1. Happy holidays and a wonderful new year for kids!
2. New web resources on social and emotional development and safety net programs
3. Docs For Tots New York
4. Joint project with the Better Baby Care Campaign to promote infant and toddler issues
5. Network Doctors Sluder and Equils present at national conference
6. Needs survey in January; feedback will help to improve DFT services
7. Child care tax credits, an important resource for families
8. New Report: Working Hard, Falling Short: America’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security
9. Findings: Quality early education provides long-term benefits and is cost-effective!

1.  Docs For Tots would like to wish everyone in our network a warm and happy holiday season.  Thank you for your support and work on behalf of children – your contributions are making a difference in the lives of children nationwide!  We are looking forward to working with you in the coming year to create healthy, safe, and nurturing communities for all young children.

2.  New advocacy resources are available on the DFT web site, including a PowerPoint presentation on Social and Emotional Development, and talking points developed from a C-SNAP report on the importance of safety net programs for protecting young children’s health.  They can be found at www.docsfortots.org/links.htm.

3.  We are proud to announce our first state DFT project: Doc For Tots New York!  Dina Lieser, MD, FAAP, a network doctor in New York is the Project Director of DFT NY and will be coordinating local advocacy efforts for NY docs and building relationships with child advocacy organizations.  Please contact Dina Lieser at dlieser@docsfortots.org, 646-942-0229 for more information on how to get involved with DFT NY.

4.  Thanks to a grant from the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, DFT is launching a joint project with the Better Baby Care Campaign (BBCC, http://www.betterbabycare.org/campaign.html) to actively engage network docs in local advocacy efforts around infant and toddler issues.  BBCC is a national initiative to promote the healthy development of babies, toddlers, and their families.  DFT will be contacting network doctors in BBCC affiliate states with more information about the project and how to become involved.  Please contact Kate Irish at kirish@docsfortots.org if you would like more information or have any questions.

5.  DFT would like to recognize Dr. Jennifer Sluder and Dr. Ozlem Equils for their recent advocacy.  In October, they made a joint presentation on social policy and childhood obesity at the National Black Child Development Institute annual conference.  The presentation was very well received by child care staff and other early childhood professionals.  DFT was happy to assist the doctors by providing support materials and coordinating the logistics for the presentation. 

6.  We will be e-mailing you a link to a brief online survey in January to ask about the needs of network doctors.  We will use this information to improve our services, products and organization to better support you in your child advocacy efforts, so please take a moment to fill it out when you receive it.

7.  Many low and moderate income families have difficulty finding affordable, quality child care, and are unaware of federal and state tax credits available to help offset the cost of child care.  These tax credits represent thousands of dollars and in some cases, can give cash refunds to families whose incomes are too low to owe income taxes.  The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has developed a set of materials on these tax credits for advocates to use in educating families. DFT will be working with NWLC to provide information to network doctors about these tax credits in January.

8.  A new report entitled “Working Hard, Falling Short: America’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security,” a product of the Working Poor Families Project, offers  compelling data on the status of working families:

• Of all children in working families, one third are in low-income working families.
• Working families with a minority parent are twice as likely to be low-income as families with white parents.
• A full-time job at the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour cannot keep a family of three out of poverty.

The report also offers recommendations for policy solutions and can be found at: http://www.aecf.org/initiatives/jobsinitiative/workingpoor/working_hard_new.pdf

9.  The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study, a longitudinal study on the impact of early education, reports dramatic findings at its 40-year follow-up.  Findings indicate that the low-income children who participated in the high-quality preschool program at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to hold a job, have higher earnings and were arrested fewer times by age 40.  The study estimates that over participants’ lifetimes, the public receives $17 for every dollar originally invested.  For more information on this report, please visit http://www.highscope.org/PressRoom/PressReleases/PerryP-Age40.htm.