September 10 , 2009
To the 1,342 Community Action leaders who registered & participated in our 2009 national convention last week in Philadelphia—Thank you for helping make it a success as we celebrated Community Action’s 45 years of effectiveness in promoting economic security across America!
Special thanks to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Congressman Chaka Fatah, Juan Williams, Sandra Braunstein, Marshall Howard, Yolanda Butler, Seth Hassett, David Lett, Melissa Reiss and Ross Chan from CBS-TV, and all our other guest speakers and presenters. Very special thanks to the staff and volunteers from Mayor Nutter’s Office of Community Services (MOCS) for their great work in making us all feel welcome.
Juan Williams speaking at the Opening Session with
Board Chair John Edwards, left, and
Partnership President/CEO Don Mathis
The Partnership’s board of directors and staff worked hard to make sure the convention was worth your time and money; we value your membership in the Partnership and honor your commitment to keeping the “Promise of Community Action.”
Many Partnership members want to keep track of the fast-paced changes with proposed federal health care reform and on the up-to-date information of health care needs that especially affect low-income people and families. We are pleased to share the recent report from the Dept of Health & Human Services on health care for women, ages 55 and older.
While all Americans shoulder the burden of rising health care costs and increasingly inadequate health insurance, America's 17 million older women (ages 55-64) and 21 million senior women (ages 65 and older) are particularly susceptible to rising costs. At a time in their lives when
access to affordable health care is increasingly important, some older women are having a harder and harder time getting the care they need and deserve.
That's why, today, I will participate in a roundtable discussion with women in South Portland Maine to formally release and discuss a new report on the importance of health insurance reform for older women and women senior citizens.
The report, Strengthening the Health Insurance System: How Health Insurance Reform Will Help America's Older and Senior Women identifies problems with the status quo for older women and women senior citizens and outlines some proposed solutions to those challenges that will result from health insurance reform. A couple of examples that I found especially compelling:• Senior women spent on average 17 percent of their income on health care in 2005.i The growth in Medicare Part B premiums from 2000 to 2018 is predicted to cost seniors an additional $1,577 per year out-of-pocket.ii Health insurance reform will reduce overpayments to private plans and clamp down on fraud and abuse to bring down premiums for all seniors and extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by 5 years.iii
• One in five women aged 50 and above has not received a mammogram in the past two years.iv By ensuring that health plans cover preventive services for everyone, investing in prevention and wellness, and promoting primary care, health insurance reform will work to create a system that prevents illness and disease instead of just treating it when it's too late and costs more.Health insurance reform will remove these hurdles to ensure that older and senior women, along with all other Americans, get the quality, affordable health care they deserve. To read the complete report, visit www.HealthReform.gov and share your story or idea about the importance of passing health reform this year.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesi CMS 2005 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Cost and Use file
ii Analysis preformed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
iii Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
iv Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta,
Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 2008.
Free Webinar
Using Evidence-Based Results to Prove the Value of Community Action
September 21, 2009
2:00 - 3:00 pm EDT
Click here to register for the webinarThe Community Action Partnership is pleased to offer a webinar on Using Evidence-Based Results to Prove the Value of Community Action. This session will feature Renée Buchy, Social Service Director, Community Action Commission, Harrisburg, PA and Dr. Barbara Mooney, Training Director, Community Action Association of Pennsylvania. They will offer tips to CAAs about ways to use evidence to identify results and tailor programs to improve effectiveness.
The concept of evidence-based results is gaining respect in both for-profit and non-profit arenas, and can provide guidance to CAAs as we “tell our story.” The webinar will feature:• a brief overview of evidence-based concepts
• three examples of evidence used to support identification of results in a local CAA in Pennsylvania.Following the webinar, participants will have an opportunity to submit other examples of evidence used in their agencies, so that our network can appreciate the variety of evidence available to describe CAA results.
This webinar is made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services.
For more information about the webinar, contact the Partnership at 202-265-7546.
The John Hopkins University’s “Listening Post Project” is a nationally-acclaimed, widely respected resource of up-to-date, useful information on our nation’s nonprofit sector. Lester Salamon is the JHU/LPP director and LPP surveys and analyses are featured regularly in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and major media across America. The Community Action Partnership participates in LPP activities and your Community Action can participate in LPP national surveys—about 3 per year. Check out www.jhu.edu/listeningpost for more information and if you want to sign your agency up, please contact Don Mathis at the Partnership, 202-449-9774.
The most recent report from the Listening Post Project focuses on the impact of health care costs and non-profits. Is the cost of employee health care affecting your agency’s budget? Read the item below.
JOHNS
HOPKINS SURVEY REVEALS HIDDEN DIMENSION OF HEALTH CARE CRISIS
Escalating health care costs have become issue no. 1 for many nonprofits.
Much of the attention in the current health care debate has focused on the impact of escalating health care costs on small businesses and the uninsured. But new data generated by the Johns Hopkins Nonprofit Listening Post Project reveal that health care costs are also producing a so-far hidden crisis for America's nonprofit organizations and the nearly 13 million workers they employ.
Virtually all (98 percent) of the responding nonprofits offering health benefits indicated that they are concerned about their organization's health care costs, and a striking 59 percent ranked health care costs as one of their organization's top challenges. The impact is already being felt in organizational decisions to stop offering, or reduce coverage of, health benefits, in higher employee co-pays and shares of insurance costs, and in pressures to hold down wages, shift to part-time employees, and even reduce mission-critical services.
The nonprofit workforce is the fourth largest of any U.S. industry. With generally lower pay scales, the nonprofit stake in health benefit costs is unusually high since nonprofit employers have historically relied on decent benefits to attract and retain quality staff. But with steadily increasing health benefit costs, that is no longer possible for large numbers of nonprofits, according to the July 2009 survey conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers.
"The evidence is now in," noted Lester Salamon, report author and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. "Escalating health insurance costs are taking a dramatic toll on our nation's nonprofits and the devoted employees who work for them."
Other findings from the Johns Hopkins health benefits survey include:• A striking 80 percent of the nonprofit respondents reported offering health insurance coverage for their employees. Nevertheless, the proportion not offering such coverage rose by 62 percent compared to the results from a comparable survey in 2004.
• Virtually all (99 percent) of the large nonprofits responding reported offering health benefits to employees but less than half (46 percent) of the smallest organizations did, and cost was a major factor at work.
• Nearly three out of every four nonprofits offering health benefits reported that their organization's total direct health insurance costs increased during the past year, and for over a third of the respondents the increase was over 10 percent—well above the national average of 5 percent per year.
• These recent increases come on top of increases in previous years: based on an earlier Listening Post survey of a comparable set of organizations, average health benefit costs for these organizations grew by nearly 40 percent between 2004 and 2009. In the process, health benefits as a share of total employee compensation grew by over 12 percent, suggesting that health benefit costs are squeezing out pay increases and other aspects of employee compensation.
• The vast majority of nonprofit executives (80 percent of respondents) expect such increases to continue in the future, and about a third expect the increases to exceed 10 percent."Our nation’s health care crisis is now threatening the ability of nonprofits to effectively carry out the tasks our nation expects of them – sheltering the homeless, training the unemployed, educating our youth, building affordable housing, counseling families, delivering health care, giving voice to the powerless, and enriching our lives with culture and the arts," noted Peter Goldberg, chair of the Listening Post Project Steering Committee and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families. "This is the hidden dimension of America’s health care crisis, and we need to fix it."
The 412 nonprofit organizations responding to the Listening Post survey included children and family service agencies, elderly housing and service organizations, community and economic development organizations, museums, theaters, and orchestras.
The full text of the report "Health Care and Nonprofits: The Hidden Dimension of America's Health Care Crisis" is available online at http://www.ccss.jhu.edu.
GLOBAL WARMING LEGISLATION
Thanks to our great colleague Ivan Frishberg at Environment America & Clean Energy Works, the Partnership has signed on with the new “Clean Energy Works” campaign that includes running ads on CNN that advocate for responsible energy policy. The Partnership will consider its role with the CEW campaign on an issue-by-issue basis and keep our e news readers informed of its progress and activities. For more information, contact Don Mathis at dmathis@communityactionpartnership.com
Clean Energy Works Campaign Launches
New Grassroots Efforts Unites Faith, Labor, Veterans, Environmental,
Sportsmen, Business, Youth, Farm, and Community Groups
September 8, 2009
CONTACT: David Di Martino, 202.247.7271(Washington, D.C.)—The Clean Energy Works campaign formally launched today, signaling a major new push for a comprehensive clean energy and climate plan that delivers more clean energy jobs, less pollution, and greater national security. The new coordinated campaign builds on the effort that passed the American Clean Energy & Security Act through the House of Representatives by assembling a broad array of organizations representing more than 12 million Americans. This unprecedented grassroots coalition includes faith, labor, veterans, environmental, sportsmen, farm, business, youth, community, and other groups.
“Millions of Americans want more clean energy jobs, less pollution, and greater national security,” said David Di Martino, Clean Energy Works Communications Director. “We send a billion dollars a day overseas to pay for our oil. It's time to invest that money here – in secure, renewable energy sources that are made in America, provide jobs for Americans and work for America.”
The Clean Energy Works campaign is active across the country and has deployed grassroots organizers in 28 key states to mobilize the tens of millions of Americans calling for urgent Congressional action on a comprehensive clean energy and climate plan. The campaign’s many planned activities at the state and national level include paid television, radio, print, and online advertising; contacting concerned citizens; grassroots organizing online and on the ground; an aggressive earned media campaign; public events; and bringing concerned citizens to Washington to speak to legislators.
“Public support for clean energy legislation is overwhelming,” said Di Martino. “Unfortunately, an army of special interests are doing everything they can to block comprehensive energy reform. This campaign will mobilize the voices of those millions of Americans who want to put us back in control of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet.”
The organizations coming together to coordinate have committed to getting comprehensive clean energy legislation passed this Congress and will work with Clean Energy Works to galvanize public and political support for action in Congress.American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) * American Federation of Teachers * American Hunters and Shooters * American Values Network * Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now * Audubon * Blue Green Alliance * Business Forward * Campus Progress * Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good * Catholics United * Center for American Progress Action Fund * CERES * Chesapeake Climate Action Network * Clean Economy Network * Clean Water Action * Climate Protection Action Fund * Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life * Communications Workers of America * Community Action Partnership * Defenders of Wildlife * Democracia Ahora * Earth Ministry * Earthjustice * Economics for Equity and the Environment * Environment America * Environmental Defense Fund * Faithful America * Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund * Green Faith * Green for All * Jewish Council for Public Affairs * Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) * League of Conservation Voters * League of Rural Voters * League of Women Voters * Live Earth * Marianist Environmental Education Center * My Rural America * NAACP * National Security Network * National Wildlife Federation * Natural Resources Defense Council * Ohio Interfaith Power and Light * Pew Environment Group * Progressive Future * Restoring Eden * Service Employees International Union * Sierra Club * Sierra Student Coalition * Southern Energy Network * SustainUS * The Regeneration Project * The Wilderness Society * Truman National Security Project * Union of Concerned Scientists * Union for Reform Judaism * United Steelworkers * US-CAN * Utility Workers Union of America * Veterans and Military Families for Progress * Veterans Green Jobs * VETPAC * Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy * Virginia Interfaith Power and Light * Virginia Organizing Project * VoteVets * Working America * World Wildlife Fund
The Partnership joins with dozens of influential national and state organizations in urging the US Senate to undertake substantial reform of America’s criminal justice system, including strategies for re-entry of the formerly incarcerated.
Co-Sponsor S.714 the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
Dear Senator:
We write urging you to cosponsor S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, recently introduced with bipartisan support by Senator Jim Webb. The bill establishes an independent Commission and charges it with the responsibility of initiating a comprehensive examination of America’s criminal justice system and making recommendations for fiscally responsible and effective reforms.
The need for a comprehensive review is clear. At every stage of the criminal justice process – from the events preceding arrest to the challenges facing those reentering the community after incarceration – serious problems undermine basic tenets of fairness and equity, as well as the public’s expectations for safety. The result is an overburdened, expensive, and often ineffective criminal justice system. Consider just a few examples of the problems we face:
The United States imprisons 2.3 million of its people, a greater percentage than any other nation in the world. When the number of Americans on probation or parole are included, the total number of people under criminal justice supervision exceeds 7,300,000, 1 in every 31 adults, costing taxpayers over $57 billion annually. Over-reliance on incarceration and long sentences is expensive, unsafe for inmates and corrections employees alike, and unlikely to achieve the goal of rehabilitation.
The impact of this level of incarceration on all our communities, urban and rural, is grave as potential wage earners are unable to care for their families, pay taxes and be productive members of the community. Even after being released and “paying their debt to society,” the stigma of incarceration lasts a lifetime as formerly incarcerated people must overcome discrimination in the form of barriers to obtaining jobs, housing, and financial aid for educational purposes. It should come as little surprise that two thirds of formerly incarcerated people will be rearrested and half will be reincarcerated within three years of their release.
Current practices have been devastating to minority and vulnerable communities. Minorities make up a disproportionately large share of the incarcerated population: one of every three black males and one of every six Hispanic males born today can expect to spend time in prison. Comparatively, one in seventeen white males will spend time in prison. These racial disparities hurt everyone because they undermine community confidence in both law enforcement and the courts.
Vulnerable populations become even more vulnerable when they go through the criminal justice system. For example, approximately 10,000 young people are held in prisons and jails with adult offenders. Additionally, high rates of mental illness among incarcerated youth and adults further complicate the workings of the criminal justice system. Four times as many persons with mental illness are incarcerated than are in mental health hospitals. Prisoners are two to four times more likely than the general population to be schizophrenic, depressed, bipolar, or suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Correctional administrators are struggling under the burden of managing these special-needs populations.
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 creates a commission whose members would be appointed by the legislative and executive branch. The Commission would be charged with the task of examining the criminal justice system, identifying both its strengths and weaknesses, and then offering recommendations to the Congress designed to: responsibly reduce the overall incarceration rate; lower violence and crime rates; improve federal and local responses to international and domestic gang violence; restructure our approach to drug policy; improve the treatment of mental illness; improve prison administration; and establish a system for reintegrating formerly incarcerated people.
We urge you to co-sponsor S. 714. Passage of this legislation is an important first step in developing evidence-based and cost-effective solutions to improve our criminal justice system and increase public safety.
Sincerely,
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
AdvoCare
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Civil Liberties Union
American Humanist Association
American Jail Association
The Association for Behavior Analysis International, Special Interest Group in Crime, Delinquency, and Forensic Behavior Analysis
American Probation and Parole Association
Attention Deficit Disorder Association
Biomass Coordinating Council of the American Council On Renewable Energy
Carnevale Foundation
Church of Scientology
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice
College Parents of America
Community Action Partnership
The Convict Criminology Group
Corporation for Supportive Housing
The Correctional Association of New York
Correctional Education Association
Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators
Criminon International
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants - Chapter for Veterans
Disciples Justice Action Network
Drug Policy Alliance
Drug Reform Coordination Network
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
FedCURE
Friends Committee on National Legislation
The Fortune Society, The David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy
Goodwill Industries
Haymarket Center
The Innocence Project
The Inner Voices
Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
International Community Corrections Association
International CURE -- Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants
Just Detention International
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Legal Action Center
Marijuana Policy Project
Methadone Support Organization
The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National African American Drug Policy Coalition
National Alliance of Faith and Justice
National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Black Police Association
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, Inc.
National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
National Correctional Industries Association
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
National Council on Crime and Delinquency, NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women
National Criminal Justice Association
National Disability Rights Network
National Employment Law Project
National HIRE Network
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
November Coalition
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
the Safer Foundation
the Sentencing Project
Sex Abuse Treatment Alliance and CURE-SORT
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Therapeutic Communities of America
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The WestCare Foundation
Women of Reform Judaism
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS & BUSINESSES
Alston Wilkes Society (SC)
ATTIC Correctional Services, Inc (WI, MN)
Benedict Center (WI)
Catholic Social Services of Lackawanna County, Diocese of Scranton (PA)
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CO)
Community Resources for Justice (MA)
The Correctional Association of New York (NY)
Delaware Center for Justice (DE)
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii (HI)
Drug Policy Forum of Texas (TX)
Family Justice (NY)
Fathers, Families In Transition (FFIT) (IL)
Get Back Up, Inc. (MI)
Hawaii State Democratic Women's Caucus (HI)
Independence House (CO)
Jubilee Jobs, Inc. (DC)
Justice Maryland (MD)
Justice Works! (WA)
Living Room, Inc. (GA)
Marshall Heights Community Development Organization (DC)
Missouri Recovery Network (MO)
New Jersey Association on Correction (NJ)
Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PA)
Pennsylvania Prison Society (PA)
Pioneer Human Services (WA)
Prisoners & Families for Equal Rights & Justice (VA)
Prison Families of New York, Inc. (NY)
The Prison Show (TX)
Restoring Dignity, Inc. (MI)
S.U.R.E.'s Success On pREvENTRY – NOLA (LA)
Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (CO)
South Carolina Re-Entry Initiative (SC)
St. Leonard’s Ministries (IL)
Turn Around Village, LTD (LA)
Voice of the Ex-offender (LA)
Volunteers of America Delaware Valley (NJ)
4justicenow, Fl, NY, NJ chapter of the Action Committee for Women in Prison (FL, NY, NJ)
622 Communities Partnership, Inc. / Minnesota Affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (MN)
Rodney & Etter, LLC (LA)
Leaders in Community Alternatives, Inc. (national)
New Beginnings Treatment Center, Inc. (AZ)
The Eagle Group (MA, FL, DC)
The 2009 Combined Federal Campaign now includes the Community Action Partnership on its official Charity List. CFC donors (federal employees) can designate their donations to the Partnership using the CFC donor code 80371. Please help us spread the word to your federal colleagues that the Partnership is back in the loop and would be most grateful for their support.
Partnership Award/Excellence Commission
Releases Three Categories’ Guides
Category 2 - Strategic Planning and Direction
Category 5 - Human Resource Focus
Category 6 - Organizational Process Management
Community Action Agencies can now rely on a full compliment of Category Guides to provide pathways to achieving the Community Action Standards of Excellence. At its August 31st meeting in Philadelphia, the Partnership’s Excellence Commission approved a guide addressing Strategic Planning, Human Resources and Organizational Process Management. With this action, Community Action Agencies may access guidance about approaches to improve, strive to increase efficiency, effectiveness and exceed customer expectations by adapting a variety of best practices and tips outlined to address each of the Partnership’s 34 standards. All of the standards and the Category Guides are available for downloading on the Partnership’s web site, www.communityactionpartnership.com, Click on Programs, Excellence, Award for Excellence, quick links or just click here.
Promoting excellence and helping others adopt proven best practices generates a commitment to excellence that is contagious and beneficial. The Partnership’s Award/Pathways process closely follows the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, adapted to reflect CAA's language and operations. Like the Baldrige Award, the Pathway’s Excellence initiative is both a "recognition" system, and a "learning" system for the CAA network. For more information about the Pathways to Excellence initiative please call the Partnership at 202-265-7546.
This is a preliminary announcement for the opening of the position of Director of Training & Technical Assistance with the Community Action Partnership. Larry Koziarz, our current T&TA director will continue with us on a part-time basis, focused on our Pathways to Excellence program and helping with the transition of his replacement.
The job is based in Washington, DC (sorry, no tele-commuters). A formal job description will be posted and advertised next week and we are conducting a national search. Looking for a candidate with extensive experience and success in providing training and technical assistance within the Community Action network. Strong writing, public speaking, analytic skills required. Master’s degree preferred, Bachelor’s a minimum. Salary in $60,000/year range, health and other benefits. Must have driver’s license. National travel required. Send resume, writing sample, 3 references to Don Mathis, Community Action Partnership, 1140 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1210, Washington, DC 20036. No phone calls.
Watch for the formal announcement & job description in next week’s e news. The Partnership complies with all EOE requirements and guidelines and is an equal opportunity employer.