An article in the Minneapolis StarTribune entitled, “A look at some Social Welfare Programs that Work,” cited the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) in New York as an effective employment program for people with criminal histories.  For a full profile of CEO’s program design, click here and explore the new Pioneering Programs section of the NTJN website.

Click here to read an op-ed article in the Boston Globe, written by Molly Baldwin, Executive Director of Roca, a youth TJ program in Boston.

The IndyStar mentioned the Plainfield Reentry Program in their discussion of the need for services and policy changes to effectively assist people with criminal histories integrate into the community. Click here to read the article.

The Chronical of Philanthropy recently featured a special report on Sweet Beginnings, a social enterprise TJ program in Chicago, which employs former inmates in making and selling honey products. After 3 years in operation and limited product revenue, the business recently went through a yearlong planning process in which it decided to make and sell honey products - soaps, lotions, etc. - instead of the honey itself. This will allow Sweet Beginning to offer more Transitional Job positions and obtain higher profit margins on its product. For more information on Sweet Beginnings, contact Brenda Palms Barber at brenda@nlen.org.

Do you have articles, broadcasts, or media attention you want featured in “TJ in the News”? If so, contact the NTJN at ntjn@heartlandalliance.org

The President released his FY 2008 budget on Monday, February 5th. For a quick description of what is included in the budget and what has been cut, see the following resources:

To discern implications for workforce development, click here to read a report published this week by The Workforce Alliance entitled, Administration Recognizes Role of Education and Training in Addressing Economic Inequality in US, Yet Proposes Cuts in Workforce Training.

Click here for additional resources and analysis on each department provided by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Introducing the new NTJN Advocacy Toolkit!

The NTJN website has a new advocacy section with easy ideas, templates, and tips for site visits, using the media, and more. Advocacy is about building relationships. Use these resources to engage and influence your local officials, Members of Congress, and others in your community who need to know about Transitional Jobs. Click here.

Make your voice heard! Elected officials are in office to work for you and the issues that are important to you. When you educate Members of Congress about the importance of Transitional Jobs programs, you are paving the way for the development of new, effective programs, funding, and legislation that will promote the growth and expansion of TJ programs across the country.

Members of Congress will be in their local offices March 20-24th. This is a GREAT time to begin building relationships!

Update on the Second Chance Act:

The Second Chance Act will be reintroduced to the House the week of Feb 26th, following the week-long President's Day recess. Thus, the weeks ahead are a crucial time to advocate and meet with local officials. Put your advocacy toolkit to work - make an appointment with your Members of Congress today!

Thanks for the overwhelming support of the CLASP/NTJN conference call on Transitional Jobs for Hard-to-Employ TANF Recipients: The Creation and Expansion of TJ programs within the Guidelines of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.   A recording of the call is now available on the CLASP website - click here to listen.

Implementing the TANF Changes in the DRA: "Win-Win" Solutions for Families and States, Second Edition

This report from CLASP and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is intended to guide state administrators and advocates as they consider implementing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provisions of the 2006 federal budget, called the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). This report has been updated to reflect the Interim Final Rule and guidance issued by HHS in response to states' Work Verification Plans. The report discusses the legal structure of the work participation requirements; strategies for improving and increasing engagement in programs; strategies for increasing support for working families (through increased earnings disregards, stand-alone "work supplement" programs, and child support distribution options) and helping states meet participation rates; disability laws and ways to improve the effectiveness of TANF-related programs for individuals with disabilities; and the fiscal implications of the TANF, child care, and child support provisions. Note: Transitional Jobs is discussed on page 46.

To view/print specific chapters, click here.

Funding:
The City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development recently announced a new RFP for customized employment programs with agencies serving people with criminal records. Transitional Jobs is mentioned in the program design.  For more information please contact Amy Santacaterina at 312-746-7451 or asantacaterina@cityofchicago.org.

The SIA Foundation is accepting grant applications from organizations in Indiana.
The SIA Foundation, Inc. is committed to improving the quality of life and helping meet the needs of state residents. The foundation achieves this mission through cash grants that are used to support the funding of specific capital projects in the areas of arts and culture, education, and health and welfare. Click here for more information.

Publications:

Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison Population 2007-2011, a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"After a 700-percent increase in the U.S. prison population between 1970 and 2005, you’d think the nation would finally have run out of lawbreakers to put behind bars. But according to Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America’s Prison Population 2007- 2011, a first-of-its-kind projection, state and
federal prisons will swell by more than 192,000 inmates over the next five years.
This 13-percent jump triples the projected growth of the general U.S. population, and will raise the prison census to a total of more than 1.7 million people."

Click here to read the report.

The Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts seeks to help states advance fiscally sound, datadriven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs. The project helps states diagnose the factors driving prison growth and provides policy audits to identify options for reform, drawing on solid research, promising approaches and best practices in other states.

Low-Wage America: How Employers Are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace, by Eileen Appelbaum, Annette Bernhardt, & Richard Murnane

This book discusses the prevalence of low-wage workers, the dismantling of job ladders, and how employers can choose to make strategic decisions regarding their workers. It is based on case studies from 25 industries, including manufacturing, telecommunications, hospitality, and healthcare. It shows how the temporary staffing industry has provided paths to better work for some, but to dead end jobs for many others; how new technology has raised skill requirements for workers; and how increased competition from abroad has forced U.S. manufacturers to cut costs by reducing wages and speeding production. Although employers’ responses to economic pressures have had a generally negative affect on frontline workers, some employers manage to resist this trend and still compete successfully. The benefits to workers of multi-employer training partnerships offer important clues about what public policy can do to support the job prospects of this vast, but largely overlooked segment of the American workforce. To read Chapter One, click here.

2007 National Offender Workforce Development Conference, "Becoming a Second Chance Society Again," will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 2-5, 2007. Early registration is $325 (until March 1, 2007); late registration is $375. New in 2007: Workshop Track for Faith-Based Organizations. Click here for schedule and registration.

"The Road to Reentry:" 2007 Defendant/Offender Workforce Development Conference will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, March 5-7, 2007. For online registration, click here. For keynote speaker information, click here.

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