NYN Review May 2015

MEDIA - REVIEW DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

Issue N°2 May 19th, 2015

NEWS

PERSPECTIVE

THE COST OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Read more page 11

AT TORNEY GENER AL SCHNEIDERMAN

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMEN T 2.0

RAISING THE AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

DATA DRIVEN SOLU TIONS

C OV E R S T O RY

Read more page 15

WORKING TO BREAK THE CYCLE Read more page 18

NATIONS OF IMMIGRANTS Nonprofits aid child immigrants in need

SPECIAL SECTION

SPECIAL GR ADUATE FEATURE

By GABE PONCE DE LEÓN

N

Read more page 19

CEO CORNER

BUSINESS OF YOUR NONPROFIT

THE FORTU NE SOCIET Y: JOAN NE PAGE

WHAT TO CONSIDER IN LIABILIT Y INSUR ANCE

YN sat down with JoAnne Page,

President and CEO of The Fortune Society, an agency founded in 1967 to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals become productive, contributing members of society.

The following interview has been edited for content and clarity.

NYN: WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR DEVOTING YOUR CAREER TO WORKING IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM? JP: I’m the child of a holocaust survivor.

In fact, this month is the 70th anniversary of my father’s liberation from Dachau and

the work camp affiliated with it. So I know something about injustice. I know something about the damage that institutions can do to people; about the kind of rage that people carry within themselves when they have reasons for anger.

I started doing volunteer work in prisons when I was 18 and realized that this is the place where I want to work. I wasn’t sure how – I thought I wanted to do criminal poverty law in New York City for the rest of my life, so I went to law school. I interned at Fortune during my law school period.

I graduated from Yale in 1980 and went to work at Legal Aid for two and a half years. I got frustrated there because I felt like I was pushing people through a revolving door.

So I started doing alternatives to incarceration work at what was then the Court Employment Project and created the idea of providing alternatives for serious felony cases. At that time, it was only the misdemeanors that were being considered for alternatives to incarceration.

Read more page 9

N

o one wants to be on the receiving

ASSESSING RISKS When selecting liability insurance, nonprofits need to determine the types of legal claims they are most likely to face.

“The executive director and board should review the organization’s needs,” says Denise Dahl, president of Denise Dahl Consulting, which provides strategic planning guidance to nonprofits. “Do they use a lot of volunteers? Do they rent or own the space they use?”

Property owned by the organization should be insured against claims arising

end of a lawsuit, especially a nonprofit. However, even the most responsible charities sometimes get sued, and if they don’t have adequate liability insurance, the results can be financially devastating.

Liability insurance not only protects a nonprofit from potential judgments, it also covers the costs of defending the organization against a lawsuit. Even if a nonprofit can demonstrate that it isn’t liable for any alleged damages, attorneys’ fees and other court costs can be overwhelming without insurance.

Read more page 4

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May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

MAY 2015

CATEGORY INDEX TRADE TIPS

4. Business of Your Nonprofit: Liability Insurance 5. Grant Tips: Be Clear About the Need 6. Building Your Brand: Branding on a Budget

NOTABLES

7. Frontline Hero: Amanda Rolat 8. Agency of the Month: Defy Ventures 9. CEO Corner: JoAnne Page, The Fortune Society

THANK YOU TO OUR ANNUAL SPONSORS! AABR

Jawonio

Abbott House

JCC of Greater Coney Island

Acacia Network

JCCA

Anderson Center for Autism

Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

ANDRUS Astor Services for Children and Families The Bridge Brooklyn Community Services CAMBA CASES Center for Children's Initiatives Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc. Child Development Support Corp.

Children's Aid Society Children's Home of Poughkeepsie Children's Village Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies COFCCA Community Mediation Services Concern for Independent Living The Day Care Council of New York The Doe Fund EAC Network East Side House Epic Long Island Episcopal Social Services Family and Children's Association FedCap Federation for Protestant Welfare Agencies Forestdale Good Shepherd Services Graham Windham Services for Families and Children Green Chimneys Harlem RBI Health and Welfare Council of Long Island Heartshare Human Services of NY Henry St. Settlement Hope House Hour Children Human Services Council Independence Residences Institute for Community Living Institute of Applied Human Dynamics InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities NYNmedia.com

NEWS

The Keon Center LaSalle Leake & Watts Services Lenox Hill Neigborhood House

SPECIAL SECTION

LESC K

10. Civil Rights Movement 2.0 11. The Cost of Domestic Violence 12. Nations of Immigrants 14. Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility 15. Data-Driven Solutions 16. Summit Prompts Collaboration 17. City Budget Increases COLA 18. Working to Break the Cycle

19. Graduate & Continuing Education Series 20. MBA vs. MPA Programs 21. Upward Mobility

Life's WORC Long Island Adolescent & Family Services Mercy Haven

PERSPECTIVES

Mercy Home for Children

23. An Equal Justice System, Attorney General Schneiderman 24. A View from the Inside

MercyFirst New Alternatives for Children

CAREERS

New York Asian Women's Center

25. The go-to career center for New York’s nonprofit industry

New York Common Pantry The New York Foundling

EVENTS

Northside Center for Chld Development

26. Featured nonprofit events throughout New York State

Ohel Children's Home & Family Services PSCH Public Health Solutions QSAC Richmond Community Services Rockland Independent Living Center Saratoga Bridges SCAN- NY SCO Family of Services, Inc. Seaman's Society for Children & Families

61 Broadway, Suite 2235 New York, NY 10006 General (646) 517-2740 Advertising (646) 517 2741 info@nynmedia.com

Special Citizen's Futures Unlimited St. Catherine's Center for Children St. Christopher's Inc. St. Dominic's Home St. Francis Friends of the Poor Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center Staten Island Mental Health Society

MASTHEAD City & State NY, LLC Steve Farbman, Chairman Tom Allon, President / CEO Andrew Holt, Group Publisher Guillaume Federighi, Creative Director

SUS

NYN Media

United Cerebral Palsy of NYC

Lissa Blake, Publisher Samantha Diliberti, Managing Editor Jeff Stein, Contributor Editor

United Neighborhood Houses of NY University Settlement/The Door Vanderheyden Hall Visions/Services for the Blind

Michelle Yang, Senior Designer Lydia Eck, Digital Manager Charles Flores, Marketing Designer

Westchester Family Services William F. Ryan Community Health Center Women In Need

To have your letter to the editor considered for publication, leave a comment at www.nynmedia.com, tweet us @nyn_media, email info@nynmedia.com or write to 61 Broadway, Suite 2235, New York, NY 10006.

3

Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

TRADE TIPS

BUILDING YOUR BRAND

WHAT TO CONSIDER IN LIABILITY INSURANCE

BY CHRISTOPHER T. FREEBURN

rely on large numbers of volunteers can purchase separate or additional liability coverage for injuries sustained, or caused, by volunteers.

Dahl recommends “a minimum” of a general liability package plus a D&O policy. While the majority of lawsuits a nonprofit is likely to face involve small claims arising from minor accidents, Dahl notes that human resources claims—employment disputes—now account for at least 15 percent of all litigation against nonprofits.

“I always recommend D&O insurance regardless of the size of the nonprofit,” she explains. “On average, at least a quarter of all nonprofits experience a claim that would be covered by D&O insurance, with the potential payout of the claim

N

o one wants to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit, especially a nonprofit. However, even the most responsible charities sometimes get sued, and if they don’t have adequate liability insurance, the results can be financially devastating.

Liability insurance not only protects a nonprofit from potential judgments, it also covers the costs of defending the organization against a lawsuit. Even if a nonprofit can demonstrate that it isn’t liable for any alleged damages, attorneys’ fees and other court costs can be overwhelming without insurance.

ASSESSING RISKS When selecting liability insurance, nonprofits need to determine the types of legal claims they are most likely to face.

“The executive director and board should review the organization’s needs,” says Denise Dahl, president of Denise Dahl Consulting, which provides strategic planning guidance to nonprofits. “Do they use a lot of volunteers? Do they rent or own the space they use?”

Property owned by the organization should be insured against claims arising from accidents—slips and falls—that occur on the premises, as well as damage from thefts, fires, flooding or other mishaps. Items needed to maintain operations—computers, office furniture and other equipment—should also be covered. Sufficient insurance to replace critical items in the event of a disaster is essential to ensuring the organization’s recovery.

Most insurance providers offer a general liability package that covers injuries or accidents that occur on an organization’s property or at outside events. General liability packages are commonly sold

4

being far more than the cost of obtaining the insurance.”

A nonprofit must also determine the appropriate dollar amount of coverage.

This will vary based on an organization’s size, activities and funding sources. Nonprofits that receive grants or work with government agencies may be required to carry a specified minimum amount of insurance. Such mandates can require liability coverage of $1 million or more. In general, greater coverage means higher insurance premiums. For small nonprofits, liability insurance of at least $250,000 is a good idea.

CHOOSING A PROVIDER Most insurance providers are willing to work with nonprofits to assess coverage

to for-profit organizations, but can be adapted for nonprofits, and can often be purchased at discounted rates.

There are some other specific types of insurance that nonprofits should consider: • Directors and officers insurance: This protects a nonprofit’s officers from legal claims arising from decisions made during the routine administration of their responsibilities, such as wrongful-termination claims. “Without D&O, individuals are liable and their assets can be targeted in a lawsuit,” Dahl notes.

• Non-owned and hired auto insurance: Even if a nonprofit doesn’t own any vehicles, the organization can be sued for accidents involving employees using their personal vehicles (or vehicles rented by employees or the organization) if they were conducting organization business at the time of the accident. Non-owned and hired auto insurance acts as a supplement to an employee’s own vehicle insurance and will cover any judgments above what the employee’s policy—or a rental policy—covers.

• Professional liability insurance: Nonprofits that provide health-related services, counseling or vocational training may require professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance. E&O insurance protects the nonprofit from financial liability resulting from any mistakes made while delivering its services. It is a form of malpractice insurance.

• Employee dishonesty insurance: This protects a nonprofit in the event an employee or volunteer embezzles from or attempts fraud against the organization.

• Volunteer accident/liability insurance: While many general liability packages include some coverage for accidents caused by volunteers, nonprofits that NYNmedia.com

m

May 2015

Issue N°2

BY LUZ M. RODRIGUEZ

LIMITING CLAIMS BEFOREHAND While liability insurance is an important part of strategic planning for any nonprofit, minimizing the actual occurrence of claims is also critical.

“Just like any business, a nonprofit can control insurance costs by controlling the factors that can potentially lead to claims,” Dahl says. Internal controls such as rigorous HR policies and procedures, as well as appropriate safety policies, can limit exposure to lawsuits.

She notes that HR claims are “easier to avoid with proper in-house procedures” compared with accident claims.

Fewer insurance claims will help keep premiums down. An ounce of prevention can also avoid expensive, time-absorbing legal distractions that prevent a nonprofit from concentrating on its core functions.

TRADE TIPS

requirements and put together competitive insurance packages. As with most services, obtaining quotes from a number of different insurance providers is a good way to find the best prices and coverage.

When comparing various packages, nonprofits should make special note of what types of claims are specifically excluded from coverage. A lower-cost policy can prove more expensive in the long term if it excludes claims that a nonprofit may actually face.

Dahl suggests opting for a broker or provider that has experience working with nonprofits. “It is preferable, in my experience, to have someone who is familiar with nonprofits and their structure,” she notes. “Nonprofits have needs that many for-profits don’t, such as covering volunteer actions.”

BE CLEAR ABOUT THE NEED

MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

A

ny grant proposal — short or long —will always require a “statement of need.” This description of the problem or social condition you are targeting is most effective when written after conducting a “needs assessment” to gather information from key stakeholders, including those most affected by the problem.

You may also want to test your assumptions about the nature or root of the problem with a “situational analysis” in which you strategically combine various data points and perspectives — relevant statistics and anecdotal evidence —to illustrate the breadth and depth of the social condition you’re tackling.

For example, a criminal justice program that aims to reduce severe sentencing for non-violent offenses might gather evidence about the issue by surveying

those most affected by such sentencing.

The findings of this needs assessment could then be examined in the context of demographic data, such as rates of incarceration by race, gender and age, and other statistics on sentencing patterns, to inform a powerful statement of need.

Remember: The goal of your statement is to educate your reader (the program officer) about the social condition your program addresses. This piece of your proposal is never about how much money your program requires, but rather the universal need to solve a systemic social problem. Once you have made a convincing case, your readers will be eager to learn about the solution you propose.

Rodriguez is a Training Specialist at Foundation Center, the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide.

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

TRADE TIPS

BUILDING YOUR BRAND

BRANDING ON A BUDGET

By ANAT GERSTEIN

I

f your organization is like many other small groups, branding may fall by the wayside. You may think you don’t have the staff or budget to take on a branding project.

However, branding is not something to push aside since it expresses who you are and differentiates you from others doing similar work. A good brand makes a great first impression—helping you connect with potential donors and funders, elected officials, and volunteers.

Basic branding includes: (1) visual identity, the name, logo and design; (2) messaging, a tagline; (3) a plan to get in front of target audiences.

The most important aspect of good branding is, as the grandfather of branding Alan Siegel says, “Clarity above all.”

Improving your brand does not have to be intimidating or complex; here are some ideas: KEEP IT SIMPLE Your brand should be consistent and clean. Take time to evaluate and scrub your current materials.

Gather everything you use with external audiences, including letterhead and envelopes, flyers, brochures, annual re-

ports, newsletters, electronic newsletters, website, social media, and put it on one table. Look for the following three things: 1. Does your name and logo appear consistently? Have a standard logo (organizations can have variations of their logo, but if you are reading this, you should probably stick to one) and a standard treatment (font and color) for your organization’s name.

2. Is your visual identity consistent? Do you use consistent font types, colors and images? If not, agree on a look you like and redo all your materials accordingly, including your website and social media.

3. Is your messaging consistent and present on all materials? Develop a standard, succinct way to describe what you do.

RAMP IT UP Next, develop a new name, logo, tagline, message and plan to increase visibility. Unless you have branding and design experts on staff, you will need to outsource this. This work requires good eyes and ears, command of a pen, research and legal work to ensure someone else does not have a copyright.

Consider rebranding when: 1. Your name no longer describes what

Building Your

you do. The name Citizen’s Advice Bureau no longer described the organization’s work of serving non-citizens and providing service, not just advice. Today the organization is called BronxWorks! which more aptly conveys its mission.

2. Your logo feels stale. Project Renewal modernized their logo while maintaining the essential feel of their brand.

OLD LOGO

NEW LOGO

3. A tagline or improved messaging will reinforce your story. Community Healthcare Network added the tagline “Care You Can Feel Good About” to reinforce that they provide direct care services.

4. You need to increase visibility. Rebranding can help your organization increase visibility for the purposes of attracting more funders, pushing a legislative agenda, developing visitorship, increasing volunteers, and more.

Resources for free or low-cost branding and design work: Taproot Foundation: drives social

change by leading, mobilizing and engaging professionals in pro bono service www.taprootfoundation.org Catch-A-Fire: provides talented individuals with meaningful pro bono experiences to build capacity for social good organizations www.catchafire.org AIGA: nonprofits can solicit projects via the job board at the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design www.aiga.org/ ReServe: an innovative nonprofit that matches professionals age 55+ with organizations that need their expertise www.reserveinc.org Hatch for Good: a Rockefeller Foundation-funded initiative to help social impact organizations effectively tell their stories www.hatchforgood.org You can also call design schools to inquire about students willing to work on a branding project.

Take advantage of the extra time in the summer to ensure your branding reflects the type of organization you want people to perceive it to be.

Anat Gerstein is the President of Anat, a communications, public relations, public affairs, and marketing firm.

DOES YOUR AGENCY NEED TO REBRAND? NEW LOGOS WEBSITE ENHANCEMENT

Feature your PR company in this new section which educates nonprofit leaders about interacting with press, improving brand recognition, and engaging the community.

EVENT PROMOTION MARKETING

Partnership Opportunities: Advertorial: Place an advertorial to establish your business as a thought-leader

Sponsored Column: Write a sponsored column to tell readers about your business offerings Place an Ad: Align your company with this section by placing an ad next to relevant content For information contact Lissa Blake at LBlake@NYNMedia.com 6

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2 N°1 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NOTABLES

FRONTLINE HERO

By JEFF STEIN

AMANDA ROLAT

A

s counsel for the Center for Appellate Litigation’s (CAL) Justice First project, Amanda Rolat seeks justice for clients who are in dire need of vigorous representation: those who may have been wrongfully convicted.

CAL, a nonprofit public defense firm whose clients are assigned by New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, serves some of society’s most disenfranchised clients in a variety of appeals processes. In 2002, its Justice First Project was established in an effort to confront the all too pervasive issue of innocent people serving lengthy prison sentences for crimes they did not commit.

“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to specialize in wrongful convictions,” said Rolat. “I worked at the Innocence Project (a wrongful conviction nonprofit

court alongside clients, Rolat’s work necessarily entails going out into the field to gather evidence that could help overturn a client’s conviction. In one memorable case, this meant traveling as far as Florida to track down a witness that CAL had been seeking for two years.

More commonly, Rolat’s fieldwork involves meeting with clients and reaching out to potential witnesses in communities throughout New York City, many of whom have felt targeted by the criminal justice system for their entire lives.

“It can be very tough to gain a client’s trust,” Rolat explained. “By the time my office is assigned on appeal, I think a lot of my clients view me as part of a system that they distrust.”

For Rolat, the key to establishing trust is demonstrating a deep respect for the

THERE ARE NOT MANY AREAS OF LAW THAT ARE AS INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING LEGALLY, BU T ALSO PERSONALLY REWARDING organization) when I was in college and had the opportunity to meet a lot of exonerees who came to New York to discuss their experiences in prison and on death row for crimes they didn’t commit.”

Rolat’s work is unique in that wrongful conviction cases require extensive factual investigation in an effort to provide information that was not present in the initial court proceedings.

“There are not many areas of law that are as interesting and challenging legally, but also personally rewarding,” Rolat said.

In addition to the customary legal duties of filing motions and appearing in NYNmedia.com

fears and anxieties that the criminal justice system can inspire in all people, especially those from the communities she serves.

“These cases commonly take longer than a direct appeal, so clients sometimes feel like the increased length of the process is just the system betraying them again,” Rolat explained.

This harsh reality inevitably impacts Rolat’s work as she speaks with members of the community who may have exonerating evidence crucial to a case.

In many instances, witnesses are reticent to become embroiled in a system that

has targeted them in the past and are fearful of the perceptions their involvement could engender within their own community.

“I always try to make it very clear: I’m not the police. I’m not the prosecutor. I’m not going to force anyone to tell their story if they don’t want to. I’m not there to put them in a dangerous situation,” said Rolat. “Most people just want to remain anonymous. They don’t want to be on anyone’s radar. They just want to go back to living their quiet lives. Sometimes part of getting people to testify is actually understanding why they don’t want to be involved and respecting that.”

These delicate dynamics are just one challenge that Rolat faces in her work.

“One of the things I love most about post-conviction work is that my days are varied,” said Rolat. “Some days, I’m in my office, reading trial records and writing legal motions and briefs. On other days, I’m visiting clients who are incarcerated,

locating and interviewing witnesses and former defense attorneys, and consulting experts. There really is no average day in this line of work.”

Ultimately, Rolat views her work as providing unique attention to people who have been forsaken by a system that is inherently susceptible to human error and prejudice.

“In the end, clients want to feel that someone is actually listening to them and that they aren’t just another file,” said Rolat. “Our hope is that once clients see how much time and work CAL does for them, they can finally feel like someone believes in their innocence and is doing everything they can to fight for them.”

Frontline Hero features a nonprofit staffer who works directly with an organization's constituency and goes above and beyond to serve people. *Names have been changed for privacy.

we congratulate the 2o15 recipients of the

business law & leadership award

Steven M. Cohen

Eileen Torres

Rohan Weerasinghe

MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated

BronxWorks

Citigroup Inc.

for distinguished service on behalf of new york city neighborhoods

For information on pro bono legal services for nonprofits, visit www.lawyersalliance.org/nonprofits.php

LANY_NYNP_BLL_2015A.indd 1

5/8/2015 10:04:31 AM

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NOTABLES

AGENCY OF THE MONTH

HARNESSING THE “HUSTLE” Program transforms former inmates into successful entrepreneurs

By ROSALY N RETK WA

“C

RIMINAL HISTORY? ENTREPRENEURIAL? WE WANT YOU!” At first glance, the ad on Craigslist looks like yet another Internet scam aimed at the desperate, but it represents a very real opportunity for ex-cons struggling to make a living legally. The ad tells the story of Defy Ventures, a New York City-based nonprofit that helps ex-cons “defy the odds” of going back to jail by helping them launch their own entrepreneurial businesses. It’s a way to circumvent the very considerable difficulties people face trying to find jobs once they’ve been convicted of a felony: Create your own business, and become the employer, not the employee.

“It’s really hard to get hired; everything they say is true,” said Kim Morris, who falsified a mortgage application and was sentenced to two years in federal prison for bank fraud. She had previously worked in foreclosure mediation at a New Jersey courthouse and for a private investment firm. But after being released, she found herself stuck in a minimum-wage job at a health club. That’s when she saw Defy’s ad.

“They were holding interviews to get into the program the very next day in midtown Manhattan,” she said. That was last September, and she has since started a cleaning business, The Cleaned Space, which serves mainly property managers, though her clients also include some homeowners and an Airbnb host. “Defy changed my mindset,” she said. “I would have still been looking for a job.” Now, she’s about to hire her first employee.

Morris said that Catherine Hoke— who founded Defy in 2010 and serves as the nonprofit’s CEO—reminded her that she “did not come to Defy to be a cleaning person; I’m a CEO.” On Defy’s website, Hoke talks about her career in venture capital and private equity, and how she founded the Prison Entrepreneurship Program in Texas.

Hoke says that what struck her early on was that many prisoners were already successful entrepreneurs in illegitimate businesses like drug dealing, and could be successful once released if that “hustle” could be channeled into legitimate businesses.

Like Morris, most of Defy’s participants start service-related businesses “that don’t require a lot of financial overhead,” said Lindsay Freeman, Defy’s chief of staff, citing industries such as catering, photography or arts and crafts. So far, about 100 companies have been founded

by Defy’s entrepreneurs-in-training or EITs, she said.

The program starts with a one-

8

Defy Ventures founder Catherine Hoke with program students

month orientation, followed by a yearlong series of business and personal development courses that are delivered online and supplemented by peer-topeer meetings and intensive mentoring from leading entrepreneurs such as Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper and former New York Stock Exchange CEO Duncan Niederauer—both of whom are listed on Defy’s website as among its “400+ donors” through their foundations.

Another big donor: Google. Toward the end of 2014, Defy opened its second location in San Francisco with a $500,000 grant from the Internet giant. Last year, Defy’s budget was $2.4 million, and this year it will be $3.5 million to $4 million, Freeman said.

Coss Marte said Defy is an “amazing program” and that the mentors like Draper and Niederauer “treat us as human beings and not like ex-felons.” He said that the mentors will “hold your hand, and not only during your time in the program. I’m still in contact with all of these CEOs and executives. Whenever I need them, I email them, and they’re super responsive and really care about my success.”

At one time, Marte was a drug dealer on the Lower East Side with more than $2 million in annual revenue and about 20 people working for his 24-hour cocaine

delivery service—until a wiretap on one of his lieutenants’ cellphones landed him in jail for five years. In July of 2013— four months after his release—he signed up for Defy’s program, where he says he took “MBA-style” courses on drafting a business plan, marketing and branding—“everything you need to know to start a business and do it right.” He took a workout regimen he developed in prison and used it to launch Coss Athletics, which is about to expand to its second location. He said he’s also going to rebrand his business as “Con Body” with the tag line: “Do the time.”

Defy helps its EITs fund their businesses via competitions modeled on the TV show “Shark Tank,” where they pitch their ideas and can win seed capital to fund their businesses. Morris and Marte said they’ve both won a cumulative $10,000 with Defy.

Defy’s backers have also trained EITs how to raise money in other ways. For example, Jessica Nowlan, who dropped out of school in the seventh grade and grew up on the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, has raised $10,107 from 87 people through a Kickstarter campaign for her do-it-yourself gift kit business, Create Shoppe, while also winning $2,700 in a pitch competition.

Defy’s EITs pay tuition so they have

some skin in the game, Freeman said.

Morris said she’s paying $100 a month, but “Defy gives you opportunities to make money,” like sales expos where they can sell their products. Defy also gives them branded T-shirts they can sell, and bonuses for good referrals, Freeman said.

“Generally, people find a way to make it work,” Freeman said.

But it’s not an easy program, either, Morris said, noting that out of her group of 50 who started the program in September, only seven are left.

Defy’s EITs “have to be willing to take ownership of their pasts, show remorse over their crimes and a desire to change.

They take random drug tests and have to stay clean, and they have to have a willingness to work hard,” Freeman said.

Defy’s five-year plan includes expanding into other cities, while “developing a product that can be licensed to other groups” who want to create similar programs in their communities.

Defy recently held a “Transform the Hustle” launch party in New York City for its Defy Professional Network, led

by Todd Young, an interest rate trader at Swiss Re Asset Management. The goal of DFN is to get more young professionals involved in Defy as mentors and fundraisers, he said. To that end, DFN is planning a charity run in the fall and other events, he said.

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NOTABLES

CEO CORNER

Q&A with JOANNE PAGE

N

YN sat down with JoAnne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society, an agency founded in 1967 to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals become productive, contributing members of society.

The following interview has been edited for content and clarity.

NYN: WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR DEVOTING YOUR CAREER TO WORKING IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM? JP: I’m the child of a holocaust survivor.

In fact, this month is the 70th anniversary of my father’s liberation from Dachau and the work camp affiliated with it. So I know something about injustice. I know something about the damage that institutions can do to people; about the kind of rage that people carry within themselves when they have reasons for anger.

I started doing volunteer work in prisons when I was 18 and realized that this is the place where I want to work. I wasn’t sure how – I thought I wanted to do criminal poverty law in New York City for the rest of my life, so I went to law school. I interned at Fortune during my law school period.

I graduated from Yale in 1980 and went to work at Legal Aid for two and a half years. I got frustrated there because I felt like I was pushing people through a revolving door.

So I started doing alternatives to incarceration work at what was then the Court Employment Project and created the idea of providing alternatives for serious felony cases. At that time, it was only the misdemeanors that were being considered for alternatives to incarceration.

I did that for six years, and then Fortune Society was looking for an Executive Director. Now it’s 26 years later. I don’t think I’ve held the same job for more than two years, even though I’ve had the same title, because as you look at the needs of people who come through our doors and try to meet them, you learn a lot about new things.

NYN: HOW HAVE THE FORTUNE SOCIETY’S OFFERINGS CHANGED NYNmedia.com

DURING YOUR TENURE? JP: When I started, we didn’t offer anything around AIDS, because when Fortune was created in 1967, there was no AIDS. But by the time I came to Fortune in 1989, almost everybody in the place was either HIV positive, scared of being HIV positive, or loved someone who was HIV positive. So we developed some real cutting-edge HIV services.

And then over time, we realized that we had so many homeless people coming to us, and if they had a violent conviction or no drug-free time, we couldn’t get them into spots in the few decent places available. So we figured that if we tried to do it ourselves, we wouldn’t do worse while we were learning.

We were at the right time in the real estate market – this was 1998. We bought the shell of a building in Harlem, which had been abandoned for 20 years, and we created the Fortune Academy. We did it on a five-year plan – we opened it five years after thinking of it.

We have been running it now for over 12 years, and about 100 people go through the 60 beds each year. It’s magic. You get to see how people transform when they feel safe and valued and have supportive services. So Fortune learned to do housing.

And as we started serving more homeless people, we started serving more mentally ill people. What we found was that our clients either had no experience with mental health services or very, very bad experiences. For Fortune’s clients with mental illness, their experience often was that they were prescribed medication to control them – essentially chemical restraints. So even people who needed psychotropic drugs were very hesitant to use them.

But we found that if they are in a place where they feel safe and where they are getting other services that they want that don’t have stigma attached, we were able to get people engaged in mental health services.

NYN: HOW HAS YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE CHANGED AS THE FORTUNE SOCIETY HAS GROWN?

JP: I would never want to be in a job that I knew how to do. So having the place grow and constantly challenge me is wonderful. It also helps me in terms of being able to delegate because I’m not going to be out of important work. I can delegate what I know and love while I’m learning something new.

I think the key is building the talent bank. More than half of our staff at Fortune was formerly incarcerated, as well as much of our leadership and a third of our board. That keeps us close to the issues that the people are facing and gives us a lot of knowledge and role modeling.

A lot of places struggle with how to find the talent they need – we sit on a mother lode of talent. Many people start as clients and then become interns, then trainees, and then staff.

In terms of my own growth, shifting from doing it to trying to grow the people who do it is quite wonderful.

NYN: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FOCUSES OF FORTUNE’S ADVOCACY? JP: Fortune has always been an advocacy organization – we started that way and it’s in our bones. We advocate on issues like housing discrimination against people with records. We actually have a lawsuit going right now against a Queens landlord who does blanket discrimination – if you have a record, no matter when it was, you get knocked out of eligibility for that housing.

We’re also looking at the intersection of immigration and criminal justice – how people who have lived in this country almost all their lives can get picked up on minor offenses and then be at risk of being deported to a country they don’t know, ripping their families apart.

One of our focuses is on what Fortune calls “collateral consequences,” which is that you may have a conviction that comes with a certain punishment, but the true punishments go beyond that initial punishment in many different ways – housing discrimination, job discrimination, and immigration consequences.

Simply put, one of the biggest issues we raise is: why are we locking up so many people? We have 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners.

We lock people up under conditions of solitary confinement that are considered torture by the United Nations. The second largest penal colony in the world is what you fly over when you come into La Guardia, Rikers Island.

Our largest mental hospitals aren’t hospitals at all, because we basically shifted from mental health facilities to prisons. We basically just moved the population over. So there’s plenty of room for advocacy.

NYN: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NONPROFIT AGENCIES AND GOVERNMENT ACTORS? JP: I think that the nonprofit world is at great risk right now. We’ve seen what happened with FEGS, but what we see now is an increasing pattern of government agencies only paying part of the cost of services, expecting you to raise the rest, having very tight restrictions about how you use the funds, increasing the amount of documentation that you need to do, and not being willing to pay infrastructure costs. All this while they look for more data and more financial reporting.

I think what you’re seeing is a critical period for the social services infrastructure. I’m hoping that changes will happen before valuable nonprofits go under.

Fortune is doing what it needs to do to protect itself and be conservative. I’m very worried about some of our sister organizations which matter greatly.

Each month, New York Nonprofit Media sits with a nonprofit leader to discuss his or her professional experience, lessons learned, perspectives on the industry and more. Be sure to visit www.NYNmedia.com to view the video interview. To recommend a candidate for CEO Corner, contact Jeff Stein at JStein@NYNmedia.com

JoAnne Page speaks to graduates in 2011.

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NEWS

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 2.0 Nonprofits, youth and technology spark action against police brutality

By FR ANK G. RU N YEON

Millions March NYC protest, December 13, 2014. By B.C. Lorio.

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ynead Nichols couldn’t sleep. The 23-year-old was staying at a friend’s apartment in Harlem the night a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Earlier that night she had put her head in her hands and cried in the middle of Union Square. She didn’t want to believe the news.

“Where is the justice? Where is the justice?” she remembers thinking. Her own brother, just 21 at the time, lived near Baltimore. What if he was the next Mike Brown? As she protested with a crowd moving north, her distress turned to passion. “I thought, ‘What can I do?’ I didn’t know what to do, but I knew something had to be done.”

As soon as she got to a computer, Synead furiously fired off messages to anyone she could think of that knew how to organize, plan, and stage a protest. Sometime after midnight, she created a Facebook event that would come to be called “Millions March NYC.” Her friend designed a poster. Synead tweeted and promoted the event on Twitter and Instagram too. She focused on people she knew, individuals, she said, not organizations.

And it worked.

“People were just spreading this everywhere, faster and faster,” Nichols said.

“And it was growing daily.”

Justice League NYC, a police reform nonprofit with celebrity connections, tweeted the poster. Then hip-hop magnate Russell Simmons tweeted the poster to his 3.5 million followers. And multi-platinum rapper Nas followed suit.

Eventually Miley Cyrus reposted it to her nearly 20 million followers.

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Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Manhattan’s streets two weeks later, with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson holding a parallel rally in Washington, DC. As a performance artist, Synead Nichols had called herself a singer-songwriter, a dancer and an actor—but now people were giving her new titles: a leader, an activist, even a “history maker.”

Demonstrations have broken out all over the country in the past year in response to police killings of unarmed black men. While long-time civil rights groups have called for rallies and marches, the real organizers of these protests have been previously-unknown youth leaders, calling for action in the streets via social media. This has led to some friction between the young activists and legacy civil rights groups.

The movement, propelled by the free flow of cell phone videos, photos and live reports on Twitter, is based more on principles and a set of demands for police reform, which may differ from city to city, advocates explain. This is expressed in slogans like “Black Lives Matter,” commonly collected in the hashtag, “#blacklivesmatter.”

“That particular call is almost a movement in itself,” says Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, or NAACP-LDF. “A hashtag is a reflection of a larger set of demands, a larger set of politics, a larger set of issues.”

"One of the criticisms of ‘hastag activism’ is that people sit behind their computers and mouth off on Twitter and don't do much of anything else,” says Vince Warren, executive director for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). But activists, including Nichols, have used it

“to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people around the county into action,” Warren says. “And that's a new phenomenon—particularly it's new coming from young black leadership."

“They are definitely a new generation and that’s something we have been praying for,” says Akinwole-Bandele. “What you are seeing is young people around the country saying, ‘No more. That’s it.’”

But as a veteran activist with decades of experience, Akinwole-Bandele takes a longer view of the impact these young activists are having.

“The work that’s been happening here in the last year is part of a long strategy that was mapped out decades ago,” he says. “It’s part of a continuum of work that’s been calling for police accountability,” he says, pausing in thought. “Forever.”

Hundreds of lawsuits, countless hours of research and seminal studies have paved the way for young activists like Synead Nichols and scores of other local organizers from Ferguson to Baltimore, Akinwole-Bandele believes. “The language has been provided, the narrative was laid out. So people stepped in and were able to use some of the tools that were there.”

And while reformers new and old confirm that they share an important symbiotic relationship, there is tension between them.

During Al Sharpton’s rally in Washington, DC, young activists from Ferguson, Missouri demanded the microphone.

According to multiple news reports, the crowd chanted, “Let them speak” until Johnetta Elzie, a protest organizer from St. Louis, was given the podium. “This movement was started by the young peo-

ple. We started this,” she yelled. Those in her faction complained that the demonstration had been co-opted by Sharpton and lacked the more dramatic tactics needed. “I thought there was going to be actions, not a show. This is a show,” Elzie said.

Despite this high-profile incident, a public relations spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) bristled at the idea of an “old guard” and a “new guard” in the movement, calling that characterization “inaccurate and contrived.” CPR represents a broad coalition of organizations in New York, including NAACP-LDF and CCR. "The young folks were saying to the old-timers, 'You don't speak for us anymore. The tactics that you have laid out over the last thirty or forty years still have us in a situation where we're being indiscriminately shot. So, we're going to take this over and take this in a different direction,’” Vince Warren explains. But Warren doesn’t find this division to be a threat to the cause. “I think that's very healthy for the movement. I think it keeps civil rights groups and religious organizations on their toes. And it really shifts the narrative."

"This leadership is not coming from the black church, it’s not coming from traditional civil rights groups and NGOs, its coming from people in affected communities,” Warren explains.

Warren says there is friction between this new wave of activists and traditional civil rights groups. “Primarily over questions of turf, over questions of how quickly this change should be happening, the question of what the demands should be.”

Young protesters have shown a willingness to go toe-to-toe with police, risk arrest and even injuries in ways that has not been common on this scale for decades. That’s led some to question the tactics and leadership of those taking to the streets, particularly how some demonstrations have devolved into rioting. There is consensus, however, that what is unique about the current crop of young activists in New York and across the country is a new sense of boldness or fearlessness that is fueling what could become a second wave of the civil rights movement.

“People are just going to be out in the streets,” Nichols said. “People are going to say, ‘Hey this is not good. We're going to handle this right now.’ People are more proactive now."

This generation of activists “are willing to sacrifice to make sure that progress is made,” Akinwole-Bandele says. “People are tired, people are frustrated, people are no longer being constrained by fear.”

While these activists are unsure of what the next year will hold in terms of concrete political changes or reforms in New York, they all agree there will be many more protests to come.

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NEWS

THE COST OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

By ALICE POPOVICI

S

igns of trouble began to surface from the beginning of their 15-year marriage – he tried to control her schedule, her spending and her every move – but Martha said she only decided to separate from her husband about four years ago, when he began to use his tactics of intimidation on their children. About a year ago, when her son’s social worker referred her to a counseling program at the nonprofit organization Children’s Aid Society, she began to understand what she was dealing with.

“My counselor said, ‘This is a form of domestic violence’ – it hit me like a smack in the face. It doesn’t have to be physical,” said Martha, a 47-yearold New York City resident who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy. “It’s given me a lot of insight.”

Now, as she is trying to divorce her husband and provide for two children on her own, Martha said she is starting to feel the economic strain. She has amassed about $17,000 in credit card debt, she was nearly evicted from her apartment and – despite working full-time and watching her spending – is barely making ends meet. She is also beginning to understand all the subtle ways in which her husband had steered finances all along – by asking her to charge a costly medical bill on her own credit card, keeping track of her purchases and saving his own money in a secret bank account.

Social services professionals who work with victims of economic abuse in New York City say this type of domestic violence is little understood and poorly documented. But the consequences of financial sabotage – tactics of which include controlling a partner’s access to money, preventing them from working or attending school, ruining their credit and stealing their identity – can often sending victims on a downward spiral of unemployment, homelessness and bankruptcy.

“Victims of domestic violence – what happens to them is not a snapshot in time,” said Gwen Wright, executive director of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. “We’re talking about a long video.”

But so far there does not seem to be a comprehensive national or local study – at least in New York – measuring the ripple effect of economic abuse on the economy, including how it impacts employers and the healthcare system. A handful of studies look at pieces of the problem, but some experts say it would be helpful to connect the dots – however complicated this may be.

Nationwide, the cost of domestic violence is more than $5.8 billion per year, which includes about $4.1 billion in healthcare services and about $0.9 billion in lost productiviNYNmedia.com

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringerat the unveiling of the report on domestic violence. (Photo by Luna Liu via World Journal)

ty at work, according to a 2003 study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2012, a study by the office of then-Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer found that while victims of economic abuse often receive assistance for short-term needs such as housing and childcare – this support net tends to disappear in the long term.

"We must end the cycle of economic abuse in our city and in our society," New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said in a statement.

"Local government can and should play a role in developing the tools to provide safeguards against economic abuse, and to help lift up victims in recovery."

Research shows that the ramifications of economic abuse can haunt victims long after the abusive partner is gone and their immediate needs are met.

“That impact of trying to rebuild your life financially, of trying to rebuild your credit, can take years,” said Amanda Stylianou, director of research and evaluation at the New York City branch of Safe Horizon.

“The number one thing I hear is the impact it has on (victims’) ability to provide for their children.”

Stylianou said a 2012 study she co-authored found that women who experienced economic and psychological abuse from a domestic partner were more likely to suffer from depression and to spank their children five years later compared to women who had experienced only physical abuse.

“Economic abuse is one of the primary tactics that abusers use to maintain control over their partner,” said Kerry Moles, who oversees domestic violence programs at Children’s Aid Society. Sometimes an abusive partner will harass a wife or girlfriend at work, causing her to be late, affecting her performance on the job and sometimes getting her fired. Moles

said the abuser’s goal is to isolate the victim – who ends up having nowhere to go when she tries to leave the relationship.

When victims of abuse do leave and end up in the city’s domestic violence shelters – which are separate from homeless shelters – they can only stay for a few weeks because space is limited.

“There’s this huge linkage between homelessness and domestic violence,” said Catherine Trapani, housing link director at New Destiny Housing. For victims who do not have the resources to move out on their own, the question becomes, ‘Do I stay in this abusive relationship where I have a roof over my head, or do I become homeless?’”

This economic trap is part of the reason why women – who represent the overwhelming number of economic abuse victims – end up staying with a partner, social services professionals said. But they stressed that economic abuse is a problem that also occurs in same-sex relationships and across socio-economic and cultural lines.

When clients arrive at a New Destiny Housing center, Trapani said they are often unaware of how deep the financial damage runs.

One pattern that pops up over and over in these situations is that “all of the assets always tend to be in the abuser’s name and all of the liabilities tend to be in the victim’s name,” Trapani said.

Because credit problems can have such a debilitating effect on someone’s ability to be financially independent, Trapani and other social services agency professionals said one piece of legislation that could prove helpful is the Consumer Credit Fairness Act which passed the NYS Assembly in 2013 and 2014, and has been introduced in this session but not yet voted on. The bill has never been voted on in the Senate, though

Sen. Jose Peralta has introduced it.

The bill would essentially slow down the debt collection process, said Laura Russell, supervising attorney for the domestic violence unit at the Legal Aid Society. It would require collection agencies to give consumers more information on their debts, more notice and more time to get their finances in order, which would help ease the burden on victims of economic abuse.

Russell said she has worked with victims of domestic violence for the past 20 years, but she began to see the consequences of economic abuse take hold after the recession in 2008, when credit lines tightened, financial assets depreciated, the housing market crashed and public assistance became more difficult to access.

But Russell said it would be difficult to determine the precise impact of economic abuse – particularly where credit problems are concerned – because not many victims choose to self-identify.

Though the Consumer Credit Fairness Act is having trouble becoming law, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a consumer protection settlement this March that could make all the difference or victims of economic abuse.

By partnering with three of the nation’s leading credit reporting agencies that provide credit information on 200 million Americans – Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Equifax Information Services, LLC, and TransUnion LLC – the Office of the Attorney General helped implement two key reforms.

“One big change is that the credit reporting agencies will notify a consumer 180 days before adding medical debt to their report,” said Matt Mittenthal, spokesperson for the Attorney General.

The settlement also increases the credit reporting firms’ documentation analysis, layering in another level of review and communication that can potentially prevent devastating credit issues.

“The credit reporting firms have agreed to employ specially trained staff to review all documentation submitted by consumers who the firms believe have problems with their credit,” said Mittenthal. “[Then] the credit reporting firm will use their discretion to resolve the dispute.”

A comprehensive report on the economic impact that domestic abuse has on New York State has not been authored.

“There’s not necessarily concrete solutions,” said Stylianou of Safe Horizon, but added that a study on the financial consequences of economic abuse would be “an important next step.”

“Economic abuse is something that impacts all of us,” she said.

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NEWS

NATIONS OF IMMIGRANTS Nonprofits aid child immigrants in need

By GABE PONCE DE LEÓN

L

ast year the deportation cases of tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children overwhelmed already backlogged immigration courts around the country. Despite the creation of special surge dockets to process that increased caseload, the majority of legal proceedings in New York are yet to be resolved—with some potentially dragging on for another year. While the number of new arrivals tailed off at the end of last summer, a steady trickle has continued to turn up. Given that migration to the southern border tends to follow seasonal patterns, a larger wave—if not the tsunami seen in 2014—could soon sweep in.

In recent years, New York has made efforts to improve immigrant access to the legal system. Under U.S. law there is no right to appointed counsel in immigration proceedings.

An October 2014 study conducted by the TRAC Research Center found that over 80 percent of unaccompanied children immigrants without legal representation were deported while nearly three-quarters of those with representation were allowed to remain in the country.

The road to winning the right to remain in the country is a long one, but Central Americans start with one advantage: they are entitled to a hearing before a U.S. judge. Mexican children, in contrast, can be imme-

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diately deported. Though some media reports depicted the 2014 surge as a breakdown in border security, most unaccompanied Central Americans “present” themselves to border agents. Their first destination will typically be a detention center run by the Department of Homeland Security, which advocates have long claimed fail to meet acceptable standards in the provision of food and medical care, room temperatures and the overall treatment of detainees.

By law, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot detain unaccompanied minors longer than 72 hours. From DHS facilities the minors are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), where they remain in shelters before being transferred again to a private child welfare agency contracted to provide them with shelter for up to 60 days, along with support services such as acculturation lessons, health, education and legal services, case management, individual counseling, and access to recreational and leisure activities. Pending their immigration hearings, the children are held in “the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child.” Since the vast majority of these minors have relatives in the United States, that requirement almost always translates to children

being released to sponsors—a parent, relative or family friend.

“What we see are kids showing up with just the clothes on their back— or a few personal belongings they managed to carry with them—often malnourished, scared, wary of trusting others and in need of care,” said Henry Ackerman, chief development officer of Abbott House, one of thirteen private child welfare agencies in New York that provide temporary shelter and transitional services before releasing the juveniles to their sponsors.

Most of the unaccompanied minors emigrate from the “Northern Triangle” countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, which have among the highest homicide rates in the world. Led by smugglers known as “coyotes,” the minors undertake perilous treks through violence-wracked regions en route to the U.S. border. Along the way, many fall victim to robbery and sexual assault, among other crimes. Some are fleeing gang violence and poverty; others hope to reunite with family members; for most, a combination of push-and-pull is at play.

Many of the kids join relatives— who themselves are sometimes unauthorized to be in the country— facing economic hardship and even housing insecurity in some cases.

Since the majority hired smugglers to help them reach the border —

whose services routinely cost as much as $10,000— teenagers might be expected to contribute financially to the family. Attempting to work, though, only increases their likelihood of deportation.

The fact that some children have lived apart from their parents for so long complicates the dynamics of reunification. Despite enduring hardship both before and during their cross-border journeys, for many children the more commonplace privations cause the greatest pain. Many have gone through repeated separations and changed caregivers multiple times, with some experiencing abuse along the custodial chain.

The acculturation process alone can cause heightened anxiety and feelings of isolation. Many Central American children additionally demonstrate symptoms of post-traumatic stress and some are reluctant to leave the temporary shelters at which they arrive in New York.

“A child needs a secure attachment to parents or someone who fills that role,” said Dr. Cristina Muñiz de la Peña, the medical health director at Terra Firma, a medical-legal partnership that serves immigrant children in New York.

Most of these minors have two potential pathways to relief from removal: asylum or Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status. To be granted asylum, a refugee must prove an individualized fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular group. And it’s not always clear, for instance, how a violent threat from a gang member fits into those categories. Membership in a particular social group is the protected ground that immigrant attorneys have found most pliable, but more children opt to pursue SIJ status, which can be attained by demonstrating neglect, abandonment or abuse. Pursuing SIJ status typically takes longer than applying for asylum but can also be easier to prove.

In some hearings, the physical scars of violence can be presented as evidence that the asylum seeker fled a specific threat, but outcomes more often hinge on the retelling of facts and events that occurred thousands of miles away. In those cases, the credibility of the individual seeking relief may be the deciding factor.

“It’s extremely difficult—and potentially re-traumatizing—to ask kids to talk about the most dangerous, scary experiences that they’ve been through, and much more so when the consequences of what they say will probably determine whether or not they’re sent back to the situation that scared them,” said Brett Stark, the legal director of Terra Firma. “A lot of kids don’t want to talk about those things, and they’ve avoided thinking about them, and now they’re being asked to recall in detail the very things they’ve been trying to forget.”

“There’s a lot of fear of deportation,” Dr. Muñiz said. “Going to court can be very stressful. Sometimes the kids don’t understand a question, but don’t ask what it means because they’re afraid. Attorneys on the government side ask harsh questions to see if the child is lying.”

A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Plyler v. Doe) held that states NYNmedia.com

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May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

t , Co-Founder of Terra Firma, Montefiore Sr. Medical Director and Pediatrician Alan Shapiro checks on participant Maircio Zapata during a visit at the clinic (Photo by Mark Bonifacio)

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cannot bar students from receiving a free primary and secondary education on the basis of their immigration status. In the United States, even children without immigration papers are required to attend school.

In response to the 2014 surge, the de Blasio administration sent representatives to the federal immigration court to assist children with school and healthcare enrollment. On Long Island, there were reports of children being turned away from public schools for failing to produce the proper paperwork. In New York, children under the age of 19 are eligible for state-funded healthcare, Child Health Plus, regardless of their legal status.

“When you meet the kids they seem to be doing fine, going to school, making friends and slowly adapting,” said Dr. Cristina Muñiz de la Peña. “But when you look closer, some have problems paying attention in class, sleeping, acting defiant.” Even those families with health insurance may have trouble finding Spanish-speaking psychologists in their area for the newly arrived minors. Others may fear exposure or come from families that are uninformed about the potential benefits of individual or group therapy.

While New York City attorneys attest to being stretched thin by large caseloads, they believe the fundamental needs of their clients are being met. The New York-based Immigrant Justice Corps became the country’s first fellowship program to provide legal assistance to immigrants in need. In November 2013, the City Council apportioned $500,000 towards providing indigent immigrants with court-appointed deportation defense counsel. The following September, in response to the surge of unaccompanied minors, the City Council—in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation and the New York Community Trust—allocated $1.9 million toward their legal representation through a coalition of nonprofit providers. This funding targeted approximately 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant children eligible for relief but without the resources to secure legal counsel.

NYNmedia.com

Although a similar $500,000 public-partnership was launched on Long Island this past February, advocates claim the availability of services outside of New York City is much more limited. In fiscal year 2014, nearly 6,000 unaccompanied children were released to sponsors in New York, according to ORR data.

More than half ended up in Suffolk and Nassau counties alone.

“The youth on Long Island, Westchester and other counties outside of New York City struggle because,

getting deported, which happens all the time in other states,” Stark said.

“We’re very grateful for the partnerships we have in New York.”

In the current fiscal year, 935 unaccompanied minors had arrived as of March, according to ORR. Nassau and Suffolk counties continue to rank among the leading destinations. The cases of juveniles who arrived either before or after the 2014 surge are not eligible for the expedited docket.

“If there’s another surge,” Dias

surpass 2012—and it could easily surpass 2013 as well,” said Susan Long, director of the TRAC Research Center at Syracuse University.

Long noted, however, that there is typically a lag between when immigrant children are picked up at the border and when their court papers are filed, so despite there not yet being evidence of it in court data, a fresh wave of immigration could be underway.

Unlike in other legal proceedings, the government is not required to

HAVING ONE AT TORNEY WITH 60 - 80 CASES OF KIDS THAT THEY HAVE TO MANAGE AT ONE TIME IS NOT IDEAL , BU T IT ’S MUCH BET TER THAN A 5-YEAR-OLD GOING IN FRONT OF A JUDGE BY HERSELF AND GET TING DEPORTED while they have services out there, it’s just not to the extent needed,” said Marika Dias, the managing attorney at Make The Road, one of providers of pro bono legal services in the New York City coalition.

When children go without access to pro bono representation, their families may muster the resources to hire a private attorney to make one or two court appearances, but often cannot afford to see the case through. Some less fortunate families have fallen victim to notaries passing themselves off as attorneys.

(In Latin America, “notarios” are qualified to provide legal counsel.)

“Having one attorney with 60 - 80 cases of kids that they have to manage at one time is not ideal, but it’s much better than a 5-year-old going in front of a judge by herself and

said, “there will have to be a significant increase in funding for pro bono resources to these young people.”

Though it escaped public notice, the first uptick in unaccompanied minors arriving from Central America was recorded in 2012. Through February of the current fiscal year, the number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the southern border was down more than 40 percent from last year (when some 68,000 entered the country), according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The current pace could result, however, in more than 40,000 entering the country this year, according to the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

“Looking at the figures through March of this year it’s clear that, if the current pace continues, 2015 will

serve the children in-person with notices to appear in court. Failure to show up in court could result in a deportation order. Rather, notices to appear are delivered to the child’s last known address.

Terra Firma program participants

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NEWS

RAISING THE AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY Legislation will likely enhance nonprofits’ roles in the criminal justice system

By GABE PONCE DE LEÓN

B

y the end of the current legislative session there could be just one state left that prosecutes all youth as adults when they turn 16 years of age—and New York won’t be it. Though raising the age of criminal responsibility is far from a done deal, the momentum in Albany appears to be in its favor. Earlier this year, a commission convened by the governor called for the age to be raised to 18, and outlined several policy recommendations for reaching that goal. In the expense and capital budgets, Gov. Cuomo subsequently earmarked a total of $135 million for implementing that change.

Though the details of the proposed legislation are still not clear, one thing is certain: nonprofits would play an oversized role in what many advocates believe is a long overdue “right-sizing” of the criminal justice system.

“In some counties they have a good set of services in place for young people, so [raising the age] would mean an expansion of those, but there are also counties where there’s almost nothing in place,” said Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York and co-chair of the Governor’s Commission on Youth, Public Safety and Justice.

Raise the age advocates call for increasing diversion and alternatives to incarceration, areas in which nonprofits perform critical functions. The enhanced nonprofit role could come to bear at various stages throughout a reformed juvenile process. For starters, juveniles go through what’s known as an “adjustment” process following their arrest,

during which they will meet with a probation officer who, in certain instances, may recommend that the case be diverted from the court in favor of some kind of service intervention.

Even if a case is not successfully diverted and enters into the formal court process, there are still alternatives-to-placement and alternatives-to-detention. There could be an increased need for those services if more young people are handled in the juvenile system. Processing more cases in the family court system, which has a greater focus on providing interventions that help juveniles, could also lead to increased need for services. In New York City, for instance, the Close to Home Initiative allows young people adjudicated in the family courts to be placed in local institutions run by nonprofits instead of being sent upstate.

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“It’s not a little prison,” said Elizabeth Powers, a juvenile justice policy associate at the Children’s Defense Fund. “It’s more of a group home, where you’re addressing the needs of kids and, by keeping them in the city, we can have that element which is necessary to getting them back on track: involving their families.”

Aftercare is another area that could see a need for increased services as well. Under the current system, 16- and 17-year-olds who receive adult sentences return from prison on adult parole, which is different from the aftercare provided to kids exiting the juvenile system, who could receive in-home family therapy, as well as assistance with educational placement.

By raising the age of criminal responsibility, Powers believes, “you pretty much shift everything to a different age-appropriate model.

Juvenile advocates have long held that the brain of a 17-year-old is not fully developed— particularly the region responsible for regulating impulses. Proponents of raising the age of criminal responsibility also argue that the future prospects for youth are greatly diminished once they have entered the adult system, regardless of whether or not they serve prison time. Youth have higher recidivism rates, they claim, and go on to commit more serious crimes.

“Kids and young adults are very resilient, and if you put them in an environment where they have to learn to survive with adults, that’s what they do,” said Dan Rezende, executive director of the Connecticut Junior Republic, a non-profit that provides services to youth who have passed through the criminal justice system. “But the consequence is that

the kids will keep acting in that manner after they leave.”

Connecticut was the most recent state to raise the age, and could offer some insight into what New York could expect should the governor’s proposed legislation pass. According to Rezende, certain previously held myths were debunked after the new law was implemented.

“One of the challenges is a fear factor that this [older] population is much different and hard to deal with than younger kids, but we found that the opposite is usually the case,” Rezende said. “The older kids are often more mature and developmentally advanced.”

Advocates and providers interviewed for this article highlighted certain services that older youth often require more than their younger counterparts, such as vocational training and assistance with independent living and substance abuse. More often, there is overlap in the services needed, whether counseling and trauma-informed communities or in-home therapy and encouragement to remain in school.

“I see little discernible difference between 15- and 17-year-olds, because their spectrum of experience is so vast,” Elijah said. “I’ve come across mature 13-year-olds and immature 17-year-olds.”

Some critics of raising the age have pointed to the complexity of implementation, and the potential cost of hiring probation officers and investing in new services and infrastructure. Even the governor’s commission concluded that the cost of juvenile detention and placement is higher than adult jail and prison.

There has also been concern at the county level that raising the age will amount to another state-mandated expense. Evidence from Connecticut, however, suggests that the size of the criminal justice system actually shrank as a result of the reforms.

And advocates, though in many cases reluctant to frame what they view as a moral imperative in cost-benefit terms, believe even an economic analysis favors their side.

“Think of the justice system as an iceberg,” said Hans Menos, director of youth services at Center for Community Alternative. “There are a lot of hidden costs to locking someone up at 17 with the adults; that person is not paying taxes, less likely to graduate high school, more likely to recidivate, and earns less, and becomes reliant on public assistance.”

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

NEWS

DATA-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS

Can venture philanthropy fuel reform and curb violence in New York?

By FR ANK G. RU N YEON

Get IN Chicago participants and leaders

T

he Windy City has a problem.

During a single weekend in Chicago this April, there were 36 shootings in 36 hours. There were a total of 2,589 killed in shootings in 2014. In addition to the crime problem, the city paid out about $40 million in legal judgements and settlements for police-related incidents.

In an effort to deal with these ongoing issues, the city launched Get IN Chicago with hefty political, commercial and public relations backing in 2013. Mayor Rahm Emanuel heralded the success of the all-privately raised $50 million fund to combat the problems of youth violence.

Local business heavyweights like Allstate came aboard as donors and board members, Michelle Obama lent her voice to the campaign and, in early May this year, Get IN Chicago awarded its first grants to 11 recipients to “administer community-driven programs that research indicates are most effective in preventing youth violence.”

This research and metrics-centric approach is key to Get IN Chicago’s philanthropy model. In the words of public relations titan Richard Edelman, who is another partner on the project, “It has all the aspects of a venture capital fund.”

Built on “venture philanthropy," a concept first floated in the 1990s as a cure for foundations and nonprofits struggling to reach their goals, Get IN Chicago says it is fighting to make Chicago safer.

Philanthropists are not venture capitalists - but should they be more like them? Could it mean more money for charity, more efficient use of that money and greater improvement in the community?

Get IN Chicago certainly thinks it does.

And if it works in Chicago, perhaps it could work in New York.

By incorporating methods commonly used by venture capitalists, the fund hopes to invest in only those nonprofits who are doing the best work.

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“You know, so much money has gone into this issue and we still know so little about what works, where are the impacts taking place, how should one fund in order to get back return on investment.

And that’s really our strategy,” says Dr. Toni Irving, executive director of Get IN Chicago.

The MacArthur Foundation granted money to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to conduct evaluations on nonprofits interested in receiving a slice of the $50 million that Get IN Chicago is offering. With the results from that independent research, Get IN can make decisions on which nonprofits will win the grant money.

“The ROI [return on investment] is critical,” Irving says. “Both in terms of making the most of a company’s money as well as having the most impact in the community space.”

With all this money, corporate backing and political firepower, the organization has drummed up a lot of excitement about the possibility of future success, but Bruce Sievers at Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society is less sanguine.

A longtime critic of venture philanthropy, Sievers cautions that such projects “come out of a narrow business mentality.”

Sievers stresses that while there is much to admire about initiatives like Get IN Chicago—including their focus on rigorous research, data collection and the infusion of much-needed funding— other aspects of the model can be problematic, wasteful or even damaging to existing nonprofit efforts in a community.

These problems, of course, are exactly the kind that Get IN Chicago seeks to eliminate.

By giving major donors a seat on the board of the philanthropy, setting clear metrics for success, conducting research and making data-driven decisions, Get IN Chicago and other venture philanthropies aim to remove the guesswork

from philanthropic giving.

Many nonprofit community organizations, the argument goes, are notoriously bad at demonstrating their success in scientific metrics.

“There are some people that don’t even really know why they do what they do,” Irving says. “What’s the relationship between what you do and reducing violence? They can’t tell you. What are the outcomes of a person going through this program? They can’t tell you.”

And that’s a big problem when cashstrapped state and local governments are starting to clamor for proof of success before handing over funding, Irving argues. Especially because the bulk of the funding for community-based initiatives comes from government funds.

“Organizations are getting defunded left and right. And so we’re saying to them, ‘This is the new reality. This is the new normal. You’ve been getting away with it for a long time by saying, ‘We know this works, because Joey is really better now.’ That kind of anecdotal or qualitative evidence just doesn’t cut it anymore,” Irving says. “Waste in the nonprofit sector has been a longstanding problem and organizations that receive funding should be held accountable.”

To meet that challenge, Get IN Chicago is getting more intimately involved with their grantees by providing them the kind of technical, operational and infrastructural support they need to improve their data-gathering ability as well as their ability to scale up their operations as needed.

But there are problems with this approach, Sievers warns.

“It’s the problem of central powers directing things,” he says. “They want to find these very objective numerical results that will tell them whether they’re being successful or not and I think that’s—I wouldn’t say a fool’s errand— but it’s a misguided attempt to impose rigor and clarity where the nature of so-

cial problems doesn’t really allow it.”

He compares the approaches of industrialist magnates Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller to illustrate his thinking. “Rockefeller was more scientifically focused” on attacking measurable problems like “finding a disease and attacking it,” while “Carnegie was more interested in investing in lasting institutions” like hospitals and libraries, Sievers explains. “Part of what I’m encouraging is more of a Carnegie-esque approach.”

Sievers particularly warns against using any metrics as a “proxy for profit.” For instance, in Chicago, a foundation might look at a crime statistic as a measure of success. “If we were a profit-making organization,” Sievers offers, “our bottom line would be the murder rate. But I think that just takes you in the wrong direction.”

“My bottom line is getting away from bottom line thinking,” Sievers said.

Foundations need to allow for more flexibility, he argues, and philanthropies should be careful to have an evolving definition of success, not a predetermined one. But this “runs against the basic business instinct,” Sievers says, “which is, ‘Geez, you can’t change your goal midstream.’ But in society you can.”

Toni Irving, however, is confident in Get IN Chicago’s success and she’s ready to export the model to other major American cities.

“We started this with the idea of it replicating across the country,” Irving says.

But they are still doing the research they need to sell other communities on their strategy. “Even though I am 100% positive that this is the way to go…in another year when I have a lot of data, then that’s when I’m going to say, ‘Dude, you guys should do this.’”

Sievers and Irving agree that the best philanthropy effectively channels funding to the most effective community-based nonprofits. The question, it seems, is how exactly how a foundation should measure that success.

Get IN Chicago Executive Director with program student

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NEWS

SUMMIT PROMPTS COLLABORATION

By SAMANTHA DILIBERTI

CEO of Leading Inside Out, Paul Schmitz

T

he Not-for-Profit Leadership Summit XIII was the place to be on the sunny morning of May 4th for New York nonprofits. The conference, hosted by the Westchester Community Foundation and the United Way of Westchester and Putnam, offered 18 breakout sessions on

topics ranging from telecommuting to social media.

The summit gathered over 700 nonprofit leaders and staffers from throughout downstate New York “to learn new techniques and become more effective at their work,” said Alana Sweeny, president and CEO of United Way of Westchester and Putnam.

This year’s summit went beyond offering practical education about running an organization; it challenged attendees to create largescale, lasting social change through collaboration and coordination—a concept commonly known as “collective impact.”

Keynote speaker Paul Schmitz, CEO of the nonprofit Leading Inside Out, spoke to the importance of collaboration for success.

“Leadership is a muscle,” Schmitz said. “If we’re trying to create change in the community, we have to build that collective leadership muscle.”

Schmitz recounted the events that

led to the famous Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott—a seminal event in the U.S. civil rights movement often attributed solely to Rosa Parks, an activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus. Schmitz introduced the audience to many lesser-known names involved in the boycott: NAACP President E.D. Nixon, who encouraged Parks to become active in advocacy; student Claudette Colvin, who was part of Parks’ NAACP Youth Council who refused to give up her seat on a bus just months before Parks; lawyers and advocates Clifford and Virginia Durr, who worked with civil rights attorney Fred Gray to get the anti-segregation case to the Supreme Court.

The work of these many advocates resulted in the Browder v. Gayle ruling, which charged that “the enforced segregation of black and white passengers on motor busses operating in the City of Montgomery violates the Constitution and laws of the United States,” a ruling upheld by

the Supreme Court which ultimately desegregated Montgomery buses.

“So, who was the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott?” Schmitz rhetorically asked. “If you look at any historical movement or social change, it takes leadership from multiples leaders.”

The tremendous impact of nonprofits in New York was also touted

by Congresswoman Nita Lowey.

“We all know that government can’t do it all,” the congresswoman said as she recounted the summit’s success over the past 13 years, noting that now-presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton keynoted the inaugural event.

“Every $1 invested to encourage volunteerism produced returns of $1.50 to $3.90 in direct measurable benefits,” said Lowey referencing a federal cost-benefit analysis report.

“It’s clear that volunteerism helps not only the individuals or communities receiving these services, it yields, significant economic benefits.”

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NEWS

CITY BUDGET INCREASES COLA

By JEFF STEIN

O

n May 7th, Mayor Bill de Blasio offered his Fiscal Year 2016 Executive Budget. After a period of intense lobbying by some of the city’s largest human services nonprofits and coalitions, the budget contains important victories for the sector.

Notably, the unveiled budget included a 2.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase for the human services sector – the first of its kind in six years – welcome news to a sector that has been clamoring for increases in the midst of a challenging environment.

“While we recognize that the 2.5% COLA is lower than the 5% this year and 5% next year we had hoped for, given the lack of adjustments over the last six years, rising costs and demand for services, we appreciate the

recognition of our workforce in this budget and view this as an important starting point to greater investment,” said Michelle Jackson, Associate Director and General Counsel of the Human Services Council.

Another noteworthy aspect of the announced COLA increase is the way in which it is funded – through labor allocations – which advocates such as Jackson see as a signal of commitment to the social services workforce.

The mayor’s budget also included an $11.50 per hour floor wage for city-contracted social services workers, largely in response to the recent active lobbying of the Federation for Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) and the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI).

“The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) and the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) applaud the

Mayor for including in his Executive Budget a first-ever $11.50 per hour wage floor for the city's contracted social service workforce,” said a joint statement provided by the two advocacy groups.

“This will mean a big earnings boost for 10,000 workers whose wages currently average less than $10.00 per hour. These frontline workers, many of whom live in poverty or near-poverty conditions, provide early childhood education, foster care, afterschool programs, senior case management, housing services and other vital programs for vulnerable populations,” the statement continued.

Jackson also signaled support for this policy shift, but maintained that the Human Services Council will continue to press City Hall for specif-

ics with regards to implementation.

“By including funding for this policy change, the administration seems to be breaking from the ‘unfunded mandate’ often experienced by our sector. Of course, implementation details will matter and HSC is working to get a handle on the specifics,” Jackson said.

Another item that signaled recognition of social services was the inclusion of $5 million to develop a Career Pathways System intended to provide long-lasting advancement opportunities for workers in the sector.

“These essential investments reflect Mayor de Blasio’s profound commitment to further improve the quality of social services and make progress toward reducing poverty and income inequality,” said the FPWA and FPI joint statement.

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Issue N°2

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NEWS

WORKING TO BREAK THE CYCLE Address childhood mental health issues for long-term impact

By JEFF STEIN

O

n any given weekday, the halls of the Emma L. Bowen Community Service Center Therapeutic Preschool are filled with some of New York City’s most challenged children. In classrooms that line a wing of the Upper Manhattan Mental Health Center in West Harlem, with walls covered in colorful cutout collages and echoing with soothing music, the Bowen Center offers pre-kindergarten services for children who already show signs of mental health challenges and may exhibit violent behavior.

Compounding these challenges are the harrowing realities of their young lives: the vast majority of the Bowen Center’s students live well below the poverty line. Many come from broken, violent homes and families with histories of drug abuse and incarceration.

“Many of our students have been exposed to serious trauma for their entire lives, including witnessing domestic violence, which exacerbates mental health and learning challenges,” said Trudy Murray, program director of the Bowen Center’s Therapeutic Preschool program.

The Bowen Center is one of five remaining programs in Manhattan that offers full day preschool services for such children. As a part of

with their children while a therapist is present. Bowen Center staff also shadow parents with their children, offering techniques on reinforcing positive behavior and defusing challenging situations.

Murray explained that the Bowen Center strives to educate parents so that they can become advocates for their children throughout their education. This may include helping a parent with an autistic child get signed up for Supplemental Security Income or checking in with the parent of a former student who has gone on to elementary school.

“We call ourselves a village that works with your child,” said Murray.

Murray, a clinically trained Licensed Mental Health Counselor with decades of experience working with young children who exhibit violent behavior, explained the importance of early childhood mental health intervention.

“Without help at this stage of development, the cycle of each generation in need of a whole host of costly services – shelters, incarceration, mental health services – simply continues unchecked,” said Murray.

Numerous recent academic studies reinforce the need for early intervention programs. One study, “A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Early

WITHOU T HELP AT THIS STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT, THE CYCLE OF EACH GENERATION IN NEED OF A WHOLE HOST OF COSTLY SERVICES – SHELTERS, INCARCERATION, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES – SIMPLY CONTINUES UNCHECKED the program, the Center’s team of mental health clinicians, teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and oneto-one paraprofessionals work with children in small settings with the goal that students will go on to less restrictive learning environments upon leaving the program.

Necessarily, Murray claims, services for these children must be holistic, including active parental involvement. The Bowen Center stresses filial play therapy, which involves parents engaging in play

18

Childhood Mental Health Intervention,” led by Wayne State University and University of Michigan Schools of Medicine professors in 2010, found that up to 14% of preschoolers exhibit behavioral patterns that significantly interfere with their learning and development. Of these children, up to 75% will experience significant mental health challenges as adolescents, leading to dramatically increased rates of substance abuse and incarceration.

In a 2007 study, Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child

suggested that early intervention holds the key to dismantling this progression.

“Cost-benefit studies have demonstrated positive returns on high-quality programs for vulnerable children beginning as early as prenatally and as late as age four,” the study’s summary stated.

For supporters of early intervention, these academic recommendations seem increasingly pertinent in light of the recent attention given to conditions faced by incarcerated individuals with mental health issues. Reports of harsh treatment and increased sentences, compounded with nationwide data showing that mentally ill prisoners far outnumber patients at state psychiatric hospitals, have increased calls for reform from mental health advocates.

Just this month, Human Rights Watch, an international organization based in New York, released a nationwide report chronicling the pervasive physical abuse experienced by mentally ill prisoners. At least one inmate featured in the study, a Michigan man with schizophrenia, died of preventable causes in a prison with no psychiatric staff.

In New York City, the conditions of mentally ill prisoners at Rikers Island have attracted headlines and calls for reform. A 2014 New York Times investigation found that 4,000 of the 11,000 inmates at Rikers have been diagnosed with mental illnesses, as many as all of New York State’s psychiatric hospitals combined.

JoAnne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society, a nonprofit that offers mental health services to formerly incarcerated individuals, and a member of Mayor de Blasio’s Mental Health Task Force, hopes that New York City will begin to substantially shift its resources to prevention.

“We know who the kids are who

are in trouble; we basically just don’t worry about it until they become a trouble to us as adults. And then we’re willing to spend a lot of money to put them in a cage for a while, and then let them out without their issues being addressed,” said Page.

Advocates such as Murray and Page cite the current mayoral administration’s commitment to universal pre-kindergarten, as well as a recently announced allocation of $100 million over two years to mental health services, as steps in the right direction.

However, agencies that provide early prevention services are still facing a challenging environment. Murray and her staff at the Bowen Center must continue to deliver services to one of New York’s most underserved populations with very limited resources. One of the primary sources of government funding for the Center’s services, New York State Medicaid, provides just $80 per day for each student for full day clinical and classroom services.

In spite of the current challenges, Murray is confident in the transformative nature of the Bowen Center’s work. She described a recent experience with one child who, after months of frequent removal from the classroom due to violent behavior, volunteered to lead his one-toone aide in deep breathing exercises when she seemed a little stressed.

“It showed that he had really internalized the techniques that we’re teaching. That’s a solution that he will have for the rest of his life,” said Murray.

Her hope remains that more funding and priority will be given to programs that aim to break the current cycle of those who suffer from mental illness.

“There simply need to be more programs. We are a city in crisis,” said Murray.

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

SPECIAL SECTION

GRADUATE & CONTINUING EDUCATION SERIES

N

ew York Nonprofit Review presents its Graduate and Continuing Education Series in an effort to inform our readers, the leaders and future leaders of New York’s nonprofit sector, about the many educational opportunities the state has to offer. Whether an executive director or entry-level staffer, graduate and continuing education programs abound to assist you in attaining applicable training and knowledge. The articles featured in this section outline the benefits of continuing education programs as well as what to look out for when applying.

NYNmedia.com

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Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

training needed to navigate through the complex nonprofit environment, as well as provide opportunities to think about solving problems with immeasurable outcomes that are faced by public sector organizations.

An MPA degree may also provide more career flexibility. Most business school graduates stay in the private sector for their entire career, while MPA graduates can move be-

SPECIAL SECTION

MPA VS. MBA PROGRAMS

By LOGAN HARPER FROM CAREEREALISM

B

ecause both a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focus on organizational management, students who want to work in the public sector are sometimes unsure about which professional degree to choose.

Although there is some overlap in the coursework for these two degrees, there is a key difference in program focus. An MBA program provides training in private sector management. The success of a private business is primarily measured by its profitably, so business schools are geared toward training future managers to make as much money as possible. The emphasis is on economics, finance, and marketing, preparing students to lead business organizations where profit generation is the goal.

In contrast, an MPA program concentrates on management of nonprofit and public sector organizations. The mission of these organizations is to serve humanity and improve the social condition. Man-

tween public, nonprofit and private sector employment. In addition, MBA graduates who want to work in the public sector may have a harder time finding employment since their academic background provided limited exposure to public policy subjects.

This article originally appeared on Careeralism.com, an education technology company.

agers in public sector organizations need to understand that the success of their organization is difficult to measure. They also must be prepared to make trade-offs between the demands of competing groups of citizens and government agencies.

Another key difference between private businesses and public sector organizations is how they obtain funding for their continued operation. In the case of private businesses, funding is a component of profit generation. Public sector organizations are usually funded by donations, foundations, and government grants. An MPA program will provide the skills needed to obtain this specific funding.

In the end, MBA programs concentrate on the economic market while MPA programs are concerned with working toward social solutions.

If you’re determined to make positive changes in the world, an MPA degree provides the skills and knowledge to make your idealism a reality. An MPA will provide the

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Leadership New York meets September 2015-May 2016.

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May 2015

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SPECIAL SECTION

UPWARD MOBILITY

MPA Programs Providing Route to Social Entrepreneurship

By SEB MURR AY FROM BUSINESSBECAUSE

A

s managers turn to careers with a social impact, and global development organizations hire more private sector executives, business students are looking to Master of Public Administration programs.

“Management skills are the top priority [in the public sector], even more than public policy expertise,” says Ian Macdonald, director of the public management specialization in the MBA program at Schulich School of Business in Canada.

There are a growing number of top business schools to offer Master of Public Administration (MPA) degrees.

In the U.S., master and undergraduate degrees in public administration have grown from 17,000 in 2010 to almost 21,000 in 2013, says Kathy Gamboa, dean of operations for the College of Criminal Justice and Security at the University of Phoenix.

This is in response to increased applicant demand. The number of

international applications for the MPA program at USC’s Price School of Public Policy, for instance, has surged from 78 in 2009 to 340 in 2014, says Peter J. Robertson, associate professor.

He says there is “more interest on the part of the younger generation

SEAD found that millennials – those born between the early 1980s and late 1990s, who populate most MPA and MBA programs – value work-life balance and personal development over money and status.

Of 16,000 people surveyed, 73 percent chose work-life balance over a

STUDENTS IN THE MPA PROGRAM HAVE STATED OVERWHELMINGLY THAT THEY HAVE A DESIRE TO HELP PEOPLE to want to make a difference in the world, to help address the issues they see as challenging the human race.”

Research recently published by international business school IN-

higher salary, and 82 percent value work-life balance over their position in a company.

“Students in the MPA program have stated overwhelmingly that they have

a desire to help people,” says Kathy at the University of Phoenix.

These students are moving into careers in global organizations that increasingly are collaborating with the private sector.

This includes the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the UN Capital Development Fund, as well as newer organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and even consultancy firms such as Accenture.

There are now a wider range of MPA programs to choose from. Many are at universities with top business schools, including the MPA program at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“We have experienced an increase in the number of applications we receive,” says Bill Rivenbark, director of the program, for both the online learning option and the campus course.

The MBA at UNC is popular but there are distinct differences. Bill says: “The goal [of MPA students] is

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to improve the quality of life for individuals across local, state, national, or international boundaries.”

As the boundaries between public and private sector begin to crumble, development careers for its students have begun to change.

“The type of management required has changed, especially in terms of its ability to function effectively in a fast-paced and continually changing environment,” says Henrik P. Minassians, director of the school’s public sector partnerships.

Across the Atlantic in the UK, there are MPA degrees at Warwick Business School, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of York, to name a few.

Increasingly, many business schools are blending MBA and MPA programs together into dual degrees.

It is a similar story at elite US institutions including Harvard Business School and Wharton School.

While there is a demand for experienced private sector talent in the development world, social entrepreneurship is a popular route in both MBA and MPA programs.

“Many in our in master’s level classes state that when they finish their MBA, they would like to start

their own business,” says Kathy at the University of Phoenix.

Divya Dhar is the co-founder of Seratis, a start-up trying to bring about a digital age in healthcare.

The start-up offers a mobile communication platform which helps coordinate, track and analyze care across medical teams.

“Healthcare is a hard industry to understand,” says Divya, who studied both an MBA and MPA at Wharton’s business and government schools.

She previously trained as a doctor and worked for healthcare companies across New Zealand. “[But] often I had no idea how to communicate with my patients,” she says.

The start-up business is all about helping healthcare providers to improve patient care.

The management side of her time at Wharton helped her to grow the venture. It has been valuable to understand the “language of business” she says. “You can easily and with confidence talk to business leads, strategic partners and investors, and understand their viewpoints.”

Experience your MPA at Cornell University

This article originally appeared on BusinessBecause.com.

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May 2015

Issue N°2 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

PERSPECTIVES

AN EQUAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

By ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, N Y ATTORNEY GENER AL

W

hen I was first elected to the New York State Senate in 1998, New York’s prison population reached an all-time high of 72,289—an increase of more than 400 percent from the early ’70s, when Gov. Nelson Rockefeller led the charge to enact some of the most draconian drug laws in the country.

This was no coincidence. The Rockefeller Drug Laws established mandatory minimum prison sentences—and judges lost their discretion to reduce them even if the punishment was deemed unduly harsh—for many crimes involving the sale and possession of drugs. As a result,

New York’s prison population exploded, but with no meaningful impact on crime.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws were an abject failure by any measure, yet they still retained broad support from much of the political establishment when I arrived in Albany three decades later.

In the face of this entrenched support for the status quo, I worked with my partners in government, drug treatment professionals and reform advocates to build a coalition motivated by the principle that criminal justice policies should be defined by evidence of what really works to increase public safety—and not by the fear, superstition and political grandstanding that gave birth to New York’s misguided drug laws in the first place.

After years of organizing, we finally succeeded in dismantling the broken Rockefeller system and replaced it with evidence-based diversion and treatment programs. In response, our critics dubbed our reform bill the “Drug Dealer Protection Act” and a “crime wave in the making.”

They were, of course, wrong. Six years later, crime rates are down, recidivism is down, and the prison population—especially those convicted of drug-related crimes—is shrinking. The more data we collect, the clearer this reality becomes: arresting and incarcerating vast numbers of young men of color for low-level offenses actually harms our public safety.

With this compelling evidence—and with a new generation of activists demanding change—it is time to build on this work, expand our coalition and pursue a whole new level of criminal justice reform.

We should start by addressing the root causes that drive some of our young people to commit crime. The point of entry for our criminal justice system is often not a police stop on the street; it begins with a suspension from school or a call to the local police for minor disciplinary infractions that used to land kids in the principal’s office.

We know that suspending children from school for minor disciplinary infractions does not change behavior. It also makes it more likely that such children will enter the criminal justice system when they leave school.

That is why my office has helped to reform prejudicial, zero-tolerance school discipline policies to break the schoolto-prison pipeline that entangles far too many children of color in the criminal justice system before they even graduate high school.

And, if our children do enter the criminal justice system before they graduate, we should treat them as children.

New York is one of only two states in the nation that still automatically treat 16and 17-year-olds as adults in court. It is time to seize the moment before the end

of this legislative session and “Raise the Age” for determining criminal responsibility in our adult court system.

Finally, once prisoners have served their terms and paid their debt to society, they should have the opportunity to re-enter society as productive citizens.

Access to jobs, housing and education are essential to preventing recidivism and ensuring that ex-prisoners can fully reintegrate into their communities. My office is working to ensure that employers and colleges alike do not deny opportunities to those who deserve a second chance.

We have made considerable progress since Gov. Rockefeller signed a punitive and irrational sentencing law that helped launch our nation’s failed experiment with mass incarceration. The political climate is more favorable to reform than ever before. Americans of all political stripes, in states and municipalities across the country, are opening their eyes to the failures of our criminal justice system. Even presidential candidates are talking seriously about reversing our nation’s unprecedented over-reliance on incarceration.

We have the moment. We have the data. Now is the time to follow the evidence and fund alternatives to incarceration that can succeed.

New York has led the way on a range of important issues. Now is the time for us to lead on criminal justice reform.

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23

Issue N°2

May 2015 MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

MARY PENDER GREENE Career/Executive Coach Clinical Supervision Leadership Development Organizational Consultant Psychotherapist Author & Speaker

Mary Pender Greene, LCSW-R, CGP

Mary Pender Greene, LCSW-­‐R, CGP is an accomplished individual & group psychotherapist, executive/career coach, consultant, speaker and author with 20+ years of experience. She is the President and CEO of MPG Consulting. The MPG Consulting team brings to organizations a wide range of experience as clinicians, trainers, managers, and organizational consultants in mental health, child welfare, and other social service settings.

The team enhances clinical capacity as well as performance by offering culturally and racially attuned training, supervision, and consultation services in many critical areas.

Mary is the author of Creative Mentorship and Career-­‐Building Strategies: How to Build Your Virtual Personal Board of Directors, published by Oxford University Press, (2015).

212.245.2510 • mpg@marypendergreene.com • marypendergreene.com

PERSPECTIVES

A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

Q&A with BERNIE KERIK

I

n December of 2004, President George W. Bush nominated Bernard Kerik, a former NYPD commissioner, to be his secretary of homeland security. A week later Kerik would withdraw his name from consideration after a host of troubling revelations about his professional and personal life surfaced. That abrupt turnaround in

24

his public image was the start of a downward spiral that would climax in Kerik pleading guilty in 2009 to eight felonies.

Released from incarceration in 2013, Kerik, who was also once New York City’s police commissioner, has now become an advocate for prison reform in the United States. He spoke out about his experiences and ad-

vocacy in an interview with City & State TV. The following transcript is edited for space and clarity.

C&S: WHAT ARE THE FOREMOST PROBLEMS YOU SEE WITH THE PRISON SYSTEM? BK: I think first and foremost, the mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines are draconian. We are taking first-time nonviolent drug offenders [and] putting them in prison for years — in some cases 10 to 15 years — they get no real education or rehabilitation when they are in the system.

And then we release them, and by some delusion we believe that is going to benefit society, when in fact it’s a detriment. It is an enormous detriment to society. It’s an enormous cost to society. And it does not in anyway help recidivism, because these young men and women go back into society as a convicted felon.

They have nowhere to go; they have no job, no real job—they can’t get a job because they are now a felon, and so they have to revert back to crime, some criminal activity.

C&S: FROM A PHILOSOPHICAL STANDPOINT, ISN’T THE TERM “CORRECTIONS” ITSELF A MISNOMER BECAUSE OUR PRISON SYSTEM NO LONGER AIMS TO REHABILITATE PRISONERS BUT MERELY TO PUNISH THEM? BK: That’s exactly where the problem is. I believed that in the federal

prison system we paid taxes for two things: incarcerating bad people and rehabilitating people. I have come to find out that we pay taxes for one thing: to warehouse human beings.

That’s what we are paying taxes for.

Some of them may be bad people, but I promise you there [are] a lot of real good people that made mistakes that are sitting in prison where they don’t need to be.

They can be punished by alternative sentences. They can be punished with more severe fines or penalties.

They can be punished with community service. I would much rather give somebody community service, if we could—give them an alternative sentence, have them paying taxes, taking care of their families, looking after their children and creating better relationships with their children.

You cannot parent a child in absentia; you can’t do it.

We put people in prison for some of these low-level first-time nonviolent offenses, we separate them from their children, and then we wonder why their children wind up in prison behind them. The system as it stands today contradicts its own mission statement. We are not rehabilitating, in reality. Anybody that comes out of the federal prison system today and we can say that person really was rehabilitated—they did it on their own.

To view the full interview, visit www.

CityandStateNY.com

NYNmedia.com

May 2015

Issue N°2

The go-to career center for New York’s nonprofit industry.

Featuring thousands of jobs each year, NYN Careers helps large and small nonprofits fill positions ranging from directors to human resources staffers.

Contact: Lissa Blake LBlake@NYNmedia.com

CAREERS

CAREER BOARD

MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

CLINIC DIRECTOR

SENIOR COUNSELOR

RESIDENCE COUNSELOR

The Clinic Director will be responsible for directing the overall operation of the VIDA Guidance Center.

Provide assistance in program planning, administration and coordination of program activities, and oversight of medication management for program. Ensures the safety and cleanliness of all the physical plants of the program. Must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

The Residence Counselor functions as a member of the treatment team, working with consumers to access all appropriate resources within the community to obtain the skills and the information required to achieve person-centered goals.

Qualifications: Master’s degree in social work (MSW); NYS LCSW OR Doctor of Clinical Psychology from an accredited university. SIFI (Seminar in Field Instruction), bilingual in English/Spanish preferred. 10-15 yrs. of clinical supervisory and administrative experience with a minimum of 5 years in a leadership role. Valid NYS Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW), or NYS Licensed Psychologist. EOE/AA Contact: recruitment@comunilife.org.

MANAGING ATTORNEY, IMMIGRATION UNIT MSP’s Center for Legal Services provides legal advice and direct representation to clients on family law and immigration matters.

The Managing Attorney for the Immigration Unit will provide legal representation to victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, manage two immigration attorneys, and provide legal representation to noncitizen victims of domestic violence before Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS).

Qualifications: J.D. Law Degree with admission to New York State Bar; Minimum 6-8 years of relevant immigration law experience.

Contact: rtheaman@hdsw.org

Contact: rtheaman@hdsw.org

ASTOR SERVICES OPENINGS

DIRECT CARE AND RECREATION POSITIONS

(1) Social Worker (LMSW) Licensed clinical social workers needed to provide psychotherapy services to children and families in OMH licensed clinic and clinic school satellite programs in the Bronx. Basic CBT skills required, and knowledge of evidence-based treatments.

Looking for an exciting and rewarding career that enriches the lives of children and families? If so, then Children’s Village might be a great fit for you.

(2) Special Education Teacher Will be responsible for the delivery of education services to children and the implementation of social-emotional goals in a classroom setting.

Applicant must be familiar with the preschool standards, writing an IEP and conducting educational assessments.

Contact: http://www.astorservices.org/ children/job-listing/

Contact: tfallon@mspny.org

Positions are located in Dobbs Ferry, NY. We provide a free shuttle from the Dobbs Ferry Train Station to the agency.

• Direct Care Sociotherapist/Sociotherapist • Sociotherapist Supervisor • Lifeguard • Barber We offer competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, 401(k) plan after one year of employment, three weeks’ vacation, sick days, daycare, low cost housing, and excellent training.

Contact: www.childrensvillage.org/employment

BILINGUAL CASE MANAGER FREE ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYERS “Hour Working Women Re-Entry Program” (HWWRP) offers employers the opportunity to hire our women at NO COST for an agreed period of time, allowing you to assess their skillset before deciding on whether to make an employment offer. Hour Children can match your employment needs with a qualified and reliable employee. All recommended candidates are pre-screened. Fields of interest: Retailing and Marketing, Receptionist, Building Maintenance, and Housekeeping.

Contact: Joanna Flores jflores@hourchildren.org

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Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree or minimum five years’ experience in mental health related field and high school diploma required. Valid driver’s license and own car for work including transportation of clients to appointments.

Qualified candidates must have a commitment to the mission of HDSW. Bachelor’s Degree preferred or a minimum of five years’ experience in mental health related field and high school diploma required. Valid driver’s license and own car for work, including transportation of clients to appointments.

ANDRUS nurtures social and emotional well-being in children and their families by delivering a broad range of vital services.

GRANT WRITER

(3) Staff Psychotherapist, Yonkers, NY and Peekskill, NY: LCSW Required.

Moshulu Montefiore Community Center is seeking a full time Grant Writer. Candidate must have 5-8 years of experience in grant writing. Successful candidate will have a proven track record in government grant writing with CYCD, DFTA, Head Start, DOE and foundation proposals. Responsibilities include writing, editing and coordinating proposals to government agencies, foundations, corporations and individual donors. Bachelor’s degree or higher is required, as well as strong research skills and experience with donor databases.

Contact: andrusjobs@jdam.org

Contact: dastevenson@mmcc.org

(1) Bilingual Case Manager, White Plains/Peekskill, NY: Bachelors in Social Work or related field with two years related experience and fluent in Spanish.

(2) Bilingual Staff Psychotherapist, Yonkers, NY: LMSW/LMHC or with limited practice permit and fluent in Spanish.

25

Issue N°2

May 2015

EVENTS

CALENDAR

MEDIA - REVIEW - DIGITAL - CAREERS - EVENTS

MAY 25 1:00 AM – 6:00 PM MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATION

JUNE 1 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM ANNUAL BENEFIT & AUCTION

Green-Wood Brooklyn, NY

Reach Out & Read of Greater New York New York, NY

This year marks a special commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War. Events include a concert by the ISO Symphonic Band, a special trolley tour and an Honor March to Green-Wood’s Civil War Soldiers’ Lot. The march and concert are free, but RSVPs are highly recommended. The cost for the trolley tour is $15; $10 for members of the Green-Wood Historic Fund and the Brooklyn Historical Society. Advance ticket purchase required.

Reach Out and Read prepares America’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. In the Greater New York region, we provide new, age-appropriate books and literacy guidance to over a quarter of a million children in New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley.

Info: Reachoutandreadnyc.org/benefit/

Info: www.green-wood.com/toursevents, 718-210-3080

JUNE 8 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM

JUNE 10 ALL DAY

ANNUAL “FORGET-ME-NOT” GALA

7TH ANNUAL JUNIOR BOARD GALA

Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter New York, NY

Catholic Charities New York, NY

Members of New York City’s philanthropic, business, health care and Alzheimer’s communities will join forces on Monday, June 8, 2015 at The Pierre, at the annual “ForgetMe-Not” Gala, An Evening to End Alzheimer’s hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter. The Chapter is expected to raise $1.5 million at the event, which will be emceed by Award-winning actor Jonathan Groff, who lost his grandmother to Alzheimer’s disease.

The 7th Annual Catholic Charities Junior Board Gala will be held at Battery Gardens. This signature event will benefit the Catholic Charities St. Nicholas Project, a year-round initiative that provides help at Christmas and creates hope year-round for thousands of New Yorkers in need. Your support is greatly needed and will assist Catholic Charities in meeting our increased demands for help, as need has no season.

Info: http://www.alznyc.org/gala

Info: 646-794-2439, Jasmin.Abbatiello@archny.org

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Contact Lissa Blake at Lblake@cityandstateny.com to learn more!

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Reach New York’s Nonprofit Leaders!

Exchange ideas with top government and nonprofit leaders at this full day conference Topics: • Management • Human Resources • Efficient Outcome Reporting • Financial Strategies • Technology Tools • Nonprofit Efficiency

Keynote: • Governor Cuomo’s InterAgency Coordinator for Nonprofit Services Fran Barrett • NYC Service Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin

JUNE 2 - BARUCH COLLEGE

Over 150 nonprofits confirmed to attend

Fran Barrett

Paula Gavin

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

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