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WCPCAN News

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FUNDED PROGRAMS: ORS Training Date Set

The ORS Training for funded programs will be held on Tuesday June 5^th from 9 am to 4 pm. The location has not yet been decided, but it will be in the Seattle area. There will be networking time built in to this event. If you have any questions, please contact Maria Gehl at: maria@wcpcan.wa.gov. This training is for CURRENT WCPCAN FUNDED PROGRAMS only.

 

Pinwheels for Child Abuse Prevention Month

This year, many states are adopting a pinwheel theme and have had great success with both the public and the media in generating positive prevention awareness during April.  WCPCAN is helping to lead this year’s pinwheel campaign along with partners including Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center and Spokane’s Partners with Families & Children and the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery will be promoting pinwheels this year. Why Pinwheels? Pinwheels were chosen to symbolize the innocence of childhood.  It is the hope that this symbol will help to impact the way the public perceives prevention of child abuse and neglect. WCPCAN will purchase 7,000 pinwheels to represent the approximate number of births that will occur in our state this April.  The message is that every new birth represents a chance for a caring adult to make a difference in the life of a child. To access the Child Abuse Prevention month media packet, go to: http://www.wcpcan.wa.gov/temp_campaign_toolkit.asp.

WCPCAN is Moving!

Due to a significant rent increase at WCPCAN's Pioneer Square location, we will be moving to new offices May 1st. We are just moving down the street, but the move may cause some communications issues for a few weeks as we get our phone, internet and mail services sorted out. Watch for information about our address change in the near future. Our email addresses will stay the same, however. Thanks for your patience as we sort through this process!

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 Conferences & Trainings

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Conferences 

Substance Use & Brain Development: Impacts & Interventions Conference

March 22^nd – 24^th, Valley River Inn, Eugene, Oregon

This regional conference will provide cutting-edge research, prevention methods and best intervention practices regarding the impact of maternal & paternal substance use on child brain development. More than 30 seminars and skill building workshops will be offered. For more information and to register, go to: http://www.healthybraindevelopment.com/. 

 

Infant and Early Childhood Conference

May 3^rd – 4^th, Bellevue, Washington

This conference intends to: promote the mutual understanding of the contributions families and providers bring to the lives of young children; challenge thinking about diversity and disability; increase family and provider effectiveness through new skills, strategies and ideas to ensure high quality services; enhance understanding of the unique strengths and needs of each family; foster partnerships among families, service providers, agencies and sponsors to ensure coordinated services in local communities; promote networking and coalition building around early childhood issues; and enhance the lives of families and their children through the use of information and technology. To view the full conference brochure, for more information or to register, go to: http://www.ieccwa.org/. This is a WCPCAN sponsored conference.

 

Nurturing Healthy Environments for Infants and Young Children

May 22^nd – 24^th, Chelan, Washington

This is the 10^th Healthy Child Care Washington & Head Start/ECEAP Health Symposium, and it will be held at Campbell’s resort in Chelan. Online registration starts this month. For more information contact Teresa Cooper: (360) 236-3530 or Teresa.Cooper@doh.wa.gov or go to: http://www.healthychildcare-wa.org/.

 

Combating Child Abuse in Our Community Featuring David Pelzer and Dr. James Shaw

May 25^th, 8 am to 4:30 pm, Walla Walla, Washington

Combating Child Abuse in Our Community is designed to provide an understanding of psychological trauma, and offer important assessment and treatment recommendations for all professionals who work with children impacted by child abuse, school and gang violence. Course includes syllabus, continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments at breaks. The fee is $95 to attend unless you register by April 15^th when the fee is $90. Discounts are available for two or more people from the same agency. Some scholarships are available. For scholarship or other information, or to register, contact Jan Gray at 509-522-5784, or grayja@smmc.com. The registration deadline is Tuesday, May 15, 2007. This is a WCPCAN sponsored conference.

 

Building on Family Strengths: Research and Services in Support of Children and their Families

May 31^st – June 2^nd, Portland, Oregon

The theme of this year’s conference is “Effective Services for ALL: Strategies to Promote Mental Health and Thriving for Underserved Children and Families.” This year's conference will feature information about effective programs and services for children and youth with mental health challenges, focusing especially on populations that are not served—or not well served—by the mental health and social services systems. These are young people who may lack access or receive poor quality services because of their race or ethnicity, their geographic location (i.e., rural or inner-city), their gender or sexual orientation, co-occurring disorders or disabilities, or other factors. Participants will share research findings and program descriptions, highlighting approaches that promote strengths-based, family- and youth-driven services, and that enhance the quality of life for families and their children who are affected by emotional, behavioral, or mental health difficulties. For more information, go to: www.rtc.pdx.edu/conference/pgMain.php.

 

NCAST-AVENUW Summer Institute 2007 Focuses on Infant Mental Health

July 20th - 21st, Seattle, Washington 

This is a conference for diverse practitioners to consider dyadic approaches in helping parents or young children who have experienced trauma. Internationally renowned speakers will be: Pat Crittenden, PhD from the Family Relations Institute and Charles H. Zeanah, MD from Tulane University Health Sciences Center. There are three reasons you must not miss this training opportunity! You will learn how to implement new effective approaches to improve parent-child relationships; you will learn who to refer for psychotherapy and how that will change behaviors; and you will learn a new set of attachment organizations and how they are relevant to decision-making about young children and their families. NCAST-AVENUW has nearly 30 years of experience providing effective, multi-disciplinary, well-respected training to professionals working with families with young children. Space is limited! Registration begins March 15 and will be available online only. To ensure your attendance at Risky Beginnings go to: http://www.ncast.org/.

 

Trainings  

 

Spring Trainings in Outcome Evaluation

March, Seattle, Washington

Organizational Research Services (ORS) is a nationally recognized leader in outcome-based planning and evaluation serving non-profit, philanthropic, and public organizations. Continuing this work to equip organizations with the ability to evaluate their programs and make beneficial program, decisions, ORS is pleased to announce its spring 2007 line-up of skill-building workshops. Attendees will receive a 3-hour introductory or intermediate-level skill-building workshop full of practical exercises on substantive evaluation topics and a hands-on training opportunity in a small group environment (enrollment is limited to 12 people per session). These sessions are led by skilled and experienced consultants and attendees will receive materials to share with colleagues. Workshops include: Outcomes for Success; Collecting Data; and Show Me the Impact. To learn more about these trainings or to register, go to: http://www.organizationalresearch.com/publications/skill_building_workshops_spring_2007.pdf.

 

New Nonprofit Rules Conference

March 14^th or March 28^th, 9 am to 4 pm, Seattle, Washington

Learn about the 4 R’s of nonprofit capacity building and get introduced to 30 NEW Rules that will change how your nonprofit operates. By the end of the day you’ll know what does and doesn’t work in capacity building, what resources are available to transform your organization, and which books to read along the way. This capacity buildup training moves way beyond surface conversations and challenges nonprofits with critical concepts ignored in the nonprofit sector. For more information, go to: www.missionmovers.org/newrules.pdf.

 

Strategies for Winning Grant Proposals

March 15^th & 16^th, Wenatchee, Washington

WSU extension is offering a day and a half workshop on writing winning grant proposals. All the information, including a detailed agenda and driving directions, is on their website: http://www.ncw.wsu.edu/. Pre-registration costs $75 and late registration (after March 1^st) is $95. For more information, or to register, go to: www.ogrd.wsu.edu/workshops.asp.

 

Meeting the Employment and Parenting Needs of Low-Income Families

March 27^th, 1 pm – 2 pm ET, ONLINE

Low-income families often struggle to balance the demands of work and parenting. A recent Chapin Hall report found that parents who applied for cash assistance from a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs face barriers to employment that may compromise their ability to adequately care for their children. A significant number of families in the Chapin Hall study had been investigated by a child welfare agency or had a child removed from the home. Panelists will discuss how TANF and child welfare programs can collaborate on strategies to prevent the need for intervention by the child welfare system and better support low-income families. This web conference is free for attendees and space is limited. To join the web conference, you need a computer with an internet connection. The audio portion of the conference is available by telephone or over the internet. For more information or to register, go to: http://www.about.chapinhall.org/conferences/charting/conference.html.

 

Professional Development Opportunities at EDCC Family Support Studies Program

April – May, Edmonds, Washington (and ONLINE)

Edmonds Community College starts spring quarter April 2^nd, and has a number of classes about family support available. In particular, there are two community training opportunities that are one day courses one is called “Developing Family Support Networks” and the other is “Family / Community Mobilization.” To find out more about these courses, the other courses at EDCC or the online learning options go to: http://fss.edcc.edu/.

 

Teleconference Training Series

May – July, TELECONFERENCES

The National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center at Berkeley announces its 2007 Teleconference Trainings Series. The Center is funded by the Children’s Bureau. Please visit the web site for additional information on registration and fees: Infant Mental Health: The ABCs of Infant Mental Health May 16^th, 2007 11:00am – 12:30pm Pacific; Taming the Ghosts in the Nursery June 26^th, 2007 11:00am – 12:30pm Pacific; Supporting Families in Recovery through Infant Mental Health Interventions July 17^th, 2007 11:00am – 12:30pm Pacific. These calls are $25 per session. For more information, go to: http://aia.berkeley.edu/training/teleconference/.

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Policy, Advocacy & Legislative Information

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Science Paves the Way for Bipartisan Policymaking: Washington State Legislators Find Common Ground on Early Childhood Issues

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child

In 2006, the input of scientists, economists, and private industry representatives inspired nearly unparalleled bipartisan support in Washington State for the formation of the Department of Early Learning. This new cabinet-level department consolidates parts of three separate agencies and establishes a ground-breaking public private partnership in support of early childhood development. The process by which policymakers garnered bipartisan support, one currently being replicated in nearly a dozen other states, is to use science to inform lawmakers in order to guide wise decision-making. For more information, or to read the full article, go to: www.developingchild.net/pubs/persp/pdf/Science_Bipartisan_Policymaking.pdf.

 

Cost-Effective Investments in Children

This paper from the Brookings Institution identifies four areas of investment in children where there is sufficient evidence of positive outcomes and sound benefit-cost ratios to merit greater federal funding at a time when balancing the budget is a national imperative. For each of these four areas, the paper reviews the social science evidence regarding program effectiveness – particularly cost effectiveness – and outlines a specific proposal with a budgetary estimate. For more information, go to: www.brookings.edu/views/papers/200701isaacs.pdf.

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 Federal Priorities: Marriage & Disabilities

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Senators Bond and Clinton Re-Introduce Home Visitation Bill

We are happy to report that Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) re-introduced the Education Begins at Home Act (EBAH) on February 16^th. EBAH would establish the first dedicated federal funding stream to support parents with newborns and young children through quality, voluntary home visitation. If enacted, this legislation would extend to a broad range of families the opportunity to benefit from home visiting programs. Senators Bond and Clinton made some important changes from previous iterations of the Senate bill, including stronger language and support for program evaluation and the removal of any references to specific home visitation program models. These changes bring the legislation more closely aligned with the bill introduced in the House in the last Congress by Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL-7) and Todd Platts (R-PA-19). The new Senate bill number is S 667 – the text should be available online at http://www.thomas.loc.gov/ by early next week. For more information, go to: http://member.preventchildabuse.org/site/PageServer?pagename=adv_main.

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 Sustainability & Resources

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GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS), announced that applications will be accepted for new grants. Pursuant to this announcement, ACF will award funds to experienced organizations to deliver capacity building services to faith-based and community organizations through the provision of training, technical assistance, and sub-awards. Intermediary organizations will assist faith-based and community organizations with capacity building activities in five critical areas: 1) leadership development, 2) organizational development, 3) program development, 4) revenue development strategies, and 5) community engagement.  Capacity building activities are designed to increase an organization's sustainability and effectiveness, enhance its ability to provide social services,  and create collaborations to better serve those most in need. Faith-based and community organizations are eligible to apply. Applications are due by May 16^th, 2007. For more information or to apply, go to: www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2007-ACF-OCS-EJ-0035.html.

 

Nonprofit Publicity Tips Online and Offline by Joan Stewart

From FundRaiser Cyberzine

If your nonprofit is strapped for time, money, or both, follow these 10 tips for generating thousands of dollars in print, broadcast and online publicity. Create one-page press release templates for frequent news items such as new employees or board members, events you’re sponsoring or hosting, or when you’re searching for volunteers. Then simply fill in the blanks. Write letters to the editor and op-ed columns for local, regional and national publications. Always adhere to their length limit, and submit the author’s photo. (See "How to Use Newspaper & Magazine Editorial Pages") Read the other eight tips at: www.fundsraiser.com/feb07/nonprofit-publicity-tips.html.

 

Microsoft Boosts Tech for Nonprofits

With a major infusion of cash from Microsoft, NPower is planning to diversify its funding sources and broaden and strengthen its efforts to help nonprofits maximize their use of technology. NPower, a network of 12 nonprofits across the U.S. that help community-based nonprofits better use technology, received a four-year, $5 million challenge grant from the software giant and is charged with matching those funds dollar for dollar. The new funds will help the nonprofit grow its network by adding new affiliates and expanding existing ones, says Shaffer, and by developing remote services to assist nonprofits outside the affiliates' service areas. For more information, go to: click here.

 

Evidence-Based Program Database

The Evidence-Based Program Database is a compilation of quality government, academic, and non-profit lists of evidence-based programs that appear on the World Wide Web and/or in print form. While these existing resources are of excellent quality, they have not been available in a centralized, user-friendly searchable database. Further, the content of all of these lists changes annually, making it very difficult for practitioners to remain knowledgeable of available evidence-based programs and select from them wisely. The programs in this database have all been shown to be effective, and are intended for practitioners in the health and human services, education, mental health, child and family service, juvenile justice, and other social service systems that seek to change youth behaviors. For more information, or to view the database, go to: http://www.alted-mh.org/ebpd/.

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 Parent Education

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What Makes Parenting Programs Work in Disadvantaged Areas?

This report describes factors that influenced the effectiveness of a parenting intervention in one of the poorest parts of Britain. The Primary Age Learning Study (PALS) program comprised the basic 12-week Incredible Years parenting program combined with a 6-week version of a previously proven reading readiness program. It was open to parents of any child and took place in an area with a predominantly minority ethnic population in one of the most multiply disadvantaged wards England. Findings indicate: two-thirds of those eligible for the program enrolled and the rate was equal for African, African-Caribbean, and white parents; assessing the needs of all children in the school year using the SDQ was well accepted and enabled early identification of children with difficulties; the intervention improved several aspects of parenting in important ways, such as increasing sensitive responding to children, improving the use of effective discipline approaches, and decreasing criticism; and the parenting improvements were as great for parents from ethnic minorities as for white British parents. For more information, go to: www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/pdf/0386.pdf.

 

 

Guides for Parent Support

As part of its Creating Parenting-Rich Communities Initiative funded by the Prudential Foundation, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) recently made available three design guides to help professionals support the parents of children ages 0-5, 6-12, and 13-20. Each guide addresses parent supports in eight key areas: children and after-school activities; education; employment; family structure and support; financial security; health: physical and mental health, substance abuse; housing; safe neighborhoods and environments. For each area, the guides offer a collection of evaluated program and policy listings, research sources, and policies and practices. The guides are available on the CWLA website, at: http://www.cwla.org/parenting/cprcdesgnguide.htm.

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 Home Visiting & 0 - 3 Services

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Bright Futures Guidebook for Early Care and Education Now Available

The Bright Futures Guidebook for Early Childhood Care and Education is available free of charge from the Department of Health, Office of Maternal and Child Health. This Guidebook is designed to help early childhood professionals use the national Bright Futures materials for health promotion. The target audience for the Guidebook is teachers, family advocates, health coordinators, health consultants, and program directors in early childhood (0-5 years) care and education settings. Much of the information is useful for involving parents and families as partners in health promotion. The Guidebook, and the Bright Futures materials, include information about children’s mental health, as well as other areas of health and development. To find out more about Bright Futures nationally, see http://www.brightfutures.org/. To request a copy of the guidebook, email Debbie Roper at: Debbie.roper@doh.wa.gov.

 

The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds

A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says free and unstructured play is healthy and essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient. The report, "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds," is written in defense of play and in response to forces threatening free play and unscheduled time. These forces include changes in family structure, the increasingly competitive college admissions process, and federal education policies that have led to reduced recess and physical education in many schools. To View the booklet, go to: www.aap.org/pressroom/playFINAL.pdf.

 

What Maternal Factors Help Form a “Strong Start” in Life?

Child Trends’ latest research brief examines the maternal factors that help children. A variety of elements of a mother’s circumstances before and during pregnancy are associated with a child having a strong start in life. This research brief examines factors associated with positive outcomes for children. To read the full brief, go to: http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2007_02_12_RB_StrongStart.pdf.

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 Fatherhood

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The Effects of Involved Nonresidential Fathers’ Distress, Parenting Behaviors, Interparental Conflict, and the Quality of Father-Child Relationships on Children’s Well-Being

Based on data from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the present study examined a sample of 129 non-resident fathers who had regular contact with their young children to determine how father involvement and father distress are related to children's well-being. Results revealed a negative relationship between father distress and child well being, with, based on father reports, daughters being more affected than sons. A negative relationship was also found between inter-parent conflict and child well being. Further, there was a positive relationship between paternal warmth and child well-being and higher levels of father-child relationship quality were related to higher levels of child well-being. In terms of racial subgroup analyses, limit setting was a positive predictor of child well-being only among African-American children. To find more information on this article from “Fathering”, go to: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAV/is_3_4/ai_n17218438/print.

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 Health & Mental Health

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SAMHSA Launches Searchable Database of Evidence-Based Practices

The new National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) debuted online last week, greatly expanding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s efforts to help local organizations make informed decisions about evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. For more information or to view the database, go to: http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/.

 

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Evaluation

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How to Develop Outcomes

To guide practitioners through a process to assess outcomes, the following questions are an excellent starting point. The questions were gathered from “Getting to Outcomes” and are applicable to both program development and/or county/community planning for any issue. For more information, go to: http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/sppd/eff_practices/outcomes.asp.

 

How to Talk Like a Researcher: New Briefs for Practitioners Struggling with “Research Speak”

Practitioners know research is important to their work. But oftentimes, just trying to understand “research speak” discourages its use. Child Trends has written an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand glossary of common research and evaluation terms. To read this guide, go to: www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2007_01_05_Fs_Researchglossary.pdf. In addition,

Logic Models can be powerful tools in designing, planning, and evaluating out-of-school time programs. Child Trends' newest research brief highlights what logic models are and why they are important. For more information, go to: http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2007_01_05_RB_LogicModels.pdf.

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 Special Topic: Poverty

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Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 3

This fact sheet of information about low-income children from birth to age three includes children who live apart from both parents (for example, foster children or children being raised by grandparents). Previous versions of this fact sheet counted children living apart from parents differently; therefore, comparisons with versions published prior to September 2006 are not valid. For more information, go to: http://nccp.org/media/itf06_text.pdf.

 

Ten Years of Welfare Reform

It has been ten years since President Clinton signed legislation to “end welfare as we know it.” According to Ron Haskins, author of the new book Work over Welfare, welfare rolls have since plummeted by nearly 60 percent and the employment of single mothers heading families reached the highest level ever. For more information, go to: http://www.brookings.edu/comm/infocus/welfare.htm.

 

Child Welfare Involvement among TANF Applicants

A recent study of Wisconsin applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) found that almost two-thirds were also involved with the child welfare system. The study also examined the characteristics associated with child protective services (CPS) involvement. Results show that almost 64 percent of families had experienced child welfare involvement, and those families had been investigated an average of 5.35 times each. The best predictor of experiencing CPS involvement after the baseline interview was having CPS involvement before the baseline interview. Other characteristics associated with CPS involvement included: Parents identifying themselves as having a drug or alcohol problem; higher levels of parental stress; more material hardships during the previous year; more minor children; and having at least one minor child living somewhere else. The TANF families in this study were much more likely to have CPS involvement than previous studies of TANF families have indicated. The authors speculate about this jump, suggesting that the State’s unprecedented reductions in cash assistance may have made some families more vulnerable to child maltreatment and neglect. They suggest that greater coordination between child welfare and TANF agencies could help parents who might have conflicting demands from the different agencies; in addition, high-quality childcare and parenting assistance could be targeted for parents who have previous CPS involvement. To obtain the full study, Findings from the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study, by Mark Courtney and Amy Dworsky, visit the Chapin Hall website: www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1339.

 

Poverty Spreads Out

Poverty in America, once confined to our major cities, has now spread to the nation's suburbs. A study from the Metropolitan Policy Program finds that the number of suburban poor now exceeds those living in cities by more than one million.  To read more of this article from the Brookings Institution, go to: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20061205_citysuburban.htm.

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 General Prevention

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Childhood Abuse Linked to Depression in Adulthood

According to a recent report in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, people who were abused and/or neglected in childhood face more than a 50 percent increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) in young adulthood. The study compared 676 individuals who had substantiated cases of abuse and neglect before age 11 with other individuals of similar age, sex, race, and social class who were not abused or neglected. Participants who had experienced multiple forms of abuse were 75 percent more likely to suffer from MDD. According to its authors, the study emphasizes the need for early intervention in cases of childhood abuse and neglect -- before depression symptoms can escalate and "cascade into other spheres of functioning." Read the full article at: http://pubs.ama-ssn.org/media/2007a/0101.dtl#5.

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Announcements

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Leadership Spokane Recruitment

Since 1982 Leadership Spokane has provided excellence in community leadership development. Leadership Spokane ensures that the region has a corps of professionally trained leaders committed to making Spokane County a good and just place for all its citizens to work and make a home. Annually, they select 45 to 50 individuals for this intensive 10-month training program. Leadership Spokane is a great tool for educating new leaders about what is going on in Spokane and why. Participants strengthen existing leadership skills and bring back valuable and immediately applicable skills to their work and community outreach. They study the community’s infrastructure and meet and work with the region’s most knowledgeable and civic-minded individuals. The networks they form and the relationships that stem from the Leadership Spokane experience benefit them lifelong, both professionally and personally. Applications are due on March 30^th. For more information, go to: http://www.leadershipspokane.org/. Scholarships are available.

 

4^th Annual Voices of Children Contest

Tell us what living with grandparent, aunt, uncle or other relative has meant to you! “Voices of Children Raised by Grandparents and Other Relatives” is a contest for children in Washington State who are being raised now or in the past by a relative other than their parents. The contest honors both the children and the more than 35,000 relatives in Washington State who are raising them. Write a poem, short essay, or draw a picture that describes how living with a relative (such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle) has made a positive difference in your life. Entries will be judged in three age categories 5-7 year olds, 8-12 year olds, and 13-19 year olds. The first 200 entries will receive special gifts. The top two entries in each age division will receive $100 from Twin County Credit Union and more! All entries must be submitted or postmarked by April 30, 2007. If you have questions, please call Family Education and Support Services at 1-877-813-2828 or e-mail Carrie Stringer at OlympiaParentEd@aol.com.