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Middle managers training track set for December conference

    A training track is planned for middle managers during the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) Winter Conference scheduled for Dec. 5-7 at the Doubletree at Warren Place in Tulsa.

    For registration information, contact the OKACAA office at 405-524-4124.

    Loree Crouse, Human Resources Director at Blue Valley Community Action in Fairbury, Nebraska, opens with a presentation entitled “Motivation Strategies for Middle Managers.” This session focuses on the special challenges of providing leadership to staff while also providing direct client services.

    “Problem Solving Strategies for Middle Managers” will be an open forum to “air and share” challenges faced daily in supervisory duties.

    A highly interactive session that targets “gray areas” at work will be the focus on a session on “Ethics in the Workplace.”

    “Assertive Skills for Middle Managers” will offer tips for being successfully assertive.

    Other conference tracks are designed for Head Start, housing, board members and outreach staff.

    Housing staff can attend sessions on lead-based paint and a weatherization public hearing conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

    Linda Reasoner from BHM and Tom Martindale from DSQIC will present sessions on “Outcomes” for Head Start staff.

    Board members will get suggestions on how to lobby legislators and learn about the “America’s Promise” program and how to interpret financial statements.

    Other sessions include “Emergency Preparedness”, “Earned Income Tax Credit Training”, and “Designing the Perfect Outreach Job.”

    Head Start parents can attend a session entitled “Holiday Make It - Take It” which is a craft program.

    Garcia Tarver will present on “OHFA Owner Occupied Rehab.” Sessions are also planned on ROMA.

   A reception is planned for Dec. 6 with food and musical entertainment.

Agencies receive grants from HUD

   Three Oklahoma Community Action Agencies will share in over $750 million in housing assistance for low-income elderly and people with disabilities from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

    KI BOIS Community Action will receive a $703,700 capital advance and $128,500 rental subsidy to build a ten unit independent living apartments for very low income elderly in Heavener.

    KI BOIS is also slated to receive the same amount to build ten units in Stigler.

    Big Five Community Services will receive nearly $1.4 million in a capital advance and $249,500 for a five year rental subsidy to construct 20 one-bedroom units in a one-story independent living facility in Marietta.

    Big Five is also slated to receive $1,249,500 in a capital advance and $224,500 in rental subsidy to build an independent living project of 18 housing units for very low income persons with developmental disabilities in Ada.

    Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency will receive $1,527,200 in a capital advance and $282,500 rental subsidy to build a 22 unit independent living project in Norman for very low income persons with chronic mental illness.

    Capital advances is money that covers the cost of developing the housing. It does not need to be repaid as long as the housing is available for at least 40 years for the qualified clients. Project rental assistance is money that goes to the CAA to cover the difference between residents’ contribution toward rent and the cost of operating the project.

CCAP designation awarded to five

   Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP) designations have been awarded to five Oklahomans. They were recognized during the National Association of Community Action Agencies conference in Kansas City.

    Completing the process to become a CCAP were:

•   Jere Bilodeau, Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency

•   Brent Morey, Community Action Development Corporation

•   Virginia Spencer, Great Plains Improvement Foundation

•   Kelly Thomas, Little Dixie Community Action Agency

•   Linda Tarpley, Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group

    The CCAP certification is an intense three-part process designed to recognize leadership in the field of community action.

    The first step is the completion of a candidate data form detailing education, specialized training, experience and involvement in Community Action activities.

    The second part involves a work sample and details a candidate’s management abilities, leadership philosophy and how their work reflects the visions and values of Community Action.

    The third element is a written examination that includes a case study.

    Oklahoma now has 13 individuals who have earned the CCAP designation.

Oak Crest Head Start opens in Oklahoma City

    More than 100 children are expected to use the newest Head Start facility opened in mid-November by Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties which is located among the Oak Crest apartment complex.

    The facility will accommodate 87 Head Start children, seven infants and toddlers, and another 11 children ages 5 to 11 enrolled in the before and after school program. The center will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

    “I think we are going to provide a good service to parents,” said Sharon D. Woodard, Director. Children attending classes in the Crooked Oaks School District will be picked up by bus and returned after school.

    The center will have 13 staff members.

COCAA opens Early Learning Center in Shawnee

    Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency (COCAA) has opened the Shawnee Early Learning Center with both day and a night class for children in the Early Head Start program. The former child care center was acquired in May and renovated before beginning classes in late August.

    According to COCAA’s Early Head Start Program Manager Walt Springfield, the center is funded for 48 Early Head Start and 20 Head Start children.

   The night program, which runs from 3:30 - 11 p.m., is really helping meet the needs of working moms, Springfield said.

    Center Director Anita Carson has been with the program for three years. She also oversees “Treasured Moments” which is another Early Head Start center that offers a teen-parenting program in Shawnee.

    The Early Learning Center has five Early Head Start classes and one Head Start class. There are 11 staff members for the Early Head Start program and three on staff for the Head Start program.

    Renovation included repainting the facility, replacing carpeting, adding new playground equipment and general cleanup, Carson said.

    In addition to the classrooms, the center features a kitchen and a supply/training room. In the training room is a bookcase full of diapers. Springfield estimates the center will need to purchase $28,000 worth of diapers annually.

Improving energy efficiency focus of training

    The Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) along with Energy Rated Homes of America conducted a series of seminars last month to train certified energy raters.

    Jeremiah Gardner, Executive Director, Energy Rated Homes, conducted the training which was funded by the  Oklahoma Department of Commerce through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

    After a day of classroom work, the 18 Community Action weatherization program managers took to the field the practice their skills. The energy raters use a four-page checklist to evaluate the many factors that impact energy efficiency of houses. These include insulation, built-in energy efficient devices, water heating, space heating, cooling equipment and landscaping.

    “They are learning to identify problems and make recommendations on lowering energy costs in existing homes,” Gardner said.  They also learn to identify health and safety issues such as an unvented space heater.

    Dralen Terry, OKACAA’s Housing & Energy Director, explained that lenders are now beginning to approve energy efficient mortgages. Guidelines allow lenders to raise a buyer’s maximum monthly mortgage payment if energy efficiency improvements are made to a house.

    Community Action Agency staff attending the training will get a dual benefit. First, they can help low-income clients lower their utility bills by identifying areas where energy efficiency improving changes can be made. Second, they can begin offering this service commercially to generate discretionary  funds that can then be used as a match to help access other  funds to aid low-income families.

    After completing the energy audit, data is fed into a computer program which rates the energy efficiency of the house. The owners are provided prioritized lists of energy improving measures that can be taken to cut their utility bills.

    The energy raters designation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Mortgage Bankers Association and Residential Energy Services Network, Gardner said.

Board of Directors plan strategy during retreat
   
    Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agency board members gathered at Quartz Mountain resort last month to discuss a legislative agenda, share ideas on effective agency programs, and provide guidance to OKACAA staff on needed services.

Partnership turns bank into a Head Start center
   Over 50 children in Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency’s (COCAA) Head Start classes are now attending classes in an old bank building under a partnership agreement with Seminole State College. The Head Start classes had been located on the campus, but moved because of expanding college enrollment.

    “The location is wonderful,” said Leanne Condray, Seminole County Area Supervisor for COCAA. “We’re right in the center of Seminole.” The center is open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.

    James Utterback, President, Seminole State College, said the college has just started a child development program. Some of the Head Start teachers are taking classes at the college.

    He also praised the arrangement. “It’s been a great partnership,” Utterback said.

    In addition to the Head Start classes, the building also houses “Employment Readiness” program offered by the college. That program provides job training for individuals receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    Condray admits it has been an adjustment moving into the bank building. Occasionally someone wanders in off the street wanting to make a deposit, she said.

    The building required extensive remodeling. The former bank lobby was converted into classrooms for 3 and 4-year-old children. Doors replaced the drive-up window so parents can now just drive up and sign their children in, Condray explained.

    COCAA shares information about the college with parents of children enrolling in Head Start, Condray said. Several are now enrolled at the college and at least one parent is participating in the employment readiness program in the building.

Census Supplemental Survey highlights for Oklahoma

POVERTY AND PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS:
In 2000, 14 percent of persons were in poverty. Nineteen percent of related children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 15 percent of people 65 years old and over. Twelve percent of all families and 34 percent of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level. Nineteen percent of the households in Oklahoma received means-tested public assistance or non-cash benefits. 
HOUSING COSTS:
The median monthly housing costs for (specified) mortgaged owners was $768, non-mortgaged owners $231, and (specified) renters $462. Twenty-two percent of owners with mortgages, 9 percent of owners without mortgages, and 40 percent of renters in Oklahoma spent 30 percent or more of household income on housing.
DISABILITY:
In Oklahoma, among people at least five years old in 2000, 19 percent reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 7 percent of people 5 to 20 years old, to 18 percent of people 21 to 64 years old, and to 46 percent of those 65 and older.