From the CEORecently, OFO created a new position in response to identified needs from community partners. It was identified that mental health and substance abuse professionals did not provide the support services that their clients need while at the same time, understanding that having those support services aids dramatically in their recovery or coping with substance abuse or mental illness. The position, Community Advocate, will be a case coordinator primarily for people in substance abuse recovery or struggling with mental illness. The Community Advocate will also be able to provide information and referral services to the families OFO serves as well as creating reports outlining successes and unmet needs in the community. There has long been a need for a Community Advocate to work on non-program specific issues that the people we serve face every day.

Management Team will be participating in a Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) training session where we will put some finishing touches on the strategic plan. The plan deals with housing, transportation, capacity building and access to support services. This plan, in part, will be how OFO will measure the impact that the Community Advocate makes and help formulate plans for the position for the future.

The Broadway Bulletin A monthly publication of Opportunities for Otsego

The leader in developing innovative solutions that promote healthy lives, thriving families, & caring communities

The First Look at the Census Bureau’s 2014 Income, Poverty, & Health Coverage ReportsHealth Insurance Soars, But America’s Next Generation Still Live in Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet

According to the Census Bureau’s new poverty and income data, 14.8% of Americans were poor in 2014, statistically unchanged from 2013. No one should be complacent about these figures, particularly as America’s next generation of workers and citizens, including children (under 18) and young adults (ages 18-24), has the highest poverty rates - sharply exceeding the national average.

More than one in five (21.1%) children and almost one in five (19.8%) young adults live in households with incomes below the federal poverty line ($19,073 for a family with a single parent and two children). The youngest children (under age 5), who are most vulnerable to the effects of poverty, experience an even higher rate (23.8%), as do Black children and young adults (37.1% and 29% respectively), Hispanic children and young adults (31.9% and 22.4% respectively), and young adults of any race or ethnicity who are also parents (43%). Children of color’s circumstances are particularly important; by 2020, they are expected to make up over 50% of the nation’s population of children, with children under age 5 having already reached this milestone.

The data also offer a snapshot of the crucial role that strong public policy can play. For example, 2014 was the first year in which the Affordable Care Act was fully implemented, and the share of Americans lacking health insurance coverage fell dramatically from 13.3% in 2013 to 10.4% in 2014. Young adults and low-income workers particularly benefitted, with adults ages 18-34 comprising over 40% of newly insured Americans. The Census also released an alternative measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which shows the effect of non-cash transfers and taxes as well as work expenses and out-of-pocket medical costs. This analysis shows that refundable credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, reduced child poverty (as measured by the SPM) by 7.1%age points in 2014, while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduced child poverty by 2.8 percentage points.

Yet the 2014 data show that economic struggles are pervasive for this generation of children and young adults. Almost half (more than four in ten) of all children and young adults live in low-income households that are below 200% of the poverty line. These families too often struggle to put food on the table and pay for basics like rent, mortgage, and utilities. America has a great deal at stake in a strong policy response to help these families succeed, given the research evidence that growing up with inadequate income and opportunity can stunt children’s and young adults’ education and careers - and the future importance of these young people as today’s older Baby Boomers retire.

Most of these struggling families are working yet still can’t make ends meet. Nearly 70% of poor children and over 80% of the larger group of low-income children live in families with at least one worker. More than half of low-income families with children have a full-time, full-year worker. Without strong policy guarantees including a higher minimum wage, family and medical leave, paid sick days, along with scheduling policies that give workers some measure of predictability, too many families work long hours yet still can’t create stability for their children.

These data show an urgent need to address poverty and near-poverty among the next generation of Americans - but also demonstrate, through the striking health insurance results, that the United States remains able to meet large policy challenges when we face them head-on. Congress must take responsibility for a Federal budget that invests in the crucial safety net, work supports, child care, education, workforce development, and other programs that deliver the goal of economic stability for all America’s families - so that children’s life opportunities don’t depend on their race, ethnicity, or where they are born. America’s economic future must not be sabotaged by the failure to invest in a whole generation.

News Release from CLASP (Center for Law and Social Policy), 09.16.2015

October 2015

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

10.12.2015 - Columbus Day Holiday: The agency will be closed in recognition of the holiday. The emergency housing and VIP hotlines will be accessible to those needing assistance.

10.21.2015 - Wear Purple Day: Shirts, ties, dresses, nail polish… it doesn’t matter what you wear, just wear purple proudly on this day to promote awareness and remember those whose lives are affected by domestic violence. Send your group photos to mstanley@ofoinc.org.

10.25.2015 - 10.31.2015 - National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week: Every year during the last full week in October, the CDC, EPA, and Department of Health and Human services aim to raise awareness about lead poisoning and efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning.

11.16.2015 - Opening Day of HEAP Due to a scheduling conflict with many agency employees, the Staff Appreciation Day originally scheduled for October has been postponed to May 20, 2016. Stay tuned for more information.

Send information about your important dates, upcoming events, or fundraisers to Megan Roth-Stanley for inclusion in the Broadway Bulletin.

Save The Date

Hundreds of thousands of children living in the United States have elevated blood lead levels that may cause significant damage to their health. They can develop behavior and learning problems, slowed growth, hearing problems, and aggressive patterns of behavior - some of which cannot be corrected. Stopping a child’s exposure to lead from leaded paint, house dust, or any other source is the best way to prevent the harmful effects of lead.

Annually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) observe National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week to highlight and educate parents and children on the dangerous health effects of exposure to lead, especially the hazards of lead paint in older housing.

Occurring the last full week in October, Lead Poisoning Prevention Week embraces a different theme each year. This year’s theme, “Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future,” underscores the importance of testing your home, testing your child, and learning how to prevent

lead poisoning’s serious health effects.

During the week, many states and communities will offer free blood-lead testing and conduct various education and awareness events. Locally, the Otsego County Department of Health has a lead prevention program with staff and resources available for anyone with questions.

At OFO, the Building Healthy Families, Early Head Start, and Head Start programs complete lead risk assessments with children and families and track lead screenings conducted by medical providers. OFO’s Energy Service department also prioritizes lead safety for their employees and customers. The Energy Services department is certified EPA Lead-Safe Firm and every crew member is trained in lead-safe work practices.

For more information on lead prevention visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/default.htm.

Submitted by Megan Roth-Stanley, Planning and Research Director

Lead Poisoning Prevention

One in four women in the U.S. has experienced severe violence at the hands of an intimate partner, yet asking for help is often far too dangerous for victims to even consider. That’s what inspired a new grassroots campaign that allows survivors to open up about their experiences without even having to say a word.

Domestic violence victims are most at risk for getting killed in the moment that they decide to leave their partners, Cindy Southworth, executive vice president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, told The Huffington Post in June. To help survivors signal to others that they need help, but are struggling to ask for it, a new initiative is encouraging victims to paint a tiny black dot on their hands.

The goal is for the black dot to serve as a subtle, yet urgent, message to agencies, relatives, friends, doctors and others that a victim is in need of services to help them escape the abuse.

“The original ethos for this campaign was to enable a victim to put a dot on their hand around someone they trusted to enable a conversation to start, so they could open that door and hopefully start a process of seeking professional help,” the Black Dot Campaign stated on its Facebook page. “This is an idea, thinking outside of the box, trying to open up the world’s eyes and ears to what is going on in terms of abuse.”

The campaign comes at a crucial moment when resources for domestic abuse victims are alarmingly limited.

On a single day in September last year, nearly 11,000 requests for domestic abuse services in the U.S. were denied due to a lack of funding, according to a National Network to End Domestic Violence report.

Those services included emergency shelter, housing, transportation, childcare and legal representation.

While some say that even a dot

that discreet could put victims as risk, an overwhelming number of survivors in need have flocked to the campaign.

Within a week, the campaign reached nearly 5 million people, according to the group’s Facebook page. And it’s helped 49 people escape from their abusers to a safe place.

“It can be very difficult and dangerous for victims of domestic abuse to speak out about what is happening to them, due to fear of what the perpetrator will do, and fear of not being believed,” Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid, told HuffPost U.K. “The black dot could help some victims to communicate their abuse and it is useful to have a range of options because women’s circumstances vary greatly.”

For many, the Black Dot Campaign is enabling victims to speak out for the very first time.

One pregnant woman shared that her baby’s father was constantly abusing her, and wouldn’t leave her side. But she said that when her abuser walked away for a moment while she getting examined, she felt bolstered by the Black Dot Campaign to jot a note on her hand to relay her condition to a health professional.

She took a pen out of the person’s pocket and wrote, “HELP ME.”

“I didn’t have to say a word,” the woman shared in her Facebook post. “This campaign gave me the strength and the idea [of] how to ask for help. I am now safe somewhere else thanks to that consultant and the Black Dot Campaign. Thank you, 1 week to go until my due date and I am finally safe.”

Need help? Contact the Violence Intervention Program, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 607.432.4855.

Excerpt from Eleanor Goldberg Impact editor, The Huffington Post

Victims Paint Black Dots On Hands As Subtle Sign For Help

Page 3

Head Start is Up and RollingThe 2015-2016 Head Start program year began on September 15th and the staff and children have been busy every since.

Check out Don Foster’s new wheels! Both Don and his bus are now ready to roll out to Schenevus and Worcester to bring the Head Start kiddos the centers. YAY!

Submitted by Amy Gonsalves, Head Start Director

Friendships formed at Head Start continue to Kindergarten. Pictured are Avery, Kaiden, & Parker - 2015 Graduates of OFO’s Head Start program.

Submitted by Rebecca McManus, Head Start Center Director & parent

The Unadilla Head Start center participated in Dads Take Your Child to School day on 9.22.2015. Twenty (20) fathers, father figures, grandfathers, and uncles spent the day reading books, completing a scavenger hunt, and drawing pictures with their Head Start child.

Submitted by Kim Eastman, Assistant Teacher at Unadilla Head Start)

On 9.22.2015, Early Head Start hosted one of their monthly socializations for children and parents at the Schenevus site. The socialization centered around an apple theme. Pictured is their Fall tree, decorated with different apples to represent all the different children enrolled in the program.

Submitted by Gertie Schecter, Early Head Start Family Partner

10.01.2015 - Richfield Springs from 5:30-6:30PM at the Richfield Springs Central School.

10.08.2015 - Milford from 6:00-7:00PM at the Milford BOCES building.

10.15.2015 - Oneonta from 5:30-6:30PM at 256 River Street

10.21.2015 - Laurens from 6:00-7:00PM at Laurens Central School.

10.21.2015 - Schenevus from 6:00-7:00PM at the Schenevus Grange (Division Street) AND Unadilla from 6:00PM-7:00PM at the Unadilla Historical Society.

Oneonta: SUCO site Open House date was still TBD at the time of the newsletter publication.

Submitted by Stacie Mark, Head Start Family Services Specialist

Head Start is a FREE preschool program for children ages three to five. OFO has Head Start centers in nine communities throughout Otsego County. Early Head Start offers FREE home visiting for prenatal mothers and children up to age three throughout Otsego County and limited center-based services in Oneonta for children 18 months to three years old. Both programs enroll year-round. For more information, contact Stacie Mark at 607.433.8055 or stop in to one of many Open Houses during October.

Staff Spotlights New Hires as of 09.28.2015

October 2015

Colleen McGovern Head Start Assistant Teacher (River Street)

15 Years

Marisa Orezzoli Program Assistant

Head Start

Julie Smith Classroom TeacherSUCO Head Start

Vickie SumnerTeacher/Center Director

Richfield Springs Head Start

Tarissa Sparks Classroom Teacher

Richfield Springs Head Start

Rebecca McManusHead Start Center Director

River Street, Oneonta

Chelby BlackledgeHome-Based Family PartnerRichfield Springs Head Start

Sara NelsonCrisis Intervention Associate

VIP Shelter

Milestones: Thank you and congratulations to the following employees for their dedication to OFO and the families we serve.

New Hires: Please welcome the following new employees

Samantha Lawson Center AssociateSUCO Head Start

Douglas Von BrockAuditor/Heating Technician

Energy Services

Promotions:

Lara Ackley, WIC Nutritionist/Breastfeeding Coordinator

Sarah Bordinger, Assistant Teacher at Milford Head Start

Jason Buddenhagen, Senior Cook at River Street Head Start

Stephanie Fraser, Assistant Teacher at Morris Head Start

Crystal Hamm, Center Director at SUCO Head Start

Beth Lewis, Teacher/Center Director at Morris Head Start

Ashlee Morse, Classroom Teacher at River Street Head Start

Transfers: Please note the following transfers within the Head Start program:

• Kim Ahearn: Home-Based Family Partner at River St. to Head Start/Day Care Liaison at Bugbee

• Katie Baxter: TCC Associate [Sub] to Center Associate at River Street

• Jean Coolis: Home-Based Family Partner at Richfield Springs to Center-Based Family Partner at Richfield Springs

• Nancy Cooper: Center-Based Family Partner at Morris to Center-Based Family Partner at SUCO

• Kelly Darragh: Head Start/Day Care Liaison at Bugbee to Center-Based Family Partner at Morris/Laurens

• Amy Leech: Family Partner at SUCO to Classroom Teacher at Unadilla

• Melissa Rathbone: Assistant Teacher at Morris to Assistant Teacher at SUCO

Deb GliddenHead Start Assistant Teacher (River Street)

20 Years

Correction: Donna Latella-LaBree, Assistant Teacher at Richfield Springs Head Start should have been recognized for 10 years of service in the September 2015 Broadway Bulletin.

Lori SouciaHead Start Assistant Teacher (Laurens)

15 Years