HandsNet Invites SEIU 535 Members to Online Forum On Welfare Reform and Child Welfare

Former union steward, and SEIU 535 member, Alicia Newton invites SEIU 535 members to participate in a national online forum on welfare reform's impact on children, youth and families. Direct service providers, advocates, and researchers from across the country log onto HandsNet's Working Families Online Roundtables, funded by the Ford Foundation, to share expertise, learn from each other, enhance cross-professional collaborations, and, ultimately, move the public will to aid poor people as they transition off of welfare. Ms. Newton, now Project Coordinator and Forum Moderator, states: "We want the people on the front lines taking part in these discussions." To make sure that happens, Ms. Newton is offering free HandsNet WebClipper memberships to Local 535 members who participate in the Working Families Online Roundtables, which she moderates along with Kim Allen.

The current roundtable is entitled: "Effective Organizing & Advocacy" (now through 12/15/00), which looks at how those in the human services organize to affect public policy for children, youth and families. Future roundtables include: "Employment Training: Links to the Community" and "Teen Parenting" both beginning in January 2001 as well as an examination of the reauthorization the 1996 welfare reform act. "These topics should be of particular interest to employment case managers, eligibility workers and children's protective services workers" Ms. Newton points out.

"We provide a user-friendly meeting hall on the Internet for those who help people in need," Newton explains. "This is information-age community organizing, only we utilize online conferences and e-mail." Not another listserv, the Working Families Online Roundtables are an online discussion on a particular topic for a limited period of time. Participants log in whenever they want, catch up on the conversation and share their own perspectives. HandsNet's moderators provide detailed agendas and keep the conversation moving. SEIU members who participate receive a free one-year membership to HandsNet's WebClipper online tools that include daily headlines and alerts, electronic policy discussions, and a custom clipping service that delivers pertinent articles directly to your e-mail box. Free personalized over-the-phone training is available in the use of all these tools.

HandsNet, a national nonprofit, has been using online technology to link human services professionals with program and policy information, training and peer support since 1987. The Dragon encourages local 535 members to check out HandsNet by visiting them at http://www.handsnet.org. Members interested in participating in the roundtables can contact Alicia Newton at anewton@handsnet.org or phone at (408) 291-5111 ext. 27. Mention that you are a SEIU 535 member.