- New Advocacy Resources on the DFT web site (www.docsfortots.org)
- The DFT Network of doctors continues to grow and become active child advocates
- 3. DFT and the American Academy of Pediatrics discuss ways to collaborate
- 4. New data show importance of Head Start's comprehensive services
- 5. New study finds investment gap in early childhood
- 6. Brochure about DFT ready for dissemination
1. We are excited to announce that we now have advocacy resources up on the DFT web site (www.docsfortots.org). Please check out the new series of one-page talking points, What Docs Should Know About..., on a variety of topics including Early Head Start, Head Start, Impact of Poverty on Young Children, Part C Early Intervention Program, Quality Child Care and Welfare Policy and Young Children. Coming soon are talking points on Infant Mental Health, The Family and Medical Leave Act and Paid Family and Medical Leave, Food Stamps and the WIC program. A set of PowerPoint presentations will soon be added to the web site as well. These are meant to be used in part or whole by doctors making advocacy presentations to a variety of audiences. Please let us know if there are topics you would like to see covered on the web site, dft@docsfortots.org.
DFT advocacy resources: http://www.docsfortots.org/Links.htm
2. The Docs For Tots Network is now up to over 70 doctors in 30 states and the District of Columbia and growing everyday. In addition, we have started linking and supporting doctors in local advocacy activities. For example, we put together a PowerPoint presentation for a doctor in Massachusetts who is giving presentations to child care providers and parents on nutrition. We provided this doctor with a complete presentation on the impact of social policy on the nutritional status and well-being of very young children. In New York, we connected an interested network doctor with the planning process for a statewide infant and toddler conference. In addition, we have posted profiles of Docs In Action on our web site. These are brief descriptions of doctors whose advocacy activities can serve as examples of how to reach beyond the walls of clinical practice to advocate for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families. http://www.docsfortots.org/Action.htm
3. Back in December, Docs For Tots met with leadership from the national office of the American Academy of Pediatrics to discuss ways the two organizations can work together to increase the number of doctors doing advocacy work for young children. Since this meeting, we have made contact with numerous state AAP chapters and continue to develop these relationships. State AAP chapters have helped us get our name and mission out to doctors through forwarding our information to their leadership and membership of doctors.
4. As the Head Start reauthorization debate continues in 2004, a new policy brief, Head Start Comprehensive Services: A Key Support for Early Learning for Poor Children by Kate Irish, Rachel Schumacher, and Joan Lombardi, describes the comprehensive services (health, mental health, disabilities and family services) Head Start children receive. It presents data from Head Start Program Information Reports (PIR) from the most recent program year, 2001–2002, and compares them, when possible, to national data on the services low-income children and families receive. http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1075300806.3/HS_brf_4.pdf
5. A study by the Child and Family Policy Center and Voices for America's Children found that while 85% of a child's core brain structure is formed by age three, less than 4% of public investment in education and child development occurs during that period. For more information about this report, click on the link below. http://www.voicesforamericaschildren.org/Template.cfm?Section=Press&CONTENTID=3392&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
6. We now have a trifold brochure describing Docs For Tots available for folks interested in learning more about us. If you know of doctors interested in joining our network or others that would like information about DFT and would like brochures, please let us know, dft@docsfortots.org. Or, please direct interested parties to the web site, www.docsfortots.org for more information.
If you have questions or comments about anything in this newsletter or about Docs For Tots, please contact us through dft@docsfortots.org or 202-898-9043
