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The Child Care Partnership Project Oregon’s Child: Everyone’s Business |
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Description In Oregon, raising healthy children is everyone's business. The statewide campaign, Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business, is spreading that message and is motivating businesses, communities, and families to take action. The goal of the campaign is to promote the healthy development of young children. To achieve this goal, the campaign uses the latest brain research to educate the public about the critical first years of life. Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business also distributes lists of simple things that individuals, businesses, and communities can do to make a difference in children's lives. The campaign also publicizes the work of successful programs that connect families with needed services and resources. Partners Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business is a statewide collaboration of more than a dozen public and private organizations. The Oregon Commission on Children and Families coordinate the campaign. Other partners include:
History and Development In 1996,the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, the Oregon Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and other early childhood stakeholders in Oregon met and received training in media skills to prepare for the state's involvement in the nationwide "I Am Your Child" campaign. The goal of the "I Am Your Child" campaign is to educate the public about early childhood development. When the national campaign kickoff was delayed, members of Oregon's early childhood community met to determine what the state could do. The January 1997 meeting produced Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business, a three-year campaign to spread the word about new research on infant brain development and its implications for early care and education. As time went on, the campaign recruited private- sector partners, developed a memorandum of agreement signed by the heads of the partner organizations, and created a structure that included a state steering committee and three workgroups. In February 1997, the partners kicked off the campaign at the state capitol with a photo exhibit, including excerpts on brain research findings and suggested actions. Current Activities The work of the partnership is organized into three work groups: a materials development and distribution group, a speakers bureau, and a public policy and advocacy group. The partnership is considering adding a fundraising group in the near future. The materials development and distribution group produces and distributes informational materials, including a composite video containing three short segments on the brain research, and postcards with information on "what to expect" and "what you can do" with children at different ages. They also distribute videos and booklets on parenting and choosing quality child care published by I Am Your Child. This group developed a professional, quality traveling exhibit on brain research and its implications for early childhood programs and policies. Agencies and organizations throughout the state reserve the exhibit for up to a week at a time through the Commission on Children and Families. The speakers bureau workgroup coordinates volunteers who make presentations on the implications of the brain research for early care and education. About 80 presenters have been trained to use the "Maximizing Oregon's Brain Power" training materials, developed in collaboration with Dorothy Routh, director of the Florida Starting Points Initiative. Trainees agree to present the information to at least three groups in their community. A few presenters have been selected to recruit and train additional volunteers on how to make effective presentations on the new brain research. They commit to plan, publicize, and conduct full-day comprehensive training on the "Maximizing Oregon's Brain Power" program. The statewide speakers bureau is organized into seven regions, each staffed by a voluntary coordinator who collects and maintains training and resource material for use by trainers and presenters in the region. The coordinator also serves as a contact person with the state campaign regarding training schedules, new presenter and trainers, evaluation tools, and campaign-related activities in their region. Coordinators provide information regarding training schedules, new presenters and trainers, evaluation tools, and general communication. The public policy and advocacy work group recently organized the "Oregon's Child" Policy Summit. The Oregon Association of Family and Consumer Sciences provided leadership in raising funds and coordinating the summit. Of the more than 400 parent, policymakers, social service providers, and business leaders who attended, over 200 completed pledge cards. The cards included actions that the signers would take to advance the use of early brain research in programs and policies. Resources The Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business campaign has no set budget, but raises funds, as needed, to carry out its activities. All of the partner organizations have contributed in-kind support that amounts to thousands of dollars and hours of staff time, travel expenses, and office services. Members of the partnership have also donated funds from a variety of their program budgets to support events and the production of materials. In most cases, organizations pay bills directly, rather than making a donation to the campaign itself. It is difficult to estimate the total cost of the campaign, because the funds came from so many sources.
Results The campaign has reached thousands of people through the speakers bureau and materials distribution. Presentations on the brain research were made to over 2,000 participants between November 1997 and June 1998. More than 100,000 postcards in English and Spanish have been distributed to parents and caregivers of young children. Sustaining and Replicating The partnership successfully adapted model programs and materials from other states and organizations to use in the Oregon campaign. The speakers bureau adapts Dorothy Routh's work in Florida, and the partnership distributes materials from the Families and Work Institute and the "I Am Your Child" campaign. Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business was designed as a three-year campaign that would end in 1999. The partnership is currently examining options to sustain the work of the campaign after 1999. Efforts include exploring incorporation of the speakers bureau and training activities into the Center for Career Development in Childhood Care and Education at Portland State University, and creation of an advocacy organization sustained by membership dues. The campaign has helped to solidify a network of key state-level public, private, and non-profit organizations invested in early childhood issues that will support local coalitions committed to the campaign goals. Lessons Learned Take advantage of momentum and interest. The state's early childhood system initially mobilized for a media campaign in order to participate in the national "I Am Your Child" campaign. When the start of the national campaign was delayed, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families and the Oregon Child Care Resource and Referral Network started a statewide campaign independent of the national campaign to maintain the momentum and interest. Build on existing collaborations. The early childhood community in Oregon had a history of working together before Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business was born. Several initiatives funded by private foundations and state and federal government to improve early care and education preceded the campaign and helped build the infrastructure for a partnership around this issue. Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business successfully tapped into and built upon the strong foundation of collaboration within the state's early childhood community. If you do it, they will fund it. While the partnership has never had a set budget, each of its initiatives has been supported from the budgets of the organizations participating in the partnership, or from fundraising efforts. The partnership has not only been successful in gaining support for initiatives, but has also been able to mobilize effectively to respond to money becoming available. For example, Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business was preparing to create postcards that share information on child development. When money became available, they were ready to move quickly to design and print the cards. Create a structure to support the work. Three structural cornerstones improved the success of the Oregon's Child: Everyone's Business campaign. The memorandum of collaboration signed by the executives of the partner agencies showed commitment from the top and provided the first cornerstone. The second cornerstone is the workgroup structure. The workgroups harness the energy and ideas of committee members by providing a structure that assigns responsibility for completing specific tasks. The third cornerstone is the ongoing commitment from key organizations to coordinate the campaign. Initially, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families and the Oregon Child Care Resource and Referral Network shared that responsibility. Currently, the Oregon Commission on Children and Families continues to coordinate the campaign, while the Oregon Association of Family and Consumer Sciences is the private non-profit organization taking the lead.
Contact Information Beth Glascock Linda Erickson |
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