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Cookson Hills intern program gives practical experience to NSU students

Northeastern State University social work student Mary Louise Jones is getting practical experience helping low-income families through an intern program at Cookson Hills Community Action in Tahlequah.

“I love working here,” Jones said. “I’ve learned so much.”

Jones, who is a senior, will spend six hours per day for two days per week  for a semester working at Cookson Hills. She  has a caseload of about ten families.

Jones said during the internship, she will work with her assigned families to help tap into other community resources. She will also visit with the children of her families at Head Start centers and make home visits. Her University advisor, Dr. Sara Brown, will visit at least twice during the semester to check on Jones’ progress.

Jones is beginning her second semester participating in the program. During the first semester students “shadow” Cookson Hills staff to learn how to work with other community agencies, such as the Department of Human Services, to assist families, explained Bea Dougherty, Head Start Director.

The first semester provides students with an orientation to Community Action. They learn how Head Start works. They learn about performance standards. They learn what a Community Action Agency does, Dougherty explained. During the second semester, students actually work with families.

The internship program is now in its eighth year, Dougherty said.

Jones expects to get a wide range of experiences during her internship.

“I’m getting to see my education put to use,” she said.

News reports prompt calls to OKACAA about utility bill assistance

Telephone calls flooded the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) offices last month after a newspaper report listed the agency as a contact for help with utility bills.

The House of Representatives Media Division distributed an article discussing steps being taken by state and local agencies, the legislature and federal government to help low and fixed-income families pay their home heating bills.

The article cited an Oklahoma Corporation Commission-compiled list of helpful agencies. It noted that some Community Action Agencies serve as a clearinghouse for Salvation Army Funds and listed the OKACAA phone number.

  After a rash of phone calls that were initially referred to local Community Action Agencies, OKACAA obtained a list of Salvation Army offices and began referring callers directly to the appropriate office.

Upcoming Meetings

Feb. 14 - OKACAA and OWHAC meetings at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City. Contact: 405-524-4124.

Feb. 15 - Oklahoma Head Start Association Board of Directors meeting at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City. Contact: 405-524-4124.

Mar. 4-6 – “Home Front 2001 Housing Conference” in Oklahoma City. Contact: Jennifer Anderson at 405-840-5000.

Mar. 20 - OKACAA and OWHAC Board of Directors meetings, and OHSA meeting at the Clarion Hotel on Lincoln Blvd. in Oklahoma City. Contact: 405-524-4124.

Mar. 20-22 OKACAA Legislative Conference at the Clarion Hotel on Lincoln Blvd. in Oklahoma City. Contact: 405-524-4124.

Prefiled House bills could impact CAAs and their clients

State House members have prefiled a variety of bills that could impact low-income families and Community Action Agencies (CAA).

A trio of legislators have prefiled bills that would require the State Department of Health and Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy to jointly develop and implement a program through which unused prescription drugs could be transferred from nursing homes to repositories to be distributed to medically indigent residents. The measures are HB 1094 by Rep. Mike O’Neal (R-Enid), HB 1236 by Rep. Ron Peters (R-Tulsa), and HB 1297 by Rep. Darrell Gilbert (D-Tulsa).

Rep. Gilbert and Rep. Kevin Cox (D-Oklahoma City) have prefiled HB 1897 that would direct the Department of Human Services (DHS) to develop and implement a program to provide low-cost prescription and nonprescription drugs to eligible persons through a voucher system. DHS could issue $25 vouchers per month per eligible client. Eligible persons would be 65 to 79 years of age who meet eligibility requirements for the State Supplemental Income Program.

Rep. Bill Mitchell (D-Lindsay) has prefiled HB 1103 which provides that from any monies available to DHS, the department shall increase contract amounts by 7% for salaries of Older Americans Act Nutrition Project employees who provide meals and nutrition services, including home-delivered meals, congregate meals and nutrition education. The measure also calls for increasing contract amounts by 20% for salaries of Older Americans Act Title III(B) Project employees who provide supportive services including transportation, legal assistance, outreach, home repair, and coordination of services.

Rep. Bill Case (R-Midwest City) would create a Juvenile Violence Prevention Fund in the Office of Juvenile Affairs to provide grants to schools and non-profit organizations to provide violence prevention programs for juveniles through HB 1359.

Several lawmakers have prefiled shell bills. Shell bills are those that have a number and title, but no other content. The actual content of the bill is added as the bill moves through the legislative process.

Rep. Opio Toure (D-Oklahoma City) has prefiled HB 1933 which is a shell bill enacting the Oklahoma Earned Income Tax Credit Act of 2001.

Rep. Dale Turner (D-Holdenville) prefiled HB 1869 which is a shell bill enacting the Rural Housing Task Force Recommendations of 2001.

One bill that could impact CAAs is Rep. Wayne Pettigrew’s tort reform legislation. The Edmond Republican’s measure, HB 1114, provides that any 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that provides services to individuals and is funded by any agency of the state or political subdivision, or the federal government, shall not be liable for civil damages, including personal injury allegedly caused by the acts or omissions of the corporation unless alleged misconduct was willful or wanton.

Rep. Kent Friskup (R-Chandler) wants to amend the Open Meeting Law through HB 1276 to provide that if a public body has its own web site, or participates in a general web site, on the Internet, the public body must post all meeting notices on its web site.

HB 1355, another Open Meeting Law measure by Rep. Ray Vaughn (R-Edmond), would allow comments from the public, when permitted during a meeting of a public body, concerning any subject under the jurisdiction of the body and not be limited to items on the advance agenda. The measure would also prohibit action or discussion by any member of a public body on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except to respond to statements made or questions posed by members of the public. The measure would also permit a member of a public body or staff to report on their own activities, and provides a member of a public body may provide resources to staff, request staff to report back at a subsequent meeting, or take action to direct staff to place a matter of business on a future agenda.

Agency News

Community Action Resource & Development received a $3,000 grant from Phillips Petroleum Company to provide energy assistance in Washington and Nowata Counties, according to a report in the  Fall 2000 Community Action Developments.

The funds will operate a program that provides repairs to furnaces of low-income and disabled people in the two counties. Phillips employees are also providing volunteer labor.

Community Action Project of Tulsa County (CAPTC) is establishing an Intercultural Tax Service location for Spanish speaking residents with help from an Internal Revenue Service three-year grant, the Tulsa World reports.

Steven Dow, CAPTC Executive Director, said the grant will primarily fund seminars to educate Tulsa’s minorities about their tax rights and responsibilities.

Minorities  can sign up for an Individual Tax Identification Number through the Intercultural Tax Services.

CAPTC is also receiving a $22,150 grant from the Tulsa affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to provide 250 free mammograms to low-income women, the Tulsa World reports.

Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties reports that its Special Projects Division completed disbursement of down payment and closing costs assistance in December.

According to an article in the January issue of CAA Insights, the agency assisted each family with $5,000 for their closing costs and down payments.

Senior citizens, Head Start students, businesses join forces for Christmas

Christmas is truly a season for “children of all ages,” and this was demonstrated this past December through programs sponsored by Community Action Development Corporation (CADC) in Frederick. Senior citizens, Head Start students and local businesses combined efforts to make the season bright.

The local Jaycees donated an 8-foot live Christmas tree for the lobby of the Grand Apartments, a residence for seniors owned and managed by CADC. The tree was used as a “giving tree,” with wishes of needy children hung on the branches. The students at the Frederick Head Start Center made additional decorations.

“The kids visited the Grand, sang Christmas carols for the apartment residents and then helped decorate the tree,” said Max Clayton, Grand Apartments manager. “The kids were delighted to have an opportunity to perform and help decorate, and the senior citizens always enjoy having the students visit.”

Several apartment residents also purchased gifts from the giving tree which were distributed by the Jaycees through their annual “Toys for Tots” program.

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Jeny Searcy, Public Relations director, CADC, provided this article.

Head Start families eligible for respite services

Families eligible for the Head Start program are able to get temporary help in caring for a child with special needs under an agreement between the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) Head Start State Collaboration Project and the State Department of Human Services (DHS), Charley Hare, Early Childhood Specialist, OKACAA, announced.

  “Head Start has joined other organizations partnering with the Oklahoma Respite Resource Network to support families and caregivers by increasing the availability of respite care,” Hare said.

Respite is temporary relief for families who have responsibility for caring for a child or adult with special needs. It can range from a few hours to a week or more. Respite support may be used, for example, by family members to visit friends, spend an evening at dinner or the movies, or take a weekend vacation.

Head Start programs will identify families eligible to participate in the respite voucher program, he added. The families can then obtain a list of respite providers from the Oklahoma Areawide Service Information System.

Under the agreement, DHS will provide respite vouchers to Head Start program participants approved by the collaboration project, Hare explained. The collaboration project will pay DHS for payments made to the respite providers.

Partnership for school readiness legislation prefiled

State Senator Ted Fisher (D-Sapulpa) has prefiled a bill to create the “Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Act (SB 37) to facilitate community collaboration efforts that will prepare children to enter school healthy and ready to succeed.

The legislation sets as a goal that by May 1, 2007,  ninety percent of all third-grade students will be reading at or above grade level by the end of the third-grade school year.

The measure calls for creation of a 21-member advisory board whose duties include:

•Developing a process to promote voluntary school readiness and the well-being of children and families and to support and enhance family functioning by ensuring that the basic needs of families are addressed.

•Identify up to six pilot projects that will use community resources and private capital or in-kind contributions to provide part of the operating expenses.

•Making recommendations on methods of innovative funding, including interagency funding, joint funding pools, interagency reimbursements and grants to communities.

•Facilitating development of high quality early childhood school readiness services by fostering community partnerships.

•Developing innovative programs to permit parents to play an active role in enhancing their child’s school readiness.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services will provide a coordinator for each of the pilot projects. DHS will also provide staff support to the advisory committee.

  The proposed legislation calls for the advisory committee to have an organizational meeting by no later than Oct. 1, 2001 and to submit its first annual report to the Governor and Legislature beginning Feb. 1, 2002.

State to get child care apprenticeship grant

Oklahoma is one of ten states that will share $3.3 million in grants to develop apprenticeship programs over the next 18 months to train child care workers.

Oklahoma is receiving a $349,957 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

  “Training child care workers through apprenticeships is an idea whose time has come,” Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. “New workers will receive much needed educational and technical skills training to help them gain a more secure foothold in the labor force.”

The goals for the initiatives are to expand an infrastructure that is supportive of a child care staff.

The University of Oklahoma program, Professionals Matter: The Oklahoma Child Care Apprenticeship Initiative, will train 30 mentors to work with 90 entry-level apprentices in child care and Head Start settings.

  “These grants are provided to act as seed money to develop a statewide self sustainable infrastructure for professional development of child care practitioners,” Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Ray Bramucci added.

The grants are projected to increase the number of providers and improve the quality of care for children.

Cookson Hills to build 24 senior citizen apartments

Drawn by area recreational and health care facilities, Tahlequah is attracting increasing numbers of senior citizens. With many seniors living on a limited, fixed income, Cookson Hills Community Action is slated to begin construction later this month on a 24 apartment complex.

  “We think this is really going to help us down here,” said Jerry Latty, Housing Specialist.

Grouped in five buildings, there will be 20 one-bedroom apartments 644 square feet in size and four two-bedroom apartments that are 797 square feet in size.

A combination office and community center will complete the project which will be located on 2.5 acres. The units will all be handicapped accessible.

The nearly $1.29 million project is being built with Rural Development and HOME funds along with low-income housing tax credit proceeds and owner-equity in the lots.

Although rental rates have not been finalized, Latty expects them to be $100 per month or less. Residents will have to be at least 62 years of age and meet income requirements.

Latty said Cookson Hills began working on the project last June. He expects to break ground on Feb. 15.

Latty said he plans to “shoot for completion of the project this year.”

Located in eastern Oklahoma, Tahlequah is near four state parks and Lake Tenkiller. It is also the home for Northeastern State University.

HUD ‘Best Practices’ site

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established a Best Practices Web Site (http://www.hud.gov/bestpractices) that contains a collection of Best Practices and related resources.

Profiles of award-winning projects contain information such as contact information, implementation steps, implementation barriers, tools and techniques, according to an article in HUD’s Best Practices 2001 newsletter.

At the Legislature

Noting that legislators will have at least $300 million in new money at their disposal, David Averill, associate editor of the Tulsa World, suggests that an earned income tax credit is one proposal that ought to be given serious consideration by the Legislature.

“There’s no question that Oklahoma soaks its lower-income families for too much state income tax,” Averill wrote in the Jan. 21 issue of the World.

He cites Senate Bill 35, by Sen. Bernest Cain, Oklahoma City, that would let Oklahoma residents who qualify for the federal earned income tax credit claim a state income tax credit of 10 percent of the federal credit. If the credit exceeded the amount of state income tax otherwise imposed the excess amount would be refunded.

Averill writes: “The federal earned income tax credit has helped poor parents get off welfare and into jobs. A state tax credit would do the same thing. It will provide direct relief to the working poor in a simple and efficient fashion.”

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During a Jan. 9 news conference, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners announced they were recommending to Gov. Keating that a portion of increased state revenue resulting from the gross production tax and other sources be used to fund immediate energy assistance relief to low-income families.

Commissioners did not recommend any specific amount. According to a DHS official, 71,000 people have applied for home energy assistance since early December.

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OKACAA sent information to state and federal lawmakers about Community Action.

In his cover letter, Executive Director Michael E. Jones noted: “Community Action Agencies reach out to low-income people in their communities trying to address their multiple needs through direct services and partnerships with other community-based organizations to provide a full range of coordinated programs to combat poverty.”

Included in the packet was a color map showing the counties served by the different agencies complete with names and addresses. Also included in the packet was the summary of the Dialogue on Poverty survey results.

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After the electric industry restructuring implementation bill died on the final day of the last legislative session there was concern about the looming deadline to pass a bill to implement the process.

Several bills have been prefiled to delay or remove the implementation deadline.

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Want to check on the status of legislation using the Internet? Check out the Legislative Service Bureau web site at: http://www.lsb.state.ok.us

In the center column under OLIS Information, you can click on the Status of Measures to find out where a bill is in the legislative process. A click on Text of Measures lets you read or print out the language of a bill.

You can also access the State Senate and House Home Pages, see a list of committee meetings and get other information from this web site.

What Is a Community Action Agency?

Community Action Agencies are private non-profit or public organizations that were created by the federal government in 1964 to combat poverty in geographically designated areas. Status as a Community Action Agency is the result of an explicit designation by local or state government. A Community Action Agency has a tripartite board structure that is designated to promote the participation of the entire community in the reduction or elimination of poverty. Community Action Agencies seek to involve the community, including elected public officials, private sector representatives, and especially low-income residents, in assessing local needs and attacking the causes and conditions of poverty.

Purpose and Mission

In order to reduce poverty in its community, A Community Action Agency works to better focus available local, state, private, and federal resources to assist low-income individuals and families to acquire useful skills and knowledge, gain access to new opportunities and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Structure

A Community Action Agency:

•has received designation as a Community Action Agency either from the local government under the provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, or from the state under the Community Services Block Grant Act of 1981, as amended;

•is recognized as an eligible entity as defined in the CSBG Act and can receive funding from the state under the Community Services Block Grant;

•has a governing board consisting of at least one-third democratically selected representatives of low-income people, one-third local public officials or their designees, and the remainder representatives of business, industry, labor, religious, social welfare, and other private groups in the community; and

•belongs to a national network of similar agencies, the majority of which receive their initial designation, federal recognition and funding under the amended Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Mode of Operation

A Community Action Agency carries out its mission through a variety of means including: (a) community-wide assessments of needs and strengths, (b) comprehensive antipoverty plans and strategies, (c) provision of a broad range of direct services, (d) mobilization of financial and non-financial resources, (e) advocacy on behalf of low-income people and (f) partnerships with other community-based organizations to eliminate poverty. A Community Action Agency involves the low-income population it serves in the planning, administering and evaluating of its programs.

Why Community Action Agencies are Unique

Most poverty-related organizations focus on a specific area of need, such as job training, health care,  housing, or economic development. Community Action Agencies reach out to low-income people in their communities, address their multiple needs through a comprehensive approach, develop partnerships with other community organizations, involve low-income clients in the agency’s operations, and administer a full range of coordinated programs designed to have a measurable impact on poverty.

The National Association of Community Action Agencies 2000