Kaci,
Thank you for bringing this website to our attention. With everything we've learned in this class I was really discouraged about the state of child care for working parents. I hated to hear about children that are too young to fend for themselves, having to, because there's no choice. I find it encouraging that programs like this exist, though I agree, if you need these programs you probably can't afford the internet, but hopefully when they go to places like the unemployment office, they are given information about it in the way of pamphlets or wall-postings with phone numbers. Another obstacle that I think we often overlook is pride. I think a lot of families who would benefit from these programs probably don't because they are the ones who would never want to take "a handout." I took the liberty of perusing the website myself and I saw "the Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign" and I thought, "what the heck is that?" I was aware that minority children had a greater chance of spending time in prisons than non-minority children, but I had no idea that the numbers were that dismal ( 1 in 3 black children and 1 in 6 Latino children born in 2001 will at some point in their life spend time in prison). That is alarming and paints a picture of the help that our youth need. I was also encouraged to read that there are groups who work to identify these problem and step in and remedy them to try to reverse these numbers. It's amazing to think that, as cited, something as easy as educating them and helping them develop in early childhood as well as giving them access to physical and mental healthcare can impede or erase many of these statistic. I wouldn't have seen the correlation or drawn the parallels without having explored this website.

Website Overview: This website's motto spells out what this webpage is about, "A World That is Good For Women is Good For Everyone." This organization believes that furthering pursuits of, and bettering the lives of, women will benefit society and the greater good. The website outlines how they do this, through studies, seminars and education and action and assitance programs, not necessarily just benefitting women but as the site says, "put(ting) women's perspectives at the center of inquiry." Intended Audience: The intended audience that this website is attempting mostly to appeal to are philanthropists; those who would be sympathetic to their cause and who would donate money to further it and also those who would spread the word about them, though, it also looks as though they are simultaneously attempting to target educators and/or those who would be educated, to get them on board with what they are doing with the hopes of spreading their theories. There is a calendar of events page that lists several upcoming seminars relating to their work and findings. Relationship to work, family, community class Women in the workforce, as well as in familial roles, and everything in between, were extensively discussed this semester. Women seem to shoulder a lot of the responsibility for society's problems, whether warranted or unwarranted, especially in relation to children and working mothers. We have learned that women's roles are still fiercely debated to this day and that even people who are for working mothers have completely different thoughts about what it means to treat a woman "equally." Should women be treated no differently than men at work or should those women who wish to be recognized as different than men have schedules and benefits tailored to their needs, otherwise referred to as being placed on the "mommy track" which is referenced in our text written by Ann Bookman? This seems to be happening on a case by case basis excep

(the remainder of my post, which was cut off).... t where the government steps in, such as FMLA time vs. maternity leave which sometimes only applies to the person who physically had the child (a mother) or parental leave which usually includes a male parent. Women, whether working or not were vital to our class discussions, whether it pertained to the work force or the family dynamic and therefore, this website, that promotes the betterment of women is absolutely relevant to our class.

Website Overview: Flex+Strategy Group's website is extremely basic and clean, showing employers that they don't want to waste their time or dazzle them with showiness. The website is easy to find one's way around and is laid out in more of a site map fashion than anything else and it has very few embedded photos. This appearance says, "we don't need smoke and mirrors, we get you results." They present their mission statement, in a dissected way on one page, that quickly describes benefits which specifically cater to the employer as opposed to the employee, which I find very smart. They include links to a few actual business plans they created and implemented for their clientele, which includes huge corporations that everyone's heard of such as Quaker/Tropicana and the U.S Navy. Who wouldn't want to participate in a plan that such successful companies have implemented? To the left as you click through the website are non-invasive testimonials super imposed over the words "transform, inspire, move." There are tabs along the top to help you drill down, more specifically, to other areas or, depending on who you are, portals that apply to just you. Intended Audience: The intended audience is obviously employers who may be curious about flexing their staff but most likely have a somewhat closed-minded approach because the website is very much trying to sell whoever is looking at it on the idea and the fact that they need a consulting service to accomplish the task. Relationship to work, family, community class: A large portion of our class was spent discussing the points at which families and work intersect and how they are usually an inverse property to one another and how more time spent at one detracts from the other in a negative way. We've read about how our society is affected when employers are not understanding about people needing to be home for their children at certain times and in certain instances and also to care for

(it cut off the end of mine so here is the conclusion).... the aging of the society. There seems to be an impasse here and if large companies would just embrace this type of business model, how much the quality of life would improve for so many and how business would be affected in a positive way with increased morale and productivity and profit. Children would be properly cared for and crime would decline. Unemployment would decrease. Families would become stronger. It seems like a vital subject to talk about in relation to this class, because if all US companies had this type of policy, I believe we wouldn't have much to talk about in this class.