New London is located on the southeastern end of Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The city has a land area of 5.54 square miles. In 1998, the population was 23,860, of which 23% was under age 18.

New London is one of the more impoverished towns in the state. In 1998, per capita income was $17,387 and median family income was $31,163. In 1990, the poverty rate was 15.15%; 61% of its students are eligible for free lunches. Seventy-one percent of New London students are identified as minority and 13% come from homes where English is not the first language spoken.

New London has five elementary schools, one middle school and one public high school. It also has one magnet elementary school, three parochial elementary schools, one magnet middle school focusing on arts and communication, and one private high school which includes grades 7-12. New London ranks among the lowest performing school districts in Connecticut with fourth grade Mastery Tests scores of 24% of goal in reading, 26% in mathematics and 18% in writing. Over 49% of kindergartners have had preschool experience.

Jobs in New London itself are not plentiful, stable or high-paying. The top four employers in the town are Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut College, and The Day Publishing Company. However, most of the city's work force are employed outside the city at casinos or businesses in Norwich or Groton and hold relatively low-paying jobs.

Many key people have been and are still involved with the New London Children First Initiative. At its onset, they included the Superintendent of Schools, the Mayor, the Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut, United Way, Connecticut College, and other agencies with a vital interest in the lives and education of young children.

A Steering Committee of 25 community members made recommendations for a plan of action to a 65-member Children First Initiative Forum. The Forum consisted of parents, community agencies, representatives from the school system, social and health service providers, and neighborhood groups, as well as other members of the community willing to focus on issues for young children and families.

The City of New London has a City Council/City Manager form of government. The City Manager is appointed by the Council and serves as the Chief Executive Officer. The City Council consists of seven members including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. In recent years, the City Council has been predominantly Democrats. The Council is focused on education and economic development. The seven-member Board of Education is the governing body of the school system and is dominated by Democrats.

The City Council and the Board of Education are the two groups most crucial to the work being done by the NLCFI/School Readiness Council. They are committed in principle. However, it still took some effort to get them to the table to discuss issues. To facilitate representation from the school system, the group held meetings in the Board of Education offices. Communication improved, particularly through the Preschool Liaison. A new Superintendent of Schools, open to fresh ideas and committed to improving the school system, has also been supportive.

Data from a door-to-door survey and 18 focus groups conducted at service provider sites and neighborhood centers including a children's survey were compiled and interpreted with the help of the United Way of SECT and a professional statistician from the US Naval Submarine Base. In addition, an ethnographic study of 20 New London four-year-olds and their families was conducted. All these results were presented to the Forum. They became the basis for the following mission statements:

	To develop a tradition of neighborhood leaders to support families in accessing the needed services for children and their families.
	To prepare children for successful school experiences addressing their physical, emotional, cognitive, social and communicative needs with support for their families, neighborhoods and communities.

Throughout this process, having subcommittees meet, generate work, and bring funding problems or other issues to the Forum worked well. The process involved everyone and did not force reliance on the coordinator and facilitator to do all the work. This process was an extremely meaningful way to include and give voice to those, like parents, who do not normally have an opportunity to sit at the table. The Chair and facilitator were committed from the beginning to shared decision-making and consensus building.

This collaborative work resulted in the Graustein Memorial Fund awarding New London a CFI incentive grant. Since this meant a substantially smaller amount of money than requested, the plan had to be drastically revised. This was one of the biggest challenges the Forum had to face.

The group revised the budget and focused on enhancing and broadening existing programs:

	establishing after-school programs in elementary schools that did not have them.
	advertising kindergarten registrations in the local paper.
	providing food, refreshment and childcare during community activities.
	organizing family fun nights for children from New London and Waterford partner schools.
	implementing a summer reading program developed by a parent who was a Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) graduate.
	supporting the Full Circle Program which eventually became "Connections."

In 1997, with a very diverse and collaborative membership and a goal of preparing children for a positive school experience, the NLCFI became the NLCFI/School Readiness Council. As such, it became more active in ensuring that all children in New London are given access to preschool experience and are prepared and ready to learn when they enter the school system. The participants have changed minimally. A number of members have been in the Forum from its inception and a substantial number of others have been added to the membership. The core group remains active and committed to issues surrounding young children.

The NLCFI/School Readiness Council meetings have become a venue for everyone and anyone interested and involved with young children to share and discuss ideas, activities and opportunities, as well as resolve issues in order to ensure that children's needs are being met.

One of the most valuable assets of this community is the willingness of schools, preschools and childcare providers to collaborate with the public school system to ensure that children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten. This willingness to work with one another and with other towns in the region has been instrumental in the success of the various activities.
From the very first Steering Committee meeting, everyone came committed to the issues surrounding young children. Territorial concerns were truly set aside. Agencies worked alongside parents and found it stimulating and productive. Different groups, agencies and disciplines focused on a community goal rather than their own personal agendas. Throughout the existence of the Forum, participation has been open to anyone interested and willing to get involved.

Parents, service providers, public school personnel and other interested parties who have come to the table over the past four years have established a unique collaboration, dedicated to working together on an agenda for young children and their families. It is the strong belief of the NLCFI/SR Council that this effective and ongoing community collaboration has led to an increase in trust and camaraderie among all agencies involved.

The most important challenges in this endeavor were:

	Marketing CFI to the community
	Getting more involvement from the City of New London
	Getting and keeping parent involvement in planning and decision-making
	Strengthening connections between programs for different age groups
	Involving PLTI alumni in CFI directly
	Adjusting plans to the budget
	Getting the business community involved in planning and supporting activities
	Working and sharing with other communities
	Identifying or creating space for childcare