2016-09-29

Editor’s Note: It’s the final week to submit your nomination for New York Nonprofit Media’s first Cause Awards 2016: Honoring individuals, agencies and philanthropists who this year have had a major impact on the top human services concerns of the New York nonprofit sector. If a colleague, client or employer has had a major impact on one of this year's top causes though good work or philanthropy, nominate them for this great honor today by clicking here. The opportunity to submit your nominations will officially close Friday, September 30th at 6 pm.

TOP NEWS

NYN Media Podcast on Finding a Cause with Women's City Club and High Water Women: In this week’s NYN Media Insights Podcast, we spoke to Jacqueline Ebanks, executive director of Women’s City Club of New York, a 600 member organization working to ensure that all New Yorkers attain economic security, equal opportunity, and safe communities, which is celebrating its centennial this year. We also interviewed Diane Keating, executive director of High Water Women about her organization’s work teaching financial literacy and how nonprofits can get involved with social impact investing.

Mayor de Blasio announces new nonprofit resiliency committee: Mayor de Blasio announced the creation of the Nonprofit Resiliency Committee to offer opportunities for collaboration and to expand lines of communication between the city and the nonprofit human service sector. The committee is charged with identifying, designing and launching solutions to support the sector in the areas of administrative processes, service and program design and organizational infrastructure.

U.S. to bar arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts: The New York Times reports that the federal agency that controls more than $1 trillion in Medicare and Medicaid funding has moved to prevent nursing homes from forcing claims of elder abuse, sexual harassment and even wrongful death into the private system of justice known as arbitration. See NYN Media’s in-depth series examining the rising incidence of elder abuse in nursing homes.

Charter school rally focuses on the sector’s growth, largely sidesteps recent dustup with the mayor: At yesterday’s rally, which organizers said attracted over 25,000 people, the rhetoric moved away from politics and instead centered on celebrating the charter sector’s growth and encouraging more expansion, Chalkbeat reports.

Average ACS worker investigates more cases now than in 2012, despite Mayor de Blasio's promise to increase staff: As the city scrambles to explain the series of events that led to the death of 6-year-old Zymere Perkins, records show child protective workers’ caseloads are on the rise, the Daily News reports. On average, caseworkers for the Administration for Children’s Services handled 10.6 cases each in fiscal year 2016, up from 8.7 per worker in fiscal 2012, records show.

DiNapoli says scandals show need for oversight: State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said he has heard from several lawmakers who are considering legislation to restore his office's oversight of spending by the State University system and related not-for-profit entities that manage building projects like those connected to the Buffalo Billion and SUNY Polytechnic Institute, the Times Union writes.

Payments owed to Trump go to his foundation instead, but who paid the taxes?: Nonprofit Quarterly looks into reporting that two companies owing Trump sent payments to Trump’s foundation rather than to Trump or his companies. It is unclear whether Trump directed the payments to his foundation or the two businesses made their decisions independently.

New online resource links volunteer board members with nonprofits:Likening it to the match.com dating site, backers say the new charityStrong.com online resource will help nonprofits and potential board members find each other while bolstering the strength of nonprofit organizations, according to Buffalo Business First. The initiative, which serves the Western New York and New York City regions, was developed over the past few years to help nonprofit organizations meet the challenges of board leadership, governance and oversight.

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PAYING MORE THAN YOU NEED TO FOR TELECOM SERVICES?

AMS can help nonprofits save money: Review for Billing Errors - Audit invoices against your billing records for discrepancies; Optimizing Existing Plans - Assessing existing plans to optimize utilization without switching carriers; Efficient Services - Explore more robust options available for the same cost; Savings for Organizations - Focus on what really matters, with additional available resources to support your mission. To receive a preliminary complimentary assessment click here.

Jump-start your career at MCNY! Join us at our Grad Info Session onThursday, September 29 from 6-8 pm at our new Financial District campus. Learn how to advance your career and network with faculty and alumni. Seats are filling up fast! Financial Aid and scholarship opportunities available. RSVP here.

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ARTS SPOTLIGHT

Metropolitan Museum of art cuts staff: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is laying off 34 employees, or about 1.5% of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. The cuts are part of a broader financial overhaul announced earlier this year to address widening deficits at the Met, one of the largest and wealthiest museums in the U.S.

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HIGHER EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT

For-profit college students account for 35% of all loan defaults: For-profit college students are more likely than their peers to default on their loans,CNNMoney writes. They make up 35% of all federal student loan defaults, even though they account for 27% of borrowers, according to government data released Wednesday.

St. John’s sells Oakdale campus to Amity Education Group: St. John’s University has sold its 170-acre waterfront campus in Oakdale to a private, nonprofit international education group for $22.5 million, Newsday reports.

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NYN BUZZ

SCO Family of Services raises $446,000 at Annual Golf Open Honoring Thomas Fanning, Dennis Hackett, and Craig Treiber:

More than 170 golfers teed off on Sept. 12 for the SCO Treiber Memorial Golf Open, raising nearly $450,000 to support the work of SCO Family of Services, a provider of human services for over 100 years. The funds will be used to help SCO Family of Services provide vital services to more than 55,000 vulnerable children, teens, families, and adults with special needs each year across Long Island and New York City. SCO Family of Services helps vulnerable New Yorkers build a strong foundation for the future

DEC announces grants to protect Hudson River:

Nearly $450,000 in grants will go to 10 projects to help communities in the Hudson River Estuary watershed protect water quality and habitats, conserve open space, and increase storm resiliency, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos announced. They include $50,000 to Riverkeeper, $35,000 to Rensselaer Land Trust, $43,067 to the Columbia Land Conservancy and $42,840 to Onondaga Environmental Institute, Inc.

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Building Healthier Communities: Environment, Energy and the Role of Women

When it comes to environmental issues that affect their families, women are often the driving forces of change. A new analysis of data presented by bipartisan pollsters Celinda Lake and Vince Breglio will examine the potential of women to make clean energy a reality in our communities and for the country. Join The New York Women’s Foundation and Civil Society Institute to discuss on September 29.

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NYN CAREERS

(Visit www.nyncareers.com to view all jobs.)

Director of Ambulatory Services, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health

Director of Ambulatory Services is responsible for the oversight of 2 Article 31 Mental Health Clinics, a PROS Program, 3 ACT Teams and a Care and Case Management Program operating in four boroughs. Director of Ambulatory Services supervises the Managers of each program and works with the Chief Operating Officer to ensure programs remain in compliance with external regulatory requirements, as well as PCMH polices and procedures. Director of Ambulatory Services is required to travel to all programs weekly and is on-call 24/7. Position requires an LCSW with a minimum of 10 years experience working with the seriously mentally ill. Candidate must have in depth knowledge of shifting landscape of service delivery system. Ideal candidate possesses strong supervisory skills, business acumen with financial management skills and in depth knowledge of billing, excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as analytic and computer skills.

Regional Director for Residential Services, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health

Regional Director is responsible for the oversight of 4 OMH Licensed Housing sites in Manhattan, a Congregate Permanent Housing site in Manhattan and a 500 bed Scatter Site Housing Program with offices in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Supervises the Managers of each program and works with the Director of Residential Services to ensure programs remain in compliance with external regulatory requirements, as well as PCMH polices and procedures. Regional Director is required to travel to all sites weekly and is on-call 24/7.

Vice President for Quality Improvement, Compliance and Training/Privacy Officer, The Bridge

Overseeing all aspects of the agency’s Corporate Compliance Program including, developing and revising policies and procedures, conducting and certifying annual assessments of The Bridge’s compliance activities; conducting Medicaid and regulatory audits to ensure compliance with billing and program operation standards; collaborating with other departments to devise and monitor recommendations and performance improvement plans that result from investigations; identifying potential areas of compliance vulnerability and risk and developing/implementing corrective action plans; establishing and providing direction and management of the compliance Hotline.

NYN MEDIA CAREERS: To advertise your employment opportunities with NYN Media email lblake@cityandstateny.com.

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POLITICAL BULLETIN by CITY & STATE:

* Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to loosen rules that require New York City to dole out most contracts to the lowest bidder so that the city can increase the number of women and minority-owned small businesses that land city contracts, the Daily News reports.

* The Daily News writes that a couple that allegedly beat 6-year-old Zymere Perkins to death had “enablers” in city agencies charged with preventing such tragedies and that this demands unsparing accountability from de Blasio.

* The Times Union writes that the latest efforts to address criticisms of Common Core has grown-ups bringing their political battles to the classroom, where reform minded progressives are pitted against traditionalist conservatives.

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NYN SOCIAL BUZZ

Upcoming galas and events:

Sept. 29 -- Women's City Club of New York hosts From Inequality to Equality: Policies and Programs that Work

Sept. 29 -- The Bridge will host a Masquerade Party at the Angel Oresanz Foundation.

Oct. 5 -- St. Christopher’s hosts 19th Annual Golf & Tennis Classic to raise Funds for New Facility at All-Female Campus

Oct. 13 -- American Liver Foundation 2016 Honors Gala

Oct. 13 -- New York Women’s Foundation Fall Gala

* To have your event featured here send your top 1-2 photos, along with a one sentence caption and photo credit, to info@nynmedia.comwith the subject line “Recent Galas and Events.” To see more events, check our events/community calendar here.

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NONPROFITS IN THE NEWS

Garbage trucks are choking South Bronx and North Brooklyn: The study, which was released by the Transform Don't Trash NYC coalition at a press conference in the Bronx, monitored air quality and garbage truck traffic along major garbage truck routes in the two regions of the city, according to Gothamist. The coalition focused on the South Bronx and North Brooklyn because of their high concentration of waste transfer stations. Together, these areas host 32 of city's 58 transfer stations.

Nonprofit Visiting Nurse of New York takes 308,000 square feet at the News Building in Midtown: The transaction, which conveys a 30-year leasehold condominium interest to VNSNY, covers part of the second and seventh floor and the entire third, fifth and sixth floors, Real Estate Weekly writes. The deal also includes part of the ground floor and the concourse level. VNSNY is relocating from 1250 Broadway, where it has occupied 320,000 square feet since 1994.

Law firm for churches launches in New York City: Nelson Madden Black LLP says it’s the first private law firm based in the city that’s “dedicated to the legal representation of religious institutions and individuals,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Announcing its launch this week, the firm said it will offer a “full spectrum of litigation, transactional and advisory legal services” to clients of all faiths.

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The Fordham Center for Nonprofit Leaders offers both a Master’s of Science and an Executive Education Certificate program in Nonprofit Leadership. To learn more about how these programs train students to become leaders in the nonprofit sector in collaboration with its unique mentoring component, visit: www.fordham.edu/nonprofits

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NYN EVENTS

New York Nonprofit Media is proud to present our 2nd annual Nonprofit TechCon taking place Dec. 6 from 8 am to 5 pm at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan. We have all learned to accept technology at different rates. We explore the innovation and challenges of new tools, apps, and gadgets in our own personal ways. Whether you're an early tech adopter or more careful user, we all have a role to play in advancing our organizations in a rapidly changing world. This event will cover everything from entry-level learning about the current state of technology to more advanced discussions. Nonprofit TechCon is the place to go to stay informed of new technology tools and developments that are shaping the future of nonprofits.

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TODAY’S GOVERNMENT SKED

11 a.m. – City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, Queens Library President Dennis Walcott, architect Steven Holl host topping-off ceremony for Hunters Point Library, Hunters Point Community Library, 47-40 Center Blvd., Queens.

11 a.m. - State Sen. Michael Gianaris, City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and Queens Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott hosts topping out ceremony for the new Hunters Point Community Library, 47-40 Center Blvd., Queens.

12 p.m. – City Council members Brad Lander, Ritchie Torres, Jumaane Williams, Antonio Reynoso, Andy King and more join Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham, to announce a formal request for City Hall and NYPD records pertaining to the killing of Graham, City Hall, Manhattan.

6 p.m. – The Black Institute, the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, with City Council members Ydanis Rodriguez, Inez Dickens, Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin, host town hall forum to discuss access to credit and capital for minority- and women-owned business enterprises, RWDSU, 370 Seventh Ave., Manhattan.

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