4203 Southpoint Blvd

A very special thanks to our former leader, Shelly Davalos, for her many years of service to NILA and to needful youngsters and young adults. Shelly was able to enhance NILA's services during a time of great change. We saw the role out of Chafee Legislation as well as Education and Training Vouchers. All during our Nation's struggle after 911. Shelly has built a solid foundation for NILA, one which Susan Alevy is sure to build upon.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and our Member Organizations, I’d like to welcome our new Executive Director, Susan Alevy, to NILA. Susan has been with Daniel Memorial for almost six years, primarily as a grant writer. Before moving to Florida, Susan worked for 11 years in administrative positions for non-profit organizations in both West Virginia and Idaho. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of a regional non-profit similar to NILA.

Susan was raised in Virginia and attended James Madison University for her bachelor’s degree. She attended the University of West Virginia College of Graduate Studies for her master’s. She and her husband, David, live in Orange Park, Florida with their four lovely children.

I look forward to a successful year with Susan at the helm. Please wish her a warm welcome.

I wanted to thank everyone for giving me such a warm welcome! I am excited to meet

all of you and help NILA be successful for the next 15 years!

Please don’t hesitate to call if you have comments or questions.

See you in San Antonio!

Susan Alevy, Executive Director

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is sponsoring a very significant number of FREE grant training workshops between now and September throughout the country. Please click on the web link and search by state for information. www.acf.dhhs.gov

U.S. CAMPAIGN SEEKS TO INCREASE ADOPTIONS FROM FOSTER CARE

The Children’s Bureau Express announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is working with the Collaboration to AdoptUSKids on a public education campaign, “Answering the Call: A National Campaign to Encourage Adoption of Children from Foster Care,” to increase public awareness and encourage adoption of children from the foster care system. The campaign will include multimedia public service announcements on television, radio, and in print. There are currently more than 500,000 children in foster care, with approximately 129,000 available for adoption. To read the announcement, go to:

Federal Youth Coordination Act Introduced

On June 23, Rep. Tom Osborne (R-NE), Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) and Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) introduced bipartisan legislation which the Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum), along with other members of the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY), has been working on for the past several months in response to the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth. In helping to inform the development of this bill, the Forum conducted significant outreach to the field and was successful in getting many recommended improvements adopted into the bill text. The Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA/HR 4703) establishes a federal Youth Development Council composed of the secretaries and heads of 16 federal agencies, as well as representatives of community- and faith-based organizations, child- and youth-focused foundations, universities, nonprofit organizations, youth service providers, state and local government, and youth in disadvantaged situations, which will:

Ensure communication among agencies administering programs designed to serve youth, especially those in disadvantaged situations;
Assess the needs of youth, especially those in disadvantaged situations, and the quantity and quality of federal programs offering services, supports and opportunities to help youth in their educational, social, emotional, physical, vocational and civic development;
Make recommendations for the allocation of resources in support of such goals and objectives;
Identify target populations of youth who are disproportionately at risk and assist agencies in focusing additional resources on them;
Develop a plan, including common indicators of youth well-being, and assist agencies in coordinating to achieve such goals and objectives;
Assist federal agencies, at the request of one or more such agencies, in collaborating on model programs and demonstration projects focusing on special populations;
Solicit and document ongoing input and recommendations from youth, especially those in disadvantaged situations, as well as national youth development experts, parents, faith- and community-based organizations, foundations, business leaders, and youth service providers; researchers; and state and local government officials;
Work with federal agencies to conduct high-quality research and evaluation, identify and replicate model programs, and provide technical assistance, and, subject to the availability of appropriations, to fund additional research to fill identified needs.

FYCA also authorizes grants to states to support state and local youth coordination efforts.

More information, including a press release from NCY with quotes from the bill's original co-sponsors, is available from the Forum's White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth Action Center (www.forumforyouthinvestment.org/whitehouse/actioncenter.htm).

Sponsored by NILA and Daniel Memorial, Inc.
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT LIVING CONFERENCE FOR ADULTS AND YOUTH
September 29 - October 2, 2004 ~ San Antonio, Texas