|
FEATURED ARTICLE
Children NOW releases its
annual California Report Card, the State of the
State's Children.
Children NOW is a non-partisan research and
advocacy organization working to raise children's
well-being to the top of the national policy agenda.
It
has released its annual report card, which may be
helpful to your organization. This report illustrates
how children and families are faring in California. It's
rich and concise with information that your
organization can use to inform policymakers and
grantmakers on the status of families in the state.
This must-read for family-serving organizations in
California contains information that can be tied to the
work that your organization does to improve family
well-being. It provides information on indicators such
as employment income, food security, child
maltreatment and foster care. In addition, it cites
recommendations to reduce child poverty in
California; monitor the implementation of new child
welfare and foster care legislation; and further
strengthen supports for children in foster care. To read full Report
Card...
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CFRA is off to an exciting start in 2007! The
Legislature is back in session with 43 new members
(one of the largest turnovers due to term limits), the
Governor was inaugurated for his second term on
January 5, he will present his State of the State
today, and release his proposed budget tomorrow,
January 10. We know that health coverage for all is
his major policy agenda. Much debate and
speculation is already occurring - Who will pay? What
are the implications for families? Will it hurt or help
families that are already struggling? Will it penalize
financially fragile families? Will it contribute to family
stability and financial sustainability? However, this is
only the beginning of the debate. It's the starting
point that is expected to dominate discussions in the
Legislature in the next several months before the May
budget revisions and the final June budget deadline.
CFRA is prepared to respond. We will be reviewing
the Governor's budget with our policy consultant and
we will issue a press release to the media, along with
a legislative update to you, our members. We will
continue to update you regularly. Watch your email!
We're poised and ready to represent your interests
and work to create strong families and
communities.
Thank you!
Leticia Alejandrez, Executive
Director
COMING SOON:
- February-March 2007 - CFRA in
partnership with
the
California Budget Project will conduct a series of
regional training workshops to increase the
capacity of CFRA's membership to understand the
budget and legislative processes and the implications
for family-strengthening programs. Space
is limited, but CFRA members will receive priority
registration. More information coming soon.
- Spring 2007 - CFRA will provide each
member with a policy kit that will include local and
state representative information, how to build
relationships with key
policymakers and when and how to host site visits
with legislators and local officials. Plus much more!
|
|
| |
CFRA is a statewide membership association of
organizations and individuals working to build vibrant
communities that put children and families first.
Founded in 2005, CFRA advocates for policies,
programs and resources that help families and
communities to thrive and succeed.
|
| |
| |
| |
| RESOURCES |
| |
The James Irvine Foundation invites nominations for
the 2007 James Irvine Foundation Leadership
Awards which recognize Californians who are
advancing
innovative and effective solutions to significant
issues for the state's future. The awards are
designed to:
- Recognize effective leaders
- Advance their work through financial support and
greater visibility
- Educate policymakers and others about promising
approaches to important state issues
Award recipients will each receive $125,000 in
flexible support for their work to benefit the people of
California. Nominations are due by January 19,
2007. For
more information...
Work-Plus: Boosting the Bottom Line for
Low-Wage Working Parents is a new policy
brief
from the National Assembly's Family Strengthening
Policy Center. It presents a "work-plus" strategy of
employment-focused services and work supports that
help low-wage parents secure and keep good jobs
and gain economic independence. Read full brief...
The Legislative Analyst Office has just
released their annual Cal Fact's which
provides snapshots of information that provide you
with an overview of public finance and
program trends in the state. Family resource centers
and family-strengthening organizations can use this
information as a resource to illustrate the benefits
and potential of their services when developing
funding strategies and grant applications.Read full report...
Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency
(CFESS), a project of the National Economic
Development and Law Center (NEDLC), is a statewide
advocacy network committed to advancing policies
and
programs that allow California families to move out of
poverty and toward economic self-sufficiency. CFESS
has a wealth of resource information useful to family
resource centers
and family-strengthening organizations, including a
self-sufficiency calculator and research on economic
self-sufficiency in California. To
access these resources...
The Children's Network of Solano County has
an
innovative way to generate support for their
organization. They have partnered with Amazon.com
who will contribute up to 8% of the purchase price of
anything ordered if ordered from this link. Take
advantage of post-holiday sales and support The
Children's Network of Solano County at the same time!
|
| |
For more resource information... |
| |
| NEWS & EVENTS |
| |
CFRA is proud to announce that it has
received a two-year grant from The California
Endowment. This
grant will be used to strengthen the capacity for
integration of
mental health resources into family resource
centers in California. CFRA will select 3-5 pilot sites
with which to work to increase
access to mental
health services to the communities that they serve.
If you have an exemplary mental health program and
would like to participate in this pilot program, please
contact us. To read grant
outcomes...
Save the date...
January 20 & 27 The Bay Area
Leadership Action Network invites you to the
Leadership in Education 2007: PARENT
WORKSHOP
SERIES. This interactive two-part training for
parents and guardians working to support parent
leadership in public education will take place on two
Saturdays, January 20 and January
27, 2007. Workshops include Building Our
Knowledge and Taking Action
Together. Registration deadline is
January 12, 2007.
For more information, please call (510) 444-7526 or
email michelle@parentactionnet.org.
January 18 - 2007 CA Working Families Policy
Summit Leading advocates present their priority
proposals at the start of the legislative session.
Panels will focus on health access, welfare, nutrition,
food stamps, child support, child care, after-school
care, preschool, dental health, child welfare and work
place issues. For
registration information...
January 30 - The California Department of
Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention
along with the County Welfare Directors Association
of California are hosting a Parent Leadership
Conference. This will be an opportunity for
parents and members of both the public and private
sector to join together to build partnerships to
strengthen children and family services programs in
California. For more information...
|
| |
For more News & Events... |
| |
|
