The American Community Survey , the Economic Census, and other vital Census Bureau functions are being threatened with elimination and de-funding. We know how essential the Census Bureau’s surveys and reports are in our understanding of and solutions to poverty and other issues throughout our nation. Thanks to our great colleagues at The Census Project, we have an opportunity to express our concern to the U. S. Senate.

The Community Action Partnership already has signed on to this letter and we are strongly encouraging local Community Action Agencies, CA State Associations, and other national organizations to sign on to this letter ASAP, by close of business Monday 5/14.

If you can sign, please send your info to Brendan Nichols bnichols@ccmc.org Thank you for considering.

---

May 11, 2012

Honorable [First] [Last Name]
United States Senator
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator [Last Name]:

The undersigned group of national, state, and local organizations, representing a diverse range of the nation's social and economic sectors, writes to express its alarm about recent House of Representatives action to eliminate the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and reduce funding for the agency by more than $100 million. The adverse consequences of these proposals are widespread and would affect the nation’s ability to meet the needs of Americans through wise allocation of resources, monitor the nation’s economic recovery, and meet our constitutional obligation to conduct an accurate census in 2020.

The ACS is the only source of objective, consistent, and comprehensive information about the nation’s social, economic, and demographic characteristics down to the neighborhood level. The importance of high-quality, objective, and universal ACS data for public and private sector decision-makers cannot be overstated. The federal government alone allocates more than $450 billion annually in program funds to state and local governments based in whole or in part on ACS data. (1) Federal law, directly or indirectly, requires all of the information gathered in the ACS (i.e. Congress requested the data directly, or created a program that relies on data for implementation, enforcement, or monitoring, for which the census or ACS are the only sources).

In addition, the Voting Rights Act relies on ACS data to make determinations under section 203, which requires jurisdictions with a high percentage of people who are not proficient in the English language to offer bilingual voting materials; there is no other source for this data. Equally important, businesses of all sizes rely on ACS data every day to make vital decisions about where to locate and expand, what goods and services to offer, the scope of employee training needed, and long term investment opportunities. Nonprofit organizations use the ACS to guide services to those most in need and to measure the success of their programs.

Last week, the House voted first to make response to the ACS voluntary, and then to eliminate the survey entirely. In two reports (2) and several more recent analyses, the bureau concluded that mail response rates to a voluntary ACS would drop “dramatically,” by more than 20 percentage points. The decline in response rates would force the bureau to use more costly modes of data collection, such as telephone and door-to-door visits, thereby increasing the cost of the survey by thirty percent ($60 million at the time of the 2003 field test). Congress, in the current fiscal climate, is unlikely to increase funding for the ACS by the amount necessary to overcome low initial response rates, leaving the Census Bureau with insufficient response to produce reliable data for smaller (e.g. rural communities; towns; urban neighborhoods) areas and population groups (e.g. people with disabilities; veterans; immigrant groups). The consequence would be ACS data of greatly diminished quality. The test also showed that the percent of completed interviews (conducted if a household fails to mail back a form) fell significantly if the survey was voluntary, adding to the problem of data reliability. Perhaps not surprisingly, cooperation in traditionally low mail response areas (which tend to equate with hard-to-count communities, such as people of color, low income families, and rural households) declined even further when ACS response was voluntary.

Our concern over the vote to make ACS response voluntary turned to genuine alarm when the House subsequently voted to eliminate all funding for the ACS. We should not jeopardize the fair and wise allocation of limited taxpayer dollars by undermining the only source of reliable data to guide those allocations. In fact, in the absence of ACS data, Congress might not be able to allocate many program grants at all in the short term, and only by fiat in the long term. We should not leave the nation in such a precarious decision-making vacuum and hinder its economic recovery and future growth.

We also are greatly troubled by the potential consequences of significant funding cuts to the Census Bureau’s Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) budget. The House-passed version of the FY13 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill (H.R. 5326) allocates $601.4 million for Periodic Censuses and Programs, which includes 2020 Census planning, the ACS, and the 2012 Economic Census, $110 million below the President’s request. This reduced funding level will cripple the Census Bureau’s ability to research and test thoroughly emerging methodologies and alternative response options to lower the cost of the next census without compromising accuracy and coverage of historically hard-to-enumeration population groups.

Further, the Census Bureau has indicated that the House-passed funding level would force it to cancel some or all of the Economic Census. This quinquennial census provides core information on virtually all non-farm businesses and related data on business expenditures, commodity flows, and minority and women-owned businesses. It is a fundamental building block of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and national income and product accounts. Abandoning plans for this important assessment of economic activity across diverse sectors would be foolhardy at a time when data is an essential component of the roadmap to economic recovery and progress and job creation.

The Census Bureau has already demonstrated its commitment to reducing costs by taking bold steps to streamline operations, including closing half of its twelve regional offices in 2014 and terminating popular data products. But it cannot meet Congress’ goal of significantly containing the cost of the 2020 Census without investing a reasonable level of funds now to develop new, more cost-efficient methods and counting operations. Eliminating the ACS would further hamper this goal by removing an important and cost-efficient test-bed for the 2020 Census, including critical evaluations of electronic response options.

For all of these reasons, we urge the U.S. Senate to continue its support for a comprehensive and statistically valid American Community Survey, and to support robust and thorough planning for the 2020 Census, a cornerstone of American democracy and economic and social health.

---

1 Reamer, Andrew, "Surveying for Dollars: The Role of the American Community Survey in the Geographic Distribution of Federal Funds," The Brookings Institution, July 2010.
2"Meeting 21st Century Data Needs - Implementing the American Community Survey, Report 3: Testing the Use of Voluntary Methods" (Dec. 2003) http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Report03.pdf and an update, "Report 11: Testing Voluntary Methods -- Additional Results" (Dec. 2004) http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Report11.pdf.

 

Getting Started: Understanding AFI Program Rules & Regulations

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
12:30 - 1:30 pm PDT / 3:30 - 4:30 pm EDT

Do you sometimes find it hard to determine if potential savers qualify for your program? Do you have questions about authorized expenses or other AFI program rules? Would you like to refresh your knowledge of the AFI legislation? Having a good understanding of the basic rules and regulations of the AFI Individual Development Account (IDA) Program will help you build your program on a solid foundation and most importantly, will save you time and energy.

This hour-long webinar will:

• Provide an overview of key program rules outlined in the AFI legislation
• Discuss AFI guidelines for determining participant eligibility and allowable uses of AFI funds
• Offer examples of tricky scenarios that AFI grantees frequently encounter when enrolling accountholders and processing asset purchases – and how to address them

Presenters include:

• Amy Shir, AFI Regional Consultant
• Leigh Tivol, Director, Savings and Financial Security, CFED (moderator)

Visit www1.gotomeeting.com/register/821436792 today to register!

The webinar is free to all interested participants. In advance of the webinar, please send any questions you would like our panelists to address during the session to Jimmy Crowell at jimmy.crowell@idaresources.org, or call 202.207.0147.

Join us at the CAPLAW Pre-Conference on June 5th
San Diego, CA

Create Jobs? Generate Income? Community Economic Development

Attend this session and find out how the Community Action network has created new jobs, generated new sources of revenue, and built opportunity in low-income communities through community economic development (CED). The national Community Action Partnership’s community economic development (CED) initiative is in its third year. Representatives from the Partnership will share what they have learned, the tools they have identified and created, and how they can help you bring community development projects to your community. This workshop will provide participants with an understanding of the field of community economic development, information about current CED projects in the Community Action network, and an understanding of CED financing options. In addition, the session will provide an overview of training available to start or expand real estate, social enterprise, and loan fund projects.

For information, click here.

Presenters:
Stacy Flowers, Community Action Partnership
Julie Jakopic, iLead Strategies

---

2012 CAPLAW National Training Conference
June 5 - 7, San Diego

Boards, CEOs, CFOs, and other members of senior staff must work together effectively to build and maintain stable, healthy organizations. We encourage you to bring team members from your organization's senior staff to the National Training Conference to explore new ways to move forward together in challenging times and to build sustainable organizations.

We strongly encourage attendance from:

• Community Action Agency staff and board members
• Nonprofit management staff and board members
• Head Start program staff
• Government grantees
• Federal, state and local government officials working with CAAs, nonprofits and government grantees
• Accountants and attorneys working with CAAs, nonprofits and government grantees

Click here for complete information and registration.

We will be promoting ALL Community Economic Development projects from Community Action Members at the Annual Conference in New York. We would like to show your work to OCS, distinguished speakers, and our Network. Please send a picture and ONE paragraph about your project. We want to display the amazing work happening in the Community Action Network.

Please send your project picture and short project story (one paragraph), to Stacy Flowers.

The Partnership realizes that new revenues is an essential component of solving our nation’s long-term debt problem. Other organizations signing this letter to the Senate include: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Campaign for America’s Future, Catholics United, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Coalition on Human Needs, Common Cause, Health Care for America Now, National Council of Jewish Women, National Council of La Raza, National Disability Rights Network, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Women’s Law Center, Wider Opportunities for Women, and YWCA USA.

---

Letter from 110 Organizations in Support of Sen. Whitehouse’s
“Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012” (S. 2230)
April 13, 2012

Dear Senator:

We write to ask you to support Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s “Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012,” S. 2230, legislation that would address an array of tax loopholes that allows some millionaires and billionaires to pay a lower effective tax rate than working families.

S. 2230 implements the so-called “Buffett Rule,” proposed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. The legislation would require that all households with incomes above $1 million a year pay at least a 30 percent minimum federal effective tax rate on income, a critical first step in creating a more equitable tax code.

This should not be controversial legislation. We believe that a basic premise of the promise of America – no matter what your political party – is that everyone should contribute their fair share. The richest Americans have benefitted from enormous increases in wealth in recent decades, while everyone else has struggled to make ends meet. S. 2230 represents a modest but important step for addressing rising inequality.

There is no reason that Washington should subsidize millionaires and billionaires. Continuing the array of tax loopholes that the Buffett Rule seeks to address adds to the deficit and requires middle-class Americans to make up the difference – either through higher taxes or through reductions in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, public education, researching new medical cures, or rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.

S. 2230 is a first step to creating a fairer tax system, which provides a clear choice: Do you want a nation where millionaires pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans, or an America where everyone contributes their fair share? Two-out-of three Americans support the latter. We urge you to join with them by supporting S. 2230 and by allowing the measure to get an up-or-down vote.

Getting Your Community Action Agency Board of Directors to the Table, Engaged, and Motivated

Date: May 24, 2012
Time: 2:00 P.M. Eastern
Length: One hour and fifteen minutes
Pricing: No cost to attendees

REGISTER HERE

Speaker:
Meghan Johnston, Meghan Johnston and Associates

Biography:

Meghan Johnston is a facilitator, trainer and consultant specializing in capacity-building for nonprofit organizations. She has worked with individual Community Action Agency Boards, Head Start Policy Councils, CEO’s and management staff teams for over 20 years, and presents on governance and management topics regularly for Community Action Board and staff audiences at regional, statewide and national conference and training venues. She is well-versed in the tri-partite board structure of Community Action Agencies, ROMA, CSBG, and other Community Action specific components.

Summary:
Understanding your legal requirements and Board responsibilities is one thing, but finding the right people and keeping them engaged in the Community Action Board room is another. This session will focus on the human side of board service, presenting practical strategies to motivate genuine board participation. We will cover strategies and tools that will help you find and welcome the best candidates, motivate board members to attend and actively participate in meetings, organize committees that get the work of the board done AND build the strength of the board as a whole, and develop leadership habits and routines that help the board establish and maintain a culture of momentum and contribution.

Attendee Takeaways:

• Strategies to attract, cultivate, recruit and engage board members

• Tools to organize the practical work of the board and its committees

• Strategies for board assessment, recruitment, and orientation

• Leadership roles and routines that keep the board moving

Who Should Attend:

• CAA Board Members·
• Governing Officials of Public CAAs·
• Executive Directors
• Fiscal Directors

---

This publication was created by National Association of Community Action Agencies - Community Action Partnership in the performance of the U.S. Department of Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services Grant Number 90ET0428. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. This training is made free of charge to CSBG grantees as part of the National T/TA Strategy for Promoting Exemplary Practices and Risk Mitigation for the CSBG Program.

 

PRESS RELEASE, MAY 8, 2012

First Lady Michelle Obama’s
Let’s Move! Child Care Initiative Selects Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start to be Recognized in Washington, DC for Exceptional Work to Prevent Childhood Obesity

On May 9, 2012, the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Child Care initiative will recognize Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start (SLCAP) for exceptional work to promote young children’s health and prevent childhood obesity. Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start will be recognized at the Let’s Move! Child Care Recognition Luncheon, sponsored by Nemours. The Let’s Move! Child Care Recognition Luncheon will take place on May 9, 2012 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. White House Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, Sam Kass, will give keynote remarks and highlight SLCAP Head Start’s efforts. The Luncheon is invitation only. Press is welcome to attend.

Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start was selected for recognition for carrying out exceptional work to promote and implement the goals of Let’s Move! Child Care, including using creative strategies, engaging families in obesity prevention efforts, and overcoming challenges to get children moving and encourage healthy eating in the early care and education setting. SLCAP Head Start is one of twenty selected for recognition, including early education and child care programs and networks, communities, and states approach to obesity prevention.

“We’re raising a generation of unhealthy children,” says Brian Ralph, Director of Food Service for SLCAP Head Start. “With the increase in fast food meals and video game time, the rates of childhood obesity and diabetes are growing exponentially. At SLCAP Head Start, we’re changing that – one child, one family, and one community at a time.”

Let’s Move! Child Care is a nationwide call-to-action to empower early education and child care programs to make positive health changes in children that could last a lifetime. The initiative focuses on five goals:

• Physical Activity: Provide 1-2 hours of physical activity throughout the day, including outside play when possible.
• Screen Time: No screen time for children under 2 years. For children age 2 and older, strive to limit screen time to no more than 30 minutes per week during child care, and work with parents and caregivers to ensure children have no more than 1-2 hours of quality screen time per day, the amount recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• Food: Serve fruits or vegetables at every meal, eat meals family-style when possible, and no fried foods.
• Beverages: Provide access to water during meals and throughout the day, and do not serve sugary drinks. For children age two and older, serve low-fat (1%) or non-fat milk, and no more than one 4-6 ounce serving of 100% juice per day.
• Infant feeding: For mothers who want to continue breastfeeding, provide their milk to their infants and welcome them to breastfeed during the child care day; and support all new parents in their decisions about infant

SLCAP serves 2,000 nutritious meals to children every day from their Northstar Kitchen where the mission is to provide each child in their program nutritious meals. SLCAP opened the kitchen in 2010 and began by serving 400 children; in the past two years they’ve expanded their services to meet the needs of 2,000 children. Working collaboratively with local early care and education providers, the kitchen has been able to prepare food for these private centers as well. Benefitting from shared resources, providers can offer children fresh, healthy meals that exceed CACFP guidelines at a low per child cost. It is SLCAP Head Start’s belief that proper nutrition and daily exercise will translate into better Kindergarten readiness for their students.

Extending SLCAP’s reach into the community, Northstar Kitchen has been able to garner sponsored funding to provide a cooking course for Head Start parents and offer community members the opportunity to receive a culinary certificate for work in the field. Teen mothers and community parents may participate in trainings with registered dieticians as well. SLCAP recognizes that obesity prevention extends beyond their programs and into children’s homes and the community. Their strategy to integrate nutrition with job training and skill building is an outstanding approach to obesity prevention.

Let’s Move! Child Care is supported by public and private partners, including the Office of the First Lady, White House Domestic Policy Council, Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, Nemours, Child Care Aware of America and University of North Carolina. For more information about Let’s Move! Child Care, please visit: www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org, created and hosted by Nemours.

About Salt Lake CAP Head Start
Head Start is the only preschool program in Salt Lake and Tooele Counties that provides health, education, and self-sufficiency services for children and families living in poverty. Their main goal is to get every one of the 2500 children they annually serve ready for Kindergarten by being socially, academically, and physically prepared. By working with the family to set goals, provide referrals for services the family needs, and encouraging the parents' involvement in their child's life, Head Start is truly a comprehensive program that serves the entire family. For more information about Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start, please visit: www.saltlakeheadstart.org.

 

Check out this week’s blog by The Nation’s Greg Kaufmann which features a positive write-up about Community Action and national Community Action Month.

Go to: http://www.thenation.com/blog/167842/week-poverty-republicans-define-lower-priority-spending

In February, the Partnership inaugurated a new service on our website entitled the Weekly New Reality Check. These will be posted every Thursday, and will include a link to a recent news story or article related to the issues raised in the Partnership report Facing the New Reality: Preparing Poor America for Harder Times Ahead, as well as a brief commentary from the Partnership’s Strategic Initiatives Task Force Chair, Peter Kilde. Readers responses can be posted.

A central theme of this feature, as it is a central theme of the New Reality report itself, will be the contrast between the “popular narrative” and the facts. This sparks some lively and interesting debate as the “popular narrative” is popular for a reason and facts that cast doubt on this narrative are often resisted. We look forward to your continuing engagement of the New Reality as we seek together to find our way through the challenging years ahead.

This week, May 11: From the Dead to the Living

Click here to read this article, as well as past posts, and more information and resources for the New Reality Initiative.

Your comments and responses welcome! Please email to pkilde@wcap.org

 

Partnership Members: Go for a Leadership Role in Your National Association

This is an election year for Community Action Partnership officers. The available positions include: Chair; First; Second; and Third Vice Chairs; Secretary; and Treasurer.

Voting for the election of officers will take place at the Hilton New York, on Monday, August 20, 2012 from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm during the Community Action Partnership Annual Convention. To be considered for nomination to any of the above offices, the following procedure must be followed:

Any interested member in good standing with Community Action Partnership wishing to be nominated for one of the six offices, should complete an official Vita Sheet and send to Chair, Nominations Committee, no later than Friday, June 1, 2012. Click here for the Vita sheet. You must indicate for which office you are running on the top line of the Vita Sheet.

The official slate of nominees for officers along with brief biographical information, voting and proxy guidelines and the proposed bylaws amendments will be mailed to all member agencies not later than July 13, 2012.

Please mail or fax completed Vita Sheets no later than COB Friday, June 1 to:
Teresa Cox, Chair, Nominations Committee, Community Action Partnership
1140 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 1210; Washington, DC, 20036
Fax: (202) 265-5048

 

 

Mark Your Calendars for the 2012 Convention
Sunday through Wednesday, August 19-22

Post-convention opportunities Wednesday and Thursday, August 22 and 23

Register online now!

Click here for the Convention brochure.

The rooms at the NY Hilton are filling quickly! Click here to reserve your hotel rooms online.

Please make a note on your 2012 electronic and print calendars:

The Community Action Partnership 2012 Annual Convention is scheduled for August 19-22 at the Hilton New York in midtown Manhattan with post-convention opportunities available through Thursday, August 23rd. Details on sessions, including several site visits to NY CSBG programs, will be in upcoming issues of eNews

The pre-convention activities, including registration, exhibit opening, pre-convention training and Regional Caucuses will begin on Sunday, August 19th. The Emerging Leaders session will start at 9:00 am on August 19.

The Opening Breakfast Session will take place on Monday, August 20. The Convention will conclude on Wednesday, August 22. However, there will be some wonderful special post-Convention opportunities on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday, August 23.

Please make your travel plans accordingly. The Partnership has secured an outstanding Convention Rate of $229 single/$239 double at the Hilton New York. Click here to reserve your hotel rooms online.

Watch our website Convention page—the brochure is now available with the preliminary schedule and registration form. For the first time you can also register online, just click here.

ADVERTISERS & EXHIBITORS

Highlight your Agency’s programs and successes which are attained through Community Action by placing an ad in the 2012 Annual Convention program book!Celebrate your agency’s role by sending special greetings to your colleagues, your staff, and the many volunteers.

Ad deadline is July 8. Click here for the brochure with the ad registration form and prices or contact Sranda Watkins.

NEW YORK CAA SITE VISITS
Wednesday, August 22, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

This year we have a special opportunity to visit one of six very different CSBG programs, administered by our host Community Action Agency, the Department of Youth and Community Development in New York.

All site visits will be a day-long experience, on the final day of the Convention. The program site will take place in the morning and there will be an associated visit to a cultural site in the afternoon. This order will be reversed for the Grand Street Settlement only, since the Tenement Museum (the cultural visit) has the majority of their tours in the morning.

Click here for the program descriptions.

POST-CONFERENCE TRAINING from WIPFLI, LLP

Wednesday, August 22, 2012
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Registration & Refreshments
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – OMB Administrative Requirements
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Charting a Course to Change

Thursday, August 23, 2012
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. – Morning Refreshments
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon – OMB Cost Principles
12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch (on own)
1:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – OMB Cost Allocation

There will be a separate fee and registration for these courses. Watch for information in a future eNews and on our convention web page.

Be a part of the future of Community Action!
You may now join or renew your membership online! Just click here.

Why Join Community Action Partnership?

Agencies like yours continue to shape the vision and the future of Community Action. A strong network puts you in touch with your colleagues across the country and gives your agency a unified voice... and a vital communications link to federal agencies and other organizations, both public and private, that share or support the mission and the Promise of Community Action.

Your energy and involvement have helped to keep Community Action Partnership responsive to your needs and built the strongest Community Action Network ever. Membership gives you more than ever before ... access to training, publications, educational resources, and management tools which help you run a CAA more productively.

Take an active part in your network. Complete your application and become a member of Community Action Partnership today. Click here for the 2012 Membership form.