Advocacy
CONNECT AND SERVE
With the upcoming holiday season and current economic crisis, the need for volunteers at organizations throughout the Commonwealth is greater now than ever. The Massachusetts Service Alliance and Governor Patrick's office maintain a Web site for connecting organizations and potential volunteers called Connect & Serve.
The governor's office has been increasing its promotion of Connect & Serve as an important tool to connect volunteers and organizations. For those that already post volunteer opportunities on Connect & Serve, please make sure the most up-to-date listings can be found there. For those that do not currently list volunteer opportunities, please register your organization at Connect & Serve and post your volunteer opportunities.
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BUDGET CUTS
Governor Patrick announced a fiscal plan on Oct. 15, 2008 that cuts more than $1 billion from the Commonwealth’s budget and eliminates more than 1,000 state jobs – cuts and eliminations made across all branches and agencies of our government. Click here for the governor's announcement on the cuts and links to the overall budget.
MMP, in partnership with the Mass Service Alliance, worked to bear a burden of the mentoring line item reduction to try to lessen the cuts on grant recipients. At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining the level of capacity building and training services for grantees.
For programs in our network that host Commonwealth Corps members or AmeriCorps members (Ambassadors, Promise Fellows and Vistas), grants to host sites will not be reduced, though in the case of Commonwealth Corps, there was a five percent overall cut. Additionally, the youth violence prevention line in the Department of Public Health was not cut.
MMP worked on several fronts prior to and since the announcement of this plan. Through our membership in Mass Non-Profit Net, the statewide non-profit association, we were involved in several discussions with the governor's office about the cuts. MNN received a series of media opportunities to announce that these cuts could not be made lopsidedly on the backs of non-profits and subsequently, our most vulnerable citizens. Analysts agree that these cuts are more attuned to this issue than in the past.
MMP understands that many of the programs in our network are affected by other reductions in this plan. We want to reassure them that we are committed to helping them as they face revenue constraints that affect their mentoring efforts.
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HELP US GET THE MENTORING AMERICA'S CHILDREN ACT INTO LAW
As election time draws near, Congress will likely head home early this fall. The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act is currently tied up in Congress and likely faces too many barriers to actually become law this year.
However, with your help, we can get the Mentoring America's Children Act (H.R. 2611/S. 1812) passed and signed into law.
This stand-alone bill is focused solely on the U.S. Department of Education's Mentoring Programs grants, created through No Child Left Behind.
The legislation builds upon the current program by providing training and technical assistance to grantees, tracking youth outcomes, strengthening research on the effects of mentoring, and improving the sustainability of grant recipients.
Particularly important for current grantees, the bill would ensure that grantees in their final year of funding would be able to compete for future grants to expand their service.
Encouraging more Members of Congress to co-sponsor these bills will help make the case for moving them forward. To contact your Representative, click here:
http://capwiz.com/mentor/issues/alert/?alertid=11362571