Washington Area Women's Foundation Weekly

We’re starting out the new year with some changes to the blog, including this weekly roundup of news and events affecting women and girls in the Washington metro region.  Let us know what you think in the comments!  In this week’s roundup: Free health screenings on MLK Day…. Proposed changes to how home care aides are paid…. Raising standards for Head Start…. Tips for teen job seekers…. And a review of a movie about one of the most powerful women of the last century.

United Way of the National Capital Area is holding two free health screenings on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Residents will also have the opportunity to consult with a physician at the screenings.  They’ll be held from 10am to 4pm in Annandale, VA and Colmar Manor, MD.  Please click here for more details.

The US Department of Labor is proposing changes to the regulations for in-home care providers.  The changes would extend the minimum wage and overtime coverage of companionship and live-in workers.  According to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis: “The vast majority of these workers are women, many of whom serve as the primary breadwinner for their families.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that home health care will be one of the fastest growing occupations of the 21st Century.  Comments to the proposed changes can be submitted by February 27th.  Click here for details.

IMPACT Silver Spring, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, is accepting nominations for the 2012 Momentum Awards.  The awards “seek to recognize those individuals and organizations that are activating the power of our community’s diversity to build momentum toward positive social, economic and civic impact.  Please click here to find out how to begin the nomination process.

Raising standards for Head Start programs nationwide strengthens a program that is critically important to children and their parents, writes The New York Times editorial board. Even if the overall quality of the preschool program is improved, however, financing for it may be at risk when spending cuts kick in during the 2013 fiscal year.  “Preschool for disadvantaged children should not be another casualty of the budget wars.”

Goodwill, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, has tips for first-time teenage job seekers. In addition to ideas for possible positions, advice includes getting your foot in the door and legal restrictions on teen employees.  The Employment Policies Institute reports that teen unemployment is three times the national rate.

“The Iron Lady,” the biopic about Margaret Thatcher, “one of the most powerful and consequential women of the 20th century,” is out and The New York Times’ review is lukewarm. A.O. Scott praises Meryl Streep’s portrayal of the former British prime minister, but says the film’s writer and director create confusion when they “celebrate their heroine as a feminist pioneer while showing her to be tragically unfulfilled according to traditional standards of feminine accomplishment.”  If you see “The Iron Lady” this weekend, let us know what you thought in the comments section below.

Photo credit: cogdogblog via Creative Commons