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CAAP Update provides information on items of interest to Community Action agencies in Pennsylvania.
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Not just a barrier but a "cliff" to self-sufficiency
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Pennsylvania's 43 Community Action Agencies strive for one ultimate goal: helping low-income families achieve self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency means that families do not rely on any form of government assistance to meet their basic needs such as food, housing, and shelter. It is a mission of empowerment and short-term, community based, individualized support. We have successfully implemented our programs since President Lyndon Johnson established Community Action in 1964 when he declared the "War on Poverty". This noble vision began at the federal level - but as we all know, government can sometimes get in its own way.
Over the past year, Community Action has collaborated with House Majority Leader Dave Reed's "anti-poverty" study called "Empowering Opportunities: Gateways Out of Poverty." Through this initiative, we identified a major hurdle our low-income families faced when moving towards self-sufficiency. We call this hurdle the "benefits cliff". Essentially, the benefits cliff goes like this: as an individual's income reaches an eligibility "cliff" in which earning one additional dollar makes a person completely ineligible for a subsidy program such as child care, the system forces individuals to choose between the best of two bad situations: (1) accept a $1 raise and become completely responsible for child care payments or (2) decline the raise but remain able to work, keep their children in the same care, and continue to receive benefits.
Recently, Rep. Bloom and Rep. Murt, two members from two very different parts of the state and political spectrum, introduced their bill (House Bill 1164) which, if passed, will eliminate this "cliff effect" for Pennsylvania families utilizing child care assistance programs. HB 1164 smooths out the cliff by reducing child care benefits over time as a parent earns additional income. The bill officially passed through the House on June 23, 2015. Next, it will be packaged with a few other welfare bills and sent over to the Senate for their approval.
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A Running Start Philadelphia: for every child, birth to five
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Two weeks ago, the Mayor's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) launched A Running Start Philadelphia: for every child, birth to five before an audience that included Mayor Michael Nutter, Democratic candidate Jim Kenney, representatives from City Council, parents, advocates, and leaders in business, education, and civic affairs. This comprehensive early learning plan addresses how CEO will accomplish its Shared Prosperity Philadelphia, a strategic plan to address poverty in Philadelphia. CLICK HERE to access the executive summary or the full plan.
 A Running Start was developed with input from 400 stakeholders throughout the city who took part in interviews, focus groups, community meetings, or an on-line survey. Like all Shared Prosperity Philadelphia initiatives, it's designed to unite public, private, and non-profit agencies around common goals and strategies to improve conditions for the most vulnerable residents of Philadelphia. |
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Community Action Partnership Informational Videos
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Recently, the Community Action Partnership posted a number of informational videos to support the knowledge base of Community Action. A few of their recently posted videos include the following topics:
- Social Media 201 Advocacy, Story Telling, and Important Reminders
- Cost Allocation and Super Circular Update
- Assessing Risk and Creating Policies
- Head Start: An Update for Community Action from the Office of Head Start
CLICK HERE to view these and other videos posted on YouTube by the Community Action Partnership.
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HHS Proposes Revised Head Start Program Performance Standards
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On June 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a comprehensive revision and reorganization of the Head Start Program Performance Standards governing all Head Start and Early Head Start programs. On June 19 the Notice of Proposed Ru lemaking (NPRM) containing the proposed Program Performance Standards was published in the Federal Register and is accessible electronically here. Comments to the NPRM may be submitted here between Friday, June 19, 2015 and midnight, Eastern Daylight Time, on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
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| Why Advocacy?
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Standing alone while taking a position contrary to powerful interests with political clout and financial resources can be daunting. Community Action can serve as the great equalizer, where individuals come together so their voices are amplified. Community Action serves as the gathering place for people concerned about those whose voices get overlooked - such as children, the poor, and the disabled who may not be able to travel to be heard - as well as those who truly have no voice, such as future generations who are not here to talk about the future of health care, education reform, or minimum wage thresholds. Illuminating real community need, you might be able to shine the light on a particular social problem that has been ignored, allowing policy makers to see the problem and then address it. Public policy advocacy can also help your organization attract favorable media attention, generating higher visibility leading to increased awareness of your mission and mobilizing your board, volunteers, and donors.
Stand For Your Mission is a new campaign, initiated by BoardSource, that seeks to unleash th e full potential of the nonprofit sector to create positive impact by engaging board leaders, staff, and volunteers more directly in the advocacy work of their organizations. For those organizations that are interested in rejuvenating their advocacy efforts, Stand For Your Mission has posted free resources on their website to enhance your agencies' advocacy efforts. CLICK HERE to access those tools and other resources.
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| CAAP AmeriCorps VISTA Update
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Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lancaster recently hosted the 4th Annual SuperHero 5K and Kids Fun Run on June 20, 2015. Over 350 runners participated. CAAP AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer Susie Hinz sat on the events committee for the SuperHero 5K. Susie was responsible for promoting the run and was on the registration team. The event was a huge success and served to spread awareness of CASA in the community. CASA also recently swore in 21 new advocates in the spring 2015 class on June 17, 2015. These 21 new advocates will serve between 40-50 children in foster care in Lancaster County. Susie was part of the recruitment and training team, planning and hosting Community Awareness Sessions, and interviewing potential trainees. CASA was recently awarded two grants written by Susie: a grant for $1,000 from Optimist International for the CASA Kits Project and a grant for $10,000 from the Lancaster County Community Foundation for the Organizational Fellowship Program.

To learn more about how to obtain the support of a VISTA volunteer call Deb Fontaine, CAAP VISTA coordinator, at 717-233-1075.
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| About Us |  |
Community Action Association of Pennsylvania
222 Pine Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
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This newsletter is financed, in part, by a CSBG grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development. |
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