Toolkit for Building Advocacy Capacity

Are you ready to engage in public policy or take on a large scale advocacy campaign? The National Council of Nonprofit Associations’ (NCNA) toolkit for building advocacy capacity reveals the key factors you’ll need to engage in public policy. NCNA’s toolkit summarizes the lessons learned by various state associations so that nonprofits can gain better insight on how to spend their time, efforts and resources to maximize results and minimize failure. For more information, go to: http://www.npaction.org/article/articleview/751/1/241.

Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Legislation Introduced

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY-18) recently introduced the Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Act (S 1204, HR 2052). The legislation would provide $10 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and implement a public information and education campaign aimed at preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). The campaign created by the SBS Prevention Act would: Disseminate effective prevention practices and techniques to parents and caregivers through maternity hospitals, child care centers, organizations providing prenatal and postnatal care, and other organizations providing support to parents; Carry out trainings to ensure that those involved in the care of young children, home visitors, primary care providers, child care providers, and health care providers are aware of ways to prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome, and the need to secure immediate medical attention in cases of head trauma; Work to ensure that the parents and caregivers of children are connected to effective supports through the coordination of existing programs and networks and through the establishment of new programs when necessary. The full text of the legislation is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.

Take Action on the Senate Home Visitation Legislation

Please ask your Senators to cosponsor the Education Begins at Home Act (EBAH, S. 667), recently reintroduced in the Senate by Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY). EBAH would establish the first dedicated federal funding stream to support parents with newborns and young children through quality, voluntary home visitation. If enacted, EBAH would extend to a broad range of families the opportunity to benefit from home visiting programs like Healthy Families America. Making quality home visitation programs more widely available in all communities is one of Prevent Child Abuse America’s top priorities. For more information, go to: http://member.preventchildabuse.org/site/PageServer?pagename=adv_edu_home_splash.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Mentoring Grants

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools is seeking applications for fiscal year 2007 awards under its Mentoring Program. Eligible applicants are local educational agencies, nonprofit, or community-based organizations. To be eligible, applicants must not currently have an active grant under this program. It is estimated that nearly 200 grants averaging $150,000 each for a project period of up to 36 months may be awarded. Deadline: May 23^rd. For more information, click here.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: King County Action Agenda for School-Age Children and Youth Community Implementation Projects

SOAR is pleased to announce a funding opportunity to enable community partnerships and coalitions to engage in Community Implementation Projects (CIP) to further implementation of the King County Action Agenda for School-Age Children and Youth. The purpose of the CIP grants is to support partnership-based, regional and/or sub-regional activities and strategies that build necessary groundwork and infrastructure as our community implements the Action Agenda goals. Grants will be in the range of $5,000 - $15,000. At this time, SOAR has $45,000 available for funding a variety of successful applications. Building upon efforts to connect and convene stakeholders regionally and county-wide, SOAR will support partnerships that initiate projects addressing significant issue areas that are consistent with Action Agenda goals. Projects will focus on children and youth, particularly those at risk of school failure or who lack access to opportunities and resources that help them succeed in school and life. Applications are due by    5 pm on Monday, June 25^th, 2007. For more information and full guidelines and the application packet, contact Harla Tumbleson, Director of Soar at: (206) 461-3666 or htumbleson@uwkc.org.

Nailing Jell-O to the Wall

By Jack R. Soares

The slippery endeavor called fundraising isn't just asking people for money, it's telling them and showing them what your organization does. That would be pretty simple, except those prospective donors--and even many tried and true donors--tend not to listen. Or they listen to too much at once. Marketing and public relations are specialties whose practitioners can draw us in, get us to desire particular scents or flavors, buy impractical vehicles, dress in a particular fashion, or crave almost anything. Lacking the secret knowledge of those almost-rocket-scientists, fundraising can feel like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall--somewhere between impossible and not likely, with a whole lot of messy thrown in. To paraphrase the old saw, "When a fundraising campaign falls on a populace and no one pays attention, is there fundraising?" Probably not. Put another way: If the first time a prospective donor has ever heard about your organization is when you are asking for money, you are probably going to be disappointed. To read this full article published in the Child Welfare League of America’s Journal Children’s Voice, go to: http://www.cwla.org/voice/0701management.htm.

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) has 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.

New State Infant and Toddler Initiative Profiles

State early care and education policies that start at birth and address the full range of children’s development can potentially identify health and developmental issues, link families to necessary supports, and assure that those who care for infants and toddlers have the tools to stimulate early learning and development and ease transitions into the preschool and elementary years. This paper from the Center for Law and Social Policy describes a menu of state strategies to improve early care and education for infants and toddlers, and supports to their families, including: examples of specific policies to promote child development birth to 3, as well as ideas for state funding and governance structures that provide attention and resources for all children birth to age 5. For more information, go to: http://www.clasp.org/publications.php?id=3.

Community Forum on Parents as Teachers

June 4^th, 10 am – 11:30 am, Seattle Hilton Ballroom, Seattle, Washington

Washington State is entering a new era for early learning and school readiness for our children. Parent Trust for Washington Children is hosting this community forum on the research for the nationally acclaimed Parents as Teachers program to celebrate this new era. A panel of experts will be participating including Susan Stepleton, President and CEP of Parents as Teachers; Representative Ruth Kagi; Kathryn Barnard; and Bernie Dorsey. The forum will look at the latest research for Parents as Teachers, as well as discuss the effects of healthy child development on school and life success. After the forum, there will be a short reception at the Top of the Hilton. To RSVP (seating is limited) email: information@parenttrust.org or call (206) 233-0156 ext. 221.

Conjoined Effects of Low Birth Weight and Childhood Abuse on Adaptation and Well-being in Adolescence and Adulthood

This study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine attempted to characterize the conjoined effects of low birth weight (LBW) and childhood abuse on impaired adaptation and illness in adolescence and adulthood. The authors found that participants with both LBW and subsequent childhood abuse, relative to those with neither risk, were at a substantially elevated risk for psychological problems: 10-fold for depression; nearly 9-fold for social dysfunction, and more than 4-fold for somatization. However, they were not at an elevated risk for medical problems in adulthood. Those exposed to childhood abuse were more likely to report delinquency, school suspension, repeating grades during adolescence, and impaired well-being in adulthood, regardless of LBW status. For those with LBW alone, the prevalence of those problems was comparable with that of individuals without either risk factor. The study concluded that children with LBW and childhood abuse are at much greater risk for poor adaptation and psychiatric problems than those with LBW alone and those with neither risk. Preventive interventions should target families with LBW children who are at greater risk for childhood abuse. For more information or to read the full article, go to: http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/161/2/186.

Online Kinship Care Information is Now Available for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children

Helpful information for the 35,000 grandparents and other family members who are raising a relative's child in Washington is now just a few clicks away. The new "Kinship Care in Washington state" web site links to a variety of valuable news items about financial help, free or reduced price food, foster care resources, health care, information about raising a child with special needs, legal services, and support services for the caregiver. The web site is a joint project of the Department of Social and Health Services' Aging and Disability Services Administration, Economic Services Administration, Children's Administration, and web site staff. For more information, go to: http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/kinshipcare/.

Is Kinship Care Good for Kids?

By Tiffany Conway and Rutledge Q. Hutson

More than 2.5 million children are being raised by grandparents and other relatives because their parents are unable, for a variety of reasons, to care for them. A number of states have utilized subsidized guardianship programs as a way of supporting such families, often called “kinship families.” Is kinship care is a good thing, and if it is, how we know this? This fact sheet addresses these often unasked but crucial questions. To view this fact sheet from CLASP, go to: www.clasp.org/publications/is_kinship_care_good.pdf.

A Family Affair? Kinship Care and Parental Substance Misuse: Some Dilemmas Explored

Both the Children Act 1989 and the Human Rights Act 1998 support the principle that children should remain within their birth families wherever possible and that this option must be considered when children are unable to live with their parents. Where parental substance misuse is an issue, family placements, whether formally or informally arranged, are increasingly being used and the support of grandparents, in particular, has been identified as a significant protective factor for children. This paper examines some of the issues that can arise with such placements, particularly in view of the part that substance misuse may play within the wider family system, the impact of parental drug and alcohol use on attachment and child development, and the complex dynamics that can ensue. Drawing on themes emerging from parental substance misuse literature and kinship care research, some practice dilemmas will be explored. While acknowledging the complex etiology of substance misuse and the dangers of pathologizing family systems in which it is found, some hypotheses about potential risks and challenges will be debated. It will be argued that, although such placements can often provide children with a safe haven, they may demand a specific type of support and monitoring, if children's welfare is to be safeguarded. For more information, go to: www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2006.00448.x.

Child Maltreatment 2005

This 16^th annual publication provides national and state findings on referrals for child maltreatment, substantiated cases, and types of abuse and neglect. Information on perpetrators of maltreatment, CPS workforce workload, and preventive and post-investigation services is also included. In 2005, child protective service agencies investigated reports of possible maltreatment of nearly 3.6 million children. An estimated 899,000 of these investigations resulted in substantiated cases of maltreatment. Print copies of Child Maltreatment 2005 can be obtained by contacting Child Welfare Information Gateway at 8000.394.3366 or info@childwelfare.gov. To view Child Maltreatment reports dating back to 1995, go to: www.acf,hhs.gov/program/cb/stats_research/index.htm. For more information, go to: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm05/index.htm.

Implications of Age at Onset of Child Maltreatment

The age at which a child first experiences abuse may predict the extent and type of psychological problems the child experiences as an adult. In fact, children who first experience abuse as preschoolers may be the most vulnerable to psychological problems as adults. This was the finding of a recent study that explored the association between age at onset of maltreatment and adult psychopathology. Results indicated that earlier onset of maltreatment predicted more symptoms of anxiety and depression in adulthood, while later onset of maltreatment predicted behavioral problems in adulthood. Maltreatment had the most significant impact when it occurred during the preschool years (ages 3–5), indicating that this may be a particularly sensitive developmental period. Implications for child abuse prevention efforts focusing on this age group are discussed. The full study, “Age of Onset of Child Maltreatment Predicts Long-Term Mental Health Outcomes,” by Julie Kaplow and Cathy Spatz Widom, was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 116(1), and can be purchased online at: http://content.apa.org/journals/abn/116/1/176.