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The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s quarterly Family Economic Success (FES) Newsletter provides updates on activities, developments and resources in the three major areas of FES—workforce development, family economic supports and asset building. The goal of Casey's FES work is to promote specific strategies that enable parents to get jobs and advance in the workforce, increase their income, and build and protect a base of assets sufficient to secure a better future for their families.
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Events
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Officials from Eight States Share Plans for Stimulus Funding
On May 6–7, the Casey Foundation cosponsored a Regional State Recovery Roundtable with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and the Center for State Innovation (CSI). Held in Annapolis, the Roundtable was attended by officials from Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, who came together to discuss their plans and the challenges they face in implementing funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). They were joined at the meeting by representatives from federal agencies and policy experts from national research and advocacy organizations. Discussion topics included energy efficiency, transportation and smart growth, workforce and education, and public benefits and support. Notes from the sessions, topics for follow up, and related ARRA resources are posted to the CSI website.
View the Roundtable materials
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National Conference to Be Held in San Antonio
The National Community Tax Coalition’s conference, “Realizing the Dream: Promoting Financial Opportunity in All Communities,” will be held in San Antonio, TX, August 31-September 1. The Casey Foundation is a co-host and sponsor of the annual event, and Casey Executive Vice President Ralph Smith will deliver the keynote address. The two-day conference will focus on the serious challenges facing working families in the current economy. More than 600 public, private and non-profit sector leaders are expected to attend. Attendees will share experiences to help improve their programs, learn about proven products and strategies to help families reach financial stability and build assets, and learn how to be a more effective advocate on tax and financial issues. Visit www.tax-coalition.org for more information. Early bird registration ends Tuesday, July 7; registration closes on Friday, August 14th.
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Feature Stories
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Driver’s License Recovery Program Improves Employability
A new FES in Action story features an innovative program in Milwaukee that is helping people to recover suspended or revoked drivers licenses. The loss of a driver’s license can prevent individuals from being hired for jobs or disqualify them from higher paying job opportunities, and can keep a family from improving its financial situation or reaching and maintaining self-sufficiency. The Center for Driver’s License Recovery and Employability, a Casey grantee, serves approximately 2,400 clients each year. Caseworkers spend from one to six months with each client, determining the background of the suspension or revocation, the steps required to get the license reinstated, and providing legal assistance if needed. Community service assignments are often available to low-income individuals as an alternative to paying expensive fines. The program is strongly supported by the judicial system as it saves court time, reduces paperwork, and helps to break the cycle of unpaid fines-suspension-revocation.
Read the story |
Publications, Presentations and Other Resources
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New Workforce Paradigm Brings Together a Variety of Strategies
An article written by Bob Giloth, director of Casey’s FES unit, has been published in the Spring 2009 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Community Investments magazine. The spring issue focuses on unemployment in low-income communities. Giloth’s article addresses how lessons learned from the past two decades of workforce development efforts across the country can help to navigate the challenges of the current economy. “Lessons for a New Context: Workforce Development in an Era of Economic Challenge” looks at six areas in which workforce learning and innovation are occurring: job placement, retention and advancement; the duel customer approach; regional, city and neighborhood approaches; race and labor markets; best practices and replication; and labor market reform. Giloth’s article is found on pages 8-13.
Read the magazine and this article
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Reforming Unemployment Insurance Would Significantly Benefit Rural Families
A new brief from The Carsey Institute shows that modernizing unemployment insurance (UI) programs to include part-time workers will significantly aid rural workers and their families. “Rural Workers Would Benefit from Unemployment Insurance Modernization” examines how states can take advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to make significant and much-needed reforms to their UI programs. With 21 percent of all rural workers holding part-time jobs, an updated UI system that includes part-time laborers will ensure that rural families are protected when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own. The brief includes state-by-state estimates of the number of part-time workers and outlines key characteristics of each state’s UI program. With support from the Casey Foundation and others, The Carsey Institute conducts policy research on vulnerable children, youth and families, and on sustainable community development.
Read the brief
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One-Third of DC Working Families Are Unable to Make Ends Meet
A recent report from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute (an affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) and the Center for Economic and Policy Research, shows that more than one-third of Washington, D.C. residents live in working families that earn too little to be self-sufficient. “Bridging the Gaps in DC: Strategies to Support Low-Income Working Families,” points out that some programs, such as TANF and food stamps, have very low income eligibility thresholds or other restrictions that greatly limit participation among low-income working families. The report, which was funded by Casey, has already led to policy changes that benefit working poor families. In early 2009, several D.C. Council members agreed to support one of the recommendations which allowed more working families to receive benefits such as food stamps. An estimated 4,000 households will benefit from this change, which will be implemented in October 2009.
Read the report
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Developing Career Pathways in Community Colleges is a Sound Investment
States have a critical role in expanding access to and completion of postsecondary education, particularly for low-skilled and low-income workers. Increasingly, states are utilizing a career pathways framework to support community colleges seeking to better serve these students. State-driven efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin are profiled in a new report produced by the Seattle Jobs Initiative in partnership with the Working Poor Families Project (WPFP). The report documents the strategies, challenges and lessons learned in implementing a statewide career pathways initiative and can serve as a resource for other states interested in addressing the education and skill development needs of its workforce. The report is entitled “Charting a Path: An Exploration of the Statewide Career Pathway Efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.” The WPFP is a national initiative of the Annie E. Casey, Ford, Joyce and Mott Foundations.
Read the report
Learn more about the Seattle Jobs Initiative
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Stimulus Funds Provide Opportunities for Low-Income Communities
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: a Guide to Entry-Level Jobs and Training and Educational Opportunities for Making Connections Communities,” developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and funded by Casey, describes the ARRA, its guiding principles for implementation, key strategies and innovations that can benefit low-income communities, key areas of focus for Making Connections, and key areas for entry-level jobs. The ARRA, signed by President Obama in February 2009, is the broadest and largest funding package in American history. It is intended to stimulate the economy through direct spending on a range of programs and to create tax relief. Making Connections, a decade-long initiative of the Casey Foundation, works to improve the lives and prospects of families living in some of this country’s toughest neighborhoods by creating economic opportunities, improving the quality of services and supports, and strengthening social networks.
Read the paper
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Foreclosure Crisis Hurts Renters as Well as Homeowners in Washington, DC
A new Casey-funded study, “Foreclosures and Renters in Washington, DC,” looks at the impact of current foreclosures on renters in the nation’s capital. Nationally, about one-third of U.S. households live in rental housing. It is estimated that 38 percent of foreclosures across the country involve rental properties, so it stands to reason that the current foreclosure/eviction crisis will disproportionately affect low-income renter households. Peter Tatian, at the Urban Institute, studied the impact of foreclosures on DC renters, with a special look at neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, which are home to large numbers of struggling, low-income families. The report concludes that renters are being affected, and they are not receiving the same kind of targeted assistance and protection from foreclosure as those who own homes. Evicted rental families often have little time to find new housing, have few resources for security deposits and moving expenses, and must often find new daycare, schools and healthcare services. The study includes policy recommendations to better address the needs of the rental community.
Read the report
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Weatherization May Provide Job Opportunities for Low-Skilled Workers
“Weatherization” refers to residential energy efficiency work conducted with funds appropriated by Congress. With passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in February 2009, there has been increased interest in jobs that might be created in weatherization. “Weatherization and ARRA: Challenges and Opportunities in Growing a Diverse and Quality Workforce” examines the current training and employment structures and processes in weatherization, identifies knowledge gaps, and makes recommendations for strategies for increasing access for low-skilled workers while adding value to the industry. It also describes specific jobs in weatherization, the wage range for each and the skills that are required to fulfill the job’s responsibilities. The report was written by Sarah Griffen, for the Casey Foundation.
Read the report
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Please let us know if this newsletter is helpful to you and how it might be improved to meet your needs. Contact fesnewsletter@aecf.org with questions or suggestions. Feel free to forward this newsletter to interested colleagues.
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