Events > Advocacy

Useful Links

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network

Episcopal Public Policy Network

Maryland General Assembly

ECSM’s advocacy work reflects that of the Diocese of Maryland and the Episcopal commitment to social justice and public policy issues before the Maryland General Assembly. Participating actively in this network will enable us to respond to our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace for all people.

 ECSM’s advocacy work focuses on the issues that are most important to our program participants:

• Affordable housing
• Education
  
• Universal access to healthcare
• Reintegration services, both pre-and post-release from  prison

Homelessness in Baltimore

• There are an estimated 3,000-6,000 homeless people in Baltimore on any given night. More than half have been incarcerated during their lifetime. The majority or 62% of the children are age eight or under.
  http://www.Baltimorestation.org/issues/homelessness
  
• The primary causes of homelessness are attributed to: lack of affordable housing, lack of adequate income, lack of health insurance and a lack of adequate discharge planning from public institutions. http://www.hchmd.org/2005BaltimoreCityHomelessCensus.pdf

The Impact of Homelessness Amongst Preschool-Age Children

By the age of 3, children whose parents were professionals had vocabularies of about 1100 words. Children whose parents were on welfare had vocabularies of 525 words. "If poor children are going to catch up, they will require not the same education...but one that is considerably better; they need more time in class...better trained teachers and a curriculum that prepares them...intellectually for the challenges ahead of them."(Tough, Paul, "What it Takes to Make a Student," New York Times, Nov. 26, 2006).

"Poor and non-poor children who fail to achieve their full academic potential are more likely to enter adulthood without the skills necessary to develop into highly productive members of society able to compete effectively in a global labor market. Less skilled, less productive, and earning less, when these children become adults they will be less able to contribute to the growth and development of the U.S. economy."
(http://www.epi.org/printer.cfm?id=2671&content_type=1&nice_name=book_enriching, p8)

Rebuilding A Life After Incarceration

Preparing Baltimore’s ex-offenders for the demands of a knowledge- and skill-based economy is a challenging task. Each year, nearly 9,000 ex-offenders return to Baltimore City facing many concurrent problems: addictions, lack of housing, low-educational attainment, and limited family support. One of the most difficult barriers to successful re-entry is sustainable employment.

Employment support services are crucial to formerly incarcerated persons. Job creation among the formerly incarcerated population is particularly challenging. Prior to prison, many men did not complete high school or hold sustainable jobs. While in prison, the use of technology flourished and imprisoned men were left behind to become part of the technological divide. After release, many men are not prepared to write a resume on a computer or respond to an on-line job listing. The Jericho Program seeks to provide rapid attachment to work services to formerly incarcerated men. There is a correlation between employment and staying out of prison. Studies have found that the combination of legitimate employment, positive social networks and daily routines are significant factors that boost employment and reduce recidivism. (Dan Bloom, Employment-Focused Programs for Ex-Offenders, MDRC Building Knowledge to Improve Social Policy, July 2006.

Education, After-School Programs  and Community Arts Programming

The National Endowment for The Arts states: “A  high quality education in the arts opens a critical gateway to a lifetime of appreciation and engagement. For two reasons, learning in the arts is an indispensable part of American education: 1.) children celebrate and participate in their cultural inheritance, and 2.) academic and social maturity follows directly from arts education experience.”
http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/GAP08/LITA.html

Since 1996, The Club has offered free after-school and summer enrichment programs to young people struggling with the impact of a community beset by poverty, addiction and low educational attainment. The Club operates 10.5 months of the year: during the school year from 4:30-6:00 pm and for six weeks during the summer from 9:00-3:00.