Good Morning,
Folks-
Here are some items that may be of
interest.
NYSCAA
News and Updates
Upcoming
Events
May and June are busy times for
Events and Conferences. There are many opportunities to take advantage of
professional development activities and we hope that you are able to join your
colleagues at these upcoming NYSCAA events.
David Bradley’s
History of the Way on Poverty. David Bradley is
conducting his one-day version of the History of the War on Poverty on June
10th in Lake
George, NY. The
session is only $100 (compared
with $525 for his upcoming two-day version in Florida). Several CAAs are
bringing large teams of staff, board and volunteers to the event and we hope you
can do so, too. The room holds 300 and we would really like to fill the
room. Many CAAs have requested we bring David Bradley to New York again and we
look forward to his presentation. The fee includes lunch and materials.
The session will be at the Georgian Inn Conference and Conference Center right on Lake
George. To register for David Bradley’s session and to learn
more, go to http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events_details.aspx?cnfNum=174
NYSCAA/NYSWDA
Professional Development Conference and Awards Dinner.
The annual conference is being held
June 11-13, 2008 at the Georgian Inn and Conference Center. NCAF’s David Bradley, OMB
Watch’s Gary Bass, CAPLAW’s Anita Lichtblau, representatives from NNS/ACF/NYS
Regional Head Start Office, NYSERDA, and many more will be presenting and/or
keynoting sessions. Tracks include board development, agency operations,
advocate, economic development, Head Start, and Weatherization. The
registration fee is $285 and the overnight room rate is a very reasonable
$64/night. The fee includes two breakfasts, two lunches, two receptions,
and the Annual Awards Dinner. We are excited to be doing this in
partnership with NYSWDA again this year and it looks to be a great
conference. Hope to see you there! For more information and
registration, go to http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events_details.aspx?cnfNum=124
NYSCAA Annual
Member Meeting. As a membership organization, NYSCAA
will hold its Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 12th at
9:00-10:00. We will provide the membership an update on the year’s
activities and put forth the slate of officers and board nominees. Voting will
take place that morning and the new board members and officers sworn in that
evening at the Annual Awards Dinner. Voting may be done by proxy if you
are unable to attend but you must be a Member in good standing to cast a
vote. Breakfast will be provided. All are welcome and there is no
cost to attend this meeting. If you would like to run for a board seat or
officer position (President and VP are elected this year), please email me at dharlow@nyscaaonline.org no later
than 5/18/08.
NYSCAA Board
Meeting. The NYSCAA Board is meeting
on Wednesday, June 11th at 9:00-11:30 at the Georgian Inn and
Conference Center in Lake
George. Please let Denise know if you will be attending at dharlow@nyscaaonline.org.
SAVE THE
DATE. NYSCAA Executive Management Retreat-September 17-19, 2008 in the
Finger Lakes Region.
After last year’s successful
retreat, members have asked for a session this fall. “Rebuilding the Box:
Taking a Fresh Look at Strategies to End Poverty.” The retreat will
address both broad anti-poverty activities as well as provide professional
development in areas such human resource issues facing CAAs and succession
planning. We are working to make the event more ”re-treaty” as last year’s
participants requested and hope you and your management team (and your
up-and-coming leaders) will be able to join us. More information will
follow but mark you calendars now.
Technology.
Mini-Tech “Drip”
Trainings: Free 20 minute webinars are
available online in Word and Excel. Sessions in April include
Ø
5/13/08
10:30AM: Excel Drop Down Lists and Data
Verification
Ø
5/14//08
1:30PM: Excel Drop Down Lists and Data
Verification
Registration can be
found at http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events.aspx
Other
NYSCAA Items of Interest
NYSCAA Meets with
Key Executive Branch Representatives. As I have
shared in previous emails, NYSCAA’s Executive and Public Policy Committees met
April 23rd in Albany with
Kristen Proud, Deputy Secretary of State Operations; Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez; OTDA
Commissioner, David Hansell; OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrión (via phone); DOL
Commissioner, Patricia Smith; and OCS/DCS Director, Dee Dee Franco.
If you missed my earlier email that
summarized the meeting, please let me know at dharlow@nyscaaonline.org and I will
forward it to you. We felt the meeting went well and was a great
opportunity to ensure key players know Community
Action.
NYSCAA Appointed
to OTDA Advisory Committee. OTDA Commissioner David
Hansell has invited Denise Harlow,
NYSCAA CEO to be a member of the new OTDA Advisory Committee. It has been
several years since there has been such a committee and we look forward to
participating. The first meeting is May 22nd and we will keep
you updated as to what transpires.
New
York State
Poverty Report. NYSCAA released its first
New York State Poverty Report this week. Designed as a data book of
poverty statistics, we hope this report provides an easy reference guide for
CAAs, other CBOs, policy makers and the general public to reference poverty
related data. The report offers a statewide picture as well as pages by
county/borough and includes CAA stats as provided via the APR. Summary tables
and data sources are also provided. You will receive a hard copy of the
report early next week and can access the report, hear a recording of the press
conference, and see a clip of coverage that ran on Albany’s local Time Warner
station on the web at http://www.nyscaaonline.org/PovReport/OverView.aspx.
Helping Hands
Tool Kit Coming. The annual Helping Hands Toolkit is
also in the mail to all CAAs and we encourage you to keep an eye on the NYSCAA
website for its electronic release. Produced through a partnership with
FDANYS and consultant Fred Newdom, this report offers front line staff and
others specific details on available programs and resources available to
low-income families including eligibility guidelines and application processes.
Other
Items of Interest.
Mapping
Poverty in New York City: Pinpointing
the Impact of Poverty, Community By Community. In
March, The Community Service Society of New York released a new publication
identifying concentrated areas of poverty around the five boroughs of New York city. "Mapping
Poverty" is a collaborative effort with the United Way of New York City. This series
of maps explores the interconnection of factors such as employment, housing
resources, and immigration in New York
City neighborhoods. Read the Full Report (PDF).
CLASP and
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Partner to
Produce Report on Statewide Initiatives to Address
Poverty. Recently released, Seizing the Moment: State Governments and the New
Commitment to Reduce Poverty in America outlines the various campaigns across the country to
reduce poverty. As noted in the report, several states have
state-sponsored campaigns to cut poverty in half and/or cut child poverty in
half over the next 15-20 years. We have shared this report with our
advocate colleagues as well and hope to use it as a tool as we work towards the
establishment of a Statewide Commission on Poverty. To read the report, go
to http://www.spotlightonpoverty.com/users/spotlight_on_poverty/documents/CLASP%20Report_0414.pdf
“Half by Ten:
From Poverty to Prosperity,” a new major national
initiative to promote economic security and reduce poverty in
America. Half by Ten will be
announced at two high-visibility events in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the week of May 13th. The name of
this effort stems from the plan developed by the Center for American Progress to
cut America’s poverty rate in half during
the next ten years. The Center, along with the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights, the Coalition on Human Needs, and ACORN, are the four lead
organizations. The Community Action Partnership will be involved as a partner in
this effort. Details forthcoming in next few weeks.
Rooting Out
Poverty. The National Campaign to Reduce Poverty and to
Promote Economic Security was announced on January 9th at the
Partnership’s Winter conference in New
Orleans. The report is available
online, at http://www.communityactionpartnership.com/Rooting-Out-Poverty.asp
.
Community Action
Partnership Membership. If you have not done so for the
year, consider joining the national Community Action Partnership. Under
the direction of their new CEO, Don Mathis, the Partnership is working to
strengthen their training and technical assistance, increase partnerships, and
better market and promote the Community Action network nationally. For more
information, go to www.communityactionpartnership.com.
OCS Grant
Opportunity and Calls: Job
Opportunities for Low Income Individuals and Community Economic Development.
Here is information on two funding
opportunities from OCS, one for Community Economic Development and one for Job
Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals. To help applicants, OCS will be
hosting a conference call for organizations interested in learning more as
follows: To help applicants, OCS will be hosting a conference call
for organizations interested in learning more as
follows:
· Job
Opportunities for Low Income Individuals (JOLI): May 9th
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2008-ACF-OCS-EO-0054.html.
Applications
are due June 2, 2008.
· Community Economic Development (CED): May 16th
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2008-ACF-OCS-EE-0024.html.
Applications
are due June 25, 2008. To register for the call(s), please go to:
http://ocs-dcdpregistration.com/ocs-dcdp/register.nsf/content/calls.html.
Organizations unable to participate on the teleconference will be able to
hear a recording of it from the following web sites after the
call:
· JOLI: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/dcdp/joli/index.html
·
CED: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ocs/dcdp/ced/index.html
Inquiries regarding this teleconference should be
directed to Sarah Hunt at OCSRegistrar@icfi.com or
703.934.3146.
Other
Events of Interest
Low Income Forum
on Energy Conference. The Annual LIFE
conference will be held May 20-21 at the Marriott in Albany.
Family
Development Association of New
York State
(FDANYS). The FDANYS’ annual confernce is
scheduled for May 21-22 at the Desmond in Albany. This is their 10th
Anniversary event and will be sure to be packed with great information.
For more information, go to www.fdanys.org.
CAPLAW National Training Conference.
June 18 - 20, 2008, Denver, Colorado. Community Action Agencies
(CAAs), Head Start programs and other nonprofits and government grantees face an
ever-increasing array of rules and regulations. How do you comply without losing
sight of your organization’s mission and program goals? Attend CAPLAW’s National Training
Conference and find out. Our expert faculty of
attorneys, accountants, government officials and nonprofit managers will give
you the tools you need to resolve the legal, financial and management questions
you encounter every day. This year’s conference features two pre-conference
workshops at no additional cost, special tracks on fiscal, governance and human
resources issues, as well as workshops on a variety of other topics. Attend one
of the tracks – or choose any combination of workshops. Workshops are relevant
to nonprofits and government grantees generally, with a special focus on issues
faced by both nonprofit and governmental Community Services Block Grant
recipients, Head Start programs, their delegate agencies and other
affiliates. Click here for brochure with
registration
information.
The 2008 Community Action
Partnership Convention. August 26 - 29,
2008. Chicago,
IL. For more information, go
to www.communityactionpartnership.com.
CFED Conference
in Washington, DC. Corporation for
Enterprise
Development. September 11-13th. More info at www.cfed.org
Thanks and have a great
weekend. To those of you who are moms, Happy Mothers
Day!
Denise
Denise
Harlow, CEO
New York State Community Action
Association, Inc.
2 Charles
Blvd.
Guilderland, NY 12084
518-690-0491, ext.
24
FAX
518-690-0498
dharlow@nyscaaonline.org
Register now for the History of the
War on Poverty with NCAF’s David Bradley, June 10th, 2008 at the
Georgian Resort in Lake George, NY. To register,
go to: http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events_details.aspx?cnfNum=174