|  | | |  | “Groundhog Day,” or “How to Terrify Voters through Perpetual Crises” | Daniel Sheehan, AFOP Executive Director January 4, 2024
Here we are again, dear reader. Congress is coming soon to deadlines to fund the government with no apparent agreement even remotely in sight.
Unless it acts, and acts soon, a significant and necessary part of the federal government will shut down in a little over two-weeks’ time, and most of the rest of it on February 2. |
| Why are we here? What can be done? For what it’s worth, here’s my two cents, although two cents won’t get you much these days. | |
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| | AFOP Leadership to Gather in New Orleans |  |
AFOP board members and senior staff will come together at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans, LA, January 30-31 to participate in AFOP’s 2024 Leadership Conference. | |
| Trusted presenters such as Ms. Laura Ibañez from the U.S. Department of Labor and Dr. Andrew Wiegand from SPR will review key policy and performance updates for NFJP. Some new faces will also be joining us, including Nypheteria Clophus from the Louisiana One Stop System and Anna Hinken from the Department of Homeland Security, to provide key info on deferred action and on WIOA partnerships.
This is the first time in recent memory that the Leadership Conference is being held outside of the Washington, DC, area. Take advantage! AFOP is still accepting registrations. | |
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| | Inside DOL | |  | USDOL Publishes 2024 H-2A Monthly AEWR | ETA recently announced 2024 H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for the H-2A program on its website.
AEWRs are the minimum hourly wage rates employers must offer to and pay H-2A workers as well as workers in corresponding employment. These new rates took effect on January 1, 2024.
While NFJP can only provide emergency services to H-2A workers, the AEWR affects NFJP-eligible farmworkers, too. If an employer hires a mix of H-2A and domestic workers, for example, domestic workers’ wage rates must match the H-2A workers’ wages for the duration of the H-2A workers’ employment. | | |  | USDOL Finalizes Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing Final Rule | The United States Department of Labor published the Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing final rule on November 24, 2023. The final rule requires that states use state merit staff for all ES services, including services provided to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. This rule reverses a policy put forward during the previous presidential administration. The final rule is effective on January 23, 2024. States have 24 months from the effective date to comply. | |
|  | USDOL Publishes Independent Contractor Final Rule | On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule revising the Department’s guidance on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
It is important that employers classify their employees properly. The misclassification of employees as independent contractors may deny workers minimum wage, overtime pay, and other protections. | |
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| | Inside AFOP | |  | AFOP Joins Letter Urging Congress to Complete FY24 Appropriations | AFOP joined 1,102 other anti-poverty advocates representing the diverse programs that support all of America to express concern about the dangers of Congress punting on its crucial fiscal year 2024 work by resorting to a full-year continuing resolution. Doing so could result in deep cuts that, according to the letter, would be “disastrous” for the capacity of the federal government “to serve the public, assist those in need, fuel innovation, and address national and global threats.” | |
|  | Coalition on Human Needs Issues Statement on Topline Appropriations Agreement and Needed Additional Work | The influential Coalition on Human Needs, in which AFOP actively participates, issued a statement on January 9th that voiced approval for the topline appropriations agreement, but expressed concern about the necessary hard work ahead and the risk that Congress might include in any final legislation objectionable policy riders, like the House-passed immigration restriction and punishment bill. | |
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| | Members’ Corner | | AFOP Board Director Patricia Stovall-Lane Recognized as Rural Champion Partner | Patricia Stovall-Lane, AFOP Board director and PathStone’s executive director for New York, Ohio and Vermont, was recognized by Rural LISC as a Rural Champion Partner at its 2023 Seminar in Coachella Valley, CA. Pat has worked for PathStone for over 20 years, and her contributions are “amazing,” said Brenda Lee Soto Colón, Vice President of Direct Services at PathStone, in a LinkedIn post announcing the award. “I can’t feel more proud of the leadership team we have in our Direct Services Division.” |
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| |  | Long-time UMOS President Retiring This Year | Lupe Martinez, President, and Chief Executive Officer of UMOS assumed the newly created title and position of President Emeritus, effective January 1, 2024.
Lupe Martinez has been with UMOS for 54 years, 49 years as President/CEO. He has been active with the AFOP board almost as long.
We will miss his leadership and influence in the AFOP community very much!
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|  | BHSSC Awarded the Prestigious Bush Prize | AFOP member Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC), the NFJP grantee in South Dakota, was one of two winners of the Bush Prize in South Dakota in 2023.
The Bush Prize celebrates organizations that are highly valued within their communities and have a track record of successful community problem solving. According to SD Community Foundation, BHSSC was found deserving of the award and prize money, in part, because it “practices innovative and collaborative processes in a number of ways in their work with schools and families across South Dakota.” | |
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| |  | Blanca Barba Celebrates 40 Years with California Human Development | In a field with high burn-out rates, you pay attention when you hear someone has been with the program for 40 years. Blanca Barba has been with the farmworker program at California Human Development (CHD) even longer than that. She started in 1979 and took one year off in the 1980s. When she came back to CHD, the clock started back at 0, meaning her true total of time served is closer to 43 years and counting.
What is the secret to Blanca’s enduring career? In an interview with AFOP she emphasized the importance of respect and hard work, as well as the constant blessing of farmworkers. | |
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| | Hill Happenings | | WIOA Could See Reauthorization in 2024 With the “Stronger Workforce for America Act” (SWAA) |
On December 8, 2023, the House Education and the Workforce Committee released the WIOA Reauthorization bill, calling it “A Stronger Workforce for America Act” (SWAA). If passed, this long-awaited bill would make key changes to WIOA, including a few affecting NFJP.
Happily, SWAA retains NFJP as a national program and increases appropriations levels by three percent. On the other hand, the legislation would reduce national program administrative cost caps from 15 percent to 10 percent to align better with the overall workforce system. |
|  | AFOP members say this change will present difficulties because administrative requirements for NFJP have not decreased. In lowering the administrative cost cap, this bill would effectively require NFJP grantees to do more with less. |
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| | | Workforce Development | |  | WIOA State Plans Due March 4th | State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) are in the process of developing their four-year Unified or Combined State Plans. A State Plan is each state’s blueprint for the continued implementation of their workforce development system. The 2024-2027 Plans are due to the Departments of Labor and Education by March 4, 2024.
SWAs must solicit information and suggestions from NFJP grantees to inform their Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP), which is an integral part of the State Plan. DOL requires that states provide a copy of the proposed AOP to NFJP grantees at least 45 calendar days before submitting their final AOP to the Department, allowing at least 30 calendar days for NFJP to review and comment.
We will have reached that 45-day benchmark on January 19, 2024. If you have not received your state’s AOP by now, reach out to your State Monitor Advocate ASAP.
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|  | HHS 2024 Poverty Guidelines Published | The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has released the updated poverty guidelines for 2024, and the official numbers demarcating who is poor in America and who is not have – predictably – have gone up. Whereas in 2023, when a family of four with an income of $45,000 was considered low-income for NFJP, that number has now risen to $46,800 in 2024.
NFJP grantees often use the poverty guidelines to determine a farmworker family’s low-income status, though DOL encourages grantees to first use evidence of public assistance to qualify applicants.
Since 2021, NFJP has been using 150 percent - and not 100 percent - of the poverty guidelines. Grantees should make sure they are reading the appropriate column (Column J) when referring to the 2024 poverty guidelines chart. AFOP secured that change in the yearly NFJP appropriations legislation. | | |
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| |  | US Unemployment Rate at Historic Lows, but Most US Workers are Unaware | The U.S. DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics released the most recent labor market numbers in January, revealing that, in December, the US employment rate held steady at 3.7 percent. This makes the average for 2023 3.6 percent, the same average rate as 2022. In a statement, the White House pointed out that “the jobless rate has been below 4 percent for 23 months in a row, an over 50-year record and indicative of the persistently tight labor market.”
And yet many US workers disbelieve or are completely unaware of these statistics. In fact, the Employment & Training Reporter reports that many are actively worried about the job market.
In a November 2023 survey, Rutgers University Heldrich Center for Workforce Development found that “67 percent of workers reported being somewhat or very concerned about the job market for those looking for work, and an equal share were concerned about job security for the employed. Forty-one percent (of the employed) were concerned about their own job security. Fifty-seven percent of all workers were concerned about the unemployment rate.” | | | AFOP Health & Safety | |  | AFOP Health & Safety Programs Year in Review | The AFOP Health & Safety Programs team has been busy serving the farmworker community through many activities, including training, national events, partnerships, the media, and more. The success of 2023 could not have been possible without the dedication of our wonderful partners and trainers. | |  | |  | New Funding Hub Available | AFOP Health & Safety has developed a new Rural Health & Safety funding hub: a directory of active funding opportunities that helps awardees develop and implement health and safety programs for rural and underserved populations.
AFOP will update the funding hub monthly. | | | Children in the Fields Campaign | |  | CIFC Contest Winner Featured on Bart Berkey Podcast | Emily Camacho, 15-year-old farmworker child and six-time winner of the AFOP CIFC Art & Essay Contest, joined AFOP CIFC Campaign Director Melanie Forti on Bart Berkey’s podcast: “Most People Don’t… But You Do!” Bart Berkey is a motivational storyteller and viral TEDx speaker who presented at AFOP’s 2023 National Conference.
Emily has been working in agriculture since she was seven years of age, helping her family pick apples and other crops in conditions ill-suited for children. Emily goes to school, helps with the chores, plays basketball, and, yes, continues to work in agriculture.
Emily eloquently shared about her experiences and challenges as a farmworker child in the interview. You don’t want to miss it. | |  | Sponsors Needed for CIFC’s 2024 Art and Essay Contest | AFOP needs support to continue the Art & Essay contest in 2024. Sponsors fund the winners’ prizes and, depending on the amount, bring one or more of the contest winners to AFOP’s National Conference. All donors receive full mention on contest promotions, social media posts, the winner’s booklet, the accompanying video, and CIFC’s website. Most importantly, supporters will have the satisfaction of knowing they have made a farmworker child very happy and helped in fostering his or her dreams of a brighter future.
If you are able to sponsor the contest, please contact Melanie Forti at forti@afop.org. | | | What We’re Reading | |  | LULAC National President Domingo Garcia issued the following statement following the news of the death of three refugees, a woman, and two children, in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, TX, days after U.S. Border Patrol was blocked from accessing portions of the U.S.-Mexico border at Shelby Park, in Eagle Pass, Texas.
"LULAC is deeply saddened by the news of the death of three refugees who lost their lives due in large part to failings in our country's border patrol policies and Texas Governor Greg Abbott's continued lack of compassion for humanitarian causes.”
LULAC has sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney for Eagle Pass to launch an investigation into possible murder, criminally negligent homicide, and child endangerment charges against those involved in the death of a mother and her two children. | |  | In a state that’s struggled with food security, shifting seasons and hotter temperatures brought on by human-caused climate change could allow Alaska farmers to grow more abundant and diverse produce. But climate change can also bring drought, pests and permafrost thaw.
And it can make weather more erratic, too. Tom Zimmer of Calypso Farm, just outside of Fairbanks, said that’s what he worries about most.
“Yes, frost-free days are increasing,” Zimmer said. “But the instability of the climate is making it probably more difficult to farm,” saying, there’s a disadvantage for every advantage that climate change brings. | | | | |
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