PathWays PA Policy Blog

This Holiday Season has been busy for PathWays PA and the 6,000 families we serve in the Greater Philadelphia area. With your help, we can continue to serve those families in the coming year. Thanks to the generous help of our donors, friends, and staff during the 2010 Holiday Season, we have seen: over 300 families adopted during our annual Adopt-A-Family Program over 200 children celebrate at a holiday party sponsored by The Ramada Philadelphia Airport Hotel over 50 children and their families meet Philadelphia Eagle Ellis Hobbs and his family at a party he hosted and catered Yet during this season of thanks, we continue to face difficult choices due to budget shortfalls. We will face these challenges with energy and determination, and, with your help, we will continue to succeed in serving families as they move from poverty to self-sufficiency. As we continue to serve families, we ask for you to dig a little deeper than usual and provide us with a special monetary gift

Recently, the Ramada Philadelphia Airport Hotel and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Ellis Hobbs threw two separate parties to benefit PathWays PA clients. Below are pictures from each event: Ramada Philadelphia Airport Hotel, December 23, 2010 PathWays PA EARN Center, December 23, 2010

By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com TINICUM — As Carol Goertzel scanned the Ramada Philadelphia Airport Hotel ballroom, it was impossible for her not to notice the children. After all, they were just about everywhere. To read the whole article and see the video, visit The Delaware County Daily Times website .

(From our friends at FRAC ) “What You Need to Know About CACFP” Thursday, January 13, 2011, 1 – 2 p.m. EST In this Webinar , speakers will discuss the improvements in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) made by The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Speakers will provide details on these new CACFP provisions, their role in boosting food security and healthy eating, recently released USDA policies , key next steps, and USDA’s implementation plans. Speakers will include Tina Namian, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service; Mary Story, University of Minnesota, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research Program; and Geri Henchy, FRAC. We will have ample time for questions. Save the dates for other upcoming Webinars: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 1 – 2 p.m. EST – “What You Need to Know about Afterschool Suppers” Thursday, January 27, 2011, 1 – 2 p.m. EST – “What You Need to Know about Summer Food” About "CNR: Putting the Act into Action" FRAC is hosting a

During this Recession we have heard many stories and statistics about workers losing their jobs and being unable to find a new one. According to a new study released by the Working Poor Families Project , the Recession has also meant that workers who have kept or found new jobs are also struggling to make ends meet. Below are some of the key findings from the study: There were more than 10 million low-income working families in the United States, an increase of nearly a quarter million from the previous year. According to the Working Poor Families Project, a “low-income” family is one earning below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, or $43, 512 for a family of four. Forty-five million people, including 22 million children, lived in low-income working families, an increase of 1.7 million people from 2008. The share of working families earning less than double the official poverty threshold increased from 28 to 30 percent between 2007 and 2009. Between 2007 and 2009, the share

PHILADELPHIA – Dec. 16, 2010 – Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a women’s health coalition which PathWays PA is a member of, hosted a post-election public forum titled, What’s Next For Pennsylvania: A Public Forum on the Health and Well-Being of Women and Families. State legislators and community members from Southeastern Pennsylvania engaged in conversation about women’s health care needs as lawmakers begin to implement the new health care reform law in Pennsylvania. Members of the public heard from and spoke with Senator Daylin Leach, Representative Tim Briggs, Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown, Representative-Elect Michelle Brownlee, Representative-Elect Tina Davis, Representative Tony Payton and Representative Josh Shapiro, lawmakers who will all make key decisions about how Pennsylvania health care reform is implemented during the upcoming legislative session. Topics ranged from maternity care to family planning services and protecting women’s access to

Thank you to our friends at the Pennsylvania Health Access Network for putting this alert together. Over 43,000 Pennsylvanians rely on a program known as adultBasic to cover their medical costs. These are individuals who are unable to receive or afford coverage elsewhere. Unfortunately for the 43,000 in the program and over 400,000 on the waiting list, adultBasic is running out of money and will likely expire in a few months. Roseann, a mother of two who lives in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, is just one person on this program. Roseann suffers from a number of chronic conditions, including Crohn's disease, for which a single treatment is over $100,000. For the past six years she has relied on the low-cost insurance program, adultBasic. She makes too much for Medicaid and not enough to afford private insurance. When adultBasic expires, people like Roseann do not know how they are going to afford to live. You can see Roseann tell her own story below. After watching the video

Happy Holidays! This will be PathWays PA’s last E-Newsletter for 2010. Thank you all for your support this past year and we look forward to your continued support in 2011. Be sure to check this Policy Blog for information until our next E-Newsletter on January 10, 2011. Federal Policy Update CHILD NUTRITION REAUTHORIZATION IS NOW LAW Last week the new Child Nutrition Reauthorization, known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, was signed into law. This law broadens the Afterschool Meal Program to cover all 50 states (currently it covers just 13), supports the expansion of direct certification for school meals, improves area eligibility rules so more family child care homes can use the CACFP program, makes important reforms in the nutritional quality of food served in schools and child care, and makes “competitive” foods sold or offered in schools more nutritious. To learn more about the act and its implementation join the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) for a Webinar se

A new widget from the Census gives you an opportunity to look at population changes over the years.  This interactive tool shows population change in the US and in each state as well as changes in population density and apportionment (the number of people per representative).  You can view the widget below, or get your own copy at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/ . <p><p><p><p>IFRAMES not supported</p></p></p></p>

(From our friends at FRAC ) Making Child Nutrition Reauthorization Work for Your Community First Webinar – “What You Need to Know Now” Friday, December 17, 2010 1 – 2 p.m. EST FRAC is excited to launch a series of Webinars, titled CNR: Putting the Act into Action , that will examine the provisions of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act that the President signed yesterday and steps to make the provisions of the Act a success. Join us for the first Webinar in this series, “What You Need to Know NOW,” on Friday, December 17 from 1 – 2 p.m. EST. In this Webinar, speakers will provide an overview of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (Child Nutrition Reauthorization), outline improvements to the child nutrition programs, and highlight parts that are immediately in effect or need immediate work by stakeholders. During the calls, you will: Get the information you need to move implementation forward in the best possible way and move it quickly in your state and community. Dev

Special Event WHAT’S NEXT FOR PENNSYLVANIA: A PUBLIC FORUM ON THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF WOMEN AND FAMILIES Hosted by Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern PA and WHYY Please join Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania and WHYY for a critical dialogue with your elected officials on women’s health care needs as the health care reform law is implemented in Pennsylvania. WHEN: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 from 5:30 - 8:00 PM Networking: 5:30 - 6:00 PM Program: 6:00 - 8:00 PM WHERE: WHYY’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Public Media Commons, 150 N. 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA * Light refreshments will be served* RSVP REQUIRED: http://whatsnextforpennsylvania.eventbrite.com All state legislators, including newly elected legislators, from Southeastern Pennsylvania as well as the Governor-Elect have been invited to speak and answer questions from the audience. You will have the chance to hear directly from those making important decisions about what to expect in the comi

L to R: Carol Goertzel; 2010 Trailblazer Honorees - The Rt. Rev. Rodney R. Michel; Joan Meyers Brown; Linda McAleer; Mellanie Lassiter; Pamela Godwin; along with Pamela Browner White and PathWays PA Board Chair Bruce Oestreich. On Tuesday, November 9, PathWays PA celebrated its 32nd Anniversary with a Sports-tacular event at the Radisson Hotel in King of Prussia. Nothing short of inspirational, this year’s PathWays to the Stars Anniversary Celebration was truly one to remember. Pamela Browner White, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs & Government Relations for the Philadelphia Eagles, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and guests were treated to a special appearance by Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Avant. The night was a fun-filled display of support for the devoted service and hard work that PathWays PA does year round. This year’s event featured a silent auction that surpassed all previous years, boasting an exciting assortment of alluring ite

Thanks to our friends at the Center for American Progress for putting this together.  If you have trouble viewing the video below, please go to their website .

Residential Worker Part-time and Full-time - need caring and motivated individual to provide support and supervision for Delco group home serving women and children; HS/GED, Associates Degree and experience preferred; driver’s license required. Includes nights and weekends. Fax resumes to: LD/CFF 610-328-2807. Childcare Worker Child Learning Center at Delco Group home. Must have knowledge of early childhood development and ability to nurture and promote positive growth in pre-school age children. AA in Early Childhood Ed. Preferred. Salary $12/hour. Fax resume to LD/CFF 610-328-2807. ESL Instructor Part-Time – PathWays PA is currently seeking English as Second Language (ESL) instructors with BA/BS degree and 2 + years of teaching experience. Knowledge of ESL in healthcare field preferred. You must travel independently in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks Counties. Lesson planning, attendance recordkeeping, and assessments required. This is a part-

A new joint study by the University of Michigan and the University of California Los Angeles recently did a statistical analysis of 2,350 children to learn some of the best predictors of their math and reading achievement. What they learned is that the best predictor is not family income, or the child's neighborhood, or even the mother's amount of schooling. The best predictor, according to the study, is the mother's reading level . This outcome is no surprise to educators and participants of adult literacy classes, who have long seen the value in providing educational opportunities to adults.  However, in Pennsylvania, that value is not always backed by funding.  Over the past two years, the budget allocation for adult literacy has decreased by 50%. Meanwhile, GED classes are filling more quickly than ever. Even though the fiscal year just began in July, many counties have run out of space in their programs and begun waiting lists. Eighty percent of jobs in tod

From The Delaware County Daily Times : Council also honored Chris Jallah of Penn Wood High School and Joshua Powell of Academy Park High School Tuesday as Student Health Care Heroes after they participated in a Pathways PA summer work experience program. The Health Care Heroes awards, sponsored by the county Workforce Investment Board, had been presented based on an essay contest in past years, but this year’s winners had to be nominated.

Special Event ENJOY FREE COFFEE WHILE URGING LEGISLATORS TO ENSURE ALL WORKERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO EARN PAID SICK DAYS - PLEASE RSVP TODAY! Join the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces for a Letter Writing Party. In addition to networking, free coffee, and an opportunity to learn more about earned sick time, we will be asking each person to put pen to paper and let their members of City Council know why earning paid sick days is important. WHEN: Tuesday, December 7th - 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM WHERE: United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA PLEASE RSVP, EVEN IF YOU ARE JUST STOPPING BY: http://letterwriting.eventbrite.com Come for the entire event or just stop in to send a letter. Free coffee and a light breakfast will be provided. Even if you have paid sick days it is likely that people you come into contact with every day do not. Did you know that 41% of workers in Philadelphia are forced to choose between going to

As we mentioned a few weeks ago , nearly 43,000 adults in Pennsylvania may be losing their health insurance early next year when adultBasic, an affordable health care option for adults who have recently lost health coverage and meet certain income guidelines, runs out of money.  In addition to writing a letter to legislators in support of the program, there is also an opportunity to sign on to a letter asking the Governor-elect to take action on adultBasic.  People using the adultBasic system can also tell their stories to Athena Ford so that those stories can be shared with legislators and the news media. adultBasic is close to running out of money due to a cut in funding from the state Tobacco Settlement and lower-than-expected payment rates from insurance companies who fund the programs .  As The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, most adultBasic funding comes from the state's Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies, who in past years have contributed between $81.9 million and $1

What’s Next for Pennsylvania: A Public Forum on the Health and Well-Being of Women and Families Hosted by Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern PA and WHYY  Wednesday, December 15, 2010 from 5:30 - 8:00 PM Networking: 5:30 - 6:00 PM Program: 6:00 - 8:00 PM WHYY’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Public Media Commons 150 N. 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA Please join Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania and WHYY for a critical dialogue with your elected officials on women’s health care needs as the health care reform law is implemented in Pennsylvania. Raising Women’s Voices of Southeastern Pennsylvania is a coalition formed to ensure that women’s concerns were addressed during the health care reform process. We now advocate for health care reform implementation policies that support the full range of comprehensive reproductive health care services for women. RSVP Required: http://whatsnextforpennsylvania.eventbrite.com or contact Kate Scully at 610-543-5200 x 255.