The National Institution for Children In Poverty NCCP

is a wonderful institution, that is really dedicated to helping youth and families. Below are the aspects of the

the institution that I feel will help me understand issues in my current profession, because I work with children

who are considered to be at or below the poverty line.

Project Thrive

Project Thrive is a public policy analysis and education initiative at NCCP to promote healthy child development and to provide policy support to the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) initiatives funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Part of NCCP’s longstanding commitment to promote improved state early childhood policies and practices, the goal of Project Thrive is to help states strengthen and expand their early childhoodsystems, paying particular attention to strategies that improve services for those at highest risk and that help reduce disparities in access and quality of care to early childhood health and mental health.

Project Thrive seeks to ensure that infants, young children, and their families have access to:

· Integrated high-quality health care and medical homes;

· Early care and education;

· Social-emotional and mental health programs;

· Family support; and

· Parenting education.

The project’s Virtual Policy-Sharing Network links stakeholders with shared concerns on a regular basis. Project resources include documents responsive to field needs (e.g., "Short Takes"), Policy-Sharing Roundtables, and online data and analytic tools.

Promoting Social Inclusion and Respect for Diversity in Early Childhood

Promoting Social Inclusion and Respect for Diversity is a two-year action research study of the formation of regional coalitions of researchers, policymakers, practitioners, evaluators, advocates, and funders to promote social inclusion and respect for diversity (SI & RD) in early childhood education in the U.S.

The role of the regional coalitions is to support, strengthen and refine already existing SI & RD efforts with young children in the Northwest and Rocky Mountain West (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska) and the Southeast (North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi), and develop infrastructure for a more purposeful, concerted expansion of work. The project also mobilizes national organizations and other stakeholders, synthesizes and translates research findings about promoting SI & RD in early childhood, and is implementing a web-based dissemination strategy.

Following an action-research approach, the project facilitates the collective formulation and implementation of an approach, strategies, a plan for action – which may cover the areas of research, practice, policy analysis and policymaking, training and professional development, and parent involvement – a timetable for implementation, and performance indicators.

Improving the Odds for Young Children

Improving the Odds for Young Children shines a spotlight on state variation in the policy commitment to low-income young children and families. The result is a unique, state-by-state picture of the population of young children and the policy choices that states make across a range of services.

The project provides state-specific and national profiles that integrate data about an array of policies that affect early childhood development. These policies fall into three categories: health and nutrition, early care and learning, and parenting and economic supports. Descriptions of the policies and the research base for their effectiveness can be found in the User Guide to the State Early Childhood Profiles.

The 2007 report State Early Childhood Policies summarizes state-level policy choices at the national level, and sets a benchmark for future reports.

The state profiles can be readily used by legislators, the business community, and others looking for a quick yet comprehensive overview of a state’s efforts to promote healthy development and school readiness. The project also conducts ongoing analyses to highlight both policy opportunities and challenges to improve the odds for young children.

Early Care and Learning

The achievement gap for low-income young children starts early in life and is difficult to reverse. What science tells us about brain development, along with what we know from economic analysis, makes it clear that investing in high-quality early care and learning is essential to reducing this gap.

States as well as communities make important choices about how much they invest in early care and learning strategies that can improve the odds for healthy early childhood development. Research is clear that early school success for low-income young children also depends on efforts to increasefamily economic security.

Strategies to help young children with the social and emotional, language, and academic skills they need to succeed in the early school years are critical across all early care and learning settings, starting with infants and toddlers. Of special concern are young children who experience multiple risks beyond poverty and economic hardship.

Publications

· Linking Home-Based Child Care And State-Funded Preschool
The Community Connections Preschool Program (Illinois Action for Children)
Report, May 2011

· Racial Gaps in Early Childhood
Socio-emotional Health, Developmental, and Educational Outcomes Among African-American Boys
Report, May 2011

· Quality in Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care Settings
Report, May 2011

· Quality Stars NY
Field Test Evaluation Report
Report, April 2011

· Putting the Pieces Together
New York Early Learning Program Data Systems
Report, February 2011

All related publications...

Child Poverty

Nearly 15 million children in the United States – 21% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $22,050 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 42% of children live in low-income families.

Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet. Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty.

Research is clear that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being. But effective public policies – to make work pay for low-income parents and to provide high-quality early care and learning experiences for their children – can make a difference. Investments in the most vulnerable children are also critical.

Publications

· Who Are America’s Poor Children?
Examining Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity
Report, July 2011

· Poor Children by Parents’ Nativity
What Do We Know?
Brief, April 2011

· Healthy Kids and Strong Working Families
Improving Economic Security for North Dakota Families with Children
Brief, April 2011

· Who are America’s Poor Children?
The Official Story
Brief, March 2011

· Who Are America’s Poor Children?
Examining Health Disparities Among Children in the United States
Report, January 2011

· Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009
Children Under Age 3
Fact Sheet, October 2010

· Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009
Children Under Age 6
Fact Sheet, October 2010

· Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009
Children Aged 6 through 11
Fact Sheet, October 2010

Note: These aspects are useful tools that will engage and extend my learning opportunity so that I can be of help to the families with children that I help serve daily. Just about everything on this website dealing with poverty is no shock to me. Kids go through a lot. Some do not have food to eat, others do not have housing and many of children are delayed or behind, because when poverty attacks, it affects the whole system. NCCP Young Leaders is a community of young professionals and graduate students. Through a combination of outreach, education, community service and fundraising initiatives, NCCP Young Leaders generate new and creative ways to continue NCCP’s mission of promoting the economic security, health, and wellbeing of America’s low-income families and children. The "Unclaimed Children Revisited" was an important part of the NCCP and it does as follows:

Unclaimed Children Revisited

Unclaimed Children Revisited is a multi-pronged initiative to generate new knowledge about policies across the United States that promote or inhibit the delivery of high-quality mental health services and supports to children, youth, and families in need.

The initiative builds on a framework developed over 25 years ago in a landmark study conducted by NCCP’s former director, Jane Knitzer. Unclaimed Children Revisited highlights best state policy practice. It places special emphasis on identifying policies that promote developmentally and culturally appropriate services, family and youth engagement, and the effective use of evidence-based services.

Unclaimed Children Revisited includes:

· a national survey of state child mental health directors;

· UCR: California Case Study: mental health policies, services, and supports for children and youth in California, with a focus on 11 counties;

· a case study of outcomes-based management in children’s mental health service delivery in Michigan; and

· a working paper series on family and youth perspectives, financing, trauma, school-based mental health and cross-systems support of effective practices.

Unclaimed Children Revisited is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation. The work of the project is guided by national and state advisory committees.