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Toward Shared
Prosperity in Connecticut's "New Economy" - Part 2
"From Bright Ideas to Best Practices"
Thursday, January 11, 2001
8:30 - 1:30
Rensselaer (former Hartford Graduate Center)
Hartford, CT
Lunch will be provided
Speakers include:
Karen Pittman Executive Director, International Youth Foundation
State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier
State Comptroller Nancy Wyman
Presentations by Selected Connecticut-Based Programs That Are Helping
Connecticut's Lower-Income Families and Youth To Increase Their Incomes and
Assets
* * * A Panel Discussion on Financing Options & Program Informational Fair Will Conclude the Forum
Please RSVP to CT Voices for Children at 203-498-4242. Organizations who are willing to publicize this event within their networks will be listed in conference materials as supporting groups. For more information on becoming a supporting group contact LARCC at 860-278-5688 x11.
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Week of: September 4, 2000
Golf Tournament Photos
Jay Melon of CRT shares his photos from the Hackers Only Golf Tournament in Portland, CT on August 20, 2000 on line. The tournament kicked off the CAFCA/MASSCAP/RI Annual Conference 2000.
View the photos at:
www.gatherround.com/u98146a97621pcafca.invt
Password: CAFCA
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EITC Update
(From: "E-Notes", CT
Voices for Children)
Thanks to Nick Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For more information, contact Nick at -- johnson@cbpp.orgNote: The CT General Assembly has for two years refused to pass legislation that would provide a State Earned Income Credit for CT¹slower income working families. Maine has become the fourth New England state to offer an Earned Income Tax Credit. Like the Illinois EITC enacted earlier this month, the Maine credit is a nonrefundable credit set at 5% of the federal credit. In addition, Vermont has increased its refundable state EITC from 25% to 32%of the federal credit. The Vermont increase was passed as part of a"liveable income" law which, among other provisions, requires the statetax and human services departments to work together to propose a packageof tax and welfare law changes that will ensure that every working Vermonter has enough income to meet his or her family's basic needs. Counting the District of Columbia's refundable 10% state EITC, which wassigned by the mayor and approved by the Financial Control Board in June 2000, there are now 14 state EITCs based on the federal credit -- 9refundable, 5 nonrefundable. Refundable credits (with tax year 2000 percentage in parentheses):
---Colorado (10%), District of Columbia (10%), Kansas (10%), Maryland (15%), Massachusetts (10%), Minnesota (averages 33% depending on income), New York (20%), Vermont (32%), Wisconsin (4% to 43% depending on family size).
Non-refundable credits:
---Illinois (5%), Iowa (6.5%), Maine (5%), Oregon (5%), Rhode Island (26%).
The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Welfare Information Network have redesigned and expanded the Making Wages Work web site -- www.makingwageswork.org/. It includes a long section on state EITCs that you will useful as a compendium of information and resources.
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Self-Advocacy Skills Program
Statewide Legal Services is offering seminars to help you help your clients learn to protect themselves against serious legal problems such as evictions, utility shut-offs, bankruptcy, or child custody issues. Statewide Legal Services’ Self-Advocacy Skills Program is designed to empower people to make their own choices and take control of their legal problems before they become too serious.
ABCD in Bridgeport to Become an Electricity Aggregator
ABCD, the Community Action Agency of Bridgeport, has become an electricity supplier, which is a buying pool that will provide reasonably-priced electric service to low-income people.
NACAA Annual Conference
September 5 - 8, 2000
The National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) is holding their annual conference in San Antonio, TX on September 5 - 8, 2000. They are offering discounted room rates and airline fares. Click below to access the conference brochure in PDF format
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NOW, Inc. Designated "Champion of Industry"
NOW, the Community Action Agency in Waterbury, will be
featured on MSNBC’s “Champions of Industry” program on Tuesday, May 2nd
between Noon - 2 p.m.. The
nationally televised series spotlights companies, financial institutions,
non-profit agencies and corporations “that have a demonstrated history of
successfully impacting the communities they serve.”
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Come to the Wake!
June 19, 2000
9:30 am
East Steps of the State Capitol
(facing Trinity Street, Hartford)
Good bills that would have helped Connecticut's
neediest citizens were killed during the 2000 Legislative session. Join
the Campaign to Fight Poverty and Build Economic Security for a funeral
procession at the State Capitol during the special session to express their
grief and outrage over good bills that were killed!
Bring signs, relatives, friends, noisemakers, drums, etc. Dress in black
if possible. Armbands provided.
For more information, please contact Sara Parker McKernan, LARCC at (860)278-5688x11, Carolyn Gabel, Democracy Works at (860)727-1157.
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A new study released by the group Building Blocks For Youth finds that minority youth, particularly African-American youth, are disproportionately represented in every step of the juvenile justice system. The report, titled "And Justice For Some" reveals that that minority youth who commit crimes are more likely than whites to be referred to juvenile court, be detained, face trail as adults, and go to jail.
The authors posit a number of theories for over-representation of minority youth in the criminal justice system, from differential police policies, to differential behavior by minority youth, to differential reactions of crime victims, to racial bias in the criminal justice system. What ever the reason, in an Associated Press article, Hugh B. Price, president of the National Urban League, was certain: "This report leaves no doubt that we are faced with a very serious national civil rights issue."
Click below for data and statistics from the report:
May is National Community Action Month
Community Action Agencies across the country will celebrate their achievements during the May. National Community Action Month was founded in 1997 by the National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) to gain support for and raise awareness of community action and its impact locally and nationally.
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The April issue is here. The new issue features a story on the Contingency Heating Program, a report from the National Community Action Foundation's conference in Washington, DC, a clarification of school readiness legislation, a report on the Cost of Living Adjustment rally for private providers working under state contracts, and more.
Note: Due to scheduling conflicts, many of the dates for the Dialogue on Poverty events across the state have been changed. Click here for correct Dialogue on Poverty dates.
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A campaign to implement a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for community providers is being sponsored by the The Connecticut Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet, an association of nonprofit provider and advocacy groups in Connecticut, and the Mental Health Association of Connecticut. Private agencies need an increased COLA to ensure maintenance of current service levels.
The COLA Coalition sponsored rally and lobbying days at the Capitol.
Community Action Agency Management Issues
The National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) has published a 449 page reference manual of management solutions for Community Action Agency executives. The CAA Executives' Handbook contains detailed operating procedures for management topics such as board operations and financial management as well as family development, marketing, and emergency management issues.
The book costs $25 for members, $50 for non-members. To purchase copies, call NACAA at (202)265-7546 or visit NACAA's website at www.nacaa.org
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Charter Oak State College Women in Transition Program
If you (or someone you know):
Are a single mother
Are working but struggling in a low-paying job
Have some college credit but never earned a degree
Find it difficult to get to a college campus to continue your education
Are highly motivated and want to move ahead
Then:
The Charter Oak College Women in Transition Program may be for you.
(From NACAA Network, February 2000)
The National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) has begun a new national initiative to address the Digital Divide in the United States. The Digital Divide refers to the disparity in access to computers and the internet by categories of income, race, gender, and geography. NACAA's Information Technology Support Initiative will upgrade Information Technology (IT) capabilities at CAAs across the country, thereby opening access to low-income people. The goals of the initiative are:
To support CAAs, both individually and collectively, in their efforts to maintain and upgrade their internal IT capabilities
To identify innovative program models, which CAAs can adopt to assist low-income people become more self-sufficient through IT
For more information, visit NACAA's website at www.nacaa.org.
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CT's Self-Sufficiency Standard
The Connecticut General Assembly commissioned a report on the earnings needed to support families of 70 different compositions in 12 regions of the state, independent of public or private assistance. This report, called The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Connecticut, was released on April 13th at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The briefing, hosted by Rep. Andrea Stillman, Rep. Chris Donovan, Rep. Sonya Googins, and Sen. Edith Prague, featured the study's author, Dr. Diana Pearce of the University of Washington School of Social Work.
The report finds that two adults with one pre-school and one school-age child would each need to earn $11.57/hour in the Stamford-Norwalk area and $9.18/hour in the Waterbury area. These findings have important policy implications for welfare reform in Connecticut.
Southern New England Planning Conference
Community Action Agency (CAA) leaders from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island met in Northampton, MA on April 6-7, 2000 to begin the creation of cross-agency goals and standards. The conference focused creating partnerships among Southern New England CAAs in the areas of public policy, information technology, and training. Those attending the conference agreed that creating a climate of collaboration is important in ensuring the viability of Community Action in the 21st Century.