National Service Agency: 205 organizations receive Senior Corps grants through competitive process

For Immediate Release   Friday, February 22, 2013 Samantha Jo Warfield  sjwarfield@cns.gov; 202-606-6775

National Service Agency Grants to Support 80,000 Senior Volunteers  205 organizations receive Senior Corps grants through competitive process WASHINGTON, DC – The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) today announced more than $14 million in funding to support organizations and nonprofits across the country. The organizations will leverage the experience and talents of RSVP Senior Corps volunteers in schools, conservation projects, disaster response, veterans’ services, and other priorities. Nearly 80,000 new senior volunteers will have the opportunity to serve through 205 organizations receiving awards in 35 states. These funds were awarded as part of the first grant competition since 1971 for RSVP, one of three Senior Corps programs administered by CNCS.  Grantees selected will address a wide range of community issues, from disaster response and early childhood education to veterans and military families and environmental stewardship. A complete list of grants is available here. “Today, more than ever, communities need the talents and skills of all citizens to help solve our most pressing challenges,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “Americans age 55 and over are a powerful resource to help communities achieve real change. These new RSVP grants will provide the bridge to connect seniors to meaningful service opportunities, so that they may deliver the enormous social and economic benefits we know are good for our nation.” Established in 1971, RSVP engages Americans age 55 and older in volunteer opportunities across the country, allowing citizens to be a part of the solution to community challenges. RSVP volunteers provide support to veterans and their families, help seniors to live independently in their homes, mentor at-risk youth, and provide critical support to communities recovering from disasters. While serving, RSVP volunteers also improve their own lives, by staying active and civically engaged. In 2012, 320,000 RSVP volunteers delivered more than 47 million hours of service in their communities.  Through community and faith-based organizations, RSVP volunteers served more than 563,000 veterans, mentored more than 82,500 children, and provided independent living services to more than nearly 742,000 elderly adults.  “Older Americans bring a lifetime of skills and experience as parents, workers, and citizens that can be tapped to meet challenges in our communities,” said Dr. Erwin Tan, Director of Senior Corps at CNCS. “Given the many social needs facing our communities – and the growing interest in service by 55+ American citizens – this is a moment of unprecedented need and opportunity for our programs to take advantage of an extraordinary wave of human capital that has the potential to transform our nation.” As part of the agency’s focus on driving greater innovation and impact, organizations receiving 2013 RSVP grants will report their progress using the performance measures CNCS adopted as a result of the bipartisan 2009 Serve America Act.  CNCS has embraced competition and performance measurement for the RSVP as a way to achieve greater impact in communities and the nation and to encourage innovation through adoption of new ideas and services. The next Senior Corps funding opportunity will open sometime mid-year. Americans who seek to volunteer with a Senior Corps program can search for local opportunities in their area at seniorcorps.gov.

Security Clearance: Watch your credit report

A study on credit report accuracy recently found that 1 in 5 of the participating consumers had an error on at least one of their three credit reports. Why Do Credit Report Errors Matter? Errors on your credit report can negatively affect your credit score, which is used to evaluate your applications for credit cards, loans, jobs, housing, insurance, and more. What Can You Do? Check Your Credit Report Check your credit report with all three credit reporting agencies at least once a year (you are entitled to one FREE credit report annually from each agency (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax)). Checking your report will help you 1) identify and correct errors that could be affecting your credit score, and 2) protect yourself from identity theft. Dispute Errors If you find an error on any of your credit reports, follow instructions on the report that explain how to dispute errors. If errors have not been corrected after you've disputed them with the credit reporting agency, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Get more information about disputing errors on your credit report.

Grenada opposition wins clean sweep in general election

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21526209

Grenada's failure to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Ivan was one of the election issues

Preliminary results of the general election on the Caribbean island of Grenada suggest a landslide win for the opposition New National Party (NNP).

Election supervisors said the preliminary figures showed the NNP had won all 15 seats.
The governing National Democratic Congress admitted defeat.

If the results are confirmed, Keith Mitchell, who served three terms as prime minister between 1995 and 2008, will return to power.


The main theme during the election was the economic crisis.

Grenada has a 30% unemployment rate and the Caribbean Development Bank recently warned Grenada that it had unsustainable debt levels.

During his campaign, Mr Mitchell promised to make job creation his priority.
After the preliminary results came in, catapulting his party from fours seats to 15, he said he would also strive to unite the country.

"The victor is the one who has to reach out, the one who lost can't be expected to reach out; national unity will be a serious platform," he said.

He asked Grenadians "to have patience" with the new government, and to give it a chance to implement policies he said would revive the stalled economy.

The country has been struggling to recover from major destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Dozens of people were killed and 90% of the island's buildings were damaged or destroyed. Grenada's main export crop, nutmeg, was also devastated.

Maryland Emergency Management Agency: 2013 Exercise & Training Events

Maryland Emergency Management Agency  Exercises and Training Events 2/20/2013 - 2/22/2013 G-393 ~ Mitigation for Emergency Managers ~ February 20 thru 22, 2013 (Free) Management Virginia Department of Emergency 4975 Alliance Drive Fairfax , VA. 22030 2/21/2013 - 2/22/2013 G-556 ~ FEMA Disaster Management February 21 & 22, 2013 (Free)(CG7) Management Virginia Department of Emergency 4975 Alliance Drive Fairfax , VA. 22030 2/23/2013 Formidable Footprint Tabletop Exercise: Tornado Scenario Online 2/26/2013 Southern Region - Web EOC 7.4 Training February 26, 2013 Free (CG 7) Calvert County EOC 175 Main Street Prince Frederick , MD 2/26/2013 Business Continuity Planning Workshop: Afternoon~ February 26, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Hampton Inn 157 Pamlico Drive Charles Town , WV. 25414 2/26/2013 Business Continuity Planning Workshop: Evening ~ February 26, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Hampton Inn 157 Pamlico Drive Charles Town , W. Va. 25414 2/27/2013 Countering Violent Extremism: Partnering with U.S. Muslims ~ February 27, 2013 (Cost $45.00) (CG7) Public Safety & Educational Training Center 6852 4th Street Sykesville , MD. 21784 2/27/2013 Capital Region - WebEOC 7.4 (New Version) February 27, 2013 (Free) [CG7] Montgomery County (OEMHS) Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security 1300 Quince Orchard Blvd. Gaithersburg , MD. 20878 3/05/2013 - 3/07/2013 March Madness - Training Style G364 Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools 3/5 thru 7, 2013 (CG 7)(Free)  Location: Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/07/2013 March Madness - Training Style G367 Emergency Planning for Campus Executives 3/7/2013 (Afternoon)(Free)(CG7) Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/08/2013 - 3/10/2013 Firefighter 1, Sissonville Fire & Rescue School, March 8 thru 10, 2013 (NOT Free)  Sissonville Fire School PO Box 13096 Sissonville , WV. 25360 3/12/2013 - 3/14/2013 March Madness Series: G 408: Homeland Security Government for Local Government Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Baltimore , MD. 21215 3/12/2013 - 3/14/2013 PER 222 ~ Public Safety WMD Response - Sampling Techniques and Guidelines March 12 thru 14, 2013(Free) (CG 7)  Level Volunteer Fire department 3633 Level Village Road Havre de Grace , MD 21050 3/12/2013 - 3/14/2013 Incident Command System (ICS) 300 Tuesday 12 March, Wednesday 13 March and Thursday 14 March 2013 free (cg 7) 6501 Coastal Highway Public Safety Building - 2nd floor training room Ocean City , MD, 21843 3/12/2013 - 3/14/2013 March Madness - G408 Homeland Security Planning for Local Governments March 12 thru 14, 2013 (Free)(CG 7)  Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/15/2013 - 3/17/2013 Firefighter II, Sissonville Fire & Rescue School, March 15 thru 17, 2013 (NOT Free) Sissonville Fire & Rescue School PO Box 13096 Sissonville , WV. 25360 3/18/2013 MGT ~ 411 Planning for the Unique Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place Needs of People with Medical Dependencies during a Disaster Course March 18, 2013 (Free) CG-7 The Talbot County Department of Social Services 301 Bay Street Easton , MD 21601 3/19/2013 - 3/21/2013 March Madness - Training Style G110 Emergency Management Operations Course (EMOC) for Local Governments March 19 thru 21, 2013 (Free) (CG 7) Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/21/2013 - 3/22/2013 Medical Preparedness and Response to Bombing Incidents March 21 & 22, 2013 (Free) [CG7] Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute Headquarters, 4500 Paint Branch Parkway College Park , MD. 20742 3/23/2013 - 3/24/2013 Medical Preparedness and Response to Bombing Incidents (Weekend)March 23 & 24, 2013 (Free) [CG7] Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute Headquarters, 4500 Paint Branch Parkway College Park , MD. 20742 3/25/2013 - 3/26/2013 March Madness - Training Style G775 EOC Management and Operations March 25 & 26, 2013 (Free)(CG 7)  Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/26/2013 - 3/27/2013 Law Enforcement Prevention & Deterrence of Terrorist Acts (AWR 122), March 26 & 27, 2013 Public Safety & Educational Training Center 6852 4th Street Sykesville , MD 21784 3/27/2013 March Madness - Training Style G191 ICS/EOC Interface March 27,2013 (Free) (CG )7 Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD 21215 3/28/2013 WMD Awareness Level Training (AWR 160), March 28, 2013 (Free)(CG7) Public Safety & Educational Training Center 6852 4th Street Sykesville , MD. 21784 3/30/2013 Formidable Footprint Tabletop Exercise: Earthquake Scenario Online 4/06/2013 AWR147 ~ Rail Car incident Response, April 6, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue Services James N. Robey Public Safety Training Center (PSTC) 2200 Scott Wheeler Drive Marriotsville , MD 21104 4/08/2013 - 4/12/2013 The Basic National Planner's Course (NPC) Free (CG 7) Old Central Communications Facility 7911 Anchor Street Landover , MD 20785 4/09/2013 - 4/10/2013 Incident Command System (ICS) 400 Worcester County Government Building 1 West Market Street - 3rd floor training room Snow Hill , MD 21863 4/09/2013 Public Safety De-Escalation Tactics for Military Veterans in Crisis~ April 9, 2013 ( Free)(CG7) Public Safety & Educational Training Center 6852 4th Street Sykesville , MD. 21784 4/09/2013 - 4/11/2013 G290 Basic Public Information Officer and G291 JIC Planning Washington County EOC 16232 Elliott Parkway Williamsport , MD 21801 4/10/2013 Western Maryland - WebEOC 704 (New Version) April 10, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Allegany County EOC 701 Kelly Road Cumberland , MD. 21502 4/13/2013 MD State Fireman's Association SATURDAY WebEOC 7.4 Training (CG 7) SEOC 5401 Rue St Lo Drive Reisterstown , MD 21136 4/22/2013 - 4/26/2013 ICS 300 400 April 22-26, 2013 Howard County Office of Emergency Management 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive Suite 400 Columbia , MD 21046 4/23/2013 PER300 ~ Social Media for Disaster Response and Recovery April 22, 2013(Free)[CG7] Location: Public Safety Training Facility 3500 W. Northern Parkway, Classroom 200 Baltimore , MD. 21215 4/23/2013 - 4/24/2013 2013 Industry-Lead PREP Full-Scale Exercise Salisbury , MD 4/25/2013 Social Media for Disaster Response and Recovery~February 25, 2013 (CG7) (Free) Harford County Sheriff's Office Southern Precinct 1305 Pulaski Highway Edgewood , MD. 21040 4/27/2013 Formidable Footprint Tabletop Exercise: Influenza Pandemic Scenario Online 4/30/2013 Cyber Security Awareness ~ April 30, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Howard County Public Safety Building 2200 Scott Wheeler Dr. Marriottsville , MD. 21104 4/30/2013 - 5/02/2013 G 290- Basic Public Information Ofiicer & G291 JIC Planning for tribal, state and local PIO Harford County Sheriff's Office Southern Precinct Community Room (ist floor) 1305 Pulaski Highway Edgewood , MD 21040 5/08/2013 NCR Regional Communications Functional Exercise Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) throughout the National Capital Region 5/09/2013 (Closed/Full) Sovereign Nations and other Hate Mongering Anti-Government Groups, May 9, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Center for Excellence 14thand C Streets, SW, Washington , DC 5/13/2013 - 5/16/2013 ICS 300/400 May 13-16, 2013 (Free) (CG-7) (CLOSED) Motor Vehicle Administration 6601 Ritchie Highway - room 4 of the main building Glen Burnie , MD 21062, 6/17/2013 - 6/19/2013 L 550 COOP The Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planner’s Train-the-Trainer Course FREE (CG 7) Hood University 401 Rosemont Ave Frederick , MD 21701 7/17/2013 AWR 132 Understanding and Planning for School Bombing Incidents Free (CG 7) Frederick County Sheriff's Ofice 8349 Reich's Ford Rd Frederick , MD 8/06/2013 - 8/08/2013 MGT346 - EOC Operations and Planning for All Hazards August 6-8, 2013 - 24.00 Hours Free (CG 7) Frederick County Sheriff's Office 8349 Reich's Ford Rd Frederick , MD 8/26/2013 - 8/29/2013 L-449 Incident Command System Curricula Train the Trainer Course Free (CG 7) CLOSED 20633 Boland Farm Road, Germantown , MD 20876 8/27/2013 - 8/28/2013 MGT 404: Sports & Spec. Events Inc. Mgmt., August 27 & 28, 2013 (Free) (CG7) Public Safety Training Facility 2500 W. Northern Parkway Room# 200 Baltimore , MD. 21215 9/11/2013 CALVEX Dress Rehearsal State Emergency Operations Center Reisterstown , MD 10/22/2013 CALVEX Exercise State Emergency Operations Center Reisterstown , MD

EPA fines six Arizona school districts for asbestos violations

BEMA Network Members:  These types of violations should never have occurred with the confines of the U.S. within any state. Federal guidelines for asbestos contamination and removal may be affecting schools, public meeting locations, and other facilities in your communities. Zero tolerance for public safety.  Not only should the school districts be fined, but State public safety and & health agencies must be held accountable to absorb these fines and recovery effort for the community, with no reduction in school services for the education of our children. Charles D. Sharp Chief Executive Black Emergency Managers Association. For Immediate Release: Feb 19, 2013 Contact:  Rusty Harris-Bishop, 415-972-3140, harris-bishop.rusty@epa.gov                                                                                          EPA fines six Arizona school districts for asbestos violations More than 15,000 students to be protected by additional inspections, asbestos plans                                                                                                                     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined six Arizona school districts a combined total of $94,575 for Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) violations. More than 15,000 children attend the 25 schools not in compliance with the federal AHERA in these districts. During inspections conducted in 2011, EPA inspectors discovered numerous violations, from failing to inspect facilities for asbestos containing materials, failing to re-inspect campuses with known asbestos containing materials, and failing to have an Asbestos Management Plan. All of the school districts have since taken necessary actions to comply with the law, with the cost of compliance reducing the penalties in most cases to zero. “Asbestos in schools has the potential to harm the health of students, teachers, and maintenance workers,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “EPA takes these violations seriously, and we are satisfied the schools have now conducted inspections and put their asbestos plans in place.” Each school district is allowed to subtract properly documented costs of complying with the regulations from the penalty amount. The six school districts are:   Apache Junction Unified School District (Pinal County): fined $21,675, but this was reduced to $7,933 because of the school district’s       Florence Unified School District (Pinal County): fined $31,705, but no cash payment was due because the documented costs of compliance exceeded the penalty.  St. John’s Unified School District (Apache County): fined $14,195, reduced to $824 by the school district’s cost of achieving compliance. Vernon Elementary School District (Apache County): fined $2,700, but no cash payment was due because the documented costs of compliance exceeded the penalty.  McNary Elementary School District (Fort Apache Indian Reservation): fined $14,200, but no cash payment was due because the documented costs of compliance exceeded the penalty. Round Valley Unified School District (Apache County): fined $10,100, but no cash payment was due because the documented costs of compliance exceeded the penalty. Federal law requires schools to conduct an initial inspection using accredited inspectors to determine if asbestos-containing building material is present and develop a management plan to address the asbestos materials found in the school buildings. Schools are also required to appoint a designated person who is trained to oversee asbestos activities and ensure compliance with federal regulations. Finally, schools must conduct periodic surveillance and re-inspections of asbestos-containing building material, properly train the maintenance and custodial staff, and maintain records in the management plan. Local education agencies must keep an updated copy of the management plan in its administrative office and at the school which must be made available for inspection by parents, teachers, and the general public. For more information about federal asbestos regulations visit: http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/lawsregs.html

SAMHSA's Blog Update: Reaching Youth with Prevention Messaging

		Reaching Youth with Prevention Messaging 02/14/2013 05:27 PM EST By Frances M. Harding, Director, SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention According to a recent report from SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k13/NSDUH099b/sr099b-trends-prevention-messages.htm), between the early 2000s and 2011, fewer adolescents were exposed to drug or alcohol use prevention messages in the past year through media and school sources.  In fact, in 2011, 25 percent of adolescents did not receive prevention messages through media or school sources and 40 percent of adolescents did not talk with their parents about the dangers of substance use. Adolescents are subjected to influences ... Parenting is Prevention 02/14/2013 05:23 PM EST By Frances M. Harding, Director, SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention A youth’s perception of risks associated with substance use is an important determinant of whether he or she engages in substance use. A recent SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health report (http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k13/NSDUH099a/sr099a-risk-perception-trends.pdf) surfaced several important perceptions among adolescents aged 12 to 17. Binge drinking can be categorized as having five or more alcoholic drinks once or twice a week. The good news is that the percentage of adolescents who perceived great risk from binge alcohol use has increased from 38.2 ..

Washington Post. 600 homeless children in D.C., and no one seems to care

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/600-homeless-children-in-dc-and-no-one-seems-to-care/2013/02/08/a728a0ea-722b-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html

By Petula Dvorak, Published: February 8

I don’t care what we call our football team. I don’t care about Lance Armstrong’s doping or RGIII’s knee, or whether Notre Dame linebackerManti Te’o knew his dead girlfriend never existed in the first place, or any of the other sports dramas we’ve spent gobs of energy on in these past few weeks.

Here’s what we ought to be talking about: 600 kids. The District has set a dubious new record for the number of homeless kids crammed inside a scary, abandoned hospital that serves as the city’s makeshift family homeless shelter.

There are about 600, according to a nightly census done by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness.

Stop and think about that. Six hundred kids with chubby cheeks and Spider-Man sneakers and Dora hats are beginning their journey in life on an army cot in a cafeteria or an old hospital bed in a city shelter. And that’s an improvement from the time they spent sleeping in cars, bus shelters, Metro stations, apartment-house lobbies or on a different couch every night.

This, of course, is happening in the same city now rolling in a $417 million budget surplus and on track for a $240 million surplus in the coming year.

The last time anyone agonized about a capacity crowd at the D.C. General shelter, it was two years ago and there were about 200 kids there. Where have 400 more homeless kids come from, and who are these families?

There’s Alexia Sullivan, 23, who was a full-time student at Howard University until her life fell apart. She had a baby, and her tuition increased but her scholarships didn’t. She lost her apartment trying to keep up and has been in the shelter with her 1-year-old for two weeks.

And there’s Kevin Cruz, 29, who has been at D.C. General with his wife and baby since Thanksgiving. They’ve been homeless since July, when McDonald’s cut Cruz’s hours until he couldn’t afford his apartment and his wife’s part-time work at Wal-Mart didn’t provide benefits when she had their child.

They didn’t get an emergency cot until that magic number — 32 degrees — signaled the start of hypothermia season and a District law kicked in that mandates emergency shelter for anyone in the winter.

Or there’s another family, too embarrassed to let me use their names. They have a kid in college up in Maine and five younger ones at home — which is now a tiny room in the family shelter.

You think getting a spot at the shelter means a walk on Easy Street? A place for the lazy to get three hots and a cot on the government dime?

No way. This is the place of desperation.

The intake process at the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center on Rhode Island Avenue can make it feel harder to get a spot in the shelter than a seat on Air Force One.

The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, whose lawyers spend endless days and late nights wrangling beds for the city’s homeless, issued a report this week on the District’s handling of this growing crisis.

“Of course the root of the whole problem is the severe shortage of affordable housing for low-income families,” said legal clinic lawyer Marta Beresin, who wants “an emergency shelter system for families that you don’t need a lawyer to navigate.”

Sullivan said shelter officials wanted a list of everyone she’s lived with in the past three years before they’d let her and her baby in while it was snowing outside. So she gave them that and the intake counselors called those people — be they abusive boyfriends or angry landlords — “no less than 20 times.”

Sullivan was lucky. After all those calls, she was given an army cot in the old hospital cafeteria, partitioned off with temporary walls that don’t reach the ceilings, MASH unit style.

No, this is not a world full of innocents. The D.C. General shelter is a showcase of bad decisions, social ills and generations of defeat.

Outside I met Asia Brown, who at 19 has more children than I do. Her 5-year-old hasn’t been in school since she got to the shelter in January. She’s waiting for paperwork to let him

(Petula Dvorak/The Washington Post) - Elayshia Brown (left), 6 months, shares a stroller for warmth with another baby living in the District's shelter for homeless families on Friday. Elayshia's mother, Asia Brown, lost her apartment in January and wound up in the abandoned hospital, where a record of nearly 600 children are now being housed.

 go to a nearby school on Capitol Hill. She also has a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, who was squeezed into a stroller, sharing warmth with another homeless 2-month-old under a pink-yellow-and-blue baby blanket. Babies having babies.

Brown wants to get her GED and go to college, she told me. I hope she can make it, but the odds are against her.

Who pays if she doesn’t succeed? The poor kids, and the taxpayers who will have to pick up the pieces of their broken lives.

It’s almost like some bizarre “Hunger Games” alternate reality. You go 17 blocks from the Capitol, from the spot where the world went haywire because Beyonce lip-synced the national anthem, and there are cold children playing on trash-strewn concrete, fathers who can’t find work and mothers who can’t find hope.

It’s like Cindy Adams’s vision of the “crapital” come to life, and all we want to do is celebrate all the nice new restaurants and condos downtown. And look! We have cool red bikes!

These children didn’t ask to be homeless. This city needs to take ownership of this problem, come together and figure out how we can help these 600 young souls. They are an asset far more precious than any sports franchise, whatever its name.

Follow me on Twitter at @petulad. To read previous columns, go to washingtopost.com/dvorak.