National Family Week is November 23-29, 2008!

Alliance for Children and Families’ member organizations and partners will again host local observances during National Family Week and involve families, residents, area leaders, and policy makers in various activities such as community forums, resource fairs, volunteer projects, seminars, and awards programs.

For more information, resources, and materials on National Family Week, please visit www.nationalfamilyweek.org. For information about the Alliance for Children and Families visit www.alliance1.org.

News and Resources

Policymaking and the New President

Urban Institute experts offer their advice on evidence-based policymaking and the domestic issues ahead for President Obama and the 111th Congress. Issues discussed include: community service, tax priorities, rental housing, ex-offenders and more. Click here. Also see CWLA’s  transition briefing document to President-Elect Obama, Hope for America's Children, Youth, and Families.

Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Level in Over 14 Years

The October jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics underscored how quickly the economy is unraveling, with unemployment jumping to 6.5%. Payroll employment declined for the 10th month in a row, dropping by another 240,000 in October alone, according to a new report from BLS. Over the past 18 months, 3.3 million workers have been added to the jobless rolls, and there are currently 10.1 million unemployed workers in this country.  The unemployment rate rose from 6.1% in September to 6.5% in October, its highest rate since March 1994. Underemployment, a more comprehensive measure of the extent of labor market weakness, rose to 11.8%, its highest level in over 14 years.  (Economic Policy Institute). To read more..

New President... New Direction for Teens and Young Families?
President-Elect Barack Obama has shown opposition to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and support for investing in comprehensive sexuality education and teen pregnancy prevention. For more information on Obama’s records click here.

Low-Income Workers and Families are Especially Vulnerable in Recession

In the past few months, the collapse of financial markets, a credit crunch, and tumbling consumer confidence have pushed what was already a weak economy into a full-out recession. Economists predict that this recession will be longer and more severe than any the United States has faced in recent decades. America needs more than another stimulus package aimed at temporarily boosting consumer demand. We must shore up our tattered safety net and extend a helping hand to those who are most vulnerable in this period of uncertainty and distress. To read more of CLASP’s new report Beyond Stimulus: Shoring Up the Safety Net, Securing the American Dream, click here

Possibilities and Challenges to Good Jobs for High School Dropouts

This paper from the Center for American Progress looks at strategies for connecting high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24 to pathways to postsecondary credentials that have value in the labor market. The paper highlights examples of innovations in policy, program delivery, pedagogy in adult education, youth development and dropout recovery, and postsecondary education. Converting this raw talent into skilled workers with the credentials and mastery for the 21st-century economy will require considerable rethinking of how our secondary, postsecondary, work­force, adult education, youth development, and youth recovery systems work in tandem to build the supports and create the pathways at some scale to bring these youth back into the education and labor market mainstream. To read more..

Nearly a Third of Families Fall Short of the Basic Standard of Living

The need for stimulus is especially important to individuals who are struggling to make ends meet. A new paper from the Economic Policy Institute examines how much a family needs to cover basic standard of living costs. EPI found that nationwide, working families with two parents and two children need $48,778 to meet the family budget. Young families, minority families, and families with lower degrees of education all face greater difficulties in meeting these economic benchmarks. Furthermore "over three times as many families fall below family budget thresholds as fall below the official poverty line." The article accompanies the updating of EPI's popular Family Budget Calculator, which will calculate the income required to cover basic needs by families of various sizes in 600 cities and regions across the United States. Click here.

Economic Crisis Updates

NeighborWorks America has been posting regular updates on two major pieces of legislation stemming from the foreclosure crisis.  See updates on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 here. NeighborWorks summaries of provisions in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 can be found here.

Confirmed Faculty for the Civic Sector Leadership Fellows Program

Thirteen top-flight faculty have been recruited for the Civic Sector Leadership Fellows Program March 22-27,2009, promising a stellar learning experience for attendees. “Experience” is the operative word to describe what will take place. To read a snapshot of the level of expertise that will be available to participants in the program click here. For more information on the program and to download a nomination packet, go to www.civicsectorleaders.org or contact Judy Leaver, Program Coordinator at jleaver@nassembly.org.

Recommended Reading List

Listed below are books of relevance to the nonprofit human service sector that come highly recommended by colleagues.  Those that you are interested in can be purchased through Amazon.com.

Hold your computer mouse over the book cover to learn more about that title.

Click on the image to be directed to Amazon.com where you can read more about the book, including price and reviews, as well as purchase the title.