ETA Announces Webinars and Issue Briefs on Topics Related to Expansion of Opportunities for Disadvantaged Populations

Oct 22, 2010

The Employment and Training Administration has released four webinars and four issue briefs on topics related to expanding economic op¬portunities for disadvantaged populations.

The target audiences are local and state practitioners, program managers, and policy makers.

The webinars and issue briefs were developed by Social Policy Research Associates (SPR) in partnership with Mathematica Policy Research (Mathematica) to assist grantees of under the Workforce Innovation and Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative.

The briefs and webinars feature practitioners who have successfully adapted their partnerships and service strategies to serve a broader range of disadvantaged populations.

All issue briefs, webinar recordings, handouts and transcripts are now available on WWW.WORKFORCE3ONE.ORG. They include:

• Leveraging Funding Opportunities to Serve Disadvantaged Populations: Strategies and Sources

• Employer Based Strategies for Disadvantaged Populations

• Career Ladders for the Hard to Employ

• It Takes a Network: The Power of Cross-System Collaboratives for Youth

Hewlett Foundation Awards

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has announced grants totaling $47 million to nearly a hundred and forty organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the globe.

A total of $13.6 million was awarded to seventeen organizations through the foundation's global development program, including $3.25 million to the Results for Development Institute — a grant augmented by $750,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — in support of the organization's transparency and accountability program; and $1 million to the University of Cape Town to support its efforts to train African scholars to evaluate social programs in sub-Saharan African and use the results to inform policy decisions.

Grants totaling $12.3 million were awarded to thirty-three organizations through the foundation's Environment program, including $1.2 million to the Center for Sustainable Transportation of Mexico to promote Bus Rapid Transit systems in various cities across the country.

And forty organizations received a total of $11 million through the foundation's education program, including a grant of $1.5 million to the San Francisco-based Pivot Learning Partners for a pilot project that seeks to demonstrate better spending practices in the Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Twin Rivers school districts; and $500,000 to the Ontario College of Art & Design in support of the school's efforts to develop guidelines for open educational resources.

Other grants included $400,000 to Larkin Street Youth Services for continuing support of the 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic; $360,000 to Opera San José to help develop and groom emerging artists; and $150,000 to nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.

For a complete list of the foundation's third-quarter grants, visit the Hewlett Foundation Web site.

“Strengthening Government Services Abroad and Investigative Reporting at Home.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Press Release 10/26/10.

Basic Proposal Writing training

Friday, October 29, 2010

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Targeted toward those individuals who are new to the proposal writing process or those who want to polish their skills, this full-day course will enable attendees to learn:

1) The basic components and format of a grant proposal;
2) What each section includes and the order they are written in;
3) The process used to develop a project into a written grant request.

The instructor for this workshop is Teresa A. Gregory, CFRE, who currently serves as a Professional-in-Residence at Point Park University’s School of Business in the Sports, Arts & Entertainment Management Program. Additionally, she assists nonprofits in the region achieve their goals through her consulting firm, Pinnacle Fundraising Consultants, LLC. Ms. Gregory has a 25 year track-record as a high-level, results-oriented fundraiser with extensive experience in all aspects of development and nonprofit management. She has been a team leader on campaigns ranging from $200,000 to $40 million working for a wide variety of organizations, including major research universities, professional theatres, museums, as well as small grassroots groups.

The fee to attend this program is $30 per person and includes a light continental breakfast. Please call the Foundation Center at 412-622-6277 to register. Email registrations will not be accepted.

Presented by: Teresa Gregory

Event fee: $30.00

Light continental breakfast

Location:

Classroom A

4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Contact:

Foundation Center

(412) 622-6277

PA Recovery Act Jobs update

Thu, Oct 21, 2010

Governor Rendell: PA Economy Added Jobs in September, Federal Recovery Continues to Boost Economy

Pennsylvania’s economy added 7,200 non-farm jobs in September as the statewide unemployment rate fell to 9 percent, Governor Edward G. Rendell said today, noting that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act continues to benefit workers, businesses and communities across the state. Learn more.

ETA ReEmployment Conference

SAVE THE DATE
ROAD TO RECOVERY: Strategies for ReEmployment
December 14-15, 2010
Washington, D.C.

The Summit planning team notes:

The current economy has thrust workforce development into the spotlight. Getting America's workers back into good jobs is more important -- and more challenging -- then ever. Unemployed workers are depending on the workforce system to provide easily-accessible help from day one of their unemployment (or before), until they start their new job (and beyond).

Are you looking for fresh ideas about how to get people back to work? Do you have a reemployment strategy you're excited to share? Are you ready to join your colleagues in conversation about delivering truly integrated services? Then please join us for two days of engaging workshops, lively discussion, and serious skill-building at the Road to Recovery: Strategies for ReEmployment Summit in Washington, D.C. on December 14-15, 2010.

Together, we can help workers find jobs today, and prepare for the jobs of the future. If you?re part of the workforce system, including Unemployment Insurance, Trade, Rapid Response, WIA, Employment Service, One-Stop staff, Registered Apprenticeship, and many others, or one of our many employer, economic development, education, government, or community partners, we invite you to join us.

As additional information on the Summit is published, it will be posted to www.doleta.gov/usworkforce and www.workforce3one.org.

Family Self-Sufficiency

Estimated Total Program Funding: $60,000,000; DEADLINE: December 6, 2010

Eligible applicants: PHAs eligible to apply for funding under this NOFA are: PHAs currently administering HCV FSS programs that have served at least the minimum number of families required by this NOFA and PHAs that do not currently administer HCV FSS programs that have HUD field office approval of their FSS Action Plan authorizing them to implement a HCV FSS program of at least the minimum size required by this NOFA as identified below. State and regional agencies that administer HCV FSS programs in administratively distinct parts of a state or region may request that the eligibility requirements be applied to each separate area where they administer a HCV FSS program of the required size.

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Family Self-Sufficiency

What is the HCV family self-sufficiency (FSS) Program?
Family self-sufficiency (FSS) is a HUD program that encourages communities to develop local strategies to help voucher families obtain employment that will lead to economic independence and self-sufficiency. Public housing agencies (PHAs) work with welfare agencies, schools, businesses, and other local partners to develop a comprehensive program that gives participating FSS family members the skills and experience to enable them to obtain employment that pays a living wage. A separate program, the public housing FSS program, is available for public housing residents.

How do families apply to the HCV FSS program?
Families that are selected to receive a voucher or who currently receive assistance through the housing choice voucher programs should discuss participation in the FSS program with the local PHA.

What is the history of the FSS program?
FSS was established in 1990 by section 554 of the National Affordable Housing Act. It is a successor program to project self-sufficiency and operation bootstrap.

What services are provided through the FSS program?
FSS program services may include, but are not limited to:

• child care
• transportation
• education
• job training and employment counseling
• substance/alcohol abuse treatment or counseling
• household skill training
• homeownership counseling

National Career Awareness Project

An announcement from the Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE):

We're delighted to announce the National Career Awareness Project. This project is supported by the Literacy and Information and Communication System's (LINCS) Regional Resource Center Region 1. On October 1, the LINCS project was transferred to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education from the National Institute for Literacy. The overall goal of the National Career Awareness Project is to increase and improve adult learners' career awareness and planning throughout all levels of the ESOL, ABE, and Adult Secondary Education spectrum by helping adult education program staff incorporate career awareness and planning into their instruction and counseling activities.

The project offers state teams the opportunity to explore the career planning process using the Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE/ESOL Classroom (ICA) curriculum. The ICA curriculum guide provides classroom-ready, flexible lessons, handouts, and online resources to prepare instructors and counselors to guide adult students through a career awareness and planning process. Teams will develop a customized approach to implementing the curriculum guide with the support of a group of peers and facilitators/advisors with expertise in the area of career exploration and planning.

Interested states will designate a state team leader to recruit and select four programs based on the attached criteria and application, to participate on the state team. The state team leader submits a single application for the entire state team.

The project provides the opportunity for up to 15 states to participate in either of two project rounds. The first project round for 7-8 eight states is January-June, 2011, and the second project round for another 7-8 states is July-December, 2011. All states are eligible to apply for either project round. Preference will be given to states whose team includes local programs that were not previously engaged in the New England Career Awareness pilot.

Applications are due by December 1, 2010. Only complete applications with state director signatures will be considered.

October 14 Letter to State Directors / Application Packet

Questions may be directed to Sandy Goodman.

Technology and College Readiness

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the launch of a new multiyear initiative to help improve college readiness and completion rates in the United States through the innovative use of technology.

Created in partnership with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community College, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Next Generation Learning Challenges initiative will award grants every six to twelve months to organizations and innovators working to bring promising technology tools to more students, teachers, and schools. During the inaugural funding round, grants ranging from $250,000 to $750,000 — up to a total of $20 million — will be awarded to organizations working to increase the use of blended-learning models combining face-to-face instruction with online activities; deepen students' learning and engagement through the use of interactive applications; make high-quality open courseware more readily available; and help institutions, instructors, and students benefit from learning analytics. EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing higher education through the use of information technology, will lead the initiative.

Launched in conjunction with the release of a new white paper, Next Generation Learning (8 pages, PDF), which outlines how technology can help students and educators dramatically improve student outcomes in high schools and postsecondary education, the initiative will rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of funded projects in order to help educators and technologists understand the approaches that help students succeed and why. The program also will create opportunities for innovators, educators, and developers to exchange ideas and work together to move the field forward.

“New Initiative Will Advance the Best Uses of Technology to Improve College Readiness and Completion.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Press Release 10/11/10.

occupational safety training grants

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invites grant applications for Training Project Grants (TPG) that are focused on occupational safety and health training and on research training. NIOSH is mandated to provide an adequate supply of qualified personnel to carry out the purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-596, 84 Stat. 1590), and the TPGs are one of the principal means for meeting this mandate.
Expected Number of Awards: 30
Estimated Total Program Funding:$3,000,000

Capital Fund Training and Education Community Facilities

Total Funding: $35M
Max award: $5M
Expected # of awards: 12
Eligible applicants are Public Housing Authorities.

Capital Fund Training and Education Community Facilities
A. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the CFCF program is to provide capital funding to
PHAs for the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of facilities to provide early childhood
education, adult education, and/or job training programs for public housing residents based on an identified need. Additionally, PHAs may use CFCF program funding to rehabilitate existing
community facilities that will offer comprehensive, integrated services. These facilities will
offer comprehensive, integrated services to help public housing residents achieve better
educational and economic outcomes resulting in long-term economic self-sufficiency. In
accordance with Section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g) (1937
Act), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fiscal Year 2010
Appropriations Act (Public Law 111-117), the CFCF program provides grants to PHAs to 1)
construct new community facilities; 2) purchase or acquire facilities; or 3) rehabilitate existing facilities to be used as education and training community facilities by PHA residents. The
facilities are for the predominant use of PHA residents; however, non-public housing residents
may participate.

GrantSpace

The Foundation Center, a New York nonprofit organization that aids grant seekers nationwide, has started GrantSpace, a new site filled with educational content, videos, and podcasts. The new online resource is designed to make it easier for nonprofit workers to get information on financing their operations, getting grants, and operating effectively.

“We built out GrantSpace to be that one-stop shop for grant seekers worldwide to get information they need to advance their work,” says Cynthia Bailie, director of the Foundation Center’s Cleveland office and of Special Information Initiatives.

She says the Web site took a year to construct and came about after listening to grant seekers and “recognizing that they want to make the best use of their time.” The Foundation Center’s own Web site had grant-seeking “content segmented in a way that made it more time-consuming for someone who’s really busy.”

New features on GrantSpace include a live-chat service with a Foundation Center staff member during business hours; job listings; new grant opportunities; sample documents; published reports; and multimedia resources. Grant seekers can also find a schedule of classes, both online and in cities across the country, to hone skills in proposal writing or corporate fund raising.

With registration, GrantSpace visitors receive a free 24-hour subscription for access to the Foundation Center’s searchable database of 100,000 grant-making organizations and more than 2 million grants.

See this article from The Chronicle’s archive about the steps the Foundation Center is taking to modernize its tools.

Second Chance Re-Entry Grants

Speaking at the European Offenders Employment Forum on October 8, 2010, General Eric Holder announced $110 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for the Second Chance Act reentry grants and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative. These two efforts focus on reducing recidivism rates and state and local spending on corrections through the use of evidence-based, smart-on-crime approaches implemented by state, local, tribal and non-profit partners. The department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is administering the grants, research, and training and technical assistance.

The Second Chance Act, administered by OJP's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, is designed to support state, local and tribal governments, and non-profit organizations in their efforts to provide a full range of adult and juvenile reentry programs. During FY 2010, OJP awarded $100 million to support 178 Second Chance Act grantees across the country.

The funding for reentry programs will address a number of areas, including job training, education, mentoring, substance abuse and mental health treatment, family-based services, literacy classes, housing and employment assistance. In addition, this funding includes $10 million that will be awarded by

OJP's National Institute of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of reentry programs. And $4.6 million of the $100 million will be used to continue the work of the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC), which provides information, and training and technical assistance to government officials, practitioners, non-profit organizations, and individuals across the country. The NRRC also will develop a reentry "what works" library that will offer searchable, up-to-date information about the most effective programs, policies, and practices for reducing recidivism, increasing employment, decreasing substance abuse, and producing other positive outcomes.

Attorney General Holder's Remarks at the European Offenders Employment Forum

Solicitation Information

Erie Metro award $7.2 M

Erie—Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan announced that the Erie Metro Transit Authority (“the e”) has received $7,213,218 in federal funding through the FTA’s State of Good Repair program.

The Erie Metro Transit Authority will use the FTA grant to construct a new transit operations facility near East 14th and Parade streets to replace its existing facility. The current building, which does not adequately serve the current bus fleet, was constructed in 1967.

The current maintenance facility at 127 E. 14th St. has no dedicated space for repairs, has inadequate parts storage areas, does not have enough repair bays with vehicle lifts and has insufficient ventilation. In addition, the paratransit facility, which houses the LIFT buses, is not large enough for the fleet and is located about 1.5 miles away from the main Erie Metro Transit Authority facility at 825 W. 18th St. It is difficult for the transit authority to control the costs of its services while operating two major centers of operation, especially given the age of the buildings.

The new 105,000 square-foot facility will house 18 maintenance bays, a fueling facility and bus wash bays. It is expected to be completed in 2012.

“This funding is wonderful news for the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority and will help provide a much-needed update to their facilities,” said Senator Bob Casey. “I have been a strong advocate for this project, both with this grant and through the appropriations process. I am pleased to see that this federal funding will be used to ensure that the people of Erie are provided with a more reliable and energy efficient means of transportation.”

The federal funds for the new maintenance facility were secured through the Federal Transit Administration’s new State of Good Repair discretionary grant program. In all, 152 projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia were awarded a combined $776 million through the program.

The FTA, a branch of the U.S. Transportation Department, reviewed nearly 400 projects applications from urban and rural transit providers before deciding on the grant winners.

This federal grant will help complete part of a broader $30 million expansion detailed in the Erie Metro Transit Authority’s joint operations facility plan. The plan calls for the transit authority to eventually own nine acres between French and Parade streets and East 14th Street south to the CSX railroad tracks. The majority of the properties in that area are blighted and vacant.

The expansion plans, which transit officials expect could take up to10 years to complete, will accommodate the growth the transit authority expects between now and 2050. Erie Metro Transit Authority’s ridership in its 2008-09 year was 3.3 million. The transit authority currently operates 73 full-sized buses, 65 LIFT buses, and six trolleys. The transit authority employs 230 people.