New nonprofit to build support for Delaware children in need
A coalition of 17 civic and business leaders recently announced the formation of Action for Delaware’s Children, a nonprofit advocacy organization that will seek to build support in Delaware for programs that benefit at-risk and low-income children.
The board’s initial efforts will focus on high-quality home visitation programs for infants and toddlers living in poverty, expanding the school day and school year for schools with high poverty student populations and improving re-entry services for juveniles leaving the state’s juvenile detention facilities.
Board President Dr. Terri L. Hodges, former president of the Delaware PTA, said, “The primary effort is going to be building support among a broad cross section of Delawareans to advocate for making investments in programs that support Delaware’s at-risk children. Our focus will be on building and strengthening Delaware’s village.”
Board member Lori Brewington, a Delaware attorney, said the organization’s first legislative priority this year will be doubling the size of the state’s Nurse Family Partnership Program, a proven program that sends registered nurses to the homes of first-time mothers living in poverty during their pregnancies and for two years after their children are born. Nationally, the program has produced a 48 percent reduction in incidents of child abuse and neglect, a 50 percent reduction in language delays for children at 21 months of age, a 67 percent reduction in language reception deficiencies at age 6, and a 59 percent reduction in child arrests at age 15.
Board Vice President Liane Sorenson, a former Delaware senator, said the organization’s second priority would be doubling the size of the state’s competitive grant program for outside school time programs, and focusing those funds on schools with large populations of students living in poverty. “We believe that Delawareans understand the importance of a supportive, safe environment for kids outside the regular school day,” Sorenson said. “They strive to provide it for their own kids, and they want all kids to have it. We will be working to build grassroots support for an expansion of Delaware’s competitive outside school time grants, and a refocusing of those grants on students in low-income schools.”
Board member Chandra Pitts said the organization’s third priority would be adding cognitive behavioral therapy and vocational training programs to state-provided services for children being released from the state’s juvenile correctional facilities. She noted that cognitive behavioral therapy programs have documented success in other states in reducing recidivism rates.
The other board members of Action for Delaware’s Children are Matt Denn, DLA Piper; Tom Hanna, Harvey Hanna & Associates; former Delaware Sen. Margaret Rose Henry; Clayton Hill, Emory Hill; Jane Hovington, Lower Delaware NAACP; Stacey Johnson, Gateway Lab School; Chris Kenny, Shop-Rite; Dr. Laura Lawyer, American Academy of Pediatrics; Ellen Levin, Ellen and Alan Levin Family Foundation; Maria Matos, Latin American Community Center; the Rev. Shanika Perry, Bethel AME Church/IMAC; Joe Rhoades, Rhoades & Morrow; and Mike Vild, Cross & Simon.
For more information, go to www.actionfordelawareschildren.org.
