Children’s Summit

Introduction

Improving the quality of children’s lives is a goal that begins with the collective commitment of a broad cross-section of stakeholders who are clear on the results they want for children. This commitment is driven by passion around specific issues, and is guided by agreement on how to measure whether we are achieving the desired results. This requires taking a disciplined look at the data and the story behind the data, as well as assessing research on what works. This leads to the development of strategies that can, with persistence, lead to action and better results for children. It is important that action be both purposeful and measurable so that, in the end, the community can assess if our efforts made a real difference in the lives of our children.

These are the concepts that provided the foundation for the Children’s Summit, conducted in Sacramento over the course of two days in November 2000. What emerged was a series of initial action steps, each supported by a cadre of activists and a champion, to “turn the curve” on various indicators regarding the status of children in Sacramento County.

The story behind the Children’s Summit began in September 2000, when the Sacramento County Children’s Coalition issued a report card that assessed the condition of the county’s children in five areas: family economics, education, health, safety and social/emotional well being. The Sacramento County Children’s Report Card includes 45 separate indicators – benchmark measurements that have been selected to portray the facts about how children are faring. In far too many cases, the indicators are disturbing: Children are falling through gaps in resources, are growing up without the support they need, and are not well prepared to face the future.

The Children’s Report Card itself carries no recommendations. Instead, it is designed to guide policy development, set goals for improvement, track changing conditions, support appropriate allocation of resources, and promote community responsibility for positive change. The Coalition intended the Children’s Report Card to be used to involve the community as a whole, incorporate diversity, and build consensus around the steps needed to provide children with the environment they need to be happy, healthy and safe.

The Children’s Summit brought 178 people together to begin to consider the data provided in the Children’s Report Card. They came from a broad cross-section of interests: county agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, grass-roots groups and citizen activists. The purposes of the summit included:

1. On the first day, sharing and teaching the method of results-based accountability, to be reinforced and applied on the second day.

2. Developing strategies at both the policy and program level for improving outcomes for children and families.

3. Increasing awareness of the Sacramento County Children’s Report Card and the data behind the indicators.

4. Gaining the commitment of participants to follow up with action on indicators.

People in attendance at the Summit participated in a day of training, followed by a day of collaboration. The training, led by Mark Friedman of the Fiscal Studies Policy Institute, focused on results-based accountability and using a particular process to arrive at an action plan. Friedman offered several pieces of advice that guided the next day’s collaborative session:

· To guide strategy, keep asking what impact our efforts are having on the lives of children.

· To achieve results, focus on creating movement (“turning the curve”) on three or four indicators, not 45.

· Look for what works and do more of it. Everyone wants a silver-bullet, single-approach solution. But what most often works is a mix of separate actions, including some low- or no-cost solutions.

· The two ingredients needed to bring partners together and turn the curve are passion and discipline. People accomplish the most when they coalesce around the issues and indicators that they feel passionate about and then bring discipline to their approach in planning actions together.

Using the Children’s Report Card as a springboard and the shared training as a roadmap, participants at the Children’s Summit selected issues of importance to them and gathered in self-selected groups to identify the desired results and steps that will help achieve those results. The outcome is a set of action plans formed around 10 different results that would make a difference in children’s lives. This report provides those plans, organized thematically by Children’s Report Card topics.

Family Economics

Availability of Childcare

Result: Increase number of childcare slots

At the table: Hmong Women's Heritage Association, Easter Seals, Birth and Beyond, Head Start, Child Action, Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Convene Childcare Council to bring potential partners together to work on the issue.

· Identify options for and arrange long-term financing for facility construction.

· Explore and create incentives for businesses to take an active role.

Ongoing commitment to turn the curve: No group came forward.

______________________________________________________________________________

Family Economics

Availability and Access to Non-School Hour Programs

Result: Ensure children/youth are in a safe, supervised environment before and after school; use youth community service as an integrated component

At the table: Interest in this result was so broad that two groups were formed. One group focused largely on after-school care, the other on community service and non-school hours. Represented in one or both groups were parents, parks and recreation, schools, Healthy Start, City of Sacramento START and Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services.

Top three ideas (from each group) for turning the curve:

· Create an asset map to reflect what is available county-wide.

· Form a central coordinating committee or use an existing group.

· Conduct a public relations campaign to reach parents.

· Change traditional schools to community centers.

· Build community service into non-school-hour activities.

· Train more youth workers and program managers on the Youth development research to improve program quality and participant success.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: No one stepped forward

Education

School Readiness

Result: By 2005, two-thirds of children entering kindergarten will have basic readiness skills

At the table: County Primary Health, Community Services Planning Council, Sacramento County Office of Education and Head Start, Sacramento City Unified, Child Action

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Continue to expand child development, childcare, pre-school and home-based programs.

· Create an umbrella group to pull partners together (with meetings, parents’ hotline, newsletters, public service announcements, etc.)

· Increase parent access to resources by supporting Family Resource Centers, toy lending libraries, neighborhood parent groups and other positive involvement.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Family Support Collaborative will be asked to take the lead

______________________________________________________________________________

Education

Pupil Support Services

Result: Improve the emotional well-being of children in schools

At the table: Mental health, teachers, community-based organizations, Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, Sacramento City Unified School District, parents, counselors

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Increase parent involvement and education about the social/emotional health of children.

· Encourage early intervention and identification of at-risk children.

· Create culturally proficient outreach to targeted groups.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento City Unified School District’s Community Services Collaborative

Health

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Result: Reduce the rates of sexually transmitted diseases

At the table: Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, Planned Parenthood, Oak Park Neighborhood MultiService Center

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Increase outreach and education, particularly with public service announcements during prime-time programs that teens listen to or watch.

· Provide more and timely access to services, counseling and education.

· Create seed funding for businesses and organizations that cater to teens to distribute information and condoms.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services

______________________________________________________________________________

Health

Access to Healthcare

Result: Increase the percent of families accessing quality health and dental care

At the table: Sacramento ENRICHES, Blue Cross, Sacramento Department of Human Assistance, the Mayor's Commission on Health

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Provide services onsite (schools, etc.).

· Simplify enrollment procedures.

· Teach people how to navigate the system and educate them about preventive healthcare.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: ENRICHES

Safety

Child Deaths

Result: Reduce number of child deaths

At the table: WEAVE, Sutter Hospital, Department of Health and Human Services, Human Services Coordinating Council, Children’s Coalition

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Intervention – counseling, babysitting co-ops, standardized assessment and referral, family support and respite care, community support and safe houses for children.

· Community mobilization/ education – effective social marketing with public service announcements, media campaign and legislative mandates/funding.

· Healthcare comprehensive services – early services, improved access, transportation, toxic screen for newborns, well-baby medical care, pre-conception counseling and breastfeeding support.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services’ Saving Babies’ Lives Task Force

_____________________________________________________________________________

Safety

Homeless Children

Result: Short-term result – increase the number of emergency and transitional shelter beds. Long-term result – decrease the number of children who need shelter.

At the table: Sacramento County Drug and Alcohol and Children's Protective Services, Turning Point, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment, Mustard Seed School, Community Services Planning Council, Sacramento Area Emergency Housing

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Develop long-term housing with wraparound support services.

· Increase the number of year-round emergency beds for families.

· Raise the level of community awareness through education outreach.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services

Social and Emotional Well-Being

Out-of-Home Placement

Result: Improve self-esteem and self-sufficiency of children by providing consistent, quality care in a nurturing environment

At the table: Sacramento City Unified School District, Families United, Inc., Department of Health and Human Services, EMQ Wraparound Sacramento, River Oaks Center for Children, Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Commission.

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Implement a strategic countywide mentoring program to provide a constant adult in each child’s life.

· Don’t move the child, have the system move when the situation calls for change.

· Expand efforts (Familes and Schools Together and others) that provide parent education and support.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento City Unified School

District

______________________________________________________________________________

Social and Emotional Well-Being

Youth Substance Abuse

Result: Decrease substance abuse by youths

At the table: County Drug and Alcohol Bureau, County Youth Commission, County Children's Mental Health, Sacramento City Unified School District office of positive Youth Development and the Parent Engagement Department, Community Services Planning Council, The Sacramento County Tobacco Education Program

Top three ideas for turning the curve:

· Connect youth to positive role models and de-stigmatize counseling.

· Promote clear, consistent, high expectations and values about drug and alcohol use.

· Provide youth with opportunities for meaningful involvement.

Ongoing commitment to lead effort to turn the curve: Sacramento County Youth Commission

Conclusion

While the true measure of success lies in the future when change in indicators can be tracked and analyzed, the Children’s Summit was effective on multiple levels:

· A strong cross-section of people involved in issues and activities that impact children turned out to listen, learn, share and work.

· Because people were asked to follow their passion and select topics that were important to them, the summit provided ample room for the diverse interests of participants and increased the likelihood that people will follow through on commitments.

· Initial action steps were created around 10 issues that are compelling indicators of the quality of life for children in Sacramento County.

· In eight areas, organizations were identified that are committed to working on making a difference and turning the curve.

As the two days came to an end, the facilitator requested that Summit participants give the Sacramento County Children's Coalition suggestions for the future. Participants urged the Children’s Coalition to:

1 Advocate for children by using the Children’s Report Card as an effective tool for measuring the quality of life for children, prodding people to make changes, and guiding policy makers to make good decisions about resources.

2. Reach out to stakeholders who did not attend the summit.

3. Compile and share a list of collaboratives already working on the 10 issues.

4. Conduct a media campaign to raise the visibility of the issues, and collect and report data on an ongoing basis.

5. Support the champions in continuing the ongoing convening that will be necessary to further the action steps.

6. Create a data agenda.

Children are an important asset – they are our future and how we nurture them makes a difference in the society that we will become. The sobering news is that the Children’s Report Card shows that we are falling short on protecting and raising children appropriately on many fronts. But the more upbeat news is that the Children’s Summit has demonstrated a deep commitment on the part of many people, across agencies and walks of life, to do what is right for our children.

Changing to a results-based way of thinking and working will not be easy. It will occur if the community can keep the momentum and commitment alive, and the Children's Coalition supports the work toward turning the curve on these 10 indicators by the indicator work groups. The next Children’s Report Card should reflect their active involvement in turning the curve.

Appendices

45 Indicators in Sacramento County Children’s Report Card

Children’s Summit

Forming Action Plans

The Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services

Sacramento County Children and Families Commission administers the approximately $18 million per year from Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenues. Their mission is to support the healthy development of children prenatal to age five, and the empowerment of families and the strengthening of communities

Family Economics

Education

Health

Safety

Social and Emotional Well-Being