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In addition to outside social media coverage, many UWP members publicized
2-1-1 Day on their social media accounts. Thank you so much for your hard work!
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PA 2-1-1 Day: UWP announces statewide coverage by the end of 2019, and our partners help us make strides to increase awareness of 2-1-1
UWP used the occasion of 2-1-1 day to announce that every Pennsylvanian will have access to the 2-1-1 service by the end of the year. You can read our statewide media release
here. We thank all of the United Ways who are investing financial resources as well as significant organizational capacity to advance 2-1-1 in Pennsylvania!
UWP also wants to thank all our local United Ways and 2-1-1 partners for the amazing work they did on 2-1-1 day! This year, we were fortunate to receive a wide range of media coverage and social media traffic. Here are the highlights:
2-1-1 Social Media Exposure:
- Over 3,000 impressions on Twitter
- Over 40 tweets and/or mentions of #211Day
- Multiple legislators mentioned 211 Day, including:
- Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) -Senate Appropriations Chair
- Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre) - Senate Majority Leader
- Sen. Camera Bartolatta (R-Beaver, Washington, Greene)
- Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster)
- PA House Democratic Caucus
- PA Senate Republican Caucus
- 10 UWP members and/or 2-1-1 centers contributed
- Media recognition:
- PennLive (Harrisburg area) reporter mentioned 211 Day via social media channels
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Wegmans, PA Department of Human Services and United Ways take steps to anticipate SNAP recipient challenges
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Food banks and pantries across Pennsylvania are feeling the effects of the shutdown and Governor Tom Wolf is encouraging Pennsylvanians who can to donate to their local charitable food organization. This includes an internal effort among several state agencies to encourage state employees to take action. Meanwhile, Wegmans announced that in response to outreach from a local United Way, they are lowering the price of key staples for all customers from February 16 through March 2 in an attempt to help with consequences of the shutdown and advance payment of SNAP benefits.
We encourage our local United Ways to join efforts to mobilize people to donate to local food banks, or volunteer to sort and pack foods in response to the need that is anticipated. DHS has been reviewing data on SNAP benefit usage, which shows that many recipients are spending down benefits at a pace which will not sustain them until their next payment.
UWP members should watch for a direct email about this outreach, and you can contact Kristen with questions.
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UWP Hill Day Registration Open! And UWW's Advocacy Forum and Hill Day set!
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We have two upcoming opportunities for our United Way advocates to participate in to advance the work we are doing in advocacy, both in Pennsylvania and with our Congressional delegation.
First, UWP will be holding our 3rd annual Hill Day on Tuesday, April 9th! This will be an important event to participate in, as we will be meeting with House and Senate leadership and key rank-and-file members to advocate on behalf of UWP's budget priorities. This year's priorities include continued funding for PA 2-1-1, a higher state investment in child care, and a $50 million investment into Pre-K and Head Start programs. It is vital to have your voices heard on the Hill to protect these essential programs that help so many of our communities.
You can register for Hill Day here. We will have breakfast available for advocates starting at 8 a.m. and then a full-day of meetings. While UWP does have legislative targets to meet with, we also try to accommodate special meeting requests from attendees if we are able. If you would like to meet with a particular member, please email Lauren with that request. We encourage your staff, community volunteers, and board members to attend! Registration will close for the event on Friday, March 22nd.
Finally, UWW will be hosting their annual Advocacy Forum and Hill Day June 11th-13th. This is a great opportunity to deep dive into the federal policy issues important to the network and to meet with your congressional members. This year, in particular, Pennsylvania has many new congressional members, so this will be a good opportunity to introduce ourselves, help them to understand the work we are doing in our communities, and hopefully build lasting relationships with key policymakers in our state.
You can learn more about the conference here.
For any questions on either of these events, please contact Maggie.
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UWP articulates advocacy priorities for the 2019-2020 state budget as legislative hearings begin to examine the Governor's proposal
United Way of Pennsylvania previously e-mailed members our analysis of the Governor's proposed budget. UWP is pleased that the Governor maintained the line item for PA 2-1-1 at last year's funding level of $750,000. We will be urging the General Assembly to increase that funding to $1.5 million in order to help us grow the capacity and increase the quality and consistency of the 2-1-1 service across PA.
As a principal partner in the Pre-K for PA campaign, we are also excited to see the proposed increase of $50 million for Pre-K ($40 million) and Head Start ($10 million) programs, which will provide
access to another 5500 children. We will urge the General Assembly to fund the Governor's proposed investment.
As principal partners in the Start Strong campaign, we will join our partners to encourage the General Assembly to invest more state dollars in infant and toddler services - specifically $50 million to increase rates for high quality care. The Governor has proposed to use federal dollars for objectives the Start Strong campaign supports, including reducing the waiting list for services and some support for career pathways for infant and toddler teachers. But the Start Strong campaign knows more state dollars are needed to make an impact, and the presence of 45 legislators from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate who stood with the campaign at its recent launch is a sign that accessible, affordable child care is enough a priority to succeed in achieving a greater state investment.
The House Appropriations Committee kicked off budget hearings during the week of February 11, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will begin the same on Feb. 19. The first week of hearings in the House brought cautionary words from the Independent Fiscal Office about the state's economy and revenue projections for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. IFO predicts that Pennsylvania will see some downturn in the next two years. A slowdown in growth by one to two percentage points would mean a revenue shortfall of approximately $300 to $600 million per year. A mild recession would bring an impact of $900 million to $1.2 billion per year. Pennsylvania's reliance on one-time revenue solutions would exacerbate a slowdown by about $1 billion. The state's Rainy Day Fund, with a current balance of $22.5 million, will hardly make a dent even in the event of a mild recession.
January numbers reported by the PA Department of Revenue show that the Commonwealth collected almost $114 million less than anticipated. This leaves revenues collected year to date only $290 million, or 1.6%, above estimate. Personal income tax collections continue to be the weakest performer, while sales tax and corporate tax collections exceed expectations.
As budget hearings continue, UWP will be sending a letter to all the Appropriators outlining our priorities for the state budget, and a brief explanation of the return on investment each priority can help Pennsylvania achieve.
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UWP Supports Anti-Trafficking Legislation
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House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 60 were recently introduced in the legislature by Representative Seth Grove (R-York) and Senator Kristen Phillips-Hill (R-York), The bills seek to strengthen penalties in certain human trafficking criminal cases. Specifically, this legislation would mirror current federal law related to human trafficking to include anyone who purchases sex from a victim of trafficking in the definition of the crime of human trafficking. It would also expand the offense for patronizing a victim of trafficking and upgrade the crime from a second degree felony to a first degree felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and increase fines for repeat offenders patronizing prostitutes, in recognition that prostitution and human trafficking are connected.
United Ways across the country have joined in the fight against human trafficking and UWW has added language to its policy agenda to strengthen penalties around human trafficking and protect the victims, as well as advocate for more federal appropriations tied to combating this horrendous crime. Recognizing the importance to our network, UWP, along with recommendation from our public policy committee, will be submitting a letter of support to both Rep. Seth Grove and Sen. Kristen Phillips-Hill of their legislation. We will also be notifying the Wolf administration of our support. Additionally, we have added language to our public policy agenda, similar to that of UWW's, in support of anti-trafficking policy.
Human trafficking has become a sad reality for many across the country and Pennsylvania is seeing the impact in our communities. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 127 human trafficking cases reported in Pennsylvania and over 250 victims and survivors identified. Since 2007, the commonwealth has seen over 1,000 cases and identified over 1,500 victims. Just from 2017 to 2018, over 150 more cases were reported. UWP is committed to protecting human trafficking victims and survivors and ensuring policies are considered that work to address the crimes associated with trafficking.
If you have any questions regarding this legislation, please contact Maggie.
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UWP starting 2-1-1 legislative trainings in March
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UWP and PA 2-1-1 will be holding training webinars for legislators, legislative staff, and UWP members this spring.
During this webinar, we will go into greater detail about the work 2-1-1 is doing to serve our communities, how legislative offices can connect their constituents in need to health and human services, and talk about where 2-1-1 is headed in the coming years.
Our first training will be held on Zoom on March 5th, 2019 from 2-3 PM for members and legislators in PA 2-1-1's East region, which includes Northampton, Carbon, Lehigh, Berks, Schuylkill, Lebanon and Lancaster counties. We encourage our members in these counties to register for this event, and to recommend attendance to the legislators in their area. To register for this webinar, please click
here.
We will be holding a training for each 2-1-1 region, throughout the year. The next training will be the Southwest region in April and then the South Central region in May. We will be providing more information to those regions and members in the coming weeks.
If you have any questions regarding our 2-1-1 trainings, please contact
Maggie.
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Upcoming Webinars & Webinars on Demand!
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Upcoming Webinars:
The Power of Early Brain Development - Hosted by ReadyNation
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 3:00PM
Register Here
Evidence shows that early brain development is the foundation of a successful society. Business and community leaders are invited to participate in a w
ebinar
hosted by ReadyNation. The Power of Early Brain Development will feature Dr. Laura Jana, pediatrician and author of "
The Toddler Brain: Nurture the Skills Today That Will Shape Your Child's Tomorrow.
" Dr. Jana will detail existing scientific evidence and the importance of early brain development, especially for
infants
and
toddlers
.
Digital Philanthropy/SalesForce: The Indiana Model
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 10:00AM
United Way's partnership with Salesforce and the emergence of the Philanthropy Cloud has garnered a lot of interest across the United States. Join UWP and Indiana United Ways to discuss how the state association of Indiana developed model that allowed local United Ways to share costs and use the Digital Services tools to their full potential.
Webinars on Demand:
Evidence Based Strategies for Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
Prescription drugs are essential to improving the quality of life for millions of Americans living with acute or chronic pain. However, misuse, abuse, addiction, and overdose of these products, especially opioids, have become serious public health problems in Pennsylvania. There are methods and programs that have proven successful in communities at fighting the opioid epidemic and this webinar will focus on giving an overview of them.
View Here
Free Tools for United Ways
Need something to manage your social media pages? What about graphic design software? Some way to manage an upcoming project?
Sometimes the best tool for the job can be found for free or low-cost, you just have to know where to look. Join us to take a look at some free tools your United Way is eligible to use.
View Here
Campaign Performance Index Series
Join UWW for one of the webinars for an overview of the Index and access to specific performance data for your United Way. These webinars are directed primarily to CEOs, but staff and board members are welcome to join as well. Please look for the webinar that includes your population group (POP Group).
View Here
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21st CCLC Application Available
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The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is pleased to announce the availability of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) 2019-24 Request for Applications and the 21st CCLC Cohort 10 Grant Paper Application and Instructions. PDE will have approximately $23 million available for Cohort 10 grants.
The purpose of the 21st CCLC program is to provide opportunities to establish or expand activities in community learning centers that:
- provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students, particularly students who attend low-performing schools, to meet the challenging state academic standards;
- offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities.
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offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education, including opportunities for literacy and related educational development.
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