September Edition 2004 - New York Nonprofit Press

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6 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz September 2004 NEWS VESID to Hold Town Meetings to Plan Service Delivery System The New York State Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) will hold nine town meetings and a virtual town meeting. As part of the State Plan development, VESID will seek public comment on a proposed process for designing a future vocational rehabilitation service delivery system that will: - meet VESID's quality standards while ensuring fiscal accountability; - foster collaboration among State and community partners; and - support personnel planning that allows for creative use of staff skills and regional partnerships. VESID staff will facilitate the discussion and collect public comment on the State Plan. Individual oral comment will not be scheduled. Until November 12, 2004, a Virtual Town Meeting will be held at http://discus.nysed.gov/discus-vesid/ The other meetings are scheduled as follows: • September 9 - State Rehabilitation Council (SRC), Albany Best Western, 1228 Western Ave. Albany, NY 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. • September 10 - Self-Advocacy Association Conference, Albany Marriott, 189 Wolf Road, Albany. This town meeting is only open to conference attendees 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. • September 10 - New York State Independent Living Council (NYSILC) Conference, Holiday Turf Inn, 205 Wolf Road, Albany, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. • September 20 – Two Sessions at the New York State Independent Living Council (NYSILC) Conference, Holiday Turf Inn, 205 Wolf Road Albany, 9:00 a.m.to 10:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. • September 21 - New York State Rehabilitation Association (NYSRA) Conference, The Desmond, 660 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. [4:45-5:00 Break] 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. • Week of October 18, NY Association of Training and Employment (NYATEP) Professional Conference, Adam's Mark and Conference Center, 120 Church Street Buffalo, Time and date to be announced. • October 25 - Cerebral Palsy Association of NYS Conference, The Desmond, 660 Albany- Shaker Road, Albany, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. • November 8 - NYS Association for Persons in Supported Employment Conference (NYAPSE), Lake Placid Hilton, Lake Placid, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. While the VESID town meetings are held this year in conjunction with professional conferences, the meetings are open to the public (except where noted) during the scheduled times listed above. The public comment period extends from September 9, 2004 through November 12, 2004. Individual recommendations can be submitted in writing to VESID, VR Policy and Partnerships Unit- Room 1603 (OCP), NYS Education Department, Albany, NY 12234. Electronic submission can be sent to VRpolicy@mail.nysed.gov or through the Virtual Town Meeting, http://discus.nysed.gov/discus-vesid/. Interpreters will be provided only upon request. Copies of materials are also available upon request in alternate format. To request accommodations contact VESID by calling 1-800- 222-5627 (voice or TTY) at least 10 days in advance of the meeting and referencing "State Plan meeting. Day Care Workers Greet New ACS Commissioner on First Day John Mattingly, the new Commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, showed up on his first day at work on August 16th only to be greeted at the front door by day care workers who have been without a contract since December 2000. “We wanted the Commissioner to know that former Commissioner Bell left some unfinished business on his desk,” said Michael Green, Director of Day Care Head Start for District Council 1707. Mattingly reportedly chatted with the workers and their union representatives and indicated a willingness to listen to their concerns. The City is offering a 5% increase to cover a 4 Local Providers Receive Federal Mentoring Grants Six local nonprofits are among 168 provider organizations throughout the country to receive $35 million in federal grants supporting mentoring programs for the children of prisoners. The grants are part of a three-year initiative outlined by President Bush during his 2003 State of the Union Address. Locally, the grant recipients are: • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster County, $417,000; • New York City Mission Society, $200,000; • Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, $150,000; • Phoenix House of New York, Inc. $124,000; • Puerto Rican Family Institute, $120,000; year period during which the cost of living has gone up over 13%, a union spokesman stated. DC1707 represents public Day Care employees who care for nearly 50,000 children in 350 centers throughout the City. • Family Services of Westchester, Inc.,$90,000. “It is great,” said Andre Pabon, Director of the Juvenile Justice Mentoring Project at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. “We are now going to be reaching out to more children whose parents have been incarcerated.” The grantees were selected from over 500 proposals which were submitted. In addition, two New York City agencies funded during last year’s initial round of grants received their second year grant allocations of $75,000. These were: • Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families; and • The Osborne Association. Photo credit:David Buxenbaum
September 2004 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 7 BREAKING NEWS Breaking News As we went to press, the following stories were unfolding. For continuing developments on these and other Breaking News stories go to our website at www.nynp.biz. To receive our regular Email News Updates, simply email us at editor@nynp.biz Governor Vetoes Budget Submission Final Outcome Uncertain On August 20th, Governor Pataki vetoed $1.8 billion worth of spending increases from the $101.6 billion State budget for FY2004-2005 which had been passed jointly by the Assembly and Senate a week earlier. The vetoes reinstated significant cuts to human services which had been included in the Governor’s original $99.8 billion budget proposal. The Governor’s actions consisted of 195 separate line item vetoes striking down specific appropriations. Last year, when the Governor struck down elements of a similar joint legislative budget submission, the Senate and Assembly simply overrode the vetoes. This year, a similar outcome is less certain. Neither the Senate nor Assembly had indicated what steps they would take in response to the Governor’s vetoes. The Governor’s list of vetoes impacted many human services programs. Among the most significant vetoes were: • Nursing Home Facility Viability Adjustment $12.5 million • Foster Care Funding for NYC Congregate Care Rates 10.0 million • Temporary Assistance Programs 4.4 million • SSI Increase 3.0 million • Mental health community services 4.5 million • VESID Case Services 2.0 million • Extended Day/School Violence Proram 1.5 million • Youth Development and Delinquency Prevention 1.2 million • Settlement House Programs 1.4 million • Licensed Social Worker Loan Forgiveness 1.0 million • Family Preservation Centers 560,000 • Independent Living Centers 536,600 • Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly 528,030 • Education and Assistance Corporation 450,000 • Runaway and Homeless Youth 307,800 • Child Advocacy Centers 307,800 • Elder Abuse Prevention Project 300,000 • Domestic Violence Training Program 135,000 Handelman Leaves NYANA Mark Handelman resigned his position as President and CEO of the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) on August 13th after leading the organization for more than 25 years. Handelman “decided to leave NYANA in order to start his own consulting firm to assist non-profits in the area of management, strategic planning, and fundraising,” the agency reported in a statement issued on August 20th. “Mark is particularly interested in working with organizations that serve children with disabilities and special needs.” Jose Valencia, formerly NYANA’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has replaced Handelman as President and CEO. NYANA, which had resettled 250,000 Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union, had seen a sharp decline in this program in recent years as a result of tightened federal refugee policies following September 11th. An August 20th article published by The Jewish Week, a newspaper serving the Jewish community, tied Handelman’s resignation to this decline and resulting financial and organizational pressures on the agency. The article went on to state that “Handelman’s sudden resignation is said to have caused consternation among some staffers, who fear that NYANA, a venerable social service agency founded in the aftermath of World War II to resettle Holocaust survivors, may not survive much longer.” Handelman refuted the article’s assertions in a written response to The Jewish Week editor. “The article would lead the reader to believe that I left due to frustration with the organization and that the agency’s future is doubtful. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he stated. “Despite a dramatic downturn in refugee arrivals, NYANA annually provides important culturally sensitive social services to over 8000 immigrants, many of them former resettlement clients from the Soviet Jewish émigré community. After being at the helm of this wonderful organization for twenty-five years, I simply felt that it was the right time to seek new professional challenges for myself and thus decided to separate from the agency.” Valencia stated that NYANA had significantly expanded the range of services it offers to its existing refugee client base. “The target popoulaiton has remained the same but this is a multi-service agency now,” he said. “We have two clinics – a substance abuse clinic and a mental health clinic. We have ESL, legal services, domestic violence programs. We have one of the largest employment services contract with the City of New York and training programs with the State.” Free E-Newsletter email editor@nynp.biz
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September Edition 2004 - New York Nonprofit Press

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