MGT444 Spring2012

Raising a family in this modern world of instant everything can be a gargantuan task that is quite daunting to new parents no matter what their age is. Website Name: Family Support America URL: http://www.familysupportamerica.org Website Overview: This website is to help parents gain helpful and useful tips, information, support, and connections in order for families to survive. One of the main focuses is eating healthy and staying activity. Healthy children equal happy children. Other major topics include child abuse prevention, stress, adoption tips, education, childcare, and family-work situations. Intended Audience: The intended audience is parents. Critique: I feel that this site is somewhat credible. First off the website is an .org, thus referring to the website being associated with an organization. After doing some research on my local library database, I found a couple of publications mentioning the organization, Family Support America. One example of a publications mentioned that Family Support America hosted the 10th Biennial National Conference in Chicago. (2004) There is no specific author mentioned within the website. All information of given freely though each section does mention a sponsoring source at the end. The one thing that does bother me about the website is that it does not provide supporting documentation on its points. I do not find any signs of bias on the site since the site is directed to both parents. Relationships to Work, Family, Community Class: I feel this is site is very useful in helping families adjust and deal with work-family situation. Throughout this course we have read about many hardships and stress that many different types of families endure. This site gives families different solution to their dilemma. For example, we read about the lack of quality daycare many working parents deal with. Under the education & day care it gives a parent reading how to help you choose the right place for your child.

This site was interesting. It was very simplistic compared to other sites that have been reviewed in this forum. There is some great information available, but there is a lack of enthusiasm or care. The site seems mildly depressing with the white and blue color scheme. Overall, it has great intentions, but it lacks some of the more social aspects that other similar organizations has. I feel one of the best resources are other parents or individuals that have similar experiences. We can learn from each other and support one another. Using social networking or blogs helps to foster that communication. I feel this site just misses the mark with its simplicity. Thank you for your review on this site. Joshua

Wow, I would most certainly agree with you Toni. The webpage is certainly lacking a lot of polish as well as information. The information provided has no credible sources and is very scares. I would agree with Jade that the organization seems to be a real organization, however they certainly seem to be lacking a real mission. They claim to cover everything form child abuse to divorces. Most organizations seem to focus on one aspect instead of just doing it all. The sponsored links on each page also raise some red flags. Overall, I would say this is the worst website I have seen while doing this project.

This website is a work in progress by the School of Management and Labor Relations Center for Women and Work. Their main focus areas include 1) Workforce Development, 2) Education and Career Development, 3) Women's Leadership and Advancement, and 4) Working Families. The main mission of this group is to address the advancement of women in the workplace, conduct cutting-edge research on successful public and workplace policies, provide technical assistance and programs to educators, industry, and governments, and engage issues that directly affect the living standards of New Jerseys' and the nations' working families. Gender equity projects and research is also at the heart of their mission. Overall this website is very informative for all viewers. It is a good source of information and research on a wide range of topics that deal with women, work and families. It is a credible website with much information and the capability to take donations. They have links to the Working Poor Families Project and other related blogs and organizations. I am impressed with the New Jersey Time To Care project. This is a project to offer paid leave to workers faced with family illness or crisis for a six-week period of partial wage replacement over a 12-month period. This initiative will cover leave to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child or to care for a seriously ill child, parent, spouse, domestic partner or civil union partner. This will cover all workers who have earned $143.00/per week for 20 weeks. Great for part timers who would usually only be granted unpaid leave. (This in itself is a separate website that is very informative, as well.) I like the design of the (CWW) site and the way they offer links to those who may want or need more information. The Sloan Center on Innovative Training and Workforce Development is also packed full of good information. Their link takes you to The Center of Women and Work's (CWW) Innovative Training and Workforce Development (ITW

The Center for Women and Work website is full of information to help women better themselves and their families. I like how they included their link to twitter, it shows that they are really trying to reach out to women of all generations. Kristin

Thank you for your review of this site. There is a great deal of information available with relation to women in the workplace. Diversity is important in any organization. The companies that have the strength and talent of minds from differing backgrounds and needs can anticipate factors more fully. It is refreshing to see an organization that provides so much information. I agree with Kristin that utilizing social media shows the passion they feel for their mission. I was also impressed that they had current and relevant articles available to be read and commented on by visitors. Thank you again for your presentation of this site. Joshua

Since I initially chose a website that, I didn't notice, had already been reviewed (Family and Work Institute) I decided to report on another site that helps families who work in thoroughbred racing (After all this is Kentucky Derby Week). Website Review: The Race For Education (RFE) helps families who typically earn low wages and work long hours in the Thoroughbred industry, send their children to college. The website is user friendly and offers information on the mission and fundraising efforts of the Thoroughbred Industry. Their mission is to provide mentoring, tutoring and partnership, along with financial support, with the ultimate goal of making sure students are successful in life and become an asset to their community. Although the majority of the students involved in The Race For Education program come from high risk and extreme need backgrounds, the graduation rate is over 70%, while the national average is about 50%, and 90 % of RFE students make the dean's list. The organization is managed by a volunteer board of directors and an executive committee with both professional and academic experience. Approximately 75% of its funding comes from private individuals and foundations and is 25% federally funded. The organization also receives an annual contribution that covers all operational expenses. This allows 100% of the contributions received to go directly to student programs and services. The Race For Education's primary source of funding is the Racehorse Nomination Program, in which horse owners donate a percentage of their racehorses' earnings to the scholarship program. Annual fundraisers include The Race For Education 5K/10K Run, held in beautiful Midway, Kentucky, each October; and the Thoroughbred Charities of America Stallion Season Auction in December. In looking at the Board of Directors the organization and website is maintained by people who work and actively participate in the racing industry. Key areas of the site include fundraising and

(continued)....scholarship opportunities, Equine Programs and Vet schools,News and Current Events. There isn't a political agenda, just an industry that wants to take care of their own and ensure a good future. The site lists success stories and is credible. My own Thoroughbred racehorses have contributed to helping students with tuition at the University of Kentucky and at Auburn. It is refreshing to see a private industry successfully intercede to provide funding for their possible future participants.The general public may be interested in this website, however I think it may be limited to families in the Thoroughbred Industry.

Thank you for your review of this site. I am impressed by this organization. Many of the sites we have reviewed five information on how to help or publish documents related to a particular topic. This organization aims to assist families with scholarships and educational expenses. Many parents work multiple jobs and late hours not only to help their family make ends meet, but many do so to provide much needed funds for post secondary education. I was also impressed that due to some donors, 100% of the contribution go toward the organizations goal. Thank you for reviewing this site and introducing this organization. Joshua

Website Overview: This website is intended to make resources available to employers and employees on how to make the workplace both supportive and effective. WFC Resources believe that the secret behind thriving businesses is a work setting with a twofold program. This program includes achieving business goals and creating a program that allows employees to meet their personal responsibilities. WFC Resources also offers consulting and training to help businesses and employees accomplish that objective. Their consulting and training is offered on-site and on-line which make the resources readily available. The on-line site is laid out in a simple format that is easy to navigate. They offer many resources available through articles that are free to download; products that one can purchase that contain e-courses on creating a work/family balance; reports and external resources.
This site seems to have much credibility. To support their credibility WFC Resources created the Work-Life Clearinghouse that over the last 20 years has tracked and wrote about the history and current practices in the workplace. In addition, the WFC Resources are active in the improvement of the industry through networks and society initiatives. For two years, the company has led the "When Work Works" program in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul which is part of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Workplace Excellence. Furthermore, the resources offered through this site are used by many fortune 500 companies listed on their website. Their track record, their presence within many corporations and their community involvement testify of their credibility.

Lisa, The WFC Resources Organizational Wellness website seems to be organized really well. I liked how they are not shy about who they are helping, by showing the list of their clientele. It shows that they were proud of their work. Also, I like how they have a "Latest News" section because it shows that they want to keep their audience informed. Kristin

Thank you for your review of this site. Often, many sites and available information is aimed at the individual to create a work-family balance. This site aims to help create balance by working with the employer as well. In this fashion, the company becomes more family friendly and helps to be a resolution to family imbalance, rather than a problem. In addition, I like the way they had videos that demonstrated their programs. They also had a great deal of information available discussing the difficulty of work-family imbalance. Their contact information was easily visible for any employer that wished to take advantage of their services. It seems they have created a balanced approach and have had success implementing their ideas to employers. Thanks again for your review. Joshua

The workplace flexibility 2010 website advocates for "the development of a comprehensive national policy on workplace flexibility." They strive to bring attention to the workplace flexibility offer links to resources that discuss specific concerns or legislation in more detail. The site has workplace flexibility issues broken down amongst several categories, including: stakeholders, families and caregivers, military families, older workers, low wage workers, people with disabilities, and employers. The site is a public policy initiated at Georgetown Law. The site is intended to be a continually updated site that aims to "lay the groundwork for implementation of meaning workplace flexibility policy solutions." It is part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's National Initiative on Workplace Flexibility. The material available is discernible by any audience and is meant to generate support and inform those who are concerned. There is not an expectation of higher learning to understand the sites position or material.

Although there is a great deal of valuable information, the site mainly is an archived list of websites that relate to a specific concern. The events section has not been updated since 2010 and the news article section was last updated in August of 2011. Since the website is sponsored by Georgetown Law, it does maintain some credibility, but it lacks proper updating and true independent thought. If the visitor was looking for information on the effect of workplace inflexibility in a particular sector of the economy, as previously discussed, they will find a great deal of website resources at their disposal. The main accomplishment of the organization is a paper that was published in 2010 discussing a variety of issues related to workplace inflexibility and outlined several possible remedies for the issue. The organization does not offer direct support to any particular political party or to any support to a particular advocacy group. They simply state the concern, outline the problem, and address possible solutions and links to find additional information. Therefore, it does not appear that any bias exists.

There was some additional information concerning work, family, and community that Workplace Flexibility 2010 addressed that I had not previously considered. Often many of us relate work-family issues to a traditional job or career. The site addresses this concern in relation to military personnel. Our discussions concerning workplace inflexibility mainly dealt with the inability of a parent to get time off to care for a child who is sick, or dual earning income families that are unable to attend to a child before or after school. In general, solutions to these concerns typically include reduced hours, greater flexibility of hours, ability to work at home, or parents working differing shifts. In military families, the imbalance becomes even more widespread. An active military member could be deployed for over a year and often, longer than that. This creates an additional strain on the family. The community and family are instrumental in assisting these families. I had not previously considered inflexibility with relation to active military personnel. Overall, the site is well-designed and encompasses a great deal of information and resources available for the workplace inflexibility concern. I would argue that the site needs to be continuously updated and provide statuses on the progress made with respect to the issue in the sectors they outline.

The family Caregiver Alliance is an organization dedicated to giving a public voice for the caregivers; those who use their time outside of work to care for "loved ones with Chronic, disabling health conditions." The site provides more than advocacy and support. It presents educational materials, valuable information and research as well. "The Family Caregiver Alliance was the first community based nonprofit in the country to address the needs of families and friends providing long-term care at home." The site aims to address the concerns and support those who care for their loved ones in a diminished capacity. They offer information for public seminars, online webinars, and workshops that address specific needs. The Family Caregiver Alliance website is intended directly for those families and individuals that provide at home care for an individual in a severe diminished capacity. Although many of the seminars and newsletters address specific concerns in San Francisco and California, many of the topics and articles are relevant in every state. It provides information on how to communicate to doctors, how to take care of you as a caregiver, and provides information on more specialized care such as nursing homes, behavior specialist, and assisted living centers. It also creates a forum within seminars and webinars for individuals to communicate with others that are experiencing similar challenges and concerns. It offers online, unmoderated forums for open discussion from caregivers. They also offer support groups as well.

The Family Caregiver Alliance website is very professional, functional, and straight forward. The site is quite legitimate, publishing newsletters, articles, and sponsoring events to address the concerns caregivers face. Their list of sponsors and endorsements include AARP, the Administration on aging, the Archstone Foundation, and several California counties and California based organizations. Although they do not have a stated bias or affiliation to any political party, they do address that family care giving creates a lessening dependency on Medicaid and encourages the administration to support an agenda that addresses family caregiver concerns. . The site also details the eligibility criteria for each state's programs to assist caregivers in an easy to read chart. It is designed to be very user friendly and informational.

Elder care has become a more severe concern as the baby boomer population ages. Many of this generation are expected to be within the retirement phase anywhere from 20 to 40 years. With the increase in medical expenses and the increase in life expectancy, many families rely on their children to provide care and support for that aging generation. This time commitment can create a strain on the already complicated work-family balance. An interesting section concerned states legislation with respect to care giving. In the state of Illinois, "HB 493 (enacted 2003) Appropriated funds for senior caregivers of adult disabled children. It is informative to have knowledge of public assistance programs that may be available to help a family. Government and private industry often have policies and programs that are aimed to assist families in need with support, but the lack of knowledge regarding the programs often allows an individual in need to overlook the opportunity. Overall, the site is informative, clean, updated, and user friendly. There is plenty of information, but it is organized in an easily discernible fashion. There is a host of resources for further information and a variety of programs designed to inform and involve the caregiver with others that are in similar circumstances.

Part 1: The URL: http://www.momsrising.org/ A brief overview of the website: This website is a network of people, united by the goal of building a more family-friendly America. This sites major campaign is M.O.T.H.E.R.S. This stands for M= Maternity & Paternity Leave O= Open Flexible Work T= Toxics H= Health Care for All E= Early Care and Education R= Realistic & Fair wages S= Sick Days, Paid. One of the tabs is take action. This tab breaks down the M.O.T.H.E.R.S. campaign and how people can help in the efforts. This ranges from designing your own ONEsie to sending a letter to congress. The next major tab is M.O.T.H.E.R.S This tab provides stories about each letter. As well as the facts, articles, what someone can do to help, and moms who are blogging about that subject matter. This site also includes In The News tab and Media tab. These tabs have press releases and videos relating to the M.O.T.H.E.R.S campaign. There are vast list of articles coming from sources like CNN, Parents Magazine, and Bloomberg. The intended audience: This site is geared mostly towards working mothers, but it also addresses families in general. Their big campaign is from the word mother, but their goal is for everyone. They want to change the world into a family friendly one. This is open to the public and very accessible and relatable for anyone with a family.

Part 2: Credibility: This site seems to be very creditable. They do their research on legislation, and get articles from creditable sources. For example in the toxic information they have a campaign for the safe chemicals act of 2011. Their creditable sources include sites such as CNN, Bloomberg, ABC news, and more. It does not seem biased. It offers any information that relates to their common goal. They do not seem to care where the source is from as long as it has useful and important information about their goal. They research legislation, and keep up to date on anything that affects families. General observations and relation to Work, Family & Community: In looking at this site it is very apparent that they are serious about their goal. They want to create a family friendly world, and have different outlets for people who want to do the same. They have many articles, and blogs as well as actually ways to get people involved in the campaign. This relates to Work, Family & Community because it addresses the major objectives in favor of families. Most of the objectives have to deal with the work-family balance. It also involves the community by offering ways to reach out and help. It is a national campaign linked to articles, blogs, videos, and information to help people towards the family friendly work environment and policies.

I really like this site. This site keeps me and others updated on issues that affect many people. It is also nice to know that the issues mentioned are being addressed and that many people share common ideals and goals. Mom's Rising is bringing awareness as well as bringing solutions to the table. These women seem to have life figured out... family comes first. I think we all can learn a lot from these women and the issues that affect our daily family and work lives.

Focus on the Family http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ This website focuses on family issues beyond work/family issues including; marriage, parenting, life challenges, faith and social issues. Focus on the family also has a radio broadcasts, websites, simulcasts, conferences, interactive forums, magazines, books, counseling and much more. Their mission statement is "To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide." And their vision is to redeem families, communities, and societies worldwide through Christ. This organization has a value statement which emphasizes value on evangelism, marriage, children, human life, social responsibility, and the individuality of both male and females. This is a large not for profit organization with a 2010 asset and liability of just over $82 million. Obviously Focus on the family is a Christian based organization which targets mainly Christians. All materials are accessible to the general public and seem be easy to understand. Focus is a politically active organization and highly influential in our countries policies. This is a highly legitimate organization with many contributors from all walks of life. This organization was founded by a world renowned child psychologist, Dr. James Dobson Ph.D. I learned that this site has a treasure trove of information and help with raising children. As a working father myself, and a product of parents who lacked in both parenting skills and communication, I had a rough time trying to train my own children. Without the proper training on child raising or even how to deal with your spouse in hard situations, we find ourselves working longer hours to stay away from the problems at home. Although this site might not be interesting for everyone because of its outspoken Christian beliefs, one cannot deny that getting educated on p

Focus on the family is a great source! The cite provides a lot of useful advice and I have heard them on the radio many times. Definitely one to trust. Nice work.

What a great pick for a review... one I would not have thought of, but very appropriate. I think so many times I think of the work family conflict of only having solution at work, but the solution can come at home when one chooses the life they want to lead.

Website Overview: This site was founded by a foundation founded in 2001 called Corporate Voices for Working Families. The foundations goal is to help shape conversations and collaborate on public and corporate policy issues involving families. Throughout this site you can browse and find information about the foundation, as well as their work, their policies, partnerships, publications, news and events. They have worked on such policies as the Workforce Investment Act, tax policies and flexible spending. These policies help the worker and thus help the home. In addition, the publications and toolkits focus are focused on four topics: workforce readiness, work and family balance, workplace flexibility and family economic stability. This site appears be very creditable as they have documented work and they are nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Their main goal is to be a voice to corporations in explaining what workers desire and thus return a dedicated worker. This foundation also reaches out to the government for their support on different family/work issues. One thing I did not find in the site is their accomplishments they have earned by this collaboration. Intended Audience: Business owners, members of the Government and any working individual. Relationship to Work, Family, and Community Class: This site's main goal is to bring about a healthy balance in the workplace as well as at home. Through mediating between corporations and the government this organization is seeking to provide a better home and work life. Other Comments: I found the publications very interesting, especially the Family Economic Stability publication.

http://www.eap.partners.org/default.asp This website is a resource for employees who are employed by the affiliated healthcare facilities that provides support for a wide range of issues from balancing work and family, marital concerns, child and elder care resources, substance abuse, financial and legal concerns among other things. The intended audience is any employees that work for the network of healthcare facilities that the website is facilitated by. By looking around on the website, I could tell that it was specifically for these employees; however, there are resources on the website that are available to everyone in the form of questions and answers. The website seems to be a good source of information as a resource for employees that are dealing with difficult situations in their life. This website also provided links to many governmental websites as further resources. The website is a .org so it is more reputable. This website seems unbiased because there are no advertisements. This website did not seem to have a political or social agenda. This website seemed right on point in regards to many of the difficult situations that we learned about in this class in regards to Work, Family & Community. There were resources for child care, elder care, and mental health, as well as some other valid issues in family life such as military life and veterans.

Website Overview: The Families and Work Institute is a think-tank organization based on non-profit efforts to critically review the emerging issues of family, work and community. They are action oriented while also conducting massive amount of research in challenging traditional mindset and blending conventional approaches. The non-partisan organization generates research then utilizes it to build the work and family model through awareness and support. Intended Audience: The purpose of this website is to reach men and women in the efforts to communicate issues and best practices for working families. The intended audience are all those affected by work-family issues despite age, race, gender or culture. Critique: Families and Work Institute is a great resource for those battling the work-family struggles that affect our daily lives. The website is very well put together with every link I used fully functional and supported with information. As I explored the website I didn't feel like there was any unnecessary information. The newsroom portion of the website which gave updates on current events was a bit out dated however the appropriate links were in place to direct visitors to other non-profit programs. . It was a well planned out website with limited links which helped keep the site from feeling overwhelming. Overall the information on the website was appropriate and easy to follow. Relationship to work, family, community, class: The Families and Work Institute are committed to their mission of researching and creating awareness of emerging family-work issues. They insist on driving their agenda, on doing work they truly believe in, on doing work of the highest quality and on achieving results. There challenge is that, together and with help, they can maintain commitment to excellence in providing research assist those in the work family circle Other comments: I was impressed with this website both with the setup of the overall website and communi

continued..Past project reports are available for purchase. There has also been research done involving the elderly and family caregivers. I was not aware of the amount of research this institute performs until I accessed the projects pages and saw that the list of past and current topics is somewhat significant. The most interesting research is the ongoing study on the changing workforce that currently compiles research from the last 20 years. I also learned that the healthcare industry offers the best flexibility work schedule options to their workers. Manufacturing, Hotel and Restaurant businesses offer the least flex scheduling options.

This is a pretty good site, They seem to do important work, with our ever changing economy and jobs going to foreign countries, it is very important to have an organization other than the government studying the cause and effects of the system around us. the site was easy enough to find my way around. I plan to look at it a little more.

Inspired by Secretary Clinton's leadership, No Limits Foundation is a non-partisan, non-political organization which aims to help "make the case" that foreign policy matters, and that an active and engaged America working with allies around the world will help to build the safe and secure future we want for our children.

No Limits foundation http://nolimits.org/ As per their about us page "No Limits Foundation is a non-partisan, issues-based organization that enables members to stay informed and active on a range of domestic and international policy issues through information, education, and advocacy." The three main issues this site overviews are "stronger communities, a safer and secure world, and human rights home and abroad." Under the "stronger communities" section there is a link to work family issues and in the work family issues section you will find issues that relate to and were covered by our class to include better leave policies for American families and greater support for caregivers to name a few. This site was easy enough to navigate, simple yet effective. There are many links to supporting sites who are working on such issues for the working families. This site claims to be inspired by our own Hillary Clinton but doesn't really point to how much the Secretary of State is involved, if any at all. As for an intended audience, this site would work for anyone wanting to get involved with their core issues or research information on these issues. In this case, less is more. I liked the site, it was relevant and informative.

CELF A UCLA Sloan Center 341 Haines Hall Box 951553 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553 Mailcode: 155303 Phone: (310) 267-4262 . Website Name: UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families URL: http://www.celf.ucla.edu/ Website Overview: This website is directed to help behavioral science professionals "study how working parents and their children approach balancing challenges." (UCLA, Center on Everyday Lives of Families) The research posted on this site is very detailed of basic everyday living. The four focused areas are detailed, ethnographic research of the middle working class, digital archive of everyday family life, research training opportunities, and public dialogue on working family life. Intended Audience: Professional in the behavioral science field. Critique: I find this site to be credible. First off its URL ends in .edu which means that it is a part of an educational site. After doing some research, this site is part of Sloan Centers on Working Families. There are five other centers located throughout the United States at various reputable universities. The faculty and the staff that tend to this website belong to various educational departments in UCLA. I do not feel that this site was built in bias because it is a site that contents research data. This site does have a particular social agenda in which it feels that it can create a more balance world for all. I can say that I am comfortable in the level of supporting documents that the website displays. It has a particular tab on research and working papers. Relationships to Work, Family, Community Class: The main focus of this course is to recognize the imbalances that working families endure and think up with a solution to help ease their negative issues. I feel this site would prove beneficial in helping working parents and their children with their challenges. These resolutions are found by observing basic everyday lives.

Good review, I found this website to be informational and purpose driven. This site does a great job of demonstrating it's objectives through research and actionable goals.