June 2016 | ISSUE 21
This Early Childhood-LINC newsletter connects communities across the country as they build and strengthen systems to help children and families thrive. Click the box below and enter your email address in the Stay Informed box to sign up. 

 
        


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COMMUNITY NEWS
Project DULCE Replication Begins


As part of CSSP's Project on Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Toxic Stress on Young Children and Their Families, EC-LINC communities have begun testing the adoption and adaptation of Project DULCE (Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone). Developed at Boston Medical Center, Project DULCE supports families for the first six months following the birth of a new infant. 


Based at the infant's primary care medical home, a DULCE family specialist joins the healthcare team and provides additional support on healthy child development and parenting, and helps parents connect to both formal and informal community resources. 
The DULCE intervention incorporates a protective factors approach and draws on and incorporates components of the Medical-Legal Partnership model to ensure that families have access to the resources they need. 


EC-LINC communities are eager to implement this cost-effective universal approach to simultaneously promote child and family resilience and attachment, while also addressing family needs that could place young children at risk of toxic stress and related developmental issues. Clinic sites and medical legal partners in Lamoille Valley, VT, Palm Beach County, FL and three California counties (Alameda, Orange and Los Angeles) are implementing DULCE in a total of seven clinics. 


CSSP Senior Associate and DULCE replication coordinator Patsy Hampton sees great positive potential in the intervention. "We believe DULCE fills a gap in the service delivery system," she says, "and links the health care system firmly to the community-based early childhood system."


 
Flipping the Script on Parent Engagement: Four Years of Boston's Thrive in 5
 
In April 2016, Boston Thrive in 5 presented its four-year evaluation at an event entitled "Flipping the Script: From Parent-Centered to Parents at the Center" at Wheelock College in Boston. The report explores success and challenges in the program, highlighting the factors that contribute to the achievement of Thrive in 5's primary goal: 100% of Boston's children ready for school success upon kindergarten entry by 2018. 


Chief among these factors is the parent partner model. The report states: "In interviews with core hub staff members over the four years, the parent partner model was singled out as the most successful and vital component of the BCT initiative. Numerous examples surfaced on how the parent partners served as the key conduit connecting parents to each other and to local services."


In discussing the history and importance of the parent partner model in Boston, Karley Ausiello, Senior Vice President of Community Impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley said, "The parent partner model has been the foundation for many family engagement and parent leadership efforts in Boston over the years. Parent partners were initially piloted in five neighborhoods, and the role has been expanded citywide to 10 neighborhoods through the Boston Family Engagement Network, and it has informed the work of the Boston Public Health Commission. It has also been the basis for parent screeners, who are parents conducting developmental screening with other parents and supporting them in better understanding child developmental and community resources."


NATIONAL NEWS
New Film Explores the Impact of Child's Early Environment


The Beginning of Life, a new documentary supported by UNICEF, was released worldwide on June 1. The film documents the early lives of children and their families and features interviews with specialists from the early childhood development arena. Families from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Italy, Kenya and the United States are included in the film.


UNICEF Chief of Early Childhood Development Pia Britto hopes that the film compels "governments and policy-makers to act now and prioritize investment in the earliest years of children's lives - from parenting to care and early learning programs for all children." 


In a testimony in the film, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences winner James Heckman declares that "taking proper care of our babies is the best investment that can be made in humanity."

"The Beginning of Life" is now available on Netflix, iTunes, and Google Play.





Registration Opens for 20th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
 
The 20th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) takes place August 31 to September 2 in Washington DC. This every-other-year event features leading voices from across multiple disciplines, including researchers, 
practitioners and policy makers. 


The theme for 2016 is Building Community, Building Hope. Some of the key topic are the intersections between child maltreatment and poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, sex trafficking and domestic violence. Register here.

 
RESOURCES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEM-BUILDING:

Theory & Practice
 
New Book

Systems Thinking for Social Change 
 
Published in late 2015, this book gives concrete, actionable guidance on what systems thinking is and how to incorporate it in problem solving, decision making and strategic planning for early childhood systems.





Toolkit
The Intersector Project
 
This comprehensive toolkit is a guide to help diagnose, design, implement and assess successful cross-sector collaborations to solve complex social challenges, such as building early childhood systems.
 
EXPLORE MORE RESOURCES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEMS
    • For providers: Professionals may find the ZERO TO THREE "Developing Social-Emotional Skills" resources useful for helping new and expectant parents have a positive impact on their children's development. 

       
    • For parents: Smarterparenting.com offers parents short videos, such as "Observe and Describe to Clarify Behaviors," to work with and improve their children's behavior.  

       
    • For researchers & system-builders: The Changing Geography of Hispanic Children and Families, a new brief from Child Trends, discusses key demographic drivers of changes in Hispanic communities and their implications for the well-being of Hispanic families and children.

       
    • For policymakers: A new report in the Brookings Institution's Evidence Speaks series explores the pros and cons of public policy and expenditure support for family support programs versus school readiness programs in order to improve the prospects of children from low-income families.
 
Early Childhood-LINC is a learning and innovation network developed by and for communities. Our mission is to support families and improve results for young children in communities across the country with a focus on accelerating the development of effective, integrated, local early childhood systems. We are currently made up of nine member communities across the country. Learn more about the innovative work of our communities.

 

                           


Early Childhood-LINC / The Center for the Study of Social Policy | 1575 Eye Street, NW | Suite 500 | Washington | DC | 20005