May 2012 LARRP Newsletter

MAY 2012 NEWSLETTER

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

May 10^th 9:30 a.m. - 12 noon

Join us for updates about Realignment, LARRP activities and meetings, and a workshop on Lobbying Rules for Nonprofits with Daren Garshelis from the Alliance for Justice

The next general meeting will be May 10th from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Amity Foundation, 3750 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles CA 90007. In addition to the updates, there will be a workshop on lobbying rules for nonprofits.

There are a wide variety of advocacy challenges facing reentry providers and many organizations are hesitant to get involved because they're not sure of how this work impacts their non-profit status or are unsure of just what to do. This workshop will provide a framework to address advocacy techniques, activities and guidelines for non-profits, and "rules of the road" for public agency staff. More information about this meeting will be available in the next week.

General membership meetings are held every other month on the 2nd Thursday in odd numbered months from 9:30 am - 12 pm. Each meeting will include an update from public agencies focused on reentry activities and updates from LARRP committees. Other topics will be selected based on what's current and topics requested by members. The format may be in workshop form, discussion groups, or information panels.

In This Issue

General Membership Meeting

LARRP Committee Updates

Capacity Building Workshop

LARRP Reentry Service Provider Directory

Policy Corner

Partner Announcements

LARRP COMMITTEE UPDATES

Service Delivery & Capacity Building Committee - The Service Delivery & Capacity Building Committee will operate through several subcommittees. These are formed when members express interest in working together to study and impact systems change or build capacity in specific areas. Currently, four subcommittees are forming:

Faith-Based Organizations Subcommittee - This subcommittee will focus on capacity building among FBOs countywide.

Reentry Housing Subcommittee - This subcommittee is forming around educating reentry providers, funders, and policy makers about leading practices housing & services options and identifying and addressing barriers to housing and serving reentry participants in Los Angeles County.

Pre-Release Planning - The work of this subcommittee is to help build a system where people in all our prisons and jails will be able to begin planning for return to their communities. Very good programs exist, but are not consistent or widespread. Meeting schedule to be determined based on preferences of members.

Capacity Building - This subcommittee identifies development needs for reentry services providers through assessments and designing and delivering workshops and other forms of technical assistance.

Contact info@lareentry.org for more information or to join or propose a new subcommittee.

Policy & Advocacy Committee - The Policy & Advocacy Committee will update LARRP Policy Priorities, prioritize issues to take on in 2012, and determine strategies for addressing priorities.

Regional Coalitions Committee - The committee is composed of the leaders of the various reentry coalitions in Los Angeles County. This group will meet monthly to develop shared capacity building and public policy advocacy goals.

Please contact info@lareentry.org for more information about all committees and subcommittees.

Capacity Building Workshop: Program Evaluation: How It Really Works!

Three sessions to be held in East Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, and Alhambra

Featuring instructors from UCLA who specialize in community and faith-based organization development, LARRP is sponsoring workshops designed to help providers develop ways to measure program results.

Workshops:

May 11^th 9 a.m. to 12 noon - Chicana Services Action Center, 3601 E 1st St Los Angeles

May 14^th 9 a.m. to 12 noon - San Fernando Valley (location to be announced)

May 23^rd 9 a.m. to 12 noon - American Recovery Center
2180 Valley Blvd. Pomona

The learning objectives are:

Learning Objectives:

· Acquire a basic understanding of program evaluation and its relationship to community-based, non-profit programs

· Understand fundamental evaluation terminology and concepts

· Obtain a working knowledge of various evaluation approaches and methodologies

· Recognize structure of evaluation planning and implementation
Enhance knowledge of cross culturally relevant and sensitive approach

For more information and to register go to: www.lareentry.org

LARRP Reentry Service Provider Directory

Attention all Reentry Service Providers: LARRP would like to include you in our first-ever Reentry Service Provider Directory. With your help, we are looking to build Los Angeles County's most comprehensive resource directory to date of those working for and on behalf of the reentry community.

To make sure your organization or agency is listed, please take a moment to fill out our survey at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LAReentryServiceDirectory

In addition to learning more about your organization for our directory, we also hope to collect information that will help us understand how LARRP can better meet the needs of service providers.

Thank you for your participation!

POLICY CORNER

Issue 1: City of L.A. Community Care Licensing Ordinance

With little notice, The Planning & Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) moved forward with what advocates thought was a "canceled" hearing on April 24^th without Committee Chair Councilmember Reyes. Only Councilmember Englander moved to approve this ordinance for Council vote. However, since there was no second, Rule 69 deems the Committee to have taken "no action" so the item automatically goes to full Council without recommendation.

Action required: Stay tuned to show up for a vote in City Council once it is scheduled.

Issue 2: Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles Section 8 Admin. Plan - Removing Barriers to Reentry

On April 3, 2012 the LA County Board of Supervisors approved the HACoLA Section 8 Admin. Plan on a 4-1 vote. Among other wins, this plan eliminates the parole/probation ban and reduces the criminal look-back period from 3 years to 2 years for homeless people.

Action Required: None

Issue 3: Board of Supervisor's Motion: Assessing and Improving the Delivery of Realignment Services

On April 3, 2012, the county Board of Supervisors approved Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas' motion regarding the AB109 (Realignment) population, directing the Probation Department to "immediately improve the levels of rehabilitative services to released prisoners with a goal of ensuring 100% of persons requiring treatment and other services receive them."

Action required: Attend the monthly Public Safety Realignment Team meeting (2^nd Thursdays at 3 p.m. at the County Hall of Administration) and speak out on the many concerning issues around Realignment implementation (slow referrals, law enforcement compliance checks, etc.)

LARRP's Policy and Advocacy Committee meets the 3^rd Friday of the month from 2-4 p.m. Please look for location announcements if you're on the committee roster. If not, contact us at lareentry.org for information.

info@lareentry.org

PARTNER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Los Angeles Gang Violence & Intervention Conference

May 21 & 22, 2012

For further info go to Website

www.vpcgla.org

5th Annual Housing Institute 2012

Los Angeles County Dept.of Mental Health and Corporation for Supportive Housing Presents:

"Partnerships in Permanent Supportive Housing"

California Endowment Center

June 11 & 12, 2012

Link to Flyer