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JOTF E-Newsletter The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) is pleased to bring you the latest edition of its electronic newsletter. The JOTF E-Newsletter includes news, announcements, and information about upcoming events in the Baltimore area that we hope will be of interest to you. If your organization would like to publicize an event, job announcement, or other information, please send e-mail to info@jotf.org. In this issue:
OTHER NEWS:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
OPPORTUNITIES:
NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES:
JOTF NEWS
Time is running out to register for our half-day workforce practitioners' forum on May 11 at the Radisson Hotel at Cross Keys, Baltimore. This forum is an opportunity for Baltimore-area employment and training practitioners to engage in a dialogue with their peers and leaders in the field on issues that affect professionals who work on the front lines of workforce development. Panelists and attendees will discuss topics such as job satisfaction, best practices, performance measures, standards, and avenues for career growth in this evolving profession. The event is intended for frontline workforce development professionals and managers in public and private agencies; colleges and universities; and community groups that assist low-income job seekers find and keep employment. Join us on May 11 to share your perspective and learn from others what workforce development professionals must do and know in order to grow in their careers and improve outcomes for job seekers, employers, organizations, and the public. Continental breakfast and a buffet lunch will be provided. Space is limited. Cost: $20 Last day to register is Wednesday, May 5. Contact Kevin Griffin Moreno at (410) 234-8046 or kevin@jotf.org.
JOTF is pleased to report that progress was made during the 2004 legislative session on bills and budget items that affect low-income Marylanders. As the result of efforts on the part of JOTF and others, more students will be able to obtain need-based scholarships, more inmates will receive education and other important transitional services, and former offenders who are behind on their child support can now keep their drivers' licenses in order to stay employed. Additionally, the General Assembly appproved a living
wage requirement for state contracts and expanded funding Thank you to all our partners who called, wrote, and appeared in person to testify on these important issues. For a detailed list of outcomes from the 2004 legislative session, visit our Annapolis Watch page.
Project coordinator Desiree Mundell-Collins described
the initiative, which will connect workforce development providers and
job seekers to residential construction contractors in search of qualified
entry-level employees. Beginning this summer, a group of service providers
and a group of employers will develop strategies to place candidates in
jobs and help them advance in the workforce.
OTHER NEWS
Living-wage bill: 'disastrous' or 'great benefit'? "When the General Assembly voted this week to require that companies doing the state's business pay their workers a "living wage" of $10.50 an hour, more than double the federal minimum wage, it became a national first and major win for labor... "Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. says the bill sends a very different message that Maryland is no place to do business and that if companies leave, the jobs go with them. He plans to veto the legislation that was passed after fierce debate in the final hours of the session Monday night..." Read Living-wage bill: 'disasterous' or 'great benefit'? PRESIDENT BUSH PROPOSES INCREASING WIA TRAINING FUNDS BY REDUCING BUREAUCRACY The Bush administration is proposing to double the number of job seekers trained under the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The administration claims that $300 million could be saved by reducing bureaucracy under WIA and redirecting those funds to job training services. Read the newly-released White House fact sheet on the President's new proposals. DOL ANNOUNCES FIRST REVISION OF OVERTIME REGULATIONS IN 50 YEARS The New York Times released an article April 21 announcing that the U.S. Department of Labor intends to revise its plan to cut overtime coverage. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao "said the new rules, the first broad revision of overtime regulations in 50 years, would protect workers and would merely modernize and simplify regulations governing more than 100 million working people..." Read Labor
Dept. Revises Plans to Cut Overtime Eligibility.
In an article to the Chicago Tribune, Devah Pager, and Jeff Manza shed light on the barriers that ex-offenders face upon release from prison. Restrictions on occupational licensing, access to public housing, and a number of political rights "promote the very circumstances that led to crime in the first place..." Read Criminal
behavior: Society punishes ex-convicts for life.
The Open Society Institute – Baltimore will present Zero Tolerance School Discipline Policies: Community Responses, part of the School Discipline Policies and their Criminal Justice Consequences forum series. The forum will take place on Wednesday, May 12, between 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Open Society Institute – Baltimore, 201 North Charles Street, Suite 1300, Baltimore. The Director of Children and Family Justice Center, Ms. Bernardine Dohrn, will speak about how communities and advocates can respond to the complicated issues surrounding “zero tolerance” school discipline policies. RSVP to Justin Schaberg at (410) 234-1092 x213 or jschaberg@sorosny.org by Monday, May 10, 2004.
The Prison Project of the Public Justice Center is holding a free public forum featuring author and journalist, Alan Elsner, on Wednesday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall of the First Unitairan Church, 514 N. Charles Street, north of Franklin Street, Baltimore. Reuters journalist and author Alan Elsne has written a book on the US prison system, "Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons." The book explores the grim reality of the U.S. prison system, and presents an alarming expose of what life is really like on the inside. Elsner looks beyond the staggering statistics at the human and social costs of mass incarceration, and the impact of this epidemic on the general population. For more information, call 410-625-9409 ext. 239
The Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland is hosting the annual Maryland Legal Services Partnership Conference on Thursday, May 20, between 8:15 am - 3:30pm at the Baltimore Convention Center. The conference will include a half-day session about developing strategies to overcome barriers to successful prisoner reentry. The keynote address will be delivered by the Judge Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Ontario Court of Appeals. For more information and registration, check http://www.probonomd.org/upcoming.html.
OPPORTUNITIES If your organization would like to publicize a service, job announcement, grant, or other opportunity, send e-mail to info@jotf.org.
Healthcare
for the Homeless, a JCAHO-accredited nonprofit health care agency,
is currently seeking a Director of Development to advance major donors,
special events, direct mail and donor-tracking activities. If interested, send a copy of resume by mail to the Director of Human Resources, Health Care for the Homeless, 111 Park Ave., Baltimore, MD 21201,via email , or fax (410) 837-8020 by 4/27/04.
Community
Law In Action, Inc., a youth advocacy and leadership development organization
whose mission is to engage and empower youth voice on important policy
issues,seeks an experienced, dynamic, and creative individual with facilitation
and youth organizing experience to oversee its annual 6-week youth leadership
training program starting May through August 2004. The "Leadership
Summer" Coordinator is a temporary, full-time contractual position. NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES
The Legal Action Center has released a report entitled After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry, a comprehensive two-year study of the legal barriers that people with criminal records must overcome in order to successfully rejoin society. The study catalogues the barriers that each state imposes in areas essential for the effective re-entry of ex-offenders to mainstream society. Download After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry in PDF format.
Based on the 2002 National Survey of America's Families, the Urban Institute released a report on April 22, 2004 which indicates that "older workers and those with incomes at or above 200 percent of the federal poverty line are more likely to have paid leave than younger workers and low-income workers." The study shows that parents with young children and those receiving welfare benefits are the most in need for a paid leave, yet are less likely to get it. Download Getting Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents in PDF format. E-Newsletter Co-Editors:
Kevin Griffin Moreno
and Doha Melhem |
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