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Advocacy Archives
June 1, 2007 -- Advocacy Report - June 2007
The Advocacy Department is happy to introduce and welcome Nancy J. Downing, CND, as our new Senior Staff Attorney. Ms. Downing comes to us from the Maura Clarke-Ita Ford Center, where she was Director for the past three years. Ms. Downing has ten years experience advocating for poor and disadvantage populations. She has extensive experience building coalitions to address social justice issues, developing and executing advocacy strategies, preparing and delivering testimony before government officials and administrative agencies, and conducting research on policy issues. Ms. Downing is a great new addition and asset to our Advocacy Department. The Advocacy Department has been working diligently with the Executive Director, consultants, and a special committee of senior managers to establish the framework and foundation for the Covenant House New York Institute for Homeless Youth. The Institute aims to collaborate with academic institutions and social service providers to evaluate current systems, develop innovative strategies, and make policy recommendations on city, state, and federal levels. It will also provide leadership development opportunities to both youth and service professionals in order to strengthen the quality, range, and efficiency of services in our field. While the Institute will be established in New York City, it will expand internationally to include all Covenant House sites. Continuing with the second phase of the appropriations request process, the Associate Executive Director and the Director of Advocacy meet with representatives from Senator Clinton, Representative Towns, and Senator Schumer’s New York district offices. The representatives were all very interested in learning about our services, and expressed a desire to see our programs in action. Invitations have been extended to them to visit and tour our sites, as well as to attend the Regional Training Center’s Ceremonial Open House scheduled for June. The third phase of the process will include a trip down to Washington, DC, with our youth advocates leading the meetings with the representatives and elected officials. Representatives from the Advocacy Department attended a conference sponsored by the Corporation for Supportive Housing entitled “New Homes, Brighter Futures: Supportive Housing for Young Adults.” The conference brought together leaders from young adult housing programs, governmental offices and departments, and social service agencies. The discussion centered around the need for supportive housing programs for young adults, the number of youth who could benefit from such programs, the challenges in establishing and running them, promising models and approaches, and the role of governmental agencies. The Director of Advocacy has also gotten involved with the Campaign for Tomorrow’s Workforce, a campaign coordinated by the Community Service Society, the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, and United Neighborhood Houses to deal with the crisis of disconnected youth in New York City. The Advocacy Department participated in the New York City Reentry Roundtable Advocacy Day in Albany. This campaign addresses the issues faced by the formerly incarcerated as they re-enter the community. Among the topics on their legislative agenda are employment, housing, education, healthcare, voting rights, family connections, and child support – many issues which the youth we serve who have been released from jail must battle with, and which often slow down their progress. Our team had the opportunity to meet with New York State Senator Shirley Huntley, who represents our Queens Community Resource Center. Senator Huntley was very sensitive to the topics we were discussing, and expressed an interest in sponsoring legislation that would make it easier for formerly incarcerated individuals to obtain employment.
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