Did you know that a father stimulates their child's brain development in a way that is completely unique from all other influences? Children with engaged fathers see a wide variety of benefits, including emotional security, less anxiety and depression, and higher language ability. Yet, societal norms about what it means to be masculine, maternal-centric systems, and a lack of resources for fathers can stand in the way of their involvement with their children. In the U.S., nearly one in three children is living without their biological father.

A guest column by Partnership volunteer and research manager and analyst at Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy, Jeff Quinn, appeared in Tuesday's Herald-Sun addressing the challenges fathers may face, while also suggesting things we can do as a society to support them. Quinn advises breaking down the stereotype of mom as the primary caretaker, creating fatherhood support systems that speak to a male's style of learning, and getting fathers engaged at the prenatal stage. Children need their father and fathers need their children. By shifting the perception of their role from a mother's helper to become a co-parent, we can see all of our children benefit.

Click here to read the full column.  

On Tuesday, March 6th, the Partnership will be offering a Lunch and Learn training through the Faith Initiative focusing on “The Serious Business of Play—Getting Children Ready for Success in School.”

The event is free and open to the public and will be held from 11:30 am to 1 pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall (2620 Weaver Street, Durham). 

Entering kindergarten is one of the most important educational steps in a child’s life. How we help families get ready for this big step can make all the difference to their children’s success and engagement with learning in the years beyond kindergarten. A panel of experts will share simple, low-cost, and effective ways parents and congregations can help children develop their intellectual, social and emotional skills needed to enter school.

Presenters include:
Miriam Brodersen is a licensed clinical social worker with Healthy Families Durham, a program of the Center for Child and Family Health in Durham. She specializes in Child-Parent Psychotherapy. Fluent in Spanish, Miriam has extensive experience working with Latino immigrant families.

Helen Tharrington is a preschool teacher with 15 years of experience in the faith-based environment and has been a teacher of students with learning differences for 10 years.

Pat Harris is a Program Coordinator with Durham’s Partnership for Children. She is experienced in parent education programming and coordinates the Partnership’s Transition to Kindergarten initiative in collaboration with Durham Public Schools.

Please RSVP to Winnie Morgan at (919) 732-1524 or winniewmorgan@juno.com.

The Faith Initiative is a collaborative initiative between Durham’s Partnership for Children and End Poverty Durham that recognizes the role that the faith community plays in providing support to families and children.  Click here to read more about this initiative.

The Partnership, in collaboration with Durham Public Schools, is offering competitive mini-grants to support planning and implementing transition activities targeted to families with children who will be heading to kindergarten. The goal of these grants is to foster collaboration between elementary school and early childhood educators around transition to kindergarten.
 
Sample transition activities might include:

• Summer Transition Camp
• Spring/Summer Open Houses
• Creating introductions for rising kindergartners
• Build “going to kindergarten” into the pre-school curriculum
• Kindergarten Classroom Visits
• Registration Events
• Child Care/Pre-k Visits

 
The application process for these mini-grants is underway and applications must be received by Wednesday, March 19th at 5 pm.  Eligible applicants include kindergarten teachers, elementary school principals, PTAs, and child care teachers and directors. Click here to download the Transition Mini-Grant now.
 
For questions, please contact Pat Harris at 919-403-6960, Extension 224 or email pat@dpfc.net. To learn more about our Transition to Kindergarten Initiative, click here.

 
Durham’s Partnership for Children received funding from Wells Fargo and Morgan Creek Foundation to support rising kindergartners across Durham County through Transition Mini-Grants and additional Transition to Kindergarten activities.

On this Valentine’s Day we at the Partnership would like to ask you to Show Your Love for Durham’s Children by viewing our just-released public service announcement! 

Under the guidance of a Los Angeles-based director, we worked this past November with community partners to create this short commercial feature. We connected with local parents and children ages 0-5, elementary schools, child care centers, churches, and pediatrician’s offices to make this PSA something that accurately reflects Durham. These are real Durham families and locations, and we thank each person who helped made this PSA come to life.

Durham is the community in which we live, work, and play. This is the community in which our young children are planting their feet and growing into thriving learners and leaders. We hope that you will take a moment to view this PSA and see the vision of the Partnership.  Please share this link with those who care about young children and the future of Durham County.

Did you know that within the first year of a child’s life, he or she should see a doctor for a well-child visit seven times?  These frequent but critical visits – known as preventive care – are the optimal way to track children’s growth and development, to administer required shots that keep children healthy, and to provide an opportunity to ask the doctor questions about children’s health.

A guest column (“Preventive care very important for healthy kids”) by Partnership Board Member and social worker at Duke Children’s Primary Care David Covington appearing in today’s Herald-Sun makes the case for preventive care. The piece promotes the importance of ensuring families have health insurance and a regular health care provider; ensuring primary care providers use standardized developmental screenings during well-child visits; and, educating parents on developmental milestones during routine well-child visits. 

Click here to read the column in full.

Link to our brochure online: Healthy & Ready: A Guide to Preventive Care.  Spanish version.

Click here to read more about the Partnership’s Kindergarten Health Assessment (KHA) Project.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America -- one out of three -- live in biological father-absent homes. Children who live absent their biological fathers are, on average, at least two to three times more likely to be poor, to use drugs, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems, to be victims of child abuse, and to engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.  Source: The National Fatherhood Initiative

The Early Childhood Faith Initiative seeks to address this critical issue through its upcoming Lunch & Learn session, "Getting Fathers Involved with Young Children," from 11:30 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, February 7th.  Jeff Quinn, MPH, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University will present an overview of the importance of father involvement in early development as well as suggestions on how fathers can get involved in their child's life.  He will be joined by a panel of ministers who will share their suggestions of how congregations can help fathers get involved in their children's lives as well as their own personal experiences as fathers.  The session will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church (2620 Weaver Street) in the fellowship hall.  Bring your lunch.  Beverages provided. 

Registration is encouraged by contacting Winnie Morgan (winniewmorgan@juno.com or 919-732-1524), Early Childhood Faith Initiative Coordinator for the Partnership.  This session is free and open to the public.

The Faith Initiative is a collaborative initiative between Durham’s Partnership for Children and End Poverty Durham that recognizes the role that the faith community plays in providing support to families and children.  Click here to read more about this initiative.

Check out the article printed in Tuesday's Herald-Sun from Partnership Program & Evaluation Director Kate Irish and Durham Public Schools Title I Coordinator Kate MacDonell. The article outlines why the transition into kindergarten is so critical and what informational opportunities are available to parents over the next few months to prepare families for that important transition.

Click here to read the article in full.

Invite friends to join us on Facebook and to stay up-to-date with early childhood issues through the Partnership Blog.

Consider Durham's young children and families in your year-end giving. Donate to the Partnership.

The 2011 State Budget brought with it many changes, including massive cuts, to the early childhood system. The Partnership recently released a legislative update in which we aim to capture a snapshot of the impact those changes have had on Durham’s early childhood system.

The update outlines cuts to Smart Start (both statewide and local), changes to Smart Start scholarship funding, child care subsidy requirements, high-quality pre-kindergarten, and the star rating system.

»» Click here to read.

Did you know that Durham has been named one of 100 Best Communities for Young People?  This is the third year that Durham has received this honor, celebrated each year by America's Promise and ING as part of the Grad Nation campaign. One hundred communities are recognized through this award, each community touted for “effectively providing youth with the Five Promises and working to increase graduation rates.”

Even better, Durham’s Partnership for Children was one of five programs/organizations highlighted from across the community.  Here’s an excerpt from the America’s Promise Alliance Web site, which outlines vibrant community programs that help make our youth more successful:

• Durham’s Partnership for Children, serves youth by spearheading multiple initiatives which have worked to expand health services and improve systems for young children.
• Through collaboration with Durham Public Schools, a comprehensive Transition to Kindergarten Plan was developed. This partnership resulted in further analysis of the Kindergarten Health Assessment forms in order to evaluate the health status of children as they enter kindergarten.
• The Durham Youth Commission is made up of 30 members from each Durham high school that participate in activities including working with the Interfaith Food Shuttle, filling backpacks with food for children and picking up litter in Durham neighborhoods.
• The East Durham Children’s Initiative provides a holistic support system and resources for children and families within a 120 block, poverty-stricken area in Durham.
• To help 11th grade students focus on the 300 most missed words on the SAT, a unique partnership with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Urban Planet Mobile is helping local students by texting them a Word of the Day including an audio link to definitions Sunday through Thursday nights.

See other 2011 competition winners here.