Meriden is located in the middle of the state just south of Hartford. Its population in 1998 was 56,428. Approximately 25% of the population is under the age of 18. In 1998 median family income was $41,910; per capita income was $19,862. In 1990 the poverty rate was 7.31%; 40.4% of students receive free or reduced-price lunches.

Meriden's economic climate mirrors that of many old New England industrial towns with limited space for new development. Given this challenge, real estate transactions and prices have partly rebounded from deep lows over the past couple of years, helped in part by lower interest rates, less local crime, and five straight years of flat local property taxes. In the past year we have seen the development of a regional hospital, shopping mall addition, two pharmacies, car dealership and new middle school.

In 1998, 63.2% of Meriden children had had a preschool experience, compared with 75.9% five years before; 22% come from homes where English is the second language.

The Meriden school district consists of 12 public schools and five nonpublic schools. There are two high schools, two middle schools and eight elementary schools in the public school system. In 1997-98, the Strategic School Profile for student enrollment and race/ethnicity was: American Indian 0.1%, Asian American 1.8%, Black 9.9%, Hispanic 30.7% and White 57.4%.

In 1994, leadership from the City of Meriden, the Board of Education, the United Way, key service providers and parents came together to make plans for the Children First Initiative in Meriden.

In Meriden, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 10:1. The popularly elected Mayor is Democratic, as are 10 of the 12 City Council members. The Mayor has been a key proponent of Children First Initiative in Meriden.

The mission is to establish a collaborative by which the community, with parents as the foundation, will realize systemic change focused on building community capacity; ensuring children early and continued success; and broadening the base of educational opportunities.

The leadership during the planning phase was the Meriden's Children First Collaborative, which was charged with providing overall governance and oversight for all activities. Many community members participated on various subcommittees and task forces. As part of this leadership, one of the groups was the Steering subcommittee comprised of elected parent co-chairs. Assisting the chairs in planning and organizing was a secretary, the collaborative agent, and the liaison with the Memorial Fund. Members engaged in activities like the first early childhood directory, a children's fair, and community-wide assessment using surveys and focus groups.
With the award of the 1995 Implementation Grant, the Collaborative continued to maintain overall governance and oversight for all CFI activities. The Steering committee assisted in the organizing and oversight of committees to implement the plan, but the ultimate decision-making and accountability rested with the Collaborative. A facilitator and an administrative assistant were hired to provide ongoing service to the Initiative.

Information gathered from the assessment process helped develop five goals:

	improve access to existing programs
	expand programs for young children
	increase parental involvement in their children's education
	expand the availability of childcare options
	continue and enhance the community-wide Collaborative.

Interrelated with the goals were 15 objectives or outcomes. They were grouped into four categories: work associated with the Collaborative; those of an informational nature involving parents; direct family services; and direct services for young children. Several committees geared toward facilitating the emerging role for parents were established to implement this work.

Meriden CFI has seen changes from the early days of implementation. Many parent workshops, collaborative meetings, directories, newsletters and other objectives have been accomplished. In 1998 a reflective process began with a focus to evaluate programs and activities highlighting strengths and assets in respect of time, changes to the community, and resources. Three goals emerged:

	Continue to enhance the community-wide collaborative.
	Build the capacity of parents.
	Improve access to existing programs.

This narrower focus will foster stronger partnerships and a stronger collaborative well-positioned to take action on specific community issues.

Collaboration for the Meriden CFI has been a learning process, one which took time to develop and foster. It was not simply coming to a meeting and discussing ideas. It developed into a partnership of members, each of whom brought something that would enhance the goals and vision and ultimately improve educational and life outcomes for all children. Relationships needed to be developed and nurtured so that trust, openness, ownership and accountability were the norm.

Our successes and challenges have been in:

	Reaching out to authentic and diverse community voices so that we might partner with them, the CFI Collaborative, and other community-based decision-making bodies.
	Ensuring service provider energy and imagination.
	Encouraging parent leaders in their efforts to keep activities focused on the Meriden CFI's mission and goals.

As the community grows and families or service providers change, flexibility and creativity will be most important. We will need time to reflect on our accomplishments to date as well as consider ideas for future programs. We will want to celebrate all the work that's been done and the people that have been a part of it.

Website: www.meriden.com/childrenfirst