSPPS, click here.

If you would like to have specific questions or issues addressed during the webinars, please email your questions to Jarle Crocker, Director of Training and Technical Assistance, at jcrocker@communityactionpartnership.com and remember to indicate which webinar the questions apply to. We are excited to provide such extensive discussion of the Performance Standards just for the Community Action Network and we hope you join us on both events.

CCAP WEBINAR WEDNESDAY SERIES

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CCAP?

TUNE IN FOR THE CCAP WEDNESDAY WEBINAR SERIES: http://bit.ly/CCAP2017

CCAP Orientation

(Wednesday, October 26, 2016, 2-3 pm EST):

In this webinar you can learn about the basics of the national Certified Community Action Professional program (CCAP), who it is for, how it is organized and the steps in the process of becoming a CCAP. When you finish the webinar you will better understand how CCAP can fit into your professional future as a leader in Community Action.

Candidate Data Form

(Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 2-3 pm EST):

Completing the Candidate Data Form (CDF) is the first step in the process of becoming a Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP). It is in a formatted for you to document your learning and experiences in the field of Community Action. In this webinar you can explore the parts of the CDF in great detail. You will gain valuable insights on how you can complete your own first step toward national recognition as a CCAP.

Executive Skills Portfolio

(Wednesday, January 4, 2017 2-3, pm EST):

Submitting the Executive Skills Portfolio (ESP) is the second step in the process of becoming a Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP). The ESP is your chance to showcase your skills in doing the work of Community Action. It gives you a vehicle to show that you are a leader who understands Community Action's vision and values. In this webinar you will get a comprehensive look at what is expected of candidates in this step toward CCAP. And you will gain insight into what the ESP evaluators address when they examine candidates' ESP submissions.

Certification Examination

(Wednesday, April 5, 2017, 2-3 pm EST):

The national CCAP certification examination will be administered this cycle on Wednesday, June 14, 2017, in various locations around the country to candidates who were successful in their CDF and ESP submissions. In this webinar you will learn how the exam is constructed, what kinds of questions are asked, and how best to prepare for the exam. Once you pass, you are nationally recognized as a Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP).

LIVE EVENT AND WEBINAR: RECONNECTING JUSTICE

On October 28, join the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) for "Reconnecting Justice: Pathways to Effective Reentry though Education and Training," a public forum exploring the intersection between criminal justice reform and postsecondary education and employment.

This event, the second in a series on criminal justice, will include a keynote address by Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, as well as expert discussions connecting policy trends in correctional education and training with reentry opportunities that promote economic success.

Incarcerated individuals are disproportionately people of color as well as adults with low educational attainment. More than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from prison each year, and recent research shows that two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years of release. However, research also shows that access to correctional education can significantly reduce recidivism. If we're serious about breaking the cycle of incarceration, it's essential to invest in robust education and training opportunities for incarcerated people and to connect them to continued education and employment opportunities once they rejoin society.

Providing these opportunities is cost-effective for states and has significant community and economic benefits. For individuals and families, coupling education and employment with reduced collateral and systemic barriers leads to economic self-sufficiency and improved life outcomes. CLASP's forum will examine promising policy options as well as lessons from state and federal initiatives.

Speakers will include:

Nicholas Turner, President & Director, Vera Institute of Justice;
Sean Addie, Director, U.S. Department of Education Office of Correctional Education;
Fred Patrick, Director of Sentencing and Corrections, Vera Institute of Justice;
Brant Choate, State Superintendent of Correctional Education, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;
Bianca Vanheydoorn, Director of Educational Initiatives, Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice;
Rev. Vivian Nixon, Executive Director, College and Community Fellowship; and
Will Heaton, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Center for Employment Opportunities.

This event is part of CLASP's commitment to racial justice and anti-poverty policies and strategies, as well as our focus on the intersections of employment, education, and criminal justice. Last summer, CLASP's forum "Realizing Youth Justice: Advancing Education, Employment, and Youth Empowerment" highlighted effective policies and practices that can help youth avoid the criminal justice system, access employment, achieve stability, build on their innate assets, and realize their full potential.

For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be webcast live.

Community Action Partnership

1020 19th Street, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

www.communityactionpartnership.com