The CDF Emerging Leaders project trains and connects advocates for early childhood development and care. Its two annual events provided attendees with information on CDF's policy and advocacy work, the history of child care and early education policy, the ability to sharpen their advocacy skills, and to exchange best practices and to network with early childhood development and care advocates from other states.
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Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Campaign
The Cradle to Prison Pipeline campaign is a national and community crusade to engage families, youth, community leaders and institutions and those in power in every sector in the development of healthy, educated children. The Campaign advances policies that put children on track to productive adulthood and opposes those that criminalize children at younger and younger ages.
Related Staff
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MaryLee AllenDirector of Child Welfare & Mental Health |
CDF Emerging Leaders® Program
Since its inception, the project has created a network of nearly 260 professionals providing direct services and working in the policy arena as well as lobbyists for needed reforms at the national and state levels.
The 2007 Spring Institute evaluation and subsequent consultations with a working group of CDF Emerging Leaders participants from that Institute affirmed the project's continued overall success in mobilizing and strengthening the capacity of Fellows to serve as early childhood development and care advocates and leaders. It also underscored the importance of adopting some new directions for this initiative in order to deepen and sustain its impact. CDF commenced a larger scale assessment study of the project which should be completed by the end of May 2008. The future direction of the project will be guided by the results of this assessment study.
On April 24-26, 2008 CDF organized an Advanced Training Program on Child Advocacy for the CDF Emerging Leaders project fellows at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Participants of this in-depth training interacted with early childhood care and development researchers including, federal budget and senior policy staff as well as child advocacy experts. Additionally, the training attendees participated in the focus group assessment of the CDF Emerging Leaders project. The results of the assessment study which will help CDF shape the future development of the project will be available in June 2008.
Advanced Training Agenda
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