MGT444 Spring2012

The Center for the Child Care Workforce URL: www.ccw.org Website Overview: This website is intended to help the education workforce develop leadership and advocacy skills intended to affect the available assets and applicable policies that effect early childhood development and education. The website advocates "having a seat at the table" where decisions and policy are made that effect the overall operations, policy standards, and programs of the education system. Intended Audience: The site clearly states in its mission statement that the intended audience is the educators, administrators, and all those directly connected to the education system as a staff member. The material is accessible to the general public and for the educational workforce. It seeks to tie the two together as more of teacher-parent education than a niched website strictly for the education workforce. This is evidenced by many parent focused sections included in the educator sections. Relationship to Work, Family, & Community: This website is relevant to the class in that it focuses on the early education of children and community projects that might be beneficial to helping them develop skills during their education and also advocate for the home and after school programs available to them. Credibility: This is a front for a union operation that seeks to advocate for the wages and benefits of the educator. While there is some subtle delivery of policies and programs that seems very beneficial to all, there are certainly strings attached for the union to be able to benefit. There are several different areas related to wages, tax revenue, and how to squeeze more money out of the government to fund programs related to education - all with a nice little bump for the teachers union. There are also areas of the website related to "supporting" the website and the union through monetary giving. Areas also exist to organize protest rallies, sit-ins, and days off to educate teac

John- I definitely agree that there are other interests at stake here than just the development of early childhood education policies. It looks like the group started out as an unaffiliated proponent of early childhood education and later merged with the AFTEF (nonprofit educational arm of the American Federation of Teachers) after its move from California to Washington, D.C. (surprise, surprise) Hopefully they continue their advocacy work as a neutral party advocating greater need for early childhood education. But, as you state, the website seems less intent on organizing such advocacy efforts and more interested in propagating the union's interests in greater compensation levels for its membership in the early childhood sector. Excellent research on your part. Yours, Mike

Hi John, While I agree that there is linkage to the teachers federation, it seems that there is a strong on enabling child care by focusing on providing support mechanisms for those who are in the profession. I think the credibility is valid in that it is trying to focus on establishment of programs that will reduce turnover, improve compensation, quality and improve public awareness. One of the challenges we face, and it was noted in our studies, are credible, reliable child care programs. There are no easy answers, and while we are challenged to pay for child care, finding quality child care is just as much of a problem. Good research Mitch

Workplace Options http://www.workplaceoptions.com Workplace Options sums up its company mission in one, concise statement: "Strengthening workplace effectiveness through employee engagement and support." From the website, "Workplace Options is a leader in customized work-life and employee support benefits to EAPs, individual companies, government employees, universities, hospitals and other organizations, all over the world. "Currently serving over 32.5 million employees worldwide, Workplace Options has 30 years of experience as a leading work-life services provider, and more than 15 years of experience innovating EAP services outside the U.S. "Founded in Raleigh, NC in 1982, we began our company by providing work-life consulting and training to corporations - including work-life needs assessments, policy development, implementation, and corporate on-site child care center design and development. Then in 1997, we launched a new business model that focused exclusively on providing resource and referral solutions to EAP and third-party organizations. That change allowed Workplace Options to better leverage its expertise in dependent care and convenience referrals and to partner directly with clients to develop and deliver innovative work-life products and services." The website's information regarding the management team at Workplace Options reveals a very strong management team with a wealth of talent and experience in the EAP services industry. Credibility stems from such talented managers as Mary Ellen Gornick, a nationally recognized expert in the employee assistance and work-life industry and Rita Piper, with 30 years experience as a work-life/wellness professional, trainer, project administrator, account manager and sales executive. Workplace Options website brings availability of services to the web in an on-demand capacity. Some of the services provided include dependent care assistance, support for care of an elderly relative, and a compr

Workplace Options website brings availability of services to the web in an on-demand capacity. Some of the services provided include dependent care assistance, support for care of an elderly relative, and a comprehensive work-life website with a comprehensive library of online resources for a wide variety of issues around parenting, elder care, relationships, wellness, work, and everyday life. Further, content includes over 5,000 regularly updated articles, 45 financial calculators, 70 interactive health and emotional health assessments, 77 streaming audio, and over 300 video files covering a range of health and emotional health topics, over 100 ready to use legal documents, and 92 SkillBuilder online training programs. Homepage content such as featured articles and polls are updated monthly, and website resources are reviewed and updated daily. Users can also take advantage of 9 interactive self-search locators for: child care, elder care, adoption, education, pet sitting, private and public colleges, volunteer opportunities, and attorneys. In addition, webinars are available each month on a different work-life topic. Previous webinars are archived for easy download. A Spanish version of the Advantage Work-Life Website is also available. Workplace Options is more of a globally-based provider than Deer Oaks (my first website review) is. As such, I feel that the nature of their programs is more universal and less company- generated than that of Deer Oaks' programs. However, the work-life website could be a good starting point for members to understand the options available in dealing with their own personal work-life issues.

Interesting review Michael. As I looked at the site, I found it similar to Work and Family Conflict, another site that essentially is in business to sell employers methods to make employees more efficient. While establishing the basis for driving employee engagement, it does so on the employees back. Selling employers tools they can use to garner the best employees, while at the same time also laying a foundation to minimize their overall impact. For myself, the credibility of this site is lacking as it has the employer in mind more than the employee. Work Life balance is a product that can be bought and sold. Mitch

Website Name: Family Life Project URL: http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~flp/index.cfm Website Overview: The Family Life Project focuses their study on child development, particularly on children living in rural areas. This project is interesting as it follows the lives of a number of children from birth through their second grade school. Specifically, they are focusing on the temperament and the competence of the children, as well as, any outside factors that affects children from low-income families. Intended Audience: The intended audience for the Family Life Project is both families and educational organizations. Critique: The Family Life Project is a joint study amongst The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Penn State University, the National Institute of Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The website provides a detailed list of the key staff responsible for overseeing the study, which leads to the sites credibility. The site offers a brief overview of the study, but provides little in the way of detailed information. Although, the site provides a fair amount of information under the FAQ link, the user will have to search the various organizational links provided. Overall, the information within the site is easy to understand and the website itself is simple to navigate.

The website is easy to navigate, but information seems to be limited, and out of date. The last recorded newsletter or update i could find was from 'Winter 2009". This report detailed some results from their 48 month study, but it would be interesting to see what kind of metrics they found at 60 months, and even 72.

The site is interesting but if the community knows certain children are being "followed", I believe that will throw off the results of their studies. However, it is good for the community because they are coming together for their children...just as a community should. I wish neighborhoods were a little more like they were in the old days when it was safe to walk down the street.

Website Name: Military Family Research Institute URL: http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/mfri/public/Default.aspx Website Overview: Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) recognizes the challenges and sacrifices military families endure due to deployments and relocations. Their mission is to strengthen community involvement, support educational goals, and to create policies and programs the help support and improve the quality of life for military families. Intended Audience: The intended audience is both civilian and military families living in Indiana, and throughout the United States. Critique: The website is credible as it is an extension of Purdue University. There are several links that provide access to ongoing research studies, not-for-profit organizations, and several partners of MFRI, such as, Career Learning and Employment Center for Veterans with Disabilities (CLEC). They do not appear to be selling or advertising products. The website is full of useful information and seems aimed at educating its intended audience. Relationship to work, family, community class: MFRI seems to understand the struggles that military families face and are actively trying to lessen some of their burdens, especially with education. There are several links to grants and higher education programs made available to military families. Also, MFRI actually offers a $1500 grant to community organizations that work toward helping military families. Other comments: I liked that MFRI are actively working with military families to see where they can use a helping hand. For example, based on communications with military families, MFRI created a report discussing the challenges that veterans often face when being introduced to the college environment. They took initiative and are trying to make the transition from military life to civilian life easier on these individuals and their families.

How can you go wrong with a website that opens to "Operation: Hire A Hoosier Vet Career Fair"! The Veterans Administration estimates that there are more than 22.7 million US veterans today. http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/quickfacts/Population-slideshow.pdf I believe that with the end of hostilities in Iraq, and as the draw down in Afghanistan looms, we will see more returning vets facing an stagnant economy, and its good to know there are resources available for aiding in the process of re-integration.

One thing I noticed is that the site lists five goals, but doesn't really say how they plan to reach them. They should tell what they're doing to reach these goals. Also, like you mentioned, these deployed military members will be coming back to a stagnant economy; how do they intend to address that? If they are finishing their time in the military, they're going to need jobs. We don't exactly have many jobs right now, so I think this should be the major concentration.

Website Name: Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) URL: www.aafcs.org Website overview: This websites vision is "AAFCS is recognized as the driving force in bringing people together to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities." The website tries to provide leadership and support to professionals who work with or assists families and communities. They work to help families and communities make informed decision about their "well being, relationships and resources to achieve optimal quality of life." The members consist of educators, human service and business professionals, administrators and managers, researchers, and community volunteers. They assist by offering affiliate memberships, journals, networking and leadership opportunities, conferences and research grants. They do this by connecting professionals with different practices and provide researched-based knowledge about everyday life topics. The organization was founded in 1909. Intended Audience: Business professionals that work with families and communities. To see some of the information on the website you have to become a member. Relationship to work, family, community class: I think this relates to the class by offering information to those that assist us. If you are a member they offer ongoing education to assist families "achieve optimal quality of life" which is pretty much all of our goals. Other comments: I found this website when I was looking up another I had seen while working. I had initially looked up Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and this was an affiliate. So I clicked the link and read through the information. This website seemed to be authentic and credible, when you type in their name there is a hit in the online encyclopedia, it has a copy right date and give plenty of contact information. After reading and reviewing the website, I am not sure how this helps, my guess is people that want to make a change or help

Other comments: I found this website when I was looking up another I had seen while working. I had initially looked up Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and this was an affiliate. So I clicked the link and read through the information. This website seemed to be authentic and credible, when you type in their name there is a hit in the online encyclopedia, it has a copy right date and give plenty of contact information. After reading and reviewing the website, I am not sure how this helps, my guess is people that want to make a change or help their communities become members and are giving the tools and education to be able to do it more effectively. There did not seem to be any bias, just the opportunity to become a member and be connected. Looks like not all of this material made it on either.

Interesting review, Kassandra. I was fascinated to find out about the field of FCS. I had no idea of its existence. Quality of life as seen from a family-based point of view would seem to be at the core of many of the issues we discussed this semester. This seems to be a very well-designed website. I wish the organization could do a better job of making its existence known to the general public! I feel that they have alot to offer in the way of ideas and strategies for families to use in the pursuit of optimal well being. Take care, Mike

Deer Oaks- A Behavioral Health Organization http://www.deeroaks.com/ From the company's posted mission statement, Deer Oaks is a large behavioral healthcare organization offering Employee Assistance, Elder Assistance, and psychological assessment and treatment services throughout the United States. Of particular interest to our class, Deer Oaks offers Employee Assistance Program services to 'public and private companies. From the website, "founded in 1992, Deer Oaks EAP Services is a premier provider of Employee Assistance, Work/Life, and Health & Wellness Programs serving over 1 million members throughout North America. Deer Oaks offers public and private employer groups short-term counseling and work/life services that positively impact employee morale, medical claims, turnover, and supervisor effectiveness." As far as intended audience, this is a commercial website intended for the members of employer groups that subscribe to the services that Deer Oaks provides. Employees have 24-hour access to the Deer Oaks website to receive resources to balance work and family life. Through the website, employees can receive information regarding Deer Oaks services, answer self-assessment questionnaires and schedule appointments. The website features online support chats, message boards, questionnaires, monthly educational newsletters, an online library and an online magazine. The website also offers web-based seminars and information on a wide variety of topics, including wellness, family and workplace issues, financial and legal concerns. I find the website quite credible as a review of the credentials of the senior members of the organization shows them to be highly trained and qualified to perform their jobs. A number of them have received Doctorates in clinical psychology and seem well qualified to direct programs designed to assist employees attempting to balance work and life commitments. The range of assistance provided under the EAP plan is quite extensive a

The range of assistance provided under the EAP plan is quite extensive and would be an attractive benefit to anyone working for a company that sponsored such a plan. From the website, some of the services provided include: Comprehensive Diagnostic Assessments, Telephone Triage, Individual, Marital, Family, and Group Psychotherapies, Clinical Coordination and Consultation Services, Crisis Intervention Services, Supervisor/Manager Training, Psycho-Educational In-Services, Appropriate Referrals for Financial, Legal, or Health Plan Needs. Types of issues addressed through these services can include: Depression, Anxiety, Interpersonal, Familial, or Marital Conflicts, Grief: Death and Dying, ADHD and Conduct Problems, Substance Abuse, Stress Management, Childcare/Eldercare, Occupational issues, Crisis Management, Workplace Violence, Trauma: Abuse / Neglect, Domestic Violence, Financial, Health, or Legal Difficulties. Programs of particular interest include the following: Legal Assist Through Legal Assist, participants have free access to vital legal information on the Deer Oaks website, including a library of legal documents (with legal information on eldercare, domestic violence and family health) and a small claims and consumer "self-help" series, as well as access to online document preparation. Participants also have access to telephone information and services from a full service legal and financial Consumer Resource Center. Program participants are entitled to free preparation of a simple will by an attorney, and professional review of many types of legal documents. Find Now Childcare and Eldercare Program The Find Now program is designed to assist participants with caring for children and / or aging parents. The resources of this program make the search for licensed, regulated, and inspected childcare and eldercare services in each community an accessible and streamlined process. Online databases are available for searches. In addition, child and geriatric psych

Website Name: When Work Works URL: www.whenworkworks.org Website Overview: This website is dedicated to bringing research on workplace effectiveness and flexibility into community and business practices. They share this information with Employers allowing them access to the research and the ability for them to compare practices. They also share with job seekers and employees to inform them on which flex is best and how to ask for our about flex. They also share with community leaders and offer tips on how to build coalitions and movements to help get communities started. This information is open to the public for review. You get to choose what you are (employer, employee or community leader) and download helpful information. When Work Works also offers an award for "exemplary employers", it is the Alfred P Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. The website is dedicated to showing employers how flexibility can benefit them and their employees. The website states that When Work Works is a project of Families and Work Institute and The Society for Human Resource Management. Intended Audience: Employers, Jobseekers and Employees, and Community Leaders. Relationship to work, family, community class: This website offers research information to employers, employees and communities to help them understand how flexibility in the work place can work for us all. Most all of us have families and can benefit from learning how employers can be more flexible and how we as employees can obtain the flexibility from them. Other Comments: I questioned the validity of the website briefly because in one location it said the inception was in 2005 and in another it said 2004. It also mentioned partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at one time where another said the two partners I mentioned earlier. However, for contact information the emails are sent to familiesandwork.org, therefore you can truly see that they are partnered with this other work-

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Other Comments: I questioned the validity of the website briefly because in one location it said the inception was in 2005 and in another it said 2004. It also mentioned partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at one time where another said the two partners I mentioned earlier. However, for contact information the emails are sent to familiesandwork.org, therefore you can truly see that they are partnered with this other work-family resource. They also have links to the research Perhaps the date could have been a human typo or could have been referring to two different issues. The website is small, however if you click on the links for employers, jobseekers and/or employees, or community leaders there is a lot of information for them. There didn't seem to have any built in bias and yes there were links to several areas of research. Although the site seemed small and seemed to have only a little information, there were links to more information. It did not make the website seem overwhelming or full of useless information. Plus I like the fact that they had user specific downloads to offer assistance. Unlike the other website I reviewed and was unsure how they actually helped this one was pretty clear cut. I did not realize this was cut off, my apologies.

http://www.stayhitched.com/balance.htm This website is called marriage success training, with the tagline of building the foundation for your lifetime together. They sell seminars for engaged couples who want premarital counseling. They cover many issues that engaged couples encounter from cohabitation, relationships with each other's families, and even how long couples should wait following the wedding to have children. The intended audience of this website seems to be couples, who are considering marriage. Either engaged or considering getting engaged. The knowledge assumed is that you are either an engaged heterosexual couple or a newly married couple. The information on this site seems reliable as a counseling resource for couples. This website does have bias towards religion and spirituality, even though it says there is no specific religion as its basis. On the homepage there are reviews from prior users of these services. They are quoted in the New York Times, as well as seen on WNBC TV news. They are holding seminars in Chicago next spring. They have Facebook pages as well as Twitter. I looked at their Facebook page, it looks like they don't really keep up on it, and they only have 75 fans. I think that any avenue that keeps a couple communicating is a positive thing for a relationship. This website did discuss many valid points for couples that may be entering that next phase of life that would encounter. In relationship to Work, Family, and Community this website brought up many good discussion topics for couples, such as how would household work be divided, would one parent stay home with children, and many other topics that may be otherwise taken for granted in a young relationship situation.

Help! Without an associated name, I'm having trouble figuring out who amers921 is. Please identify yourself so I can give you credit for posting your website review.

An interesting website, and there are some gems of information spread throughout. I especially liked the following pages of the website... http://www.stayhitched.com/mother.htm http://www.stayhitched.com/finance.htm Two of the most stressful parts of a new marriage, the moms of the parents, and struggling with the finances!

Work-Life Blog Work-Life Program Self-Audit Categories of Work-Life Booklet Useful Links Work-Life Groups Articles and Surveys Videos Work-Life Professionals on the Move WorldatWork Bookstore About Total Rewards Work-Life Rising Star Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research

Web site review-www.awlp.org Alliance for Work-Life Progress This website addresses the work life advances from a personal standpoint, national perspetive and a global or corporate progression toward work-life (family) strategies. There are options to join the free world at work online community. There are stories from work life professionals and even stories about men and work life integration. There are several options to even go further into some other details with resources, work-life events and even awareness of national work and family month which is October. There are options to blogs, this website also have information regarding awards for onnocation and excellence in research for work-family. The intended audience for this website includes work-life professionals including professionals, employers, employees and service providers. There is information for both employees and employers for best practices and ideas for new strategies for initiatives on how to be a successful work life professional. There are several ideas for employers and employees and actual worksheets and questionnaire to evaluate or make flixible work arrangements and determining additional benefits. This web site appears to be very credible, there are no ads or promotions on this web site. There are options to join with an online community but it doesn't appear to be a solicitation for any other advertisement. There are some great tools and tips on this site as well as free e-books for workplace flexibility and some great learning options to better fit work and life together. This web site is a definate relationship with our work family and community class and would even share it with most of my work, family, and friends to help build awareness with employers as well some options for a better balance between work and home. Some of the tools offered on this site can be a start of anyones' initiative to build better bene

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URL: http://www.timeday.org Website Overview: Take Back Your Time is a major US/Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of over-work, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and environment. The purpose of the website is to bring individuals and organizations together in support of a public policy agenda to guarantee paid leave for all parents for the birth or adoption of a child, guarantee at least one week of paid sick leave for all workers, guarantee at least three weeks of paid annual vacation leave for all workers, placing a limit on the amount of compulsory overtime work that an employer can impose, making Election Day a holiday, and making it easier for Americans to choose part-time work. Intended Audience: The content on the website is geared toward individuals and organizations affected by work-family issues. It intends to speak to the needs for time poverty relief that millions of Americans share. Critique: The Take Back Your Time website is an advocacy site. Although it provides a great deal of useful information about the issue, its main purpose is to raise awareness by supporting a movement that seeks a "more balanced American life" by encouraging all types of programs to win back time, whether on a personal level or by enacting legislation locally and nationally. I found the information provided on the site to be credible. Everything is directly related to education on and support of their "Time to Care" agenda. The organizations that they partner with (the Moms Rising Web Site and www.MassCouncilOfChurches.org) show further evidence of their credibility.

John de Graaf is the national coordinator of TAKE BACK YOUR TIME, and a frequent speaker on issues of overwork and over-consumption in America. He is often a guest lecturer on college campuses. John is the co-author of the best-selling AFFLUENZA: THE ALL-CONSUMING EPIDEMIC (Berrett-Koehler, 2001/2005-now published in eight other languages as well.). He is also the editor of TAKE BACK YOUR TIME (Berrett-Koehler, 2003) and of the children's book, DAVID BROWER: FRIEND OF THE EARTH (Henry Holt, 1992). He also wrote the first chapter ("Childhood Affluenza") of the American Academy of Pediatrics' seminal book on childhood, ABOUT CHILDREN (2004). His articles have been published in dozens of magazines. John has worked with KCTS-TV, the Seattle PBS affiliate, for 24 years, as an independent producer of television documentaries. More than 15 of his programs have been broadcast in Prime Time nationally on PBS. He is also the recipient of more than 100 regional, national and international awards for film-making, including three Emmy awards. Relationship to work, family, community class: Take Back Your Time agenda relates to work, family, community class because their mission is to reduce the Time Bind and relieve the strain that families have when trying to balance work, family, and community responsibilities. The agenda is focused on uniting groups who seldom talk to each other -- family values conservatives and the women's movement, labor unions and environmentalists, clergy and doctors, advocates for social justice, enlightened business leaders and the "slow food" and "simple living" movements creating awareness of emerging family-work issues. The Agenda also recognizes that Working Americans and their families are imploding from a 24/7 workplace with no boundaries and we need time to care for our children, our families, our communities, our religious and spiritual lives, and ourselves. These are all topics that we have discussed in the course.

General Observations: A few things (statistics) that I learned about Work, Family & Community by exploring the site: -163 of 168 countries guarantee paid leave for mothers in connection with childbirth. 45 countries offer such leave to fathers. The U.S. does neither. - 139 countries guarantee paid sick leave. The U.S. does not. - 96 countries guarantee paid annual (vacation) leave. The U.S. does not - 84 countries have laws that fix a maximum limit on the workweek. The U.S. does not. - 37 countries guarantee parents paid time off when children are sick. The U.S. does not. Other comments: I thought that the website was both informative and educating. It enforces a great initiative that is based on collaboration, between individuals and organizations, to satisfy a clearly stated agenda.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is a research and public policy organization dealing with issues such as minority public policy, minority political participation and minority health policy

The website is a key tool in disseminating the in-depth research, analysis, and other resources that the Joint Center contributes to the nation's public policy discussions. Relationship to work, family, community class: The Joint Center for Political and Economical Studies relates to work, family, community class because the joint center is focused on providing a forum for discussion and policy action on issues of critical interest in the black community. The mission of the Civic Engagement and Governance Initiative is to explore new avenues for increasing and enhancing the effectiveness of political participation by minority citizens, as well as providing them with tools for civic engagement and opportunities to advance their skills. One of the topics that we covered in the class was Community which is described as being based on the idea that what we share exceeds what divides us, and that we gain more by working together than alone. The Joint Center is all about working together. General Observations: By exploring the site I learned that The Joint Center formed the National Policy Alliance. This alliance is comprised of key membership organizations representing black elected and appointed officials at every level of government to provide a forum for discussion and policy action on issues of critical interest in the black community. Today, on issues ranging from job creation and the economy to environmental concerns and equitable access for quality health care, the NPA is active and engaged in giving voice to more than 11,000 African American leaders and the millions of constituents they represent.

According to the website, the Joint Center for Political and Economical Studies is the leading national public policy institute focused on issues affecting African Americans and other people of color. The Joint Center works with legislators, policy makers, civil rights organizations, and advocacy groups to identify effective public policy solutions that ensure the inclusion of diverse voices in the national debate. Other comments: I thought that the website was both informative and educating and provides an open forum for exchange of information and ideas.

The Future of Children is an organization that focuses on the best social science research about children and youth translated into information that useful to many groups (policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, etc.). The organization is a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution. The research, articles, and other information on this site are written in non-technical terms for easy understanding by a wide range of readers. At first glance, and after a deeper dive into the site, it appears to be a credible source of information. It is free of advertisements and other marketing propaganda. As well, the collaboration between a renowned and accredited university (Princeton) and a Washington D.C.-based public policy organization (Brookings) suggest the resources available on the site are factual and reliable. There are several sub-sites to the parent site: - About: o Overall explanation of the organization, its goals and mission. o People: credentials of the varying level of contributors to the site's content. o Policies and Procedures: copyright information and guidance on how to cite content from the site. - Publications: o A wide variety of literature written by Princeton and Brookings contributors. o Includes journals, executive summaries, policy briefs, article summaries, journal highlights, and research data and figures. - Media: o Press releases, newsletters, other honorable mentions in the media. - Events: o Provides information on upcoming events hosted by, or affiliated with, the Future of Children organization. - Webcasts - FAQs - Resources - Blog While the name of the site suggests that its contents are directly related to children (policies and practices that affect them), there is just as much content that is indirectly related.

[Continued...] Many of the webcasts and written literature relate to marriage and family, work-life, diversity in children, community and school research, civic engagement, military transition, etc. This is website is not full of fuzzy, feel-good literature. It is research-based content which is a great source of reference for the facts.

Website Overview: Labor Project for Working Families is based around a vision of a multicultural work place that values the rights of families in the work force. They were established in 1992 is a non-profit that build relationships with family oriented organizations with the focus on fighting for family rights. They focus on unions as a source to build long term relationships and leverage employers to gain more family rights and values in the work place. Intended Audience: Working families. Critique: After reviewing the site for only a short period of time I could tell this organization was very pro-union and utilized them as the backbone of their support center. This website was less non-partisan then Families and Work Institute which I reviewed earlier. I liked the approach of using such powerful tools such as unions however I think the website could have been more balanced in their views of unions. The site was well put together and mapped clearly with little repeat information. Their annual reports were completely up to date available to be viewed. The information within the reports clearly backed up their mission statement and objectives. Very few other sites make financial information as readily available as did Labor Project. Overall they communicated their message well and demonstrated their value as a non-profit. Relationship to work, family, community, class: The Labor Projects for Working Families was clearly focused on creating awareness for the working families and the importance of family rights. They created a link between the power of unions and the benefit of working with employers to rally around family values and benefits. The use of strategic partnerships seems to be effective by their annual reports and use of diversity tracking with employers. I could quickly tell the focus on family rights after reviewing the website. Respecting the diversity and place of family is a core value for Labor Projects and one I clearly support. Overall

Based on the information you have given, and by reviewing the website myself, I do believe this a credible source. I understood the organization's purpose of building alliances between unions and the community groups for workers to be able to have family leave, paid sick days, and flexibility. Like you said, they are very pro unions which means they could possibly only see this side of an argument. I was impressed how the website was clearly mapped out, how much information was provided, and the purpose of the organization as a whole. They truly believed in building a family friendly workplace, and like you said, I would also support that. Your review was very good, after reviewing the website I realized you did I nice job of explaining the purpose and hitting the main points. It does look like the word count deleted some of your work, and I am interested in what else you have to say about this organization. Nice work overall!!

Continuation of earlier comments...it cut off the last couple sentences. Overall I thought the website was put together and support the content clearly however the agenda and political views of the website nearly over shadowed the purpose behind the organization. Dan Robertson

Target audience, purpose and content: The purpose of the website is to share research results and action programs with women's perspectives. The target audience is women and men who wish to make a difference in women's lives. Accuracy of information: This site seems credible. It has clear contacts that include divisions, phone numbers, and email addresses. It also includes a list of resources for those who are in need of services, although they do not provide direct care. Links to their Board and directions to the actual brick & mortar location on the Wellesley College campus in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Wellesley Centers for Women is a community of scholars engaged in research and training. The list of scholars and trainers is on the appropriate page with photos and links to bios with credentials. These are all determining factors that enable me to trust the accuracy of the information on this site. Qualifications of the author or group that created the site: Again, the scholars and trainers are listed with their bios, photos, and history of accomplishments. There are also events, publications, projects, and news. There are plenty of ways to communicate with someone associated with this site to confirm the reliability of the information shown. Contact information / means of communication with author or webmaster: There is plenty of contact information on the Contacts page listed under divisions with phone numbers and email addresses. A fax number is also included as well as directions to the organization's physical location. Design, organization, navigation, links, and ease of use: I did not discover any broken links or hanging pages. Each page was clearly titled and subtitled, showing it as part of the Wellesley Centers for Women site. Navigation was clear and pages loaded quickly. The site is easy to read and is not overloaded with gaudy text design or unnecessary graphics. The colors are soothing and easy on the eye. Th

Wellesley Centers for Women - continued .... part 2 of 2 due to the character limit cutting off the text............. The colors are soothing and easy on the eye. There is also a working search utility within the site. Final evaluation remarks: This is a credible, informative website with many sources, resources, and publications. Its purpose is to generate gender-focused changes in attitudes, practices, and public policy through research and action. It's an interesting site that is easy to read and navigate. Since this site focuses on gender research, I feel it does have much to do with family/work balance. As we have learned in this class, the roles of men and women and how they are defined in relation to work and family are a major aspect of balance.

PART 1 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org Purpose and content: The purpose of the website seems to be to provide educational and/or public service information for parents, teachers, and caregivers. The content is basically brief definitions and information regarding child abuse prevention, tips to avoid lashing out at your children, tips on adoption, education, daycare, divorce with children, work and family balance, caregiving, and links to other web resources. Accuracy of information: None of the information is comprehensive in nature. However, the brief text that is present does seem believable. It seems the purpose is to direct visitors to outside sources -- or to the "sponsors" shown at the bottom of most pages, which are for-profit businesses. All the information on the pages within this website seemed to be generic tips and definitions that could have been copied and pasted from almost any other website with similar information. Qualifications of the author or group that created the site: There is nothing on this website to determine the author's identity or establish any qualifications, expertise, or credibility of anyone associated with this website or organization.

PART 3 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org The domain Whois report shows Avid Amiri to own about 17 other domains and is associated with over 1,000 more. This is not concrete evidence that information is biased and the site is actually for advertising, but it is conspicous. Either Avid Amiri is the person hired by the organizations to register and host the domains -- which does not seem plausible since the address is the same for all contacts and the organization -- or Avid Amiri is in fact also the author. If the latter, I would venture to presume Avid Amiri is using domains as an underhanded method of search engine optimization (SEO) for the for-profit businesses shown as sponsors on many pages of the website. Further investigation of Avid Amiri revealed there is one with the name Avid Amiri located in the Salt Lake City area that is a member of LinkedIn and Twitter. When looking at the Twitter page connected to that Avid Amiri, that person is in fact a consultant specializing in search engine optimization. Contact information / means of communication with author or webmaster: On the Contact page there is an email address that looks like it is attached to administration -- whether it intends to be web administration or organizational administrative staff member or author is not clear. The address is admin@familysupportamerica.org. There is a mailing address on the Contact page as well. It lacks the two-letter state abbreviation. There is no phone number. There are no specific contacts displayed. Broken links: The link to the "learning center" hangs on a blank page and is therefore broken (http://www.familysupportamerica.org/familysupportamericalearningcenter.html). The Links and Resources page does not provide any links or resources at all.

PART 4 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org/ Design, organization and ease of use: The overall appearance of the website is generic. It is what I call a "cookie-cutter" template. It is easy to read and navigate, but that is because there isn't much on it. The home page template is fractured, i.e., the left panel link image is too large for what is allowed in the template causing a fracture in the design elements. A site map is available, but the learning center link does not work. There are no help screens. There is no search available within the site. Final evaluation remarks: At first glance, this site is revealed as a non-profit site (.org domain extension) sharing family support information. At second glance, it appears to be a bare bones approach to direct visitors to other sites for more comprehensive assistance and/or information. The home page reads they can help with child abuse, alcoholism, and more, but continues that if they cannot help, they can direct the visitor to someone who can. There are no individuals featured. There is nothing to indicate anyone has any credentials of any type in the field of Family Support. Again, it appears to be directing visitors to other sites and it does not appear to do that well. The closer look reveals misrepresentation and sneaky SEO tactics to pump up search results for the businesses shown as "sponsors" on many of the pages. I will say the information that is on the pages is not useless and it does pertain to families and work as I feel the real-world pressures of work and bills to pay has a lot to do with family abuse and the ability or non-ability to deal with those issues.

New Ways to Work http://www.newwaystowork.org/ Website Overview: The purpose of the webpage titled New Ways to Work is to inform the audience of the organizations continuing efforts to create partnerships with other organizations such as schools, communities, private and government partners in order to provide young adults access to quality education and career opportunities. The New Ways to Work is devoted to providing less fortunate youths with choices to better themselves by using the public resources available to them. The organization also provides training programs, community activities and support groups that help educate youths about the necessary skills or goals required to succeed in an evolving school/work environment. Intended Audience: The intended audience for this website seems to be the general working families. I feel as the whole purpose of the webpage is to let less fortunate families know that there are organizations out there attempting to provide their children with a better way of life. Critique: After reviewing the webpage I began to realize that the webpage itself is extremely focused on informing individuals about the organizations efforts and continuing involvement with organizations to improve future generation's way of life. What I found interesting is the number of corporations that are associated with the organization, names such as Bill Gates, Apple, IBM, Wells Fargo, and the US Department of Education have all helped fund the organization in one way or the other. This alone can lead one to believe that the organization is accomplishing its objective of working with corporations and educational institutes to help build awareness regarding the possibilities youths can have. However, the webpage itself lacks information regarding how these corporations and individuals have made their contributions. The whole site seems to fail to make any real stance against anything other than helping youths. I found it interesting to see th

that they do not have a way for their visitors to donate money. The webpage seems to be more focused on making sure people are aware of what their organization does more than how they go about it. As for the website itself, I feel that a lot more time could have been placed on creating a more organized webpage. I looked at several webpages and the new ways to work webpage might be one of the worst put together website I have seen. The whole thing just looks like it was put together as a high school project. The webpage lacks some real direction as it seems the developers of the site were satisfied with just throwing a large amount of information out on their site and letting the viewer attempt to decipher the meaning of the information. One of the worst cases of this would be the web links section. I could not determine why the tab was there. From what I could tell the section is just a list of websites organized in alphabetical order, there is no introduction to the page or any references attempting to explain why the websites are there. Are these webpages sites that the organization supports or are they actual organizations that the group works with? Overall I feel that the organization as a whole has been successful in accomplishing their mission, however, I feel that their webpage needs better direction and more credible sources. I found it very difficult to find any sort of sources throughout the entire webpage and feel that the reason for this is largely due to the lack of organization on the website itself. The Author of the webpage is never revealed, however there is a section regarding the staff of the company under the "About us" section. Overall, I would say that the large number of individuals and corporations that have worked with the organization can only lead one to believe that the information provided is credible and that the lack of clarity on their website is due to poor organization. Relationship to Work, Family, Community class: I feel t

One of the topics that we covered in the class was Community which is described as being based on the idea that what we share exceeds what divides us, and that we gain more by working together than alone. New Ways to Work seems to be all about promoting the element of Community. It is good to have a source to go to for guidance on how we can collaborate and strengthen our ability to accomplish things that we would otherwise not be able to accomplish on our own. This seems to be a good site and I will probably refer to it again in the future.

Part one the URL: http://www.workingmother.com/ A brief overview of the website: This site covers everything a working mother would want to know, or read about. Of course like the two main categories for working mothers, they have the two main tabs on the site being at home and at work. They also have three sub tabs including: best companies, research institute, and conference and events. The at home tab has tips, ideas, and inspiration to help working moms balance household, family and me time. When you explore this section it offers many articles that address different topics concerning the home. For example, there is an article about pinkeye prevention. There is also an article about six family friendly earth day activities. Under the articles there is also a bunch of working mom blogs that you can read that pertain to subjects about the home. At work tab, is the other major tab on this site. This tab offers career tips and advice for every working mom at every stage of life. This tab offers a new range of articles that have to do with work. Some of the topics range from training you brain for pregnancy to stay sharp on the job, and how to ace an interview. Like the home tab this tab also has work mom blogs, but these blogs deal with the work side of life instead. The best companies tab has the latest news, tips, and trends on work-life and the advancement of women from Working Mother's signature initiatives. This include articles about the best working mother companies to work for, as well as updates on family policies and benefits.

Thank you for the review of this site. I was at first intimidated by the vast amount of information and links on the site, but after a bit of browsing, it did seem to flow more smoothly. I like the way that they have subdivided the topics by "@Home" and "@Work". This makes it easier to move throughout the site and locate more relevant information. The part that I thought was most valuable was links to blogs of other mothers. It is good for individuals to be able to network and create a community with other individuals that are experiencing similar problems or concerns. Community can be a great asset to obtaining information, and the blogs allows for a virtual community. I also like the fact they had information about family friendly employers to work for. This could be valuable to anyone who is looking for a new career and has to balance a family as well. Overall, I feel there is a great deal of information and the site serves a great purpose. Thank you again for your review. Joshua

Great review, Ashley. I enjoyed browsing the website as it seems to be full of great information for working moms (whether they work inside or outside of the home). I have to say, though, that this site seemed to be mostly for entertainment factor until I found the research library. The library is full of great information and research relevant to work/life/family/community challenges. I also found several resources specific to women (gaps and stats of careers/salaries/education of men and women). Overall I thought this was a great site that somewhat solidified what we've read/learned over the course of this semester.

http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/ This website is out of New York and is basically a site for influencing elections and is pro-democrat. A slogan that is mentioned states "Working Families is a different kind of political party. We're fighting for ordinary people, not for special interests." So right there, this is a politically biased website for the supposed "99%." The three main areas are meet the candidates, issues, and take action. They list their endorsements and of course there is an area to contribute to the cause and the candidates. Oh, yes, and President Obama is listed on this site as someone they endorse because he has worked so well for working families. Really? The intended audience is definitely voters. I do not give any credibility to this site due to it's political bias. Some of the ideas they promote are bank bailouts, healthcare for all, and green jobs/green homes. They are "fighting to bring back the Amerian Dream, and they want you to joint them. All I can say from the right is "don't drink the kool aid" to the voters.

Interesting website. The name of the site suggests that perhaps it is a politically neutral organization, focused on the policies and actions that benefit working families, be it from the right or the left. In looking thru the website, I don't see anything that resembles a care or concern for work/life/community balance. Here's an example of strategic website naming to acquire caring, help-seeking viewers who wouldn't normally visit political campaign sites.

http://www.worklifebalancecentre.org/ This website review is of the WorkLifeBalanceCentre. The main areas of the website are the About Us, Corporate Wellbeing, Individual Support, Interact, Hot Topics, Clients, More Resources, and Contact Us sections. The website audience is for both individuals and organizations. For organizations, it focuses on highlighting the problems organizations face when there is not an appropriate amount of WorkLifeBalance. For individuals, it focuses on hypnotherapy and CBT, fears, phobia, trauma, depression, childbirth, etc. This website is basically a site for people and or organizations to find out about the various courses they teach and the fees involved. There was a portion for testimonials from individuals who the courses or one-on-one courses helped with self esteem, wedding stress, and medical issues. The company is based in Leicestershire which is located in the midlands of Central England. I think this site could be easily used by the general population and is accessible to them. Unfortunately, they are located in England. So while the services can easily be used by folks over there, the services really provide nothing to us here in the United States. As far as credibility, I researched the director, Julie Hurst and also the center itself and found the following. She is a psychotherapist/hypnotherapist and the center has been in existence for over 21 years. Her LinkedIn profile does not say where she went to school but it does say that she has been a featured speaker. I searched google and youtube looking for placed where she has been a speaker but I did not find much of anything. I also searched for complaints against her or the business and was not able to find much either. She has not written any books and the website does not appear to have any specific political or social agenda either. As far as credibility, it is hard to say. If we believe her LinkedIn page, the company has been existence for over 21

The Work Life Balance Center website offers a host of tools and resources for individuals as well as employers and other work groups. The organization is directed by Julie Hurst, a researcher and expert on health and well-being at work and overall balance in life. She is a consultant for news and other organizations where research facts, professional opinions, and commentary are requested on the topic. The site has absolutely zero advertisements for products and services, making it clear that the primary purpose of the site (and the organization) is to educate provide free tools to anyone looking. The tools available on the site are helpful, some interactive, to determine a person's current work-life balance and provides resources to consult in an effort to achieve his/her ideal work-life balance. There are many free whitepapers on various related topics and research, such as an overview on work-life balance, research on depression as one of the biggest work life balance issues, etc. The site does not address the community aspect of balance, but it covers the work-life dimensions very well. Many other resources are available thru the site: links to books and articles by published authors, links to other organizations who share the same cause and focus. The website is somewhat generic and is not as well populated with content as many other sites; however, the content is unbiased and the site is easy to navigate.

National Fatherhood Initiative http://www.fatherhood.org/ Overview: The National Fatherhood Initiative is a webpage for the organization with the same name who attempts to minimize the amount of children that grow up without their fathers in their lives. The organization is devoted to making sure fathers are there for their children as much as possible. Through its 3-E strategy, Educate, Equip, and Engage, the National Fatherhood Initiative has successfully helped more than two million children live with their fathers, along with reaching 1 million fathers with skill building resources. The webpage as a whole seems to promote the efforts of the organization a great deal as well as reaching out to potential donors. Intended Audience: The intended audience of the webpage is aimed at fathers who feel like they need to be more involved with their children. The website offers a number of help brochures and books in order to better fathers who are not as involved in their children's life as they could be; for a small fee of course. Critique: The first and most annoying aspect of reviewing this webpage was the lack of information available to the reader. The organization is a non-profit organization however it would seem otherwise from browsing through their website. There is a donate link on nearly every page of the site, making it frustrating to navigate as every link eventually takes you to either a donate page or a page that wants you to buy something. The four key tabs are For Fathers, For Organizations, For Media, and Donate. Choosing one of the four tabs basically takes you to a link where the viewer can give them money. If you are a father you can search their Father SOURCE collection in order to buy materials to learn how to be a better father. If the viewer is involved with an organization he/she can learn how to donate money and if you are a media member, then the viewer can learn how to hire one of the organizations speakers to do a presentation. Almo

Here is the remainder of the review as it seems to have been cut short Almost everywhere you go the webpage is attempting to get money from the viewer. The whole page is virtually an advertisement for the organization. On a positive note, the organization does seem to be very good at collecting money and aiding fathers in need. The organization has been associated with companies such as Disney, Nissan, FedEx, the NBA, and the NFL. Having an affiliation with all of these companies does go to show that the organization is achieving their mission. The website also has an interesting section labeled statistics; the section details some interesting statistics relating to the effects of fathers missing from their children's lives. All of the statistics are very well documented and precise with accurate source material. They webpage also has a number of ways to contact the organization all labeled on the bottom of the webpage. As a whole I would say that the webpage is very credible in its information, it's just a shame there is not much information to look at without having to dish out some money to see it. Relationship to Work, Family, Community class: The obvious connection to the concepts that we have learned this semester can be found in amount of work/family conflicts that result from overworked parents neglecting their families in favor of financial growth. As we have learned, fathers tend to be the parents who are more often than not placed in the role of bread winner. As a result of the amount of pressure that is placed on fathers, they are typically responsible for failing to be there for their children as they are growing up. I believe that the National Fatherhood Initiative is definitely attempting to shed some light on a less talked about subject matter; however I feel that the way that they are attempting to achieve their goal is somewhat disappointing. If as a non-profit organization you have some piece of knowledge that is going to help fathers ach

It seems that everyone is willing to provide help to anyone for a price. I wonder how much of the money they raise actually goes to help fathers have better and stronger relationships with their children. I took a look at this website and it appears to just give enough information to try and draw someone in so that they will pay to learn more. It may be very credible but I think fathers would be better off finding an organization in their community that offers meetings where fathers can get together and talk about issues and a facilitator donates their time to help.