The Weekly Briefing

Welcome to The Weekly Briefing, featuring news from Children's Futures, updates about our community partners' activities and links to recent news articles about early childhood health and development.
Volume 1, Number 32	December 21, 2007

In This Issue

News from Children's Futures
- Annual CF Toy and Book Drive Party Brings Hundreds Together for Trenton's Toddlers
- CF Plays Key Role in Mercer WIB's County-Wide Literacy Effort
- Expanded CF Outreach to Bring More Trenton Women into Early Prenatal Care in 2008
Links to News Articles
- Crucial Parent Connection is a Challenge
- Child Health Plan to be Expanded
- Fetal Alcohol Exposure May Prime Offspring for Alcoholism
Community Activities
- CitySmiles Ushers in the New Year with a Party for Children and Parents
- Arts and Culture Family Day to Focus on Anti-Violence
- Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies Meetings Set for Agencies and Consumers

News from Children's Futures

Annual CF Toy and Book Drive Party Brings Hundreds Together for Trenton's Toddlers

Many Trenton toddlers will benefit from the hundreds of toys and books donated by attendees at Children's Futures' 7th Annual Holiday Toy and Book Drive celebration held last Friday at the Trenton Marriott at Lafayette Yard. This party with a purpose was created by Children's Future's financial officer Spencer Lester in 2001. Some of the companies and organizations supporting this event included: Sturdivant & Co., Capital City Contracting, African-American Firefighters of Trenton, We Haul Anything, America's First Funding Group, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Omega Psi Phi and One Love Entertainment.

dontaed toys
Joy Brooks (left) and Riva Thomas (right) of Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. display donated toys.

omega psi phi
(Left to right) Steve Hallet and Gary Gray (front) of Omega Psi Phi receive
recognition for event participation as event host Talent from Kiss-FM's
morning show and Children's Futures' president Floyd K. Morris, Jr. look on.

toys
(Leftl to right) Children's Futures' financial officer Spencer Lester and
executive assistant Iris Rawls sort donated holiday toys for girls and
boys with the help of UIH Family Partners' client services specialists
Rashidah White and Lori Ray from the CF Father Center.

CF Plays Key Role in Mercer WIB's County-Wide Literacy Effort

Children's Futures is playing a key role in a collaborative initiated through the County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to improve literacy for children and families in Mercer County. The collaborative (known as the Mercer County Literacy Consortium) promotes literacy skills to 1,000 individuals through classes, workshops and individual mentoring.

CF's vice president Melinda Green is leading the Early Childhood subcommittee that will address early literacy issues such as children's language development, vocabulary building and other skills so important in a child's growth and development. Early childhood literacy is an essential aspect of Children's Futures' work in Trenton. "Research tells us literacy programs which support families and provide skill-building activities for young children are critically important in facilitating school readiness," Ms. Green said. In addition to this effort, CF addresses early literacy through activities at the Family Success/Parent Child centers, through the Reach Out and Read Program at local physicians' offices and as a lead organization for the recently announced "Trenton Reads" program.

In addition to CF, consortium partners include Mercer County Community College, Mercer Street Friends, Trenton Board of Education/Daylight/Twilight program, West/Windsor/Plainsboro Board of Education, The Princeton YWCA, Latinas Unidas of Trenton, Literacy Volunteers in Mercer County, Mercer County Correction Center, Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey's Immigration and Refugee Program, United Way of Greater Mercer, Horizon NJ Health and the Mercer County Workforce Investment Board/One Stop Career Center. Mercer County Literacy Collaborative chairperson Dr. Beverly Richardson, Mercer County Community College's vice president and provost of its Kerney Campus, praised participating organizational representatives for their passion and commitment to improve literacy. Dr. Richardson is the former chair of the Children's Futures' Board of Directors.

For more information about the Mercer County Literacy Consortium, please contact Melinna Harris at harrism@mccc.edu. For additional information about CF's literacy programs, please contact Melinda Green at mgreen@childrensfutures.org.

literacy consortium meeting
Dr. Beverly Richardson (standing) leads a meeting of
the Mercer County Literacy Consortium at Mercer County
Community College's Kerney Campus on Wednesday.

Expanded CF Outreach to Bring More Trenton Women into Early Prenatal Care in 2008

Children's Futures will expand its outreach efforts in 2008 to increase the number of women entering prenatal care in the first trimester. "Through support from the Central New Jersey Maternal and Child Health Consortium , the March of Dimes, the State of New Jersey's Black Infant Mortality Reduction program and the Federal Health Resources and Service Administration, we expect to blanket the city to connect with pregnant women and engage them in prenatal care as early as possible," said June Gray, CF's Healthy Start project director. An outreach worker will be designated for each ward of the city and will be visible through activities at CF's Family Success/Parent Child Centers, in Trenton's Project Impact Van and at community events. "Engaging pregnant women in prenatal care as early as possible is geared to help reduce the incidence of prematurity and low birth weight." Gray added.

According to Gray, once pregnant women are identified through outreach, they will be offered an array of educational and health programs.

"Children need to have the best possible start in life. We will enlist our colleagues from the Trenton Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies program to reach out at places like the train station, nail salons and even at the upcoming PrimeTime Basketball Tournament at the Sovereign Bank Arena," she explained. For more information or to invite outreach workers to community events, please email June Gray at jgray@childrensfutures.org or Brenda Tift at btift@cnjmchc.org.

Brenda Tift of Trenton Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies (left)
prepares to provide outreach to a Trenton resident.

Links to News Articles

Crucial Parent Connection is a Challenge
The Trenton Times reported this week on Children's Futures' role in convening community organizations to help the Trenton Public Schools connect with more parents.

Child Health Plan to Be Expanded
A proposed agreement between the state and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey would make health insurance accessible for up to 60,000 children, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Fetal Alcohol Exposure May Prime Offspring for Alcoholism
HealthDay News reports on research describing that teens with prior fetal exposure to drinking may be more likely to abuse alcohol.

Excessive Tantrums in Preschoolers May Indicate Serious Mental Health Problems
Certain types of tantrums in preschoolers may be signs of serious emotional or behavioral problems, according to research described in this news release from Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Community Activities

December 2007

Monday, December 31:

4th Annual CitySmiles Family New Year's Eve Party: 5-9 p.m.; ArtWorks in Trenton, 19 Everett Alley. For more information about this and other activities for children and families presented in Trenton by CitySmiles throughout the year, please contact Lkasabach@aol.com .

January 2008

Saturday, January 5:

Arts and Culture Family Day to Focus on Anti-Violence: free; 12 noon to 9 p.m.; Medical Arts High School-50 North Clinton Avenue; featuring Mayor Douglas Palmer and Dr. Benjamin Chavis. For more information, please contact Mustapha Muhammad at capitalcityloc@yahoo.com.

Thursday, January 10:

Trenton Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies Coalition: 9 a.m.; Thomas Edison State College's Prudence Hall at 101 West State Street in Trenton. For more information, please contact Brenda Tift at btift@cnjmchc.org or call 394-7454.

Monday, January 14:

Trenton Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies Consumer Coalition: 5 to 6:30 p.m..; refreshments provided; Princeton Deliverance Center, 301 Southard Street in Trenton. For more information, please contact Brenda Tift at btift@cnjmchc.org or call 394-7454

Community Meeting to Discuss Safety Issues, Immigrant Needs, Tenant Rights, etc.: 6 to 8 p.m..; free buffet dinner provided; Washington Elementary School, 331 Emory Avenue in Trenton. For more information, please call 1-877-452-5333 .

February 2008

Saturday, February 9 and Sunday February 10:

PrimeTime Shootout High School Basketball Tournament: Day and Evening Games; Sovereign Bank Arena. For more information, please email Jeff Hewitson at jhewitson@dewberry.com.

Tuesday, February 12:

Pre-Kindergarten Fair for Parents to learn about the Abbott Preschool Programs and community programs for families: free; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trenton Board of Education, Ellis Auditorium, 108 N. Clinton Avenue. Community organizations are encouraged to secure a table to provide information about their services for families. For more information, please call the Office of Early Childhood at 656 4900 ext. 5709 or email dholguin@trenton.k12.nj.us.

Tuesday, February 19:

Start of Centralized Preschool Registration and NJ Family Care Sign-Ups for all three and four year olds: free; beginning at 8:30 a.m., Trenton Board of Education, 108 N. Clinton Avenue. For more information, please call the Office of Early Childhood at 656 4900 ext. 5709 or email dholguin@trenton.k12.nj.us . Trenton parents wishing to make a registration appointment for children who turn three or four by September 30th 2008 should call 656 4900 ext. 5667.

For a complete calendar of events, please refer to our calendar page.

About Children's Futures

Established in 2001 with major support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Children's Futures is a nonprofit organization that works city-wide in Trenton, N.J. to improve child health and development outcomes. Through an unprecedented collaboration among public agencies and nonprofit organizations, Children's Futures seeks to strengthen parenting, increase access to primary quality health care and child care systems, and increase social supports for families, so that every child in Trenton enters preschool healthy and ready to learn.

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