POVERTY CHALLENGE CEO of HAWS Authority testifies on Capitol Hill SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Larry C. Woods, the CEO of the Housing Authority of Winston Salem, testified on Capitol Hill to the House of Representatives' Budget Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The committee members invited him to speak about the need to change the overall approach to public assis tance in a way that pro vides "positive exit strate gies" for recipients. The title of the hearing was Restoring the Trust for America's Most Vulnerable [Hearing ID: 104125], Woods advises that the strategy to success is not just to "throw money" at the federally funded "safe ty net" programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid, hous ing and other social servic es. Instead, fund and sup port these programs based on hard data reflecting pos itive results that "grow families out of poverty." Woods ' states, "Our entire system is broken, plain and simple '... and it's broken because our approach is flawed." Until now, the focus has only been on "getting peo ple in, not getting people out of the safety net." Woods believes the new direction of public assistance programs should be creating and implement ing positive initiatives for getting people up and out of the safety net, thereby avoiding a perpetual cycle of poverty. He wants to help the "most vulnerable" populations overcome challenges of generational poverty; a cycle that con tinues today with few tan gible and attainable incen tives for positive change. According to Woods, there are a growing number of agencies (public and pri vate) that are discussing coordination of services, resource leveraging, col laborative partnerships and data sharing, all related to performance-based out comes. Woods said, "Just recently, [Winston-Salem] Mayor Allen Joines con vened a meeting with lead ing educational institu tions, charitable and phil anthropic trusts, human service providers, consult ants, housing providers and a host of others to develop strategies to address the poverty in our city." Woods testified on a panel of public service providers and leaders including William McGahan (founder, Georgia Works!), Olivia Golden (executive director. Center for Law and Social A ? Policy/CLASP) and Robert Doar (Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies, American Enterprise Institute/AEI). They all spoke on the importance of continuing to fund public service organizations and the impact their services have on the economy. However, they also focused on how local agen cies should have the flexi bility to recommend and determine the types and levels of services that best fit the needs of local popu lations they serve. They stated that cutting funding would only make the mat ter more complicated with a highly negative impact on the economy on a national scale. House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price recognized the chal lenges of non-localized funding regulations and its long-term affects. He described the presentations and full written testimonies of the panel members as "incredibly inspiring." He urged his colleagues to read the entire testimonies to understand the aspects of what each organization is working to accomplish on a local scale and beyond. View the full testimony a l https .-//wwH.youtube .com! watch?v=_UHUqyDZzs&f eature=youtu .be. Woods' testimony begins at 41:06, and he continues through out the hearing with com ments on various related discussion items. ( i "Our entire system is broken, plain and simple ... and it's broken because our approach is flawed." Submitted photo* Shown are (L-R) Robert Doar, Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies, American Enterprise Institute IAE1; William McGahan, founder of Georgia Works!; Tom Price, Budget Committee Chairman; and Larry Woods, CEO of the Housing Authority of Winston' Salem. YouTube image Larry Woods, CEO of the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem, testifies on Capitol Hill to the House of Representatives' Budget Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 28.. Housing Authority celebrates Camden open house SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE The Housing Authority of Winston-Salem will cele brate the open house of its fourth Step-Up housing loca tion, Camden Station, on Friday, Nov. 6. Unlike traditional public housing guidelines, able bodied adult participants in the People Achieving Their Highest (PATH) program who desire to live in the newly constructed or renovated Step-Up housing locations must work at least 30 hours per week. As participants step up and out and progress through the program, they truly progress toward attaining self sufficiency and the "American dream." The PATH program is a program recently implement ed at the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem. The pri mary goal of PATH is to reduce or eliminate families' need for public assistance. It is designed to provide guid ance that promotes long-term self-reliance and economic stability through education, job training, job placement and in some cases, home ownership. Within the PATH initiative, the Housing Authority provides modernized affordable housing (referred to as "Step-Up" housing), while community partners provide other supportive services and case management to help ensure participants' success. These partners include but are not limited to educational institutions, workforce development organizations, and law enforcement. As participants move up and out of the PATH pro gram, it provides opportunities for the Housing Authority to assist other families in need. Infant mortality at a historic low in Forsyth County BY MAYEESA MITCHELL FOR THE CHRONICLE Forsyth County's infant mortality rate decreased in 2014 to 6.4 infants per 1,000 live births, according to a report released by the Forsyth County Department of Public Health. Infant mortality, which calculates infants who are bom alive and die before the age of one, is considered one of the most important indicators of a communi ty's health. "The health of the community is meas ured by infant mortality," said Rodd Smith, Director of Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition. ? "Whenever you have more babies dying, you have to ask yourself why." The matter of questioning why can be resolved by examining the three leading causes of infant mortality. They are: pre maturity and low birth weight, birth defects, and other conditions originating in the perinatal period. Although the three largest factors can be measured, the reasons these factors develop are a result of a variety of envi ronmental, cultural and health influences. "We know that many factors that con tribute to infant mortality are societal and complex," said Marlon Hunter, Forsyth County Health Director. "From a health perspective, we want women to achieve optimal health before they become preg nant in order to improve birth outcomes." Unfortunately, many African American women do not have access to the proper prenatal care and are subject to additional stress levels that can have a negative effect on pregnancy. This imbalance in prenatal care has resulted in a disparity in birth outcomes. According to the report, the infant death rate for African-Americans was 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the death rate for white infants was 5.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. This means that for every white infant that dies, two African American infants die.. "The disparity is there and has existed for years," said Smith. Although the disparity still exists, it has improved substantially. Much of the improvement in the last 20 years is a result of effective programs put in place through out the county. "Many of the services provided by the medical community in Forsyth County leads to improved care for women, partic ularly for the time before and after preg nancy," said Smith. One such program being put in place is by the Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition. Over the next three years, they will be increasing their efforts in helping to decrease infant mortality by addressing issues related to reducing preterm birth, improving mental health services for women, and stressing the importance of individuals of reproductive ages developing reproductive life plans. The Coalition will work in coordina tion with the Department of Public Health, concerned citizens and health and human service professionals to execute this plan. "More and more we are learning that infant mortality is a community problem and community problems need communi ty solutions and investment," said Hunter. UNC governing board discloses pay raises to 12 campus heads BY EMERY P. DALESIO ASSOCIATED PRESS CHAPEL HILL ? Governors of North Carolina's public university system awarded pay raises of up to 20 percent to top executives at 12 of the state's 17 cam puses after consultants reported the offi cials were underpaid, documents released Monday show. Winston-Salem State University Chancellor Ellwood Robinson gets an 8 percent increase to $280,000. The University of North Carolina's Board of Governors on Monday released information on raises approved during a closed-door meeting on Friday. Consultants hired by the university sys tem's board found "the University's total compensation for its most senior execu tives was not competitive with market and did not adequately equip the University to recruit or retain top talent," a statement provided by university system officials said. Five of the 17 chancellors have been hired in the past year, seven in the past 16 months. University faculty and other employ ees received a $750 bonus but no raises this year. Gabriel Lugo, a mathematics professor at UNC-Wilmington and the chair-elect of the UNC Faculty Assembly, which represents educators across the statewide system, declined to comment Monday. Friday's Board of Governors decisions came one week after the oversight board hired former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to run the 220,000-stu dent university system at a base salary of $775,000 a year, nearly 30 percent more than the $600BOO paid to current president Tom Ross. Her salary is higher than presidents at the University of Michigan and the University of California, but lower than top leaders at Texas public universities. Spelling could be paid more if she meets incentive bonuses the governors haven't yet set for her. Overall consumer costs have increased since 2008, when the Great Recession was worsening, by 13 percent, the consultants reported. University chancellors in North Carolina received an average pay raise of 7 percent in that time. The pay raises approved Friday were made retroactive to July. l A Non Profit B01 <3) Tax Cuampt OrganUatlon. presents yfr iifiESBMBtTs m MfT ^ i2Nmm?4FM if 7 Pman Grwak Partway Sam 192 Wmiun Uimm. 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