June 2019 eNews

What We’ve Been Up To

Advocacy Allies: Gathering for the Greater Good

ICS recently hosted and sponsored an event organized by Together SC that brought together advocacy/policy nonprofit leaders across South Carolina. The purpose was to debrief, discuss and discover a possible new program for Together SC called “Advocacy Allies.”

The meeting was held in Columbia, SC at United Way of the Midlands on June 19. Agency representatives active at the State House examined the 2019 Legislative session (promising and challenging outcomes), and considered whether to officially form Advocacy Allies, a collective voice to amplify their public policy and advocacy work.

How Institute for Child Success Guides Mary Black Foundation’s Investments

Keisha Gray
Program Director – Early Childhood Development, Mary Black Foundation

Video Clip #2

ICS commissioned an informational video to raise awareness of the good things we are doing in the fields of child care, health care and education, as well as in communities (from the Capitol to state capitals to city & county councils to homes) to improve outcomes for young children.

We asked our partners and supporters to define ICS and have included a brief clip of the video above. You can look forward to gaining insight on the perspectives of our colleagues across government, academia, non-profit and philanthropy domains each month.

Stay tuned for the full-length video.

Out & About

The ICS Leadership Team recently met in NYC for a day-long strategic session following meetings with area partners. Pictured left to right: Director of Policy Research, Megan Carolan; Director of Innovation & Inclusion, Mary Garvey; VP & General Counsel, Bryan Boroughs; and President, Jamie Moon.

Research Associate Amanda McDougald Scott (far right) celebrating 30 years of United Way of Greenville County’s Palmetto Society with fellow members. The celebration, United Way Night at the Greenville Drive, was held at Fluor Field in early June.

Upcoming Events

ICS’s 2019 Convening on Investing for Impact

Registration is Open!

2019 Convening on Investing for Impact:

‘Til All the Children Are Well
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel 8777 Georgia Ave. | Silver Spring, MD 20910

Join Us to Learn

• Where the greatest potential for Opportunity Zones is to be used as a catalyst for lasting change
• How incorporating the principles of equity and inclusion can maximize impact and bolster credibility in the field
• Important lessons learned from participating in the first round of applications for SIPPRA funding

General Registration – $150
Discounted Student Registration – $75*
*You must register with your .edu email address to receive discount.

Know a colleague who should attend?
Share this link with him/her so they can join our conference updates mailing list.

Children’s Trust Building Hope for Children Conference

Children’s Trust of South Carolina is hosting its biennial prevention conference focused on building educational, health care and community resources.

September 5-6, 2019
Hyatt Regency
Downtown Greenville, SC

ICS Research Director, Megan Carolan and Research Associate, Amanda McDougald Scott will present session, “Using Public Data as a Foundation for Child Flourishing.”

www.scchildren.org

Resources

Blog: My Field Trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy: The Bedrock of Higher-Level Learning

By Mary MacKenzie, Senior Fellow

Recently back from her enchanting “field trip” to Reggio Emilia, Italy (where she joined ICS Senior Fellow Dee Stegelin who was hosting students from Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston studying the Reggio Approach), Mary shares her experience and offers some reflections on the challenges that even this “gold standard” model faces in our modern age. 

Excerpt: An important element of the Reggio Approach is family involvement and participation. Alexandra spoke of the centers as “interactive places – not parking places!” They highly value the community in which the setting is located, keeping them informed of events happening and involving them as much as they can. Loris Malaguzzi, in the 1960s and 70s, used to actually take the children out into the streets and squares to involve the community. Nowadays, they are noticing less participation and they feel this is a social problem which is prevalent worldwide…

Read more about this educational approach to outdoor learning and play.

Blog: Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results

Excerpt: In late May, jurisdictions across the country submitted applications to support Pay for Success (PFS) projects under the federal Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA). When this funding opportunity was first announced last year, it was the culmination of several years of advocacy by ICS and others in the field to usher in a new era for outcomes-based funding, including payment for outcomes themselves.   

Read more about ICS’s SIPPRA work and the impact of opportunities we are seeing even before funding is awarded. 

Blog: Parents Beware: Manufacturers’ Safety Claims May Not Measure Up

The Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper Recall and Recommended Sleeping Methods for Baby

By Megan Carolan, Director of Policy Research

Excerpt: Products for children frequently fall into a classic “information asymmetry,” an economics term which describes when one party has more information about a transaction than the other does, which creates an imbalance in the transaction. In this case, the manufacturer sold a product with claims about safety, which parents may have assumed meant it had been rigorously tested and measured against a standard; only the manufacturer knew the extent of the testing, and did not disclose that strict regulations did not exist. Parents took this marketing as a seal of approval among a head-spinning array of toys and products.

Continue reading to learn what you can do to minimize hazards to young children.