Deutsch Urges Non-Profits To Apply For DHS Grants
Sheepshead Bay/Manhattan Beach City Councilman Chaim Deutsch, yesterday, urged non-public schools and houses of worship to apply for a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant geared to improve security measures.
The Non-Profit Security Grant Program provides funding support for structural modifications and other physical security enhancements. In New York State, these grants are administered through the NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services on a competitive basis.
To qualify for this grant, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization must first pre-qualify with New York State, submit the required grant application and additional documentation to DHSES. Qualification information and the application can be found at http://www.dhses.ny.gov/grants/nonprofit.cfm.
The deadline for submission of completed applications is 11:59 p.m., May 4.
For further information click on the following link. http://www.jcrcny.org/securitygrants/securitygrantsindex.php.
Squadron, Simon Bill Clears Hurdle
Northern Brooklyn State Sen. Dan Squadron, yesterday, saw a bill he sponsored establishing a clear, transparent, and community-oriented process when hospital closures are threatened pass the Senate Health Committee in a bipartisan vote.
Dubbed the Local Input in Community Healthcare (LICH) Act — and named for the controversy involving the closure of Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill – the measure would allow the Commissioner of the State Department of Health (DOH) to only approve a hospital closure application if the needs of the community and impacted stakeholders, including access to emergency medical care, can be adequately met.
Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon sponsored the bill on the assembly side.
“It’s encouraging that the Senate Health Committee has supported community input and transparency with today’s bipartisan vote — no community should experience the chaos that LICH’s closure caused,” said Squadron.
“Thanks to Senator Squadron’s advocacy, the Senate Health Committee has recognized what we have known for some time — that New Yorkers need the LICH Act, so that communities are notified in advance of proposed hospital closures, and the communities’ health needs are assessed and addressed before a closure can take place,” said Simon.
The proposed closure of LICH ended up in court for nearly two years, during which the judge said that the current regulation governing hospital closures is “unconstitutionally vague.”
The court proceeding made clear that there was no process for determining the healthcare impact of the hospital’s closure on the community or Brooklyn. In addition, there was no role for community input or transparency.
Walker Says Push Back Teacher Evaluations
Brownsville Assemblywoman Latrice Monique Walker, yesterday, strongly supported the Board of Regents’ directive to the state education department to push back the deadline for school districts to fully implement new teacher evaluations to Sept. 2016 instead of Nov. 15 of this year.
Walker reasoned that doing this would ensure that schools won’t have to worry about having their state funding put in jeopardy this year. She noted that making sure local schools have the funding they need to continue providing a quality education to students has been and remains a top priority.
“This is exactly why the Assembly Majority fought so hard during budget negotiations to put the teacher evaluation system into the hands of the Board of Regents,” said Walker. “We made sure the budget language was crafted to give the Board of Regents significant flexibility in coming up with a new teacher evaluation system. The Assembly Majority also made sure that dedicated education experts who actually understand what goes on in the classroom were elected to the Board of Regents.”
Under the original plan in the budget, the June 30, 2015, deadline would remain for the Regents to adopt regulations to decide issues such as how much weight to give state-based tests under the new evaluation system, but that giving districts more time to implement the new system would help them to design fair, effective teacher evaluations.
Clarke On Tubman Getting Medal
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on Congress awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Harriet ‘Moses’ Tubman in recognition of her contributions to the United States as an abolitionist who resisted slavery and liberated hundreds of men, women, and children who were held in bondage.
“Born in Maryland as Araminta “Minty” Harriet Ross, Harriet Tubman became a leader in the effort the end the evil of slavery and to protect her people from the cruelty of slavery that denied to millions of African Americans the basic right to human dignity. After she had escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania, she would risk her life to return to the South to rescue dozens of slaves who would themselves find freedom in the North or in Canada. For her leadership in guiding these men, women, and children to freedom, Harriet Tubman was known as ‘Moses.’ Harriet Tubman’s courage in defiance of evil will remain forever an inspiration to all those individuals of good conscience who resist tyranny and refuse to submit to injustice, here in the United States and around the world,” said Clarke
