This annual report details the activities of the National Association of Child Advocates (NACA) from June 2001 to June 2002. The report discusses the efforts of NACA to help members protect funding levels for programs supporting children and their families during the nation's economic downturn, including conducting focus groups to test specific…

Contends that strategies commonly used to persuade decisionmakers to direct more resources to early childhood education are not effective. Presents the Stand for Children's strategy, an intensive organizing approach used over the past 3 years in Oregon, Idaho, Tennessee, and Maryland. Describes efforts of Stand for Children to reinstate children's…

This document details a strategy to bring together state and community leaders in the southeastern United States to establish dialogue, set priorities, and make system-wide changes for supporting literacy for the youngest children and their families. The Head, Heart, and Hands campaign has three focal points: (1) Head--understanding research and…

Describes a United Kingdom initiative to create opportunities for youth participation in decision making. Explores issues that have frustrated translation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into a reality in the United Kingdom. Asserts that an agenda based upon children's universal rights has more potential for political…

Highlights child advocacy accomplishments in Romania, Malaysia, Australia, and Brazil discussed at the World Forum on Early Care and Education. Describes six steps to effective child advocacy: knowing the issue, researching for background and impact, preparing a summary, making effective meetings, conducting follow-up, and thanking decision…

The Cynon Valley Project in Wales, United Kingdom, used funding from the Save the Children Fund and the Bernard van Leer Foundation to address consequences of economic decline in the two communities of Fernhill and Perthcelyn. The project's focus was on early childhood education and community development. Though starting at about the same time and…

Describes the Vermont Autumn Showcase Tour for Early Care and Education as a strategy to reengage legislators and community leaders in early childhood education/care. Notes that regions that had previously hosted a community event focusing on early childhood issues had higher attendance than initial implementers, and that unexpected benefits…

These conference proceedings are designed to provide the latest research on children in jails and to assist in the development of action programs. The materials include a "work file" of alternatives to jail, such as a home detention program, short-term shelter care, crisis intervention services and foster care, because jail placements do not…

The Adolescent Diversion Project, an alternative to court processing for juvenile offenders, employs intervention strategies of behavioral contracting and advocacy. Youth (N=73) were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) the control group receiving usual court treatment; (2) the family condition involving a trained undergraduate volunteer who…

This journal issue highlights examples of state and local child care advocacy strategies that have resulted in positive legislative change or increased funding for low-income child care. Legal constraints on lobbying by nonprofit or public agencies due to limitations imposed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and public and private funding…

In June, 1999, the U.S. Departments of Justice and of Health and Human Services convened the National Summit on Children Exposed to Violence, bringing together experts to develop a framework for understanding and addressing children's exposure to violence. This Summary describes that framework, presenting an action plan that outlines principles…

The correlation between a noncustodial father and child poverty suggests that father involvement and support are critical pieces of the puzzle for reducing child poverty. Regular child support provides an income supplement to families leaving welfare and can prevent families' initial descent into poverty. This issue brief is intended to introduce…