Resources and Publications

Presentations & Audio Conferences

Summary | Headlines Only

Mar 19, 2013 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Workplace Safety and Earned Sick Days: Intersections and Opportunities for Advocacy This national audio conference discusses the intersections between worker safety issues and earned sick days policies. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 26, 2013 | CLASP Boosting Your Bottom Line - Business Outreach Presentation for Earned Sick Days Earned sick days advocates across the country are increasingly aware of the importance of cultivating business support for sick days legislation. This presentation is a tool for advocates in the early stages of business outreach for earned sick days campaigns. It presents the business case for earned sick days laws and can be adapted to fit the needs of particular campaigns. Download File
Feb 19, 2013 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit Putting it Together: Financing Comprehensive Services in Child Care and Early Education This presentation, given at the 2013 AMCHP conference, drew upon CLASP's recently published Putting it Together guide to financing comprehensive services, to discuss ways that states have used a variety of federal funding streams, including the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems funds and Medicaid funds, to finance services including child care health consultants, developmental screening, and preventive health outreach in child care settings. Download File
Feb 07, 2013 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Employer and Employee Experiences of FMLA: Implications of the New Federal Surveys The Department of Labor (DOL) recently released the results of two new surveys on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These are the first surveys conducted by the DOL on the FMLA in over a decade. Released just in time for the 20th anniversary of the passage of the FMLA, the results give us significant insight into both employer and employee experiences with this pivotal legislation. Read Online
Jan 28, 2013 | CLASP, Families USA and the University of California Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education Health Reform: Implications for Part-Time Work By 2014 millions of Americans will be able to access affordable health care for the first time. ObamaCare is historic legislation that will help workers who could not get affordable care through their employers or were unable to bear the costs of self-insurance. While there is a lot to celebrate, advocates, low wage workers and others are concerned that the law's focus on coverage for full-time employees might lead some employers to cut workers' hours. Press reports have fueled this worry. Read Online Additional PDF
Jan 23, 2013 After the Fiscal Cliff, What's Next for Early Childhood? CLASP's Hannah Matthews, NWLC's Helen Blank, and NAEYC's Adele Robinson discuss the many uncertainties that early childhood programs face as we move toward the next round of fiscal negotiations. Read Online | Download PDF
Nov 16, 2012 | Hannah Matthews, Christine Johnson-Staub, and Leanne Barrett Reaching Children Through Comprehensive Services: Exploring Local Partnerships and Federal Funding This presentation, given at the 2012 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, looks at opportunities and strategies for using federal funding streams to support the availability of comprehensive services for young children in child care and early education settings. Download PDF
Nov 15, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and the National League of Cities Building Opportunity This audio conference explores how STEP UP is promoting opportunity and ways businesses can make a real difference in local anti-poverty efforts. The Employers in Savannah are increasingly at the forefront of new steps to provide opportunity and remove barriers to success. It's the third of a three-part "Cities Promote Opportunity" audio conference series. Read Online
Oct 18, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and The National League of Cities New City Strategies to Alleviate Poverty This audio conference highlighted how Providence, R.I. is carrying forward the work of its Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force and its recommendations for how the city could build opportunity for its residents. The event was sponsored by Spotlight on Poverty, which CLASP manages, and National League of Cities, Institute for Youth, Education & Families. It's the second in the three-part "Cities Promote Opportunity" audio conference series. Read Online
Sep 25, 2012 Audio Conference: Federal Budget Roadmap - Where We're Going and What We Need to Do CLASP's Hannah Matthews alongside representatives from National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) discuss the latest on federal developments that will impact child care and early education programs and funding. Read Online | Download PDF | Additional PDF
Sep 20, 2012 | Spotlight on Poverty and the National League of Cities "Cities Promote Opportunity" Audio Conference Series: New City Task Forces Battered by the recession like so many other cities, both Hartford, Conn. and Richmond, Va. recently established task forces to develop recommendations aimed at providing greater opportunity to area residents. This audio conference explored questions like: What are the priority recommendations in each city? What is the expectation around implementation? How will progress be assessed? And what are the key components of making job creation ideas work and stick over long the haul? Read Online
Sep 14, 2012 | Stephanie Schmit and Jamie Colvard Webinar: State Initiatives to Expand Early Head Start This webinar discusses the content of the new CLASP and ZERO TO THREE report, "Expanding Access to Early Head Start: State Initiatives for Infants and Toddlers at Risk." The webinar highlights how states are using innovative funding, policies, and partnerships, to expand the EHS program and better meet the needs of more low-income children and pregnant women living in their state. Read Online | Download PDF
Sep 13, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Sessy Nyman Casting a Wide Net to Support Caregivers: A Strategy to Reach the Highest Need Infants and Toddlers This presentation was given at the NARA Licensing Seminar in San Franciso, CA on September 10, 2012. "Casting a Wide Net to Support Caregivers: A Strategy to Reach the Highest Need Infants and Toddlers" discusses the relationship betwee family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care and existing child care quality initiatives, as well as how home visiting can be used as an FFN quality strategy. Download PDF
Sep 06, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Hannah Matthews Webinar: Putting it Together: Financing Comprehensive Services in Child Care and Early Education This webinar focuses on CLASP's new publication, which details how states can look beyond the major sources of child care and early education funding and consider alternative federal financing sources to bring comprehensive services into early childhood settings. Learn about the different federal funding streams, hear examples of what other states and communities have done to finance comprehensive services, and begin exploring how to use the funding streams in your own state. Read Online | Download PDF
Jul 25, 2012 How State and Local Advocates Stopped Cutbacks and Achieved Successes CLASP's Hannah Matthews and NWLC's Helen Blank talk with state advocates from California, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, and New York about how they stopped child care cuts in their states and achieved successes in this challenging fiscal climate. Read Online | Download Audio
May 31, 2012 Financing College Success: Innovations to Promote Readiness, Access, and Completion Evelyn Ganzglass, director of Workforce Development at CLASP, presented on the panel Financing College Success: Innovations to Promote Readiness, Access, and Completion on May 31 at the New America Foundation. Ms. Ganzglass discussed specific issues related to community college affordability and focus on a range of interventions that aim to improve community college success, including building assets, accessing public benefits, emergency loans, financial literacy education, and work opportunities more conducive to full-time attendance at school. Read Online
May 24, 2012 | Rhonda Bryant Webinar on Connecting to Jobs: Local Strategies and Policy Approaches to Employ Black Men Although the national unemployment rate is dropping, unemployment in the black community remains significantly higher than the rate for whites or the general population. In particular, black male youth and young adults are up against a major struggle to launch themselves into self sufficiency, as unemployment in these age brackets is at an all-time high. Federal investment in employment initiatives has been insufficient, and few communities are engaged in targeted approaches to address the employment plight of black men. Read Online
May 11, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub Being an Effective Policy Advocate for Children and Families The presentation given to the Southeastern Massachusetts Inter-CHNA (Community Health Network Area) Conference in Plymouth, MA (May 2012) offers keys to effective public advocacy for low-income and at-risk families: identifying clear policy goals, targeting and timing advocacy efforts, and using data and personal stories to make your case. It includes strategies for identifying advocacy priorities, and how to use available data and stories to craft an effective message that will move policy priorities to the top of the list for legislators and other policy makers. Finally, the presentation provides tips for communication, relationship building, and strategy to help participants' advocacy goals succeed. Download PDF
May 02, 2012 | Hannah Matthews and Stephanie Schmit Finding and Using Data to Advocate Effectively for Children and Families This presentation, given at the 2012 National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, provides a range of data to use to make the case for investing in young children and their families. Download PDF
May 02, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit Leveraging Home Visiting to Reach Children in Child Care Settings This presentation, given at the 2012 National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, provides background information on home visiting, how it links to family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care, and recommendations for states implementing home visiting programs. Download PDF
May 02, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Hannah Matthews Reaching Children Where They Are: Using Federal Funding to Support Comprehensive Services in Child Care This presentation, given at the 2012 National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, looks at opportunities and strategies for using federal funding streams to support the availability of comprehensive services for young children in child care and early education settings. Download PDF
Apr 30, 2012 | Vickie Choitz and Patrick Kelly Webinar Announcing New Tool & the Public Return to Increasing Postsecondary Credential Attainment CLASP and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) hosted a webinar announcing an exciting interactive tool to measure the personal, state and federal revenue returns to increasing the number of adults with a postsecondary credentials. Read Online | Download PDF
Apr 26, 2012 Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: A Conversation with Center Directors CLASP's Hannah Matthews and NWLC's Karen Schulman discuss how Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) work and how they could work as effectively as possible from the perspective of three child care center directors participating in QRIS. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 02, 2012 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Why Drug Testing Public Benefit Recipients Is a Distraction Twenty-three states around the country are considering requiring drug tests for recipients of programs like welfare (TANF) and food stamps. Elizabeth Lower-Basch discusses which states are proposing these tests and why she believes that they are unnecessary. Read Online
Feb 23, 2012 Post-Budget Update: What to Expect for Early Childhood in 2012 Audio Conference CLASP's Hannah Matthews along with experts from National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) discuss the President's FY 2013 budget proposal and the appropriations process for early childhood programs in 2012. Read Online | Download Audio | Download Additional
Feb 14, 2012 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit MCH and Early Childhood Settings: Reaching Children Where They Are to Provide Comprehensive Services This presentation, given at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Program's 2012 Annual Conference in Washington, DC looks at opportunities and strategies for using federal funding streams, including Maternal and Child Health funding, to support the availability of comprehensive services for young children in child care and early education settings. Download PDF
Feb 06, 2012 | Hannah Matthews Challenges and Opportunities: Child Care and Early Education in Difficult Times Child poverty is growing. Families continue to struggle in a difficult economy. Despite broad recognition of the importance of the earliest years, debates at the federal level focus on reducing spending rather than addressing the needs of children and families. These daunting challenges make the need for comprehensive birth to five services even more critical and must be a call to action for those who work on behalf of the most vulnerable children. This presentation was given at the Region IV Head Start Annual Conference. Download PDF
Dec 20, 2011 Early Childhood Updates: Funding and Reauthorization Prospects Audio Conference CLASP's Hannah Matthews alongside representatives from National Women's Law Center (NWLC), National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the First Five Years Fund discuss funding for early childhood programs in 2012-2013 as well as reauthorization of CCDBG and ESEA. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Nov 17, 2011 | Danielle Ewen and Hannah Matthews Caring for Babies: How State Child Care Policies Can Support Continuity Quality, stable child care arrangements support the healthy development of infants and toddlers. This presentation from the 2011 NAEYC Annual Conference in Orlando, FL describes how state subsidy policies can support retention of child care subsidies and continuous care for infants and toddlers. Download PDF
Nov 17, 2011 | Hannah Matthews Integrating Systems: Improving Access to Better Serve Families Families seeking assistance often face multiple, complex needs and that require the services of more than one program. Integrated service systems help to provide a more family-centered, seamless service delivery system, a system that offers a broad continuum of services and tailors these services to the strengths and needs of individual families. This presentation given at the 2011 State and Territory Administrators and the Child Care Policy Research Consortium Joint Meeting in Bethesda, MD looks at how to create an integrated system and the challenges and opportunities of doing so. Download PDF
Nov 14, 2011 | Stan Dorn How Human Services Programs and Their Clients Can Benefit from National Health Reform Legislation On Jan. 1, 2014, most health care coverage expansions included in the health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), will take effect. The ACA requires each state to use a single integrated, user friendly eligibility process that draws on existing data in real time for eligibility determination, enrollment and retention in both of these programs. This presentation by Stan Dorn on his recent paper for the Coalition for Access and Opportunity, highlights the opportunities to use the ACA to leverage improvements in eligibility systems for human services programs. Read Online | Download PDF
Oct 20, 2011 | Danielle Ewen What's Missing in Child Care and Early Education in America Millions of families rely on some aspect of America's publicly funded programs for their children as they go to work. Most are looking for a high-quality setting in which their children can learn. Yet, current situations fail too many families. This event, hosted by the New America, examined policy solutions to improve child care and early education. CLASP's Danielle Ewen was a presenter at the event. Read Online
Sep 16, 2011 Poverty Impact Projections: What Are They and How They Can Make a Difference This audio conference, a state advocate describes how the number has mattered, a state legislator tells why he wants a poverty impact projection attached to bills, and researchers will discuss how states can tailor analysis to their own policies and programs designed to decrease poverty. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Sep 15, 2011 | Christine Johnson-Staub The Relationship Between Licensing and QRIS: Challenges and Opportunities More than half of states currently have child care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) up and running, and more are under development. As states develop these promising systems, they are grappling with several questions around the relationship between child care licensing and the QRIS rating levels, including: defining program eligibility for QRIS participation, setting standards that align with licensing, deciding how licensing fits into QRIS levels, defining the role of licensing staff in rating and monitoring, and developing strategies for supporting programs through technical assistance. This presentation, given at the 2011 NARA Licensing Seminar in Pittsburg, Penn., draws from current state QRIS practices, as well as research conducted by CLASP and NWLC on child care providers' experiences with QRIS across the country. Download PDF
Aug 05, 2011 Webinar: Closing the Financial Gap for Low-Income Student Parents On July 25, Abby Newcomer, policy analyst with the Workforce Development team, participated in an Institute for Women's Policy Research-hosted webinar, Closing the Financial Gap for Low-Income Student Parents: The Benefits of Integrated Service Delivery on Community College Campuses. The webinar is part of IWPR's Student Parent Success Initiative and co-sponsored by CLASP and Single Stop USA. It highlighted strategies community colleges and their community partners are utilizing to improve access to public benefits for student parents. Download PDF
Jul 06, 2011 | EVENT RESOURCES The Promise and Challenge of Evidence-Based Policy and Practice On July 6, 2011, CLASP hosted the forum discussion, The Promise and Challenge of Evidence-Based Policy and Practice, featuring two leading research voices: Lisbeth Schorr and Gordon Berlin. This event was the final event in CLASP's 40th anniversary policy series, Policy and Promise for Low-Income People in America. Read Online
Jun 28, 2011 Flexible Scheduling for Low-wage Workers This national audio conference discusses a new report, Flexible Workplace Solutions for Low-wage Hourly Workers: A Framework for a National Conversation. Read Online | Download Audio
Jun 27, 2011 | CLASP Youth Policy Team Reconnecting The Disconnected: Leveraging Federal Policy & Local Practice To Expand Education & Labor Market Opportunity For Youth CLASP's youth policy work aims to advance policy and practice that will dramatically improve the education, employment, and life outcomes for youth in communities of high youth distress. Download PDF
Jun 24, 2011 Spotlight on Poverty Audio Conference: Rep. Paul Ryan Discusses Latest Budget Developments This national audio conference was sponsored by CLASP-managed Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: The Source for News, Ideas, and Action and featured Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) discussing the latest budget developments in Congress. Read Online | Download Audio
Jun 21, 2011 Congressional Briefing on the Youth Unemployment Crisis sponsored by the ADA Education Fund Download File
Jun 07, 2011 | EVENT RESOURCES Giving Credit Where Credit is Due Webinar Resources On June 7 CLASP hosted a webinar discussing the policy recommendations presented in the report Giving Credit Where Credit is Due. The webinar also highlighted innovative work to strengthen educational and workforce credentials and create a bridge between credit and noncredit learning. Read Online | Download PDF
Jun 01, 2011 | Christine Johnson-Staub Leveraging Existing Fundings Sources to Support EHS-like Services This presentation, given at the April 2011 Zero To Three state action team meeting in Portland, Oregon, describes opportunities and considerations for states that are exploring using a variety of federal funding streams to finance comprehensive services for infants and toddlers. Download PDF
May 24, 2011 | CLASP Student Success Stories from the Shifting Gears Initiative This map links to testimonials from students and staff about how programs developed under the Shifting Gears initiative have enabled adults to access postsecondary education, upgrade their skills, and obtain better family-sustaining jobs. To learn more about the policies that each state is pursuing under the initiative, visit the Shifting Gears web site. Read Online
May 18, 2011 The Economic and Social Impacts of a National Family Leave Insurance Program This audio conference discussed the economic and social impacts of one proposal for a national family leave insurance program, Family Security Insurance. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 11, 2011 | Danielle Ewen and Stephanie Schmit Extending Home Visiting Programs to Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers and Family Child Care Providers This presentation from the 2011 National Smart Start Conference provides information on two national CLASP research-based models and highlights current models for providing home visits with family child care providers and family, friend, and neighbor caregivers. Download PDF
May 10, 2011 The U.S. Budget and Low-Income Families: Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Inside View In this audio conference cosponsored by Spotlight on Poverty and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) offered an insider's perspective on the latest budget developments as Congress debates funding for FY 2012. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 10, 2011 | Hannah Matthews Young Children of Immigrants and The Changing Landscape for Early Education This presentation from the 2011 National Smart Start Conference describes how state child care and early education policies can better address the needs of children of immigrants and their families. Download PDF
May 09, 2011 | EVENT RESOURCES Developing America's Workforce Event Resources While employers are beginning to hire again, structural problems in the labor market will continue to keep unemployment levels high in the coming years and limit economic mobility for low-income workers. This high-level bipartisan discussion focused on lessons we can draw from the last four decades of workforce policy to help the nation effectively navigate its immediate and long-term labor market challenges. Read Online
May 06, 2011 | Hannah Matthews and Christine Johnson-Staub Caring for Babies: How State Subsidy Policies Can Support Continuity This presentation from the 2011 National Smart Start Conference describes how state subsidy policies can support retention of child care subsidies and continuous care for infants and toddlers. Download PDF
Mar 31, 2011 Audio Conference: Braiding Funding Streams to Support Integrated Service Delivery In order to use public funding to support an integrated approach and to account for the different needs and demographic characteristics of participants, organizations must braid sources together. CLASP has recently produced Federal Funding for Integrated Service Delivery, a Toolkit. The audio conference oriented listeners to the resource, and highlighted two organizations that braid public and private funding sources to support integrated service delivery approaches. Read Online | Download PDF | Download Audio
Mar 29, 2011 Audio Conference: Reducing Child Poverty - Tips for the U.S. from Across the Pond This audio conference featured two experts on the United Kingdom's successful child poverty reduction efforts, even during the recession. With child poverty on the rise since 2000 in the U.S., these experts provided U.S. poverty advocates with lessons learned after the U.K. government pledged in 1999 to cut child poverty in half by 2010. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 22, 2011 WEBCAST - We Dream a World: Re-Imagining the Landscape for Black Men and Boys Webcast of an event to advance the vision and policy solutions presented in the "We Dream A World" report, released December 2010. This event was jointly sponsored by CLASP and the 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys. It was the second in CLASP's 40th anniversary policy series, Policy and Promise for Low Income People in America. Read Online
Mar 09, 2011 | Kisha Bird Budget Cuts Could Adversely Affect Youth This statement by Kisha Bird, project director of the Campaign for Youth and senior policy analyst at CLASP, at the Children's Leadership Council news conference March 9, 2011 addresses the importance of programs that help people access education and other opportunities. Many of these programs are facing cuts under the House-passed Continuing Resolution, HR 1. Download PDF
Feb 23, 2011 | Child Care and Early Education Early Childhood Funding: the President's FY2012 Budget and Wrapping Up FY2011 Appropriations This February 17th conference call provided information on early childhood funding for FY2011 and FY2012. Speakers include: Helen Blank, National Women's Law Center; Danielle Ewen, CLASP; Adele Robinson, NAEYC; and Harriet Dichter, First Five Years Fund. Download Audio
Feb 18, 2011 Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) On this national audio conference, Representative Donna Edwards announced the WAGES Act, a bill to help close the wage gap between tipped employees and other workers by raising the minimum wage for these workers to $3.75�the first raise in 20 years. Read Online | Download Audio | Download Audio
Feb 07, 2011 | Vicki Choitz Pathways to Prosperity for Students In this video clip by American Public Television Service, CLASP senior policy analyst Vicki Choitz discusses preparing students for middle-skill jobs. Read Online
Feb 01, 2011 Re-imagining the landscape for Youth of Color: The Role the Youth System Can Play in Closing the Gaps - The Corps Network 2011 Annual Forum Download File
Jan 26, 2011 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Vickie Choitz Career Pathways Lead Low-Income People Out of Poverty In a new Spotlight on Poverty webcast, Vickie Choitz, senior policy analyst with CLASP's workforce development team and co-author of Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States, discusses approaches to help low-skilled, low-income adults earn postsecondary credentials that lead to good jobs with family-sustaining wages. Read Online
Jan 25, 2011 | Hannah Matthews Federal and State Budgets: Implications for Funding Early Childhood Programs This presentation was presented at the National Head Start Association (NHSA) Leadership Institute. It provides an overview of the federal budget process for FY 2011 and 2012 and the political and economic context that may impact funding for early childhood programs. Download PDF
Jan 13, 2011 | Danielle Ewen What is Next for Early Childhood in the 112th Congress On this national conference call, CLASP director for Child Care and Early Education, Danielle Ewen, discusses with other leading advocates early education initiatives in the 111th Congress, and upcoming items and strategies for the 112th Congress. Read Online | Download Audio
Dec 15, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Part-Time Work in Recession and Recovery This presentation by CLASP senior policy analyst Elizabeth Lower-Basch explores the circumstances of part-time workers, the reasons for part-time work, and what has happened to part-time work during the recession. She also considers the implications of part-time work for the Unemployment Insurance and Workforce Investment Act systems. Read Online | Download PDF
Dec 10, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Illinois Poverty Commission Recommendations This Spotlight on Poverty national audio conference featured Illinois state legislators and experts discussing newly released recommendations from the state's poverty commission. Read Online | Download Audio
Nov 30, 2010 | Elizabeth Kenefick States using the TANF Emergency Fund for Subsidized Employment The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created a new TANF Emergency Fund to assist states in expanding services during the recession. The funds could be used for basic assistance, short-term non-recurrent benefits, or subsidized employment. 39 states (plus DC, VI, and PR) funded subsidized employment programs that employed nearly 250,000 youth and adults before the fund expired on Sept. 30, 2010. This slide show depicts the time line of these subsidized employment programs. Read Online | Download File
Nov 25, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein State and Federal Approaches to Poverty Reduction (C-SPAN's Washington Journal Interview with Jodie Levin-Epstein) On November 25, 2010, Jodie Levin-Epstein, deputy director at CLASP, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss strategies for reducing poverty. Watch the video. Read Online
Nov 19, 2010 Webinar: Dollars and Sense - Using Federal Resources to Fund Career Pathways and Bridges Since career pathways initiatives intentionally bring together programming and services from a variety of state systems, states must often "braid" together federal funding sources to develop and sustain these efforts. To help states navigate the federal funding landscape, CLASP's Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success has released a new revised edition of Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States. Read Online
Nov 18, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Work Flex--Best Practices for Low Wage Workers In this national audio conference call, Turck, Inc., an employer who extends flexible practices to all workers, will explain why and how the company does what it does. Too often employers embrace workplace flexibility just for higher wage workers. Turck Inc. in Minneapolis, MN provides all of its regular full and part-time employees with a range of supports, including paid time off (PTO) and unpaid parental leave, a wellness program, unpaid leave for attending a child's school events, and even tuition assistance. Read Online | Download Audio
Nov 10, 2010 | Danielle Ewen and Hannah Matthews Finding and Using Data to Advocate Effectively for Children and Families This presentation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) 2010 annual conference provides a range of data to use to make the case for investments in young children and their families. Download PDF
Nov 08, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Interview with Author Wes Moore from November Policy Series Event Author Wes Moore joined CLASP on November 8 for "Wisdom and Wine." He discussed his book The Other Wes Moore: One Name Two Fates, and what role policy can play in our life trajectories. Read Online | Download PDF | Download Audio
Oct 11, 2010 Navigating the World of Youth Policy in a Challenging Economy at the National Council of La Raza Workforce Development Forum Download File
Oct 10, 2010 Reconnecting Disconnected Youth: The CCRY Network Experience Download PDF
Oct 06, 2010 | Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank Audio Conference: Congress is Wrapping Up: Get the Scoop on Early Childhood In this audio conference, Helen Blank from the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and Danielle Ewen at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) provide a summary of the 111th Congress as well as what's on the horizon for the lame duck session and the 112th Congress. They discuss the status of appropriations bills, the Early Learning Challenge Fund, Child Nutrition, TANF, CCDBG and other important pieces of legislation. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Oct 01, 2010 | Danielle Ewen Many Missing Pieces: A Frank Discussion About Early Childhood Data and State Longitudinal Data Systems On Oct. 1, 2010, Danielle Ewen spoke at the New American Foundation's panel, Many Missing Pieces: A Frank Discussion About Early Childhood Data and State Longitudinal Data Systems. Ms. Ewen discussed issues surrounding the expansion of education data systems that span a child's educational experience from early childhood up through higher education and the start of their careers. Watch the video. Read Online
Sep 22, 2010 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Audio Conference: Game Change - Health Reform Allows Enrollment in Other Benefits to Leapfrog Health care reform has the potential to dramatically change the way low-income individuals and families apply for and receive other benefits, such as nutritional assistance and the earned income tax credit. The Coalition to Promote Access and Opportunity hosted an audio conference with some of the nation's leading experts on this topic. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Sep 14, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Projected Increase in Poverty (MSNBC interview with Jodie Levin-Epstein) On Sept. 14, 2010, MSNBC news anchor Tamron Hall broadcast a segment on the projected increase in poverty. She interviewed CLASP's Jodie Levin Epstein. Watch the video. Read Online
Sep 13, 2010 Webinar: Helping Low-Income Adults and Disadvantaged Youth Earn Credentials and Build Careers: Leading Foundations Speak about Policy Priorities Postsecondary education and credentials are key to economic mobility for individuals and economic competitiveness for our nation. Yet too many low-income adults and disadvantaged youth are locked out of the opportunity to earn credentials and are falling further and further behind. To combat this national challenge, CLASP has launched a new project, the Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success (C-PES) and kicked off the initiative with a policy discussion featuring thought leaders from the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation. Each of these foundations has made improving postsecondary access and success a top priority. During this webinar, they discuss their specific policy priorities for helping lower-income adults and disadvantaged youth attain postsecondary credentials and achieve economic mobility. Read Online
Sep 09, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Profitable: Flexible Workplace for ALL Workers This audio conference will give you a chance to hear about employers who operate differently and help all employees perform well; you'll also learn what happens when low wage workers are not given that chance. Listen to the audio. Just click below. Additional resources are available. Read Online | Download Audio
Aug 13, 2010 | Danielle Ewen Using Title I to Expand Opportunities for High-Quality Early Childhood Programs This presentation discusses how Title I of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds can be used to expand opportunities for high-quality early childhood programs. The presentation was featured at the conference, Early Childhood 2010: Innovation for the Next Generation, on August 4, 2010. Download PDF
Jul 28, 2010 Youth Poverty, Dropout Recovery, and Youth Employment for Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families Download File
Jul 20, 2010 Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America's future In this presentation, Angela Glover Blackwell discusses race in America, which is rarely table talk. What's more, the focus in today's media is on a post-racial society. Read Online | Download Audio
Jul 02, 2010 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Paid Time Off is Taking Off In this audio conference, we will discuss the details and findings of World at Work's new study on Paid Time Off (PTO). A growing trend among employers, PTO offers employees flexibility and eases administrative costs for employers. However, very little research has been done on the benefits and drawbacks of PTO. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jul 01, 2010 K-12 Education and the Plight of Black Boys for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association Litigators and Advocacy Directors Conference Download File
Jun 09, 2010 | National Youth Employment Coalition Congressional Opportunities to Address Our Nation's Youth Unemployment Crisis This presentation outlines key legislative provisions necessary to connect youth in high poverty communities and those with limited education and skills to the workforce and featured bills being considered by Congress to address the needs of disconnected youth. Download File
Jun 09, 2010 | Kisha Bird If Not Now, Then When? Congressional Opportunities to Address Our Nation's Youth Unemployment Crisis This presentation outlines the state of the youth unemployment crisis. Download File
Jun 07, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Bringing the Comprehensive EHS Model to All Vulnerable Babies and their Families This presentation provides information about how to bring the comprehensive Early Head Start (EHS) model to all vulnerable babies and their families, including key facts for planning policies for vulnerable babies, how EHS addresses critical needs, and a framework for thinking creatively about expanding access to EHS-like services in states and communities. Download PDF
Jun 07, 2010 Fighting U.S. Poverty from the U.K. Experience... "A Conversation with Jane Waldfogel In this 5 minute interview with poverty researcher Jane Waldfogel, learn the lessons and messages out of the U.K.'s ability to cut child poverty in half (in absolute terms) that can help you in your own poverty reduction efforts. How to learn about them quickly? Listen or look at the text. Just click below. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jun 07, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Happy to be Stuck with You: Why Continuity of Care is So Important to Babies and Toddlers This presentation describes what babies and toddlers in child care need, what continuity of care looks like, and state policies that impact continuity of care. Download PDF
May 27, 2010 The Public Benefits Boost: New Strategies for Increasing Take-Up In this audio conference you will learn the role that public benefits can provide toward family stability and the latest legislative developments; new lessons from research that can help practitioners deliver access to public benefits; and two states' strategies to boost uptake--one dramatically lifting Medicaid access and another gaining applicants through school-based social services. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 26, 2010 | Rachel Schumacher Leveraging Existing Funding Sources to Support Early Head Start and EHS-like Services This presentation was delivered at a meeting held by ZERO TO THREE and CLASP entitled, "Including and Expanding Early Head Start in State Early Childhood Systems." This meeting worked with state-level policymakers looking to create more comprehensive services for infants, toddlers, and their families. Download PDF
May 25, 2010 | Fran Majestic, Barbara Gebhard, Rachel Schumacher, and Sue Mitchell Applying the EHS Approach to Services and Systems for Infants and Toddlers This presentation was delivered at a meeting held by ZERO TO THREE and CLASP entitled, "Including and Expanding Early Head Start in State Early Childhood Systems." This meeting worked with state-level policymakers looking to create more comprehensive services for infants, toddlers, and their families. Session speakers: Fran Majestic, Office of Head Start; Barbara Gebhard, ZERO TO THREE; Rachel Schumacher, CLASP; and Sue Mitchell, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Download PDF
May 18, 2010 | CLASP and the National Women's Law Center Audio Conference: Using ARRA Funds for State Infant/Toddler Initiatives Join CLASP and the National Women's Law Center on May 18 for a call to find out the latest on how states are using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers. Read Online
Apr 26, 2010 Behind the Scenes: Adopting a Supplemental Poverty Measure Part two examined how the process of adopting a supplemental poverty measure will work. The webinar also discussed state and local efforts to implement more accurate measures of poverty. Speakers included Clifford Johnson of the National League of Cities, Rebecca M. Blank of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution and Mark Levitan of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity. Read Online
Apr 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to FFN and FCC - Webinar Slides CLASP hosted a webinar to share findings regarding how major national models of home visiting are including family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and family child care providers (FCC). Elizabeth Hoffmann presented findings from CLASP's interview project with national models and other stakeholders, such as detailed considerations for implementing home visiting with FFN and FCC, including matters of curricula, staffing, and service referral. The webinar also reviewed opportunities that result from serving FFN and FCC, concluding with recommendations for states. This webinar was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Download PDF
Apr 19, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to FFN and FCC - Webinar Transcript and Audio CLASP hosted a webinar to share findings regarding how major national models of home visiting are including family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and family child care providers (FCC). Elizabeth Hoffmann presented findings from CLASP's interview project with national models and other stakeholders, such as detailed considerations for implementing home visiting with FFN and FCC, including matters of curricula, staffing, and service referral. The webinar also reviewed opportunities that result from serving FFN and FCC, concluding with recommendations for states. This webinar was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Download PDF | Download Audio
Apr 19, 2010 Supplemental Poverty Measure: What It Will and Won't Do On April 14, Spotlight co-sponsored the first installment of a two-part webinar series on the supplemental poverty measure with the Brookings Center on Children and Families, the Half-in-Ten Campaign, the New America Foundation and the National League of Cities. The webinar focused on why a new poverty measure is needed and how the supplemental poverty measure will compare to the official poverty measure. Read Online
Mar 23, 2010 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care: A Framework for Addressing the Needs of Infants and Toddlers in Child Care (Presentation) This presentation on CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project was given at the Illinois Action for Children conference. Download PDF
Feb 03, 2010 | Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank The President's Budget Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges for Early Childhood Programs In this audioconference, Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank discuss the president's FY 2011 budget proposal and implications for funding of state and local early childhood programs. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 02, 2010 | Hannah Matthews Addressing the Needs of Children of Immigrants: Opportunities for State Policy and Early Childhood Advocates This presentation reviews key findings from CLASP's research on the challenges immigrant families face in accessing child care and early education and presents strategies and policy recommendations for addressing these challenges. Download PDF
Jan 11, 2010 | Danielle Ewen The Early Learning Challenge Fund: Metrics and Data This presentation provides an overview of the data-based metrics included in the House Early Learning Challenge Fund legislation (Title IV of HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009). Download PDF
Dec 14, 2009 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Scheduling Hourly Workers in A Just in Time World: Can Employees and Employer Sync the Clock? This audioconference provides the latest research on how employers with low wage workers are addressing this issue and hear first-hand how Costco approaches scheduling of workers. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Dec 11, 2009 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Poverty and Child Maltreatment: Common Challenges and Solutions This presentation looks at the connections between child maltreatment and poverty and explores common challenges and solutions to addressing both issues. In particular, the presentation focuses on the opportunities for TANF and child welfare agencies to work together under current law to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families and begins to examine enhancements that could be made when the TANF program is reauthorized (the current program will expire in 2010). Download PDF
Dec 04, 2009 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to Nonparental Caregivers: Opportunities and Barriers (Presentation) This presentation was given at ZERO TO THREE's 2009 National Training Institute. It explores how home visiting programs are serving children in kinship care and in family, friend, and neighbor care, based on CLASP's interviews with major national models of home visiting and other stakeholders. See also the accompanying paper. Download PDF
Dec 04, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher Yes We Can: State Policies to Build the Supply of High Quality Infant/Toddler Child Care This presentation discusses the need for high quality infant/toddler child care, challenges to meeting that need, and policy ideas for states to use to build supply. It was delivered at the ZERO TO THREE National Training Institute. Download PDF
Dec 01, 2009 | Danielle Ewen and Helen Blank Update on State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care This audioconference provides an update on states' progress in creating Early Childhood Advisory Councils, funded through the ARRA, as well as information about the workings of existing Councils. The call was hosted jointly by CLASP and the National Women's Law Center. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Nov 24, 2009 | Dorothy Smith Measure by Measure: Modernizing the Poverty Measure This audio conference focuses on federal efforts to implement a modernized federal poverty measure and what states can do in the absence of one. Click here for additional resources. Read Online | Download Audio | Additional PDF
Nov 21, 2009 | Danielle Ewen, Hannah Matthews, and Elizabeth Hoffmann Finding and Using Data to Advocate for Children and Families Effectively This presentation introduces participants to a range of state and federal data on young children and their families and demonstrate how to put data together to paint a picture of child and family well-being. Download PDF
Nov 20, 2009 | Danielle Ewen A Birth Through 8 Agenda for ESEA/NCLB This presentation looks at examples of how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) can be used for birth through third grade, discuss potential changes in the reauthorization, and discuss how to promote greater use of Title I and other programs in NCLB for birth through age 8. Download PDF
Nov 20, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care Policy Framework: Celebrating Successes & Contemplating Improvements This presentation focuses on what matters most for infants and toddlers in child care; share what's working in your community, and dream about what's next using the Center for Law and Social Policy's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care Policy Framework. Download PDF
Nov 19, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher Developing State Quality Rating and Improvement Systems with Babies in Mind This presentation provides guidance to state leaders who want to ensure a state Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) addresses the unique needs of babies and toddlers in child care. It includes a framework of issues to consider, examples of state QRIS provisions, and related resources. Download PDF
Nov 16, 2009 | CLASP Audioconference What the TANF Emergency Fund Can Do for Your Cash-Strapped State CLASP brought together leading experts to discuss the latest federal guidance on innovative ways that states can draw on the TANF Emergency Fund, and claim expenditures by third-parties, such as counties and nonprofit service-providers. Listen to this recording of the call to learn about how you can put the TANF Emergency Fund to use! Download Audio | Additional PDF
Oct 23, 2009 | Danielle Ewen Small Steps at a Challenging Time: Federal Legislation for Infants and Toddlers Danielle Ewen, CLASP's director of Child Care and Early Education, presented during a session, Current and Proposed Federal Policies and Plans That Will Influence the Care of Infants and Toddlers, at the Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC) Graduate Conference on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2009 in San Francisco, Calif. Download PDF
Oct 20, 2009 | Helen Blank And Danielle Ewen Update on State Child Care Assistance Policies and Use of Economic Recovery Funds This audio included child care administrators, who focus on how their states have successfully used American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to assist low-income families. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Oct 05, 2009 Child Welfare: We Can and Must Do Better Read Online
Sep 03, 2009 | CLASP Audioconference Building Public-Private Partnerships in Human Services: Inside the New York Back to School Benefit Example George Soros' donation of $35 million to New York State, allowing the state to draw $140 million in federal funds from the TANF Emergency Fund to provide back to school payments of $200 to more than 800,000 children in low-income families, has drawn a great deal of attention from across the country. In this CLASP audioconference, hear from some of the people who made it happen, learn about the processes involved, and get ideas about how to make public-private partnerships to help low-income families with TANF Emergency Funds happen in your state. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jul 24, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Looking Ahead to TANF Reauthorization This presentation provides an overview of the trends in welfare receipt and work since the 1996 creation of the TANF block grant and highlights the modest levels of caseload increase in the current recession. It concludes with some thoughts about TANF reauthorization, scheduled for 2010. Read Online | Download PDF
Jul 23, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher Comprehensive Services for Babies and Toddlers: Research, Practice, and Policy This presentation was given at the U.S. Department of Education Parent Information and Resource Centers Annual Directors' Conference and provides a framework for connecting early care and education, health, family support, and early intervention services to support infants and toddlers and their families. It also includes ideas for schools to work with community partners to support the healthy development of children from birth to age three. Download PDF
Jul 20, 2009 | Child Care and Early Education Early Learning Challenge Fund Legislation Audio Conference In this audio conference, Dr. Ruth Friedman, Senior Education Policy Advisor, House Committee on Education and Labor, provides an overview of the Early Learning Challenge Fund and answers questions about the legislation. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jul 08, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Flexible Work Arrangements and Low-Wage Work In this New America Foundation forum, CLASP Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Lower-Basch presented on the implications of unpredictable work schedules for low-wage workers and their families and discussed possible policy responses. Read Online
Jun 23, 2009 | Danielle Ewen and Hannah Matthews Early Childhood Education In The ARRA: Opportunities For Helping Low-income Children And Their Families This presentation highlights funding opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for supporting young children and their families, quality early learning experiences, and healthy and supportive communities. Download PDF
Jun 03, 2009 | Danielle Ewen ARRA Opportunities For Shared Services For The ECE Industry: Improving Quality And Financial Stability This presentation, from the 2009 National Shared Services Technical Conference, highlights funding opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that supoprt an early care and education shared services model to improve business practices and increase the quality of programs. Download PDF
May 21, 2009 | Child Care and Early Education An Economic Recovery Update: How States Can Use Economic Recovery Funds To Help Child Care Listen to an audio conference recording about how to best utilize the economic recovery funds. A conversation with state advocates is moderated by Helen Blank, National Women's Law Center, and Danielle Ewen, CLASP. Speakers include: Speakers: Bruce Liggett, Executive Director, Arizona Child Care Association; Sessy Nyman, Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs, Illinois Action for Children; Sheila Hansen, Policy Director, Child and Family Policy Center; Patty Siegel, Executive Director, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network; and Clare S. Richie, Senior Policy Analyst, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 07, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher and Elizabeth Hoffmann Babies and Toddlers in Child Care: State Policy and Practice for Healthy Development Young children's experiences between birth and age 3 are critical cornerstones that lay the foundation for future growth and development. This presentation from the 2009 Smart Start Conference explores what babies need to thrive, how these needs align with state policies governing child care for infants and toddlers, and what specific policy examples states are putting into practice to improve care and promote healthy development. Download PDF
May 07, 2009 | Hannah Matthews Supporting Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Families In Early Care Policies And Practice This presentation provides recommendations for state policymakers and local programs to help culturally and linguistically diverse families access high quality comprehensive early care and education. Download PDF
May 06, 2009 | Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting Programs to Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers: Opportunities and Barriers (Presentation) Many young children spend significant time with family, friend, and neighbor caregivers in order for parents to work. This presentation, given at the national Smart Start conference, explores findings from interviews with national leaders in home visiting around the opportunities and challenges of using home visiting models with nonparental caregivers. Based on these findings, CLASP also offers recommendations for what states can do. Download PDF
Apr 28, 2009 | Linda Harris WIA Reauthorization: Opportunity to Rethink the Nation's Youth Delivery System Presentation to the Working for Change Forum sponsored by Community Services Society of New York and Coalition for Human Needs. Download PDF
Apr 14, 2009 | Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Identifying Opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to Improve Outcomes for Black Men and Boys Black men and boys face disproportionately negative life outcomes in many domains, particularly education, employment and justice. This audio conference will identify opportunities in the ARRA to provide education, training, and supportive services in a targeted manner to black men and boys. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 25, 2009 | Linda Harris Making the Connection: Opportunities in ARRA to Serve Older Youth Even before the economic downturn, youth in our economically distressed urban and rural communities were hurting. This audio conference will identify opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to serve older youth and will outline approaches states and local communities should consider to improve youth outcomes. Download Audio
Mar 20, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Opportunities in the Recovery Act for Income Support for Low-Income Women and Children This presentation analyzes ways that funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 can be used to improve income supports for low-income women and children. It focuses on the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act. Download PDF
Mar 18, 2009 | David Hansell, Amy Rynell, and Elizabeth Lower-Basch Making the Employment Connection: New Opportunities to Develop Transitional Jobs Programs This audio conference highlights Transitional Jobs programs to help individuals with barriers to employment enter and succeed in the labor market, and features new opportunities created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to develop and expand such programs. It ws co-sponsored by the National Transitional Jobs Network. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 11, 2009 | Elizabeth Appley, Elizabeth Lower-Basch and Stacey Cox Rebuilding the Safety Net: State and Local Opportunities in Income Support This audio conference features opportunities for improvements in income support programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund both provide additional funds for states -- but only if they take action to expand program access. The expansion in tax credits for low-income workers also provides opportunities for community tax assistance providers. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 04, 2009 | Sandi Vito, Carrie Thomas, and Jason Walsh Workforce Development: New Opportunities for Creating Pathways to Good Jobs and Sustainable Employment This audio conference highlighted opportunities created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for addressing the needs of low-skill workers under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and linking training to job creation and retention efforts Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 25, 2009 | Child Care and Early Education Child Care and Early Education: Opportunities to Serve More Low-Income, Working Families Danielle Ewen, CLASP, and Helen Blank, National Women's Law Center, discuss the opportunity for states and local communities to serve more low-income working families and to make long-term investments in quality programs through new investments in the ARRA. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 22, 2009 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch Provisions in Economic Stimulus Bill to Help Low-Income Families (Interview with Elizabeth Lower-Basch on C-SPAN's Washington Journal) On February 22, 2009, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst with the Workforce Development team at CLASP, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss provisions in the economic stimulus to help low-income individuals and families. Read Online
Jan 22, 2009 | Rachel Schumacher Continuity of Care: A Critical Component of Quality for Babies and Toddlers in Child Care This presentation, given at the Chicago Metro AEYC Opening Minds Conference, explores how continuity of care affects infant and toddler development. Comparative state data from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minneosta, Ohio, and Wisconsin is included. Download PDF
Nov 28, 2008 Poverty Task Forces: The Experience of 3 State Advocates This audio conference focuses on three states' (Connecticut, Minnesota and Illinois) lessons learned in establishing and working with a poverty task force. It explores the pros and cons of task forces and other issues, ranging from why bother with a task force to how does the current recession influence pursuit of a task force. Download Audio
Sep 19, 2008 What's a Poverty Commission to Do about a Recession? This audio conference focuses on actions states can take to address the high costs of food and fuel and job losses that are causing more to struggle to make ends meet and pushing more and more families toward poverty. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jul 30, 2008 First hand-facts: visits, tours, testimony and more The Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota has spent two years trying to understand the nature, causes and consequences for the state and for individuals who struggle to make ends meet in today's economy. This audio conference focuses on: What role do first-hand facts have? How can advocacy organizations work collaboratively with a commission to zero in on the most pressing problems? How can policymakers best hear from those experiencing low incomes? And, how does a commission keep getting first-hand insights after it makes recommendations? Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 11, 2008 | Hannah Matthews Incorporating Cultural Competence in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems This presentation provides an overview of what cultural competence is; why cultural and linguistic competence is important in early childhood standards; and how quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) can support cultural and linguistic competence. Download PDF
Jan 26, 2008 | Linda Harris Mayor's Innovation Project: Realizing the Promise of Cities CLASP engaged in a discussion with Mayors from across the country on strategies for reconnecting youth to education and jobs. Download PDF
Jan 17, 2008 | Danielle Ewen Head Start Reauthorization and Other Federal Changes The federal Head Start program was reauthorized in December 2007. The new legislation made substantial changes to the program, including provisions to expand access to Head Start programs, strengthen and expand Early Head Start, increase the quality of the program, and improve collaboration between early childhood programs at the state and local levels. This PowerPoint presentation from CLASP, presented at the 2008 Head Start Johnson & Johnson Advanced Management Institute, provides an overview of key changes in the new law. Download PDF
Sep 11, 2007 | Jodie Levin-Epstein More Than a Paycheck: A Conversation On Why Job Quality Matters and What We Can Do About It The American Dream promises that if you are willing to work hard, you will be able to achieve a better life for yourself and your family. But too many people are stuck in bad jobs -- jobs that pay poverty-level wages and offer no benefits, jobs with little opportunity for advancement, jobs in which workers don't know from week to week if they'll get enough hours to pay their bills, jobs that workers can lose for staying home with a sick child. In this audio conference, you'll hear about the state of job quality in the U.S. today and how a focus on improving job quality can help reduce poverty and support families. You'll learn why poor job quality is an issue that especially affects women. And you'll find out about a proposed New York State law that would have required state agencies to focus on placing clients in jobs that pay sustainable wages. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Aug 31, 2007 | Elizabeth Lower-Basch A View from Low-Wage America - On Labor Day, Job Quality Cited as Key to Poverty Reduction In this podcast from the Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work, Elizabeth Lower-Basch discusses the report Opportunity at Work. Read Online
Aug 01, 2007 Poverty and Opportunity: Developments around the Nation This audio conference focuses on the latest developments about solutions to poverty that are emerging around the country. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jul 24, 2007 | Linda Harris and Sally Prouty Testimony Submitted for the Record to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support Hearing on Disconnected and Disadvantaged Youth The Campaign for Youth (CFY), a coalition of national organizations in the youth field, was established in 2002 in an effort to build a united voice for vulnerable and disconnected youth in the United States. This testimony from CFY lays out a 10-point national investment strategy for reconnecting the nation's youth. Download PDF
Jul 13, 2007 Child Support: Preserving and Expanding a Decade of Progress These slides are from a July 13 congressional briefing on the Child Support Protection Act of 2007 (S. 803 and H.R. 1386). The briefing, which was cosponsored by CLASP, explained the devastating impact of the child support cut--approved by Congress last year and scheduled to take effect this October--on states, counties, and families. Download PDF
May 22, 2007 Gaining Leverage to Improve Job Quality: Lessons from Union Organizing in the New Economy What can workforce development professionals learn from sector based union organizing initiatives about overcoming some of the challenges to improving job quality in the new economy? Which state and local policies can support workers rights to organize and improve job quality for low-wage workers? CLASP�s upcoming conference call will address these questions and more! We hope that you can join us for this exciting call with experts from the field who will highlight successful union organizing efforts in the public and private sector, and discuss the implications of these initiatives for state and federal policy. This audio conference is part of CLASP�s Opportunity at Work initiative, which focuses on creating better jobs for a stronger economy. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Apr 06, 2007 Making Low-wage Jobs Family Friendly: An Oxymoron or Cutting Edge? (Part-2) Does workforce advancement sometimes stall because job schedules conflict with kids' care or stable parenting? Does family friendly translate into job retention? What are the research findings related to welfare "success stories"? What are some chain store practices and policies that are making a difference so that low-wage service jobs might be more family friendly? What role do supervisors play? What has one employer done for all his employees -- at all wages -- to engage them in decision-making and in scheduling? Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 15, 2007 Paid Sick Days: Why it Matters to Families and the Latest Developments There is no minimum standard for paid sick days for workers. As a result, about half of workers do not have paid sick days. This means that some workers lose wages if they stay home with a child with pink eye; others can lose their jobs - and do. Other workers come to work sick. This is a family, public health, and employer issue that impacts all workers, and particularly those in low wage jobs. In San Francisco, the voters just passed a referendum that establishes paid sick days in the city. Learn about other paid sick days policy developments around the country and in the new Congress. More cities and states are looking at this working condition and taking action. You can too. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Mar 09, 2007 Making Low-wage Jobs Family Friendly: An Oxymoron or Cutting Edge? (Part-1) How are some clothing and grocery chain stores restructuring low-wage service jobs to make them more family friendly? How does advance notice help with childcare, stress, absenteeism, and productivity? What role do supervisors play? What's the bottom line on health - for the business, for the worker and family? Does family friendly translate into job retention? What has one major employer done -- and why - to help workers at all incomes meet work obligations and family responsibilities? Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 06, 2007 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Pat Wilson-Coker Connecticut's Commitment to End Child Poverty An Interview with Pat Wilson-Coker, former commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Social Services (audio) Connecticut aims to reduce child poverty by 50 percent between 2004 and 2014. In this audio conference, Pat Wilson-Coker, former commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Social Services, outlines the positive effects of targets on accountability, partnerships, and planning. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jan 18, 2007 | Abbey Frank, Sharon Parrott and Diane Klontz Transitional Jobs for Hard to Serve TANF Recipients The passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) significantly changed the structure of the work requirements mandated in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Faced with increased work participation rate requirements and stricter definitions of the allowable work activities, states are now facing difficult choices regarding their TANF programs. One program model that has been proven to improve employment outcomes is Transitional Jobs (TJ). TJ programs have been used successfully to provide hard-to-employ TANF recipients with paid work experience. This audio conference outlines the ways in which states can report participation in Transitional Jobs programs under the interim final rules issued by HHS and provides detailed information about the expansion of the statewide Transitional Jobs program in Washington in light of these new requirements. Download Audio
Jan 09, 2007 | Rutledge Q. Hutson Partnering to Promote Guardianship: The Federal Outlook This presentation provides an overview of the needs of children being raised by grandparents and other relatives because their parents are unable to do so. It highlights key provisions of several federal legislative proposals to address some of the unique needs of these families, and it offers an overview of the current federal policymaking environment. Download PDF
Dec 15, 2006 | Early Childhood Systems Working Group State Early Childhood Development System and Core Elements The Early Childhood Systems Working Group consists of 14 organizations, including CLASP, that mapped four elements of a State Early Childhood Development System as well as the Core Elements of these systems that are needed to support families and help children thrive. Download PDF
Dec 08, 2006 | Danielle Ewen and Hannah Matthews The Potential Of Title I For High-Quality Preschool This presentation, funded by the Foundation for Child Development, provides a brief overview of Title I of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, explains how these funds may be used to support high-quality preschool, and offers several illustrative models of school districts using Title I funds for early education. It also provides background information making the case for investments in young, low-income children, along with relevant policy implications that may affect the availability of Title I funding for such programs. Download PDF
Dec 04, 2006 Opportunity At Work Series: Getting the Job Quality Picture Right: What's the Problem? What's the Solution? Examines some problems and solutions for attaining job quality for low-income workers. Download Audio
Aug 28, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Realistic Child Support Policies that Support Successful Re-entry These slides describe 8 child support strategies to improve employment and long-term child support outcomes for parents leaving prison. Click here for the PowerPoint version of this presentation. Download PDF
Aug 02, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Assignment and Distribution Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act These slides summarize the new changes in child support assignment and distribution rules included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Download PDF
Jul 31, 2006 | Bill White with Jodie Levin-Epstein Flexible Work Time: An Interview with Mayor White Jodie Levin-Epstein interviews Houston Mayor Bill White on his "Flex in the City" initiative and how to engage employers. Download Audio
Jun 20, 2006 | TANF 2006: CLASP- CBPP Series Skill Upgrading - The Role of Community Colleges in Helping Low-Skilled Workers to Advance in the Labor Market In today's highly competitive global economy, skill-building is becoming increasingly important for achieving self-sufficiency. This conference call highlights strategies that have shown promise in helping low-income individuals gain access to education and training, and develop the skills necessary to advance in their careers. Download Audio
Jun 01, 2006 | TANF 2006: CLASP- CBPP Series Not Just Any Job - Helping TANF Recipients Access Good Jobs Although many TANF recipients have entered the labor market, many former recipients remain poor, and continually struggle in low-wage jobs. Research has shown that the type of jobs in which TANF recipients are placed initially have long-term implications for both employment retention and earnings. This conference call highlights strategies that have shown promise in helping low-income individuals gain access to jobs that will lead to opportunities for advancement. Download Audio
May 23, 2006 | CLASP Audioconference on Wising Up: How Government Can Partner With Business to Increase Skills and Advance Low-Wage Workers This audioconference, based on the Wising Up reprot, discusses how states and local governments can partner with business and industry to train workers and encourage the creation and retention of good jobs. Download Audio
May 16, 2006 | TANF 2006: CLASP- CBPP Series Earned Income Disregards and Income Supplements As states work to meet the new participation rate requirements while helping low-income families enter and sustain employment, many are considering expanding assistance to low-income families either through TANF or through stand-alone programs that provide income supplements to working families. This conference call highlights earned income disregards and supplements policies, and their impacts on employment outcomes for TANF recipients. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 21, 2006 Audio Conference 02/21/2006 - Child Support Federal child support budget developments enacted and proposed. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 17, 2006 Audio Conference 02/17/2006 - Medicaid Federal Medicaid budget developments enacted and proposed. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 15, 2006 Audio Conference 02/15/2006 - TANF Federal TANF budget developments enacted and proposed Download Audio | Additional PDF
Nov 18, 2005 Better Business: Making Work "Work" for Employers and Employees Many efforts to provide family support at the workplace have been framed as helping either business or employees. But a new movement is looking at the mutual benefits of making work "work" for both. The business case for such efforts includes the attraction, development, and retention of employees, as well as community economic development. What are some examples in small, mid-sized, and larger companies of new approaches to make work "work"? Guests: Ellen Galinsky, Families and Work Institute; Donna Klein, Corporate Voices for Working Families Download Audio
Oct 25, 2005 | Paula Roberts and Elaine Sorensen, of the Urban Institute State Strategies for Preventing Accumulation and Managing Existing Child Support Arrears The publicly funded child support program contends with over $100 billion in arrears (outstanding child support owed by obligated parents). To address this problem, a number of states revising their policies and developing strategies to both prevent the growth of arrears and resolve existing debt. This PowerPoint presentation describes these efforts, and includes a comprehensive bibliography of sources for further information. Download PDF
Oct 14, 2005 Better Jobs: New Ways to Raise Income for Welfare Families Download Audio | Additional PDF
Sep 16, 2005 Audio Conference 09/16/2005 - Hurricane Katrina: Implications in Your State Download Audio
Jun 17, 2005 Paid Sick Days: Developments in the U.S. and Lessons from Abroad Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 06, 2005 Audio Conference 05/06/2005 - Connecting Disconnected Youth and Disconnected Systems: Innovative Community Approaches Download Audio | Additional PDF
Apr 15, 2005 | Jodie Levin-Epstein Work and Public Housing: Encouraging Results from Jobs-Plus In this audioconference, Jodie Levin-Epstein interviews experts regarding Jobs-Plus, a multi-year evaluation of a place-based employment initiative in public housing. It�s produced substantial improvements in residents� earnings. She and her guests explored the effects of Jobs-Plus on employment, earnings, and welfare receipt and whether different kinds of families had different kinds of outcomes and whether life in the housing developments changed. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 11, 2005 Audio Conference 02/11/2005 - The Federal Budget: Implications for Families and States Download Audio | Additional PDF
Jan 28, 2005 Right to Request Flexible Work: U.K. Emerging Lessons Download Audio | Additional PDF
May 11, 2004 CLASP Audio Conference Transcript: The Fiscal Squeeze: What Does Tax Policy Have to Do With It? (April 2, 2004) Bob Greenstein from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and John Corlett of the Center for Community Solutions in Cleveland discuss how tax policy drives social policy, explain how the feds and the states got into the current fiscal mess, and offer some solutions for navigating our way out of the current crisis. In addition, CLASPs Mark Greenberg provides a Hill update on TANF reauthorization (as of April 2, 2004). Download PDF
Dec 16, 2003 | Julie Strawn Update on HEA Reauthorization This presentation, given at The Workforce Alliance meeting on December 11, 2003, discusses the importance of adequate funding for the Higher Education Act and what steps Congress has taken in its reauthorization. The presentation also briefly discusses the Perkins Act reauthorization. Click here for the PowerPoint version of this file. Download PDF
Dec 16, 2003 | Nisha Patel Update on WIA Reauthorization This presentation, given at The Workforce Alliance National Conference on December 11, 2003, compares selected provisions of the House and Senate Workforce Investment Act reauthorization bills. Download PDF
Feb 15, 2001 | Rachel Schumacher TANF and School Age Care: Opportunities and Challenges TANF and School Age Care: Opportunities and Challenges, is a slide presentation by Rachel Schumacher that outlines how federal TANF funds may be used to fund child care services particularly aimed at school age children, and describes some current state and county efforts to do so. Download PDF