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To subscribe, submit the form in the left column of this e-newsletter or visit www.nassembly.org. HSN: Human Service Newsbytes August 21 , 2008 Human Service Newsbytes is the biweekly e-newsletter of the National Human Services Assembly that contains information for and about the nonprofit health and human services sector. Please pass this timely information along to your network.
We have pulled out all the stops this year to bring you and your management team (and board leaders for that matter) a truly exceptional learning-networking event. In addition to recognizing some of the best in our field with the Essence of Leadership Awards on the evening of September 25th (and wait until you learn who will be recognized this year!), an intimate gathering of about 150 sector leaders will take a day to refresh our professional selves - to listen, learn, discuss, process, reflect. The talent presenting this year at the "NLS", well there aren't enough superlatives in the English language. Marc Freedman of Civic Ventures, the thought leader on boomers, work and volunteerism. Allison Fine, whose work captures the Millennial generation in ways that we can apply. Dorothy Stoneman of YouthBuild, Trabian Shorters of the Knight Foundation, and others on the relevance of social entrepreneurship to our work. And those are just the plenaries. Opening Reception and Essence of Leadership Awards: September 25, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. EST. Leaders’ Summit: September 26, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. For more info and to register WWW.NATIONALLEADERSSUMMIT.ORG Effective Parent Training Leads to Positive Outcomes for Both Parents and Children Parent education is designed to strengthen and support families and communities to prevent child abuse and neglect. This issue brief from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides an overview of research regarding some key characteristics and training strategies of successful parent education programs. Information about selected evidence-based and evidence-informed parent education programs, including a list of registries that cite the program, also is provided. Click here. House of Representatives Takes Action on Foster Care Reform Child Welfare Infrastructure Severely Lacking in Rural Communities Rural communities face significant challenges, including higher poverty and fewer resources. At the same time, the child welfare infrastructure and the supporting social service, health, and mental health services are severely lacking. Decisions tend to be made in urban government centers, often without consideration of rural circumstances. Some states have centralized their intake processes, some have provided contracts and financial incentives that are cost-efficient when addressing large concentrated populations, but no longer competitive with smaller numbers of children and families with a larger geographic distribution. As states have had to reduce the size of their social service supports, these reductions appear to have disproportionately impacted rural communities. These communities have fewer foundations, a smaller economic base, smaller city and county governments, and fewer state jobs—both in real numbers and proportionately. To read more of this CWLA report click here. A New Look at Concentrated Poverty in the 2000s A new analysis by the Brookings Institution looks at the changing geographic distribution of low-income workers and their families, measured by receipt of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in tax years 1999 and 2005, nationwide and in 58 major metropolitan areas across the country. The analysis reveals that the number of tax filers nationwide living in areas with high rates of working poverty increased by 40 percent, or 1.6 million filers, between tax years 1999 and 2005. For more info. Introduced August 6th, by U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and John Ensign (R-NV), the GIVE Act addresses the adverse impacts on volunteers of high gas prices and discriminatory tax policy towards nonprofits by eliminating the disincentives that prevent charitable volunteers from doing what they really want to do, which is to help the needy in their communities. The GIVE Act, as introduced, would 1) raise the charitable mileage deduction from 14 cents to almost 41 cents; 2) eliminate the need for nonprofits to seek new legislation every year by setting the charitable volunteer rate at 70% of the standard business mileage rate as adjusted by the IRS; and 3) exclude from any income tax consequence actual mileage reimbursements made to volunteers. These features not only address economic pain being felt in America’s communities, but also recognize the vital role the nonprofit sector plays in coordinating volunteer efforts to meet human needs. When Congress comes back to DC from its August recess, it will have only three weeks to get the bill passed in both the House and Senate before it adjourns so members can seek re-election. (The National Council of Nonprofit Associations). For more info.. Administration Creates Roadblocks To Kids Health Coverage, So States Seek Alternative Routes This brief from Families USA examines the current state of children's coverage and finds that, while the Administration's new directive has created roadblocks that stymied state efforts to expand eligibility, it has not stopped states from making progress. Click here. Other News... McCain versus Obama: Key Health Plan Differences. (Families USA). Click here. For an in-depth analysis of their plans, see Health Care and the 2008 Presidential Election: Comparing the Candidates’ Positions on Health Care. Mayor Michael Bloomberg released details last week of the incentives for Opportunity NYC, the city’s innovative conditional cash transfer program aimed at helping New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty. Based upon successful models of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs around the world, Opportunity NYC is a key initiative of Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity, which was established to implement his second-term agenda to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity in New York City. Last week’s announcement outlines the specific program details and incentives for accomplishing the goals of the conditional cash transfer program. This initiative is designed to measure and evaluate the impact of incentive-based strategies on poverty reduction. Click here. New Resources... Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Statistics and Interventions (Child Welfare Information Gateway). Click here. Community Services Locator New Civic Index for Measuring Community Engagement in Public Schools A new Civic Index for Quality Public Education developed by the Public Education Network (PEN) offers municipal officials and other local leaders an online tool to measure community support for public schools. The Civic Index identifies ten categories found to be crucial to quality public education, such as education leadership of local officials, parent engagement, and utilization of school performance data. In addition, the Index offers a toolkit with numerous resources, strategies, and best practices for each category to help communities identify what they are doing right and what they can do to improve support for public schools. Click here. New Website Highlights Volunteering in America The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has launched a new website which showcases six years of data on volunteering, rankings of states and cities, and volunteer trends and demographic information for every state and 162 large and mid-sized cities. This interactive website is a rich resource of information which allows nonprofit leaders, policy makers, and others an opportunity to retrieve data and assemble unique customized reports which include both volunteering and national service data for their cities and states. http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/ The 2008 State Fact Sheets provide descriptive information on the condition of vulnerable children in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, using indicators of child protection, health, child care, education, and income support. Click here
Got Jobs? Members and friends of the National Assembly can post positions on the National Assembly's web site. Click the link. Create your own password, and post the job. Got Conferences, Events? Post events that are open to the broad human service sector (i.e., not just your own members). Click the link. Click on "Add Your Own Event," and follow the instructions. Got News? Email your news and grant announcement suggestions to newsletters@nassembly.org. Grants, Notices & Awards (listed in chronological order by deadline) Community Improvement Project Assistance from Lowe's The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) funds community improvement projects and home safety initiatives, including building repair and renovation, community clean-up, landscaping and painting projects, construction and trades related initiatives and playground enhancements. Applications are awarded on an ongoing basis. Click here for more info. $5 Million in Grants Available for Student Service and Service-Learning Projects More than $5 million in Learn and Serve America grant funding will be available to support community service and service-learning through three new grant competitions: the 2008 College Student Social Media Initiative, School-Based Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Curriculum (STEM), and the Indian Tribes Drug Abuse Prevention Initiative. For more info.. Three national housing organizations—HomeFree-USA, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), and NeighborWorks America—have announced new financial support in response to the homeownership financing needs of existing and prospective homeowners. The Homeownership Helps initiative, being funded with a two-year total of $2 million, will help households looking to purchase a home and those struggling with their current mortgage. For more info.. Literacy, Youth Leadership and Volunteerism Grants – Deadline: Rolling. The Comcast Foundation supports organizations that make communities stronger through literacy, youth leadership development and community service programs. Award amounts range from $1,000 to $570,000. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status that operate within a Comcast service area.
2008 Nonprofit Human Resources Conference: Advancing Mission Through People The 2008 Nonprofit Human Resources Conference is the first of a series of planned annual events designed to bring together nonprofit human resources practitioners, executives, thought leaders, and researchers to not only discuss human resources issues of critical importance to the nonprofit sector, but also to identify resources – human, financial, and programmatic – that will advance the missions and organizational effectiveness of individual organizations and position the sector more effectively for the future. National Assembly members will receive a discount on registration. Click here to register. September 28-29, 2008 Washington, DC The Magic of Connections National Mentoring Summit The purpose of the summit is to invigorate and mobilize the mentoring community, while motivating and inspiring business and civic leaders to increase their support for mentoring efforts. Click here to register September 18 - 19, 2008 Disneyland Resort Transforming Lives Through Workforce Development Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 in Dallas, Texas Sponsored by U.S. Dept. of Labor Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, In conjunction with the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. For inquiries, email contact-cfbci@dol.gov. 2008 BoardSource Leadership Forum Washington, DC October 29-31 Advanced Volunteer Management Conference For information on more events and to post events click here
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