The deadline is swiftly approaching for the Fisher House Foundation’s 2012 Scholarships for Military Children Program, conducted at military commissaries worldwide.

Applications must be completed and delivered – not postmarked, but delivered – to a commissary by close of business Feb. 24, according to an agency release. People can pick up applications at their local commissary or download it from the scholarship program’s website.

A minimum of one $1,500 scholarship will be awarded at every commissary location where applications are received. The Defense Commissary Agency operates nearly 250 commissaries on military installations around the world, according to its website.

The program is open to currently enrolled or college-bound children of active duty, reserve or retired military commissary customers.

The scholarships are primarily funded through the manufacturers and suppliers whose products are sold at military commissaries, according to the program’s website. The scholarship provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other related expenses.

The program is in its 11th year. In its first 10 years, nearly 5,500 students have shared more than $8 million in scholarship grants.

For more information on this and other scholarships, visit the Scholarship Programs of the Fisher House Foundation website.

For more military family-related posts, visit AFPS’ Family Matters blog.

SOAR Online Application Tracking Program Webinar
Thursday, February 16th
12:30 – 2:00 PM (EST)
Register Here

A recording of our recent webinar, Identifying SOAR Applicants (1/25/12) is available here.

]]> http://www.homelessvetprovidertac.net/2012/webinar-soar-online-application-tracking-program-thursday-february-16th-1230-200-pm-est/feed/ 0 http://www.homelessvetprovidertac.net/2012/notice-of-availability-of-funds-and-solicitation-for-grant-applications-for-workforce-innovation-fund-grant/ http://www.homelessvetprovidertac.net/2012/notice-of-availability-of-funds-and-solicitation-for-grant-applications-for-workforce-innovation-fund-grant/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:06:16 +0000 David Zell http://www.homelessvetprovidertac.net/?p=2244 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for Workforce
Innovation Fund Grants

Announcement Type: Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA)
Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA PY-11-05
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.283
Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is March 22,
2012. Applications must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
A pre-recorded webinar will be on-line at http://www.doleta.gov/workforce_innovation and
accessible for viewing no later than December 28, 2011 and will be available for viewing
anytime after that date. While a review of this webinar is encouraged, it is not mandatory.
Addresses: Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor,
Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management, Attention: Donna
Kelly, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 11-05, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room
N4716, Washington, DC 20210. For complete application and submission information, including
online application instructions, please refer to section IV.

Summary:
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL),
announces the availability of approximately $98.5 million in Workforce Innovation Fund grants
authorized by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P.L. 112-10). These funds
support innovative approaches to the design and delivery of employment and training services
that generate long-term improvements in the performance of the public workforce system, both
in terms of outcomes for job seeker and employer customers and cost-effectiveness.

Read the full announcement.

Contest Winners receive:

• Tampa Hotel Accommodations March 23-24, 2012
• Southwest Airlines Roundtrip Airfare (if applicable)
• Honorary Dinner March 23
• Access to Lighting Morning Skate March 24
• 2 Tickets to March 24 Game at the Tampa Bay Times Forum

SSA Requests Public Comment on the Unique Needs of SSI Recipients Experiencing Homelessness 

Comments are due by March 2, 2012 

SSA is requesting information from the public regarding the unique needs of homeless Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, particularly those who live in public emergency shelters for the homeless, in an effort to better understand and address their needs. The SSI program provides a minimum income level for aged, blind, or disabled persons who do not have income or resources above levels specified in the Social Security Act. USICH encourages communities and providers to comment in order for SSA to improve delivery and outreach for this population.  

- Learn more

Department of Labor

Nearly $100M in Grants for Workforce Innovation Fund  

Earlier this month, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced the availability of approximately $98.5 million through the Workforce Innovation Fund to support employment and training services. The fund invests in programs that support, evaluate and enhance workforce investment strategies, particularly for vulnerable populations including people experiencing homelessness. A solicitation for grant applications was published in the December 23 edition of the Federal Register.

This grant provides workforce agencies and other eligible applicants an opportunity to partner with homeless service providers to improve alignment of the homeless services system and the workforce development system. This is an opportunity to test promising practices like supported employment, transitional jobs, and workforce navigators in improving employment outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

“The mission of the public workforce system is to find good jobs for everyone,” said Secretary Solis. “These grants will significantly enhance the capacity of our public workforce system by identifying, evaluating and expanding successful programs.”

Eligible applicants include state workforce agencies, local workforce investment boards and organizations considered eligible to apply for WIA Section 166 grants. The grants will be administered by the Labor Department, working closely with the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. In addition to providing technical assistance to grantees throughout the life of the grants, the Labor Department will share program evaluation results with grantees as well as stakeholders in workforce, education and human services systems.

-   Learn more about the Workforce Innovation Fund and view application tools

-  Visit the online tutorial “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants”

-  Read the full solicitation

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Tips and Resources for CoC Grantees for the New Homeless Definition 

On December 5, 2011, HUD published the final rule on th e Definition of Homeless in the Federal Register. As this is the final rule, there is not a further comment period for the Definition of Homeless. The final rule on the Definition of Homeless went into effect on January 4, 2012. HUD has developed resources on the definition as well as answers to a few basic questions on the implementation of the regulation. HUD will release new resources as they are developed.

-  Learn more

$6.8M Awarded to Help Communities Understand the Scale of Homelessness in their Areas   

Last week HUD awarded $6.8 million to four technical assistance providers through HUD’s Homeless Management Information System Technical Assistance Program. The awards will ultimately go to local communities through their Continuums of Care to improve data collection and reporting, a key element in designing a community’s response to homelessness.

“You can’t solve homelessness unless you understand homelessness,” said Mercedes Márquez, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. “These grants will offer critical assistance to state and local planners as they gather the necessary data they’ll need to prevent and end homelessness as we know it.”

- Read the press release

New HUD Language Line to Improve Access to HUD Programs for those with Limited English Proficiency 
The HUD Language Line, a telephone language service pilot, will offer live, one-on-one interpretation services in more than 175 languages. These efforts are taking place in order to better communicate with Limited English Proficient individuals and families about HUD housing programs, services, and activities.

-  Learn more

Department of Veterans Affairs

Reminder: SSVF Grant Applications due February 15, 2012 

The SSVF program provides grants to nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives that coordinate or provide services for very low-income Veteran families currently experiencing homelessness, transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing, or to prevent at-risk Veterans from becoming homeless.

Grant applications are due to the SSVF program office by 4pm Eastern Time on February 15, 2012. This funding is available for both initial and renewal funding for a one-year period.

- Learn more and apply

Department of Agriculture  

Help the USDA Feed Low-Income Kids over the Summer   

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) can help to fill the summer meal gap for low-income children. Faith-based, community and private non-profit organizations can make a difference in the lives of hungry children by serving meals with SFSP, a federally funded program administered by states that reimburses organizations for meals served to children during the summer. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service will be providing webinar sessions, including an overview of the SFSP, resources and tools available to help get started with the SFSP, successful outreach practices and tips, and how to get involved.

-  Learn more

HUD Webinar

Substantial ESG Amendment Process and 2nd Allocation Application Process

Today, January 26
3:30 – 5:00pm EST 

Register now 

National Center on Family Homelessness Webinar

America’s Youngest Outcasts

Thursday,  February 2

2:00 – 3:00pm EST

Register Now          

Check Out More Upcoming Events on our Online Calendar

WASHINGTON — On July 27, 2011, The Home Depot Foundation and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), in coordination with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), hosted a historic conference in San Antonio on increasing the availability of housing for low-income veteran families and formerly homeless veterans graduating from assistance programs. NCHV has compiled a comprehensive report on the “Veteran Access to Housing Summit,” informed by more than 125 nonprofit homeless veteran service providers, builders, financial experts, representatives of VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and leaders of national charitable organizations.

Four intensive, strategic work sessions were held at the summit, focusing on the following areas: (1) multifamily housing, (2) single-family housing, (3) transition-in-place initiatives, and (4) public-private partnerships. Participants in these work sessions were charged with sharing innovative and replicable practices, ideas and recommendations that could have an immediate impact on the availability of permanent, affordable housing for homeless veterans and those at high risk of homelessness due to health and economic hardships.

NCHV’s three-volume report on the Veteran Access to Housing Summit provides an overview of each work session discussion, followed by profiles of organizations and programs that have been effective in creating and expanding housing opportunities for homeless and low-income veterans and their families.

Summit organizers hope the report helps inform federal agency officials of stakeholders’ ideas, concerns and recommendations for actions that could increase access to permanent housing for homeless veterans and veterans at high risk of homelessness. The report is also offered as a tool to help local planning authorities and service providers consider effective, innovative and practical strategies to rapidly increase the availability of permanent housing options to end and prevent veteran homelessness in their communities. This issue will be further explored at the 2012 NCHV Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., May 30 through June 1, 2012.

For more information and to download the report from the Veteran Access to Housing Summit, please visit www.nchv.org/page.cfm?id=337.

What this means for our service members and their families and for those who are dedicated to providing them with the best psychological health and traumatic brain injury  care and treatment, is a renewed confidence that:

• The inTransition program will strive to reach greater heights as it continues to be instrumental in improving the system of care by becoming that critical bridge of support that qualifying service members, guard and reserves need during transitions

• Our unparalleled telephonic coaching services performed by licensed master’s level mental health experts will continue to be a program of choice. This is evident by the impressive 54% of new participant enrollment made through self-referrals by service members in 2011

• Our skilled inTransition coaches will continue to provide exceptional support to service members seeking to locate the care and services they need and motivate them to achieve their wellness goals.  These mental health experts have a thorough understanding of today’s military culture and issues and respect the importance of privacy.

• The inTransition program will continue to improve the critical follow-up of deactivating, separating and retiring service members with VA mental health services to ensure a successful system of care

The DCoE inTransition program continues to be free, voluntary and accessible via:

1-800-424-7877 Inside the United States;

1-800-424-4685 (DSN) Outside the United States toll-free; or

1-314-387-4700 Outside the United States collect

Look for inTransition on display at these upcoming events:

• MHS Conference, January 30-February 1, 2012, National Harbor, MD
• American Psychiatric Association Annual Conference,  May 5-9, 2012,  Philadelphia, PA
• Combat Operational Stress Control Conference, May 22-24, 2012, San Diego, CA
• Armed Forces Public Health Conference, June 1-8, 2011, San Diego, CA
• Case Management Society of America, June 18-19, 2012, San Francisco, CA
• DoD / VA Suicide Prevention Conference, June 20-22, 2012, Washington, DC

To learn more about inTransition or share the information with your colleagues,  please visit www.health.mil/inTransition or contact Robbyn Shin at Robbyn.Shin.ctr@tma.osd.mil to arrange a video teleconference, brief at your clinic or facility, or an informative webinar.

If you have an upcoming permanent change of station, please keep your clinic informed about inTransition updates by providing us with email information for the new point of contact (POC) or incoming officer in charge (OIC).

When to Conduct the Sheltered and Unsheltered Count

Beginning in 2012, all Continuums of Care (CoCs) must conduct an annual sheltered count.  The unsheltered count is only required every other year – the next required year will be 2013. Although 2012 is not a required year for CoCs to conduct an unsheltered count HUD encourages all CoCs who have the means to conduct an unsheltered count to do so.

Who to Count

Though the new HUD homeless definition has been published, the McKinney-Vento Act as amended by HEARTH states that CoCs will continue to count the same literally homeless populations and subpopulations in their counts, as they have in the past.

How to Count Chronically Homeless and Unaccompanied Children 

CoCs must count chronically homeless individuals and families and unaccompanied children in the same manner they did in the 2011 PIT count. In the interim Consolidated Plan rule, effective January 4, 2012, HUD published an amended chronically homeless definition. However, HUD will not collect data based on the amended chronically homeless definition until the Consolidated Plan rule is published as final. For the purpose of the 2012 PIT count, the subpopulation data for unaccompanied children will be limited to persons under 18. Prior to the 2013 PIT count, HUD will provide additional guidance on how to count chronically homeless individuals and families, as well as unaccompanied youth.

When to Conduct the HIC and PIT Counts

CoCs are required to complete a PIT count of homeless people for a single night during the last 10 days in January, as well as a housing inventory. The 2012 annual housing inventory and the sheltered PIT count should be on the same night. Any CoC planning to conduct the HIC and/or PIT count outside the last 10 days of January 2012, must submit a waiver request to HUD. Waiver requests should be submitted via email to Michael Roanhouse, Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs at michael.roanhouse@hud.gov and must include the proposed date of the count and the rationale for selecting a date outside the last 10 days of January.

What to Prepare for in the Future

HUD anticipates publishing the CoC HEARTH regulations during 2012. As HUD works with the other members of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness to implement Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, communities should pay special attention to data collection and performance management issues. Communities are highly encouraged to evaluate their count process and determine how to improve it for future years. In particular, communities are asked to consider the effectiveness of their processes to capture data on specific subpopulations, including families with children, youth, chronics, and veterans.

HUD is considering how to provide additional support to communities interested in improving their methodology. If you have specific questions, concerns, or suggestions, or you are interested in participating in a peer planning group/community of practice in 2012 to improve your methodology, please write to us at the HUDHRE Help Desk.

Resources

Please visit the Homelessness Resource Exchange and the links below for additional information.

2012 Housing Inventory Count and Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Persons Data Collection Guidance

Preparing for Your 2012 Housing Inventory and Point-in-Time Counts Webinar

Preparing for Your 2012 Housing Inventory and Point-in-Time Counts with Special Attention on Veteran Program Guidance Webinar

2012 Point-in-Time and Housing Inventory Count FAQs

A Guide to Counting Sheltered Homeless People (Revised January 2012)

A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People (Revised January 2008)

Submit questions to the Virtual Help Desk on the HRE

New Online Resource for Journalists Presents Key Insights from Workshop
In October 2011, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University held the first ever educational workshop for journalists on intimate partner violence (IPV). The workshop brought together leading academics, public health experts, service providers and award-winning journalists with a select group of media professionals to address the challenges and opportunities to improving coverage of this critical public health issue.

As a result, the Dart Center has launched a new online resource featuring the key insights from the workshop. Any journalist covering IPV can access these materials and benefit from the workshop presentations, dialogues and peer-to-peer learning sessions with seasoned journalists, such as Jan Hoffman of the New York Times, Sacha Pfieffer, host of WBUR’s “All Things Considered,” and Maria Hinojosa, anchor for NPR’s “Latino USA.”

The toolkit includes expert tips sheets, compelling video testimony, informative presentations, and contact information for subject experts as well as other resources.

•  To learn more about the Dart Center Resources and Toolkit.

You have received this e-mail alert because you have elected to receive information from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on: Vulnerable Populations.

The Army released suicide data today for the month of December and calendar year (CY) 2011.  During December, among active-duty soldiers, there were 11 potential suicides:  two have been confirmed as suicide, and nine remain under investigation.  For November, the Army reported seven potential suicides among active-duty soldiers.  Since the release of that report, five have been confirmed as a suicide, and two remain under investigation.  For CY 2011 there were 164 potential active-duty suicides of which 140 have been confirmed as suicides, and 24 remain under investigation.

During December, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were five potential suicides (four Army National Guard and one Army Reserve): three have been confirmed as suicide and two remain under investigation.  For November, among that same group, there were eight potential suicides.  Since the release of that report, three cases have been added for a total of 11 cases (11 Army National Guard and no Army Reserve). Of those, nine were confirmed as suicides and two remain under investigation.  For CY 2011, there were 114 potential not on active duty suicides (80 National Guard and 34 Army Reserve): 102 have been confirmed as suicide, and 12 remain under investigation.

A report released today, “Army 2020 Generating the Health and Discipline of the Force,” referred to as the “Army Gold Book,” represents the next phase in Army health and disciplinary promotion efforts.  The report assesses progress made, as well as identifies and addresses remaining gaps in policy, programs and procedures relating to soldier health and discipline since the release of the “Army Red Book” in July 2010.  It also underscores the importance of ongoing leader education, tireless commitment and open communication at all levels in assuring that the right choices continue to be made for our soldiers, the Army and our nation.

“As we look ahead to the strategic reset, transitioning from a predominantly wartime Army to a ready and responsive one, leaders at every level must be actively engaged.  They must understand the issues addressed in this report, apply the many lessons learned and, unlike the mostly reactive efforts of the post-Vietnam Army, continue to take a proactive approach to generating health and discipline in the force.

“This report should serve as a comprehensive guide, a roadmap of sorts reflecting not only how far we have come in recent years, but more importantly, provide direction as we look ahead to the strategic reset and the many challenges we will inevitably face as we come back home,” according to the “Gold Book.”

Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  Trained consultants are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be contacted by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or by visiting their website athttp://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org .

Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion) at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention) at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf .

The Army’s comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.preventsuicide.army.mil .

Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20 (requires Army Knowledge Online access to download materials).

Information about Military OneSource is located at http://www.militaryonesource.comor by dialing the toll-free number 1-800-342-9647for those residing in the continental United States.  Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource website for dialing instructions for their specific location.

Information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf/.