PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 - (Page 26)

SIGnATURE PRoJECT UPDATE DLA Piper attorneys meeting with representatives of Head Start Programs revising personnel policies. Labor and employment lawyers from offices around the country have been tapped to provide advice on these matters. Additionally, many programs have asked the firm to provide corporate governance training to their boards of directors and to help develop and institute effective governance strategies. Finally, with the help of PwC, the Head Start programs receive financial consulting services. Collectively, DLA Piper, PwC and Lawyers Alliance are also working directly with ACS to address several system-wide budgetary issues and ultimately hope to propose innovative policies that will alleviate some of the budgetary strains on both ACS and individual Head Start programs. An ExAMPLE oF oUR HEAD START WoRK The Ft. George Community Enrichment Center, Inc. (Ft. George) was established in 1981 to serve families in Washington Heights, the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan. The organization operates a Head Start program at two sites that provide educational services to 346 children and social services to their families. Ft. George also sponsors Free to Grow, a national model development program established to strengthen communities threatened by substance abuse; Transition Project, a collaboration with Community School District 6 to ease the transition process into public school; Mott Hall Volunteers, a program through which academically gifted middle school students volunteer in the classroom; a Work Experience Program that provides work experience to parents on public assistance; and an Expanded Food Nutrition Program, a partnership with Cornell University Cooperative extension that offers training in healthy food choices, menu planning and low-fat food alternatives. John Phelan leads a team that is working with Ft. George to review and amend its bylaws and personnel policies and to create and adopt whistleblower and conflict of interest policies. PwC has also worked with Ft. George to clarify cost allocation procedures. WoRKSHoPS AnD SEMInARS The training and education programs offered as part of the signature project have been a huge boon to the success of the project. Lawyers Alliance and DLA Piper hosted three Head Start Law and Finance Days for 38 Head Start programs and 10 representatives from ACS. PwC professionals brought their expertise in accounting and corporate management to the training sessions, and they are also participating in ongoing work with clients. Each Law and Finance Day included an opening plenary session and break-out sessions on governance, employment law and fiscal management. Every organization that attended the event completed an organizational assessment tool. A DLA Piper lawyer then reviewed the tool and met with the program representatives to discuss the group’s needs. HoW DoES HEAD START FIT InTo THE ACCESS To EDUCATIon PRoJECT? The Head Start Project is one of three components of the signature project, Access to Education. The other two components are direct representation at hearings of New York City public school students who have been either denied special education services or suspended from school and a policy component that focuses on broader educational and day care issues facing New York City children. 26 | PRO BONO BULLETIN

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 Contents A Firm Response to a Natural Disaster Protecting Our Electorate National News An Interview with Sandy Gohn Mapping Impact FourThought Signature Project Update New Perimeter Launches Addis Ababa Law School Project Awards and Recognition What Our Clients Say About Us

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

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