The Memorial Fund’s 2001-2003 Triennial Report is now available
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Childrens' First Initiative

Lillie Mae Fitzpatrick felt frustrated, wanting some Middletown schools to be more open and friendly. Rather than just voicing her frustrations, she organized workshops to help the schools and other parents feel more comfortable and secured the sponsorship of the Middletown Board of Education. The roundtable discussions were held in various schools in 2000.

A graduate of the Children First Initiative’s Parent Leadership Training Institute last year, Fitzpatrick also started a student recognition award to honor the achievement of minority students in the schools. Although her own son is now an adult, she was the aunt of nearly 25 students in the Middletown school system. For this involved community leader, who passed away a short while later, the program now stands as a memorial.

"You often find in the [Parent Leadership Institute] classes" parents who are angry for one reason or another with the board of education," said Susan Allison, Director of the Middlesex Children First Initiative, a community partner of the Board of Education. "Once they understand how decisions are made, how they get implemented and the scope of what the board of education does, they learn rather than to just blame the schools to find ways to work with the schools." An innovative strategy for improving educational outcomes for children aged birth to eight, the Children First Initiative (CFI) has supported collaboratives of parents, service providers and community leaders in seven Connecticut communities.

In each community parent leaders and organizations have created new opportunities for parents’ voices to be heard. Parent-led efforts and collaborations have contributed to the passage of school budgets, allocation of state school readiness funding, and distribution of school funds to support new family outreach programs. Through parent leadership training programs, CFI has also empowered parents and other individuals with skills and tools necessary to make a difference in their communities on behalf of children.

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund believes that the active involvement of parents and a caring community positively determines the success children have in school and ultimately in their lives in the community. The Memorial Fund’s single largest investment to date has been the Children First Initiative, now a seven-year commitment totaling over $7 million. Funding has included direct grants, support for technical assistance and evaluation, convening, and the publication of a best practices manual that shares information on each city’s CFI programs and practices. The seven participating communities are Meriden, New London, Norwalk, Danbury, Middletown, Hartford, Windham and Norwich.

Over the first five years, community participants identified those programs that enhanced the lives of children and moved toward the goals identified by each community. During the process, CFI has better equipped individuals to take action to assure progress is made. Each community adjusted their efforts to fit the changing political, social and economic environments in which they work. They are now focusing on how to sustain the gains they have made and build on current successes.

As CFI entered its fourth year, the Memorial Fund recognized it was time to focus on the legacy of the project. What will remain when the Memorial Fund’s resources are fully expended? What activities must continue? What accountability mechanisms need to be developed? What outcomes will result for children? The Memorial Fund created a Legacy Phase and provided new funding to identify and implement ways to continue progress already made.

As part of its approach to parent leadership training, the Norwich Children First Initiative developed three distinct training options: People Empowering People (PEP), Voices for Families (VFF) and the Parent Graduate Leadership Initiative.

Aimed at building on the strengths of adults with limited financial means, People Empowering People provides opportunities and resources for them to gain experiences and skills while taking greater control of their lives. Training includes sessions on values, communication skills, problem-solving, parenting, action planning and community assessment. Voices for Families strives to facilitate a process whereby parents and adults advocate for the needs of children and families within their community. The Parent Graduate Leadership Initiative continues to mentor parent graduates working on programs they want to make happen in their community. They aim to achieve results through individualized action plans.

"We bring people together from all walks of life -- parents, politicians, administrators, agencies and industry -- to the table, to problem solve not only how to run these programs and how to secure funding, but how to support parent--driven initiatives, once we train the parents," said Angelo Callis, a team member. "Parents learn political advocacy, budgeting, grant writing and moving agendas...everything from speed bumps to community centers."

Debbie Kievits, a graduate of the Voices for Families class, now wants to get a community center for parents and children built in Norwich. A meeting with the city manager, teens and other community residents has motivated her to push forward.

"Five years ago, me as a parent, I would have never dreamed that I’d be at a table with some of these people and they’re supporting me and helping me," said Kievits, a teacher’s assistant at a day care center. "They’re just like us, they’re no different from me or you. They’re warm and receptive."

Hilda Santiago, chairperson for the Meriden Children First Initiative, came on board five years ago to help encourage parent involvement throughout the city.

"A lot of parents don’t get involved because they’re afraid of sitting on boards or commissions or committees because they don’t know the whole spectrum of what the responsibilities could be," said Santiago. "They’re afraid that they might take on more than they think they can do."

Santiago, a mother of two -- Moises, 21, and Nicole, 22, said parents of adult children must understand that their input is needed to help provide a better future for young people.

"I tell them, ‘If you feel that your kids didn’t get the help that they needed in the school system, how are you going to make it better for your grandchildren?’" said Santiago, 46. "It’s a cycle. If you’re complaining about something and you’re letting it happen without voicing your opinion, then it’s your fault."

In all CFI communities both parental and community participation has been critical in refining goals.

In the Meriden CFI, parents helped to develop the city’s first report, "Child Well-Being in Meriden: A Baseline Report." The report sets forth benchmarks in the areas of health, child care services, school preparation and safety, for individuals to measure progress over time. The report was the product of work groups involving the city health department and community based organizations in conjunction with Healthy Meriden 2000, a community-wide collaborative that addresses issues related to the health of local children and families.

In New London last year, CFI conducted a community survey of parents about their perception of services offered in the city. There, CFI has a formal partnership with the School Readiness Council, which works on transition to kindergarten programs for ages three to five.

"By partnering, you make a point of learning where your common interests are with others in the community, and you’re also able to better define your respective roles, once you agree on the common goals," said Linda Kosko, director of the Danbury Children First Initiative, which also recently produced a report, "Child Well-Being in Danbury."

‘‘I think that what we have created is a great deal more awareness in the community amongst agencies and parents, and we’ve created a network," said Allison of the Middletown CFI. "We continue to network with the same goals, which makes collaboration easier." That collaboration has also extended beyond city borders as the CFI communities have worked together on projects, like the best practices manual of "how to" advice for other communities working on early childhood issues. Several of the communities also showed their support for a proposed Parent Trust Bill by testifying at a legislative public hearing. The Trust would support parent leadership activities across the state.

The Legacy

In the midst of the Legacy Phase of the Children First Initiative, each community is stepping up efforts to sustain successes by ensuring that key information is distributed and effective programs are put into place for future generations.

"The Danbury CFI is learning to communicate more specifically about our messages as well as what we need to continue the work,"said Kosko.

Callis of Norwich said another way of ensuring the legacy of CFI is maintaining partnerships and expanding on programs that work. Other parts of the state for example, he said, are exploring development of parent leadership training opportunities with components similar to the model implemented by the Norwich CFI, which is now working to expand programs for the Hispanic community and teenagers.

"We all want to see our students succeed" the city of Norwich wants to have contributing citizens and the school system wants to have successful students that do well in the education process," said Linda Kent, Community Resource Coordinator for the Norwich Public Schools. "How we remain successful is because we all have the same end goal in mind." Kent is now working with individuals from Norwich’s parent leadership training programs on projects that are receiving funding from CFI.

"In terms of sustainability, that goes right along with the partnerships," said Kosko of Danbury CFI. "You find that others have similar resources for similar work, so that your very partners help you to sustain initiatives.