HUMAN SERVICES
“Program based on Harlem initiative shows promise; 3 city areas looking at zone-based plan similar to New York City’s, which focuses on increasing access to various social services and has reported success among children.” By Cassandra West. Chicago Tribune. November 4, 2009. Former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton famously drew on an African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” to explain her vision for American children more than decade ago. Now the Obama administration is looking to another village — local urban communities — to serve the educational and social needs of children in poverty with its Promise Neighborhoods, an initiative modeled on the transformative and widely touted Harlem Children’s Zone. In recent months the Harlem Children’s Zone’s profile rose with widespread media coverage of its program, aimed at keeping children on track through college. It concentrates on a 100-block area of central Harlem with programs such as health and community centers, workshops for parents, youth-violence prevention efforts and three public charter schools. By enclosing at-risk children in a “zone,” the belief goes, they will have a better chance to escape a cycle of poverty.
“Foster care agency resorts to layoffs.” By Miriam Kreinin Souccar. Crain’s New York. November 6, 2009. Family Support Systems Unlimited Inc., a social services organization in the Bronx, is closing its foster care agency and laying off 92 staffers. The move comes amid funding cuts from the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, according to a filing with the New York State Department of Labor. The layoffs are just the most recent in the social services sector, which has been hit with skyrocketing demand and decreased funds during the recession. Last month, the Salvation Army of Greater New York announced it was laying off 120 employees due to funding cuts from the city.
“Nonprofit group comes to homeless family’s aid; Bessie Mae Berger, 97, and her two sons, Larry and Charlie Wilkerson, had been living in a Chevy Suburban on the streets of Venice. The three now share rooms at a Van Nuys hotel.” By Bob Pool. Los Angeles Times. October 20, 2009. When a 97 year-old woman and her sons were discovered living in their car on the L.A. streets, the Integrated Recovery Network was able to offer them immediate shelter. The recovery network is funded by Kaiser Permanente, the Corporation for Supportive Housing and private donations and can provide placements for those who fall through the cracks for governmental services.
“Economy’s woes driving more people to local food pantries; Requests on rise ahead of holidays.” By Meghan E. Irons. Boston Globe. November 6, 2009. Rising unemployment, faltering wages, and a lingering recession are driving more families and individuals to their local food pantries, agency officials across the state said yesterday. The Greater Boston Food Bank is reporting that requests for Thanksgiving turkeys has increased this year, outstripping last year, when the recession was taking hold, by 14 percent. Overall, the agency’s 600 food programs saw an 11 percent increase in demand during the fiscal 2009, which ended June 30.
“Churches put job-seekers to work for each other.” By Michael E. Kanell. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 6, 2009. Combining religious values and the techniques of staffing companies offers both assistance and reassurance, said Peter Bourke, founder of the C3G – for Christ-centered career groups – at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta. Membership in C3G is free. And as critical as religion is to the group, the program does not include proselytizing. Prayers are sometimes said, but there is no concerted effort to move members to a different level of practice. Moreover, a C3G member does not need to join North Point Community Church. Yet faith does tint the picture. At C3G, jobseekers are asked to think first of helping other members, Bourke said. “The faster way to find a job is to find five friends or 500 friends and start helping each other. And when you get a job, you come back and you share with the group – where you are going to work, what you have learned.”
“Budget trims lead homeless shelters across Mass. to cut services and beds.” By David Abel. Boston Globe. November 7, 2009. Boston plans to eliminate nearly 20 percent of the beds at the city’s largest homeless shelter, the first time it has made such cuts. Cape Cod’s largest shelter expects to end its day program, meaning dozens of people are likely to spend their days wandering in the cold. Officials at the largest provider of homeless services in Western Massachusetts intend to cut their shelter’s security detail. The changes, fallout from the budget cuts announced last month by Governor Deval Patrick, have stirred outrage among advocates for the homeless who call them “unconscionable’’ and argue that the state’s most vulnerable population has been singled out. The $2.7 million in cuts account for less than 1 percent of the state’s $600 million budget shortfall, but advocates say the cuts will have a disproportionately deep impact on programs that operate on tight budgets.