One Economy

I have been contacted by a State Library Official that is working with OCRA. Through this "One Economy" project, internet service is available to low-income households free for two years. This is somehow linked to LifeLine, but is definitely for AT&T lines.

Thankfully someone thought of the Community Action Network! Supposedly - someone may contact me next week to find out how we can assist from the ground level in getting this service to low-income Hoosiers. As well, I understand that there is a deadline date of June 30th to sign up households.

I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime - if you have any ideas or thoughts.....please post.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Has anyone contacted their local municipalities or county to become involved in this? If so, in what way?

CSBG Carryover again

I thought we had put this one to bed, but perhaps not. My staff tell me that in his workshop at the conference last week Chuck Templin said unequivocally that caps would not be permitted to carry over unexpended CSBG funds after SEPTEMBER 2009. Since our contracts run through December I don't even know how they expect to enforce that. Chuck is starting to get on my nerves a little. I am sure he means well. But I think he is not well informed.

Invitation to Online Briefing on Economic Crisis

The Coalition on Human Needs is presenting an online briefing on:
The Economic Crisis
How we got into this mess.What we as a nation and as advocates can do about it.
Thursday, October 30, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. eastern time

Register for webcast at: : www.bostonconferencing.com/chn

Financial meltdown, credit crunch, the burst housing bubble, rising unemployment . . . the economic situation is tumultuous and scary. Between the finance jargon and the finger-pointing about blame, it is pretty hard to understand what's going on and, most important, how to evaluate the solutions being proposed. This webcast is for people who care about rebuilding our economy in a way that includes low- and moderate-income people, both protecting them and recognizing that the only sustainable prosperity is shared prosperity.
You'll learn from experts what you need to know about the current crisis in the economy and in housing, and what Congress and a new Administration may do about it.

Presenters: - Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy Institute Author of Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries). Jared is famous for plain-English explanations and wit. His quotes and advice are widely sought out by press, candidates, and public officials.

- Barry Zigas, Consumer Federation of America Barry is Housing Policy Director at the Consumer Federation of America, and is a leading expert on low-income housing policy, with previous experience at Fannie Mae and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

- Deborah Weinstein, Coalition on Human Needs Debbie is Executive Director of CHN. She will discuss what Congress is considering and offer practical suggestions about how you can help shape the agenda.

We're trying something new: This event will be webcast live from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. DC-based advocates will attend. Advocates outside of DC can tune in and watch on their computers. We will leave plenty of time for questions, taking them both from those in the room and from participants watching from undisclosed locations all around the country.

For online participation, click here to register.
Please forward this invite to your networks and encourage others to join us too!

This event is presented by the Coalition on Human Needs. Co-Sponsors (list in formation): AFSCME, American Association of University Women (AAUW), American Friends Service Committee, Beyond the Boundaries - Archdiocese of Baltimore, Building Changes, Catholic Charities USA, Child Welfare League of America, CLASP, Community Action Partnership, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Family Economic Initiative, Generations United, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Lutheran Services in America, National Association for State Community Service Programs (NASCSP), National Center for Law and Economic Justice, National Employment Law Project, National Head Start Association, National Jobs for All Coalition, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Research Center for Women & Families, National Women's Law Center, NEA, NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, RESULTS, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy, The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society, US Action, Voices for America's Children, Washington Office of Public Policy and the Office of Community Actions - Women's Division United Methodist Church, Wider Opportunities for Women, Workforce Professionals Training Institute and YWCA USA.

Tech Soup

Tech Soup (techsoup.com) is a company dedicated to serving non-profits and their software needs. They provide computer software at greatly reduced prices. We saved a bundle of money when we purchased Norton anti-virus software.

Energy Assistance/Family Development

When using family development as a component of EAP, how do you select applicants for family development? JobSource now has staff trained and would like to start family development. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
Cindy

HeatSmart?

We are looking at changing some of the items we provide to Energy Education participants and
I wanted to know if anyone has had any dealings with “The HeatSmart Campaign”. They
advocate turning the heat down at night and using their washable wool blankets to keep warm. Does anyone have experience with distributing wool blankets and if so, how were
they received by our clientele.

Americorps

I'm looking for input from anyone who may have hosted an Americorps member in the past. I'm curious about the administrative paperwork burden of managing the member. Also, has anyone served as a host site for multiple Americorps members in the community?

Finally, there is a financial match required to host an Americorps member. Normally this cannot be federal resources, unless you are given permission by the federal source. Has anyone received permission to use CSBG funds for this purpose?

"Affirmative Action Plan"

We are in the process of doing a major overhaul to our Personnel Policies. We have been advised by Legal Counsel that we do not (and should not) have an "Affirmative Action Plan" because we are not required to. (Mind you that we are below 100 employees and I understand that this makes a difference.) But, I notice that the CAR review asks for it.

Has anyone else been advised of this and if so, what do you include in your Personnel policies?

board approval for out of state travel limit

Is anyone else finding themselves a bit frustrated by the IHCDA policy requiring board approval for out of state travel exceeding $1000? I don't think this amount has been changed in more than a decade. With the price of gas and lodging going up, should we ask that it be revisited?
I believe this policy originated with Joan Cochran and IFSSA. Perhaps IHCDA wouldn't even see a need for this requirement?

CSBG Carry Over 2009

As you may be aware, IHCDA was announced that CSBG funds cannot be carried-over after the 2009 program year. Following is a communication trail with Marci Phillips of NCAF. It appears that there is conflicting language in the legislation compared to the OCS 2009 Terms and Conditions. Marci has referred this on the Anita at CAP-LAW. Maybe we have this ball rolling. It is certainly worth paying close attention as spending patterns at some CAAs may need to change.

Ed Gerardot
Indiana Community Action Association
____________________


They aren’t allowed to prohibit carryover.

Each of the Labor-HHS appropriations bills signed into law in recent memory (including for FY 2008) stipulates the following:

“Provided further, That to the extent Community Services Block Grant funds are distributed as grant funds by a State to an eligible entity as provided under the Act, and have not been expended by such entity, they shall remain with such entity for carryover into the next fiscal year for expenditure by such entity consistent with program purposes:”


This language in the annual appropriations bills supersedes the following in the CSBG statute:

‘‘SEC. 675C. USES OF FUNDS.
‘‘(a) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 90 percent of the funds
made available to a State under section 675A or 675B shall
be used by the State to make grants for the purposes described
in section 672 to eligible entities.
‘‘(2) OBLIGATIONAL AUTHORITY.—Funds distributed to
eligible entities through grants made in accordance with paragraph
(1) for a fiscal year shall be available for obligation
during that fiscal year and the succeeding fiscal year, subject
to paragraph (3).
‘‘(3) RECAPTURE AND REDISTRIBUTION OF UNOBLIGATED
FUNDS.—
‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—Beginning on October 1, 2000, a State
may recapture and redistribute funds distributed to an
eligible entity through a grant made under paragraph (1)
that are unobligated at the end of a fiscal year if such
unobligated funds exceed 20 percent of the amount so
distributed to such eligible entity for such fiscal year.
‘‘(B) REDISTRIBUTION.—In redistributing funds recaptured
in accordance with this paragraph, States shall
redistribute such funds to an eligible entity, or require
the original recipient of the funds to redistribute the funds
to a private, nonprofit organization, located within the
community served by the original recipient of the funds,
for activities consistent with the purposes of this subtitle.



However, I just read this in the CSBG FY 2008 Terms and Conditions on the OCS website. The second sentence gives me pause:

14) Grantees shall adhere to a provision of law under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 which requires that to the extent FY 2008 CSBG funds are distributed by a State to an eligible entity, and have not been expended by such eligible entity, they shall remain with such eligible entity for carryover and expenditure into the next fiscal year. If FY 2008 funds are carried forward by such eligible entity into FY 2009, those funds must be fully expended and services provided on or before September 30, 2009.


I haven’t seen the FY 2009 Terms and Conditions, which is really what applies now, but I still believe that carryover continues to be permitted under the FY 2009 Labor-HHS appropriations statute.


I’m cc’ing this to Anita for a heads-up.



Marci


Marci Phillips
Legislative Policy Analyst
National Community Action Foundation
810 First Street, NE, Suite 530
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 842-2092
marciphillips@ncaf.org
www.ncaf.org
http://ncaf.blogspot.com


From: Ed Gerardot [mailto:egerardo@incap.org] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 3:59 PMTo: Marci PhillipsSubject:

Marci

We are anticipating a situation in Indiana in 2009 related to CSBG carry-over. We anticipate that the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority will not allow CSBG funds to carry-over after 2009. They are attributing this change to HHS.

Is this possible? Can they make these decisions?


Help will be appreciated.



Ed Gerardot
Indiana Community Action Association

Code of Ethics

Does anyone have a good "Code of Ethics" for Staff and Board that they would care to share with me?

Open Door Law

I remember some discussion in the past about how the open door law affects our agencies. However I cant remember what the discussion was. Can someone help me out as if we are under this law and what our requirements are?

INCAA Directors

All Board Members and Directors that registered to participate in the INCAA Director's Blog should now receive email notification when a blog post is made. Please let me know if you received this email notification.

Thank you,

Lori Olive

Proxies

Currently our bylaws do not allow for proxy voting. We are considering amending our bylaws to accept proxies. Do any other agencies allow proxies? If so would you be willing to share with me your bylaw language that allows? Thanks, Larry K.

Transportation costs

We are looking at our transportation costs and am curious to know if any CAA is considering amending and/or discontinuing any component of their transportation services? Also, do any of you have management information reports related to transportation? Go Detroit Pistons and Red Wings!!!

Email notification

Lori: I tried to find the area that will notify me by email when someone posts. Im pretty sure you go to settings, then comments but I dont seem to be able to access that area. Any help?

CAP-PAC

I am just kinda curious. On April 28th, David Bradley sent out a request for CAP-PAC funds with a challenge for $500 per CAP. The staff of CAPWI came up with $405 by the deadline which we have forwarded on. Did anyone else manage to raise money for this very important cause?

Blog Training

I hope the blog training on Wed. was informative. If you have questions please give me an email or phone call at 317-679-6711. 

For a sample of my personal blog visit http://loraolive.blogspot.com. 

I also forgot to mention at the training that you can include polls and slide shows on your blog. See the sample poll I included to the right.>>>>

Blogging from S. IN

If I can do this anybody can.

So far, so good!

I made it in easy enough, let's see how it goes from here.

Larry Braden

I found in my mailbox a posting for Larry Braden's job in Portland. A few days later the Director of Neighborhood Health Clinic here in Fort Wayne tells me that Larry is coming to work for her. I guess he will be doing something with the WIC program. I've heard Larry talk about how fond he is of that program. ;-)
Congratulations, Larry. It will be good to have you back home.

This is a test post for the INCAA Director's Blog. Blog authors have been invited and need to respond to the email invite.