Community Resources/Services

ECLC Communications Mini Grant

The Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC), in collaboration with members of the ECLC Communications Subcommittee, developed Communications Guidelines for Engaging Parents & Caregivers to support early childhood professionals who are creating communications efforts such as mass messaging campaigns, marketing campaigns, or targeted service awareness that is directed toward parents and caregivers. ECLC and Illuminate Colorado (Illuminate) are excited to offer a unique mini grant opportunity up to $1,500 to improve local engagement efforts using these guidelines.

Grantees will also have access to optional pro bono strategic communications support from Illuminate &/or a mentor through the Strengthening Communication Network (SCN). The SCN is a volunteer-led network of mentors with expertise in public relations and communications specific to the issues faced by organizations working to ensure that all children and families in Colorado are valued, healthy and thriving. Illuminate and other mentors within the Strengthening Communications Network will help you tackle challenges on a variety of topics including framing messaging, developing a communications plan, planning and sharing content, social media, email marketing, media coverage, and other communications needs. 

Examples of organizations considered for funding:

  • Community-based nonprofits
  • Community-based coalitions
  • Early childhood councils
  • Family resource centers
  • Local institutions who are viewed by community as trusted partners
  • Public libraries
  • Family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care providers
  • Licenced Child Care Providers 

Our hope is that this mini grant will offer you or your organization added capacity to increase the quality of communication, including the use of effective content, enhanced communication training for trusted messengers that connect with parents and caregivers, and a heightened focus on effective tactics. This mini grant may even provide a little bit of extra support to create a greater emphasis on the two-way, responsive engagement of parents and caregivers that will generate more positive outcomes for children’s cognitive and social development.

Grant Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on September 17, 2021. 

APPLY FOR YOUR MINI GRANT TODAY! 

The announcement of this mini grant opportunity was a focus of this month’s Strengthening Communications Network meeting. Watch the recorded portion of the meeting.

DOWNLOAD ECLC Communications Mini Grant Overview for more information including:

  • budget format,
  • questions on the electronic application, 
  • review and score the applications submitted by the grant criteria and  learn much more about this exciting opportunity! 

Ensuring the Colorado Shared Message Bank and a Community for Communicators Grows and Thrives

As many in the early childhood community know, the Early Childhood Colorado Partnership (ECCP) worked intentionally to advance the shared goals within the Early Childhood Colorado Framework for many years. Developing and sustaining a comprehensive early childhood system with children and families at the center was no easy task, and no one individual, organization or agency can do it alone. Together, their collective efforts facilitated numerous engagements and tools that continue to support families and organizations today. However, with numerous organizations focused on early childhood health and education, the ECCP Steering Committee decided earlier this year to discontinue the work and create space for others to grow and thrive.

As the ECCP dissolved, Illuminate Colorado, a statewide 501(c)3 organization dedicated to strengthening families, organizations and communities to prevent child maltreatment, has stepped in to ensure that the Colorado Shared Message Bank and the community that ECCP supported for communicators focused on promoting research-based frames and messages proven to garner broad public support for issues connected to healthy early childhood development, the prevention of adversity, mitigation of toxic stress and promotion of resilience and strengthening families continues to exist and grow into the future.

The Colorado Shared Message Bank is a critical tool in the toolbox to aid people in shifting community norms, perceptions and policy toward embracing the importance of investing in children and strengthening families and communities. It is also product of a collaborative effort of many people trained to support partners around the state as they work to integrate the Shared Message Bank and communications best practices into their communications efforts with and on behalf of children and families. These mentors review partner materials and offer advice on framing to promote social change or engage Coloradans in services that strengthen families.  

As additional frameworks to support maternal health and child maltreatment prevention have been created in Colorado and the community focused on improving communications practices begins to reconvene to share what is working and learn from one another, Colorado offers a message of gratitude to the Early Childhood Colorado Partnership for providing the space and conditions for diverse partners across the comprehensive early childhood system – encompassing health, mental health, family support and early learning – to come together to identify common results, share best and innovative practices, and implement strategies to improve system effectiveness for and with child and family well-being.

Join the community of communicators to find support in promoting messages that strengthen families. 

Project: Boulder County Assuring Better Child Health and Development

Organization: Boulder County Public Health

Location of Messaging: Boulder County

We often tie our efforts to the larger efforts happening in the community. Our community did a survey and found that one of the top priorities in our system is mental health. The partnership created a social emotional toolkit. The toolkit outlines what to say when speaking about social emotional development for providers, fliers about social emotional development, and handouts for parents to better support their child’s development. You can find the social emotional toolkit on the Boulder ABCD webpage: www.bouldercountyabcd.org 

Project: CO4Kids Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Public Awareness Campaign

Organization: Colorado Department of Human Services

Location of Messaging: Statewide

In 2015, the Colorado Department of Human Services, in partnership with more than one hundred and fifty community partners throughout the state and Governor Hickenlooper, launched a multi-year Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Public Awareness Campaign to engage all Coloradans in the prevention of child abuse and promote the new Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (1-844-264-5437). 

Coloradans think Child Abuse and Neglect is a big problem. Why do we need to raise awareness? 

To build an evidence-based public awareness campaign, the Department conducted public opinion research in 2013 which serves as a baseline measurement for the effectiveness of the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Public Awareness Campaign. According to research, Coloradans were well aware child abuse and neglect is a problem, believing that one in four children experience abuse or neglect. More than half of Coloradans said they had personally encountered a child that they suspected was a victim of abuse or neglect and they said that they were very likely to report a litany of typical abuse and neglect situations.  

However, perceptions were very different from reality. Prior to the launch of the campaign the general public – friends, neighbors, community members – were not reporting concerns. It was estimated that 75% of reports of child abuse and neglect in Colorado came from mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, 15% came from family members, and only 10% came from the general public. 

The primary goal of the campaign is to encourage all Coloradans to play a role in the prevention of child abuse and neglect by reporting all concerns to the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline and getting involved to help Colorado’s kids. This comprehensive effort includes shared messaging, grassroots outreach, media relations, billboards, television commercials, social media, and extensive toolkit materials to help campaign partners raise awareness. Every year, the campaign reaches over one million impressions, encouraging Coloradans to get involved and play a role in the prevention of child abuse and neglect. 

This campaign website is intended to help you:

  • better understand the legal definition of child abuse and neglect in Colorado,  
  • recognize the signs and behaviors associated with the various types of child abuse and neglect,
  • know what happens after you call the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, 
  • learn how to prevent child abuse and neglect, and
  • help people who want to get involved connect with local organizations making a difference in Colorado communities. 

Contact us to learn more at www.co4kids.org 

Collateral:

Parenting Flier

Ways to strengthen families

Let’s have a real conversation about the struggles of parenting 9news interview

Employers play a role in strengthening families.  (Speech by Laura Love of GroundFloor Media, April 2018)

We all play a role in strengthening families in… (Highlights from press event for Child Abuse Prevention Month, April 2018)

We are live kicking off Child Abuse Prevent Month in… (full press event for April)

Project: Looking to the Past to Shape Colorado’s Future Report

Organization: Early Milestones Colorado

Location of Messaging: Statewide

Early Milestones Colorado released a report detailing Colorado’s remarkable progress in early childhood over the past three decades. Looking to the Past to Shape Colorado’s Future: 30 Years of Progress for Young Children and Families covers the considerable accomplishments Colorado has made in health and well-being, learning and development, family support, and education. It highlights policies for state leaders to consider for work that remains.

Shared Messages are woven throughout the report, but are especially key in the introduction and framing of the report.

Collateral:

Executive Summary

Full Report

Lessons Learned & Policy Considerations

Project: Early Childhood Mental Health Colorado Website

Organization: Colorado Department of Human Services–Office of Early Childhood

Location of Messaging: Statewide

 

Children’s social-emotional development begins at birth with relationships and experiences they have right from the beginning. With secure and loving relationships and positive experiences, children develop a foundation of mental health that supports them throughout their lives. For more information about this important topic and to view helpful resources please go to earlychildhoodmentalhealthCO.org. The website contains a toolkit of materials including fact sheets, videos, posters, social media content, brochures and more to help professionals learn more about social-emotional development and early childhood mental health, offer tips on how to support healthy social-emotional development in early childhood programs and support communication and outreach to families.  Materials are available in Spanish and English and can be customized for local organizations.

Collateral: all materials can be found at earlychildhoodmentalhealthCO.org

 

Project: Increasing Public Investment in Children in the Estes Valley

Organization: Estes Valley Investment in Child Success (EVICS)

Location of the Messaging: Estes Park, Colorado

The goal of this project was to increase community awareness of, and investment in, early childhood needs and services, and to build community support for a systemic approach to the provision of high-quality early childhood services.

EVICS developed a task force of community members who were trained to inundate the community with messages about the importance of strong child development and child care as the Estes Valley is experiencing issues for families trying to access quality, affordable care. The taskforce developed a PowerPoint slide deck with the support of the Early Childhood Colorado Partnership to help them in their effort to build public support. In addition, EVICS developed ads for local papers promoting their messages.

Collateral: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project: Clayton Early Learning Holiday Card

Organization: Clayton Early Learning

Location: Statewide/Online

We used shared messaging in our holiday card to promote and celebrate the notion of shared prosperity. The card is intended for a range of audiences, so we used the message of shared prosperity to recognize all stakeholders and their contributions to our work in early childhood.

Project: Shared Messaging in Grand County

Organization: Grand Beginnings

Location of Messaging: Grand and Jackson Counties

Grand Beginnings has a total of seven banners that are included on their website, each one addressing one of the primary messages in the Shared Message Bank. Clicking on one of the banners redirects to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child for more information. The website is available to those seeking more information about Grand Beginnings, so these messages are able to reach a wide range of people.

The messaging is also included in their Early Childhood Mental Health brochure, which touches on topics such as resilience as a skill and childhood mental health. These brochures are available to parents and caregivers and are distributed on both an individual basis and through our partners in childcare, educational services, and healthcare services.

Collateral: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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