Poverty Politics: Take a Staffer to a CAA Day

–Gretchen Knowlton and Mark Schmeissing, NASCSP–

Following right on the heels of the election, NASCSP hits the streets for the Community Services Block Grant’s (CSBG) reauthorization. Literally! Without pausing to catch our breath after an intense election season, we’re heading out on a fieldtrip to our local CAA – the United Planning Organization (UPO) in DC with a couple of friends from Senator Harkin (IA) and Senator Brown’s (OH) staff to show off the great work of CSBG.

Harkin and Brown have been strong supporters of CSBG and care deeply about Community Action. When we sat down with their staff over the past few weeks to discuss the future of CSBG, we found out the legislative staff here in DC had never had a chance to actually see the inside of a Community Action Agency (CAA) in action. Well, Tunde Eboda, NASCSP member and CSBG Administrator of the District of Columbia who was with us for the visit, immediately extended an invitation for them to visit the local CAA here in DC.

On Thursday, November 8th, 2012, Liz Weiss, Senator Harkin’s Labor Policy Advisor and Jeremy Hekhuis, Senator Brown’s Legislative Director will join NASCSP and Tunde Eboda along with Dana Jones (Executive Director, UPO) for a site visit and tour. To learn more about the UPO and the work of community action in DC, go to www.upo.org.

Stay tuned for a full summary of the visit, complete with photos and highlights from the visit updated on this post tomorrow.