Weekly Digest: June 11, 2009

Share your thoughts for CT Voices American Community Survey primer

Connecticut Voices for Children is currently in the process of creating a primer that will help interested members of the Discovery initiative find and interpret town-level data from the American Community Survey, a yearly survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. The American Community Survey is a rich source of demographic, social, economic, and housing information for all geographic areas containing greater than 20,000 people. The hope is that the primer would enable Discovery community members to track useful information about their towns, for instance child poverty levels or the number of single-mother households.

Connecticut Voices for Children is looking for Discovery community members who would be willing to share their thoughts on what an American Community Survey primer might include that would make it useful in their work.

If you are interested in hearing more about this project and are willing to share your comments and ideas, please contact Joe Hero at Connecticut Voices for Children through e-mail at jhero@ctkidslink.org, or by phone at 203-498-4240.

The Alliance Names 60 Legislators "Children's Champions"

Sixty legislators, from both sides of the political aisle, were honored May 28 for their dedication and commitment to children's issues, both in the legislature and in their home districts.  Beth Bye of West Hartford was honored as "Legislator of the Year" for her tireless effort and dedication to children's issues, particularly early care and education issues.

Visit the Alliance website at http://www.earlychildhoodalliance.com/node/4728to to read an article on the event and view pictures.

Zero to Three Article: When is the Right Time to Use Personal Stories and Vivid Examples?

To help infant-toddler professionals successfully communicate with policymakers and the public about early childhood development, the ZERO TO THREE Policy Network publishes a series of articles in The Baby Monitor focused on effective communication about the early years.

This article takes this communications challenge head-on: Is it really effective to include the stories of specific children or families in our communications and advocacy efforts? Drawing on research from the Frameworks Institute, the article focuses on an analysis of personal stories and vivid examples to inform advocacy and communications practice.

To download this article, visit the Zero to Three website at http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/framing_article_part_6.pdf?docID=8482

All of the articles in the series can be found at http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_framing