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Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for Early Care and Education

Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on radio and television serve as a tool for States and organizations who want to reach a large audience in order to create public support for high-quality care and education for young children. The following is a sample of State and national organizations that have created PSAs for this purpose. Links to the PSAs are provided when they are available.

STATES

Florida

• Children's Campaign, Inc.
  P.O. Box 1718
  Tallahassee, FL 32302
  850-425-2600
  World Wide Web: http://www.Iamforkids.org
  
  Florida's Children's Campaign Inc. is a nonpartisan, Statewide community empowerment and education project to ensure voter and candidate attention to Florida's 3.6 million children. Local campaign networks disseminate information to the media; distribute material to voters; and sponsor candidate forums, focus groups, and town meetings. Information about a sampling of 30-second and one-minute radio ads broadcasted throughout the State praising the benefits of prekindergarten is available on the Web at http://www.iamforkids.org/campaign/multimedia/multimedia.html.

Illinois

• Voices for Illinois Children
  208 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1490
  Chicago, IL 60604
  312-456-0600
  World Wide Web: http://www.voices4kids.org/index.html
  
  Voices for Illinois Children is a Statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan group of child advocates who work with families, communities, and policy-makers to ensure that all children in Illinois grow up healthy, nurtured, safe, and well-educated. A public awareness campaign began in 2000 with a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation. Ads aired in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. The first wave used TV, radio, billboards, and newspaper ads to focus on improving early education by providing more and better training opportunities for providers. Subsequent radio ads focused on the need to preserve child care from budget cuts and to invest in early learning even in tough fiscal times. Access to these radio and television ads is available on the Web at http://www.voices4kids.org/SEadcampaign_content.html.

Iowa

• Iowa Better Baby Care Campaign
  World Wide Web: http://www.IABabies.org
  
  The Iowa Child Care & Early Education Network launched the Iowa Better Baby Care Campaign. Television PSAs, radio PSAs, outdoor ad spaces, and a Web site were created for this public awareness campaign. The messages focus on the critical early learning years and how important it is to have well educated staff caring for our youngest children. Access to these radio and television ads is available on the Web at http://www.IABabies.org.

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma Better Baby Campaign and Smart Start Oklahoma developed a series of PSAs featuring the First Lady of Oklahoma. They are on four topics: health, parenting, quality child care, and school readiness. For additional information, contact Lori Linstead at 405-236-5437, ext. 103 or e-mail llinstead@smartstartok.org.

Utah

• Care About Child Care
  800-622-7390
  World Wide Web: http://www.careaboutchildcare.org/campaign.htm
  
  The Utah Office of Child Care and the Utah Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies have teamed up to sponsor Utah's first comprehensive child care public information campaign, entitled Care About Child Care. The purpose of the campaign is to make people aware of the role quality care can play in childhood development. The campaign is designed to emphasize the benefits of quality child care and help parents find and evaluate the care available to their children. The campaign includes television and radio PSAs, parent, provider, and business collateral materials; community relations activities, and media relations endeavors. Access to the television PSAs is available on the Web at http://www.careaboutchildcare.org/tv.htm. Access to the radio PSAs is available on the Web at http://www.careaboutchildcare.org/radio.htm.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Adults and Children Together (ACT) Against Violence
  World Wide Web: http://www.actagainstviolence.com/
  
  ACT Against Violence is a violence prevention project that focuses on adults who raise, care for, and teach children from birth to 8 years. It is designed to prevent violence by providing young children with positive role models and environments that teach nonviolent problem-solving. The project includes a national media campaign and training for community professionals. Access to the television and radio PSAs is available on the Web at http://www.actagainstviolence.com/.

• The Advertising Council, Inc. (The Ad Council)
  261 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor
  New York, NY 10016
  212-922-1500
  World Wide Web: http://www.adcouncil.org
  
  The Ad Council is a private, nonprofit organization that marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and nonprofit communities to deliver critical messages to the American public. The Ad Council produces, distributes, and promotes thousands of public service campaigns on behalf of nonprofit organizations and government agencies in areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventative health, education, community well being, environmental preservation, and strengthening families. Access to PSAs from previous campaigns, including PSAs on early childhood development, parent involvement in schools, after-school participation, bullying prevention, and family literacy, are available on the Web at http://www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/.

• Afterschool Alliance
  1616 H Street NW
  Washington, DC 20006
  202-347-2030
  World Wide Web: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/
  
  The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of after-school programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group of public, private, and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's vision of ensuring that all children have access to after-school programs by 2010. The Afterschool Alliance joined with The Advertising Council and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to launch the new youth campaign, which features television spots, print ads and Web banners. The PSA, "Things Can Get Pretty Ugly When You're Bored," encourages after-school program participation. Access to the PSA is available on the Web at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/PSA_p1.cfm

• Born Learning Public Awareness and Engagement Campaign
  World Wide Web: http://bornlearning.org
  
  The Born Learning Public Awareness and Engagement Campaign is a partnership among United Way of America, the Ad Council, Civitas, and Families and Work Institute. Born Learning is an innovative three year public awareness and engagement campaign to help parents, caregivers, and communities provide children high-quality learning experiences necessary for school readiness. The $90 million PSA campaign was launched in spring 2005. Ads in English and Spanish are airing in every single media market, on TV, newspaper, radio, and on billboards and buses in some communities. Access to television and radio PSAs is available on the Web at http://bornlearning.org/default.aspx?id=36.

• Learn the Signs: Act Early
  National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
  World Wide Web in English: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/
  World Wide Web in Spanish: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/spanish/default.htm
  
  Learn the Signs: Act Early has information about milestones children should reach in how they play, learn, speak, and act. This information is designed to help parents recognize potential delays in any of these areas so they can help their children reach full potential. Access to television and radio PSAs is available on the Web at http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/partners/psa.html.

• Mind in the Making
  World Wide Web: http://mindinthemaking.org/
  
  Families and Work Institute and New Screen Concepts have created a major new multi-faceted national communications initiative on learning. They have spent several years identifying, filming and translating the most rigorous and most compelling research on learning itself and on how children learn best, beginning with the early years. This r esearch will be presented to the public through a variety of media strategies. They are in the process of preparing radio PSAs in English and Spanish.

• National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI)
  101 Lake Forest Boulevard, Suite 360
  Gaithersburg, MD 20877
  301-948-0599
  World Wide Web: http://www.fatherhood.org
  
  NFI is a non-profit organization that conducts public awareness campaigns promoting responsible fatherhood, organizes conferences and community fatherhood forums, provides resource materials to organizations seeking to establish support programs for fathers, publishes a quarterly newsletter, and disseminates informational material to men seeking to become more effective fathers. NFI has a series of TV PSAs promoting the importance of involved fatherhood. Access to these PSAs is available on the Web at http://www.fatherhood.org/psa_tv.asp.

• Talaris Research Institute
  P. O. Box 45040
  Seattle, WA 98145
  206-529-6898
  World Wide Web: http://www.talaris.org/index.htm
  
  The Talaris Research Institute is dedicated to discovering how children from birth to age 5 think, feel, and learn. Talaris' "crib notes" of early brain development are research spotlights with easy- to-read summaries that bring to life research efforts that have deepened understanding of children's development. The Parenting Counts campaign includes on-air and print resources targeted at parents and caregivers, as well as training materials for outreach professionals. The campaign features six 60-second television spots focusing on important messages to parents about children, ages birth to 5. It also includes Web resources, early learning workshops, parenting brochures, and mini-grants. Access to the television spots are available on the Web at http://www.talaris.org/parentingcounts.htm.

• USDA Food Program Support Project
  The SOHO Center
  1564 West Hoover Road
  Madison, VA 22727
  540-923-5012
  World Wide Web: http://www.child2000.org/tv-spots.htm
  
  The SOHO Center helps to nationally publicize the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a Federal entitlement program which is part of the National School Lunch Act. Examples include four 30 second television Children's Nutrition/Outreach PSAs featuring Linda Ronstadt singing Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You and engaging kids and providers. The commercials are currently or have been recently used by USDA Food Program Sponsors in Utah, Maine, Virginia, Oregon/Washington, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Mississipi. For additional information, contact the SOHO Center at media@child2000.org.

Updated September 2005