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NACo Innovation Challenge for Coal Reliant Counties
The National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation are pleased to announced a new opportunity for counties and regions experiencing economic challenges due to the contraction of the coal industry. This opportunity is part of NACo and NADO's partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support coal-reliant communities with becoming more resilient to changing economic conditions.
Throughout 2015, NACo and NADO Research Foundation will host three intensive, hands-on training workshops designed to boost the innovative potential of coal-reliant counties and regions seeking to grow and diversify their economies. Counties and regions are asked to form teams to apply to enter the program, and teams that submit winning applications will be selected to attend a workshop facilitated by expert practitioners. These workshops will be structured to guide counties and regions to design solutions tailored to their communities' needs and identify implementable projects.
For more information about this program including eligibility, application instructions and FAQs, please visit the program webpage here. There will also be a webinar for interested applicants on January 22, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. To register for the webinar, follow this link. The application to attend the first workshop is now open; to apply for the workshop, please fill out and submit the program application form located under the 'Application' tab here. Note: There are three separate competitions for each of the three workshops.
For more information about application deadlines, eligibility and workshop dates, please visit the program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document here.
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PA-FirstNet Webinar
FirstNet will provide first responders across the country with interoperable, public-safety data communications. In Pennsylvania, the governor appointed the Pennsylvania State Police as the FirstNet single point of contact and as the organization that will plan and coordinate activities to help define and create the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN).
FirstNet is asking for your participation in our planning efforts to collect the information necessary to ensure that the NPSBN meets the needs of first responders in Pennsylvania.
An upcoming PA-FirstNet Webinar will be held on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. to noon.
The webinar will include the following:
- FirstNet PSBN Overview
- PA FirstNet Overview
- Review of survey and survey tool
- Q&A about survey and request feedback from attendees
To register for the webinar follow this link.
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Community Conservation Grant Workshop
On Wednesday January 21, 2015 from 10:30 a.m. - noon, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, is offering a workshop to prepare applicants to meet the requirements of the Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2). Each year, the grant program typically opens in mid-January and closes in mid-April. This workshop will assist community leaders, consultants, board members, and park and recreation professionals interested in learning about resources available to plan, acquire, and construct public recreation and conservation areas in their communities. Instructors will be live in Coudersport and Warren, with Bradford and St. Mary's sites participating through videoconferencing.
Workshop participants will be able to:
- Learn about DCNR's Greening Emphasis
- Learn about changes to the 2015 Grant Program
- Gain a better understanding of how to develop a competitive and ready-to-go project
- Meet and discuss your project with Regional Advisors
The workshop will be held in four different locations. To register, please contact the location you would like to attend -
- Coudersport, Potter County Education Council, (814) 274-4877
- Bradford, University of Pittsburgh, Bradford (814) 362-5078
- St. Marys, CEC of Elk & Cameron Counties, (814) 781-3437
- Warren, Warran Forest Hi-Ed Council, (814) 723-3222
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CCAP Criminal and Juvenile Justice Best Practices Awards
The 2015 Best Practices Awards Program is now open and accepting submissions for the Jail, Detention/Alternative Programs and Partners awards.
This year, the 21st Century Committee has made it even easier to submit projects or programs for consideration. Submissions will be accepted either via mail or fax, or by using the online form, and uploading attachments. To submit an entry online, visit the Best Practices Awards page and click on the link for the Jail Award, or for the Detention/Alternative Programs Award. The Partners Award can be submitted via email, fax, or US Mail, as indicated in the brochure.
Deadline to submit entries is close of business on February 13, 2015. The winners will be announced during the CCAP Spring Conference, March 22 to 24, 2015. An awards ceremony will be held in State College, PA at the Nittany Lion Inn on Monday, June 15, 2015.
All entries will be posted on the CCAP website and available for public viewing. For questions or concerns contact committee liaison, Brinda Carroll Penyak at bpenyak@pacounties.org, or 717-526-1010 x 3137.
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New Local Government Training Opportunities Announced
The Pennsylvania Local Government Training Partnership is a training initiative between the Governor's Center for Local Government Services and Pennsylvania's statewide associations, including CCAP. There are many options for upcoming training sessions, as well as sessions that can be downloaded and viewed at your convenience. PACourses offered through the partnership are designed to keep municipal officials current on new laws and legislative requirements and enhance their ability to govern more effectively. Year-round, statewide training is provided in the areas of local government administration, finance, community and economic development, public safety, land use and planning, public works, recreation, environmental, and tax collectors.
Some new trainings recently announced include:
- 2015 Municipal Road Maintenance and
Safety Symposium
April 19-22, 2015
Hershey Lodge, Hershey, PA
-
Collaborative Approaches
to Funding Fire and EMS Services
March-April 2015
Various statewide locations
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New Tools and Opportunities for Advancing Sound Land Use
March 7, 2015 (Snow Date: March 14, 2015)
Roessner Hall - Albright College, Reading
For more information, or to register for a course, visit the PA Local Government Training Partnership website.
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NIDA's National Drug Facts Week
The 5th annual National Drug Facts Week, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will be held January 26 - February 1, 2015. This weeklong health observance is an opportunity for teens to learn the facts about drugs and addiction from scientists and other experts. There are opportunities to host and promote an event for teens during the week of January 26 - February 1, 2015, and to help shatter the myths about drugs.
NIDA staff can help you order science-based materials to complement your event, brainstorm activity ideas, partner with other organizations, and get your event nationally recognized by adding it to the official 2015 map for National Drug Facts Week. For more information on how to plan an event follow this link. You can also follow NIDA on Twitter @NIDAnews and on Facebook at Drug Facts.
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911 Funding and System Reform Resources
With the new legislative session set to begin in January, CCAP has created a web page dedicated to the critical issue of 911 funding and system reform. This page contains talking points, a sample presentation and other information and resources for members to use when discussing the issue with legislators. To view the web page and numerous resources, follow this link.
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County Civil Service Workgroup
In collaboration with the State Civil Service Commission (SCSC), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), Pennsylvania Department of Aging, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), Allegheny County, Bedford-Somerset Counties, Bradford County, Crawford County, Lehigh County, Northampton County, Wayne County and the Pennsylvania Association
of Area Agencies on Aging (P4A), the County Civil Service Workgroup was formed. The purpose of the workgroup is to identify, share, discuss and resolve any questions or issues counties may have about merit service employment policies, practices or procedures.
The workgroup has met on three occasions and has discussed a variety of topics including, but not limited to the following:
- Potential Examination Center Closures
- Closure of County related Application and Examination Job Programs
- SCSC Employment Website Change
- County Merit Service Training Session
- Rule of Three Requirement
- Jobseeker "List Removal" Procedure
- "Veterans' Preference" Employment Benefit
- Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs)
- Development of a Sample Recruitment Advertisement
- Job Specification Revision Study
- SCSC Information Technology (IT) Skills Inventory
County representatives involved in the merit service employment process are strongly encouraged to participate in the workgroup process by submitting comments, questions or suggestions prior to the next scheduled meeting in February 2015.
For more information on the above topics, a full copy of the official statement from the workgroup, or to submit comments, please contact Julia Jackson, CCAP Health and Cooperative Programs Manager, jjackson@pacounties.org or Brinda Penyak, CCAP Deputy Director, at bpenyak@pacounties.org.
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Healthy Youth PA Request for Applications
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Family Health has announced a Request for Applications (RFA) opportunity for Healthy Youth PA. This newly created program uses an integrated program model of mentoring, counseling, and adult supervision to promote abstinence from sexual activity between youth ages 9 to 14. Funding for Healthy Youth PA is made available through the Title V State Abstinence Education Grant Program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
Healthy Youth PA strives to implement strategies to build protective factors to promote the optimal transition of youth from middle childhood to adolescence. These protective factors will assist youth in transitioning to a healthy, productive and connected young adulthood. The program will be implemented in the Counties of: Allegheny, Berks, Dauphin, Elks, Fayette, Lawrence, Lehigh, Lycoming, Philadelphia, and Venango.
The RFA can be found by following this link.
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PHLP Medical Assistance Eligibility Manual
The Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP) has expanded and updated its Medical Assistance Eligibility Manual. This manual describes eligibility for Pennsylvania's Medicaid Assistance (or Medicaid) program in plain language. Readers will learn Medicaid coverage "categories" as well as the program's income and resource counting rules. The manual is intended for health care advocates and the general public, and can be found here.
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Guidelines on County Fee for Local Use
On November 25, 2013, Act 89 of 2013 was approved and passed into law. As a result of changes it made regarding transportation-related funding for local governments, several chapters of Publication 9 needed to be updated. One of the changes allows counties to impose a $5 fee for local use on nonexempt vehicles registered to an address located in the county.
Guidelines regarding the collection, use and oversight for those funds are now available, and can be found on the CCAP website by following this link.
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NACo County Explorer - Mapping County Data
This past summer, the National Association of Counties (NACo) unveiled its latest map interactive tool, the County Explorer available at www.naco.org/countyexplorer. It is a one-stop-shop for county data and profiles for each and every of the 3,069 U.S. counties, while incorporating city-county searches and other queries. This is an upgraded version of the previous NACo database County Intelligence Connections (CIC), with the addition of familiar "Find a county" searches available on the NACo website.
The map is available for free to NACo members and other users interested in county information. It is easy to access either going through the regular NACo website at www.naco.org/countyexplorer or going directly to explorer.naco.org. The interactive allows the users to map county data from more than 70 datasets and 500 county indicators for the latest year available. The indicators range from county finance and demographics to the number of bridges and roads in a county.
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Guidebook on USDA Funding Opportunities
The USDA has released a revised version of its guidebook on funding opportunities, incorporating the 2014 Farm Bill.
The 86-page guide, available as a free download or for sale as a printed document, was produced in collaboration with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI), the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). It was authored by Margaret Krome (MFAI), George Reistad (MFAI), and NSAC's policy staff.
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) provided principal funding for the production and distribution of the guide.
While it contains all the farm and ranch assistance programs you'd expect from the long overdue farm bill approved by Congress this year, the available funding isn't just for big ag producers. Small towns and city folks will find programs that support urban agriculture and forestry, local foods, farmers' markets, farm to school initiatives, biofuel development, and a variety of grassland, wetland and woodland conservation grants.
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Register Now - NACo 2015 Legislative Conference
The NACo Legislative Conference will take place February 21-25, 2015 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. Confirmed speakers include Jason Grumet, founder and president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, and David Gregory, journalist and former moderator of Meet the Press. Grumet is respected on both sides of the aisle for his innovative approach to improving government effectiveness. His first book City of Rivals: Restoring the Glorious Mess of American Democracy - just released in September 2014 - will be his focus. Gregory will reflect and share a look at the Obama Administration, Congress and politics in America.
Conference registration is now open online.
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| Upcoming NACo Webinars
Registration is now open for the following NACo webinars:
- Innovation Challenge for Coal-Reliant Communities: Overview and Q&A
January 22, 2014
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - The Excise Tax on High Cost Health Insurance and Your County
February 12, 2015
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
In addition to these webinars, there are recordings of webinars from the past six months on a range of topics. To access these recordings, or for additional details and registration information, please click here.
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Job Postings
As counties notify us of current vacancies we post them on our website and list them in the Update.
Additional information on each posting can be found by clicking on the name of the vacancy you are interested in. To submit a job posting, refer to the CCAP website. For additional information on submitting a job posting contact Mandi Glantz at mglantz@pacounties.org.
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| Upcoming Events
- COMCARE PRO SAC Meeting
CCAP Office
January 28, 2015 - CCAP Board Meeting
January 29-30, 2015
For a complete listing of upcoming events refer to the CCAP website.
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