| The Value of Volunteer (Professionals) Recently, Independent Sector released its annual report on the value of volunteer service. The latest value of a volunteer hour is $25.43 on a national average. In Washington, D.C. (where we are located), the value of a volunteer hour is $41.72. If a volunteer contributed 37.5 hours per week, on an annual basis the volunteer would be valued at $49,589 nationally and at $81,354 in D.C. All of us who work for nonprofit organizations, and all of us who volunteer our time for nonprofits, recognize the significant value of the efforts of our volunteers. Volunteer talent and effort is leveraged to enhance our limited financial resources to better serve our clients and communities. We all benefit from the dedicated service of our volunteers. Recruiting, training, coordinating, and managing our volunteers are the skills brought by our nonprofit professionals to ensure we maximize the impact of this incredible resource. Independent Sector estimates that at the current value of volunteer time, our community members are contributing $203.4 billion through their efforts. Such a valuable resource is only possible due to the professionals in all of those nonprofit organizations. Those professionals should be compensated at a level that reflects the importance of our volunteers’ efforts. Lee Sherman, President & CEO
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| Bill Highlight: People CARE ACT In January, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced the People CARE Act to establish a People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission with the goal to restructure means-tested programs in a way that would transition program recipients off of their benefits. This vast piece of legislation would impact “any federal program that is designed to specifically provide assistance or benefits exclusively to low income Americans.” The programs affected would include: the earned income tax credit, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Public Housing Program, Federal Pell Grants, Job Corps, the Social Services Block Grant Program (SSBG), Head Start, and the Community Development Block Grant Program, among many others. A full list of affected programs, as well as exempt programs is provided in the bill text. Read more. Rep. Davidson introduced the People CARE Act with no co-sponsors on January 29, 2019. Since, it has been referred to nine committees and five subcommittees. The legislation is ambitious and looks unlikely to move further. However, NHSA is closely following the issue. To track the progress of H.R. 841, watch out for PolicySource, NHSA’s comprehensive database of legislation and regulations that would impact the human services sector, due to launch in May 2019.
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| Generations United Wants to Give More Grandfamily Scholarships
Generations United's (GU) conference, Bridging the Generations, provides a chance for grandparent caregivers to be heard, connect with other caregivers, and take part in high caliber learning opportunities that empower grandparent caregivers to make changes in their communities when they return home. GU’s $5,000 fundraising goal for grandfamily scholarships is far from the $4 billion that grandparents and other relatives save taxpayers each year by raising children and keeping them out of foster care. GU is asking for your help to reach its grandfamily scholarship goal. Your donation will go directly to support grandfamily caregivers and young people in grandfamilies participation in Generations United's Global Intergenerational Conference from June 12-14 in Portland, OR. "...the [Generations United] Conference...[was] a chance for both [my granddaughter] and I to present. This is one of the best things that have happened to me since parenting the 2nd time. Thank you for giving me/us the chance to be heard." -Helen, Kinship Navigator, Washington State Help give other grandparents the experience Helen had by donating today.
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| Unique Opportunity with CJJR The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) has just released an RFA for the 2019 School-Justice Partnerships and Diversion Pathways Certificate Program. This new field-based version of the training will be held from September 23-27, 2019 and allows a total of seven multi-disciplinary teams, of up to eight people each, from one state to jointly apply to hold the training locally. The selected state cluster will receive the five-day Certificate Program training and a Capstone Year technical assistance (TA) package. The selected cluster of jurisdictions must identify a fiscal agent among them to enter into one contract with CJJR. Funding sources could come from the local counties, a state agency, and/or foundations interested in this area of focus, or some combination thereof. The program will focus on creating a safe and supportive school-climate; addressing exclusionary disciplinary policies; building cross-system partnerships; school-based diversion programs; trauma-informed classrooms; the role of school resource officers; and disrupting school-justice pathways for youth with behavioral health needs. Please email jjreform@georgetown.edu to register and learn more about the program content and application process, and answer any questions you may have. Applications are due by Friday, May 24, 2019.
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Opportunities and Resources
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General Funding - Funding Opportunity Announcement for Shelter Residential Providers for Unaccompanied Children - Deadline May 9 via Grants.gov »
- Encore Fellow – Individuals seeking a high-impact, flexible, time-limited, paid assignment with nonprofits and public agencies, or offering the opportunity to work in a new social-purpose environment should apply. Deadline: Ongoing via Encore.org »
- 12 unique funding opportunities each week via GrantStation Insider »
Webinars - Why We Should Oppose Repealing Payday and Other Loan Protections via Coalition on Human Needs from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET on May 2 »
- Friends and Crushes – The Effects of Friends on Romantic Relationships via The Dibble Institute from 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET on May 8 »
- Moving Your Office Phones to the Cloud via PurchasingPoint and Votacall from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET on May 9 »
- ON DEMAND - Volunteer Perspective: Industry Insights for 2019 via PurchasingPoint and Verified Volunteers Recording »
Events - Elevate: A Virtual Conference on Workforce Trends and Equity May 1-3 »
- APHSA National Health and Human Services Summit in Arlington, VA May 19-22 »
- Essential Conversations on Human Services: 2019 NHSA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC June 11 »
- Bridging the Generations in Portland, OR June 12-14 »
- Age+Action Conference in Washington, DC June 17-20 »
- Community Action Partnership 2019 Annual Convention in Chicago, IL August 28-30 »
- 2019 Risk Summit in Leesburg, VA October 21-22 »
- Upswell 2019 in Chicago, IL November 13-15 »
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Our friends at the FrameWorks Institute recently released "Unleashing the Power of How: An Explanation Declaration" that shows why explanation is important, presents how communicators can benefit from using it, and provides useful tools. Last week’s newsletter offers three evidence-based tools from the publication to help human service organizations effectively integrate explanations into their communications. Explanations explicitly demonstrate how a cause leads to its effect, and therefore impacts how we think about solutions. If we omit the cause of a social challenge, people will default to inaccurate cultural models, or cognitive shortcuts. To take advantage of the way the mind works, and engage people in thinking about explanations, communicators need to craft messages that inspire “thoughtful consideration,” instead of call to mind prevailing “ways of thinking,” through “superficial” explanations. By giving the public enough solid, thought-provoking information, the former strategy allows explanations the potential to fulfill their goal of getting people to think more constructively. They can do this by deepening productive thinking that is shallow, bringing to mind useful but untapped ways of thinking, and addressing cognitive holes.
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Business Collaboration in the Age of Remote Workers Companies are noticing that if they want to be an attractive destination for job seekers, they need to create flexible work environments that prioritize getting work done over spending long hours in the office. Roughly 63% of companies today have some form of remote workers, which isn't surprising. Today’s employees would rather spend 30 minutes catching up on emails than sitting in traffic. With that said, it’s important to make sure that you’re not putting business collaboration on the back burner. For teams to be effective, their individual members need to be aligned and working efficiently towards a common goal - in fact, 86% of employees and execs cite lack of collaboration for workplace failures. Companies now have to strike a pretty difficult balance; create flexible work environments without disrupting communication and collaboration between employees. If you’re able to get this right, you make yourself a more appealing place to work for existing and potential employees - not to mention, you can save some money on office space in the process. Excerpt from Votacall's blog—Read the full story. One of our featured PurchasingPoint vendors, Votacall, offers a variety of cost-effective solutions to enable your in-office and remote staff to collaborate better. Join the webinar on May 9 from 2-3 PM ET to learn more.
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