Good Afternoon,
Here are some NYSCAA News and Updates along with other items that may be of interest.
NYSCAA News and Updates
Member Visits. Thanks again to all the agencies who hosted me last week. I was inspired by the vast amount of work and the high level of impact Community Action is having across the state. Thanks to Stacy Alvord, Gloria Griffin, Marty Mucher, Ed Fancher, Suzanne Shears, Roberta Keller, Tina Zerbian, Marlene Babchak, David Hill, Andrea Ogunwumi, Lee Dillon and many of your key staff persons for a fascinating and educational trip.
Advanced Fiscal Training: As you know, many of your fiscal staff have requested advanced fiscal training. The NYS Society of CPAs and the Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE) have issued save the date and early registration information for their Annual Nonprofit Organization Conference. The conference will be offered in two locations with January 10th in Rochester and January 17th in NYC. Having attended these in the past, I have found them extremely valuable in terms of updates on financial oversight regulations, changes at the IRS, and general nonprofit legal issues. While many attendees are CPAs, many others are Fiscal Officers, Executive Directors, board members, etc. This year’s highlights include: - NPO Accounting & Auditing Update - Legal Update: Issues Affecting NPOs - The Expanding Financial Oversight Role of the Board - Director's and Officer's Liability: Are you Covered? - Selected Advanced Accounting and Reporting Topics - Overcoming Deficiencies in A-133 Audits - Two Experts Panel Discussions: Accounting & Auditing and Governance Issues. Here is a link to the conference overview http://www.nysscpa.org/FAEOnline/course.cfm?ccid=25550771.
In addition, FAE’s Exempt Organizations conference is December 5th in NYC. Highlights here include sessions on executive compensation, UBIT, lobbying, intermediate sanctions, and changes to the IRS Form 990. Here is a link to the Exempt Conference brochure http://www.nysscpa.org/conferences/2006/pdfs/exempt.pdf.
Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy Celebrates 135 years. “SCAA celebrates its 135th Anniversary with a landmark policy conference on the most ominous economic trend of our generation. Join Dr. Jacob Hacker – Yale professor, pundit and renowned economic thinker – to discuss his explosive new book, The Great Risk Shift. Dr. Hacker will deliver a keynote address, and some of New York State’s leading analysts and policymakers will discuss the implications of the Great Risk Shift for our state’s health care, education and economic policies.” For more information, go to www.scaany.org. Cost is $25. NYSCAA staff will be attending and SCAA has agreed to participate in NYSCAA’s Poverty Symposium.
Election Activity Reminder:
With Election Day quickly approaching, CAPLAW reminds Community Action Agencies (CAAs) to avoid participating in political campaign activity and to exercise caution in planning election-related activities such as transportation to the polls. Also remember, though, that for the most part, CAA employees may participate in campaign activities as private citizens, on their own time and without use of the CAA name or resources. Please note that this includes the use of email, phones, fax, copiers, etc. For more details about the rules on these issues, see the attached CAPLAW publications and Office of Community Services information memorandum and click here for information from the IRS. If you have questions on these issues, please call CAPLAW at (617) 357-6915 or Denise Harlow at NYSCAA at (518) 690-0491, ext. 24.
Community Action in the Press. The Community Action Partnership of Dutchess County was highlighted in the Poughkeepsie Journal recently as it awarded Howard Swart, retired Dutchess County's commissioner of social services and long standing board member of the Community Action Partnership, its 2006 Heroes and Legends award. See http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS01/610200340/1006 for more information.
Reports and News Stories of Interest
New York: Food Stamp Recipients Who Lost Food in Snowstorm Blackout Will Get Automatic Benefit Reimbursement. (“Food Stamps to Be Reimbursed,” buffalonews.com, October 20, 2006) The 97,000 people in Erie County, N.Y., who receive food stamps will have 73 percent of their October allotment automatically reimbursed to their benefit cards, county and state officials announced. In the week since the Oct. 12 snowstorm and subsequent blackout, thousands of families lost the food they bought with food stamps. The federal government has waived the requirement to fill out reimbursement forms. Without the automatic reimbursement, food stamp recipients would have had to either go downtown or get a form mailed to them, then would still face as much as 10 day wait to get the reimbursement. Before the announcement, at least 7,000 people came to the Rath County Office Building to fill out the forms, many of them waiting in long lines in the rain. Many others tried to call their social workers asking to have the forms mailed to them, jamming the office’s phone lines. Local food pantries and soup kitchens have been struggling to meet the sudden increase in demand for food after the storm. “We are running low,” said Clem Eckert of the Food Bank of Western New York, which supplies food to the area’s food agencies. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061020/1045798.asp
Race and Child Poverty
"In 2004, black and Hispanic children were more likely to be poor (33 and 29 percent, respectively) than white children (10 percent). Over the past 20 years, black and Hispanic children were much more likely to be poor than white children in every year."
From "Understanding Recent Changes in Child Poverty," by Austin Nichols. http://www.urban.org/publications/311356.html
New Report: Low Education=Low Income Despite Full-Time Employment
This resource from the National Center for Children in Poverty reviews data surrounding educational achievement among low-income parents. Authors found that most children in low-income families have parents without a college degree. Additionally, 26 percent of children in low-income families, 7.2 million, have parents with less than a high school diploma, and 36%, 10.2 million, have parents with a high school diploma, without a college degree. http://nccp.org/media/pei06b.pdf . (Source: Welfare Peer TA Network)
Immigration and Child and Family Policy. The number of children with immigrant parents has tripled in the last 35 years. Additionally, a large number of low income children reside in immigrant families. While low-income immigrant families with children are mostly working families, low-skilled jobs result in high poverty and hardship rates for these children. This article provides additional insight into these increasing statistics. For more information, please see: http://www.peerta.acf.hhs.gov/policies/barrier.htm#imm.
Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity Relates to Heating and Cooling Costs in Low-Income Elderly Households. (“Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity Is Associated with Heating and Cooling Costs among Low-Income Elderly Americans,” jn.nutrition.org, November 2006) A study by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that seasonally high heating and cooling costs affect the incidence of very low food security – the more severe range of food insecurity – in low-income households, especially those consisting entirely of elderly persons. In high-cooling states, the chances of very low food security for poor, elderly-only households were 27 percent higher in the summer than in the winter. In high-heating states, the chances of very low food security were 43 percent lower in the summer. “In light of recent sharp increases in home heating and cooling costs in many parts of the U.S., it is important to understand the extent to which households make tradeoffs between heating and cooling costs and other basic needs that affect their food security,” the study pointed out. It appeared in the November issue of The Journal of Nutrition. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/136/11/2939
Other Trainings
Community Action Partnership Fall Management and Leadership Conference. On December 6-8 in San Antonio, TX, the Community Action Partnership will hold its annual fall conference. Click here for more details: http://www.communityactionpartnership.com/events/Fall-Training.pdf
Assessing Your Development Efforts. Online training presented by the Council of Community Services of NYS, Inc. Join them online on November 10th for this workshop that will help you assess and revamp your fund development efforts. Fund development fuels your organization’s mission so it is essential to make sure we are doing the right things correctly to maximize the return on our efforts. Linda London will share a variety of assessment tools that can help you determine what isn’t working as well as what could work better. Cost: $30.00 CCSNYS Member; $40 Non-CCSNYS Member. I can’t say enough positive things about Linda London’s experience in fund development and her presentation style will keep you engaged. Click here for more information: http://www.ccsnys.org/babn/workshops_online.htm
WIPFLi Conference. Wipfli’s 8th Annual Grant Funded Program Management Conference will be hosted in Las Vega July 10-13th 2007. More information can be found at www.gfp.wiplfi.com.
Have a great weekend!
Denise
Denise Harlow
Chief Executive Officer
New York State Community Action Association
2 Charles Blvd.
Guilderland, NY 12084
(518) 690-0491
Fax: (518) 690-0498
www.nyscaaonline.org
A Member of the Community Action Partnership-Helping People. Changing Lives.