March Edition 2011 - New York Nonprofit Press

March 2011 Vol. 10 . Issue 3 www.nynp.biz
JOBS JOBS JOBS
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
START ON
PAGE 22
POINT OF VIEW
What’s Happening to
Young Adults
PAGE 5
NEWS
North Star Fund Grants
PAGE 14
AGENCY
OF THE
MONTH
Life’s WORC
PAGE 14
New York York Nonprofit Press Press
PO Box Box 338 338
Chatham, NY NY 12037 12037
TRIPLE THREAT
Federal, State, City Budgets
Slash Human Service Funding
by Fred Scaglione
It’s raining budget cuts. They are pouring down… born in the
heavy, lingering clouds of the Great Recession…driven by a newfound
and misguided sense of fiscal responsibility … flowing from federal
to state to local governments… washing away vast sections of health,
education and human services…bursting the flood gates of America’s
already fragile social safety net.
February was a bad month for human service providers.
It began when Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed to close the
State’s $10 billion budget gap for FY2011-12 almost entirely through
spending cuts. The Governor has been adamant about refusing to seek
any new taxes to help address the State’s fiscal crisis. He has even refused
to extend the existing Personal Income Tax (PIT) surcharge on
high income households, first enacted in 2009, which would provide $1
billion in added revenues this year and over $5 billion next year.
Much of what must certainly be devastating impacts to vital services
remains unclear, even after Cuomo’s presentation of his Executive
Budget on February 1st. In large part, this is due to the Governor’s use
of special commissions to identify the specifics of billions in “savings”,
creation of new block grants to mask cuts in specific services, and enormous
transfers of funding responsibility from the State to localities and
school districts – all the budgetary equivalent of smoke and mirrors..
On February 17th, Mayor Bloomberg laid out his own Preliminary
Budget for FY2011-12, blaming the State and Federal governments for
the loss of 6,000 teachers and at least $370 million in cuts to human
service programs – including the elimination of 16,629 subsidized child
care slots and the likely closure of 110 senior centers serving between
8,000 and 10,000 older New Yorkers. In both cases, advocates estimated
the cuts to be approximately one-third or more of the City’s total commitment
to these programs. Of course, these $370 million in new funding
losses are on top of the hundreds of millions in programs – funded by
the City Council only for the current year – which the Mayor once again
declined to include in his budget.
If you think this is bad, the situation could get markedly worse.
Bloomberg is hoping – based on the dubious theory that revenue sharing
should be distributed to localities in an equitable manner -- that the State
will revise its own budget and fill a remaining $600 million City budget
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deficit. If not, a new round of budget cuts – likely further impacting
human services – will be on tap when the Mayor formally submits his
Executive budget for the coming year.
And, in the early morning hours of February 19th, the Republicanled
U.S. House of Representatives took a meat ax to Federal programs,
voting to slash over $61 billion from current year domestic, discretionary
spending. The bill, HR-1, is estimated to cut the current year allocations
by an average of 13.8 percent. Since Federal Fiscal Year 2010-11 is close
to half over, the House bill would actually require immediate spending
cuts of close to 25% on average. Individual programs, however, were hit
much harder and in some cases -- e.g. AmeriCorps, EvenStart Family
Literacy, Mentoring Children of Prisoners,
Special Olympics, Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Discretionary Grants, Youth
Build, etc. -- eliminated entirely.
While it is doubtful that the House bill
would ever make it through the Senate and
be signed by President Obama as written,
we appear headed towards a major show
down – including the possibility of a complete
federal government shutdown when
current spending authorizations expire on
March 4th. Any resolution to this dispute
continued on page 8

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MARCH 2011
Calendar
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TRIPLE THREAT
1
POINT OF VIEW
5
NEWS
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STATE BUDGET
8
CITY BUDGET
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WHO CARES? I DO
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FEDERAL BUDGET
13
AGENCY
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Life’s WORC
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SUPPORTING SPONSORS
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PROUD PARTNER
“Who Cares?” We All Must!
“The opening salvo in what is likely to be an existential struggle in this nation over the role of
government in general… and the future of human services in particular.” That is how we describe
the February 19th vote by the Republican-led House of Representatives to slash $61 billion from
the current year federal budget for domestic, non-discretionary spending.
Are we being overwrought and alarmist? I don’t think so.
House Bill HR1, if enacted, would represent a 13.8% cut to budget allocations for a broad
range of human service and other essential programs. However, due to the mid-year timing of the
proposal, it would force a 24% cut in spending for the remaining of the fiscal year.
The bill would cut Head Start funding by 15% and 157,000 children; slash employment and
training services by 52%; drastically reduce Pell Grants that help low income kids get to college;
cut low income housing programs; and virtually eliminate a host of highly effective and vitally
important programs serving low income, high-need communities, e.g. the Corporation for National
and Community Service and AmeriCorps, Youth Build, Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders, Mentoring
Children of Prisoners, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants, Even Start Family Literacy, Teach for
America, and many others.
Will HR1 become law… at least as written? Not likely. The Senate’s Democratic leadership
has already stated that the House’s proposed cuts to programs and services are far too extreme.
Nevertheless, it seems almost certain that human service providers – and the people they serve
-- will not escape the debate over this year’s spending – or next year’s budget – without taking
very, very, significant reductions in budgeted resources.
President Obama has already conceded that he will seek a freeze on domestic discretionary
spending for the next five years while imposing significant cuts on some programs, such as 50%
reductions in Community Services Block Grant funding and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP). If this is the starting point for negotiations, human services are clearly
in trouble. Remember, many House Republicans -- particularly newly elected, Tea Party-powered
members -- feel that HR1 doesn’t go anywhere near far enough.
And, unfortunately, HR1 is not the only budget measure designed to reduce budget deficits
primarily through cuts to low-income, vulnerable citizens -- without any thought of asking for some
sacrifice or increased contribution from the wealthiest among us. Both Governor Cuomo and
Mayor Bloomberg have prided themselves on offering budget proposals with “no new taxes” while
simultaneously asking for enormous cuts to spending on government operations and services.
The Governor, for example is proposed a whopping $9 billion in spending reductions with
approximately two-thirds coming from health and education. Hundreds of millions more in cuts to
human services programs are hidden in funding shifts and reductions in aid to localities.
Mayor Bloomberg, on the other hand, barely even acknowledged what we estimate to be
$370 million in cuts to human services, including the elimination of 16,629 child care slots and the
closing of 110 senior centers. All this is on top of the loss of 6,000 public school teachers.
So, who cares? You do! As the men and women on the front lines, you actually understand
the critical importance of human services to New Yorkers.
Now, it is time to make sure that the people you serve… as well as their families, friends and
neighbors… also understand the importance of human services in their lives and the lives of those
they care about.
The Human Services Council of New York has just launched a new advocacy campaign
– “Who Cares? I Do!” – designed to get this message out and build support for human services
among the general public. They – all New Yorkers and all Americans – need to know what it is
they are about to lose… before it is too late.
We urge you to visit www.whocares-ido.org and join the effort by signing the petition and
sharing the story of human services – your stories – with your friends and neighbors.
It has never been more critical for supporters of human services to come together and make
their voices heard.
Thank you for your support
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March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 5
POINT OF VIEW
In the Aftermath of the Recession:
What is Happening to Young Adults?
What has happened to youth who dropped
out of school in the 90’s? Jonathan works in a
community college as security, still seeking that
degree. Evan is homeless and sleeps in the trains.
Alicia is on her way to a master’s and a teaching
career. Her 21 year old daughter is on her way
to college. And Sammy, sweet-natured, enterprising:
dead in a gun fight over drug turf. 1
In the past, about half of the students who
dropped out of high school eventually got a diploma,
job or both. But this is changing. Today,
dropouts have the highest unemployment rates
on record. While exacerbated by the recession,
the problem is structural and will worsen unless
addressed by aggressive policy. Jobs with decent
wages require higher skills than in the past
and there are fewer of them. Older workers are
hanging on to their jobs longer. Youth of color
experience the worst of it. In June 2010, only
25% of young black men in NYC held a job,
according to the Wall Street Journal. 2 Another
worrisome indicator, the number of 18 to 29
year olds served in the city’s homeless shelters
has nearly doubled since 2002. 3
Given the impending cuts threatening all
social service sectors of our city, it is important
to consider the long term impacts. The presence
of more than 200,000 youth who are out of
school and not working means that our city as
well as individuals and families will pay a high
price in future social costs, lost tax revenue and
personal income. The Alliance for Excellent Education
estimates that for NYC, the additional
combined individual income and tax revenue if
just half these youth obtained diplomas would
exceed $592 million - in just 1 year. 4
The period between 16 and 24 years of age
is one of great potential for growth. But lack of
the opportunities provided by work and education
stunts the development of skills and attitudes
necessary for success in the labor market.
Lifetime earnings and even marriage potential
are reduced by prolonged unemployment. 5
During the last five years, the Youth Development
Institute has worked closely with NYC
organizations and colleges serving these young
people. Here are some lessons from that as well
as prior work.
First: policy and practice solutions must
address those who are least skilled. Most dropouts
are not even eligible for GED level education
because of low skills. But many can make
rapid progress towards further education and
1 Follow-up research by the author with youth from a PreGED program he directed.
2 See the Wall Street Journal report about the recent Community Service Society Study: Only One in Four Young
Black Men Have a Job in New York City, Metropolis Blog, 12/14/10
3 Cited in Child Welfare Watch, winter 2010, 2011, Page 30.
4 http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/EconMSAsoc
5 In 2007, before the recession, only 41% of 16 – 19 year old dropouts had worked during the previous year, according
to Andrew Sum of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeast University. The problem is much
worse today. See, The Kids Aren’t Alright: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp258
6 MDRC’s Dan Bloom has prepared a useful update of relevant research: http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/20_01_05.pdf.
Few studies, however, deal in-depth with the important role of academic
learning for this population.
7 For information about the CEO initiatives: http://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/html/programs/young_adult_programs.
shtml
8 See Promising Practices in Working with Young Adults for practices that support this integration: http://www.
ydinstitute.org/resources/publications/PromisingPractices.pdf
9 The recent Harvard paper, Pathways to Prosperity, makes the same point, for a broader population: http://www.
gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2011/02/report-calls-for-national-effort-to-get-millions-of-youngamericans-onto-a-realistic-path-to-employa.html.
Peter Kleinbard
work if provided the right opportunities.
Secondly, there is encouraging news from
leading young adult “brands”: YouthBuild, Year
Up, City Year, and AmeriCorps. These focus,
however, on youth who have diplomas or are
close to attaining them. This is true also for the
Workforce Investment Act for out of school
youth, the largest public funding stream. Together,
these initiatives reach only a fraction of
the population. Successful initiatives should be
expanded, if warranted by rigorous evaluation.
Pathways and programs for low-skilled youth
must be constructed that lead to these programs
and beyond. 6
Such programs are being developed by the
NYC Center for Economic Opportunity which
has established several in collaboration with the
Department of Youth and Community Development
and other NYC agencies focusing on the
young adult population including those who are
low skilled or coming out of incarceration. 7 Two
initiatives of the Youth Development Institute,
Community Education Pathways to Success and
College Access and Success at the NYC College
of Technology, are focused on increasing the
ability of organizations to serve these youth and
now in 25 sites.
Thirdly, reading comprehension, writing,
math and problem solving are essential for success
in today’s workforce. In NYC and nationally,
only about 30% of dropouts read at levels
that make them eligible even for preparation to
study for the GED diploma. We have known
this for more than a decade, but much investment
still chases jobs which often turn out to
be short term when youth lack skills. Indeed,
the current national focus on college means little
for this population unless they can both obtain
the GED, and do so at a high score –requiring
strong skills. This calls for change among programs
for older youth, balancing work experience
with strong education informed by youth
development. Organizations must increase capacity,
requiring training and, often, restructuring.
Today, much of what passes for education
in the young adult field is merely test prep. 9
Finally, in the past, private foundations
have led with initiatives such as YouthBuild
and NYC’s Multiple Pathways to Graduation in
collaboration with the public sector. These have
changed the prospects for thousands of young
people and attracted public dollars. Given the
current lack funding and the political impasse,
the private sector must again lead the way, setting
the stage for new public policy in the future.
Young people who drop out need “multiple
pathways” after high school, combinations of
highly structured work experiences or community
service and education linked to paid jobs
and further education. 9 Their work experiences
can contribute useful services in communities.
Advocacy with the public sector should be
the priority. There is ample evidence of the potential
long term costs of ignoring this issue and
of approaches that will make a difference. This
can be used to drive advocacy campaigns.
New and continuing efforts must:
• Build on research about needs and what
works.
• Look for opportunities to build pathways,
linking programs that help youth to move to
higher levels of proficiency and connect them
to paid work and further education. Currently,
much funding is siloed such that youth rarely
move to higher level programs even if they
improve their skills.
• There are no shortcuts: generic, “businessoriented”
outcomes models may be appear
useful, but will not assure good investments
without deep knowledge of the field. Draw
upon strong researchers and leading practitioners
to identify what works and the gaps.
• Be rigorous. Examine skeptically ideas that
may be popular today such as college for all,
organizational partnerships, quick job placements.
Each offers value, but needs to be addressed
in nuanced ways, building on what
is producing results in reasonable time spans
and for reasonable dollars.
Enabling thousands of young adults to further
their education and work experience will
reduce future social and personal costs and build
a more equitable society. Progress, given our
current political and economic challenges, will
require flexibility, boldness, and private sector
leadership.
Peter Kleinbard works as a consultant on
youth and education issues and was formerly
the Executive
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6 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
NEWS
North Star Fund Grants $3 Million for Greening Western Queens
The North Star Fund has announced over
$3 million in grants to 15 community groups for
the “Greening” of Western Queens. The grants
mark the beginning of a three-year, $8 million
initiative which will bring trees, green jobs and
youth environmental programs to the neighborhoods
of Woodside, Sunnyside, Astoria and
Long Island City.
“We’d like to help these neighborhoods
transform themselves into model green communities,”
said Hugh Hogan, executive director
of North Star Fund. Currently, Western Queens
has among the lowest amounts of green space
of any neighborhood in New York City – only
2 percent compared to a citywide average of 14
percent.
This first round of grants will give way to
up to 850 trees, support environmental education
and recycling programs, and help fund
community gardens and green jobs training programs.
Grants will be awarded to both Queensbased
and citywide programs to benefit the
Queens community.
First year projects and grant amounts are:
* All Saints Episcopal Church (One-year
grant: $20,000): To revitalize their garden,
providing public access to local green
space;
* Asian Americans for Equality (One-year
grant: $90,000): To implement environmentally
focused organizing and education, outreach,
and community-planning programs;
* Center for Urban Pedagogy (One-year
grant: $30,000): To lead Aviation High
AcceSS
Knowledge
School students in a community research
and design project that explores and explains
the inner workings of NYC’s energy
infrastructure;
* City Parks Foundation (Three-year grant:
$2,500,000, including a $500,000 challenge
grant): For the planting and stewardship of
up to 850 trees in Western Queens;
* DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association
(One-year grant: $15,000): To research the
feasibility of a community garden for domestic
and other low-wage workers;
* Earth Day New York (One-year grant:
$20,000): To research and plan the implementation
of public green roofs;
* Friends of Sunnyside Gardens Community
Association (One-year grant: $10,000): To
plant trees outside the historic Sunnyside
Gardens park;
* GrowNYC – Environmental Programs
(One-year grant: $20,000): To involve public
school students in hands-on environmental
education programs;
* GrowNYC – School Gardens (One-year
grant: $50,000): To develop five gardens in
local public schools;
* The Horticultural Society of New York
(One-year grant: $50,000): To create a
Learning Garden in a Queens public school;
* ioby (One-year grant: $10,000): To provide
matching grants to small scale environmental
projects;
* Queens Library (One-year grant: $250,000):
To transform five local Queens Library
power
Hugh Hogan, executive director of North Star Fund, presents a facsimile check to representatives
from the groups funded in the first round of the Greening Western Queens fund.
branches into “Greening Libraries” – innovative
resource centers for environmental
conservation;
* Recycle-A-Bicycle (One-year grant:
$25,000): To create a plan for developing
a community and bike center in Western
Queens;
* Solar One (Two-year grant: $110,000); To
implement Green Design Labs in eight public
schools;
* Sunnyside Community Services (One-year
grant: $125,000): To provide green-jobs
training to youth through an urban forestry
summer internship program, in collaboration
with Trees New York;
* Western Queens Compost Initiative (Oneyear
grant: $65,000, including a $50,000
challenge grant): To develop an initiative
that will bring community-based, sustainable
waste reduction programs to Western
Queens.
“Our goal is a coordinated and sustainable
initiative that makes the entire area more
vibrant, healthier and energy efficient. What we
don’t want is a patchwork of programs that affect
only isolated areas,” said Hogan. North Star
will make additional grants in each of the next
two years.
“At Sunnyside Community Services we are
thrilled to be a part of this initiative,” said Executive
Director, Judy Zangwill. “Green jobs are fast
becoming a vital part of the city’s economy and it
is a career track many young people never even
consider. We’ll be joining forces with Trees New
York, a leader in urban forestry, to provide an internship
program which will give young people
the tools they need to enter a rapidly growing
industry and to become effective stewards of our
environment. This collaborative effort is a natural
extension of SCS’s commitment to meeting community
needs and connecting our participants to
new opportunities.”
Prevention Programs Save Money
Says Comptroller
venture forwArd
with Youth, i.n.c.
Second AnnuAl conference for Youth-Serving nonprofitS
tuesday, May 3, 2011 I 8:30 AM – 5:00 pM
Hosted by Credit Suisse I 11 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
Sessions include
Building Organizational Stability through Relationships
Innovative and Sustainable Approaches to Making Change
Keynote address with Nancy M. Barry, Founder and President
of Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
Bridging the Sectors Networking Luncheon with
corporate professionals
register online at www.youthinc-usa.org/2011conference.php
Early bird tickets start at $50
www.youthinc-usa.org
Programs focusing on at-risk children have
proven effective at reducing the rates of juvenile
violence and incarceration, according to a report
released by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“Instead of waiting until a child becomes a
delinquent, New Yorkers will be best served by
addressing problems at the start,” DiNapoli said.
“Keeping just one child out of the juvenile justice
system saves our state $210,000 a year and even
greater costs to victims and communities. Investing
in children early is not only the right thing to
do, but it also protects taxpayer dollars.”
DiNapoli’s report weighs the personal and
economic benefits of early intervention programs
and compares them with current initiatives that
focus on children only after they’ve entered the
correctional system. The study noted it costs an
estimated $210,000 per person, or a total of $350
million annually, for incarceration. Juvenile
delinquents often become repeat offenders and
child abuse and neglect increase future criminal
behavior by 29 percent.
These enormous costs could potentially be
prevented by intervening early. Strategies found
to be most effective at mitigating risk factors include
pre-kindergarten programs, drug and alcohol
treatment programs for pregnant women, and
programs to assist mentally ill parents.
“Waiting for criminal activity to occur and
responding accordingly is an expensive strategy
that New Yorkers cannot afford,” said William
Kilfoil, Port Washington Chief of Police
and Immediate Past President of the New York
State Association of Chiefs of Police. “It simply
does not work. As Police Chiefs, we all know that
prevention is cost effective and is proven to save
taxpayer dollars. With today’s tight budgets, we
cannot overlook this fact.”
The report encourages better coordination
among state agencies and adopting an evidencebased
approach to investing in at-risk children
in their early years. It also advises that funding
decisions be based on program effectiveness so
the limited funds available in today’s economic
climate could provide the most benefit for at-risk
youth and state taxpayers.
To view the report go to http://www.osc.
state.ny.us/press/releases/feb11/Invest_In_Kids.
pdf.

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 7
NEWS
Habitat NYC Breaks Ground
on St. John’s Residences
Goodwill Gets $426K Walmart Grant
for “Beyond Jobs”
Habitat for Humanity - New York City broke
ground on its newest 12-unit affordable housing
condominium Project, located in Ocean Hill-
Brownsville, Brooklyn on February 15th. Located
at 1812 St. John’s Place, these affordable condos
are targeted to low-income working New York
City families earning between 50% to 80% of the
city’s Area Median Income. They will be built to
LEED and ENERGY STAR green standards, for
healthy, energy-efficient homes.
Habitat was joined at the event by future
residents, funders and representatives from the
community, elected officials, and the City’s Department
of Housing Preservation and Development
(HPD), broke ground today on its newest
12-unit affordable condominium project, located
in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The St. John’s Residences Condominium
include the first of more than 100 Habitat-NYC
homes to be built in Central Brooklyn, funded
in part through the federal Department of Housing
and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization
Program Round 2. The Project also
receives support from the Brooklyn Borough
President’s Office and private funders. Amalgamated
Bank is providing the construction loan
and the State of New York Mortgage Agency is
offering low-interest mortgages. Tradeweb, an
institutional marketplace for government bond
and mortgage trading, will be among the corporate
supporters of this project.
HPD sold the vacant land to Habitat-NYC
for $12,000. St. John’s Residences is being developed
under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s
New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP), an
$8.4 billion initiative to finance 165,000 units of
affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers
by 2014. To date, the plan has funded the
creation or preservation of more than 111,000
units of affordable housing across the five boroughs.
To date, Habitat-NYC has built 50 affordable
homes in nearby Bedford-Stuyvesant and
41 homes in Ocean Hill-Brownsville. Construction
on the St. John’s project is expected to be
completed in 2012.
“We have received thousands of requests
for homeownership opportunities from hardworking
low-income families in Ocean Hill-
Brownsville,” said Josh Lockwood, Executive
Director of Habitat-NYC. “So, we are thrilled
to be able to offer 12 new homeownership opportunities
to 12 remarkable families who will
build their new condos alongside hundreds of
big-hearted NYC volunteers.”
“Supporting affordable housing, particularly
in these challenging economic times, is high
on our list of priorities,” said Gardner Semet,
Executive Vice President and Head of Real Estate
Finance for Amalgamated Bank.
Other friends and supporters attending the
event were Marian Zucker, President of the Office
of Finance & Development at New York State
Homes and Community Renewal (HCR); Rafael
Cestero, Commissioner of HPD; Marilyn Gelber,
President of the Brooklyn Community Foundation;
Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President;
Lee Olesky, CEO of Tradeweb; Hazel A.
Younger, Chairperson of Community Board 16
in Brooklyn; Vincent James, Chief-of-Staff for
City Councilmember Darlene Mealy; and future
Habitat-NYC homeowner Juliet Smith.
Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and
Northern NJ has received a two-year $426,000
grant from the Walmart Foundation to empower
single mothers with all the tools they need to
find employment, succeed in the workplace and
support their families. Known as Beyond Jobs,
the program assists single mothers with job
training and placement, but also helps plan for
their continued success. Goodwill® works with
each woman to create an individualized, holistic
plan that outlines how she will gain and retain
a job, advance in her career, and ensure longterm
financial stability for her family. Beginning
March 1st, Beyond Jobs is expected to assist
more than 250 single mothers over the next
two years. Goodwill will match the grant with
$128,000 of funding.
“Finding a steady job is a top-of-mind issue
for every unemployed single mother, but
the struggle doesn’t end when she finds a job,”
said William J. Forrester, President and CEO of
Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and Northern
NJ. “Goodwill’s Beyond Jobs program
helps mothers and families by providing more
than a job, giving each woman the full set of
tools she needs to support her family today and
in the future.”
Twenty-six percent of all children now
grow up in families headed by single mothers,
many of whom face significant struggles in this
brutal economic climate. Single mothers are
twice as likely to be unemployed as married
women, and during the current economic crisis,
the unemployment rate for single mothers has
ballooned to 12.3 percent, the highest rate ever
recorded.
Each participant in the Beyond Jobs program
receives a complete career assessment, individualized
career planning, job skills training,
and assistance with job placement. Recognizing
that landing a job is only one step on the road
to success, Beyond Jobs also provides mothers
with continued financial education, family
strengthening services, early education and
child care assistance, and connections to healthy
food and nutrition initiatives.
“This grant to Goodwill Industries of
Greater NY and Northern NJ will support single
mothers in New York City by assuring they have
access to gaining the necessary skills for today’s
jobs,” said Margaret McKenna, President of the
Walmart Foundation. “We are pleased to support
this project because it gives single mothers
the opportunity to continue to play a vital role
in the workforce while providing for themselves
and their families.”
St. Cabrini Home to Close RTC
St. Cabrini Home in West Park, NY announced
that it would be closing its Residential
Treatment Center (RTC) program on February
28th. The program was originally founded
as an orphanage in 1890 by Mother Cabrini. It
currently houses approximately 21 girls. The
agency had faced a number of financial and programmatic
challenges in recent years as state
and local policies and practices relating to the
placement of youth in residential programs have
changed.
“After careful and thoughtful consideration,
and in consultation with the New York
State Office of Children and Family Services,
the Board of Trustees for the St. Cabrini Home
has decided to commence a prompt and orderly
discontinuation of the Residential Treatment
Care (RTC) Program,” the agency said in a formal
statement. “The Missionary Sisters of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus are saddened by the closure
of the RTC Program, but remain committed
and confident that the life and ministry of the St.
Cabrini Home will continue in a different form.”
The agency has announced that it is working
closely with local counties, New York’s Office
of Children and Family Services, and local
foster care agencies to place girls remaining in
the program into appropriate settings.
The agency will continue to operate its
group home programs and an OASAS-licensed
substance abuse treatment program.
“In the coming months St. Cabrini-West
Park will begin to renew its commitment to its
longstanding mission ‘to provide compassionate
service which respects the dignity and worth of
each individual’, and will convene an advisory
task force to seek to meet new community needs
in ways that align with the mission of the nonprofit
organization,” the agency said in an official
statement. Dr. Ilze Earner, consultant for
Mission Oriented Projects, is planning to meet
with religious, civic, business, and education
leaders throughout the mid-Hudson Valley. She
hopes to recruit participants for this exciting opportunity
to re-invent St. Cabrini-West Park, a
spectacular site with multiple resources, into
becoming a “good neighbor” in serving the surrounding
community.
St. Cabrini-West Park is sponsored by the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and has served the surrounding community for
120 years.

8 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
TRIPLE POINT THREAT OF VIEW
continued from page 1
Governor Cuomo Proposes $9 Billion in Cuts
is likely to contain significant cuts, particularly in
light of President Obama’s own budget proposal
for FY2011-12 which includes reductions in a
number of programs and a 50% cut to the Community
Services Block Grant which funds Community
Action Agencies.
This next deluge of federal funding reductions
– New York State would lose at least
$1.2billion in just some selected programs – is
likely to trigger an entire new round of budget
cuts at the State and local level.
In the meantime, advocates are attempting
to buck up their courage and put up a fight. The
Human Services Council of New York is coordinating
a new “Who Cares? I Do” campaign,
intended to inform the general public about the
critical importance of human services for all
New Yorkers. Individual sector specific coalitions
are mounting their own battles to fight specific
budget cuts.
Here are at least some details on the specifics
of proposed cuts in the federal, state and city
budgets.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo got the
budget season off to painful start on February
1st when he laid out his plans to eliminate
New York State’s $10 billion budget deficit for
FY2011-2012 which begins on April 1st. As
promised, he relied almost entirely on spending
cuts -- $8.9 billion in recurring spending actions,
or nearly 90 percent of the total plan. The
budget proposes gap-closing actions in almost
every area of state spending and includes yearto-year
reductions in the two largest drivers of
State expenditures, Medicaid and School Aid.
“New York is at a crossroads, and we must
seize this opportunity, make hard choices and
set our state on a new path toward prosperity,”
Governor Cuomo said. “We simply cannot afford
to keep spending at our current rate. Just
like New York’s families and businesses have
had to do, New York State must face economic
reality. This budget achieves real, year-to-year
savings while restructuring the way we manage
our state government. This is the first step toward
building a new New York.”
The Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management
Presents
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 2011,
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Many of the details of what certainly would
be devastating cuts to vital services remain unclear,
even after Cuomo’s presentation of his
Executive Budget on February 1st. In large
part, this is due to the Governor’s use of special
commissions to identify the specifics of billions
in “savings”, creation of new block grants
to mask cuts in specific services, and substantial
transfers of funding responsibility from the
State to localities and school districts.
Medicaid
In one of the largest and most complex
areas of the State budget, the Governor tasked
his Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) to identify
$2.85 billion in savings and submit their recommendations
to him by March 1st. (See: article
on page 11.)
“Including the commensurate loss of federal
matching funds, the Governor’s proposed
health care cuts amount to approximately $15
billion over two years,” said Daniel Sisto, President
of the Healthcare Association of New York
State (HANYS). “This is the largest cut to
health care services in New York State’s history.
Even within the context of our fiscal crisis, the
magnitude of these cuts is extreme. I am gravely
concerned about the expectation that the Governor’s
Medicaid Redesign Team can identify
alternative reforms to substitute for this level of
reduction. The Medicaid Team does not need
more health experts. It will require alchemists,
not policy wonks or providers, to transform cuts
of this magnitude into gold.”
Education
On the education front, the Governor is
proposing another cut of $2.85 billion, relative
to current financial plan projections for
FY2011-12 -- a year-to-year reduction of $1.5
billion compared to spending for FY 2010-11.
This represents a 7% reduction in state aid to
education. Local school districts, the Governor
argued, can make up for the cut through use of
$1.2 billion in existing reserves, $600 million
in left over federal funding and other management
efficiencies. Cuomo took aim at local district
administrations, noting that 40% of school
district superintendents receive salaries and
benefits of $200,000 or higher. He questioned
“why they get paid more than the governor of
the state”. “Let’s find savings within the bureaucracy,”
he said.
Direct Operations and
Consolidation of Services
The Governor’s budget proposes a variety
of ways to restructure state government and find
efficiencies and savings – many with implications
for the provision of human services.
The budget reduces General Fund State Operations
spending by 10 percent at State agencies.
Commissioners and agency heads will be
instructed to maximize savings in non-personal
services. The Governor also intends to achieve
workforce savings, including the negotiation
of a wage freeze. Contracts covering the vast
majority of State employees are up for renewal
at the outset of the 2011-12 State Fiscal Year.
“If workforce savings cannot be accomplished
jointly, as a last resort up to 9,800 layoffs would
be necessary,” said the Governor.
The Executive Budget proposes to merge
or consolidate 11 separate State entities into
four agencies to streamline and eliminate duplicative
bureaucracy, better align State responsibilities
with need and improve services
through superior coordination. Proposals include
merging the Department of Correctional
Services and the Division of Parole into the
new Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision; and consolidating the Office
for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the
Office of Victim Services and the State Commission
of Correction into the Division of
Criminal Justice Services.
The Governor is also proposing to reduce
excess capacity in prisons, youth detention and
mental hygiene facilities. To speed this process,
he is proposing to eliminate the statutory
12-month notification prior to closures.
Actions for youth and mental hygiene facilities
will be taken following analysis of vacancy
rates, service utilization, and other factors.
The budget calls for reducing the number
of juvenile justice facility beds operated by
Office of Children and Families (OCFS) by approximately
30 percent and replacing them with
community-based programs.
For prisons, actions to eliminate an estimated
3,500 prison beds will be implemented
pursuant to recommendations of a task force
created by Executive Order. Interestingly, the
task force will identify affected facilities – and
the communities in which they are located – after
the budget is scheduled to be approved. The
budget does allocate $100 million in economic
development aid for affected areas.
Funding Shifts and Reductions
in Aid
The governor also reduced levels of funding
for localities by 2% -- except for New
York City where the Mayor claims that there
was a 100% reduction -- and proposed a variety
of other funding shifts, many with significant
implications for individual program sectors.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg immediately
claimed that the Governor’s budget had cut $2
billion in funding for the City. Among the human
service program areas where the Governor
proposes to reduce or eliminate State share expenditures
(along with the state’s estimates of
the savings) are:
• Support for severely disabled students in residential
schools, i.e. CSE placements, eliminated
($69 million);

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 9
TRIPLE THREAT
• Support for mandated adoption subsidies to be
reduced from 73.5% to 62% ($34 million);
• Funding for NYC adult homeless shelters ($16
million);
• Funding for New York City’s Advantage rent
subsidy program eliminated ($35 million);
• Use of Title XX funding for senior centers
eliminated ($22 million).
In just one example of concerns over what
these funding shifts would mean for services,
the Council of Senior Centers and Services
(CSCS) criticized a proposed reallocation of the
use of federal Title XX funding to support child
welfare services. This would result in a significant
loss of funding for the provision of senior
services in New York City and other parts of the
state. The proposal was a replay of a similar
proposal last year which would have lead to a
loss of approximately $25 million and the closing
of 110 senior centers. “Last year, these were
identified as unintended consequences of this
proposal,” said Bobbie Sackman, Director of
Public Policy at CSCS. “This year, these are obviously
the intended consequences.”
Advocates and Providers
Respond
Advocates took issue with these and other
specific budgetary actions, laying out their concerns
in public statements or at a Joint Legislative
Budget Hearings before the Senate Finance
and Assembly Ways & Means committees on
February 16th.
“We are very concerned about the approximately
$400 million in cuts currently proposed
to critical human services and the unknown
impact of the $2.85 billion in Medicaid cuts to
be recommended on March 1st,” said Michael
Stoller, Executive Director of the Human Services
Council of New York. “We understand that
difficult choices must be made to close the significant
budget deficit - and as always – human
services will do our part. But we must preserve
the programs that are most desperately needed
as everyday New Yorker’s recover from the
worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”
“Citizens’ Committee for Children of New
York (CCC) is deeply concerned that Governor
Cuomo’s Executive Budget Proposals do not
protect the well-being of New York’s children
and in fact, place our most vulnerable children
at even greater risk,” said Jennifer March Joly,
Executive Director of CCC. “To help close a
$10 billion budget deficit, Governor Cuomo’s
budget shifts traditional state supports to struggling
counties and reduces spending on a widearray
of services and programs for children and
youth that have already been proven effective
at producing positive outcomes and preventing
more costly interventions.”
Advocates pointed out the wide ranging
impacts which the Governor’s proposed cuts
will have on services for vulnerable New Yorkers
generally – as well as on specific programs.
“We are very concerned about many of the
Governor’s budget proposals, which if enacted,
are sure to reduce the availability and quality of
services to young people, older adults, homeless
individuals, and families on public assistance,”
said Anthony Ng, Director of Policy and Advocacy
at United Neighborhood Houses. “These
proposals are terrible for New York State’s most
vulnerable populations.”
Services for Children
and Youth
Advocates cited several significant concerns
in the area of youth services, including
the elimination of Summer Youth Employment
Program (SYEP) funding and a $5.4 million cut
to Advantage After School.
“Employment opportunities such as those
offered by SYEP are critical for youth,” said
Fatima Goldman, Executive Director of the
Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. “We
are also greatly concerned that the Governor has
proposed reducing funding for the Advantage
After School Program (AASP) from $22.6 million
to $17.2 million.”
Significant opposition was expressed to
the Governor’s proposed creation of a single
Primary Prevention Incentive Program (PPIP)
block grant. “The proposed block grant eliminates
the Youth Development and Delinquency
Prevention program (YDDP), Special Delinquency
Prevention Program (SDPP), Runaway
and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) funding,
Settlement Houses funding, as well as five other
funding streams that are distributed to counties
or directly to provider/community-based agencies,”
said UNH’s Anthony Ng. “The Executive
budget proposes $34.5 million for PPIP (annualizing
to $42 million), which represents less than
50% of the $84 million in annual funding that
these nine funding streams currently total.”
“The idea of consolidating 10 programs
with somewhat similar goals into one funding
stream is worth considering,” said Susan
K. Hager, President and CEO of United Way
of New York State. “We cannot support, however,
cutting in half the $70 million in funding
that supported these highly effective programs
which work at the community level.”
“CCC strongly objects to the creation
of the Primary Prevention Incentive Program
(PPIP),” said Gendell. “While the Governor’s
Executive Budget documents describe this as a
program to prevent foster care and juvenile justice
placements, CCC believes that this program
will actually result in an increase in the use of
these more costly interventions.”
“While called an incentive program, in reality
the PPIP represents the state walking away
from its child welfare primary prevention agenda,”
said Jim Purcell, CEO of the Council of
Family and Child Caring Agencies. “The PPIP
would combine many important, less expensive
and less formal services for vulnerable children
and families, like home visiting, community optional
preventive services (COPS), delinquency
prevention, runaway and homeless youth, and
settlement houses, and cut the funding by 50%.”
Purcell also expressed opposition to the
elimination of the entire state share for residential
placements made by school districts’
Committees on Special Education, or CSE
placements. The proposal would shift the full
state share to school districts; their share would
increase from 20% currently, to 56.8%. Neither
the State, nor any other level of government
“should ever wash their hands of all responsibility
for a child with such significant needs and
disabilities that he requires 24-hour care outside
of his or her home,” he said.
Public Assistance
Several groups expressed opposition to the
Governor’s proposals to defer a promised 10%
increase in the public assistance grant and to
implement “full family sanctions”.
“The amount saved does nothing for the
State’s fiscal crisis yet puts the poorest New
Yorkers even further behind the curve in making
ends meet in today’s climate,” said Denise Harlow,
Executive Director of the NYS Community
Action Association. “We need to continue to
work to close the ‘inflation gap’ which reduced
the real value of the basic grant by more than
50% over two decades of neglect.”
“After waiting 19 years for a raise in the
basic grant, welfare recipients are being asked
to wait again,” said Mark A. Dunlea, Executive
Director of Hunger Action Network of New
York State.
“FPWA finds the full family sanctions
proposal to be misguided, punitive and harmful
– and it will not lead to the desired goal of
increased compliance,” said Executive Director
Fatima Goldman. The proposal would withhold
an entire family’s public assistance benefit in the
second and any subsequent instances in which the
head of household does not comply with employment
requirements. “Full family sanctions create
an immediate family crisis and put the welfare
and safety of children and the basic stability of
families at risk,” said Goldman.
TANF Funded Initiatives
The Governor’s complete elimination
of a long list of programs previously funded
through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) surplus funds was also a point of
major concern.
“FPWA urges you to restore funding for all
of the TANF programs currently slated for complete
elimination,” said Bich Ha Pham, Director
of Policy, Advocacy and Research at FPWA. In
the areas of workforce development, for example,
she cited several programs “which are so
important to help people build skills and earn
credentials needed to obtain living wage employment
and make subsequent earning gains”:
• ACCESS Welfare to Careers ($250 million)
• BRIDGE ($1 million)
• Career Pathways ($5 million)
• Transitional Jobs ($5 million)
• Wheels for Work ($409,000)
Ted Houghton, Executive Director of the
Supportive Housing Network of New York,
spoke in favor of Supportive Housing for Families
and Youth (SHFYA), another critical TANF
funded program eliminated in the Governor’s
proposal. “SHFYA is the only statewide supportive
housing service funded for formerly
homeless families and at-risk youth,” said
Houghton. “SHFYA pays for counseling, job
placement and service linkages for over 2,058
households, including an estimated 3,100 children
and over 500 at-risk youth.” He argues that
if the program were to end, “a large number of
families and youth will return to homelessness;
the savings from eliminating SHFYA will be
negated by increased use of more costly emergency
services; and New York State will lose
Federal matching funds.”
Where’s the Revenue?
A number of advocacy groups criticized the
Governor’s decision to seek only spending cuts,
rather than additional revenues, as a way to address
the state’s fiscal crisis.
continued on next page

10 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
TRIPLE THREAT
continued from previous page
“We can say goodbye to what’s left of New
York’s middle class if this devastating budget proposal
is made law,” said Karen Scharff, Executive
Director of Citizen Action of New York. “This
budget represents the rich, real estate interests,
and bankers giving themselves a tax cut by looting
New York’s working families, school children,
sick and elderly. Quality education and good jobs
could fuel the economic engine New York needs
to recover from this financial crisis. But, cutting
billions from the state budget will leave our state’s
economic engine dry. A budget that increases
unemployment, raids school funding, and shuts
down hospitals is not what New York needs. Our
leaders in state government need to stop looking
out for their big money corporate campaign
contributors and start listening to the people who
elected them.”
“Instead of further cutting education, the
Governor should continue the tax on high-earners,
which would provide more than $5 billion in critical
revenues,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive
Director of Class Size Matters. “Wall Street bankers
can afford to pay a little more to help our kids
receive a better chance to learn, especially as their
mistakes caused the economy to collapse in the
first place.”
The listing of concerns raised by advocates
over the Governor’s budget proposals goes on and
on. NYNP will continue to cover these issues over
the coming days and weeks in our daily NYNP E-
Newsletters.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out his preliminary
budget for New York City’s FY2011-
12 on February 17th, a little more than two
weeks after Governor Cuomo’s State budget
presentation. The delay gave the Mayor a lot
to talk about – namely $2.1 billion in funding
which he claimed the City had just lost due
to Cuomo’s budget cuts. The net result, said
Bloomberg, was a loss of 6,000 teachers at the
Board of Education and a lingering $600 million
budget gap he still hoped the state would
help him fill. Otherwise, there would be more
City cuts coming. For human service providers,
however, the Mayor’s budget already appears to
be passing through approximately $370 million
in cuts – much of it precipitated by reductions in
State and Federal funding.
Preliminary reactions focused on newly announced
cuts to child care and senior centers. In
both cases – the loss of 16,624 child care slots
and the potential closure of 110 senior centers
serving between 8,000 and 10,000 seniors – the
cuts represent staggering reductions of one-third
or more in the City’s commitment to services.
The Mayor’s budget documents stated that
the child care cuts were “due to federal funds
not keeping pace with increased costs of care”.
It is estimated that this represents a loss of $91
million in funding for child care.
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“Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to cut subsidies
for 16,624 children in the coming year is a devastating
blow to the city’s children and working
families, the biggest single cut to child care services
since the 1970’s,” said six separate advocacy
groups in a joint statement. “It represents
a dramatic reversal of the Mayor’s promise to
expand early learning opportunities for the city’s
children and a retreat from his public statements
in support of the city’s working families.”
“Cutting 16,624 additional subsidies – on
top of the 14,000 already lost since 2006– creates
a serious hurdle in preparing all the city’s
children for school,” the statement continued.
“Tens of thousands of young children who
need to be prepared for school will enter kindergarten
behind, and stay behind. Thousands
of families will be left scrambling for a safe
place for their children while they are at work.”
The statement was issued jointly by Brooklyn
Kindergarten Society, Center for Children’s
Initiatives, Children’s Defense Fund – NY, Citizens
Committee for Children, Day Care Council
of New York, Head Start Sponsoring Board
Council, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies,
and United Neighborhood Houses.
The Mayor appeared to downplay what advocates
saw as stunning cuts to critical human
services. There was little or no mention of the impact
of either cut during the budget presentation.
“So far, we’ve managed without unduly harming
essential services,” he said during his weekly radio
broadcast following the announcement. Like
Governor Cuomo, the Mayor took pride in the fact
that his budget included no new taxes.
When pressed on the cuts, Mayor Bloomberg
took the position that these weren’t City
programs at all. “Senior Centers are a federal
program,” he said in response to a question during
the budget briefing.
Providers took issue with the Mayor’s efforts
to divert responsibility for the budget cuts by
claiming that these were non-mandated services
and initiatives of the state or federal governments.
Advocates noted that the City had a long history
and commitment to funding these very services for
seniors and low-income families.
“The Preliminary Budget turns its back
on the promises that we as a city have made to
working families,” said Nancy Wackstein, Executive
Director of United Neighborhood Houses.
“This is the largest cut to early childhood
services in decades. It dismantles much of the
city’s support for working families and leaves
behind a child care system that could force hard
working parents out of their jobs and onto public
assistance rolls in order to meet their children’s
basic need for early education and care.”
“This proposal contradicts the Mayor’s previous
statements of support for working New
Yorkers and demonstrates his lack of commitment
to early learning opportunities for children,”
said Annabel Palma, Chair of the City Council’s
General Welfare Committee. “These cuts come
in addition to the approximately 14,000 child
care slots that have already been lost since 2006
and mark the single largest cut to child care services
since the 1970s. If the Mayor’s proposal
becomes a reality, thousands of working families
Mayor Bloomberg’s preliminary budget would eliminate
approximately one-third of child care subsidies for
low-income families and close one-third of City-funded
senior centers.
will be left scrambling for child care and tens of
thousands of children will enter school ill-prepared
and behind their peers.”
Advocates also cited the City’s long history
of commitment to senior services. “Now,
seniors are looking to see whether the Governor
and the Mayor will maintain services and keep
the centers on which they rely open,” said Bobby
Sackman, Director of Public Policy for the
Council of Senior Centers and Services (CSCS).
“Nobody was elected to allow 110 senior centers
to close.”
“While we understand that the City is expected
to lose a substantial amount of funding
from the State because of the deep cuts proposed
by Governor Cuomo, this reality is of little
importance to those who rely on these critical
services,” said Allison Sesso, Deputy Executive
Director at the Human Services Council of New
York. “The commitments made to our communities
must be maintained. If the State fails to
keep its obligations, New York City must find a
way to fill those gaps and meet the need.”
Providers are still working to clarify the
impacts of other new cuts to human service
programs, including the reported loss of $192
million for the Advantage rent subsidy program.
While initial reaction focused on these
new cuts, the Mayor’s preliminary budget for
FY2011 continues to include a large number of
previously announced Programs to Eliminate
the Gap (PEGs), some of which were restored
on a current year only basis by the City Council.
“Services to seniors continue to get pummeled
with $38 million in cuts to the Department
for the Aging budget,” explained Bobbie
Sackman. “Senior centers will lose meals, transportation,
and core funding to keep the center
open. About 8,000 frail homebound elders will
lose 110 case workers - social workers who
come to their homes to help them remain home
safely. Elder abuse funds will be eliminated. We
are concerned the Mayor might ask for more
cuts. This is all in addition to the $27 million
Title XX cut Governor Cuomo has proposed
which would close 110 senior centers. With a $2
billion increase in tax revenue, there is a light
at the end of the tunnel for the city, but it is still
dark for older New Yorkers.”
And, things could get even darker if the
Mayor’s request to close a remaining $600 million
budget gap with help from the State goes
unanswered.

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 11
TRIPLE THREAT
Medicaid Redesign Team Looks to Save $2.85 Billion
Carve-In or Carve-Out?
Could they do it? Was Governor Andrew
Cuomo’s 27-member Medicaid Redesign Team
(MRT) able to identify and vote on recommendations
for $2.85 billion in savings for the upcoming
FY2011-12 fiscal year? Their deadline
was March 1st. By the time you read this, you’ll
know the answer!
You’ll also know how the MRT voted with
respect to “Carve In/Carve Out” issue – perhaps
the critical question for many human service provider
agencies.
Formed shortly after Governor Cuomo took
office, the MRT’s members clearly have a Herculean
task laid out before them. “All of us on
the team are humbled by and fearful of what this
means,” said Elizabeth Swain, CEO of the Community
Health Care Association of New York
State, following the group’s February 9th public
meeting. “There is no happy ending when your
job is to recommend cuts of the magnitude that
we are talking about.”
“It’s like trying to repair a plane while it’s flying…
and on the way down,” said Ed Matthews,
President of United Cerebral Palsy of NYC.
“It is an extraordinary opportunity,” said
Lara Kassel, Coordinator of Medicaid Matters
New York. “At the same time, I recognize that
it is a huge responsibility, particularly being the
lone representative for consumer interests.”
As we went to press, the MRT was evaluating
an initial package of 49 “key proposals” from
the Department of Health (DOH) for possible inclusion
in their package of recommendations to
the Governor. They were the first of some 274
separate suggestions – drawn from a list of over
2,000 submittedto the group. The Team was being
asked to evaluate proposals based on four
criteria -- Cost, Quality, Efficiency and Overall
Impact – using a web-based assessment tool developed
by DOH. The MRT was to discuss these
49 proposals as well as others at its next scheduled
meeting on February 24th. An up-or-down
vote on a full package of recommendations was
scheduled for March 1st.
Perhaps most important among the proposals
up for consideration – at least for behavioral
health providers -- was how the state should approach
care coordination for New Yorkers with
serious, ongoing psychiatric disabilities and
substance use disorders. One of several major
themes underlying the MRT’s work is the effort
to “ensure that every Medicaid member is enrolled
in Managed Care”.
Advocacy and provider groups are concerned
that individuals with a range of disabilities
– mental illness, addictive disease, developmental
disabilities, etc. – might be required to
join generic Medicaid managed care plans currently
serving the broader population. People
with these disabilities are currently “carved out”
of managed care and receive their services on a
fee-for-service basis.
Instead, the groups are proposing that the
state serve these individuals through implementation
of a regional behavioral care coordination
model that relies on specialty managed behavioral
health organizations (MBHOs). They point to
a number of examples of similar service models
which have allowed States to both improve quality
of care while significantly reducing costs. For
example, they argue that Pennsylvania’s Behavioral
Health Choices Program generated $4 billion
in savings over a 10 year period from 1997
to 2007.
On February 14th, more than 40 statewide
and regional advocacy groups gathered in Albany
to urge state leaders to back the specialized, regional
behavioral health organization approach.
“Our proposal builds on proven, nationally
recognized best practices that rely on the use of
specialty managed care organizations called behavioral
healthcare organizations (BHOs) to take
over for the state the management of New York’s
community recovery safety net,” said Harvey
Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York
Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
“Our coalition strongly supports a specialty
behavioral health ‘carve-out’ plan, which
has demonstrated success in improving care
and responsibly reducing costs, while capably
integrating mental health and substance use services,”
said Phillip A. Saperia, CEO of the Coalition
of Behavior Health Agencies. “In various
models around the country, specialty managed
care behavioral health organizations have coordinated
primary and behavioral health care
and lowered the need for more costly inpatient,
emergency, homeless, and criminal justice services.”
At the same time, the groups strongly condemned
efforts by health plans that currently
manage health care for Medicaid beneficiaries
to move into taking on the care of some of New
York’s most vulnerable citizens.
“New York must not turnover the management
of mental health and substance use benefits
for New Yorkers with disabling conditions
to health plans that have little to no experience
coordinating their care or engaging them with
support,” said Lauri Cole, Executive Director
of the NYS Council for Community Behavioral
Healthcare. “The potential consequences associated
with a carve in of these benefits is likely to
include fragmented care, clients who get lost in
a complicated paperwork and prior authorization
shuffle and possibly, loss of life and front page
headlines,” she said.
Toni Lasicki, Executive Director of the Association
for Community Living, echoed these
concerns. “Experience has shown that people
with serious and persistent psychiatric disabilities
need to work with people they know and
trust, people who visit them often, people who
follow up, who take them to appointments, and
who help them manage crises and avoid costly
relapses.”
Standing with the mental health advocates
at the news conference was John Coppola, Executive
Director of the New York Association
of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers.
“People with substance use disorders are working
successfully with treatment, prevention and
recovery programs that are already helping NYS
to reduce its deficit,” he said. “We are very worried
that care will be interrupted and people will
relapse if managed care companies are not required
to include all OASAS licensed programs
on their service provider panels.”
As the MRT began evaluating its first set
of proposals, both alternatives were on the table.
Proposal #91 called for a “Carve-In” approach in
which individuals with behavioral health disabilities
would join generic Medicaid Managed Care
plans. Proposal #93 was for the implementation
of Regional Behavioral health Organizations, as
proposed by the coalition.
In addition, several other proposals under
consideration by the MRT would affect Article
31 community behavioral health clinics.
One proposal (#19) would eliminate the indigent
care pool for Diagnostic and Treatment
Centers (D&TCs) for an estimated savings of
$54 million. The proposal notes that “Elimination
of Indigent Care may cause eligible
D&TCs to reduce services to the uninsured or
to be closed thereby forcing patients to higher
cost venues such as hospital emergency rooms
for their care. Currently a Budget Proposal is
contained in the extension of the 1115 Managed
care waiver to request federal participation
in funding this pool. This along with the state
dollars would have increased funds available
to approximately $110 million annually. The
additional funding would go to support uncompensated
care for freestanding article 31 clinics
to replace funds currently provided as deficit
financing Comprehensive Outpatient Program
Services (COPS) as well as provide additional
coverage to Article 28 D&TCs for uncompensated
care.”
Another proposal (#26) would establish
“two threshold levels based on the number of
clinic visits a given patient receives during a 12
months period. The mental hygiene agencies are
the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Alcoholism
and Substance Abuse Services, and the
Office for People With Development Disabilities.
Mental hygiene clinic claims that exceed the lower
threshold would be paid at a 25% discount.”
The proposal cites the following proposed threshold
values for visits in a 12-month period:
• OASAS 65/85
• OMH 30/50
• OPWDD 90/120
Other proposals would significantly reduce
personal care (#2 and #7); require prior
authorization for anti-depressants, atypical snitpsychotics,
anti-retrovirals and immunosupressants
(#32) and limit prescription drug benefits
in other ways (#35, #57, etc.).
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12 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
WHO CARES? I DO
“Who Cares? You Do!”
Human Services Council Launches New Advocacy Campaign
It’s not about us! It’s
not about the agencies or
the staff! It’s about the
people who need government-funded,
nonprofitprovided
services – as
well as their families, their
friends, their neighbors…
all New Yorkers who actually
rely on human services…
even if they don’t
realize it. And, if we don’t
fight for them --and help
them fight for themselves
-- who will?
That, in a nutshell,
is the message of the new
“Who Cares? I Do!” advocacy
campaign launched
last month by the Human Services Council of
New York.
“People across New York State don’t always
understand what we mean when we talk
about human services and how important they
are,” says Michael Stoller, HSC’s Executive Director.
“We want people to make the connection
to their own lives. We want them to realize that
human services means the senior center where
their mother goes every day and the afterschool
programs their children attend. It’s the child care
they rely on, the residence where a relative with
developmental disabilities lives, the employment
program that is helping a neighbor find work.
It’s substance abuse prevention and treatment
or a community mental health program where
someone they know and love is getting the assistance
they need.”
Right now, all of these services are under
serious threat from cutbacks in government
spending. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive
Budget proposal calls for $9 billion in spending
reductions and service cuts with significant impacts
on human services. Mayor Michael Bloomberg
has just announced more than $370 million
in cuts to human services as part of his preliminary
budget submission for the coming year.
“Who Cares? I Do!” is intended to mobilize
opposition to these cuts by strengthening support
for the human service sector as a whole.
During the coming month, “Who Cares? I
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Do!” will focus attention on the critical budget
decisions being made in Albany – and
highlight the impact which loss of these services
will have for all New Yorkers, including
our most vulnerable citizens.
On February 14th, HSC launched the
www.whocares-ido.org website which has
information about the overall campaign,
stories of how human services have changed
the lives of individual New Yorkers, and
details on proposed budget cuts and what
they would mean for people who rely on
those services. There’s a regular campaign
blog, links to a Facebook page where supporters
can post their own stories about the
importance of human services, and a steady
Twitter feed (@WhoCares_IDo). And, of
course, there is a sign-on petition for individuals
and organizations to express their
support for human services.
To ensure a sense of urgency, there is a
digital clock counting down the days, hours,
minutes and seconds to the April 1st start of
New York’s new fiscal year.
“We will be leveraging social media
as we never have previously,” said Allison
Sesso, Deputy Executive Director at HSC.
“We’ll be asking supporters to spread the
word by posting their own stories, tweeting
and re-tweeting campaign news. We’ll be
holding a series of ‘virtual rallies’ in which
people on-line all send out campaign messages
to their networks at the
same time.”
In line with the campaign’s
graphic theme – individual’s
holding up hand-written
signs supporting various
human services – supporters
will be invited to craft their
own hand-written message,
take a picture and post it online.
HSC will also be counting
on its own membership
-- 200 individual human service
agencies and virtually
all of the leading New York
City-based sector-specific
coalitions, e.g. UNH, FPWA,
UJA-Federation, Catholic
Charities, COFCCA, CSCS,
SHNNY, Coalition of Behavioral
Health Agencies,
etc., to pick up the fight.
“We are asking our members
to spread the word among
their staff and clients,” says
Sesso. “They will be reaching
out to elected officials
and meeting with them in
their district offices. They
will be bringing local residents
who their programs
have served so that these
clients can tell their stories
directly.”
“Safe Space is proud
to be working with the campaign
to tell the stories of the
families and children that,
The “Who Cares? I Do!” campaign will feature stories of New Yorkers
whose lives have been changed by human services. Met Council client
Agneta Welber (above at left) has received assistance from the Metropolitan
Council on Jewish Poverty in caring for her older sister Esther who suffers
from Parkinson’s disease and a degenerative neurological disorder, is
wheelchair bound and requires constant attention. Rafael Figueroa (top)
was a client of Barrier Free Living’s (BFL) Transitional Housing program,
where he successfully transitioned from being homeless to living in his
own apartment.
thanks to our services, have been able to stop the
cycle of family violence and neglect, return to school,
and find work,” says Christine Molnar, Executive
Director at Safe Space. “Through our clients’ testimonials,
we hope to demonstrate to legislators and
the public how cost effective and critical to the city’s
economy our services are.”
“This is very important in this unusually challenging
year,” says Jane Velez, President and CEO
of Palladia, Inc. “We will be providing stories of our
work with clients. And, we plan to have people go
up to Albany to meet with legislators. We want to
get the word out.”
Several statewide coalitions and upstate advocacy
groups are also supporting the “Who Cares? I
Do!” effort, including the New York State Community
Action Association (NYSCAA), Schuyler Center
for Analysis and Advocacy, New York Children’s
Action Network and the Empire Justice Center.
“This is a great campaign that in one place can
rally the troops, share information, and keep us focused
on the message that human services matter,”
said Denise Harlow, Executive Director of the New
York State Community Action Association. “I followed
Michael Stoller at the Human
Services hearing and echoed
his call to the Legislature to sign
on as well. We have a prominent
link on our homepage that goes to
the campaign and will be promoting
it via our twitter @NYSCAA
feed. NYSCAA hopes to provide
the upstate and Long Island stories
on the impact of the cuts to human
services.”
In addition to sharing the
importance of human services for
clients, the campaign will also
stress that services are a large and
important part of the State’s economy.
“Cutting services for these
programs is precisely the wrong
thing to do during these still perilous
times,” says Stoller. “Compounding
high unemployment and
so much financial uncertainty with
cuts to vital services that are a lifeline
to thousands of people will be
devastating.”
“We are a major employer
in Southeast Queens, with close
to 300 employees - the majority
of whom live and work in the
community,” said Safe Space’s
Christine Molnar. “We need our
local officials to appreciate the severe
impact of the cuts will have
on their community’s economic
health as well.”
Human services are the smart
policy choice for a variety of reasons,
says Molnar. “Our sector is
about investing in the future of
our country: daycare, early intervention,
afterschool programs. If
excessive public debt burdens future
generations, human service
programs do just the opposite,
they give people an advantage. I
see this regularly at Safe Space.
Vulnerable teens and their families
turn to us when they have nowhere
else to go for help.”
For more information, visit
www.whocares-ido.org.

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 13
TRIPLE THREAT
House Votes to Slash Human Services…
and Nearly Everything Else
In the early morning hours of Saturday,
February 19th, the Republican-led House of
Representatives fired the opening salvo of what
is likely to be an existential struggle in this nation
over the role of government in general…
and the future of human services in particular.
HR1, the very first bill introduced in the new
Congress, would slash current year, non-discretionary
domestic spending by $61 billion – or
approximately 13.8% on average. Since the
federal fiscal year, which ends on September
30th, is almost half over, the bill would actually
require an average spending reduction of 24%
for the remaining seven months of the year.
While “average” cuts of this magnitude
certainly would be devastating in their own
right, the bill actually targets deeper cuts for
many programs and is fatal – effectively eliminating
all funding -- for those which the Republican
leadership holds in greatest disdain, e.g.,
the Corporation for National and Community
Service and AmeriCorps, Youth Build, Re-Intergration
of Ex-Offenders, Mentoring Children
of Prisoners, Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Community Grants, Even Start Family Literacy,
Teach for America, State Grants for Incarcerated
Youth, etc.
The Democratic leadership in the Senate
has already rejected the House proposals as far
too extreme. However, some type of compromise
– and one which is likely to contain at least
some very painful cuts to human service programs
– will be necessary to avoid a complete
shutdown of the federal government. As we
went to press, the current Continuing Resolution
which authorizes federal spending was set
to expire on March 4th. Some observers believed
that a short-term compromise, providing
limited funding for a little longer in the fiscal
year, would be passed now – setting the stage
for an even greater confrontation later in the
year when Congress also will be asked to raise
the debt ceiling. (By the time you read this,
you may know how round one of this heavyweight
fight played out.)
HR1 includes major cuts to programs
which represent the foundation for human
service system in this country. The bill
would reduce funding for Head Start by $1.1
billion, or 15%, eliminating opportunities
for 157,000 children. It cuts employment
and training services by $2 billion, or 52%,
including a $1.4 billion cut to Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) grants for Adult and
Youth Training Services and the Dislocated
Worker Program. The bill cuts the Community
Mental Health Services Block Grant
and Substance Abuse Treatment Block Grant
by 6.3%, cuts the Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) nutrition supplement program
by $752 million, slashes the Public Housing
Capital Fund by 43%, and eliminates
the Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) for the rest of the year
while completely eliminating all funding for
the Weatherization Assistance Program.
So, what would HR1 mean to New
York State… and its network of human service
providers? According to preliminary
estimates by the Center for Budget and
Policy Priorities (CBPP) and other sources,
the House Bill would cut Federal funding
for the State and New Yorkers directly by
at least $1.2 billion between now and September
30th – and that’s just on a handful
of readily identifiable programs. The total
impact of the HR1 would likely be much,
much worse.
Where would these cuts to New Yorkers
fall?
• $123 million from K-12 Education, including
Title I grants and Even Start
($60.8 million), Special Education
($36.5 million), and School Improvement
and 21st Century Learning Centers
($25.8 million);
• $406 million from Pell Grants for higher
education assistance currently received by
586,000 students in New York State;
• $236 million in Community Development
Block Grants;
• $200 million in low income housing programs;
• $150 million from the Corporation for National
and Community Service, with over
5,000 AmeriCorps members in New York
State, plus a host of other programs including
Foster Grandparent Program, Retired
Senior Volunteer Program, and Learn and
Serve America with over 70,000 total participants.
• $79 million from Workforce investment
Act Programs serving 185,000 program
participants;
The list goes on and on. And, these are
only some of the readily identifiable state-bystate
impacts of HR1’s proposed cuts.
“This would pretty much eliminate Community
Service Block Grant funding for the
remainder of the year,” says Denise Harlow,
Executive Director of the New York State
Community Action Association. It is this $60
million in CSBG funding which allows Community
Action Agencies (CAAs) to operate a
wide range of locally-based anti-poverty and
human service programs. “Our network uses
this CSBG funding to create an infrastructure
and provide matching funds that leverage $878
million in services.”
Advocates are hopeful that the Senate will
take a firm stand against the House proposals.
“Our goal is to reduce the severity of these cuts
and spare the lowest income people,” said Debbie
Weinstein, Executive Director of the Washington,
DC-based Coalition on Human Needs
(CHN).
Speaker of the House John Boehner
At the same time, however they are concerned
that the current political environment will drive a
hard bargain – at the expense of the country’s most
vulnerable citizens. “I don’t see how cuts can be
avoided,” said Feinstein. “Judging by what we are
seeing now, I do not believe it is possible to emerge
from this with the lowest income people being unhurt.”
Particularly demoralizing for some advocates
is the position taken by President Obama, both in
terms of his own budget proposals for FY2011-12
which includes a five-year freeze on domestic discretionary
spending, and his proposal, first voiced
during the State of the Union speech, to cut CSBG
spending by 50%.”
“With the President out there with his own
proposals for cuts to low income programs, it is
much harder for sensible members of congress to
mobilize a successful fight against these extreme
positions,” says Weinstein.
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14 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
AGENCY OF THE MONTH
Life’s WORC
Living with Dignity, Growing with Pride
Life’s WORC, established in 1971, traces
its roots directly back to Willowbrook. Founder
Vicki Schneps’ daughter Lara lived there. And,
both Schneps and the agency itself have had a
long and close relationship with Geraldo Rivera,
whose investigative reports brought the plight of
Willowbrook residents to the public eye. The
first Life’s WORC home, whose residents all
came from Willowbrook, is named for Rivera and
was created with funding from the famous Willowbrook
concert held by John Lennon.
This year, as the agency celebrates its 40th
anniversary, Life’s WORC provides residential
care for over 200 individuals with developmental
disabilities who live in 36 separate homes
throughout Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Like
other community-based agencies created in the
wake of de-institutionalization, Life’s WORC
has evolved far beyond just residential programs.
The agency also serves more than 1,000
individuals – both its own residents and others
living at home with their families -- through a
series of programs including Medicaid service
coordination, day habilitation, recreation, employment
services and more.
With a budget of over $40 million and more
than 800 employees, Life’s WORC also faces
complex operational and management challenges
– particularly at a time when government is
cutting back on its funding to support services.
However, Peter Smergut, who has served as Executive
Director for the past 16 years, believes
that the agency’s strong culture of high quality
care – maintained through an elaborate system
of “Value Surveys”, employee and supervisor
evaluations, and performance-based compensation
-- will enable Life’s WORC to ride out
these difficult times. (See box on page 15.)
Residential Care
Over the past 40 years, Life’s WORC has
steadily expanded the number of residential opportunities
it offers to individuals with disabilities.
After opening the Geraldo Rivera Home in
Little Neck in 1977, the agency grew to a full
dozen residential programs by the mid-1990s.
With implementation of the State’s New York
State Cares program, the pace of expansion
picked up rapidly, tripling Life WORC’s residential
capacity to a total of 36 homes over the
next 15 years.
The agency’s residential programs serve
people with a wide range of developmental
disabilities. It continues to be home for over
33 people who were once residents of Willowbrook.
Newer residential opportunities generally
accommodate individuals whose families are
no longer able to care for them at home. The
Westbury Home, which houses four young men
and two young women, opened in 2008. Five
of the residents, who previously lived at home
with their families, had effectively grown-up
together while attending the same day school
and programs. “They are lifelong friends,” says
Program Manager Tara Jones Brooks.
Person Centered Planning
Residential opportunities are only one element
of services that people with disabilities
require. In addition to basic shelter and care,
residents want to live as independent and productive
a life as possible consistent with each
individual’s abilities. And, Life’s WORC is
dedicated to supporting those aspirations.
“We are very committed to Person Centered
Planning (CPC). It’s evident in the quality
of life that our people lead,” says Smergut.
The CPC philosophy is intended to ensure that
each person receives the supports that they need
to achieve their own personal goals. In 1999,
Life’s WORC created a full-time staff position
dedicated to the development of person centered
planning efforts. It offers a six-day PCP certification
course for its own staff as well as other
individuals and provider agencies.
Individuals in Life’s WORC residences participate
in a broad range of habilitation, educational,
employment and recreational programs.
“All of the Westbury House residents attend
programs,” explains Jones Brooks. Plus, most of
them also have jobs in the community. “Tommy
works at Wendy’s. James works at AHRC. Brett
works at McQuade’s Café and Meghan works in
the Half Hollow Hills Library.”
After a hard day’s work, residents also
need to play. “They go to Club 21 for bowling
and to a Friday night drop-in with karaoke and
a lot of other activities,” says Jones Brooks. “A
lot of them also take Saturday classes at Nassau
Community College. They do ‘sled hockey’
with practice on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.
Brett’s dad is the coach.”
However, an inividual’s yearning for personal
fulfillment can often go beyond these
group activities, explains Smergut. For example,
Steven Montfisten, a resident at the Life’s
WORC Dix Hills home, lives with a severe
speech impediment caused by traumatic brain
injury following a childhood car accident. While
Montfisten has trouble getting words out verbally,
he has had no trouble getting them down
on paper. The 27-year-old has written hundreds
of poems expressing his feelings about a wide
range of topics. Now, with the help of Life’s
WORC Assistant Director Darrien Carlson and
Psychology Program Director Brian Goldman,
Montfisten has achieved his lifelong dream of
hearing his words recorded to music. Producer
Will Burton arranged for a number of performers
to record lyrics written by Montfisten – now
known professionally as “The Chosen One”.
Montfisten is not the only Life’s WORC
resident finding self-expression through music.
Two years ago, the agency
launched its Life’s Connections
through Music
program, which provides
interested individuals with
the opportunity to play an
instrument and/or sing with
professional performers.
The program includes a
full-fledged “talent search”
and culminated in a November
16th concert at the
Bellmore Theater, featuring
31 performers from Life’s
WORC and other agencies.
For many people, establishing
personal relationships
– including finding
that special someone – is a
particularly important life
goal. “They want to date,”
says Smergut. Making that
happen for individuals with developmental
disabilities can be a challenge. Introductions
through Life helps people meet each other in a
relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Last August,
the agency hosted its second “speed dating”
event which brought together 40 individuals
from Life’s WORC as well as the Epilepsy
Foundation of Long Island and YAI. The event
had a Luau Night theme, complete with hula lessons,
tropical fruit salad and punch. During the
second half of the evening, each person had an
opportunity to speak with twenty new people for
six minutes each. Afterwards, they were given
an “interest sheet” to check off the names of
those individuals whom they would like to get
to know better. By night’s end, 18 new matches
Peter Smergut
had been made. Another was scheduled for
February.
Having a home of their own -- and living
independently – is the ultimate dream for many
individuals. Life’s WORC is helping several
residents to achieve that dream through use of
Individualized Supports and Services (ISS).
“We have one young woman who had been
living at home with her mom and dad,” says
Bonnie Inderjit, Director of At-Home Residential
Services. “She has a daughter of her own.
Now she is able to live in an apartment with her
daughter. She does need help and she gets supports.”
Other individuals have begun to utilize
Personal Resource Accounts (PRAs) through
which they can decide on the specific services
they need and then select and pay for a provider.
Music is just one of the ways in which Life’s WORC assists individuals to
find self-expression.
“We have two people in our programs who are
on demonstration grants,” says Smergut. “They
hire a person who works with them on employment.
If they aren’t happy with that person, they
can find someone else.”
In-Home Supports
The newest Life’s WORC residential program,
a six-bed IRA in Wantagh which opened
in April of 2010, may be the agency’s last…
at least for a while. State budget constraints
have put a hold on approvals for new residential
programs by the NYS Office for People with
Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). “There
is really no new residential development, other

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 15
AGENCY OF THE MONTH
Values and Data: Guideposts for Staff Development
Peter Smergut believes in the values on which Life’s WORC is based. He also believes
in data.
“We are a mission driven organization, but we are ruled by data,” he says. “We track
40-50 different indicators on a monthly basis – overtime, workers compensation, staff turnover,
hospitalizations, emergency room visits, wheelchair repairs, etc., etc., etc.”
Perhaps most impressive, however, is the way Life’s WORC uses a value-based, datadriven
system to guide employee recruitment, evaluation and compensation. The end result,
says Smergut, has been direct care staff turnover rates far below industry averages …
and 90% citation-free program audits.
In 1999, Life’s WORC developed a set of shared organizational values, based on input
from over 500 staff that worked with the agency at that time. The values are: Responsibiilty
to the Individuals We Support, Staff Development and Recognition, Communication, Creating
and Maintaining a Team, and Quality.
The Life’s WORC staff development model begins with a behaviorally-based hiring
process that targets candidates most likely to resonate with the agency culture and values.
Interview questions have been designed to assess a candidate’s potential in adhering to
the agency’s value structure. HR staff have been trained to weed out individuals whose
skill sets and resume may appear appropriate but who do not resonate with the agency’s
culture.
Training curricula continually integrate the agency’s values while concurrently focusing
on specific job responsibilities. Life’s WORC also allocates resources to assist staff
with furthering their education, something consistent with agency values and an effective
employee retention tool.
Life’s WORC regularly evaluates both its own organizational performance and its commitment
to the agency’s values. Every two years, it conducts a “Value Survey” in which
employees anonymously report how they feel the agency is doing with respect to various
aspects of its stated values. Individual employees are evaluated annually. Supervisors receive
a “360° leadership evaluation” in which their own ideas of how well they are performing
are compared with anonymous evaluations by direct reports and colleagues.
Perhaps most unusual for a nonprofit agency is the performance-based compensation
plan driven by these evaluations. Staff receive annual bonuses of various amounts
based on their evaluation scores. Those who fail to reach a score of “3” receive no bonus
whatsoever. Over time, Life’s WORC has seen a steady increase in the percentages of
staff receiving higher scores, and therefore higher evaluations. The agency has also seen
significantly greater staff turnover -- three times higher – among lower scoring staff than
among those who receive higher evaluations and higher bonuses. “The people who we
want to stay are staying,” says Smergut. “Those who are leaving are not the people we
want to keep.”
Life’s WORC is constantly reviewing its data on various indicators, looking for correlations
that will point to solutions and higher general quality. “The number of accidents in a
program may be related to turnover and management,” says Smergut. “We then need to
focus on training.”
The extensive data sets that the agency crunches looking for problems and solutions
are now normal parts of regular reporting – not seen by staff as an added burden. “If you
are the head of a department, you certainly would want to know how many hospitalizations
you had last month and the reasons why,” says Smergut. “It’s how you do your job in terms
of allocating nursing staff.”
The end result, says Smergut, is higher agency performance on a wide range of measures,
including OPWDD program audits. “Ninety percent of our audits are citation free,” he
says. Staff appear to be happy with the system. The anonymous surveys report increasingly
positive assessments of how the agency is meeting its organizational value for “Staff
Development and Recognition”.
“We don’t have the resources to hire more people,” says Smergut. “The only way we
can improve our performance is to get the most out of the people we have.”
continue to live at home.
The Life’s WORC At-
Home Residential Habilitation
(Res Hab ) program has
grown from serving just 22
individuals when Bonnie
Inderjit arrived as Program
Director in 2000 to more
than 135 today.
“Our staff goes into the
home and works one-on-one
with the individual,” says
Inderjit. “They teach them
ADL (Activities of Daily
Living) skills, money management,
and recreation.
They will do mobility training,
going with the person
from one place to another,
reviewing the bus route,
recognizing landmarks. They’ll help them with
safety – what they should do if they get lost.”
These at-home services can be a vital support
for families caring for an adult child with
developmental disabilities. “We know how hard
it can be for a family,” says Inderjit. “Sometimes
they will feel like they have tried everything
and it just isn’t working. We give them
help and some respite.”
Life’s WORC staff can help these people
achieve simple goals that once seemed impossible
– dramatically improving the quality of their
own lives and those of their family. “Parents
Residents and participants in Life’s WORC programs take part in a wide
range of community-based recreational activities.
will have more confidence that their child can
safely travel from one place to another,” says
Inderjit. When it comes to cooking, for example,
she says that many parents will say they
don’t want their child to touch the stove. “We
start with the basics – using a microwave, making
sandwiches,” Inderjit explains. “Next thing
you know, their child has made them dinner. It’s
a great accomplishment, something they never
thought could happen.”
Life’s WORC Res Hab staff work with
people for a certain number of hours each week
LIFE’S WORC continued on page 16
than for people coming back from out-of-state
placements,” says Smergut.
As a result, waiting lists for residential opportunities,
which had been reduced substantially
through the NYS Cares initiative, have begun
climbing again. “There are about 1,700 on
the waiting list for Long Island,” says Smergut.
“We have a few hundred people of our own in
the Medicaid Service Coordination or ResHab
programs who are on the list.”
The lack of new residential programs is
colliding with a “graying” population of parents
who have cared for their disabled children at
home, but now no longer able to do so. “I have
a friend whose son has developmental disabilities,”
says Smergut. “For years they have been
talking about when they should put him into a
residential program, but they were never ready
to make that choice. Now they are ready, but
there is no place to go.”
Over the last several years, the State and
providers have attempted to address these economic
pressures by increasing services and supports
for individuals with disabilities while they

16 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
AGENCY OF THE
MONTH
LIFE’S WORC continued from page 15
– four, six, eight, twelve or even twenty -- based
on the individual’s needs and the goals laid out
in their service plan.
Unfortunately, State fiscal pressures are
limiting the number of families to whom Life’s
WORC can provide these essential services.
“We have a waiting list of at least 80 people,”
says Inderjit. “Families are desperate to get
help.”
LifeLinks
Life’s WORC also provides center-based
Day Habilitation programs for more than 140
people at its six program locations in Queens
Village, Glendale, Garden City, Deer Park, East
Rockaway and Old Bethpage. These LifeLinks
programs help individuals to acquire and maintain
skills that connect them to the community
while enhancing their capacity to live independently.
They include personalized, strengthbased
instruction and practice in communication,
basic safety, personal care, mobility,
domestic living, health care, money management
and social skills.
Each DayHab programs typically serves between
20 and 30 persons, building relationships
and friendships that can last a lifetime. A staffing
ratio of 1:5 ensures an ability to meet the specific
needs of each individual. Last July Life’s WORC
won approval to expand its Old Bethpage program
to serve an additional ten participants.
Autism
Life’s WORC has expanded its efforts to
address the rapidly growing prevalence of Autism
Spectrum Disorders in recent years. “It’s
frightening,” says Smergut. “We’ve gone from
1-in-100,000 fifteen years ago to 1-in-160 or
fewer now.”
The agency now provides services – including
clinical supports and parent training --
to local school districts on Long Island. “We
offer Applied Behavioral Analysis,” says Smergut.
“We’re working with seven school districts
now and looking to expand. They find it less
expensive and more efficient to outsource these
services.”
Making Connections is a socialization program
for younger children, aged five-to-twelve,
on the Autism Spectrum. It focuses on devel-
oping play and socialization skills while also
offering respite for families.
Stepping into Adulthood is an after-school
program for young people aged 14-21 with
Autism or mild-to-moderate developmental
disabilities. It helps them make the transition
from high school into adult services.
MSC and More
Life’s WORC also provides Medicaid
Service Coordination (MSC) that helps over
400 people with disabilities navigate the complex
world of eligibility and entitlements in
order to access government-funded services
and supports.
In a related vein, the agency has begun offering
Life’s WORC Community Trusts as an
effective estate planning tool through which
families can ensure appropriate care for children
with disabilities.
Challenges Ahead
Life’s WORC, like most human service
provider agencies, is facing a difficult period
as governments at all levels plan significant
reductions in their levels of spending.
Peter Smergut is putting his faith in a
strong, internal, values-based culture that
Life’s WORC had tried to create through an
elaborate and highly effective staff development
and recognition system. The agency
uses a variety of finely-tuned recruitment,
evaluation and performance-based compensation
practices in order to attract, retain and
reward staff who demonstrate commitment to
the agency’s mission and values.
The staff’s values, their commitment and
their happiness in their jobs are all essential to
effectively serving the individuals entrusted to
the agency’s care, argues Smergut. “Our staff
are so intimately involved with the people they
serve – feeding them, cleaning them, helping
them with the most personal aspects of their
daily lives. If the staff are not happy, the people
we serve can’t possibly be happy.”
So far, says Smergut, Life’s WORC has
been very successful at treating its staff as well
as it possibly can. The result, he explains,
shows up in citation-free audits … and happy
residents and program participants.
For more information visit www.lifesworc.org.
Got
News?
888.933.6967
or email editor@nynp.biz

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 17
AGENCY NEWS
“Freedom Rides” Anniversary Creates Opportunities for NYC Youth
Fifty years ago, during the
spring and summer of 1961,
over 400 predominately young
men and women – both black
and white – boarded busses
and traveled across the Deep
South to racially integrate the
illegally segregated interstate
transportation system. The
first bus was stopped and
firebombed; its 13 passengers,
initially trapped inside, were
then beaten by an angry mob.
Over the next four months, a
total of 328 Freedom Riders
SCAN New York Executive Director Lew Zuchman (4th from left) joining with other
Freedom Riders at the November 2010 Mississippi Freedom 50th Foundation board
meeting.
including Congressmen John Lewis and Bob Filner – as well as Bronx native Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure) --
made their way to Jackson, Mississippi, where they were arrested and jailed for over 40 days. Ultimately, however,
the Freedom Riders achieved their goal when the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered an end to segregation
in bus and train stations. More importantly, they inspired an entire nation and played a key role in advancing the
broader Civil Rights Movement.
This year, an estimated 100 surviving Freedom Riders, along with their families and friends, will gather once
again in Jackson for Mississippi Freedom 50th, a week-long celebration to be held May 22-26th. The event will
honor the 1961 Freedom Riders and other veterans of the struggle for civil rights. The reunion in Jackson will be a
centerpiece of a national celebration of the Civil Rights movement, coinciding with a broadcast of Freedom Riders, a
major PBS documentary to be aired as part of the American Experience series. President Barack Obama is one of
a burgeoning list of national dignitaries scheduled to address the Rider Reunion, including former Civil rights leader
and UN Ambassador Andrew Young, Martin Luther King Jr. III, James Meredith, Charles Evers…etc.
Mississippi Freedom 50th will also allow young people all across the nation – including hundreds right here in
New York City – to learn the history of the 1961 Freedom Rides and experience how they changed both the nation
as a whole and the lives of those who participated in them.
Lew Zuchman, Executive Director of SCAN New York and one of the original Freedom Riders, will be serving
as Co-Coordinator of the Mississippi Freedom 50th “National Youth Leadership Summit for Social Justice”. With the
theme “Passing the Torch”, this initiative is creating workshop and classroom curricula for schools and youth groups
on the Freedom Rides and how those same strategies of collective action and peaceful protest are relevant in addressing
society’s challenges today.
Over the next several months, SCAN will play an active role in sharing this sense of history and social purpose
with the youth of New York. In May, an estimated 50 young people from SCAN’s programs in East Harlem and
the Bronx will board busses and join youth from around the country as they relive the Freedom Rides and travel to
Jackson to participate in The Freedom Riders’ Youth Leadership Summit for Social Justice.
Leading up the event itself, SCAN will be conducting workshops on the Freedom Rides and the Civil Rights
Movement – with presentations by original Freedom Riders -- at each of its youth programs in East Harlem and
the Bronx, as well as at the Renaissance Charter School. SCAN’s own NYC Youth Summit – bringing together
young people from all these programs, as well as local elected officials and community leaders – will focus on these
themes. (This event will be held at Hostos Community College at a date to be determined during late April or early
May.) Zuchman believes that the personal empowerment that comes with being part of a larger social justice movement
can have a transformative effect for the young people of today’s inner cities – just as it did for him 50 years
ago. “Participating in the Freedom Rides and joining the Civil Rights Movement changed my life,” says Zuchman,
who was a 19-year-old resident of Forest Hills back in 1961. “It channeled my energies and passion from a negative,
nihilistic focus to positive and productive pursuits. A path leading to anti-social dead ends was replaced with a journey
of self restoration and social justice. Too many of our young people today do not have a vision of social justice
to seize upon and positively channel their legitimate rage and personal quest for social justice.
“The problems confronting black and Hispanic youth in our inner cities today are just as bad, if not worse, than
those back in 1961,” Zuchman continues. “They need an opportunity to focus their energies on creating positive
change. The Freedom Rides and the larger Civil Rights Movement are examples of how they can do just that.”
“Sustainability in the Not-for-Profit Sector: 2011”
Columbia and TD Bank Host Conference
Columbia University’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management
and TD Bank recently sponsored a full-day conference on “Sustainability
in the Not-for-Profit Sector: 2011.”
Among the participants were from left David Ushery/WNBC-TV,
Sol Adler, Executive Director, 92nd St Y; Gregory B. Braca, TD Bank
Regional President, Metro New York; Karen A. Phillips, Community
Development & Urban Planning Consultant; David Garza, Executive
Director and CEO, Henry Street Settlement; Jane B. O’Connell,
President, Altman Foundation; Peter Meyer, Market President,
TD Bank; John S. Winkleman, Winkleman Company; Thomas P.
Ference, Faculty Director & Founder, INM, Columbia University; and Michael Malefakis, Dean, Executive
Education, Columbia University.
SUS Fire & Ice Ball
SUS CEO Donna Colonna (2nd from left) with YLC members Kelly Thomas,
Claire Noland, Bryan Rodriguez, Tracy Bloch, Drew Train, Oscar Pinkas and
Carrie Muchow.
Services for the UnderServed (SUS) hosted its Annual SUS Fire & Ice Ball
on Thursday, February 10th. The event, which was presented by the SUS Young
Leadership Council, was held at the New York City Fire Museum.
The Ball was attended by close to 200 young professionals from the legal,
fashion, finance and advertising fields. It is designed to encourage the next
generation of New York City to get involved in SUS. The SUS Young Leadership
Council is comprised of young urban professionals who are excited about championing
for a cause that they believe in. The goal of the Council is to develop the
future philanthropic leaders of New York City.
“I’m so appreciative of our Young Leadership Council and their focus and
vitality as ambassadors for SUS,” said Chief Executive Officer Donna Colonna.
YLC member Kelly Thomas also offered opening remarks.
The guests, who were decked out in red, white and black, enjoyed cocktails
and passed hors d’ oeuvres, dancing, as well as a raffle and silent auction. Sponsors
included Beacon Therapy, American Eagle, Clifton Budd & DeMaria, SNR
Denton, Cole Schotz and Brooklyn Brewery which provided the beer. The Benefit
Committee was co-chaired by Oscar Pinkas and Bryan Rodriguez.
HeartShare Wins Pinnacle Award
HeartShare Human Services of
New York won the Pinnacle Award
for Civic Betterment, presented
each February by the Building
Owner’s and Managers Association
of New York (BOMA/NY). The
Pinnacles celebrate the best of
BOMA’s membership and the spirit
of New York City, and are presented
to the premiere buildings, people
and charitable organizations in the HeartShare President and CEO William R.
City. Competition is fierce, but fair. Guarinello accepted the BOMA/NY Pinnacle
Award for Civic Betterment from Rosemary
The Civic Betterment Award
Ulfik, CB Richard Ellis, Inc., member of the
is presented to a singular person
2010-2011 Pinnacle Awards Committee and
or organization who has dedicated
Chair of the Civic Betterment Sub-Committee.
substantial time and effort to helping
solve the problems of New York and enriching the lives of the inhabitants of the
metropolitan area. BOMA/NY consists of 800 members who include building owners,
professional property management firms, architects, engineers, and contracting
services including construction, elevator maintenance, cleaning services, and
more.
HeartShare was nominated for this distinguished award by BOMA/NY
members Louis Trimboli and Ken Meyerson, both of CB Richard Ellis. Following
the comprehensive nomination process, members of the Civic Betterment
Sub-Committee conducted a site visit to one of HeartShare’s four preschool
programs for children with developmental disabilities and The HeartShare
School for school-age children with autism in Brooklyn.
“We are truly honored and sincerely humbled to receive this prestigious
recognition,” said William R. Guarinello, HeartShare’s President and CEO at
the awards ceremony. “We extend our thanks to Lou Trimboli and Ken Meyerson
for nominating HeartShare and to the members of the Civic Betterment
Committee for their confidence in HeartShare’s abilities to solve the problems
of New York’s at-risk community and enrich the lives of all who love this City.”
This is the first time in 10 years that the Pinnacle was awarded to a charitable
organization not based in Manhattan.

18 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
Elijah New Executive Director
at Correctional Association
Guevara Named ED for NY
at Peace First
J. Soffiyah Elijah has
been appointed to be the new
Executive Director of the
Correctional Association of
New York.
An accomplished advocate,
scholar and educator,
Elijah brings decades of
experience addressing the
urgent needs of the marginalized,
silenced and indigent
people in our criminal and
juvenile justice systems. “I
am deeply honored by the J. Soffiyah Elijah
opportunity to lead this vitally
important organization with such a rich and
accomplished history,” says Elijah, who will serve
as the Association’s first African-American executive
director.
Elijah comes to the Correctional Association
from the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law
School, where she has been a clinical instructor
for the past 11 years and the Deputy Director for
the past eight years. At the Institute, she trained
hundreds of law students to become effective and
ethical lawyers and to engage in local and national
reform of criminal and juvenile justice policies.
A native New Yorker, Elijah practiced criminal
and family law in New York City for more than
20 years. Before moving to Harvard, she was a
member of the faculty and Director and supervising
attorney of the Defender Clinic at the City University
of New York School of Law. She was a
supervising attorney at the Neighborhood Defender
Service of Harlem, where she defended indi-
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gent members of the Harlem
community, and worked as a
staff attorney for the Juvenile
Rights Division of the Legal
Aid Society.
Peter Cobb, Chair of
the Correctional Association,
calls her “a passionate advocate
for social justice who
uses her remarkable skills and
intellect to promote equality
and fairness for all people—
especially people in prison.
In Soffiyah, we have found a
thoughtful, deeply dedicated
and visionary leader who is the right person to
lead the CA into the future. I am looking forward
to working with her in the years to come.”
Elijah will join the staff of the Correctional
Association on March 14, 2011. She will succeed
Robert Gangi, who has served as Executive
Director since 1983. During Gangi’s 29-year
tenure, the Correctional Association has grown
into a powerful and effective multi-million dollar
advocacy organization. “At the heart of the Correctional
Association’s mission is promoting the
inherent dignity of all people. Soffiyah is deeply
committed to this principle and to the mission
and values of all the CA’s projects. I am gratified
to pass along the responsibility for guiding
the organization’s vital activities to an individual
whose abilities and world view so imminently
qualify her for the task,” says Gangi.
“I am grateful for Bob’s tremendous contribution
to the Correctional Association and for his
warm and receptive support in assuring a smooth
transition,” said Elijah.
Honored by the Massachusetts chapter
of the National Lawyers Guild in 2010, Elijah
has dedicated her life to human rights and
social activism. She is a recognized national
and international authority on human rights issues
and has served as a justice on several people’s
tribunals focused on the government’s
response to Hurricane Katrina, the testing of
bombs in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and conditions
of confinement. A highly respected scholar,
she has authored several articles and publications
on U.S. criminal and juvenile justice
policy and prison conditions and is a frequent
presenter at national and international forums.
Elijah earned her Bachelor of Arts from
Cornell University and Juris Doctorate from
Wayne State University Law School.
“Ms. Elijah has dedicated her life to public
service and addressing the ills and inequities in
the criminal justice system. I have been very fortunate
to draw on her skills and passions for the
past decade,” says Professor Charles J. Ogletree,
Jr., Director Emeritus of the Criminal Justice Institute
at Harvard Law School and Executive Director
of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute
for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.
“Leading the Correctional Association is a
life’s aspiration come true for me,” says Elijah.
“I look forward to partnering with the CA’s talented
board and staff to engage a new generation
of advocates and supporters in the national and
local conversations about the impact of prisons
and incarceration on our society.”
Alicia Guevara has been
named as the new Executive
Director for New York at
Peace First. Formerly known
as Peace Games, Peace First
aims to create a generation of
morally engaged young people
with the ability and inclination
to create positive social change
in their schools and neighborhoods.
Guevara will be responsible
for building, growing
and sustaining New York
Alicia Guevara
operations, including securing
local fundraising, maintaining strong school partnerships,
and ensuring excellent program delivery
across our New York City partner schools.
Peace First is a national non-profit organization
that works with schools in Boston, Los
Angeles, and New York to empower children,
as young as four years old, with the skills to
become peacemakers in their schools and communities.
Through Peace First, children are
empowered to speak up, to include others, to
make positive decisions, and to solve problems
at school and in the community through service
learning projects.
“Peace First is dedicated to working with
teachers and administrators to give students the
essential tools of conflict resolution, communication,
and civic-engagement,” says Eric D.
Dawson, president of Peace First. “Alicia will
spearhead our efforts to bring these vital skills to
more New York City students.”
Guevara joins Peace First during a time of
growth and change, as the organization partners
with four new schools in the New York region
this year: PS 64, PS 335, PS 189, and MS 584. In
Fazio New CFO at GMHC
David Fazio has joined
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
(GMHC) as Chief Financial
Officer. He has served as interim
CFO since September.
For over 20 years, David Fazio
has worked to improve and
strengthen New York City’s
not-for-profit and government
agencies. As a Client Manager
with BTQ Financial, Fazio
David Fazio
has served as CFO for several
social and health services agencies. He specializes
in fiscal oversight for housing programs serving
underserved and vulnerable populations and for
social services and health services programming
targeting low-income children and families. He
has served as interim CFO for Gay Men’s Health
Crisis since September 13, 2010.
Prior to BTQ, Fazio founded a consulting
company to provide individual and team consulting
services to organizations and government
agencies. He was also the Chief Financial Officer
for Common Ground Community and the Children’s
Aid Society, one of the largest and highest
rated non-for-profits offering the full spectrum of
support services to New York’s children. From
addition, Peace First continues
its work with the students,
teachers, and staff at PS 84.
“Peace First was founded
on the belief that young
people have the power and
responsibility to change the
world as problem solvers and
peace makers” says Guevara.
“As the New York Executive
Director of Peace First, I am
honored and inspired to lead
this critical effort that builds
effective school climates and
provides access for nurturing our children’s
cooperation, communication and conflict resolution
skills in order to unleash their potential
as civically engaged peacemakers and problem
solvers in communities where they live and
learn across this City. “
Guevara brings to Peace First over 15
years of experience in the areas of nonprofit
leadership, policy and business development,
and fundraising. Most recently, as the Director
of Development at the Osborne Association, an
organization providing individuals and families
with prison and community-based programs
for reform and rehabilitation, Guevara led program-driven
fundraising operations and created
innovative, evidence-based programs and thriving
advocacy projects. She has also worked as
a consultant to community-based organizations,
advising in the areas of strategic planning, organization
and board development, program design,
and fund development. Guevara received
a B.A. in Political Science and History from
Columbia University.
Photo credit: Stephan Pacheco
1989 to 2001, Fazio held several
important roles in New York City
government. As Chief Financial
Officer for the Administration
for Children’s Services (ACS),
he managed the agency’s $2.4
billion annual budget and as
Deputy Commissioner at ACS,
he oversaw all of the City’s
publicly-funded child care and
Head Start programs. Prior to his
tenure with ACS, Fazio served as
Budget Director for the Department of Homeless
Services and as Supervising Budget Analyst
for NYC Office of Management and Budget.
Fazio attended the University of North
Carolina Chapel Hill and received a Bachelor
of Arts in English and earned a Master of Public
Policy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy
School of Government. He serves as the
Board Treasurer for the National LGBT Cancer
Network and has remained throughout the years
a community advocate for better child care services,
improved mental health and substance
abuse treatment, and more informed HIV/AIDS
and cancer research.

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 19
PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
NADSP Selects Macbeth
as First Executive Director
Joseph M. Macbeth has
been named to be the first
ever Executive Director of
the National Alliance for
Direct Support Professionals
(NADSP).
Macbeth has been the
Assistant Executive Director
at NYSACRA, the largest
statewide provider association
in New York State,
since 2000, and has worked
in the field of disabilities for
28 years - beginning as a Direct Support Professional
(DSP). He remains at NYSACRA in his
current role working halftime for the organizations
and the other half for NADSP.
“This day has been 15 years in the making
and it is extraordinary for a national organization
to hit its marks all these years using dedicated
volunteers and in-kind support,” said Lisa
Burck, president of the NADSP board. “We’ve
been the best volunteer organization that one
could be and now we have taken it to the next
level. Joe represents the best of NADSP -- he is
focused, passionate, experienced as a DSP, and
knows just what the future needs to look like.
We are thrilled that Joe has agreed to help lead
the way.”
While at NYSACRA, he has been responsible
for implementing and advancing the organization’s
DSP workforce development activities.
Prior to his work at NYSACRA, Macbeth
worked for a community-based, multi-services
organization where he was responsible for the
development and oversight of all “non-traditional”
residential and day services programs.
Through a variety of state grants, Macbeth
started a New York State chapter of ADSP that
consists of nearly 1,000 individual members and
32 supporting and affiliate organizations. He
Joseph M. Macbeth
Sophine Charles has
joined the Council of Family
and Child Caring Agencies
(COFCCA) as Associate for
Preventive Services Policy
and Practice.
Prior to coming to COF-
CCA, Charles’ recent experience
included serving as Director
of Preventive Services
at Steinway Child and Family
Services. In addition, she Sophine Charles
has served as Chairperson
of the Bronx Preventive Directors Consortium
Group, worked as a Child Welfare Trainer and
Consultant to provider agencies and delivered
transitional and re-entry services to formally incarcerated
populations. Charles spent 18 years
with the New York City Police Department and
has taught in the Police Studies Program at John
Jay College of Criminal Justice.
continues to be an Advisor to
the Board of Directors.
While at NYSACRA,
Macbeth has been instrumental
in assisting nearly 3,000
DSPs and Frontline Supervisors
to achieve advanced
training through the College
of Direct Support (CDS). He
is a strong advocate for the
advancement of direct support
professionalism and promoting
competency-based training
that utilizes universal skill sets that will lead
to widely recognized and valued credentials and
apprenticeship programs in direct support.
Recently, Macbeth has forged organizational
relationships between New York’s community
college system, regional labor offices
and local services organizations that supports
advanced training and educational opportunities
for DSPs across New York. In addition to
his activities with NYSACRA and the Direct
Support Professional Alliance of New York
State (DSPANYS), Macbeth has recently sat
on the board of directors for the National Alliance
for Direct Support Professionals (NAD-
SP), the College of Direct Support’s National
Advisory Board and the American Network of
Community Options & Resources (ANCOR)
Foundation Board of Trustees, where he was
the primary author of a concept paper called
“Careers That Matter Most.”
“My goals as Executive Director of NAD-
SP are to advance the organization by growing
state chapters and membership, increasing involvement
in national policy issues that affect
DSPs, expand and promote competency-based
apprenticeship and credentialing programs
and to enhance the status of our direct support
workforce,” he said.
Charles Joins COFCCA
as Associate for Preventive Services
The Associate for Preventive
Services Practice and
Policy is a newly created position
that will allow COFCCA
to focus additional resources
on preventive services provided
by our members throughout the
state. Charles will serve as
COFCCA’s staff person on all
preventive child welfare issues
and policies that impact COF-
CCA’s membership and staff
preventive services directors
meetings and support the work of coalitions of
preventive service providers statewide.
“We are confident that Sophine’s extensive
knowledge and experience will help us
reach new heights in promoting understanding
and appreciation for the crucial work of
preventive services”, said COFCCA CEO Jim
Purcell.
Lenox Hill Names Lazarus
Chief Program Officer
Laura O. Lazarus has
joined Lenox Hill Neighborhood
House as Chief
Program Officer. As a key
member of the senior management
team, Lazarus will
lead the programs of the
Neighborhood House, an
extensive array of integrated
human services—social,
educational, legal, health,
housing, mental health, nutritional
and fitness—which
significantly improve the Laura O. Lazarus
lives of 20,000 people in
need each year, ages 3 to 103, on the East Side
of Manhattan.
Lazarus has a long-standing commitment
to the development of high-impact projects
that bring change to low-income communities
around the country. Lazarus has been a national
player in the development of affordable housing
and community development, working on projects
in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Newark. Early
in her career, Lazarus spent three years at the law
firms Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
and Fulbright & Jaworski. She has spent most of
CACF Appoints Patel
Policy Coordinator
The Coalition for Asian
American Children and Families
(CACF) has announced
the hiring of Sheebani Patel as
the Policy Coordinator.
As the Policy Coordinator,
Patel is responsible for
leading CACF’s New York
State and City budget advocacy
campaigns to increase public
funding and improve equity
for Asian Pacific American
children and families, collaborating
with the MinKwon
Sheebani Patel
Center for Community Action to co-lead the 12%
and Growing Coalition, and coordinating CACF’s
advocacy agenda to improve child welfare policies,
funding, and services.
Prior to joining CACF, Patel worked as the
policy organizer at the Restaurant Opportunities
Center of New York (ROC-NY). At ROC-NY,
she developed the member-led policy committee,
which focuses on organizing restaurant workers
around creating legislation to improve standards
in the restaurant industry. Patel has lectured as an
Tell Us About
Your People
her career at Telesis Corporation,
most recently as Senior
Vice President and head of
the New York office, developing
affordable housing and
rebuilding blighted areas. In
2007, Lazarus served as the
Deputy Commissioner of the
New York City Department
of Housing Preservation and
Development (Office of Development).
“We are absolutely
thrilled that Laura has joined
Lenox Hill Neighborhood
House and are certain that she will help take us
to our next level of excellence,” said Warren
B. Scharf, Executive Director.
Lazarus has been the President of Women
in Housing and Finance in New York and was
previously a member of the Board of Directors
of Harlem United Community AIDS Center.
Lazarus has been a guest lecturer at Princeton
and Baruch and has been invited to speak
about affordable housing around the nation.
Lazarus is a graduate of Princeton University
and Georgetown University Law Center.
adjunct professor at Brooklyn
College. In 2009 and 2010, she
served as co-chair of VDAY Harlem,
a performance event, which
raised money and awareness for
the prevention of violence against
women and girls. Additionally,
she has worked on various candidates’
political campaigns, and
served as a contributing writer to
Sapna Magazine, a South Asian
women’s magazine. Sheebani
completed her undergraduate
work at the University of Texas
at Austin and obtained her law degree from St.
John’s University School of Law.
“Sheebani’s knowledge and passion for
community organizing are vital assets that enable
CACF to better advocate for the needs of
Asian Pacific American children and families,”
said Wayne Ho, Executive Director.
“I am thrilled to join the dynamic team at
CACF, and to work on issues that are so critical
to the Asian Pacific American community in
New York City,” said Patel.
email editor@nynp.biz

20 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
Mediratta Appointed Vice President
at Graham Windham
Sharmeela Mediratta has
been appointed Vice President
for Family & Community Support
Services at Graham Windham.
She will oversee the agency’s
prevention programs, B2H/
ed evidence-based early childhood
models, including The Parent-Child
Home Program, Early
Head Start and the Nurse-Family
Partnership. As SCO’s Director
of Early Childhood Programs,
HCIA services, school-based
Mediratta was responsible for all
programs and its mental health
clinic. Her appointment is effective
February 28th.
Mediratta has over 20 years
of experience in child welfare.
Most of that time was spent at
Sharmeela Mediratta
their early childhood services,
both in foster care and in communities
throughout Brooklyn
and Queens.
Mediratta has presented
her work at the Child Welfare
SCO Family of Services. Her initial work there
was with teens in residential group settings where
she worked alongside staff and residents to implement
systems to encourage youth development and
accountability. During the past decade she led the
implementation of a number of highly regarded programs
- both for families in foster care, and as primary
prevention programs for community families.
Her work in foster care resulted in the creation of
SCO’s Family Enhancement Services Unit, a continuum
of intensive, clinically oriented interventions
designed to improve foster care family visits and address
the significant attachment and mental health
needs of infants and toddlers in care. More recently,
she helped to implement a number of highly regard-
League of America’s Annual Conference in 2004
and at the Zero-to-Three Annual Conference in
2009. She was awarded a Golden Heart Award in
2006 for her service to families in foster care and
was a member of the NYS Permanent Judicial
Commission on Infants in Foster Care where she
worked with Family Court Judges across the state
to educate them on the health and development
needs of infants. Her BA degree is from the University
of Pennsylvania. She also studied at the
School for International Training in Kenya. Her
MSW degree is from Columbia University. A
licensed clinical social worker, Mediratta is currently
studying for her doctorate in social welfare
at The Graduate Center/ CUNY.
Ramos Joins CAS as Director
of Marketing and Communications
Anthony Ramos has
been appointed to the new
position of Director of Marketing
and Communications
at the Children’s Aid Society.
His appointment is effective
February 22nd.
Ramos will supervise
functions related to the management
of the public profile
and image of CAS in all
media.
“As a leading voice for
Anthony Ramos
under-resourced children
and families in New York City, it is more important
than ever that we are effectively communicating
our message,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr.,
President and CEO of The Children’s Aid Society.
“Anthony is going to help focus our efforts to convey
the impact of our work, and advance the needs
of those we serve.”
Ramos comes to CAS from the Gay, Les-
bian, and Straight Education Network
(GLSEN) where he served
as the Director of Communications.
In this role, Ramos was responsible
for managing branding,
marketing, communications, and
public relations for the leading
national education organization
focused on ensuring safe schools
for all students. Most recently,
he was responsible for developing
and launching Think B4 You
Speak, a multimedia PSA campaign
in partnership with the Ad
Council. He spearheaded GLSEN’s efforts to
promote the Nation Day of Silence, and produced
the annual Respect Awards events. Prior
to joining GLSEN, Ramos was the Director of
Communications at the Lesbian and Gay Community
Services Center and the Manager of
Communications and Marketing at the National
Hemophilia Foundation.
SIMHS Elects Chair and Officers
John G. Tapinis, owner of the tax practice accounting
firm John Tapinis & Associates, Ltd., has
been elected to a one-year term as Chairman of
the Board of Directors of the Staten Island Mental
Health Society (SIMHS). Tapinis has served on the
SIMHS board since 2004 and held the positions of
treasurer and chairman of the Finance Committee for
the past three years. Also elected to one-year terms
as officers of SIMHS board were Staten Island
residents Lorraine Karelas,Vice Chair; Anthony J.
DeFazio, Treasurer; and Elizabeth Palagiano, Secretary.
Mary J. Spinelli, MD, a board-certified
obstetrician-gynecologist and attending physician
at Staten Island University Hospital, was elected to
the board for a one-year term.
Karelas, a member of the board since 2006, is
Nelson New Vice President
Resource Development at PENCIL
Denise A. Nelson has
aged corporate relations by
been appointed to the position
strengthening partnerships
of Vice President, Resource
Development at PENCIL. In
this role, Nelson is responsible
for securing two categories of
resources vital to PENCIL’s
organizational health and success:
revenues through cash
and in-kind donations and
earned income, and private
with firms throughout a variety
of business sectors, and
developing new volunteer
programs for women, legal,
and real estate industries.
“We are extremely fortunate
to have found in Denise
someone who has a track record
of success in securing
sector participants in PEN-
both financial support as well
CIL’s Partnership and PENCIL Denise A. Nelson
as volunteers,” said PENCIL
Fellows Programs.
With a nonprofit career spanning fifteen
years, Nelson comes to PENCIL with a wealth of
invaluable experience. She most recently served
as Associate Vice President of Major Gifts at
United Way of New York City. While there, she
developed and managed a women’s leadership
initiative, as well as launched an annual fundraiser
and celebration of women leaders, “The
Power of Women to Make a Difference.” In
addition, she created United Way of New York
City’s first stewardship program of over 400 major
investors and developed donor programs for
the finance, legal, and young philanthropic communities
in the city. She has also served at Habitat
for Humanity in New York City and man-
President Michael Haberman.
“In addition to her skill set and impressive accomplishments,
I am confident that Denise’s
range of experience will make her a valuable
member of PENCIL’s Leadership Team, joining
us in growing our Programs so that more students
can reap the benefits.”
Nelson is an alumna of Rutgers University,
where she earned her B.A. in Political Science,
and has participated in the Harvard University
Business School Social Enterprise Program.
Prior to her most recent positions, she worked
at Volunteer of America of Greater New York
and Johnson and Johnson. She has served on the
Junior Boards of East Harlem Tutorial Program
and Safe Space.
Schmidt Named Director
of AJC Regional Office
Michael Schmidt has
been appointed Director
of the American Jewish
Committee (AJC) New
York Regional Office. He
succeeds Diane Steinman,
who recently retired after a
nearly three decade career
at AJC, 21 years as New
York director.
Schmidt comes to
AJC with 20 years of experience
in professional
and lay leadership roles in
secular social service as Michael Schmidt
well as Jewish and Israeli
organizations. Before joining AJC, he was Chief
Operating Officer for the Council on Accreditation
(COA). He previously worked for New
York Foundation for Senior Citizens, Inc as
Vice President/Director of Programs.
a psychiatric nurse who is currently employed as an
owner and manager of residential and commercial
properties.
DeFazio, a member of the board for five years,
is a retired government senior administrator and
manager whose recent positions include seven years
with the NYC Human Resources Administration as
director of Enforcement and Customer Services.
Palagiano, a retired teacher, joined the board in
2002 and has spent more than 30 years as a Staten
Island community volunteer.
“Michael Schmidt’s expertise
in non-profit management,
his intimate knowledge
of the New York community,
and his passion for AJC’s mission
position him perfectly
to guide the New York regional
office from strength to
strength,” said Barbara Reiss,
President of AJC New York.
A graduate of Hebrew
University in Jerusalem and
of Columbia and Fordham
graduate programs, Schmidt is
an adjunct associate professor
at NYU’s Silver School of Social
Work. He served as a non-commissioned
officer in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF),
where he was a liaison between the IDF and
the Egyptian Army, United Nations and international
non-governmental organizations.
“I am privileged to have the opportunity
to work with AJC,” said Schmidt. “I am passionately
committed to defending and protecting
human rights around the world and have
devoted my entire professional and personal
life to supporting social justice and enhancing
the well-being of Israel. AJC is a world leader
in both fields, so this is a perfect fit.”
AJC, founded in 1906, is the premier
global Jewish advocacy organization, with
26 regional offices across the United States,
seven overseas posts and 31 international
partners.

March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 21
PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE
Hyatt Joins The Bridge
as Director of Development
Ann R. Hyatt has joined
The Bridge as the agency’s
new Director of Development.
“We are delighted that
Ann Hyatt has joined us, as she
brings a wealth of experience
and skills to help us continue to
expand the important work of
The Bridge,” said The Bridge’s
Executive Director, Dr. Peter
Beitchman. “At a time of reduced
government funding,
Ann R. Hyatt
development and fundraising
have taken on new urgency
and importance. Ann’s accomplishments rank her
as a stellar fundraiser; we’re thrilled that she’s joining
us.”
Hyatt comes to The Bridge from NYU College
of Nursing, where she was the Director of Development.
Previously, she was at Legal Services
of the Hudson Valley, where she was the Director
of Development and External Relations. Hyatt
has her Master’s degree in Fundraising Management
from the Robert J. Milano Graduate School
of Management and Urban Policy from the New
School for Social Research.
Hyatt has worked in the Development field
for over 20 years and has earned advanced accreditation
(ACFRE) from the Association of Fundrais-
ing Professionals. She has held
Development positions with Pace
University School of Law, Mercy
College, St. Vincent’s Hospital,
The Shield Institute and Blythedale
Children’s Hospital. Her
career has spanned from serving
as Vice President to having her
own Development consulting
business. Hyatt graduated from
State University of New York at
Oneonta with a BA in Literature.
Hyatt served as an adjunct
faculty member of the New
School University for ten years. She has been active
in her field, serving as a mentor to incoming
development professionals, and has served as a
member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’
National Publishing Advisory Committee
and Ethics Committee.
The Bridge is a non-profit organization
whose mission is to change lives by offering
help, hope and opportunity to the most vulnerable
in our community through mental health and
substance abuse treatment, housing, vocational
training, job placement, healthcare, education
and creative arts therapy. The Bridge is funded
by the government, foundations, corporations
and private individuals.
Primeggia Promoted at
Helen Keller Services for the Blind
Frank E. Primeggia has
been promoted to the position
of Managing Director of Rehabilitation
Services at Helen
Keller Services for the Blind
(HKSB).
As Managing Director,
Primeggia is responsible for
HKSB’s rehabilitation programs
in Brooklyn, Huntington
and Hempstead as well as
a proposed Staten Island program.
In addition, Primeggia Frank E. Primeggia
will oversee Facilities Management,
the Children’s Learning Center, Low Vi-
Stephen C. Seward has
accepted the newly-created
position of Vice-President for
Institutional Advancement at
the Andrus Children’s Center.
An alumnus of Amherst
College and SUNY Buffalo
(M.L.S.), Seward brings more
than 30 years of leadership
expertise in the field of philanthropy,
most recently with
The Nature Conservancy and,
Stephen C. Seward
sion, ATC and Placement Services.
The promotion comes as
part of an effort to significantly
improve functional operating efficiency.
Other organization changes
include: Lorraine LoCurto, who
was named Managing Director of
OPWDD Services (programs and
services for individuals with developmental
disabilities); William
Dale, who was named Nassau
County Rehabilitation Coordinator;
and Elizabeth Meade, who
was promoted to Brooklyn Rehabilitation
Coordinator.
Seward New VP of Institutional
Advancement at Andrus
before that, as Executive Vice
President of the John O’Donnell
Company, a Manhattan-based
fund raising firm. Seward will
expand Andrus’ development efforts
which support the Center’s
premiere work with more than
2500 children and families at 11
sites around Westchester County.
NYNP.BIZ
PPHP Appoints Lemus as Director
of Education and Training
Carol Lemus has joined
Planned Parenthood Hudson
Peconic (PPHP) as Director,
Education and Training. In
this role, Lemus oversees
agency-wide education and
training initiatives, evaluates
their effectiveness and
assesses community needs
for sexuality and reproductive
health programs, while
serving as a member of the
Leadership Team.
Carol Lemus
Lemus joins PPHP
with many years of experience in such areas as
program development, needs assessment and
evaluation, evidence-based interventions, training,
grant writing, curriculum development and
administrative oversight. Lemus served as the
Executive Director of New York Harm Reduction
Educators, Inc., and most recently was a consultant
for the InterAmerican Drug Abuse Control
Commission of the Organization of American
After twenty years of service
to Little Flower Children
and Family Services of New
York, Robert “Bob” Cianchetti,
LMSW, Director of Day
Care Programs, will retire.
Cianchetti, a resident of Wading
River, has dedicated himself
to the field of social work
for more than sixty-one years.
As Director of Day Care
Programs, Cianchetti supervises
social workers as well
as administrative and clerical Robert Cianchetti, LMSW
staff in an effort to develop
family homes into registered day care centers for
children. These Little Flower Registered Family
Day Care Providers take care of children for all
or part of the day to assist low and mid-income
family parents who work outside the home, need
a respite, or may be receiving counseling. The
program is currently serving 517 children in 61
homes. Under Cianchetti’s supervision, the program
received a prestigious top-rating certificate
in 2001 from the New York State Health Department
for providing nutritious meals to the children
the program serves.
“Everybody knows Bob,” says Grace Lo
Grande, Executive Director of Little Flower.
“He is an institution both at Little Flower and
throughout Wading River. His commitment to
Little Flower is deeply rooted in the fabric of
this organization. His work and spirit has benefited
thousands of children and
families and we are eternally
grateful to have had the opportunity
to have Bob as part
of our Administrative team. I
would like to thank Bob for his
dedication and service and, on
behalf of Little Flower, wish
States, where she developed
the first ever national level
training manual in Spanish
for the process of certification
of professionals in the
area of drug and alcohol addiction.
She has trained professionals
throughout Central
and South America, and lived
and worked for ten years in
El Salvador.
Lemus holds an MPH
from New York University
and a BA from Bryn Mawr
College. She is a member of the American Public
Health Association.
Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Inc
(PPHP) is the 15th largest affiliate of Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, and operates
12 medical centers in Suffolk, Westchester,
Rockland, and Putnam Counties. In 2010,
PPHP provided services to over 35,000 patients
in nearly 70,000 visits.
Little Flower’s Cianchetti Retires
him happiness and success in
the next chapter of his life.”
“I didn’t want to give
up the opportunity to help,”
said Cianchetti. “I find satisfaction
in helping people get
into the workforce, so they
can maintain their families on
their own.”
Born in Brooklyn, New
York, Cianchetti, 84, began
his career in 1949 at the Department
of Welfare in New
York City, where he stayed
for seven years. He then
moved onto the Suffolk County Department of
Social Services, where he worked for 34 years.
He entered retirement in July of 1990, only to
return to work that September at the urging of
his late wife to assist the late Monsignor Fagan
of Little Flower, who needed help establishing
a Day Care Program. What Cianchetti thought
would be a job for a year, turned into a second
career of twenty years.
Cianchetti attended the University of
Notre Dame where he majored in Sociology.
After receiving a state sponsored scholarship,
he went on to earn his Master’s degree in Social
Work at the Adelphi University School of
Social Work. Cianchetti is a veteran of World
War II and has three children, seven grandchildren
and three great-grandchildren. He plans
to do some traveling in his retirement.
GOT NYNP?
866.336.6967

22 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
JOBS JOBS JOBS
Associate Executive Director
A Long Island non-profit agency is seeking an accomplished, dynamic
individual to provide operational management and oversight of
programs and services to support the strategic and operating performance
of the agency.
The position will report directly to the Executive Director and be
responsible for oversight of the OPWDD and SED programs and services.
Working collaboratively with a dynamic executive management
team, the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring quality
programs and services, regulatory compliance, and strategic leadership.
Candidate must show a proven record of success in establishing
and maintaining solid operational, programmatic and administrative
leadership.
Excellent communications, leadership and organizational skills are required.
Candidate must have broad knowledge of OPWDD programs
and 10+ yrs management experience is required. Masters Degree in
healthcare or business. Please send resume along w/salary req to:
publisher@nynp.biz.
CAMBA is a non-profit agency that provides services
that connect people with opportunities to enhance their
quality of life. CAMBA is based in Brooklyn and serves
over 35,000 individuals each year.
CAMBA has a variety of positions in the following areas:
• Economic Development
• Education and Youth Development
• Family Support Services
• HIV/AIDS Services
• Housing Services and Development
• Legal Services
CAMBA is looking for professionals for positions located in
Brooklyn:
• Program Directors and Assistant Directors
• Social Work Supervisors
• Case Managers
• Part-Time After School
• Education Instructors
• Security Guards
• Residential Aides
For a complete list of jobs and
full descriptions, visit our website:
www.CAMBA.org
QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT
ANALYST
Graham Windham, an award wining child
welfare agency and one of NY’s most
dynamic non profit organizations serving
children and families, seeks professional for
our Program Performance Dept at our RTF
in Hastings-on-Hudson, (Westchester), NY.
Reporting to the Director of Program Performance,
the qualified candidate will assist
the leadership team with the implementation
and maintenance of the organization’s
Continuous QI plan and assist the org meet
accreditation and funding standards.
Requirements; Bachelor’s reqd. Ability to
work independently and as a team member.
Strong interpersonal, analytic, writing and
computer skills. Foster Care or Child
Welfare exp a plus. CONNECTIONS exp a
plus. Competitive salary /comprehensive
bnfts. Qualified applicants should send
resume with cvr ltr and sal reqs to:
hr23@graham-windham.org or fax to:
914-478-7294. EOE. Please indicate “QI
Analyst” in the subject line of your email/
cover ltr. www.graham-windham.org.
Your
Ad
Here
Call
866-336-6967
LCSW/Substance Abuse Counselor
Family and Children’s Assoc. vibrant busy OASAS
licensed outpt. cd program in Hicksville seeks P/T LCSW 22.5
hrs per week, to work w/ a skilled team providing treatment to
substance abusers. Great work environment w/quality supervision.
Min 3 yrs exp. working in an outpt. clinic including 2 evenings.
Send resume to 100 E. Old Country Rd, Mineola, NY 11501 hr@
familyandchildrens.org.
fax 516-742-8434.
EOE
Good Shepherd Services
A leader in NYC youth and family services is
looking for professionals for the following positions
located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx:
* SOCIAL WORKER
* YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
COUNSELOR
* CASE WORKER
* SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISOR
* INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR
In addition to competitive pay and benefits,
GSS offers a highly collaborative environment
and excellent training.
For a complete list of jobs
and full descriptions, visit
our website:
www.goodshepherds.org
EOE
Director, Finance
and Administration
National $6 million nonprofit service organization seeks an
experienced business leader to work with our Program Directors
to deliver great results to our clients. Reporting to the CEO
and supervising a staff, responsibilities include setting and enforcing
policies and procedures to optimize use of resources with
appropriate controls, serving as the senior finance leader with
budgeting and financial reporting that drives responsibility and
accountability, managing all HR activities to attract and retain
talent by ensuring rewarding and satisfying careers, maintaining
an effective and efficient office environment, and keeping
the official records of Board and corporate activities. Compensation,
including bonus eligibility and an excellent benefit
package, is commensurate with experience and competitive in
the nonprofit sector. Please send your resume to Findir2011@
hotmail.com.
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
AHRC seeks a highly experienced executive to
direct renowned, family-governed nonprofit
agency serving individuals with intellectual and
developmental disabilities and their families.
Provide strong vision and leadership in ensuring
achievement of agency’s philosophy, strategic
and financial objectives, and innovative
program goals. Must have established track
record of operational acumen within a missionbased
agency, genuine passion and success in
advocacy within and on behalf of the
developmental disability community, and
demonstrated commitment to creating work
environment where staff do their best and are
motivated to provide outstanding and effective
care to individuals served.
For consideration, send resume to:
Sharon.Fong@ahrcnyc.org
Visit us at: www.ahrcynyc.org
Equal Opportunity Employer
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY BASED
SERVICE PROVIDER
• DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
DIRECTOR: Proposal Development,
Contract Compliance (salary negotiable).
Masters and Experience.
• YOUTH PROGRAM DIRECTOR/
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: BA a
must. Master’s desirable. Prior experience
necessary. Ability to supervise
diverse inner-city youth programming
and staff.
• PART-TIME CREATIVE ARTS
Please send resumes
to scanny9413@aol.com
and place the job title
into the subject line.
Advertise with NYNP -- it Works!
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March 2011 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz 23
JOBS JOBS JOBS
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Comptroller to Join Our Team!
The Martin De Porres School for Exceptional Children Inc. is
a nonpublic school program that is chartered by the New York State
Education Department. The Martin De Porres School for Exceptional
Children Inc. provides special education services to students
ranging in ages from 7-21. We are seeking a comptroller.
The Comptroller is responsible for the day to day management
of the School’s financial reporting systems which include GL, A/R
and A/P and reports directly to the Executive Team. S/he provides
accurate and timely financial and management reports as required
by the Executive Team; and manages the preparation of the
School’s audited financial statements in adherence with GAAP and
all tax returns. The Comptroller prepares and monitors the annual
operating budget and cash flow statements, understands NYSED
guidelines, identifies and analyzes variances, and develops appropriate
solutions and/or recommendations. In addition, s/he oversees
the bank accounts, cash and related assets of the school, including
monthly reconciliations. The comptroller also works with the Human
Resources Coordinator for employee benefits administration, processing
new hires, reviewing the payroll, ensuring legal compliance
and reporting for the School’s benefits programs.
The successful candidate should have a Bachelor’s Degree in
Accounting or Finance, CPA is preferred. A minimum of 3 years
of experience in non-profit accounting, including fund accounting,
and extensive knowledge in computerized accounting systems
is required. S/he will exhibit strong supervisory skills, as well as
excellent organizational skills, written/verbal communication and
interpersonal skills, in order to effectively interact with employees
and students of the School. The Martin De Porres School is an
equal opportunity employer. It offers a competitive salary and a full
benefits package including pension. Interested candidates should
e-mail her/his resume and cover letters to Ed Dana at edana@mdp.
org or call 516-502-2840 ext. 401.
You have the power to
make a difference!
The New York Foundling currently has opportunities available
for entry level to highly experienced professionals with a
desire to make a difference in the lives of children and families.
Director (Staten Island Prevention
Program)
Bilingual English/Spanish Therapists
Case Planners
OPWDD Program Manager
House Supervisor (RN)
For a full description of the positions and requirements, visit our
website www.nyfoundling.org
We offer an excellent comprehensive benefits package, including
paid vacation, tuition reimbursement, in-service training and
competitive salaries. We invite you to join our dedicated & diverse
workforce.
You can email your resume to nyfhr6@nyfoundling.org Please
include HR Dept. NYNP in the subject line of the
email.
New York Foundling
590 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011
Fax: 212-727-6805
EOE
HeartShare Human Services of New York, a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to providing vital services to people with
special needs, is proud to announce the opening of a new residential
school program in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, providing therapeutic
housing and specialized programs for individuals with autism.
Children’s Residential Program Coordinator MA req;
Minimum 2 years supervisory experience in services for individuals
with developmental disabilities, preferably on the autism spectrum;
Knowledge of ABA, TEACCH, PECS.
Children’s Residential Program Assistant Coordinators
BA preferred HSD/GED required. Minimum of 1 year experience
working with autistic individuals. Qualified Mental Retardation Professional
BA in a human services field; 1 year experience working
with DD individuals.
Special Education Teachers MA; NYS Cert in students w/ disabilities
Birth-2, or special education and early childhood education.
Clinical Coordinator Qualified individual will oversee related
services (speech, OT/PT). MA; 3 years DD experience.
Speech Language Pathologist PNYS license, TSHH/TSSLD/
CCC required. OT/PT Cert as an OT/PT; Pediatric experience
preferred.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker LCSW required; 2 years
experience working with autism.
Crisis Interventionist BA in Psych, Social Work, or Behavioral
Sciences; knowledge of behavior modification and experience with
autism a plus.
Transition Coordinator MA in SPED. Curriculum Coordinator
MA in SPED required.
PT Psychologist MA req; Experience with ABA ; 1 yr experience
working with DD and Autism. Flexible hours.
NEW JOBS Every Day in the NYNP E-NEWSLETTER DON’T MISS OUT
SUBSCRIBE TODAY, IT’S FREE EMAIL TO E-NEWSLETTER@NYNP.BIZ OR CALL ROBBY AT 866-336-6967
Please forward your resume to
our Recruitment Coordinator,
fax: 718-855- 5821;
E-mail: jobs@heartshare.org
heartshare.org
RESOURCE
DIRECTORY
For Resource Directory Information & Prices Call 866.336.6967
REAL ESTATE
Long established non-profit has 1,142 sq. ft of
renovated office space available January 2011 for
sub-let. Private entrance, freshly painted, carpeted
space with two offices and a meeting area (400
sq. ft) which can also accommodate cubicles. Wall
Street area - convenient to 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, M, Z
trains. $25 per sq. ft. Contact Shelly Rose
at (212) 349-6009 ext. 292.
SPACE AVAILABLE
5,531 square feet of office space available for immediate
sublease in downtown Brooklyn, 1/2 block from Borough
Hall. Space is fully finished and wired. Includes 11
furnished offices, 6 of which are large enough for double
occupancy; a 20 x 15ft classroom; an 18 x 13ft classroom;
and a 25 x 22ft classroom. Also includes reception
area, nearby restroom, and coffee station. Rent
is $32.57 (annual escalation of 2.7%) per square foot
plus share of real estate tax escalations. Rent includes
electric, heat, a/c, cleaning, elevator, building security
and 24/7 access. Space can be shared with other subtenants.
Convenient to all subway lines and buses.
For further information please call Nitin Pendharkar at 646
546 1956 or email npendharkar@osborneny.org
REAL ESTATE
The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault, at 32 Broadway, seeks subtenant/s:
(a) Private office $800/month- 121.4 SqFt;
(b) Large office, fit five workstations $500/station- 297 SqFt.
Rent includes utilities, electricity, shared conference room and pantry. Price negotiable
for the right organization! Contact Cathleen Cogswell at 212-229-0345.
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