FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tilly Gambill Docs For Tots Phone 202-222-0569 ext. 317 E-mail tgambill@docsfortots.org www.docsfortots.org or media@gatesfoundation.org
2/2/2006
Grant to Child Advocacy Organization, Docs For Tots, Opens Door for Local Physicians to Promote Early Learning in Washington State
Washington D.C. - Docs For Tots (DFT), a nationwide network of doctors advocating for young children, announced today a $215, 250 investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support work on expanding quality early learning in Washington state.
Polling data indicates, and DFT’s experience shows, that physicians are particularly effective advocates for policies and practices that improve the lives of very young children. DFT will provide doctors’ in Washington state with resources focused on health and development and early childhood. Using these materials and experiences from their practice, doctors will engage in public awareness and advocacy efforts and provide health and development technical assistance to promote quality early learning across Washington.
Dr. George Askew, Executive Director of DFT and a recent Ashoka Fellow, stated, “the overall objective of our project is to identify, grow and support a cohort of doctors who will actively engage in promoting the goals of enhanced early learning in Washington, specifically to close the school readiness gap and give all children a chance for success in school and life.”
Recent studies indicate that only 25 percent of children from low-income families in Washington State enter kindergarten with the basic skills required to succeed in school.
The foundation gift will help Docs For Tots pursue its vision of changing the nature of professionalism for children’s doctors and increasing their active engagement in the pursuit of social justice in health and development for young children. Dr. Jill Sells, director of Docs For Tots’ newly established DFT Washington state affiliate, will be leading these efforts. According to Dr. Sells, “We have tremendous momentum around early learning across Washington State. This project is an exciting opportunity to get doctors more involved, and to work together so that all children will be healthy and ready for school.”
Docs For Tots is supported nationwide by a number of foundations committed to quality early learning for all children.
_________________________________________________________________________
Doc For Tots is a nonpartisan, advocacy organization formed to encourage more doctors to fulfill their important role as active advocates for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers on the national, state and local level. Established in 2003, the organization serves doctors nationwide, by providing resources and advocacy opportunities to make it as simple as possible for doctors to become involved in advocacy or to increase their advocacy activity.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to promote greater equity in four areas: global health, education, public libraries, and support for at-risk families in Washington state and Oregon. The Seattle-based foundation joins local, national, and international partners to ensure that advances in these areas reach those who need them most. The foundation is led by Bill Gates's father, William H. Gates Sr., and Patty Stonesifer.
