Focus Group on Reducing Reporting Burdens

HSLC is invited to participate in a

Focus Group Discussion with American Institutes for Research
On Reducing our Reporting Burdens

Tuesday, August 17, 2010
2:00 – 4:00 PM
Rosamond Gifford Room at United Way

Please see the e-mail below for an overview of the project, and e-mail me at rbregman@verahouse.org if you can attend and/or if you have thoughts on this issue that you would like considered.
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Hello Ms. Bregman,

I am a member of the team from the American Institutes for Research that is partnering with Say Yes to Education in Syracuse. I am leading my organization’s technical assistance activities. In June I met with Ann Rooney and two other Onondaga County personnel as well as representatives from United Way, Central New York Community Foundation, and the Gifford Foundation. We discussed ways in which we could work together to streamline our program review processes in order to reduce the reporting burden of Syracuse community-based organizations.

My organization is currently in the process of reviewing the RFPs and program monitoring/review tools used by each of these funding agencies to verify the feasibility of developing a central data collection mechanism and/or program review process that would be mutually beneficial to funders and funding recipients alike. However, we would like a better understanding of current program review processes from the perspective of the CBOs. It was suggested that I contact you because of your involvement with the Human Services Leadership Council.

I am writing to see if you might be willing to help me schedule and/or facilitate a focus group (or phone conference) of CBO personnel. The goal of this focus group would be to discuss: 1) what data and document requests organization’s such as yours receive from funders and monitoring organizations, and 2) which of these are duplicative and/or most burdensome. I would also like to use this focus group as an opportunity to solicit thoughts about CBO capacity building needs. Various funders have suggested that local programs could use assistance in a number of areas including program evaluation, outcome measurement, and data management. My organization would like to provide some of this assistance but would like to hear from the CBOs first to better understand your needs and preferences so that we can design support accordingly.

Please let me know if you are willing and able to provide any assistance. I look forward to hearing from you,

Lauren Banks Amos
Education, Human Development and the Workforce
American Institutes for Research
1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202.403.5902 Phone
202.403.5917 Direct
202.403.6783 Fax
http://www.air.org/

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2010 Michael H. Urbach, CPA, Community Builder's Award

Sponsored by the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON) and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA)

In recognition of the important role, talents and leadership that a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York State can provide as a board member for community-based charities, NYCON and NYSSCPA are pleased to announce the 7th Annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA, Community Builder's Award.

The award is named in honor of the late Michael H. Urbach, CPA, former partner of Urbach, Kahn and Werlin, former NYS Commissioner of Tax and Finance and Chair of the State Employees federated Appeal, and board leader of a number of charities.


Award Criteria & Submission
Candidates must:

• Be a CPA in good standing and a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants;
• Have served as an Officer on at least 3 different charitable 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofits with service as President/Chair at least once;
• Have demonstrated exemplary board leadership resulting in significant and positive organizational impact including, but not limited to, financial turn-around, growth, and/or organizational re-structuring; and
• Preference will be given to nominees whose board leadership accomplishments have been with community-based charities.

Deadline - August 30th, 2010
Nominations addressing the candidate's qualifications must be submitted in writing and received by August 30th, 2010. Nominators are strongly encouraged to include letters of support from the charities who have benefited from the candidate's volunteer leadership.

Send six (6) packets of nomination materials to:
Urbach Community Builder's Award Committee
New York Council of Nonprofits
272 Broadway
Albany NY 12204

Announcement & Presentation
The 2010 award will be formally presented at the Annual Member Meeting of NYCON slated for the afternoon of September 30th at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York.

The Luncheon will take place during CAMP FINANCE, a two-day retreat that provides the very best in knowledge and skill development sessions for fiscal and management staff, as well as board members. New this year, it has expanded to include the popular "Money for Mission" tracks that will focus on fundraising, marketing, social media, grant making (both government and philanthropic) and more!

In honor of the late Harold Mandel, a certified public accountant who worked for Urbach, Kahn & Werlin in Albany, NY and retired in West Palm Beach, FL, the 2010 Urbach Honoree has the privilege to award three (3) nonprofit executives of their choice Camp Finance scholarships in Hal's name. In 2009, Mr. Mandel's family accepted a posthumous Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builder's Award in his tribute.

A Surplus of Surplus? Excellus reserve fund near $1 billion as consumer rates rise

The Syracuse Post-Standard offered more scrutiny and a follow up to their recent coverage on the reserve fund Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is holding. Read their opinion piece here.

Free Training for Nonprofits on Public Benefits

Dear Colleague-

The NYS Community Action Association is pleased to announce the training schedule for FREE training for nonprofits to help raise awareness of the range of public benefits available to struggling New Yorkers. This training series is being done in partnership with the Empire Justice Center, Nutritution Consortium of NYS, Chautauqua Opportunities, and Single Stop USA.
NYSCAA recently received a grant from the NYS Department of State to develop this day-long training to familiarize staff on the range of public benefits available to struggling families as well as the online tool http://www.mybenefits.ny.gov/, developed by the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. The funding for this project comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through the Community Services Block Grant.

We are pleased to say the training launched this week and we have 30+ trainings being held statewide over the next 11 weeks. We hope you will pass this along to your staff, partners, members, colleagues and encourage them to attend. We hope to train 1,000 nonprofit staff over the next 2.5 months which is a big target to hit.

The training is FREE, would be useful for any staff that works with customers, and will run 9:30-4:30 in most places and in some locations will go 10:00-5:00 with a pizza lunch provided. All participants will receive a training binder that includes the Helping Hands Tool Kit. To download a one-page flyer for the training, go to http://www.nyscommunityaction.org/FirstPageNewsArticles/2010/BnefitBenefitsEnrollmentflier.pdf. Advanced topic webinars will be offered as well and we will let you know when they are scheduled.

We do ask folks pre-register; however, if you have a significant # attending, you can send me the list via email to dharlow@nyscommunityaction.org and we can register the group.

The schedule put in place thus far is as follows (click here for more info http://www.nyscommunityaction.org/events.cfm):

Upstate and Long Island (more to come)
· July 27 Benefits Enrollment Training, Utica
· July 27 Benefits Enrollment Training, Rochester
· July 29 Benefits Enrollment Training, Central Islip
· July 29 Benefits Enrollment Training, Dunkirk
· July 30 Benefits Enrollment Training, Fort Edward
· August 2 Benefits Enrollment Training, Syracuse
· August 3 Benefits Enrollment Training, Watertown
· August 4 Benefits Enrollment Training, Corning
· August 4 Benefits Enrollment Training, Patchogue
· August 5 Benefits Enrollment Training, Binghamton
· August 5 Benefits Enrollment Training, Central Islip
· August 13 Benefits Enrollment Training, Fonda
· August 27 Benefits Enrollment Training, Elmsford
· September 2 Benefits Enrollment Training, Batavia
· September 10 Benefits Enrollment Training, Salamanca
· September 13 Benefits Enrollment Training, Newburgh

New York City (more to come)
· July 22 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC
· July 29 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC
· July 30 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC
· August 5 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 8/5/10
· August 6 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC
· August 12 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 8/12/10
· August 13 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC 8/13/10
· August 27 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 8/27/10
· September 2 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 9/2/10
· September 3 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 9/3/10
· September 16 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 9/16/10
· September 17 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 9/17/10
· September 23 Benefits Enrollment Training, NYC, 9/23/10

The schedule is still not fully in place so keep an eye on http://www.nyscommunityaction.org/events.cfm for an updated calendar.

Thank you to our partners Empire Justice Center, Chautauqua Opportunities, Nutrition Consortium, and Single Stop (NYC) who have assisted in the development of curriculum and are conducting training across the state!

We hope these sessions appeal to you and your staff. Certificates will be provided to attendees for their records.

Thank you,

Denise

Denise Harlow, CEO
New York State Community Action Association, Inc.
2 Charles Blvd.
Guilderland, NY 12084
518-690-0491, ext. 24
FAX 518-690-0498
dharlow@nyscommunityaction.org
www.twitter.com/nyscaa

Report: Excellus, other health insurers may be putting too much money into surpluses

http://www.syracuse.com/ reported that while raising customer rates, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield may be setting aside more money than necessary to protect against potential financial losses, according to a report released today by Consumers Union.

The report said state insurance commissioners looking to curb rate increases should scrutinize the amount of surplus money amassed by nonprofit BlueCross BlueShield plans like Excellus.

Surplus is the excess of an insurance company’s assets over liabilities, which insurers set aside to protect the company and its members from financial losses. Excellus had $965.1 million in surplus at the end of 2009. Its surplus fund grew as high as $1.18 billion in 2007.

The report by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, looked at 10 BlueCross BlueShield plans nationwide and found seven of them held more than three times the amount of minimum surplus recommended by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

“Consumers are struggling to afford health insurance and BlueCross BlueShield plans have been amassing a lot of surplus over the last 10 years as rates have gone up,” said Lauren Sobel, senior attorney with Consumers Union. “The two should be considered together.” Read more here.

Birthiversary: An Alcohol Policy Celebration August 4th

You are invited to:
Birthiversary
an alcohol policy celebration
Ten years ago this August, the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance was formed in Syracuse, NY. Join us as we celebrate their accomplishments and also kick off our statewide coalition – the New York Alcohol Policy Alliance.

When
August 4, 2010
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Where
Renaissance Syracuse Hotel
701 East Genesee Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
Parking
Free on-site garage parking

Cost
Free with registration

Schedule
6:00 - 6:30
Antipasto/Hors d'Oeuvres Pre-Reception
6:30 - 8:30
Main Program
8:30 - 9:00
Coffee & Cake Post-Reception

Online registration, map, driving directions, etc. are available at event website via:
http://alcoholpolicy.org/bv

Guest Speakers:
Derek Rutherford
Chairperson, Global Alcohol Policy Alliance
Chairperson, Institute of Alcohol Studies (London, UK)

David Jernigan
Director, Center on Alcohol Marketing & Youth
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

T. Michele Caliva
President, New York State Public Health Association

Robert J. Lindsey
President & CEO, National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD)

Contact: Robert Pezzolesi  315-263-9522  rsp@alcoholpolicy.org

Celebrating 20 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

ADA March

9:15 - 9:30 AM—Assemble at ARISE
(635 James Street, Syracuse)

10:00 - 11:00 AM—March to Oncenter
(800 South State Street, Syracuse)

11:15 AM—Proclamation of July as Disabilities Awareness Month by
Congressman Dan Maffei and other local, state, and federal officials.
Entertainment to follow!

Don’t miss the exhibit featuring
artists with disabilities!
July 1 - 30, 2010: The Galleries,
Downtown Syracuse
Monday, July 26, 2010

Event sponsored by the ADA Committee/Exceptional Artworks:
ARISE, Enable, Arc of Onondaga, AURORA of CNY, CNYDSO, Disabled in Action, Elmcrest, Exceptional Family Resources, and Transitional Living Services
For Information/accommodations: Sally Johnston at (315) 410-3317

In case of rain, meet at Oncenter: 11AM
Free light refreshments!
Interpreter Provided!