This is a breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This is a breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This is a breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This is a breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

This ia breakout session from the Rural Communities Initiative Academy.

Academy Agenda, Speaker Bios, and Map of Sites

This Webinar included presentations from Charles Rutkowski and Chris Zeilinger, Community Transportation Association of America; Mary Leahy, Senior Director, Easter Seals Project ACTION; David Schnieder, Program Specialist, Federal Transit Administration; and Nichole Goldsmith, Director, National Rural Transit Assistance Program.

As part of the Rural Communiities Initiative, Washington County, Maine conducted a Soft Skills and Employability Site Exchange.

The North Dakota Department of Human Services/Career Options Roundtable was held in Bismarck, North Dakota from May 5-6, 2009. Attendees included representatives from seven Rural Communities Initiative sites as well as administrators and case management staff from Career Options, Inc. Based on Career Options’ presentation during the Rural Communities Academy in September 2008, a number of Initiative sites requested follow-up on certain aspects of the programmatic work taking place at the organization. Specifically, sites expressed interest in Career Options’ organizational development model, child care and education programs, and case management strategies for hard-to-serve participants. With these requests in mind, the Roundtable was designed to include a series of in-depth breakout sessions that focused on the unique tools and case management approaches utilized by Career Options. In addition, as a way to show the diversity of Career Options’ caseload, Roundtable attendees participated in a site visit to the Standing Rock Reservation where they visited with case management staff and toured the Reservation. During the close-out session, attendees discussed their next steps for taking strategies from this Roundtable and replicating them in their local areas.

The Rural Transportation Roundtable was held January 27-28, 2009 in Charleston, West Virginia. Attendees included representatives from seven of the Rural Communities Initiative Sites and various content specialists. One of the key challenges and issues facing rural TANF agencies and organizations is providing reliable and cost effective transportation. The purpose of the Rural Transportation Roundtable was for sites to learn more about additional programs in the field of rural transportation, resources on forming partnerships with local transportation stakeholders, and funding for these types of projects. Content faculty presented on lessons learned from current rural transportation models and participants had time to engage in action planning to develop programmatic and funding solutions to rural transportation challenges. Participants also conducted a site visit to the Good News Mountaineer Garage to see their service delivery model, their facilities, and meet with staff for a question and answer session.