National Service News
www.nationalservice.org
For citizens in service through Learn & Serve America, AmeriCorps, and
the National Senior Service Corps.
Published every other Monday on the worldwide-web site of the Corporation
for National Service.
For the latest information and updates, visit
http://www.nationalservice.org (Issue #38, October 6, 1997)
BUDGET BULLETIN: The Senate-House Conference for the HUD-VA
appropriation bill approved $425.5
million for national service - an increase of $25 million, mostly
targeted to literacy activities. Learn and Serve
America and AmeriCorps*NCCC remain at last year's levels. Next steps -
passage of the Conference agreement by
the House and Senate and signing by the President. The Labor-HHS
Appropriation Conference (including money
for A*VISTA and Senior Corps) is scheduled to meet the week of October 6.
The House and Senate have passed
slightly different versions which need to be reconciled. Meanwhile,
Fiscal Year 1998 arrived on October 1 and
national service continues to operate under the Government-wide
Continuing Resolution which runs through
October 23.
KEEPING AMERICA'S PROMISE: SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP
Across America, states and communities are following up on the
President's Summit for America's Future by holding their own Summits to
get citizens and institutions involved in meeting the goals set at
Philadelphia last April. The Corporation for National Service convened a
Summit follow-up to plan strategies for meeting Goal 5: Giving the
nation's youth an opportunity to give back through community service.
From Boston to Boise, Louisville to
Louisiana, governors, mayors, voluntary organizations, businesses and
citizens are joining General Colin Powell to
keep America's Promise.
MOTT FOUNDATION GRANTS: WELFARE TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is seeking proposals to establish
demonstration programs assisting low-income people to engage in
self-employment as a strategy to move from welfare to self-sufficiency.
Each grant will be a three year funding commitment ranging from $150,000
to $300,000 - 6-10 grants will be awarded. Mott also plans to
award 3 year grants of up to $150,000 to directly or indirectly support
large numbers of micro-enterprises through marketplace changes. The
application deadline is October 31, 1997. A copy of the RFP is available
at www.mott.org/rfp or call Jack Litzenberg at (810) 238-5651.
FROM THE FRONT:
"I don't have words to express what she has meant to me. I have been
able to stay in my own home." Senior Companion Leona Cochran is a
critical part of the life of an elderly Pensacola, FL resident.
"The only limitations that I have are the ones that I set for myself. If
there is anything I want to do, I can do it
if I set my mind to it." Bianca Montgomery reflects on her year of
service as a Corps Member at the Denver campus of AmeriCorps*National
Civilian Community Corps.
"Service-learning answers the question I am most frequently asked by
students - 'When am I ever going to use
this stuff.'" Connie Smithson teaches Learn and Serve America students
at a Hixon, TN high school
SERVICE HERO: AMERICORPS MEMBER JULIE PETROKUBI
"We call Julie the Super AmeriCorps Member. She rose to the challenge
again and again." That's how AmeriCorps member Kate Kuvalanka describes
her colleague Julie Petrokubi at the Action for Children Today AmeriCorps
program in Boston. Given the task of starting an after-school program
at a Boston public school, Julie organized
parents, gained the support of teachers, the principal and the community,
and with the help of her AmeriCorps
friends, set up a meeting in the school cafeteria to introduce parents
to the potential of an after-school program and to make sure the parents
were the designers and creators of the quality program which is now fully
in operation. You
can read more about this and other innovative out-of-school time
programs by visiting www.nationalservice.org.
On October 23, the White House Conference on Child Care will focus on
out-of-school time programs, including
those where national service members and volunteers are making a
difference for children across America.
RESOURCE TIP: Getting Ready for College Early: A Handbook for Parents of
Students in the Middle and Junior
High School Years is a U.S. Department of Education publication that
covers everything from selecting college
preparatory courses to financing a college education. It's a great
resource for national service programs that serve
middle and high school students and their parents. To get your copy,
download from www.ed.gov or call
1-800-USA-LEARN.
WHAT WORKS: SENIOR COMPANIONS AND MEDICAID WAIVERS
The Project: The Senior Companion Project of Salt Lake County, UT, has
expanded its service through
Utah's Medicaid home- and community-based waiver program. Medicaid
waivers are a tool by which the federal government allows states the
flexibility to redesign and implement aspects of their Medicaid programs
to more
effectively provide services to the populations they serve. Through a
partnership with Utah's state lead Medicaid
agency, Senior Companions now provide both respite care for primary
caregivers and "companionship services" to
older persons in need of assistance.
The Results: Almost 140 caregivers receive needed respite thanks to
Senior Companions. According to 6
and 12 month results of a nationally standardized caregiver burden
questionnaire, service by Salt Lake County
Senior Companions results in a significantly lower caregiver burden.
Seventeen Senior Companions now directly
serve 33 Medicaid-eligible seniors.
Why It Works: Everyone benefits. Medicaid-eligible low-income older
persons gain the loving support of
Senior Companions while relatives or other primary caregivers receive
needed respite. The state of Utah is able to
rely on the high quality, cost-effective service that Senior Companions
give and funding provided through the
Medicaid Waiver partnership enables additional Salt Lake County seniors
to serve their neighbors as Senior
Companions.
Lessons: Major changes in health care delivery services are leading to
innovative partnerships that lower
public costs. Medicaid Waivers include categories of service (such as
companionship or respite) that mesh with
what Senior Companions do every day. The Salt Lake County project is an
excellent example of how Senior
Companion projects can use the waiver authority to establish partnerships
that allow more seniors to serve their neighbors in need. Contact:
Project Director Dwight Rasmussen (801) 468-2775
National Service News is posted on the World Wide Web at
http://www.nationalservice.org and is distributed by Internet listservs
and
fax. State offices, commissions, program and site directors are asked
to distribute copies to citizens who serve. Please send
comments and story suggestions to drodgers@cns.gov
Corporation for National Service Office of Public Affairs
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