From: http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/320_publication.pdf

Out-of-school time (OST) programs represent a vital opportunity and resource for learning and development for children and youth. There is growing recognition that OST is important not just for elementary school students, whose parents need supervision for their children

when they are not in school, but also for middle and high school youth, whose participation in OST programs can help keep them connected to positive role models and engaged in their education at a time when many are beginning to disengage from schools.

More information: http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/320_publication.pdf

Today is the LAST DAY to get BAN THE BOX PASSED! We need YOU and 5 frreinds TO CALL NOW.

HB 5207 An Act Concerning Criminal Background Check for Perspective State Employees requires state employers to offer employment based on qualifications prior to inquiring past criminal convictions.

"I want you SENATOR to VOTE YES! This bill is IMPORTANT TO ME & MY FAMILY."

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For more information contact

LaResse Harvey, BSW - Policy Director

A Better Way Foundation

860-270-9585

We are seeking 2-3 individuals to serve as Parent-Teacher Liaisons on a grant-funded

program being run in collaboration with the New Haven Public Schools. At least one bilingual

English/Spanish speaker will be required. Liaisons work as part of a team on an initiative

working with preschools and families of four-year-olds in New Haven through the Parent-

Teacher Connection Program (P-TCP).

Liaisons work together to conduct classroom observations, teacher meetings, and home

visits. Training, oversight, and administrative aspects of the work are coordinated through a

centralized office at Gesell Institute on Prospect Street in New Haven, but the majority of the

work is in the field, with parents, teachers, and children at three early childhood locations in

New Haven.

Liaisons are also expected to write case summaries, prepare for home visits or teacher

meetings independently, attend ongoing training and regular team meetings, and enter data

into SPSS. An initial on-site program training will be provided and paid, and will likely span at

least one full working day.

Pending contract and final budget approval, these positions will be funded through June 2011.

These part-time positions are ideal for graduate students or community members seeking 10-

30 hours per week of an applied research experience.

Job requirements

Skills and abilities for this work include excellent interpersonal and communication skills;

exceptional interviewing and telephone skills; meticulous organizational skills; persistence;

and the ability to multi-task, troubleshoot, and work well both independently and on a team.

Spanish language skills are a major plus. Because this position requires travel, a valid driver’s

license and a reliable vehicle available for regular use is preferred, though most locations

should be accessible by public transportation.

Hours, compensation, and benefits

Some evening and weekend hours will be necessary, but variable based on the schedules

and needs of program participants. Hired as hourly employees, liaisons may work between 10

and 30 hours per week, with the potential for more or less some weeks. For the most part,

liaisons set their own hours, scheduling visits directly with teachers and parents around

mutual availability. Pay rates range between $13 and $17 per hour, commensurate with skills

and experience. Fringe benefits are not available for these positions. Mileage for home visits

is reimbursed; the office environment is excellent and the work rewarding; and training,

preparation, and travel time for classroom and home visits is paid.

For more information or to apply for this position

Please send an e-mail inquiry with subject line “P-TCP Liaison Position” and current resumé

attached to Marina Pappas, Project Coordinator for the P-TCP. Applications will be reviewed

as received and interviews will be scheduled with the most qualified candidates in late April or

early May. Anticipated start dates will be in mid May or early June.

To download a printable pdf version of this job posting, please click here.

Source: New Haven Health Equity Alliance http://www.healthequityalliance.us/

1. Nurturing and attachment- Building close bonds with their children helps parents better understand, respond to and talk with their children.
2. Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development - Parents who learn
   what to look for at each age of development can help their children reach their full potential.
3. Parental strength and problem solving skills - Recognizing the signs of stress and learning ways to solve problems build their ability to cope.
4. Social connections - Parents with a large extended family, a network of friends and neighbors have better support in times of need.
5. Concrete support for parents- Parents and caregivers who have access to housing, food and other necessary support and services that help them meet their basic needs, can better focus on their role as parents.

Think Creative Group

Do Good. Think Big.
Enter our non-profit contest for online branding

You’re overwhelmed, understaffed and have a non-existent budget. You need to communicate with your target audience why they should help support you. Why they should volunteer, donate and be part of your cause. But where do you start? How do you get in front of them with an easy to manage communications plan?

That’s where we come in.

We love non-profits. And we love Connecticut. So we figured, why not help out a non-profit in Connecticut! We are donating our online branding expertise to help your cause develop a strong online strategy, from social media, to blogs, to emarketing.

Tell us about your non-profit organization [remember, your non-profit/charity must be 501©(3) organization]. What makes you so special? How do you “do good” and why you should be chosen?Remember…tell us a good story about your cause because the public will be reading your story and voting to determine the finalists. So you don’t need to just tug at our heartstrings…you need to tug at everyone’s!

How do you win? Simple.

1. You submit your non-profit’s story to our contest.
2. Tell your existing friends, supporters and fanbase to vote for you.
3. Get the most votes to be one of the top 5 finalists.
4. Our panel of judges will make the final selection.

More info here.

see flier for more details and the entry form: CAYS 2010 Art Contest Flier.pdf

Seeking 10-15 year old artists to create an original, creative, sports-themed logo for CAYS.

Guidelines:

You must be between the ages of 10 to 15

The design must be hand-drawn and hand-colored

(Sorry, no computer-generated or colored images!)

The design will be judged by:

Originality

Creativity

How well it represents the organization

DEADLINE: April 30, 2010

Community Alliance for Youth Sports seeks to help young people have the opportunity to participate in sports by aiding through financial scholarships.

http://southernct.edu/pathways/links/

The PAcE scholarship program is for students studying in

• Math
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Earth Science
• Computer Science
  

Educators can sign up for classroom visits, math/science presentations and other

resources at the CRISP Education and Outreach site.

PAcE is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

http://southernct.edu/pathways/links/

Register at www.techsoup.org for more information and details.

This refurbished desktop computer has a Pentium 4 processor, the Windows XP Professional operating system, and the Microsoft Office 2003 Standard office suite. The keyboard and mouse are new, not refurbished. A monitor is not included. Monitors must be obtained separately, either from RCI or from other sources.

The computer will meet or exceed these specifications:

Processor speed:

2.8 GHz to 3.0 GHz

RAM:

minimum of 512 MB

Hard disk:

minimum of 40 GB

Optical disk drive:

CD-ROM

Input devices:

keyboard with numeric keypad and mouse

Power cord:

standard

Interface ports:

Ethernet, USB (multiple), parallel

The operating system and Office 2003 Standard are preinstalled by the refurbisher.

This computer is covered by a 90-day warranty from the refurbisher.

Register at www.techsoup.org for more information and details.

Continue Reading Here

Temporary position (20 to 25 hours per week)
Duration: April through October 2010

OBJECTIVE: To assist The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in the comprehensive gathering and organization of detailed data on nonprofit organizations in the Foundation’s twenty town service area.

Job Requirements:
The position requires training and interviewing staff, directors and board members of nonprofits; assessing, analyzing and validating information; entering data and serving as the primary point of contact for nonprofit partners. This will require managing daily projects, ongoing communication with nonprofits to answer questions and to promote the effective use and implementation of this product.

The Skills Required:
Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office, desktop publishing, and database management concepts. Excellent interpersonal skills are required. Deep knowledge of nonprofit sector essential. In addition, there must be a demonstrated capacity for strong writing skills, problem solving and effectiveness with nonprofit management. A Bachelor’s degree is required.

Inquiries with respect to this opportunity should be directed to:

Leon Bailey
Vice President, Human Resources
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
70 Audubon Street
New Haven, CT 06510
203-777-7094
lbailey@cfgnh.org

The application deadline is Friday, April 9th, 2010.

Nonprofit Organizations Respond to Form 990's New Governance Questions

For more information on the best practices in nonprofit management and governance described in the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector®, click here.

To order copies of the Standards for Excellence® code, click here. Discounts are available for members and those who order in bulk.

Visit the Standards for Excellence Institute® Blog>>

Community Mediation, Inc. needs to recruit two African American adults and two Spanish speaking bilingual adults to take the upcoming Facilitator Training April 12, 13, 24, from 5pm to 9pm. Collaborating with the Housing Authority, those having taken the training will provide facilitated dialogues for parents at two housing sites (Quinnipiac Terrace and Village West). A range of concerns will be addressed, including nurturing parenting, financial management, school-related advocacy, and health care to name a few.

With the basic facts and an opportunity to share their struggles and concerns about parenting, these mothers and fathers will have a better understanding of the needs and abilities of their children; an opportunity to feel heard and create connections that can become future support systems; and the skills to act on the behalf of their children and themselves.

This initiative is not yet funded, so trained individuals may be called upon for other dialogues. Pending funding the timeline would be (all or part of) a commitment of once or twice a month on a weeknight from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. beginning in July/August of 2010 and ending July/August of 2012.

If you are interested in putting your leadership skills to work in the community, please contact Susan Spight, Community Mediation, Inc., at skspight@gmail.com to find out more information. Your help is appreciated. Thank you.

Another Social Service Agency Hit By Budget Bomb - Courant.com http://shar.es/mWzlb

Hartford Courant

Helen Ubiñas

March 18, 2010

I probably should have done what a colleague suggested and asked Dr.Mark Mitchell if he had an inhaler handy.

But I figured it was best to just break the bad news to him.

"You're not getting the money," I told the president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

"Oh my God," Mitchell said after a long moment of stunned silence. "I don't know what we're going to do."

A day earlier, Mitchell and I talked about a $130,000 grant for an asthma outreach and education program which — after surviving a line-item veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell — was approved by the legislature in August.

Seven months later, this week, they were still waiting for the money.

Figuring they were just another organization whose funds were stuck in political limbo, I made a few calls. Doug Whiting, spokesman for House Speaker Christopher Donovan, said the holdup seemed to be with the
state Department of Public Health, which administers the contract. Calls to DPH went nowhere fast, but Mitchell said they told him the funds were stalled at Rell's budget office.

And then late in the day Wednesday, the Office of Policy and Management finally dropped the bomb.

"We're denying the contract," OPM spokesman Jeffrey Beckham told me.

And then I got a crash course in Rell budgeting that boiled down to: Don't blame the governor. Not her fault.

The legislature may have approved funds for programs like these, Beckham said. But in the same budget, they demanded $95 million in cuts in non-direct-care contracts.

OK, but why did they leave an organization twisting in the wind for seven months before finally pulling the plug on the very day a reporter called about the long overdue money? That's seven months the coalition could have used to find another source of funding.

And why was I the one breaking the news to the poor guy?

Beckham said OPM received the contract in late January. He also said OPM advised state agencies months ago that the budget required administrative savings that would impact their own operations as well
as contracts that they administer. Apparently DPH forgot to tell the coalition that.

Continuing my Messenger of Doom duties, I called the speaker's spokesperson back. Whiting insisted the governor had other options. He said they are now questioning whether she has the authority to cut the
funds.

That's all fine and good. But meanwhile, the coalition is left reeling, and once again it's the poor and vulnerable paying the price. Asthma is a major health crisis in Connecticut — especially in urban areas.

It's the leading cause of kids missing school and their parents missing work, Mitchell said. And yes, I know — there are programs that work with people already seeking care. But this program targets low-income people, communities of color, people on Medicaid and the uninsured with a preventive program that wait for it saves money. And since this is all about money, consider this:

Millions in public money is spent each year in hospitalization and emergency room costs to treat asthma. In Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, the number of hospitalization and emergency room visits are two to three times higher than the state average.

And here's the kicker, Mitchell said: If the coalition's outreach program reduces emergency room visits by only one-half of 1 percent, it will have saved the state the cost of the program.

Or put another way: For about what the state pays for a single deputy commissioner, they could improve the health and lives of thousands of its residents.

But then, this isn't just about one program. The coalition may now have to close its doors. In addition to outreach, the money also covers a third of the operating budget for a 12-year-old organization that helped pass Connecticut's first environmental justice law.

After composing himself, Mitchell called me back. "We're very shocked,'" he said. "We really believe we're saving the state money and we just don't understand." They're not the only ones.

Helen Ubiñas' column appears on Thursdays and Sundays. Read her blog at courant.com/helen.

Courant.com http://shar.es/mWzlb

The Executive Director must be a visionary and engaging leader, an experienced manager, and deeply committed to young people’s growth and development. YRM is a small, lean organization where all staff play a direct, hands-on role. The Executive Director must excel at balancing multiple tasks, including internal management of the staff and programs, external relationships with key stakeholders, collaborators, and allies, and the demands of working in a fluid, fast-paced youth-centered environment. The Executive Director will be responsible for ensuring that the organization is fiscally and programmatically sound, and must work to strategically advance YRM’s purpose and goals.

This is a full-time salaried position with benefits.

The Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate will posses business and financial management skills; youth development, criminal justice and education policy expertise; and experience leading and managing staff. The ideal candidate will also have a demonstrated commitment to social justice efforts. In addition, the ideal candidate will be:

• Familiar with youth media production, specifically as it relates to issues impacting young people in urban settings;

• Experienced in managing, developing, and leading youth programs that integrate youth development theory, and principles of youth organizing;

• Knowledgeable of the New Haven community, including specific policies and trends impacting youth in the educational and juvenile justice systems.

Responsibilities:

The Executive Director is responsible for:

• Supervising the organization’s staff and overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of programming that advances vision and mission;

• Fostering and maintaining relationships with partner agencies, local government, educational and community organizations, and relevant partners that advance the mission of YRM;

• Maintaining a positive and strong organizational culture that prioritizes young people and helps attract and retain creative, competent, and committed staff;

• Working in partnership with the board of directors to address critical organizational needs and strategic priorities;

• Fundraising, including cultivating individual donors, obtaining support from foundations, and grant writing;

• Managing the organization’s finances and ensuring the organization maintains sound business practices and legal compliance

To Apply:

Submit a cover letter and resume, including employment history, professional qualifications, professional memberships, salary requirements, and references to Fahd Vahidy at yrmedsearch@gmail.com with Executive Director of Youth Rights Media in the subject heading or by mail to:

Youth Rights Media

c/o Public Allies CT

85 Willow Street, Building A, Suite 2-3

New Haven, CT 06511

Applications must be submitted by April 23, 2010.

Youth Rights Media is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate against any individual on account of that individual's sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Youth Rights Media discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

It has happen too many of us, you have a document -- picture(s) or a spreadsheet you would like to share over email and come to find out that the file(s) are too big and can not be emailed or they can not be downloading because of the size of the file(s).

Two solutions:

http://www.yousendit.com/ - Send, receive & track files up to 2GigaBytes

http://docs.google.com allows you to share documents; they can be viewed and edited without downloading them. Documents can be made open to the world or just viewed by people you select.

Resources contribute by Christina Ciociola and Tricia Caldwell of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

If you have a resource that you have found helpful post it. If enough people are interested we can start a group or a discussion just for useful resources for non-profits. Just let us know what YOU can contribute and what YOU need.

It sounds corny but it is true: there is a U in GNH CommUnity.