Outcome Measurement Workshop Series

Outcome Measurement Workshop Series - the Fall 2009 Series on Critical Skills in Outcome Measurement.

The United Way Fox Cities, Oshkosh Area United Way, and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay have partnered with Planning & Evaluation Associates, Inc. to present three sequential workshops focused on developing critical skills in outcome measurement. Training will be provided by Lora Warner, Ph.D., President of Planning & Evaluation Associates, Inc., a firm specializing in evaluation for nonprofit and public organizations.

With over 19 years of consulting experience, Lora conducts evaluation research and develops outcome measurement systems for nonprofit organizations, including designing evaluations for grants, conducting community assessments, facilitating focus groups, and analyzing the effectiveness of service delivery. Lora is a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay teaching courses in the Nonprofit Management emphasis, including program evaluation.

Please refer to the link indicated below for more information on the workshop sessions and to register for this very affordable training. The cost is being substantially underwritten by United Way Fox Cities and Oshkosh Area United Way to ensure affordability for local organizations. The workshop sessions will be conducted at the James P. Coughlin Center, 625 East County Road Y, Oshkosh, WI 54091. You and your staff are encouraged take advantage of this excellent training opportunity.

Upcoming training sessions include the following:
1) Friday, September 11, 2009 – Choosing Outcomes and Indicators
2) Friday, October 9, 2009 – Collecting Outcome Data
3) Friday, October 16, 2009 – Analyze, Present, and Use Your Results

Suggested Prerequisite: If you are new to outcomes, you are encouraged to take the self-paced tutorial at http://www.uwex. edu/ces/lmcourse /. The tutorial is made available by the UW-Extension and will provide you with a basic overview of the logic model terminology and concepts.

Registration is available online: The University of Wisconsin Green Bay is handling all registration. You must contact the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to register. Enrollment for the workshops will be limited so please pursue this opportunity as soon as possible. Please take note of the early bird registration rates and due date of September 1, 2009.

For information on the training sessions and registration, please refer to the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay website: http://www.uwgb. edu/outreach/ govt/outcome

LIVE UNITED
Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

The early bird deadline for the Outcomes Training is Sept. 1st. All registrations received by Sept. 1 are:
$30 per session for United Way partner agencies
$40 per session for non-partner agencies

After Sept. 1 the price increases by $10 for each group.

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Lewis Hine: Oshkosh’s Great American Photographer

From the Oshkosh Public Library:

His compelling photos of America’s children at work helped to shed light on child labor conditions in this country and now a program at the Oshkosh Public Library provides a glimpse of the man behind the camera.

Dr. Susan Nuernberg presents Lewis Hine: Oshkosh’s Great American Photographer, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m., at the Oshkosh Public Library. Nuernberg, a Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh, chronicles the life of Oshkosh native and renowned social documentary photographer Lewis Hine. Hine's work is currently included in the Paine Art Center exhibit, Seeing Ourselves: Masterpieces of American Photography from George Eastman House Collections. The exhibit runs through Oct. 11.

Hine is best known for his photos of child laborers in the early 1900s, taken for the National Child Labor Committee. Nuernberg describes him as an artist and a humanist who had great compassion for the people he photographed. Hine engaged his subjects, asking questions and developing a rapport with them. “As a result, his photos do not document degradation and despair, but are compelling images of the aspiration and dreams of individual human beings in the midst of stark poverty,” she explains.

The subject matter that Hine chose for his work also makes it noteworthy. “Not the rich and famous, but the ordinary, hard-working people who came to America in the early 1900s, looking for a better life,” Nuernberg explains. “These are the ancestors of many Wisconsin residents.”

Most historic accounts focus on Hine’s photography, with little information about his first 26 years living in Oshkosh – the years before he ever picked up a camera in New York City. But Nuernberg’s presentation points out some of the early influences that shaped Hine’s work. “The Oshkosh years are important because it was here in Oshkosh that he developed his social conscience and that is what distinguishes him from other social documentary photographers of the time,” she says.

In addition to his photos of children at work, Hine documented piece work in the New York tenements, the building of the Empire State Building, the work of the American Red Cross in Eastern Europe during World War I and the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Island.

The program is presented in partnership with the Winnebago County Historical and Archaeological Society.


For more information about this free program, visit www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org or
call 236-5205.

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Let the Grand Show Begin

Comments and comments and comments and comments.. no question the community supports the facility.

http://www.oshkoshcommunitymedia.org/videostreaming_live.htm

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A History Lesson About Nazis

This is a rare non-local posting (although our community obviously also has a stake in the health care debate), but sometimes a perspective is so good it should be shared as widely as possible. I encourage you to take 3 minutes and read on:

www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1192888.html

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Help Oshkosh Children Read

Oshkosh Area United Way Starts Waiting List for Imagination Library

Increased funding is needed if Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is going to continue to help the growing number of first-time applicants. Due to the efforts of the Oshkosh Area United Way, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is absolutely free for preschool children, ages birth to age five, of the Greater Oshkosh Area.

Each month a new, carefully selected book is mailed in the child's name directly to their home as long as they remain a resident of the Greater Oshkosh Area. Since the program became available through the Oshkosh Area United Way 1,560 children have already registered and are receiving books.
"The success of this program has been a blessing and a curse," stated Sue Panek, Executive Director of OAUW. "Unless we can raise additional money for the program, we continue to have a waiting list." The Oshkosh Area United Way is currently looking for ways to increase funding for this program.

At the present time, enrollment has surpassed funding and a waiting list of pre-school children has been started. The Oshkosh Area United Way is currently unable to increase the number of area children who are registered until additional funding is secured.

Kelly Butzlaff, UWO Head Start Director of Family Support & Community Partnerships says,"Reading children's stories aloud is one of the most important activities we, as parents, teachers, and care-givers, can do for our children. All children should have good books of their very own, as it is truly a fantastic way to encourage reading."

For more information regarding the Oshkosh Area United Way and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, please visit their web site at www.oshkoshunitedway.org.

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Labor Day Picnic 09

Make sure you make it out for the 9th Annual Winnebago County Labor Council Labor Day Picnic and Car Show held at South Park on September 7, 2009.

This has turned into a great event for my family and friends as we get together, bringing along a few blankets to relax under a nice park tree. We eat some Wisconsin-style cookout food; have the kids check out the great free books; listen to some fine live Dixieland, Bebop, Swing, and Rag; check out the playgrounds; and celebrate the community and its workers.

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Bicycle Plan update and maybe more.

The city is currently in the process of "updating" our Pedestrian and Bicycle Circulation Plan, which may be a good thing. At current, most of the city east of the highway is void of any safe bicycle avenue, despite numerous road improvements that provided excellent opportunities for connecting various points of the city (note the west side may be as well, but I'm not as familiar with their neighborhoods) as well as numerous calls for bicycle lanes.

I've been to numerous forums in which community members, business reps, councilors and candidates, and bicyclists have commented on the need for safe, quality, and extensive bicycle lanes in our city. The recent VISION Oshkosh survey demonstrated an overwhelming support by Oshkosh residents for the incorporation of a comprehensive bicycle system.

MainstreetOshkosh supports modernizing our city to reflect the importance of providing safe bicycle options for the health of our residents, for the financial savings that many struggling families will have from expanded alternate transportation options, for the improved health of our local environment, for the safety of our children on their way to and from school, and for the overall improved quality of life.

We have a plan but little action. Hopefully redoing and improving the plan will produce more than just an updated plan.

Below is the notice of tomorrow's meeting:

The City of Oshkosh is updating its Pedestrian and Bicycle Circulation Plan, which was originally created in 1998, and amended in 2000. As part of the plan update, the City is hosting a Public Informational Meeting on Thursday, August 20, 2009 to provide an opportunity for and to solicit public comment and suggestions.

Attendees are encouraged to provide input regarding existing walking and riding conditions throughout the city, preferred destinations and locations of interest to pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as any other advocacy or planning efforts the public feels are necessary to improve conditions for walking and bicycling within the City of Oshkosh.

The City recognizes there are great personal, environmental and societal benefits of walking and bicycling for both recreation and transportation purposes and is dedicated to enhancing and promoting safe and efficient pedestrian and bicycle circulation routes within our community. However, the success of any planning effort requires active public participation and the implementation of recommendations require strong community support.

Please make all efforts to attend this public information meeting and provide us with your input. Together we can make Oshkosh a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly place to live!

Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009

Time: 5:30 to 7:00 pm

Location: City of Oshkosh City Hall, Room 404, 215 Church Avenue, Oshkosh

If persons attending require special accommodations, please contact the Planning Services
Division at 920.236.5059.

If you are unable to attend but would like to provide suggestions, please feel free to comment here or send an email to city planner David Buck at dbuck@ci.oshkosh.wi.us

http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/pr/press_release08-10-09.pdf

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OPD Citizen's Academy

The Oshkosh Police Department will again be offering the Citizen's Academy program, a unique, engaging and informative experience available to interested residents of Oshkosh. As part of the OPD's effort to be responsive to the needs of the community, this program brings Police Officers and Citizens together in a positive environment to learn and share with each other.

The Citizens Academy, now in its 17th year, has three primary goals.

First, participants will gain a working knowledge of the management, organization and operation of the Oshkosh Police Department.

Second, the OPD hopes to strengthen its partnership with the community.

Third, the OPD hopes to learn from the perspectives, observations and personal experiences
of the participants.

Program participants meet each Wednesday night for 9 consecutive weeks from 6pm – 9pm, with the first night starting on Sept. 16th. Personnel from the PoliceDepartment provide hands-on training with participants in areas such as Use of Force, Firearms, Investigations, Evidence Collection, Crime Scene Procedures, Traffic Stops, Domestic Abuse investigation, Defensive and Arrest Tactics, and much more.

If you have any questions, please contact Lt. Kevin Konrad at (920) 236-5758 or email
at kkonrad@ci.oshkosh.wi.us. You can fill out an application online at
http://www.oshkoshpd.com/citizens_academy_form.aspx.

There is NO cost to participate in this program.

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Dads and Babies

SPORTS for Infants, Toddlers and Up - Dads - bring the kids and learn how you can have fun with sports at any age! Be taught techniques to use with children ages infant to 3 years.

Date: SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009
Time: 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Location: Oshkosh Public Library
106 Washington Avenue, Oshkosh
Cost: FREE, No Registration Necessary

For more information, call (920) 233-6630 ext 106 or (920) 739-4226 ext. 213

Dads & Kids Group meets every 4th Saturday of the month, and is part of Dads Unlimited, Parent Connection’s Fatherhood Program

Parent Connection, a program of Family Services
36 Broad St., Ste 150, Oshkosh WI 54901 * (920) 233-6630
www.familyservicesnew.org/parent-connection

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Maybe Oshkosh Community Media Services is Marvelous!

You know, I think it was only 2 years ago and the only methods of following a common council meeting were to actually attend a meeting, watch it on cable TV if you have cable TV, or wait till the following day and hope the ONW covered some of the topics.

Unfortunately at the time, I didn't have TV, had a 1 year old that didn't "fit in" at meetings for very long, and did not get the ONW.

Now.. you have to try to not pay attention. You can access meetings AS THEY HAPPEN on the Oshkosh Community Media website http://www.oshkoshcommunitymedia.org. You can also watch or listen to the meetings at a later date on the same website. You can now also listen to the meetings AS THEY HAPPEN on the radio at WOCT 101.9FM. These avenues are of course in addition to the TV and in-person options.

Just wanted to share this positive thought of the great work that OCMS is doing!

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Going to the Courthouse of Love

We're Registered! Well, not officially until next week. Kay and I are the second domestic partner registrants in Winnebago County. The registration occurred without protesters or press - a nonevent in Oshkosh, really. Sue Ertmer was very kind and friendly as we sat in her office answering questions of race, education and relations and providing documents to prove that we exist and live where we say we do. We held up our right hands and swore that what we said was the truth. We paid our $95 and will pick up our official registration next week.

For all our distrust of Fair Wisconsin and settling for anything less than marriage equality, we decided to register because of the two weeks Family Leave that the domestic partner registry gives us. Kay and I have all the the legal documents in place that protect us best as we can. There's no legal substitute for "next of kin" however. Frankly, we'd rather have universal health care.

As we prepared for this day, we drafted thoughts about what to say to the media and planned to wear our "Out for Justice" tshirts, we were both surprised by the emotion that accompanied even the crumbs that our government was tossing us. Regardless of what I think about marriage and not needing anyone to verify our relationship, I was proud and touched to take a public stand that she is my partner - for life. Ain't love grand?

Other benefits include:
Inheritance and Survivor Protections - A surviving domestic partner:
• inherits from the estate of a domestic partner who dies without a will;
• can be awarded the couple’s home and vehicles that are titled in the name of the deceased partner, as well as personal and household items of the deceased partner, by a probate court;
• may have certain protections against creditors;
• can transfer a deceased partner’s assets to the surviving partner without probate if the total value is less than $50,000;
• can receive death benefits if the deceased partner was killed in a workplace accident, with special benefits if the partner was a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty;
• can get victim compensation if the deceased partner was injured or killed while trying to prevent a crime or assist a law enforcement officer;
• can sue for a partner’s wrongful death.

Family and Medical Leave
• Employees who are covered by the state Family Medical Leave Act may take up to 2 weeks off per year to care for a domestic partner with a serious medical condition.
Medical, Hospital, and Visitation Rights
• Domestic partners get certain privileges in medical settings to visit, admit an incapacitated partner to a health care facility, share a nursing home room, and access mental health records. These apply to hospitals, hospice facilities, group homes, nursing homes, and residential care facilities.
• If a domestic partner dies, the surviving partner can consent to organ donation or autopsy.

Other Protections
• A domestic partner can prevent his or her partner or former partner from testifying against the person as to private communications during the partnership.
• Transfers of real estate between domestic partners are exempt from the real estate transfer fee, as well as car and boat titles.

For a full summary of the domestic partnership protections, see the Legislative Fiscal Bureau paper:
http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2009-11Budget/Budget%20Papers/391.pdf

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