community news - summer 2009.qxp

Transcription

COMMUNITY
noticias
The quarterly
news
COMUNITARIAS
magazine
of the
North Carolina
Justice Center
Summer/Verano 2009
PLUS:
“Society &
Immigration”
– page 20
2009 Defenders
of Justice Awards
– page 3
Community News
Noticias Comunitarias
Published by the North Carolina Justice Center/es
publicado por El Centro de Justicia de Carolina del Norte
DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND MANAGING EDITOR/DIRECTORA
ADJUNTA: Debra Tyler-Horton
EDITORS/EDITORES: Diane Morris, Polly Williams, Jeff
Shaw
TRANSLATIONS/TRADUCCIONES: Luis Olivieri-Robert
DESIGNER/DISEÑO: Phyllis Nunn
BOARD OF DIRECTORS/JUNTA DE DIRECTORES
Co-chairs: Jean Cary, Raquel Lynch
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
Asa L. Bell, Jr.
Dhamian A. Blue
Anita Brown-Graham
Christopher T. Graebe
Richard Hooker, Jr.
Fiorella Horna-Guerra
Kenneth Jerald Jones
Gene Nichol
Dr. Gregory Moss, Sr.
Orage Quarles, III
Rev. J. George Reed
Geraldine Sumter
contents
contenido
EDITOR’S MESSAGE/MENSAJE DE LA EDITORA
3
POLICY UPDATE/ACTUALIDAD POLÍTICA
4
Freshman Quietly Reforms Healthcare//Novato Calladamente Reforma
sistema cuidado de salud – by/por Adam Searing
5
Why You Should Care about the State Health Plan//Porque nos Importa el
Plan de Salud Estatal y porque a Usted También Debe Importarle – by/por
Adam Linker
COMMUNITY FOCUS/ENFOQUE COMUNITARIO
STAFF/PERSONAL
Melinda Lawrence, Executive Director
Debra Tyler-Horton, Deputy Director
Bill Rowe, Director of Advocacy/General Counsel
Kaci Bishop, Immigration Attorney
Carol Brooke, Migrant Worker Attorney
Michele Brown, Administrative Assistant
Lisa Chun, Immigration Attorney
Mary Coleman, Chief Financial Officer
Jill Diaz, Director of Development
Ajamu Dillahunt, Outreach Coordinator
Nicole Dozier, Litigation/Health Access
Nina Driver, Litigation Assistant
Angella Dunston, Education & Law - Director
Dan Dwyer, Litigation Paralegal
Elise Elliott, Assistant Finance Director
Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch
Clermont Fraser, Migrant Worker Attorney
Meg Gray, BTC - Public Policy Analyst
Jack Holtzman, Staff Attorney (Litigation)
Steve Jackson, BTC - Public Policy Analyst
Beth Jacobs, Education & Law - Outreach Coordinator
Attracta Kelly, Immigration Attorney, ILAP Director
Adam Linker, Health Access - Policy Analyst
Harmony Mancino, Immigration Paralegal
Hope Marasco, HAC/BTC - Outreach Coordinator
Dani Martinez-Moore, Immigration Network
Coordinator
Carol McNeely, Administrative Assistant
Carlene McNulty, Staff Attorney (Litigation)
Elaine Mejia, BTC - Director
Diane Morris , Senior Editor
Jan Nichols, Chief Technology Officer
Phyllis Nunn, Design Director
Annette Plummer, NC Policy Watch
John Quinterno, BTC - Research Associate
Daniel Rearick – Attorney, ECIR Project
Al Ripley, Consumer Action Network
Jessica Rocha - Paralegal, ECIR Project
Cristin Ruggles, Immigration Paralegal
Rob Schofield, NC Policy Watch
Adam Searing, Health Access Coalition - Director
Jeff Shaw, Director of Communications
Rochelle Sparko, Staff Attorney
Louisa Warren, Policy Advocate
Rochelle Williams, Education & Law - Policy Analyst
Kate Woomer-Deters – Attorney, ECIR Project
8
224 S. Dawson Street
P.O. Box 28068
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
(919)856-2570 phone
(919)856-2175 fax
contact@ncjustice.org
www.ncjustice.org
2
6
Método Innovador
Innovative Approach to Student Discipline/M
para la Disciplina Estudiantil – by/por Beth Jacobs
7
Health Care for North Carolina and America Now!/¡¡Cuidado
Medico para Carolina del Norte y América Ahora! – by/por Lynice
R. Williams
8
Ancianos Dependen de Ayuda
Elderly Depend on Ebbing Aid/A
Decadente – by/por Polly Williams
11 The Evidence Is In: The Community Reinvestment Act curbs Unsafe Lending/LLa Ley de Reinversión Comunitaria
Reduce Préstamos Inseguros – by/por Jeanne C. Tedrow
FEATURE ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO DE PORTADA
12 TOGETHER NC and North Carolina’s Budget Crisis
INFORMATION EXCHANGE/INTERCAMBIO DE INFORMACION
Cuando los Doctores y los
14 When Doctors and Lawyers Connect, Kids Win/C
Abogados se Unen, los Niños Ganan – by/por Madlyn Morreale
15 Is Every Child in North Carolina Entitled to Immunizations?/¿¿Tiene Todo
Niño en Carolina del Norte Derecho a Inmunizaciones?
11
Kay Zwan, Activista Comunitario – by/por Arthur Vargas
16 Tribute: Kay Zwan, Community Activist/K
De Viaje con la Coalición Acceso a la Salud de Carolina –
17 On the Road with the NC Health Access Coalition/D
by/porHope Marasco
19
Can We Talk? Listening to Public Employees Makes Economic Sense/
Repelen Prohibición Negociación Colectiva para Empleados Públicos en
Carolina del Norte – by/por Rev. Dr. William Barber II
20
SOCIETY & IMMIGRATION: The Truth Behind the Immigration Debate
in North Carolina/SSOCIEDAD E INMIGRACION: La Verdad Sobre el
Debate Migratorio en Carolina del Norte
22
The Fight Against Fibrowatt – by Diane Morris
23
Derechos Legales
Legal Rights for Immigrants; 2009 Giving Campaign/D
para Inmigrantes; Campaña de Donativos 2009 – by/por Attracta Kelly
VOLUNTEER:
Polly Williams
North Carolina Justice Center
4
Struggling for Justice//Luchando por la Justicia, by/por Debra Tyler-Horton
15
MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE
DIALOGUE
making a
difference
Struggling for Justice
IF YOU’RE LIKE ME,
you’re probably
struggling with
information overload.
Television, newspapers,
emails, texting, blogs,
Google alerts – the list
goes on. How do you
sort through all of this to get to what you
really need and still have a life? What
should I do to ensure justice is done in
North Carolina for ALL?
In this issue of Community News
our goal is to inform, provide order for
this information clutter, and suggest some
tools for action. After all, information is
vital; it’s the absence of information that
is frightening.
Inside, you’ll find two pages
highlighting the work of Together NC.
By drawing on the expertise of more than
90 non-profit advocacy organizations,
service providers and professional
associations, Together NC will help you
separate fact from rhetoric in the
sometimes conflicting debate on how to
solve the state’s budget crisis.
For example, current budget
proposals would devastate North
Carolina’s economy, communities, and
families by:
Ordering deep and damaging cuts to
K-12 education
Eliminating a number of basic
human services for some of our most
vulnerable citizens
Making dangerous reductions in the
criminal justice system
What can you do to help?
It isn’t enough to just understand the
issues. If you’d like to see a balanced
solution to the budget deficit – one that
relies on smart cuts and raises new
revenue – let Gov. Perdue and your
legislators know. Time is running out.
Under the state Constitution, lawmakers
must complete work on the budget by
June 30. They need to hear from you
today.
The road to justice begins with
information. That’s where this issue of
Community News comes in. The next
steps are up to all of us.
In the next issue, on Sept. 23, we’ll
explore the impact of the 2009-2010 state
budget on North Carolina communities.
Debra Tyler-Horton,
Managing Editor
Visit www.ncjustice.org
Please mail information for the magazine to the
attention of Debra Tyler-Horton, PO Box 28068,
Raleigh, NC 27611, or e-mail it directly to
debra@ncjustice.org. The Justice Center reserves the
right to choose which articles will be published, to edit
articles for length and clarity, and to choose which
ones will be translated into Spanish.
MARK YOUR
CALENDARS
NOW!
NORTH CAROLINA
JUSTICE CENTER’S
11th Annual
DEFENDERS OF
JUSTICE AWARDS
DIALOGO
que esta
haciendo la
diferencia
Luchando por la Justicia
Si ustedes son como yo, probablemente
están luchando con tanta información
que reciben. Televisión, prensa escrita,
correos electrónicos, textos, blogs,
alertas de Google - y muchos más. Te
preguntarás cómo leer todo y encontrar
lo que realmente necesitas y hacer tu
vida. ¿Qué necesito hacer para asegurar
que haya justicia para TODOS en
Carolina del Norte?
En este número de Noticias
Comunitarias nuestro objetivo es
informar, proveer orden para tanta
información, y recomendar algunas
herramientas para la acción. Sabemos
que la información es necesaria; es la
ausencia de la misma la que nos asusta.
En las páginas siguientes, van a
encontrar dos de las mismas en las
cuales destacamos el trabajo de
Together NC. Confiando en la
experiencia de cerca de 90
organizaciones de defensa, Together NC
le ayudará a distinguir el hecho de la
retórica en el algunas veces conflictivo
debate de cómo resolver la crisis
presupuestaria del estado.
Por ejemplo, las propuestas
presupuestarias vigentes pudieran
devastar la economía, las familias y las
comunidades de carolina del norte al:
Decidir profundos y nocivos cortes
a la educación escolar (K-12)
Eliminar un número de servicios
humanos básicos para algunos de
los ciudadanos más vulnerables
Llevar a cabo peligrosas
reducciones en el sistema de
justicia criminal
sobre el presupuesto no más tarde del
30 de junio. Hoy mismo, ellos necesitan
escuchar de ustedes.
El camino a la justicia inicia con
información. Ahí es que entra este
número de Noticias Comunitarias.
Depende de nosotros el decidir los
siguientes pasos a tomar.
En el próximo número del 23 de
septiembre, vamos a explorar el impacto
del presupuesto 2009-2010 en las
comunidades de Carolina del Norte.
¿Cómo puede usted ayudar?
No es suficiente entender los
asuntos. Si usted quiere ver una
solución balanceada al déficit
presupuestario- uno que se base en
recortes inteligentes y que genere
nuevas remesas -hágalo saber de
inmediato a la Gobernadora Perdue y a
los legisladores. El tiempo se acaba.
Bajo nuestra Constitución estatal, los
legisladores deben completar las labores
Debra Tyler-Horton, Editora
Visite www.ncjustice.org
Favor de enviar por correo cualquier
información para la revista a la atención de
Debra Tyler-Horton, PO Box 28068, Raleigh,
NC 27611, o por correo electrónico directo a
debra@ncjustice.org . El Centro para la Justicia
se reserva el derecho de seleccionar los artículos
a publicar, editarlos en tamaño y estilo, y
escoger los que serán traducidos al español.
Community News
Thursday
October 8th
2009
at the historic
American
Tobacco
Campus,
Bay 7
Durham, NC
I Noticias Comunitarias
3
POLICY UPDATE
Freshman Quietly Reforms Healthcare
By Adam Searing, Health Access Coalition Director
FRESHMAN SENATOR JOSH STEIN
of Raleigh has quietly introduced two of
the most important health-care reform
bills in the General Assembly this
session. His first proposal is for a smallbusiness health plan that is run by
private insurance but is more affordable
because a state pool takes on some of
the risk of the plan. Businesses, workers,
private insurers and the state are all
asked to work together and contribute in
this plan, a version of which was first
envisioned by the NC Institute of
Medicine. Stein’s bill would also extend
and increase the small-business healthcare tax credit from $250 to $400, which
would help small businesses while the
new affordable plan is getting
established.
Second, Senator Stein has
proposed a comparative effectiveness
task force for North Carolina that would
put our state in the forefront of reducing
health-care costs nationally. Stein’s bill
would create a task force of experts to
better publicize, use and conduct
research on which medical treatments
work and which don’t. We can save
billions in health costs simply by not
paying for care that is ineffective. This
is smart policy and a natural for North
Carolina, with its sophisticated centers
of medical and health treatment and
research. [Check out HAC’s recent
report on the geographical differences in
care in North Carolina at
www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/204.]
Stein’s two bills are far-reaching
and, given that this is his first term in
the Senate, face obstacles that legislation
from longer-serving members might not.
However, it’s hard to overstate how
important it is that Stein is pushing such
progressive, yet pragmatic, health-care
reform. The major health issue in the
NC General Assembly so far has been
the state health plan bailout. That law
adds millions in health-care cost-sharing
for state employees, and it was amended
at every turn in both the House and
Senate to add more than $100 million in
new costs - almost all of which goes
Senator Stein’s proposals would make health insurance
cheaper for small businesses (where most people who are
uninsured work) and would contain health costs for everyone
paying ever-increasing health premiums.
directly to health-care special interests
and much of which comes out of the
pockets of state workers.
So, the health care debate for the
Novato Calladamente Reforma Sistema Cuidado de Salud
Por Adam Searing, Director de Coalición Acceso a la Salud
SENADOR DE PRIMER AÑO JOSH
STEIN de Raleigh ha silenciosamente
introducido dos de los proyectos de ley
mas importantes, sobre la reforma del
cuidado medico, en esta sesión de la
Asamblea General. Su primera
proposición es por un plan de salud
para negocios locales pero que sea
coordinado por el sector privado-pero
mas barato por que el estado pagaría
por parte de este. Negocios,
trabajadores, aseguradores privados y
el estado han sido todos incluidos para
contribuir y trabajar en este plan, una
versión de lo que se había imaginado
en el Instituto de Medicina de Carolina
del Norte. El proyecto de Stein
también extendería y aumentaría el
crédito de impuestos a negocios
locales con cuidado medico de $250 a
$400, que ayudaría a negocios
4
Community News
pequeños mientras el nuevo plan es
establecido.
Segundamente, el Senador Stein
a propuesto una junta de eficiencia de
comparación que investigaría y pondría
a nuestro estado al mando de como
reducir cuidado medico a nivel
nacional. El proyecto de ley de Stein
crearía una junta de expertos para
mejormente promover, usar y llevar a
cabo investigación sobre que
tratamientos de salud funcionan y
cuales no. Podemos ahorrar billones es
costos de salud al simplemente no
pagar por lo que no sirve. Esto es
política con inteligencia y natural para
Carolina del Norte, con sus centros
sofisticados de tratamiento medico y
salud y de investigación. [Revise el
informe reciente de HAC sobre las
diferencias geográficas en tratamiento
en Carolina de Norte
http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/204.]
Los dos proyectos de Stein son
de alcance amplio y, dando que esta en
su primer termino, se enfrentan a
obstáculos que legislación por
legisladores veteranos no enfrentarían.
Pero, es difícil demonstrar cuan
importante es que Stein este
impulsando tales reformas de salud tan
progresistas y la a vez pragmáticas. El
asunto de salud mas importante en la
Asamblea General de Carolina del
Norte ha sido en estimulo para el plan
de salud estatal. Esta ley añade
millones en compartimiento de gastos
en seguro medico para empleados
estatales, y ha sido emendada varias
veces en el Senada y en al Cámara para
añadir mas de $100 millones en costosde los cuales la mayoría van para los
NC General Assembly this
session has been all about
enriching health care
special interests while
forcing workers to pay
higher family health
premiums and, at the same
time, cutting coverage and
increasing cost-sharing.
Senator Stein’s
proposals would make
health insurance cheaper
for small businesses (where
most people who are
uninsured work) and would
contain health costs for
everyone paying everincreasing health
premiums. His ideas are a
welcome sign of reason in
the strange world of Jones
Street.
Adam Searing is project director of the
North Carolina Justice Center’s Health
Access Coalition. For more information
see www.nchac.org.
intereses especiales de compañías y
salen de los bolsillos de empleados
estatales.
As que el debate en la Asamblea
General ha sido sobre como enriquecer
los intereses especiales forzando a los
trabajadores ha pagar cuotas de familia
mas altas y, a la vez, reduciendo
beneficios y aumentado
compartimiento-de-costos.
Las propuestas del Senador Stein
crearían un plan de cuidado medico
mas barato para negocios locales
pequeños (donde la mayoría de los no
asegurados trabajan) y aguantaría
costos de salud para todos pagando por
las tarifas que siguen aumentado. Sus
ideas son una señal bienvenida de
razón en el mundo extraño de la Calle
Jones.
Adam Searing es director de proyecto de
la Coalición de Acceso a la Salud del
Centro Por La Justicia de Carolina del
Norte. Para mas información vea
www.nchac.org.
ACTUALIDAD POLÍTICA
Porque Nos Importa el Plan de
Salud Estatal y porque a Usted
También Debe Importarle (aunque
no sea usted empleado estatal)
Why You Should Care about
the State Health Plan (even if
you’re not a state employee)
By Adam Linker, Policy Analyst, Health Access Coalition
Por Por Adam Linker
EN LA COALICIÓN ACCESO A LA
SALUD NC, algunos nos han
preguntado porque estamos trabajando
tan fuerte para garantizar que el plan
de salud de trabajadores estatales se
mantenga barato y financieramente
justo. Algunos consideran el asunto
una distracción de iniciativas
mas grandes para reformar en
cuidado medico en nuestro
estado y nación.
La Coalición continúa
prestando atención a los
asuntos de la reforma de salud
nacional y a los proyectos de
ley al nivel estatal que harán
progreso hacia seguros con
más beneficios y cuidado mas
barato. Pero, a cada pagador de
impuestos le debe importar el
Plan de Salud Estatal porque el
estado esta gastando más y mas
dinero mientras los legisladores
continúan añadiendo costos al
plan para agradar a grupos de
interés especial/personal.
Además, Carolina del Norte
enfrentara una situación muy difícil
reteniendo empleados cualificados y
competentes sin ofrecer un seguro
medico digno. Cada vez que un
problema sale del gobierno estatal-sea
el Departamento de Transportación o
Corrección-uno de los culpables sale a
la luz. Si continuamos quitando
beneficios entonces estamos haciendo
nada para aliviar el problema.
Pero existe una razón más grande
para tomar en cuenta el Plan de Salud
Estatal-porque en una fuente de cosas
por venir.
El Plan de Salud Estatal es una
ilustración perfecta de los retos que
enfrentaremos si se establece reforma
al nivel estatal y nacional. Mientras
que el Presidente Obama auspicia
mesas redondas, seminarios, reuniones
del pueblo, conferencias de prensa y
foros, todo el mundo se agarra de las
manos y juega justo. Pero los grupos
de interés especial y las corporaciones
se están enriqueciendo del estatus quo.
En el momento que veamos detalles
sobre el nuevo plan de salud, los
puñales saldrán.
Esto es precisamente la razón por
la que velamos en Plan de Salud
AT THE NC HEALTH ACCESS
COALITION, we’re often asked us
why we work so hard to ensure that
the state employees’ heath plan
remains affordable and financially
viable. Some consider the issue a
distraction from larger initiatives to
Estatal. ¿Quiere ahorrar dinero en
costos de medicinas? Lo sentimos-eso
le quitara dinero a los farmacéuticos.
¿Quiere ahorrar en sus cuotas al cobrar
más por visitas especiales? Para nadaeso lastimaría a los quiroprácticos.
¿Podríamos reducir los costos
administrativos del Plan de Salud
Estatal? Lo siento-eso le molestaría a
Blue Cross Blue Shield de Carolina del
Norte, quien administra el plan.
La verdad es que el lograr
ahorros en el sistema de salud enojara
a varias personas que no van a ganar la
cantidad de dinero que ganan ahora
Ningún negocio dejara que sus
ingresos se caigan sin una pelea. Lo
vemos con el Plan de Salud Estatal. Lo
veremos con la reforma nacional.
Adam Linker es un analista con
la Coalición Acceso a la Salud del
Centro Por La Justicia de Carolina del
Norte. Para mas información vea
www.nchac.org.
reform health care.
NCHAC is still paying attention
to national health reform and bills at
the state level that will move us
toward increased coverage and costeffective care. However, every
taxpayer should care about the State
Health Plan because the state is
shelling out more and more money as
lawmakers continue adding costs to
the plan to appease special-interest
groups.
Also, North Carolina will have a
difficult time retaining qualified,
competent employees without offering
decent health coverage. Every time a
problem is identified in state
government - whether it’s at the
Department of Transportation or in
Corrections - one of the culprits is
turnover. If we continue eroding
benefits then we are doing nothing to
alleviate the problem.
But there is a larger reason to
care about the State Health Plan
negotiations - because it is a harbinger
of things to come.
The State Health Plan is a
perfect illustration of the challenges
we will face in enacting health reform
at the state and national levels. While
President Obama is hosting
roundtables, seminars, town
hall meetings, press
conferences, and summits,
everyone is holding hands
and making nice. But there is
big money sloshing around
our health system and big
special interests profiting
from the status quo. As soon
as we see the specifics of any
reform proposals, the gloves
will come off.
That is exactly what we
have seen with the State
Health Plan. Want to save
money on drug costs? Too
bad - that will take money
out of the pockets of
pharmacists and the pharmaceutical
industry. How about saving money on
premiums by charging more for
specialty visits? That upsets the
chiropractors. Can we cut
administrative costs at the State Health
Plan? That concerns Blue Cross Blue
Shield of North Carolina, which
administers the plan.
The truth is that achieving
savings in the health system is going
to mean some people are not going to
make as much money as they do now.
No business is going to see its profits
cut without a fight. We see it with the
State Health Plan. We will see it with
national reform.
Adam Linker is an analyst with the
North Carolina Justice Center’s Health
Access Coalition. For more information
see www.nchac.org.
Community News
5
COMMUNITY FOCUS
Innovative Approach to Student
Discipline
By Beth Jacobs, Education & Law Outreach Coordinator
Método Innovador para la
Disciplina Estudiantil
Por Beth Jacobs, Coordinador de Alcance Educación & Derecho
POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS
(PBS) is an innovative approach to
student discipline that focuses on
creating a safer and more productive
learning environment by teaching and
rewarding positive behavior.
Its effectiveness has been noted by
researchers, including Robert H. Horner,
who wrote about the policy in The
Handbook of School Violence and
School Safety. His study found schools
that effectively
implement PBS have
fewer discipline
problems as well as
improved school safety
and academic
achievement.
In a recent message
urging school districts to
use federal stimulus
funds to reform school
discipline policies, the
US Department of
Education highlighted
PBS. The government
specifically
recommended PBS to
improve outcomes for
students.
This
recommendation comes
after a coalition of
advocates for alternatives to zerotolerance discipline policies petitioned
Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The
coalition, led by the Dignity in Schools
Campaign, encouraged an investment in
effective programs that improve student
discipline, achievement and school
safety. According to the coalition,
“Helping schools find alternatives to
ineffective discipline is critical to
ensuring that all students have the right
to full development.”
Twenty-four advocacy groups and
41 individuals signed the letter, which
asked the Department of Education to
include PBS on its list of programs
school officials can fund with stimulus
money. With its recent recommendation,
the Department of Education remarked,
“PBS training is ‘aligned with the core
goals’ of the stimulus because PBS can
be sustained effectively with limited
6
Community News
district oversight once the stimulus
funds are gone.”
With no credible evidence that
zero-tolerance discipline policies are
effective, North Carolina needs to
consider alternative policies that
promote a productive learning climate
and address disruptive behavior. PBS
has proven to be one successful
alternative. The stimulus funding
provides school districts with the distinct
opportunity to implement effective new
policies to improve student outcomes.
Congress has designated $115
billion of the stimulus funds for
education - $25 billion of which could
be used for creative, research-based
programs like PBS. There are more than
9,000 schools across the country already
implementing PBS. These schools are
saving countless instructional hours that
would otherwise be lost to zerotolerance discipline. Using the stimulus
money to reform school discipline
policies in North Carolina will save
money that will otherwise be spent
incarcerating young people who are
pushed out of school and into the
criminal justice system.
APOYOS DE CONDUCTA
POSITIVA (ACP) es un método
innovador hacia la disciplina
estudiantil que se enfoca en el crear
un ambiente de aprendizaje más
seguro y productivo ensenando y
premiando conducta positiva.
Su eficiencia ha sido
demostrada por investigadores,
incluyendo Robert H. Horner, quien
escribió sobre
tal política en el
Manual de
Violencia
Escolar y
Seguridad
Escolar. Su
estudio
encontró que
las escuelas que
han
efectivamente
aplicado ACP
han tenido
menos
problemas de
disciplina
también como
el mejoramiento
de seguridad
escolar y logro
académicos.
En un mensaje reciente,
promoviendo a las escuelas del
distrito a usar fondos de estimulo
federal para reformar política de
disciplina escolar, el Departamento de
Educación de los Estados Unidos
menciono ACP. El gobierno
específicamente recomendó ACP para
mejorar los logros de estudiantes.
Esta recomendación llega
después de que una coalición de
defensores de alternativas a las
políticas disciplinarias de cerotolerancia peticionaron a Secretaria
de Educación Arne Duncan. La
coalición, dirigida por la Campaña
Por Dignidad Escolar, promovió
inversiones en programas efectivos
que mejoraran disciplina y logros
estudiantiles además de seguridad
escolar. Según la coalición, “Es
critico el ayudar a las escuelas a
encontrar alternativas contra la falta
de disciplina para asegurarnos de que
todo estudiante tenga el derecho a un
desarrollo complete.”
Veinticinco grupos y 41
individuos firmaron la carta, que le
pidió al Departamento de Educación
que incluyera ACP en su lista de
programas que oficiales escolares
pudieran pagar con fondos de
estimulo. Con su reciente
recomendación, el Departamento de
Educación menciono, “Entrenamiento
de ACP esta en alianza con ‘las metas
centrales’ del estimulo porque ACP
puede ser sostenido con supervisión
limitada por distrito cuando los
fondos del estimulo hayan sido
gastados.”
Con ninguna evidencia creíble
que políticas disciplinarias de cerotolerancia so eficientes, Carolina del
Norte necesita considerar políticas
alternativas que promuevan un clima
de aprendizaje productivo y que
mejore comportamiento negativo.
ACP ha probado ser una de tales
alternativas. Los fondos de estimulo
proveen a los distritos escolares con
la oportunidad distinta de
implementar nuevas políticas
eficientes para mejorar los logros
estudiantiles.
El Congreso ha separado $115
billones de los fondos de estimulo
para educación - de los cuales $25
billones se podrían usar para
programas creativos y probados como
ACP. Hay más de 9,000 escuelas a
través del país que ya han
implementado ACP. Estas escuelas se
están ahorrando innumerables horas
de instrucción que se perderían en
disciplina de cero-tolerancia. El uso
del dinero del estimulo para reformar
políticas de disciplina escolar en
Carolina del Norte ahorrara dinero
que, de otra forma, se usaría
encarcelando a jóvenes que son
expulsados de las escuelas hacia el
sistema de justicia criminal.
ENFOQUE COMUNITARIO
Health Care for North Carolina and America Now!
By Lynice R. Williams, Executive Director, NC Fair Share
WHAT MAKES Health Care for
America Now (HCAN) different from
most health-care campaigns and
coalitions is that we are fighting for a
clear set of principles that define quality,
affordable health care for all. We know a
critical part of real health care reform is
having the choice of a public health
insurance plan that will guarantee
quality affordable health care is always
there no matter what happens. A public
health insurance plan will also force
private insurance companies to compete
and improve the coverage they offer.
A new public health insurance plan
will be set up by federal government,
and it will offer a standard health care
benefits package that is affordable and
available to individuals and employers
across the United States. Everyone will
have the choice to keep their private
insurance if they like it or to join this
new public health insurance plan.
Voters want the choice of a public
health insurance plan. The Lake
Research Partners firm conducted a
national poll and found
that nearly 3 in 4
voters want everyone
to have a choice of a
private or public health
insurance plan. There
is a big difference
between wanting
everyone to be in a
public health insurance
plan and wanting
everyone to have the
choice of being in a
public plan. This is one
key part of President
Obama’s health care
proposal and HCAN’s
vision of reform.
“I suffer no
illusions that this will be an easy
process. It will be hard. But, I also know
that nearly a century after Teddy
Roosevelt first called for reform, the
cost of our health care has weighed
down our economy and the conscience
of our nation long enough. So let there
be no doubt: health care reform cannot
wait, it must not wait, and it will not
wait another year.” President Obama February 24, 2009.
The public health insurance plan is
already drawing fire from the insurance
industry and other people fighting
against our vision for
health reform. Even some
members of Congress
who are willing to create
and enforce rules on the
insurance industry don’t
appreciate why America
needs the choice of a
public health insurance
plan. It is our job to
remind them that creating
such a plan is the only
way to guarantee quality,
bring down costs, and
force private insurance
companies to compete.
The opportunity is
now for true health care
reform. North Carolina
Fair Share is the lead partner
organization in the state for a national
campaign called Health Care for
America Now
(www.healthcareforamericanow.org).
Health care is a priority for 2009 in the
new Obama Administration.
¡Cuidado Medico para Carolina del Norte y América Ahora!
Por Lynice R. Williams, Directora Ejecutiva, NC Fair Share
AHORA ES LA OPORTUNIDAD para verdadera
reforma de cuidado para salud. North Carolina Fair
Share es la organización líder en el estado por una
campaña nacional llamada Cuidado Medico Para
América Ahora (www.healthcareforamericanow.org).
Cuidado medico es una prioridad para el 2009 en la
nueva Administración Obama.
Lo que hace a Cuidado Medico Para América
Ahora (Health Care for America Now-HCAN)
diferente de la mayoría de campañas y coaliciones es
que estamos luchando por unos principios claros que
definen cuidado medico de calidad y barato para
todos. Sabemos que un aspecto critico de una
verdadera reforma del cuidado medico es el tener la
opción de un programa de seguro medico publico que
garantice un cuidado medico barato y de calidad que
siempre este ahí, no importa que pase. Un seguro
medico publico también forzara a las compañías de
seguros privadas a competir y mejorar lo que ofrecen.
Un Nuevo plan de seguro medico publico será
establecido por el gobierno federal y ofrecerá un
programa de beneficios médicos promedio que sea
barato y disponible a todo individuo y contratista en
los Estados Unidos. Todos tendrán la opción de
mantener su seguro privado, si les gusta o obtener
este nuevo plan de seguro medico publico.
Los votantes quieren la opción de un seguro
medico publico. La organización Lake Research
Partners llevo a cabo una encuesta nacional que
resulto en cada 3 de 4 votantes querían que todos
tuvieran una opción entre un seguro medico publico y
uno privado. Hay una gran diferencia entre el querer
que todo el mundo este en un plan publico y el querer
que todos tengan la opción de un plan publico. Este
un aspecto clave en la proposición del Presidente
Obama y la visión de HCAN.
“No tengo ninguna ilusión de que este será un
proceso fácil. Sera difícil. Pero, también se que casi
un siglo después de que Teddy Roosevelt llamo a la
reforma, el costo de seguro medico ha sido un peso
demasiado largo para nuestra economía y la
conciencia de una nación. Así que no haya duda:
reforma del cuidado medico no puede esperar, no
debe esperar y no esperara otro año.” Presidente
Obama-24 de febrero del 2009.
El plan de seguro medico público ya esta
recibiendo bombardeo de la industria de seguros y de
otros individuos luchando contra nuestra visión de
reforma del sistema de salud. Hasta algunos
miembros del Congreso, quienes son capaces de crear
y forzar reglamentos para la industria de seguros, no
aprecian porque América necesita la opción de un
seguro medico publico. Es nuestro trabajo recordarles
que este plan es la única forma de garantizar calidad,
la reducción de costos y el forzar a las compañías de
seguro privadas a competir.
Únase a la creciente Coalición Por Cuidado
Medico Para América Ahora de Carolina del Norte
www.healthcareforamericanow.org/nc o llame gratis
al 1-866-302-0031
Community News
7
COMMUNITY FOCUS
Elderly Depend on Ebbing Aid
By Polly Williams
TIMES ARE AS HARD for the elderly as
they are for most of the rest of us,
sometimes harder. Some seniors may be
looking for jobs to piece out a bare living
as health care, food, and utility costs rise
at the same time pensions and
supplementary health insurance may be
wiped out or sadly reduced.
But really old and frail people don’t
have the choice of looking for work.
They’re stuck. Providers of services to the
elderly are hearing appeals for help from
people who did not think they would ever
have to ask. Yet as waiting lists grow,
services are being cut in response to
reduced funding and calls for budget
reductions. The Department of Aging and
Adult Services surveyed providers and
found that all the news was bad. More
than 70 percent of providers said requests
for help had increased, while 40 percent
reported community resources had
decreased. Providers who receive
donations from the United Way and from
individuals find that those are ebbing
away.
The department scrapped its out-ofdate waiting lists for services and created
new ones, whose numbers rocketed
upwards. In no time, 65 percent of
providers of home services reported 8,632
seniors on wait lists; when all the numbers
are in, this number may be doubled. The
largest number was nearly 5,000 people
needing in-home aide services, with
almost 3,000 asking for home-delivered
meals. But more than 70 percent of
providers of in-home aides are cutting
hours or clients and adding no new ones.
And 30 percent of providers of homedelivered meals are not replacing persons
who discontinue service, while another 25
percent expect they will soon have to do
so. Congregate meal providers are cutting
down as well. Services are diminishing,
then, in the areas of greatest need.
Everybody wants the elderly to be
able to remain in their homes-the elderly
because they love homes and dread
institutional care, and everyone else
because home care is cheaper. Cutting
home care services is not economically
smart because some families will simply
have to give up and place their relatives in
adult care homes, whose cost for those on
limited income is shared by the county
and the state. The federal government
pays only part of the cost for Medicaidsupported personal care services.
The Community Alternatives
Program (CAP) has a limited number of
slots to keep at home persons frail enough
for nursing home care. A similar in-home
program pays somewhat less than the cost
of adult care homes for persons who are
eligible for assisted living situations. Both
of these programs are limited by funding
and by the availability of case managers.
The biggest source of home care,
therefore, is the Home and Community
Care Block Grant, funded partly by the
federal government and partly by the
state. It can provide a number of services not only in-home aides and meals but also
adult day care, home repair,
transportation, and respite services. Each
Welcome!
CAROL MCNEELY
joined the Justice
Center in June 2009 as
an Administrative
Assistant. A lifelong
Virginian, Carol moved
to Apex with her
husband Neil and
children Trey and Rachel in 2008. She
studied music at Radford University
before moving to Northern Virginia,
where she worked in academic, legal and
corporate settings for eleven years. After
a stint as a civilian at the Pentagon, she
8
Community News
moved to a rural area of southeast
Virginia, where she became involved in
non-profit work, including area floodrelief efforts following Hurricane Floyd
in 1999. Most recently, she served for
seven years as Administrative
Coordinator for a Virginia community
foundation. She is a member of
Macedonia United Methodist Church in
Cary, where she is active in the music
program.
county chooses which of the 18 listed
services it will provide. The services are
available for persons 60 and older. There
is no income eligibility standard, but most
of the people served are about 80 years
old and poor.
Home care programs work and are
economical because of volunteers.
Anyone who has ever delivered Meals-onWheels knows what a huge operation this
is; in just one locality it may involve
volunteers delivering 1500 meals five
days a week. Elderly people may get
services through the day while their
relatives work, but after five p.m. and on
weekends the volunteer army goes into
action-friends, neighbors, and relatives
pitch in to do chores and help out. Home
care rests on an enormous substructure of
volunteer aid that should be recognized
and celebrated more than it is.
A bright spot in this bleak picture of
cuts and hardship is the money raining on
certain areas from the federal stimulus
package. There will be $57 million for
weatherizing homes and $2.7 million for
the nutrition program, though the largest
portion of that sum is marked for
congregate programs rather than homedelivered meals. Some money will come
in for public health programs.
The governor’s budget
recommended an increase of $1 million
for the Home and Community Care Block
Grant and restored an allocation of $2
million passed last year but never used.
The Senate budget kept the $1 million
increase but cut Medicaid in-home
personal care services by $54 million (bad
move!) and also cut meal service with the
money to be replaced by the federal
stimulus funding. As I write, nothing is
certain yet except that a lot of elderly
persons need some help to stay at home
and a great many of them won’t get it.
Thanks to Dennis Streets and Mary Edwards
of the Division of Aging and Adult Services
for information in this article.
2009 JUSTICE CENTER
SUMMER INTERNS:
Top row: Jen Richelson (UNC
School of Law); Laurin Arial
(UNC School of Law); Jonathan
Palmer (UNC MPA program);
Bottom row: Anna Boyer
(Salem College); Caroline
Phillips (UNC, College of Arts &
Sciences/School of Journalism);
Catherine Lafferty (UNC School
of Law)
Not pictured: Rob Lamb (UNC
School of Law); Maria
Mandujano (SAF Intern);
Vanessa Smart (UNC School of
Law); Shoneca Evans (UNC
Chapel Hill)
ENFOQUE COMUNITARIO
Ancianos Dependen de Ayuda Decadente
Por Polly Williams
LOS TIEMPOS SON TAN FUERTES
para los ancianos como para el resto de
nosotros, a veces más fuerte. Algunos
ancianos puede ser que estén buscando
empleo para mantener un tipo de
supervivencia mientras el cuidado
medico, la comida y los costos de
utilidades aumentan a la misma vez
que las pensiones y los seguros
médicos suplementarios desaparecen o
son tristemente reducidos.
Pero los viejos y débiles no
tienen la opción de buscar trabajo.
Están atrapados. Proveedores de
servicios a los ancianos están
recibiendo suplicas de ayuda de gente
que nunca pensaron hacerlo. Pero los
servicios están siendo reducidos para
reducir la necesidad de fondos y de
llamadas de reducción de
presupuestos-mientras las filas se
hacen más largas. El Departamento de
Servicios para Adultos y Ancianos
llevo a cabo una encuesta la cual
descubrió que todas las nuevas noticias
eran malas. Mas del 70 por ciento de
los proveedores de ayudas dijeron que
las suplicas habían aumentado,
mientras el 40 por ciento reportaron
que recursos comunitarios habían sido
reducidos. Proveedores quienes reciben
donaciones de United Way y de
individuos descubren que esas ayudas
están desapareciendo.
El departamento sus viejas listas
de espera y ha creado nuevas, cuales
números han disparado para arriba en
cantidad. En nada de tiempo, 65 por
ciento de los proveedores reportaron
8,632 ancianos en sus litas de espera;
cuando todos sean contados, este
número probablemente se duplicara. La
cantidad más grande eran las 5,000
personas en necesidad de servicios de
ayuda-en-domicilio, con casi 3,000
pidiendo por comidas-a-domicilio.
Pero más del 70 por ciento de los
proveedores de ayuda-en-domicilio
están reduciendo sus horas o clientes
sin añadir nuevos. Y 30 por ciento de
los proveedores de comidas-adomicilio están sin remplazar a
personas que han descontinuado el
servicio, mientras otro 25 por ciento
esperan por pronto ellos también
tendrán que hacerlo. Proveedores de
comidas-a-multitudes también están
reduciendo servicios. Los servicios
están desapareciendo en las áreas de
más necesidad.
Todos queremos que los ancianos
puedan quedarse en sus hogaresporque ellos aman sus hogares y odian
cuidado institucional, y todos nosotros
porque el hogar es mas barato. La
reducción de servicios de atención en
el hogar no es económicamente sabio
por que algunas familias tendrán que
transferir a sus ancianos a hogares de
cuidado., cuales costos para aquellos
de ingresos limitados so compartidos
por el condado y el estado. El gobierno
federal paga solamente una parte de
servicios de atención personal
apoyados por el Medicaid.
El Programa Alternativas
Comunitarias (CAP) ha limitado el
número de espacios para mantener en
sus hogares a individuos demasiado
frágiles para ponerlos en un hogar de
ancianos. Un programa en-domicilio
paga poco menos del costo de un hogar
para ancianos para individuos que
cualifican para situaciones de viviendaasistida. Ambos de estos programas
son limitados por fondos y por la
disponibilidad de dirigentes de casos.
La fuente mas grande de ayuda
domiciliar es el Fondo en Bloque de
Ayuda Domiciliar y Comunitaria,
financiado en parte por el gobierno
federal y en parte por el estado. Puede
proveer una cantidad de servicios-no
solamente en ayuda y comidas a
domicilio pero también en cuidado
matutino, reparación del hogar,
transportación, y otros servicios. Cada
condado escoge cual de los 18
servicios proveerá. Los servicios están
disponibles para individuos de 60 años
para arriba. No hay un estándar no
ingresos, pero la mayoría de las
personas tienen casi 80 años y en
pobreza.
Programa de ayuda domiciliar
son económicos gracias a los
voluntarios. Cualquier persona que ha
entregado Comidas-sobre-Ruedas sabe
cuan grande esta operación; en
solamente un lugar este puede
involucrar voluntarios entregando 1500
comidas cinco días a la semana. Los
ancianos pueden recibir sus servicios
durante el día mientras sus familias
trabajan, pero después de las cinco
p.m. y en los fines de semana, el
ejército de voluntarios entra en acción-
SEND US YOUR NEWS!
If your organization has news, reports to share, or upcoming events
to publicize, won’t you let us include them
in an issue of Community News/Noticias Comunitarias?
Call (919)856-2169 or e-mail debra@ncjustice.org
for publishing dates and other details.
amigos, vecinos y familiares hacen su
parte para ayudar. Ayuda domiciliar
depende en gran parte en el cuerpo de
voluntarios que debe ser reconocido y
celebrado mas que nunca.
Un punto claro en esta imagen
oscura de cortes en fondos y
dificultades es el dinero que algunas
áreas están recibiendo del proyecto de
estimulo federal. $57 millones habrán
para ayuda a hogares y $2.7 millones
para un programa de nutrición, aunque
la mayor parte de esa porción será la
comidas-a-multitudes en vez de
comidas domiciliares. También entrara
dinero para programas de salud
pública.
El presupuesto de la gobernadora
recomendó un aumento de $1 millón
para el Fondo en Bloque de Ayuda
Domiciliar y Comunitaria y añadió $2
millones del año pasado que nunca se
usaron. El presupuesto del Senado
mantuvo el aumento de $1 millón pero
disminuyó servicios a domicilio del
Medicaid por $54 millones (muy mal)
y también redujo servicios de comidas
con el dinero que seria reemplazado
con fondos del estimulo federal.
Mientras escribo, nada es seguro
excepto que muchos ancianos
necesitan ayuda para poder quedarse
en sus hogares y muchos de ellos no la
recibirán.
Gracias a Dennis Streets y a Mary
Edwards de la División de Servicios a
Ancianos y Adultos por la información
en este articulo.
The North Carolina Justice Center is a statewide
non-profit organization. You can support the printing
of this publication by sending a donation to:
NORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER
ATTN: Debra T. Horton/Community News
P.O. Box 28068
Raleigh, NC 27611-8068
NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL. THANK YOU!
Community News
9
COMMUNITY FOCUS
Support the effort to create a better, healthier, and more prosperous North Carolina
Reach an audience of leaders who motivate and inspire others in the Triangle and across the state.
The North Carolina Justice Center would like to
invite you to be a sponsor of our 11th annual
Defenders of Justice Awards ceremony. The event
will take place at the American Tobacco Campus,
Bay 7 in Durham on Thursday, October 8, 2009
from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
First presented in 1999, the Defenders of Justice
Awards honor those who have made significant
contributions to the fight against poverty in North
Carolina. The award categories reflect the Justice
Center’s four strategies for change: Grassroots
Empowerment/Community Capacity Building,
Legislative Advocacy, Litigation, and Policy
Research and Advocacy.
The success of the Defenders of Justice Awards is
due in part to the generous donors who provide
event underwriting. Sponsorship is a great way to
show your support for the organizations and
individuals who are working to build a North
Carolina that is fair, just, and responsive to ALL
its residents.
11TH ANNUAL DEFENDERS OF JUSTICE AWARDS SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
SPONSORSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING LEVELS:
Platinum Sponsor ($5,000)
Silver Sponsor ($1,000)
Gold Sponsor ($2,500)
Bronze Sponsor ($500 Corporate or $250 Individual)
Sponsorship Benefits
PLATINUM SPONSOR $5,000
GOLD SPONSOR $2,500
Recognition as a Platinum Sponsor by the Master of
Ceremonies
½ -page advertisement highlighting your
company’s/organization’s civic and philanthropic
activities in the Fall 2009 Community News and in
the Winter 2010 edition of Community News
Sponsorship Recognition in the Fall 2009
Community News and in the first 2010 Community
News “Defenders of Justice Retrospective”
8 tickets to the awards ceremony and reserved table
Company name, logo and link on Defenders of
Justice web page
Listed as a Platinum Sponsor in the program and on
event signage
½ -page advertisement highlighting your
company’s/organization’s civic and philanthropic
activities in the Fall 2009 Community News and in
the first 2010 edition of Community News
Community News and in the Winter 2010
Community News “Defenders of Justice
Retrospective”
6 tickets to the awards ceremony*
Justice web page
Listed as a Gold Sponsor in the program and on
event signage
SILVER SPONSOR $1,000
Sponsorship Recognition in Fall 2009 Community
News
Justice web page
Listed as a Silver Sponsor on event signage
BRONZE SPONSOR
$500 - Corporate or $250 - Individual/Family
Community News
Individual or Company name on Defenders of
Justice web page
Listed as a Bronze Sponsor on event signage
*Please note that, excluding the award recipients and platinum sponsors, there is no reserved seating.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT JILL DIAZ AT (919) 856-2575 OR JILL@NCJUSTICE.ORG.
La Ley de Reinversión Comunitaria Reduce Préstamos Inseguros
Por Adam Rust, Asociación de Reinversión Comunitaria de Carolina del Norte
CUANDO EL CONGRESO PASÓ el Acto
de Reinversión Comunitaria (ARC) en los
setentas, préstamos no cualificados era una
idea sin sentido en la mente de unos cuantos
mercaderes es Salomon Brothers.
Entonces, la motivación principal
detrás del ARC era para enfrentar la
situación que muchas comunidades no tenia
un buen acceso a préstamos. Una falta de
prestamos, en combinación con unos cuantos
agentes de bienes raíces sin escrúpulos,
mantuvo a muchos en los sectores urbanos
en el estado perpetuo de oscuridad.
El ARC fue un gran éxito. Le dio
poder a muchas comunidades para negociar
con bancos y, como resultado, cientos de
millones de dólares en acuerdos de préstamo
fueron negociados.
No había ninguna conexión entre el
ARC y lo que conocemos como prestamos
no cualificados-prestamos a individuos que
no cualifican para hipotecas tradicionalesporque todavía no se había inventado.
Pero, en años por venir bancos granes
empezaron a juntar muchas deudas de
prestamos que podría vender en el Mercado.
Como los prestadores originales ya no les
importaba cual fuera el resultado de sus
prestamos originales, crearon prestamos no
cualificados para generar mas ingresos. En el
1995, hipotecas no cualificadas sumaban un
total de $35 billones en los Estados Unidos.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 16)
10
Community News
ENFOQUE COMUNITARIO
The Evidence Is In:
The Community Reinvestment Act Curbs Unsafe Lending
By Adam Rust, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina
WHEN CONGRESS PASSED the
Community Reinvestment Act in the
1970s, subprime lending was only a
crazy idea in the mind of a few traders
at Salomon Brothers.
Then, the prevailing motivation
behind the CRA was to address
redlining, where whole communities
lacked adequate access to loans. A
lack of lending, coupled with the
practice by unscrupulous real estate
agents of blockbusting, kept many
inner cities in a perpetual state of
urban blight.
The CRA was a huge success. It
empowered communities to negotiate
with banks and as a result, hundreds
of millions of dollars in lending
agreements were brokered.
There was no connection
between CRA and what we now know
as subprime lending – selling loans to
people who cannot qualify for
traditional mortgages – because it
hadn’t been invented yet.
In years to come, though, large
banks began to pool bundles of
mortgages into bonds that they could
sell on the secondary market. Since
the original lenders no longer were
concerned with the performance of the
loans they made, they developed
subprime lending to generate more
business. In 1995, subprime
mortgages totaled $35 billion in the
United States. A decade later,
subprime loans totaled $795 billion.
None of this history mattered to
critics of the CRA, who found the law
a convenient scapegoat to explain the
collapse of the subprime-fueled
mortgage industry. Former Sen. Phil
Gramm even argued that CRA caused
the surge in subprime lending.
Simple facts undermine CRA’s
critics. For one, the CRA only covers
a small share of lending. It governs
banks and thrifts, and only in areas
where they have deposits. Wells
Fargo, for example, had a CRA
obligation in San Francisco in 2007,
but not in Charlotte. Heavy subprime
lenders such as IndyMac, Argent and
Ameriquest never had a CRA
obligation.
The argument against the CRA
relies on data that show the large
number of loans that went bad were in
poor communities. But a closer look
shows that banks operating under
CRA didn’t make the kinds of loans
that failed.
A new report from the
Community Reinvestment Association
of North Carolina, Paying More for
the American Dream, clearly shows
that the CRA has fulfilled its original
goal to bring more capital into lowand moderate-income communities.
The report finds the CRA actually
needs strengthening in its ability to
counter subprime lending.
The basis of those conclusions
comes from research that includes a
review of loans made in Charlotte.
Because of the limits of the data, the
authors had to use loans with high
interest rates as a proxy for subprime.
While that probably understates the
true scope of subprime’s footprint, it
is still a viable method for comparing
lending made inside and outside the
scope of the CRA.
That report focused on the lowand middle-income (LMI) borrowers,
because that is the
population targeted
by the CRA. In
Charlotte, LMI
means any
household with less
than $48,000 in
income.
In effect, what
we found tells us
that the CRA makes
a difference in all
kinds of ways. In
Charlotte, for
example:
Only 7.4 percent
of CRA loans
were high-cost,
but 24.6 percent
of non-CRA
loans were
subprime.
In areas where the CRA was in
effect, lenders shied away from
subprime lending. The same
banks that made fewer high-cost
loans in communities where
CRA was in place made a lot
more high-cost loans where it
wasn’t. In fact, mortgage
companies and credit unions
made a lower percentage of
subprime loans (18 percent) than
did banks and thrifts not
obligated by CRA.
In Charlotte’s majority-minority
neighborhoods, most subprime
lending took place where the
CRA was not in effect. Only one
of every four high-cost loans was
made by a lender working under
the parameters of the CRA.
Mortgage companies, credit
unions, and banks without local
deposits aren’t compelled by the rules
of the CRA. In most every case, those
institutions seem to have taken that
opportunity to make
more subprime loans.
Nationwide, numbers
tell the same story:
the majority of
subprime loans were
made outside of the
CRA.
Still, as is the
case for any 40-yearold law, the CRA
needs a refresher. The
Community
Reinvestment
Modernization Act of
2009 expresses many
of the potential
revisions. It extends
CRA to all mortgage
lenders, so that
companies like
IndyMac would play
by the same rules as
the banks. It also
makes explicit the requirement that
banks serve minority borrowers, and it
might even create a CRA for credit
cards.
While critics cast the CRA as a
villain, it has been a savior for people
in low-income neighborhoods. It
deserves more power.
...a closer look
shows that
banks
operating
under CRA
didn’t make the
kinds of loans
that failed.
Community News
11
FEATURE ARTICLE
North Carolina’s Budget Crisis
About TOGETHER NC
Together NC is a broad, diverse, and growing
collection of more than 90 non-profit organizations,
service providers, and professional associations who
have come together around our state’s budget crisis to
promote wise choices for shared prosperity for all
North Carolinians.
the economic downturn that confronts us now. By
taking bold steps together, we can seize the
opportunity to strengthen and expand economic
prosperity for every North Carolinian.
That’s why the members of Together NC have
come together around a set of Guiding Principles-to
encourage our state leaders to take action that keeps
North Carolina moving forward for the long term:
Why We’ve Come Together
1. Build upon our sound
public investments
North Carolina is widely recognized as a great place
to live, work, do business, grow up and grow old.
Throughout its history, North Carolina’s greatest
successes as a state have been closely tied to its
willingness to make significant investments in public
structures - public schools, higher education,
transportation, child care, public health and safety,
environmental protection and preservation.
Today, however, times are tough. The economy
is down, unemployment is sky high, and hundreds of
thousands of families are struggling. The severe
economic downturn and our outdated revenue system
have led to an unprecedented budget crisis that
threatens state government’s ability to provide even the
most basic of services. Absent assertive action, North
Carolina risks losing much of what has been gained.
In the face of these challenges, we must act to
protect our investments and work together to ensure
widely shared prosperity in the future -- in spite of
North Carolina can weather this current economic
storm - and position itself to withstand future
downturns - by building upon our past successes.
Strategic investments in the structures, services, and
natural resources that make our state such a desirable
place to live can ensure that opportunities for good
health, economic prosperity, and personal fulfillment
are available to all. These same smart investments
can spur economic activity and ensure families and
communities do not suffer irreversible harm during
this recession.
2. Think big, Think forward
Now is the time for long-term thinking and lasting
solutions. North Carolina is a rapidly growing and
changing state, and quick fixes only postpone
unavoidable, fundamental decisions. We must address
our current challenges and position our state for a
prosperous and competitive future.
3. Only a balanced approach will work
The balanced way to address North Carolina’s current
fiscal crisis is to make wise spending choices and
raise revenue.
Cutting alone will not balance the state budget. State
spending per person in North Carolina is actually
down from eight years ago, so there is very little fat
to be trimmed from vital state programs and services,
and excessive cuts will jeopardize our past
investments and future prosperity.
There are fair, sensible ways North Carolina can
increase revenues without stifling economic activity
or hurting working families. These are the lasting
solutions North Carolina needs.
4. Revenue solutions must be adequate,
stable, and fair
The root of North Carolina’s fiscal troubles lies in
how it collects revenue. The state’s antiquated,
inefficient, and volatile revenue system plays an
enormous role in the current fiscal crisis and must be
reformed.
A modern revenue system will provide North
Carolina with the resources to meet current needs and
to invest in our future. We must create a system that
is adequate so revenue grows with the economy, fair
so that all individuals and businesses pay their share
and those with the least pay the smallest share, and
stable so it does not overreact to changes in the
economy.
More about NC’s Budget Situation
State lawmakers are currently crafting the
budget that will oversee government
programs and services for the two-year
period beginning July 1, 2009.
The state’s General Fund is facing a
budget shortfall of $4.6 billion for the
fiscal year beginning July 1. The General
Fund budget pays for the majority of
education, health and human services,
justice and public safety and environmental
programs in North Carolina. It is funded
primarily by personal income taxes and
sales taxes with lesser amounts from
corporate income taxes, excise taxes and
other sources.
A budget shortfall is the gap between
the amount of revenue the tax system is
projected to generate and the funding level
necessary to maintain current services. The
estimated size of next year’s budget gap,
$4.6 billion, is approximately 20% of the
current state budget. It is anticipated that
the additional state fiscal relief funds
12
Community News
provided through the federal recovery act
will fill in $1.4 billion of the $4.6 billion
anticipated shortfall next year, leaving
approximately $3.2 billion that must be
found through spending cuts or tax
increases or some combination thereof.
The state budget process
The governor released her
recommended two-year budget on March
17th. The state Senate adopted its proposed
two-year budget a few weeks later. Unlike
in past years the Senate’s proposed budget
included a target for revenue enhancements
(i.e. increases) of $544 million in year one
and $732 million in year two, but it did not
specify exactly how that revenue would be
generated (the governor also included
revenue enhancements in her
recommended budget).
In recent weeks the leadership of the
Senate Finance Committee released a draft
revenue plan that would raise the amount
of revenue specified in the Senate’s budget.
However, it has not yet held a committee
or floor vote on the proposed plan. In the
time since the Senate and the governor put
forth their respective budgets, the projected
shortfall has grown by more than $1 billion
because state economists have revised next
year’s revenue forecast to account for the
deepening recession and its impacts on tax
revenues.
From the TOGETHER NC Press
Event on June 2nd:
Coalition representing millions:
Raising revenues necessary to lead
North Carolina out of recession
At a Together NC news conference,
more than 80 groups urged lawmakers to
avoid devastating cuts by taking a
“balanced approach” to the budget
RALEIGH (June 2, 2009) -- More
than 80 groups united on Tuesday to send
state lawmakers a message: preserving
public investment in North Carolina is
worth raising much-needed revenues.
Closing North Carolina’s budget gap
with cuts alone will devastate families and
communities across the state, the groups
say, and will deepen and prolong the
recession as well. A balanced approach that
includes strategic tax increases along with
judicious cuts is the best way to protect
working families and avoid prolonging the
recession.
“Unfortunately, because of the
current budget crisis, all we’ve been
hearing is about how we need to slash vital
programs,” said George Reed of the NC
Council of Churches. “This one-sided
approach isn’t going to work, and it will
set back decades of progress. Now is the
time for our lawmakers to show courage
and leadership by raising the revenue our
state needs to prosper.”
ARTÍCULO DE PORTADA
Together NC, a broad and diverse
coalition of non-profit organizations,
service providers, and professional
associations, is joining with newly allied
organizations and supportive individuals to
call for smart revenue solutions that
preserve vital programs.
“To promote quality education, and
public health and safety, the people are
speaking with one voice: it’s worth raising
revenue to do these things, said Kelvin
Spragley, associate executive director of
the North Carolina Association of
Educators.
The news conference took place
amidst a series of Together NC town hall
discussions held across the state. After
hearing countless stories from North
Carolinians about the importance of public
programs and services, Together NC wants
elected officials to hear from people in
communities across North Carolina so that
legislators can make budget decisions that
support communities and families and do
not undermine the state’s economic
recovery.
These economic times are uniquely
troubling, said John Quinterno of the NC
Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center,
because the damage could go far beyond
North Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens
- all of the state’s residents would be
affected.
“The problems will become even
more severe if the state legislature insists
on a cuts-only approach to balancing the
budget,” Quinterno said. “By removing
even more demand for goods and services
from the economy, sizable reductions in
public spending will result in greater
levels of joblessness and postpone any
recovery.”
Julia Leggett of the Arc of North
Carolina offered several poignant
examples.
“The Health and Human Services
budget helps older adults and people with
disabilities stay in their homes in their
communities. Many of these people would
face institutionalization without this muchneeded assistance,” she said. “Yet the
HHS budget is set to be slashed to levels
that would put thousands of people at risk
of being wrenched from their homes and
institutionalized. Also, more than 50,000
North Carolina jobs would be lost.”
“This is tragic on so many levels for the individuals and their families, it’s a
crushing and inhumane blow,” Leggett
TOGETHER NC
List of Endorsing
Organizations
66
67
www.togethernc.org
(as of 6/8/2009)
Together NC is a broad
and diverse collection of
non-profit organizations,
service providers, and
professional associations
who have come together to
promote wise choices for
shared prosperity for all
North Carolinians. Now
more than ever, in the face
of severe economic
recession, we must speak
with one voice about the
need to maintain and build
upon the public
investments that support
the fabric of our
communities.
Consultant Program
17 Children
First/Communities In
Schools of Buncombe
County
18 The Coalition
19 Common Cause NC
20 Community Reinvestment
Association of NC
21 Community Service
Network, Inc.
22 Consumer Credit
Counseling Service of
Fayetteville
23 Covenant with North
Carolina’s Children, Inc.
24 Democracy North
Carolina
1 AARP-NC
25
Disability
Action Network
2 ACORN-NC
26 Disability Rights NC
3 Albemarle Area United
27 EITC Carolinas Initiative
Way
4 Alcohol and Drug Council 28 El Pueblo, Inc.
of NC
29 EMOTIONS Organization
5 American Friends
30 Fair Trial Initiative
Service Committee
31 Family Violence and
6 Association for Home
Rape Crisis Services
and Hospice Care
32 F.I.R.S.T.
7 Autism Society of NC
33 First in Families of NC
8 The Arc of NC
34 Fitness Motivations, Ltd.
9 Be Healthy Ministries
35 Friends of Residents in
10 Capital Area Friends of
Long Term Care
Transit
36 Girls Inc. of Wilmington
11 Carolina Justice Policy
37 Good Work
Center
38 Guilford County Acorn
12 Center for Participatory
39 IDA and Asset Building
Change
Collaborative of NC
13 CFED
40 League of Women Voters
14 CFSA-NC
NC
15 Cheshire Center
41 League of Women
16 Child Care Health
Voters- Wake County
continued. “For society, institutionalization
is a dramatically more expensive option.
Preserving this essential public investment
would work better for everyone. It’s worth
raising revenue to do this.”
Lao Rupert of the Carolina Justice
Policy Center said that preserving forwardthinking public safety programs made
sense for communities across the state.
42 Legal Services of
Southern Piedmont
43 Mental Health Assoc. in
NC
44 MDC, Inc
45 NARAL Pro-Choice NC
46 National Assoc. of Social
Workers-NC Chapter
47 National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI) NC
48 NAMI Cabarrus County
49 National Multiple
Sclerosis Society
50 NC Adult Day Services
Association
51 NC AFL-CIO
52 NC Association of the
Deaf
53 NC Association of
Educators (NCAE)
54 NC Association of Local
Public Health Directors
55 NC Association of Long
Term Care Facilities
56 NC CARE
57 NC Center for NonProfits
58 NC Child Care Coalition
59 NC Coalition Against
Domestic Violence
60 NC Coalition Against
Sexual Assault
61 NC Coalition to End
Homelessness
62 NC Community Action
Association
63 NC Conservation
Network
64 NC Council of Churches
65 NC Council of
For instance, one of the programs on
the chopping block is Sentencing Services.
This program, Rupert said, is a commonsense, cost-effective effort to promote
public safety through smart, communityoriented solutions.
“By diverting offenders into
treatment instead of prison, the program
saves the state millions of dollars,”
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82
83
84
85
86
87
88
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90
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Community Programs
NC Fair Share
NC Health Access
Coalition
NC Housing Coalition
NC Justice Center
NC Latino Coalition
NC Minority Support
Center
NC NAACP
NC National Organization
for Women (NC NOW)
NC Psychological
Association
NC School Community
Health Alliance
NC Tuberous Sclerosis
Association, Inc.
North Carolinians Against
Gun Violence
Planned Parenthood of
Central NC
Partnerships in Assistive
Technology
Rocky Mount OIC
SEANC/SEIU 2008
Self-Help
Senior PharmAssist
Southlight, Inc./NC
Substance Abuse
Federation
Triangle Alliance for
Retired Americans
Triangle Older Women’s
League
UE-150 NC Public
Workers Union
United Way of North
Carolina
Venture Rehab Group
Working Families Win
Speechcenter, Inc.
Sierra’s Residential
Services
Rupert said, “and gives almost 1,000
offenders a year a second chance while
they pay restitution to their victims.
Preserving public investments in the
justice system would make our
communities safer and would save
countless dollars in the long run.”
Community News
13
COMMUNITY FOCUS
When Doctors and Lawyers Connect, Kids Win
By Madlyn Morreale, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid of North Carolina
MANY FACTORS can impact the wellbeing of a child, including family stresses
caused by lack of food, fear of eviction or
foreclosure, family violence, unfair debt
collection practices, and improper denial
of applications for public benefits. This
fact has prompted health-care providers,
lawyers and others to form new alliances
to address these broader social factors that
affect the health of children and families.
Initially developed by pediatricians
and lawyers at Boston Medical Center,
Medical Legal Partnerships now operate in
more than 80 sites across the country. In
Durham, the Medical-Legal Partnership
for Children brings lawyers from Legal
Aid of North Carolina and the Children’s
Law Clinic at Duke University’s School of
Law together with health-care
professionals from Lincoln Community
Health Center, Duke Primary Care for
Children, and Duke Hospital.
Attorneys from the Medical-Legal
Partnership for Children provide training
and outreach to pediatricians, nurses,
social workers, and other health-care
professionals so they can identify children
whose health and development could be
improved with the help of legal
representation. Those families are referred
to the project’s legal partners, and
qualifying families receive legal services
at no cost. Common concerns include
substandard housing conditions, domestic
violence, special-education services, childcustody issues, and appeals related to
public benefits.
The lawyers in the Medical-Legal
Partnership for Children rarely represent
their clients in court proceedings. Instead,
they often use a “preventive lawyering”
approach to enforce the rights of their
clients and resolve conflicts with
landlords, social-service agencies and
others. The stories of “Jamal,” “Danielle,”
and “Maria” (not their real names)
illustrate how the partnership works.
Jamal was less than two months old
when his parents took him to the
emergency room because he was having
trouble breathing. The medical team
determined that something in Jamal’s
home was making him sick and referred
the family for legal assistance. The legal
team then worked with the landlord to
address the unfit living conditions, and
eventually, the landlord allowed the family
to move to a cleaner, healthier apartment.
Danielle was being treated by a
psychologist at Duke Primary Care for
Children. Her mother told the psychologist
that Danielle had been denied special
reading services, even though she was
receiving F’s on her report card. The
psychologist and the pediatrician
recommended further testing and referred
the family to the Children’s Law Clinic at
Duke University. The legal team
collaborated with the medical providers
and effectively made the case to the school
that Danielle needed additional services.
Once the new services were in place,
Danielle’s grades jumped from F’s to B’s.
Maria had been in an abusive
relationship for more than a decade, and
her abuser told her no one would help her
because of her immigration status. But
after seeing how the abuse was affecting
her child’s mental health, Maria disclosed
the abuse to the child’s doctor. Maria was
referred to Legal Aid of North Carolina,
Cuando los Doctores y los Abogados se Unen,
los Niños Ganan
Por Madlyn Morreale, Abogado de Staff, Ayuda Legal de Carolina del Norte
MUCHOS FACTORES pueden afectar el bienestar
de un niño, incluyendo el stress causado hacia la
familia por la falta de comida, el miedo de ser
echados de su hogar, violencia familiar, prácticas
injustas de colección de deuda y la negación
impropia de beneficios públicos. Este hecho a
impulsado a proveedores de cuidado medico,
abogados y a otros al formar nuevas alianzas para
enfrentar estos factores sociales que afectan la salud
de niños y familias.
Desarrollado inicialmente por pediatras y
abogados en el Centro Medico de Boston, Partidarias
Medicas Y Legales ahora operan en más de 80
localizaciones alrededor del país. En Durham, la
Partidaria Medica Y Legal por los Niños trae
abogados de Ayuda Legal de Carolina del Norte y de
la Clínica Legal para Niños de la Escuela de Derecho
de la Universidad Duke junto a profesionales del
cuidado medico del Centro de Salud de la
Comunidad Lincoln, Ayuda Primera Para Niños de
Duke, y del Hospital Duke.
Abogados de la Partidaria Medica-Legal por
los Niños proveen entrenamiento y alcance a
pediatras, enfermeras, trabajadores sociales y a otros
profesionales de cuidado medico para que ellos
puedan identificar a niños quienes salud y desarrollo
podría ser mejorado con a través de representación
legal. Estas familias son referidas a los
patrocinadores legales del programa y familias que
cualifiquen pueden recibir servicios legales sin costo.
Preocupaciones en común incluyen malas
condiciones de vivienda, violencia domestica,
servicias de educación especial, asuntos de custodia
infantil y apelaciones relacionadas con servicios
públicos.
Los abogados de la Partidaria Medica-Legal por
and members of the legal team helped her
get a domestic violence protective order to
ensure that the abuser would not have
contact with Maria or her child. They also
helped Maria contact Spanish-speaking
professionals from the Durham Crisis
Response Center, which provides
counseling, advocacy, support groups and
shelter to survivors and their families in
the aftermath of domestic or sexual
violence.
As the stories of these families
illustrate, the Medical-Legal Partnership
for Children in Durham is an innovative
approach to enhancing collaboration
between medical, legal, and other
community-based professionals in order to
address the underlying social determinants
of children’s health and well-being.
For more information, visit the website
www.law.duke.edu/partnershipforchildren/.
los Niños casi nunca representan a sus clientes en la
corte. En vez, muchas veces usan “métodos
preventivos” para garantizar los derechos de sus
clientes y resolver conflictos con los terratenientes,
agencias de servicios sociales, entre otros. Las
historias de “Jamal,” “Danielle,” y “María” (no sus
nombres verdaderos) nos demuestran como esta
alianza trabaja.
Jamal tenía menos de dos meses cuando sus
padres lo llevaron al salón de emergencia porque
tenía dificultades respirando. El equipo medico
determino que algo en su hogar lo estaba enfermando
y refirieron la familia a asistencia legal. El equipo
legal trabajo con el terrateniente para enfrentar las
condiciones de vivienda y, eventualmente, el
terrateniente permitió que la familia se mudara a un
apartamento my limpio y más sano.
Danielle estaba siendo tratada por un psicólogo
en Atención Primaria para Niños de Duke. Su madre
le había dicho al psicólogo que a Danielle se le había
negado servicios de lectura especiales, aunque estaba
sacando F en sus notas. El psicólogo y el pediatra
recomendaron que se hicieran más exámenes y refirió
la familia a la Clínica de Derecho para Niños en la
Universidad Duke. El equipo legal colaboro con los
proveedores de cuidado medico y efectivamente
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)
14
Community News
INTERCAMBIO DE INFORMACION
Is Every Child in North Carolina
Entitled to Immunizations?
MY DAUGHTER Kamryn was born
November 26, 2007 in Fayetteville, NC.
Upon moving to Raleigh in January
2008, I continued to maintain my
daughter’s scheduled doctor visits in
Fayetteville. Around the end of January,
Kamryn developed a chest cold
prompting her father and me to take her
to Rex Hospital in Raleigh. After her
examination, we were referred to a local
pediatrician practice in Raleigh for her
follow-up appointment. Two days later
she was seen by one of the pediatricians
there. Upon completion of her
examination, we decided to select this
practice as her permanent
pediatrician due to the
convenience and their
acceptance of Medicaid.
In March 2008, my
daughter was scheduled for
her 4-month immunizations.
When we arrived for her
scheduled appointment we
were informed by the nurse
at the front desk that our
daughter could not be seen
because her Medicaid
insurance was still
registered through
Cumberland County. At this
time we were given the
option of either paying
$1,700 for the
immunization or taking her
back to her pediatrician in Fayetteville.
Not having the funds to pay the $1,700,
we decided to contact her former
pediatrician who informed us that
because we transferred Kamryn to
another doctor, they were unable to see
her and that they were no longer
accepting new patients at that time. We
immediately contacted the new
pediatrician office in Raleigh to explain
our dilemma. We were then told that we
could bring our daughter in and that the
charge would only be $300. By this
point, we had contacted the NC Justice
Center and Nicole Dozier, assistant
project director of the Health Access
Coalition, explained to us how we
should respond to the pediatrician
practice. In addition, Nicole contacted
the NC Vaccination Program to request
that the practice receive a site visit and
education on the program’s
immunization policy and that Kamryn’s
medical file be included in a sample
review.
When we arrived for her
rescheduled appointment a few weeks
later fully intending to pay the $300, we
were told that the immunizations would
be free. At this appointment, Kamryn
was able to receive all of her scheduled
shots except for the rotovirus
immunization, since she was now “too
old” by a few weeks to receive it.
CONCERNED PARENT
RALEIGH, NC
Through the Universal Childhood Vaccine
Distribution Program (UCVDP program),
vaccines are purchased, stored and
distributed to health care providers at no
charge. Well over 95 percent of health care
providers who administer vaccines to
children participate in this program.
Health care providers may not charge the
patient for the cost of the vaccine;
however, they may charge vaccine
administration fees at no more than the
rates established by the State’s Medicaid
Program. Local health departments cannot
charge patients an administration fee for
state-supplied immunizations. For more
details, you may contact the NC
Immunization Branch at 919-707-5550 or
ImmInfo@ncmail.net.
¿Tiene Todo Niño en Carolina del
Norte Derecho a Inmunizaciones?
MI HIJA Kamryn nació el 26 de
noviembre del 2007 en Fayetteville,
Carolina del Norte. Desde de
múdanos a Raleigh en enero del
2008, continúe las visitas a mi doctor
en Fayetteville para mi hija. A fines
de enero, Kamryn desarrollo un
resfriado del pecho que forzó a su
padre y a mí a llevarla al Hospital
Rex en Raleigh. Después de
examinarla, se nos recomendó a un
pediatra local en Raleigh para su
próxima cita. Dos días después, fue
examinada por una de los pediatras
ahí. Después de la
exanimación,
escogimos esta clínica
como su pediatra
permanente dado la
comodidad y que
aceptaban Medicaid.
En
marzo del 2008, my
hija tenía una cita para
recibir sus
inmunizaciones del
cuarto mes. Cuando
llegamos a tiempo
para su cita, se nos
informe que nuestra
hija no podía ser vista
porque su Medicaid
todavía estaba
registrado en el
condado de Cumberland. Se nos dio
la opción de pagar $1,700 por las
inmunizaciones o llevarla de regreso
a su pediatra en Fayetteville. No
teniendo $1,700, decidimos contactar
a su antiguo pediatra quien nos
informo que no podía atenderla
porque habíamos transferido a
Kamryn a otro doctor y no estaban
aceptando nuevos pacientes en ese
momento. Inmediatamente
contactamos a la oficina del nuevo
pediatra en Raleigh para explicarle
nuestro dilema. Se nos dijo que
podíamos llevar a nuestra hija y que
el costo solamente seria $300. Para
esto, habíamos contactado al Centro
Por La Justicia NC y Nicole Dozier,
directora asistente del proyecto
Coalición Acceso a la Salud, nos
explico como debíamos actuar ante
la práctica pediátrica. Además,
Nicole contacto al Programa de
Vacunas de Carolina del Norte para
demandar que el lugar pediátrico
recibiera una visita y educación
sobre la nueva política de
inmunizaciones del programa y que
el perfil de Kamryn sea incluido
como ejemplo.
Cuando regresamos
unas semanas después para su cita,
con las intenciones de pagar los
$300, se nos informo que las
inmunizaciones serian gratis. Para
este momento, Kamryn fue capaz de
recibir todas sus vacunas excepto por
la inmunización contra el rotovirus
porque ella ya era “demasiado
grande” por unas semanas para
recibirla.
MADRE INTERESADA,
RALEIGH, CAROLINA DEL
NORTE
A través del Programa de Distribución
de Vacunas Infantiles Universal
(UCVDP program), las vacunas
pueden ser compradas, mantenidas y
distribuidas a proveedores de salud sin
costo. Más del 95 por ciento de los
proveedores de salud quienes
administran vacunas infantiles
participan en este programa.
Proveedores de salud no le pueden
cobrar al paciente por el costo de la
vacuna, pero si puedo cobrar por la
administración de la vacuna a no mas
de los estándares establecidos por el
Programa Estatal de Medicaid.
Departamentos de salud locales no le
pueden cobrar al paciente una tarifa
de administración por inmunizaciones
provistas por el estado. Para mas
detalles, usted puede contactar a la
Rama de Inmunizaciones de NC at
919-707-5550 o ImmInfo@ncmail.net
Community News
15
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
TRIBUTE: Kay Zwan – Community Activist
By Arthur Vargas, Communications Intern - National MS Society Eastern NC Chapter
KAY ZWAN is a member of the “Yes
We Can” Wilmington Healthcare
Reform Team. Her family circumstances
and personal story have helped spotlight
the inequities and conflicting interests in
a complex, multi-billion-dollar industry.
She has met these obstacles with an
energetic and tireless advocacy, and she
is open with her story and hopeful for
the future. Her healthcare reform team
has put together the “Yes We Can
Healthcare Reform Policy,” specifying
their policy aims and encouraging North
Carolinians to forward the policy to their
legislators.
Zwan has petitioned Congressman
Mike McIntyre, Senator Kay Hagan and
Senator Richard Burr to support
President Obama’s agenda for healthcare
reform. She believes the new
administration can bring about the
changes her family and so many others
desperately need if it has support from
Congress. These changes include
healthcare costs that are proportional to
income and quotes that are
not based on pre-existing
conditions. “We must have
coverage that is both
affordable and portable,”
says Zwan. “What the
insurance companies don’t
tell you, in the fine print, is
that if you have a
catastrophic change in your
health, the insurance
company will drop you from
the plan.”
Zwan has also worked
Kay Zwan (right) and family.
as a pharmaceutical sales
representative for many
years, and she’s familiar with the
Wolfram Syndrome, a terminal genetic
disorder, the last thing she expected was
lobbying power of this industry and the
to be denied by an insurance system
major role their money has played in
that, ostensibly, exists to provide
healthcare’s current setup. But it is the
Americans with the support and security
personal struggles of her family, the fact
they need during a crisis.
that her life story and mission are
Of course, citizens like Zwan
inseparable, that give her quest for
know this is not the case. “Families like
reform its universal appeal and power.
mine get stripped of their insurance and
When her son was diagnosed with
their constitutional rights
when we or our family
members meet with
catastrophic disease,” says
Zwan. There is a conflict of
interest here that most of
society is waking up to,
some under unfortunate
circumstances.
Next to the economy,
healthcare reform has taken
center stage at state and
national levels. The nation is
gearing up for some big
adjustments and legislators,
administrations, businesses
and citizens will have to find common
ground to build a future everyone can
live in.
RISE is another patient advocacy
organization Zwan belongs to. The
acronym stands for Respect, Impact,
Support and Empower. All should be
qualities of the next generation in
American healthcare.
Kay Zwan - Activista Comunitario
Por Arthur Vargas, Interno de Comunicaciones - National MS Society Capitulo Carolina del Norte Oriental
KAY ZWAN es una miembro de “Si
Podemos” Equipe de Reforma Cuidado
medico Wilmington. La circunstancias
de su familia y su historia personal han
ayudado ha demostrar las
desigualdades y conflictos de interés en
una industria complicada de muchos
billones de dólares. Ella se ha
encontrado con estos obstáculos con
una advocación energética y sin
cansancio, y es abierta sobre su historia
y tiene esperanza en el mañana. Su
equipo de reforma del cuidado medico
has organizado la “Política de Reforma
del Cuidado Medico Si Podemos,”
especificando sus metas políticas e
inspirando a gente en Carolina del
Norte para promover la política a sus
legisladores.
Zwan ha peticionado al
Congresista Mike McIntyre, Senador
16
Community News
Kay Hagan y al Senador Richard Burr
a que apoyen la agenda del Presidente
Obama de reforma de cuidado medico.
Ella cree que la nueva administración
puede traer el cambio que su familia y
muchos otros desesperadamente
necesitan si tiene el apoyo del
Congreso. Estos cambios incluyen
costos del cuidado medico que sean
proporcionales a ingresos y cuotas que
no estén basadas en condiciones preexistentes. “Debemos tener un seguro
que sea barato y portable,” dice Zwan.
“Lo que las compañías de seguros no
te dicen, en literatura, es que si tu
tienes un cambio catastrófico en tu
salud, la compañía te sacara del plan.”
Zwan también ha trabajado como
represéntate de ventas farmacéuticas
por muchos años y sabe del poder e
influencia de esta industria y el papel
importante que el dinero de esta ha
jugado en el estatus quo del cuidado
medico. Pero han sido los esfuerzos de
su familia, el hecho de que su vida y su
misión son inseparables, que le dan a
su búsqueda por reforma gusto
universal y poder. Cuando su hijo fue
diagnosticado con Síndrome Wolfram,
un desorden genético terminal, lo
último que ella pensó fue que fuera
negada por un sistema de seguros que
existe para proveer a americanos con el
apoyo y seguridad que necesitan en
una crisis.
Por supuesto, ciudadanos como
Zwan saben que este no es el caso. “A
familias como las mía se les quita su
seguro y sus derechos constitucionales
cuando nosotros o nuestra familia se
encuentra con una enfermedad
catastrófica,” dice Zwan. Hay un
conflicto de interés aquí que la
sociedad esta descubriendo-algunos
bajo circunstancias graves.
Después de la economía, reforma
del cuidado medico ha tomada la
tarima principal a nivel estatal y
nacional. La nación se esta preparando
para ajustes grandes y legisladores,
administraciones y negocios y
ciudadanos tendrán que llegar a un
acuerdo para crear un futuro en el que
todos podemos vivir.
RISE es otra organización de
alcance de pacientes a la cual Zwan
pertenece. El acrónimo significa
Respect (Respeto), Impact (Impacto),
Support (Apoyo) y Empower
(Fortalece). Todas deben ser cualidades
de la próxima generación de cuidado
medico en América.
On the Road with
the NC Health Access Coalition
De Viaje con la Coalición Acceso
a la Salud de Carolina del Norte
By Hope Marasco, Outreach Coordinator for NCHAC
Por Hope Marasco, Coordinador de Alcance NCHAC
May:
WILMINGTON:
Wilmington Yes We Can
meeting
WILMINGTON:
CAPE FEAR HEALTH
Policy Council meeting
DURHAM: A
roundtable discussion about
health reform for small
businesses
A small-business health care forum hosted by the NC
Health Access Coalition in May, 2009.
OVER THE PAST few months, the NC
Health Access Coalition has been on the
road, crisscrossing the state to meet with
local groups that are advocating for
high-quality, affordable health care for
all NC residents.
If you’d like to help organize a
health-care forum or small-business
roundtable discussion in your
community, please contact NCHAC’s
Outreach Coordinator, Hope Marasco, at
hope@ncjustice.org or (919) 863-2405.
Here’s where we’ve been so far
this year.
February:
WILMINGTON: Wilmington Yes
We Can meeting
March:
HENDERSONVILLE: “Solving
Our Nation’s Health Care Crisis Two Different Approaches,”
sponsored by the Henderson
County League of Women Voters
April:
BOONE: Health care forum at
Appalachian State University
sponsored by the Student
Association of Social Work,
Appalachian & the Community
Together, and the Institute for
Health and Human Services
MORGANTON: Western Piedmont
Community College, Healthy Burke
Access to Care Task Force Meeting
RALEIGH: Monday
May 18th; 10am-12pm; NC
Health Access Coalition quarterly
meeting at AARP-NC office.
Here are comments from two local
partners with whom NCHAC recently
teamed up to host local health care
forums:
“We at the LWVHC believe that with
multi-faceted involvement in the
community and the building of
collaborative educational opportunities,
the League will have more success in
achieving its goals than by going it alone.”
– Martha Sachs, the Social Policy
Chair/Advocate of the Henderson County
League of Women Voters
“We had the good fortune to
participate in two visits by
representatives of the NC Health Access
Coalition in our community during our
formation and rollout process. Access
to the services of an organization like
yours is essential to our agenda. Put
simply, if NCHAC didn’t exist, it would
need to be created. We would be
diverting time and resources to make
the long round-trip to Raleigh
frequently and with far less substantive
outcomes. Thanks to all of your team
for your ongoing support. In addition,
the exchange of ideas with others
concerned with similar issues elsewhere
in the state is likely to have beneficial
results for all of us.”
– William P. Graham,
Chairman of the Cape Fear
Health Policy Council
LOS PASADOS MESES, la Coalición
Acceso a la Salud NC ha estado de
viaje por el estado reuniéndose con
grupos locales que están interesados
en cuidado medico de alta calidad y
barato para todos los residentes de
Carolina del Norte.
Si a usted el gustaría organizar
un foro sobre el seguro de cuidado
medico o una mesa redonda de
negocios pequeños para discusión en
su comunidad, por favor contacte a
Coordinador de Alcance NCHAC,
Hope Marasco at hope@ncjustice.org
o (919) 863-2405.
Aquí hemos estado, hasta ahora,
este año.
Febrero:
WILMINGTON: Reunión Si
Podemos Wilmington
Marzo:
HENDERSONVILLE:
“Resolviendo la Crisis de
Cuidado de Salud en Nuestra
Nación - Dos Métodos
Diferentes,” por La Liga de
Mujeres Votantes del Condado de
Henderson
Abril:
BOONE: Foro del cuidado de la
salud en Appalachian State
University por la Asociación
Estudiantil de Trabajadores
Sociales, Appalachian & La
Comunidad Juntos y el Instituto
por Servicios de Salud y
Humanos.
MORGANTON: Western
Piedmont Community College,
de Junta sobre Acceso al Cuidado
Medico de un Burke Saludable.
Mayo:
WILMINGTON: Reunión Si
Podemos en Wilmington
DURHAM: Mesa redonda e
discusión sobre reforma de la
salud para negocios pequeños.
RALEIGH: Lunes 18 de mayo;
10am-12pm; Reunión trimestral
de Coalición Acceso a la Salud
NC en las oficinas del AARP-NC.
Algunos comentarios de
nuestros aliados locales con los
cuales NCHAC recientemente se ha
juntado para promover foros locales
sobre el cuidado medico:
“Nosotras en el LWVHC creemos
que involucración a diferentes
niveles de la comunidad y el
desarrollo de oportunidades
educacionales colaborativas, la
Liga lograra mas de sus metas que
el simplemente hacerlo por su
cuenta.”
– Martha Sachs,
Jefe/Patrocinador de Política Social
de la Liga de Mujeres Votantes del
Condado Henderson
“Tuvimos la buena fortuna de
participar en dos visitas por
representantes de la Coalición
Acceso a la Salud NC en nuestra
comunidad durante nuestro
periodo de formación y de
primeras acciones. Acceso a los
servicios de una organización como
la de ustedes es esencial para
nuestra agenda. Simplemente, si
NCHAC no existiera, tendría que
ser creado. Estaríamos invirtiendo
tiempo y recursos para viajar hasta
Raleigh frecuentemente con menos
logros y resultados. Gracias a su
equipo por su apoyo. Además, el
intercambio de ideas con otros
preocupados por los mismos
asuntos en otras partes del estado
es benefícienle para todos
nosotros.”
WILMINGTON: Reunión del
Consejo Por Política de la Salud
de Cape Fear
Community News
– William P. Graham, Jefe del
Consejo de Política de la Salud
de Cape Fear
17
Repelen Prohibición Negociación Colectiva para Empleados Públicos
en Carolina del Norte
Por el Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, Presidente, Conferencia Estatal de los Capítulos del NAACP de Carolina del Norte
HACE CINCUENTA ANOS, en el 1959, no había ningún
representante negro en la legislatura estatal de Carolina del
Norte. El movimiento por los derechos civiles peleaba para
deshacer Jim Crow y las muchas leyes y costumbres que
eran patrones aceptados en Carolina del Norte. La
legislatura, los miembros todos blancos, paso una ley
draconiana anti-derechos civiles y anti-trabajadores llamada
Declaración General 95-98. Esta ley ilegaliza que se hable
de las condiciones de trabajo en cualquier empleo publicó.
Ahora recordemos, que en ese tiempo, los trabajos en el
sector publico-barrenderos, cocineros, sirvientas de casa,
albañiles-eran de los mejores que mis abuelos podían
conseguir.
Hoy, mientas la peor crisis económica de nuestros
tiempos se agrándese, la Gobernadora Perdue y muchos de
nuestros amigos en la legislatura se enfocan en sus dos
deberes constitucionales: primero, el proveer de servicios
necesarios de los gobiernos locales y estatales al pueblo; y
Segundo, el buscar los fondos para pagar por esos servicios.
¿Pero quienes proveen estos servicios? Oficiales de
Policía. Bomberos. Paramédicos. Maestros. Trabajadores de
salud mental. Conductores de autobús. Guardias de prisión.
Estas son personas de verdad con familias y pagos por hacer.
Muchos de ellos están a un cheque de la pobreza.
Estos siervos públicos dedicados son la pega que
mantiene a nuestras comunidades unidas. ¿Quien sabe mejor
como mantener y mejorar la moral de los trabajadores
durante un tiempo de más demanda por servicios
gubernamentales que nuestros trabajadores dedicados?
Entonces le debemos preguntar a la Gobernadora
Perdue, Senador del Senado Pro Tempore Marc Basnight y
Líder de la Cámara Hackney- ¿acaso no suena como una
Buena idea el sentarnos con nuestros siervos publicas y
preguntarles como usar mas eficientemente cada dólar que
se gasta? ¿A caso no tiene sentido el obtener su experiencia
sobre como repartir el sacrificio para que no le caiga
solamente a unos cuantos?
Miles de trabajadores públicos están a punto de perder
sus trabajos. Sus familias ya están siendo atemorizadas por
los recolectadores de deudas y pagos de vivienda. Según el
Bureau de Estadísticas de Trabajadores, el desempleo oficial
era el 9.7% para Carolina del Norte en febrero del 2009.
Aunque la información sobre los promedios de desempleo
entre blancos y negros en Carolina del Norte para el mes
pasado todavía no se esta disponible, sabemos que los
números nacionales fueron 8.2% para trabajadores blancos,
y el 13.8% para trabajadores negros. Como Carolina del
Norte fue 2% peor que el promedio nacional, sabemos que
más de uno en siete trabajadores negros están sin empleo, y
que este número esta aumentando.
Sabemos que cuando los individuos pierden su trabajo
o no pueden encontrar empleo, se vuelven contra si mismos
y contra sus familias. Suicidios, depresión clínica y violencia
domestica aumentara. La temporada de esperanza que
recientemente vivimos se convertirá rápidamente en un
tiempo de desesperación.
Pero hay un rayo de esperanza. Si trabajadores
públicos locales y estatales tuvieran los mismos derechos
que los trabajadores privados, de sentarse con sus
empleadores y juntamente discutir la crisis como gente
inteligente, creemos que el pensamiento colectivo de cómo
reducir costos seria más justo. Si gente inteligente y
razonable discuten un problema en común, creemos que
podrían encontrar la manera de cómo esparcir el dolor. Si se
les consultara a nuestros siervos públicos con respeto,
creemos que habrá cientos de ideas creativas para mejorar la
eficiencia. En fin, si deshacemos Jim Crow 95-98 y la falta
de respeto que demuestra contra las ideas y la integridad de
nuestra fuerza de trabajo, creemos que podemos movilizar
nuestro gran ejército de trabajadores públicos en un esfuerzo
de reconstrucción masivo para echar para adelante a
Carolina del Norte.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10)
Una década después, el total eran $795
billones.
Nada de esta historia les importo a los
críticos del ARC, quienes vieron la ley como
una excusa conveniente para explicar la caída
de la industria de hipotecas no cualificadas.
El antiguo Senador. Phil Gramm hasta
argumento que el ARC causo el aumento en
los prestamos no cualificados.
Los simples hechos derrotan a los
críticos del ARC. Primeramente, el ARC
solamente cubre una pequeña sección de
préstamos. Gobierna a bancos y tiendas de
préstamos, y solamente en áreas donde tienen
depósitos. Wells Fargo, por ejemplo, tenía
una obligación del ARC en San Francisco en
el 2007, pero no en Charlotte. Prestadores
pesados de préstamos no cualificados, como
IndyMac, Argent y Ameriquest nunca
tuvieron una obligación con el ARC.
El argumento en contra del ARC se
basa en información que demuestran la gran
cantidad de préstamos que fallaron en
comunidades pobres. Pero si observamos bien
vemos que los bancos operando bajo el ARC
no hicieron los tipos de prestamos que fallaron.
18
Community News
Un nuevo reporte de la Asociación de
Reinversión Comunitaria de Carolina del
Norte, Paying More for the American Dream
(Pagando Mas Por el Sueno Americano),
demuestra que el ARC ha cumplido con su
meta original de introducir mas capital a
comunidades de ingresos bajo a moderados.
El reporte dice que el ARC necesita aun más
poder en su capacidad de combatir la opción
de préstamos no cualificados.
La base de estas conclusiones proviene
de investigación que incluye un análisis de
los préstamos hechos en Charlotte. Dado a
los límites de la información, los autores
tuvieron que usar préstamos de intereses altos
como un proxy para préstamos no
cualificados. Aunque este hecho subestima el
impacto de préstamos no cualificados, se
mantiene un método capaz de comparar
préstamos hechos dentro y fuera de ARC.
El reporte se enfoco en clientes de bajo
a moderado ingreso porque esta fue la
población en la cual el ARC se enfoco. En
Charlotte, bajo-a-moderado ingreson significa
hogares de menos de $48,000 en ingresos.
Lo que descubrimos nos demostró que
el ARC hace una gran diferencia en muchas
maneras. En Charlotte, por ejemplo:
Solamente el 7.4 por ciento de
prestamos ARC fueron de alto costo,
pero el 24.6 por ciento de los prestamos
no-ARC fueron no cualificados.
En áreas donde el ARC estaba activo,
prestadores evitaron préstamos no
cualificados. Los mismos bancos
hicieron menos prestamos de alto costo
en comunidades donde en ARC existía
hicieron mas prestamos de alto costo
donde este no estaba en efecto. Es mas,
compañías hipotecarias y uniones de
crédito fueron responsables de un
porcentaje menor de prestamos no
cualificados (18 por ciento) que los
bancos y prestadores no obligados por
el ARC.
En las vecindades mayoría-minoría de
Charlotte, la mayoría de los prestamos
no cualificados se hicieron donde el
ARC no estaba en efecto. Solamente
uno de cada cuatro préstamos de alto
costo fueron hechos por prestadores
trabajando bajos los parámetros del
ARC.
Compañías hipotecarias, uniones de
crédito y bancos sin depósitos locales no
están bajo la regulaciones de ARC. En casi
todo caso, esas instituciones parecen haber
tomada esa oportunidad para hacer mas
prestamos no cualificados. A nivel nacional,
los números muestran la misma historia: la
mayoría de los préstamos sin cualificación
fueron hechos fuera del ARC.
Comoquiera, como cualquier otra ley
de 40 años, el ARC necesita una refrescada.
El Acto de de Modernización de Reinversión
Comunitaria del 2009 tiene muchas de las
revisiones en potencia. Extiende el ARC a
todos los prestadores hipotecarios, para que
compañías como IndyMac jueguen bajo las
mismas reglas que los bancos. También hace
mandatorio que los bancos atiendan
prestamos de minorías, y posiblemente cree
un ARC para tarjetas de crédito.
Mientras los críticos promueven al
ARC como un villano, ha sido el salvador de
individuos en comunidades de bajos ingresos.
Merece mas capacidad y poder.
Can We Talk? Listening to Public Employees Makes Economic Sense
By Rev. Dr. William Barber II, President, NC State Conference of NAACP Chapters
FIFTY YEARS AGO, in 1959, there
were no black representatives in the
North Carolina state legislature. The
civil rights movement to end Jim
Crow was poised to dismantle many
laws and customs that were the
accepted patterns in North Carolina.
The all-white legislature, determined
to hold back this movement, passed a
draconian, anti-labor and anti-civilrights law called General Statute 9598. The law makes it illegal for
people to talk together across the
table about working conditions in any
public job. Now remember, at that
time, jobs in the public sector – as
garbage collectors, cooks,
housekeepers, groundskeepers, and
other menial positions – were among
the best my grandparents could get.
Today, as the worst economic
crisis in our lifetime deepens,
Governor Perdue and many of our
friends in the legislature are focused
on their two constitutional duties: first,
to provide necessary state and local
government services to the people; and
second, to find the funds to pay for
these services.
But who provides these
necessary services? Police officers.
Firefighters. Paramedics. Teachers.
Mental health workers. Bus drivers.
Prison guards. These are real people,
with families and mortgages. Many of
them are only a paycheck from
poverty.
These dedicated public servants
are the glue that holds our
communities together. Who knows
better how to maintain and improve
employee morale during a time of
more demand for government services
than our dedicated employees?
So we must ask Governor
Perdue, Senate President Pro Tempore
Marc Basnight and House Leader
Hackney – doesn’t it make good sense
to sit down across the table from our
public servants and get their ideas
about how to get the most out of every
tax dollar we spend? Doesn’t it make
sense to get their input about how to
spread any
sacrifice around
so it does not fall
unfairly on the
least of these?
Thousands
who hold public
jobs are in
jeopardy of
being laid off.
Their families
are already being
hounded by bill
collectors and
mortgage
companies.
According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, official
unemployment for North Carolina in
March 2009 was 10.8%. That’s
493,000 people. In April, the national
unemployment rate for black workers
was 15%.
We know that when people lose
jobs or can’t find work, they turn on
themselves and their families.
Suicides, clinical depression and
domestic violence will increase. The
season of hope we just experienced
will rapidly turn
into a season of
desperation.
But there is
a bright light of
hope. If state
and local
government
workers had the
same rights as
private workers
to sit across the
table from
agency managers
and jointly
address this
crisis as
reasonable people, we believe the
resulting collective thinking about how
to reduce costs would be fairer. If
reasonable people discuss a common
problem, we believe they will figure
out how to spread the pain evenly. If
our dedicated public servants are
consulted with respect, we believe
there will be hundreds of creative
ideas for improving efficiency. In
short, if we repeal Jim Crow 95-98 and
the disrespect it shows for the ideas
and integrity of our public workforce,
we believe we could engage the vast
army of public employees in a massive
reconstruction effort to get North
Carolina moving again.
This is a reform that costs
pennies to implement. Only Virginia
and North Carolina prohibit their
public employees from sitting across
the table and proposing collective
solutions to difficult policy and
workplace issues. The 48 other states
encourage their employees to be
involved in decision-making. The 48
other states have learned that the more
involved their employees are, the
fewer grievances and problems. The
more respect they show their public
employees, the higher their
productivity. The 48 other states have
learned that mutual respect between
management and employees results in
less sick time and lower costs.
Restoring contract rights to state and
local public employees is a major step
toward One North Carolina – and it
will save us millions.
More important than saving
money, I believe, is the human
principle of love. If we treat our public
employees with respect; if we
encourage them to get collectively
involved in addressing the greatest
economic and social crisis our state
has faced since the Great Depression;
if we open the gates for their ideas,
their enthusiasm, and their love for the
state; I firmly believe we can
transform this crisis into a period of
great development for all North
Carolinians.
The immediate repeal of Jim
Crow 95-98 is the fastest, most
effective, fairest AND CHEAPEST
way to make sure the shock of
possible layoffs and cut-backs is
distributed fairly and in a non-racist
way throughout the public workforce.
Rev. Dr. William Barber II is the Pastor
of Greenleaf Christian Church and the
State Conference President NC NAACP
State Office. Visit www.naacpnc.org.
Community News
19
IMMIGRANTS & THE ECONOMY
Undocumented workers contribute more to the
economy (in the form of taxes, economic growth
provided by undocumented labor, and consumer
spending) than they receive in benefits from various
governments.1
All undocumented
workers pay sales
taxes and property
taxes (through rent
or home
ownership), and
many also pay
social security and
income taxes.2
Immigrants tend to complement the native
workforce, rather than compete with it.3
Studies show that legalization would likely improve
wages for all workers.4
Immigrants contribute to the Social Security system.
• Studies show that undocumented
immigrants provide a net gain of $7 billion
to the Social Security system each year.5
• Undocumented immigrants cannot
receive any Social Security benefits.
How has the economic downturn impacted
immigrants?
• Non-citizen immigrants are much more
vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy.
The median annual income of non-citizen
immigrant households fell 7.3 percent from
2006-2007. In contrast the median annual
income of all U.S. households increased
1.3 percent during the same period.6
IMMIGRANTS & LEGAL STATUS7
Over the last 50 years, immigration laws have
become increasingly strict. In the past, many waves
of immigrants passed relatively freely through ports
of entry such as Ellis Island. Since the U.S. has
tightened its borders, most of these same families
would be turned away today.
Undocumented immigrants are not all criminals just
because of their immigration status. While entering
this country illegally may be a crime, coming to the
country legally and then overstaying a visa is a
regulatory, or civil, violation, but is not a crime.
Under the current system, people typically enter the
US legally based on family relationships and
employment relationships.
• The family-based system requires a
sponsor (either a US citizen or permanent
resident). These cases all result in a green
card (legal permanent residency).
• The beneficiary must be within the
“nuclear family” of the sponsor, so aunts
and uncles, nephews and nieces are not
eligible.
Usually, the family-based system entails very long
waiting periods – up to 20 years in some cases –
because of a very strict quota system.
There are no temporary visas for “unskilled,”
“essential” workers who fill year-round jobs.
Under our current system, for the vast majority of
workers, there is no “line” to stand in to enter the U.S.
legally.
“illegal alien,” which describe
undocumented immigrants as
inhuman outsiders who come to the
U.S. with questionable motivations.
LOCAL ENFORCEMENT OF
IMMIGRATION LAWS9
Immigrant communities throughout North Carolina
are living increasingly in a state of fear and insecurity
due to programs in which local law enforcement
agencies are actively enforcing federal immigration
laws. These programs have led to the deportation of
thousands of undocumented immigrants statewide,
often separating hardworking parents from their
children. The Major Cities Chiefs - a national
organization of police chiefs - note that “Immigration
enforcement by local police would likely negatively
effect and undermine the level of trust and
cooperation between local police and immigrant
communities.”10
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION
REFORM
What reforms are needed?
8
LANGUAGE ABOUT IMMIGRANTS
In the public sphere there are numerous terms used
to describe immigrants, but it is important to think
about the negative connotation these terms carry.
• The terms “illegal” and “illegal immigrant”
automatically criminalize the person,
instead of the action they are purported
to have committed. Shortening the term in
this way also stereotypes undocumented
people who are in the United States as
having committed a
crime.
• An estimated 40
percent of all
undocumented people
living in the U.S.
entered the country
legally and then
overstayed their visas.
• It is degrading to use
the terms “alien” and
Provide a Path to Citizenship
• Workers currently living in the U.S. should
have the opportunity to adjust their status
so that they can achieve permanent
residence and citizenship.
Protect Workers
• The nation needs a worker visa program
that adequately protects the wages and
working conditions of U.S. and immigrant
workers and provides a path to
permanent status.
Reunite Families
• Families wanting to reunite should have
their admission expedited, and those
admitted on work visas should be able to
keep their nuclear families intact.
Restore the Rule of Law and Enhance
Security
• Enforcement only works when the law is
realistic and enforceable.
While the immigration debate continues across the state, immigrants are facing increased
discrimination. We need to fix this broken system through comprehensive immigration reform.
20
Community News
INMIGRANTES Y LA ECONOMIA
Los trabajadores indocumentados contribuyen más a
la economía (impuestos, desarrollo económico
proporcionado por el trabajo indocumentado, y
consumo) que lo que reciben en beneficios
gubernamentales.1
•
•
El sistema basado en la familia requiere a un
patrocinador (un ciudadano o residente
permanente). En estos casos el resultado es
una tarjeta verde (tipo permanente legal).
•
Los estudios demuestran que los inmigrantes
indocumentados proporcionan un aumento
neto de $7 billones al sistema de seguridad
social cada año.
El beneficiario debe estar dentro de la
“familia nuclear” del patrocinador, así que
las tías y los tíos, los sobrinos y las sobrinas no
son elegibles. Generalmente, este sistema
exige períodos muy largos
de espera - hasta 20 años
en algunos casos debido a
un rígido sistema de
cuotas. No hay visas
temporeras para
trabajadores no-diestros
“esenciales” que llenan
trabajos a lo largo de todo
el año. Bajo nuestro sistema
actual, para la gran
mayoría de trabajadores, no hay “línea”
para colocarse y entrar en los legalmente.
•
Los inmigrantes indocumentados no pueden
recibir beneficios de seguro social. ¿Cómo
ha afectado a los inmigrantes la crisis
económica?
Mientras que el debate de la inmigración continúa a
través del estado, los inmigrantes enfrentan un
creciente discrimen. Necesitamos corregir este
obsoleto sistema con reforma migratoria comprensival.
Todos los trabajadores indocumentados pagan
impuestos sobre venta y propiedad (sea que alquilen o
sean propietarios de casa), y muchos también pagan
impuestos sobre ingreso y aportan al seguro social. Los
inmigrantes complementan, no compiten, con la mano
de obra nativa. Los estudios demuestran que la
legalización probablemente mejore los salarios para
todos los trabajadores. Los inmigrantes contribuyen al
sistema de seguridad social.
•
Los inmigrantes no-ciudadanos son más
vulnerables a las fluctuaciones en la
economía. Los ingresos anuales medianos
en los hogares de los inmigrantes nociudadanos se redujeron en un 7.3 por
ciento a partir de 2006-2007. En cambio los
ingresos anuales medianos de todos los
hogares de los Estados Unidos aumentaron
un 1.3 por ciento durante el mismo período.
LANGUAJE SOBRE LOS INMIGRANTES
Las comunidades inmigrantes en Carolina del Norte
están viviendo cada vez más en un estado de miedo y
de inseguridad debido a los programas en los cuales
las agencias policiales locales están haciendo cumplir
activamente leyes federales de inmigración. Estos
programas han deportado a miles de
inmigrantes indocumentados en el
estado, separando a padres trabajadores
de sus niños. Los Jefes de las Ciudades
Principales - una organización nacional
de jefes de policía - han dicho que la
“acción de cumplir leyes de inmigración
por la policía local puede afectar
negativamente y reducir el nivel de
confianza y cooperación entre la policía
local y las comunidades inmigrantes.”10
REFORMA MIGRATORIA
COMPRENSIVA
¿Qué reformas son necesarias?
Proporcionar una Trayectoria a la
Ciudadanía
•
En el ámbito público hay numerosos términos usados para
describir a los inmigrantes, pero es importante pensar en
la connotación negativa que estos términos tienen.
•
IMMIGRANTES Y CONDICION LEGAL
Durante los pasados 50 años, las leyes de inmigración
han llegado a ser cada vez más duras. En el pasado,
muchas olas de inmigrantes pasaron relativamente con
libertad a través de puertos de entrada tales como Ellis
Island. Desde que los Estados Unidos han acorralado
sus fronteras, la mayor parte de estas familias se
regresadas hoy. Los inmigrantes indocumentados no
son criminales debido a su estado migratorio. Aunque
entrar al país ilegalmente puede ser un crimen,
viniendo al país legalmente y dejar vencer la visa una
falta a las reglas de tipo civil, pero no es un crimen.
Bajo el sistema vigente, la gente entra a los Estados
Unidos legalmente basado en relaciones de familia y
de empleo.
CUMPLIMIENTO LOCAL DE LEYES
MIGRATORIAS
•
•
Los términos “ilegal” e “inmigrante ilegal”
criminalizan automáticamente a la persona,
en vez de a la acción que han cometido.
Reduciendo el término de esta manera
también estereotipa a la gente
indocumentada que está en los Estados
Unidos como si cometieran un crimen.
Un 40 por ciento estimado de toda la gente
indocumentada que vive en los Estados
Unidos entró legalmente dejando luego
vencer sus visas.
Es degradante utilizar los términos
“extranjero” y el “inmigrante ilegal,” para
describir inmigrantes indocumentados
inmigrantes como forasteros inhumanos que
vienen a este país con motivaciones
cuestionables.
Los trabajadores que viven actualmente en
los Estados Unidos. deben tener la
oportunidad de ajustar su estado de modo
que puedan alcanzar la residencia
permanente y la ciudadanía.
Proteccion a los Trabajadores
•
La nación necesita un programa de la visa
del trabajador que proteja adecuadamente
los salarios y las condiciones de trabajo de
los estados Unidos y de los trabajadores
inmigrantes y proporcione una trayectoria al
estado permanente.
Reunir a las Familiaas
•
Las familias que quieren juntarse deben
hacer su admisión apresurar, y ésos
admitidos en visas del trabajo deben poder
mantener a sus familias nucleares intactas
Restaurar el Estado de Derecho; Reforza la
Seguridad
• La aplicación de la ley trabaja y es eficiente
solamente cuando es realista y ejecutable.
Published by the North Carolina Council of Churches with support from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. www.nccouncilofchurches.org
1The Perryman Group, 2008; 2Immigration Policy Center, 2008; 3Griswold, 2008; 4Ojed, 2000; 5O’Carroll, 2006; 6Kochhar,
2008; 7Chapman, 2009; 8National Association of Hispanic Journalists, 2006; 9Rosenbluth, 2009; 10Major Cities Chiefs, 2006.
Full citations available at www.nccouncilofchurches.org/areasofwork/committees/latino/resources.html
Community News
21
The Fight Against Fibrowatt
By Diane Morris, Senior editor
THREE NORTH CAROLINA communities have
become targets of Fibrowatt, a power company that
generates electricity by burning poultry litter (feces)
and unspecified “biomass” materials. Fibrowatt
wants to build plants near Elkin in Surry County,
near Biscoe in Montgomery County, and near Faison
in Sampson County. Community members,
environmentalists and area farmers are concerned
about the potential pollution from these plants.
Fibrowatt’s presence in North Carolina is the
result of years of political maneuvering. The
company spent considerable time and money to
make sure the NC General Assembly included the
so-called “Fibrowatt provision” in a renewableenergy law passed in 2007. The law requires the
state’s power companies to increase how much
energy they get from renewable resources - and that
some of that energy must come from the burning of
poultry litter.
Fibrowatt is the only company in the country to
builds power plants fueled by poultry litter.
The Environmental Impact
In May, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League released a report showing that a Fibrowatt
manure incinerator would contaminate the
surrounding area with arsenic, chromium, mercury
and other pollutants. These chemicals can cause
damage to various organs, cancer, or cognitive or
motor impairments. The findings came from a
computer model using the specifications from a
similar plant in Minnesota.
According to an article in Raleigh’s News &
Observer, “A preliminary study by this state’s
Division of Air Quality shows that Fibrowatt’s
Minnesota plant emits more particulates, carbon
dioxide and nitrous oxides than a coal-burning power
plant.”
Despite these concerns, officials from the three
county governments involved have moved quickly to
approve the Fibrowatt plants. In Surry County, the
plant, which is set to be built along the Yadkin River,
faced intense public opposition from farmers, winery
operators, business owners and environmentalists,
but it still received unanimous support from the
board of commissioners. Montgomery County
officials aggressively pursued the plant for three
years and are giving tax incentives to Fibrowatt.
The Sampson County Fibrowatt plant faces
some tough opposition, however. The county board
of commissioners approved the rezoning of a lot just
off of I-40 for the plant. The site is adjacent to a
predominately poor and African-American
community - a community Sampson County cared so
little about that it failed to provide services to its
residents for many years. The town of Faison in
neighboring Duplin County currently provides those
services.
Now, Sampson County’s neglect of this
community has put Faison in a position to put a
roadblock in Fibrowatt’s path.
Score One for Faison!
Every town or city in North Carolina has extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), meaning it has a say in
what happens within one mile outside of its borders.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12)
defendieron el caso de que Danielle necesitaba
servicios adicionales. Cuando empezó a recibir los
nuevos servicios, sus notas subieron de F a B.
María había estado en una relación abusiva por
más de una década y su abusador le había dicho que
nadie la ayudaría por su status de migratoria. Pero
después de ver como el abuso estaba afectando la
salud mental de su hijo, María le conto del abuso al
doctor del niño. María fue referida a Ayuda Legal de
Carolina del Norte y miembros del equipo legal la
ayudaron a conseguir una orden de protección por
violencia domestica para garantizar de que el
abusador no pudiera contactar a María y a su hijo.
Ellos también la ayudaron a contactar a
profesionales Hispano-hablantes del Centro de
Respuesta a Crisis de Durham, que provee
consejería, apoyo y ayuda a grupos y refugio para
22
Community News
sobrevivientes-y a sus familias-de violencia sexual o
domestica.
Como las historias de estas familias ilustran, la
Partidaria Medica-Legal por los Niños en Durham es
un método innovador de aumentar la colaboración
entre profesionales médicos, legales, y comunitarios
para enfrentar los factores sociales determinantes de
la salud y el bienestar de un infante.
Para mas información, visite
www.law.duke.edu/partnershipforchildren/.
Faison is in Duplin County and on the border
of Sampson County. In 1991, Sampson County
agreed to let Faison extend its ETJ from one mile to
three miles outside its border so Faison could
provide services to the poor Sampson community
that the county was neglecting. Because of the
extension, part of the proposed Fibrowatt site is in
Faison’s ETJ.
Citizens groups in Duplin and Sampson
counties have been fighting the Fibrowatt plant.
Citizens for a Safe Environment of Eastern NC and
Sampson Citizens Enabling People to Enact Results
(SCEPTER), as well as the North Carolina NAACP,
have been outspoken opponents, informing citizens
about the potential health dangers and quality-of-life
impact of the plant.
Responding to the calls for action from these
organizations and its residents, Faison’s town board,
led by Mayor Elmer Flake, voted unanimously to
oppose the Fibrowatt plant in December. That
prompted State Rep. Larry Bell of Sampson County
to introduce a bill that would revoke Faison’s ETJ
extension.
Thanks to the passionate advocacy of
community groups and Faison’s town officials and
residents, the bill was defeated in May. While this
puts a significant snag in Fibrowatt’s plans, it does
not mean the plant won’t be built. However, it could
force Fibrowatt to move its plant further from I-40,
which might make the site less attractive.
At this time, it’s hard to say what move
Fibrowatt will make next, but for right now, Faison
has put a significant obstacle in Fibrowatt’s way.
Congratulations
Harriet’s House Transitional Housing for
Female Ex-Offenders has been selected as the
Outstanding Criminal Justice Program in the
Southern Region.
The awards will be presented at the Awards
Luncheon on Tuesday, August 11 during the 2009
NCJA National Forum at the Hyatt Regency,
Bellevue, Washington. Complete information is
available at www.ncja.org/forum.
Derechos Legales para Inmigrantes
Campaña de Donativos 2009
Carolina del Norte tiene una de las poblaciones de inmigrantes con el más
rápido crecimiento en el país Los inmigrantes de bajos ingresos constituyen la
mayoría de este crecimiento; desafortunadamente, son de las poblaciones más
vulnerables en el estado. Muchas veces son víctimas de explotación en el
trabajo, vivienda, y como consumidores dado al conocimiento limitado del
inglés, discriminación, su condición migratoria y otras cosas. Cuando se les
abusa a los inmigrantes, esto impacta las condiciones de vivienda y trabajo
de todos en nuestra comunidad.
El Centro para la Justicia de Carolina del Norte responde a esta crisis
proveyendo ayuda legal, alcance comunitario y cambios en la política
pública para mejorar las vidas de la creciente comunidad inmigrante en
Carolina del Norte. Nuestra causa en el defender derechos, expandir servicios y
combatir las discriminación continuara hasta que los inmigrantes en Carolina del
Norte compartan de todos los beneficios de la creciente prosperidad del estado.
Usted puede apoyar esta labor importante al hacer una contribución deducible de
impuestos a la campaña “Justicia para los Inmigrantes” del Centro Por La
Justicia de Carolina del Norte.
La mayoría de la gente en América quiere hacer lo correcto sobre la
política de inmigración porque saben que los inmigrantes enriquecen y renuevan
nuestra nación. Rechazamos un sistema en el cual personas mueren en el
desierto, familias son rotas en pedazos y se les niega la capacidad de sobrevivir a
aquellos que quieren trabajar.
El Proyecto de Ayuda Legal para Inmigrantes apoya la visión de una
nación compuesta de gentes de muchos países unidos bajo un compromiso a los
valores de la libertad, la igualdad, la democracia y oportunidades.
Una donación en apoyo de nuestro trabajo nos ayudara en esta causa.
Sinceramente,
Hermana Attracta Kelly
Legal Rights for Immigrants
2009 Giving Campaign
North Carolina has one of the fastest-growing
immigrant populations in the country. Low-income
immigrants constitute the majority of this growth;
unfortunately, they are among the most vulnerable people
living in our state. Because of limited English proficiency,
discrimination, and immigration status, among other things,
they all too often fall victim to exploitation in the
workplace, in housing, and as consumers. When immigrants are easily
taken advantage of, it impacts the living and working conditions of
everyone in our community.
The North Carolina Justice Center responds to crisis by providing
legal assistance, community outreach, and public policy advocacy to improve
the lives of North Carolina’s growing immigrant community. Our work to
protect rights, expand services and fight discrimination will continue until
immigrants in North Carolina share fully in the benefits of the growing
prosperity of the state. You can support this important work by making a taxdeductible contribution to the North Carolina Justice Center’s “Justice for
Immigrants” campaign.
Most people in America want to do the right thing regarding
immigration policy because they know immigrants enrich and renew our
nation. We reject a system in which people perish in the desert, families are
torn apart, and those who are willing to work are denied the ability to subsist.
The Immigrants Legal Assistance Project supports the vision of a nation
comprised of people from different countries united by a commitment to the
values of freedom, equality, democracy and opportunity.
A gift in support of our work will help us rise to this occasion.
Sincerely,
Sister Attracta Kelly
Directora del Proyecto de Ayuda Legal para Inmigrantes
Lo programas del Centro Por La Justicia dirigidos a los
derechos de inmigrantes:
Director of the Immigrants Legal Assistance Project
Justice Center projects related to immigrants’ rights:
Proyecto de Ayuda Legal para Inmigrantes (ILAP) provee ayuda legal
gratis y representación en todo tipo de casos para inmigrante de bajos
ingresos que este involucrado en algún asunto con la ley
The Immigrants Legal Assistance Project (ILAP) provides free legal
assistance and representation in all types of immigration cases to any
low-income immigrant who may have some recourse under the law.
EL Proyecto Por Los Derechos de Inmigrantes en Carolina Oriental
provee ayuda legal para inmigrantes en asuntos de empleo, vivienda,
derechos del consumidor y acceso a servicios y beneficios públicos
The Eastern Carolina Immigrants’ Rights Project provides legal
assistance to immigrants on issues of employment, housing,
consumer rights, and access to public benefits and services.
La Red de Defensores de los Inmigrantes (NetworkIA) provee
entrenamiento, asistencia técnica y educación comunitaria sobre una
variedad de temas que impactan a los inmigrantes
The Network of Immigrant Advocates (NetworkIA) provides training,
technical assistance and community education on a variety of issues
affecting immigrants.
Usted puede apoyar este trabajo con una contribución, deducible de impuestos,
a la campaña “Derechos Legales para Inmigrantes” del Centro Por La Justicia
de Carolina del Norte.
You can support this important work with a tax-deductible contribution to the
North Carolina Justice Center’s “Legal Rights for Immigrants” campaign.
SU DONATIVO CONTRIBUYE PARA:
Materiales de entrenamiento para inmigrantes, defensores (partidarios) y
oficiales de gobierno.
Gastos de investigación y litigación
Línea para nuevos inmigrantes libre de tarifa
Gastos de viaje en alcance y ayuda de emergencia a nivel estatal
Como muchos otros gastos y costos asociados en este esfuerzo. Si le gustaría
obtener información sobre la campaña Justicia Para Los Inmigrantes, por favor
contacte a Jill Diaz al (919) 856-2575 o al jill@ncjustice.org.
YOUR GIFT SUPPORTS:
Training materials for immigrants, advocates, and government officials
Research and litigation expenses
Toll-free immigration new-client line
Statewide outreach and emergency response travel
as well as the many other costs associated with this work.
If you would like more information on the Justice for Immigrants campaign,
please contact Jill Diaz at (919) 856-2575 or jill@ncjustice.org.
You can make a gift in support of this work online at www.ncjustice.org. Thank you.
Usted puede hacer su donativo en www.ncjustice.org. Gracias.
Community News
23
We advocate for policies and laws that improve
the lives of low- and moderate-income people
in North Carolina.
The Justice Center seeks to transform the face of North Carolina
by assuring that everyone has a real and full opportunity
to enjoy the freedom and happiness that comes with economic security.
To make this dream a reality, we work for:
Jobs that pay a living wage
and provide benefits
Education that provides all
children with opportunity
Health care that is
accessible
and affordable
Protection for consumers
from
abusive practices
Housing that is safe and
affordable
Fair treatment, regardless of
race, ethnicity, or country of
origin
Public investments that
expand
and enhance opportunities
for economic security
A fair and stable tax system
that adequately funds those
public investments while
fairly distributing tax
responsibility
Please visit our website at www.ncjustice.org

community news - summer 2009.qxp

Transcription

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