|
WHSA Community Relations Work Group |
Capitol Visits
|
Resources & Contact Information |
Head Start and
Lobbying |
Advocacy Do's &
Don'ts |
Vision 2020
| Our Community
Partners |
Research Developments |
Please See the
whsaonline.org Homepage for the Latest
News!
WHSA Community Relations
Work Group
The purpose of the Community
Relations Work Group (CRWG) is to advocate on behalf of all Wisconsin
Head Start and Early Head Start programs, especially for desirable
state and federal funding or regulations. Because WHSA does not
directly receive federal or state funding (unlike Head Start and Early
Head Start programs), it is in a position to speak for its membership
and carry its messages to state and federal legislators.
Additionally, the CRWG directs the Association on opportunities for and
involvement in coalitions, at both the state and national levels, that
seek to improve early child care and education services for
low-income children and families. It is the responsibility of the
CRWG to advise the WHSA membership and Board of Directors to act and
secure positive outcomes for Head Start and Early Head Start programs
in Wisconsin.
CRWG duties include:
-
Being the origin for
policy development and change and, further, recommending when it is
appropriate for WHSA to be the agent of change.
-
Creating political
strategies to achieve Association goals.
-
Developing grassroots strategies
and training members to execute these plans.
-
Analyzing the impact of
Association positions in the state of Wisconsin to larger, national and
federal trends.
-
Building Association capacity to
act in the best interest of Head Start programs.
-
Monitoring and maintaining Head
Start's participation and influence with the early childhood education and
care community.
The CRWG fulfills the above
responsibilities by:
-
Conducting CRWG meetings at each
WHSA Quarterly meeting.
-
Providing updates to the general
membership at WHSA Quarterly meetings.
-
Facilitating the development of
WHSA's legislative priorities by the general membership and the Board.
-
Issuing alerts to local programs
about important legislation and regulations.
-
Providing updates, when appropriate,
for local programs on pending legislation or other issues.
-
Preparing membership for Capitol
Visits during the WHSA Spring Quarterly meeting.
-
Developing position papers, to be
approved by the Board, on critical issues.
CRWG Membership:
All WHSA members are considered part
of the CRWG. Any member, at any time, is invited to join the CRWG and
attend its meetings.
CRWG Leadership:
Federal Lead WHSA Board President
Tim Nolan, Executive Director
Cathy Howe-Thwaits, Executive Director
National Centers for Learning Excellence, Inc. Marathon
County Child Development Agency, Inc.
Head Start
& Early Head Start Program
Head Start Program
N4W22000 Bluemound Road 720 Grant Street
Waukesha, WI 53186 Wausau, WI 54403
(p) 262-548-8080 (p) 715-845-2947
(f) 262-548-8084 (f) 715-845-0909
timfuture@aol.com
chowe@mccdahs.org
Shelley Cousin, Executive Director
Wisconsin Head Start Association
122 E. Olin Ave., Suite 110
Madison, WI 53713
(p) 608-442-6879
(f) 608-442-7672
cousin@whsaonline.org
Capitol Visits
At each WHSA
Spring Quarterly meeting Head Start & Early Head Start parents, program
Directors, and Staff visit the Wisconsin State Capitol to meet with
their Legislators. These visits are an opportunity for you to
educate your Legislators on the value of programs in
your local communities, highlighting successful practices, and sharing
lasting mementos like children's artwork.
The WHSA Community
Relations Work Group has developed a
Wisconsin Federal & State Legislative Roster and a guide of
Wisconsin Legislators by Head Start Program to help you get in
touch with your Legislators.
Federal & State
Legislators
Wisconsin State & Federal Legislative Roster 2009-2010
Wisconsin Legislators By Head Start Program 2009-2010
Wisconsin
Federal Legislator Contact Info by Congressional
District
Wisconsin Congressional District 1
Wisconsin Congressional District 2
Wisconsin Congressional District 3
Wisconsin Congressional District 4
Wisconsin Congressional District 5
Wisconsin Congressional District 6
Wisconsin Congressional District 7
Wisconsin Congressional District 8
US Senate
Senate Homepage
Senator Russell D.
Feingold
Senator Herb H.
Kohl
Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Pensions, and Labor (HELP)
US House
of Representatives
House Homepage
Representative Paul
Ryan, Congressional District 1
Representative
Tammy Baldwin, Congressional District 2
Representative Ron
Kind, Congressional District 3
Representative
Gwendolynne S. Moore, Congressional District 4
Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.,
Congressional District 5
Representative
Thomas E. Petri, Congressional District 6
Representative David R. Obey, Congressional District
7
Representative Steven L. Kagen, Congressional
District 8
House Committee
on Education and Labor
Wisconsin's Federal Delegation
Congressional Committee/Subcommittee Membership
National
White House,
President Barack Obama
United States Department of Health and Human Services
Wisconsin
Governor
Jim Doyle
608-266-1212
Office of the Governor
Home Page
Wisconsin State
Legislature
State of Wisconsin
Home Page
Head Start and
Lobbying
Head Start programs
and staff are limited by the Head Start Act and annual
Appropriations Acts in how they may legally engage their
Congresspeople.
You may not
lobby to influence any member of a legislature, staff,
or government employee specifically to persuade the
individual to propose, support, oppose, change or
otherwise influence legislation pending before Congress.
However, you can
respond to Congressional requests for Head Start related
information, educate federal officials (without asking
for their support or opposition), and belong to
associations that provide educational or informational
services that directly benefit your program.
Consider educating
your Congresspeople by:
-
Sending
your Congressperson a copy of reports you send to
the Regional Office with a brief cover letter
letting him/her know how you are doing.
-
Sending
a letter of thanks for continued support when you
complete a grant. Include pictures.
-
Sending
Congressional aides updates on program activities.
-
Sending
copies of your newsletters.
-
Inviting
your Congressperson and his/her spouse to your
center. Take photos, have brief parent
testimonials, share classroom accomplishment, and
provide demographic information about the kids and
families you serve.
-
Providing your Congressperson with children's
artwork and information about the artists.
-
Creating
monthly parent success stories, written by the
parents in their own hand, which relate the parents'
positive experiences in Head Start.
-
Holding
an open house at your center during a legislative
recess. If s/he can't attend send photos and
updates.
-
Sending
a short note telling him/her how well you are doing
and expressing your thanks for his/her support.
-
Sharing
great peer reviews demonstrating your ability to
operate a high quality center and spend money
wisely.
-
Updating
your Congressperson on the educational pursuits of
your staff and their dedication to Head Start.
For an
expanded and printable version of the above list,
click
here.
Advocacy
Do's & Don'ts
Thanks to the
Wisconsin Council on Children & Families (WCCF) for this
great list.
Do's:
-Form relationships
now!
-Be open to talking
to Legislative staff.
-Be informed.
Know the issue, the system, and the key players.
-Give personal
examples.
-Be honest.
It's okay to admit that you don't know something and
that you'll get back to the Legislator with more
information later.
-Be concise.
Keep all visits, call, testimonials brief and to the
point.
-Practice, practice,
practice. Explain your opinion & make your case to
family, friends, and colleagues before you make your
case to policymakers.
-Seek out new
partnerships & alliances with others who share your
views.
-Be specific.
Know what you want your Legislator to do and ask for it!
-Stay active by
maintaining communication with policymakers.
-Think of ways to
involve other constituents in the issue.
-Be patient,
persistent, and positive.
Don'ts:
-Wait until you need
something to contact policymakers.
-Ignore or be
disrespectful to Legislative staff.
-Send form letters or
emails.
-Make threats.
-Expect the
impossible or insist on immediate action.
-Try to speak for
everyone.
-Bury them with
paper.
-Argue. If it
is clear a policymaker won't support your position, just
give him/her the fact and ask that the Legislator
consider your viewpoint.
-Give up!
VISION 2020: Campaign to End Child Poverty
A Perfect Vision for
Wisconsin
For many of us, Wisconsin
provides a great environment in which to live and build healthy
families. Unfortunately, not all of our state's families share in
this economic prosperity. Poverty is the leading obstacle to
opportunity and in 2005 over 179,000 Wisconsin children lived below the
poverty line. That's a group of kids larger than the populations
of Green Bay and Appleton combined facing what are often insurmountable
barriers to successful futures. Clearly, we have ample room
to improve our commitments to children living in poverty and to
their unfulfilled futures. The Vision 2020 campaign, a
collaborative effort between the Wisconsin Head Start Association
(WHSA), the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF), and the
Wisconsin
Community Action Program Association (WISCAP), seeks to eliminate child poverty in Wisconsin by the year 2020.
We believe all families
deserve living wages, safe and healthy communities in which to live and
grow, and access to affordable and quality healthcare and education.
It is necessary to meet these needs if we expect to provide healthy
futures for Wisconsin kids, families, and communities. With the
Vision 2020 campaign we aim to:
-
increase awareness of
child poverty and its adverse impacts on our communities;
-
discuss, develop, and
implement practical policy solutions that address root causes of
child poverty in Wisconsin;
-
encourage
individuals, organizations, communities, and policymakers to take
action to eliminate child poverty;
-
and convince
policymakers to make the eradication of child poverty their top
legislative priority.
We hope you share our
excitement about this visionary yet practical approach to ending child
poverty in Wisconsin and that you will join with us as we embark on this
new initiative! To learn more about Vision 2020, read
the Vision 2020 Report Card: Moving All Wisconsin Families Forward,
or to get involved, please visit our website at
www.2020wi.org.
We urge you to begin your commitment to end child poverty by filling out
the
Vision 2020 Pledge Card. We
are all part of this campaign. Help us create solutions that will
ensure that no one in Wisconsin is denied a healthy economic future.

Our Community Partners
Disability Rights Wisconsin
Protection
and Advocacy for People with Disabilities
www.disabilityrightswi.org
Milwaukee
Child Care Alliance
Leaders for
Quality Care and Education
www.milwaukeechildcarealliance.org
Supporting Families Together Association (SFTA)
Making Child
Care Work
www.supportingfamiliestogether.org
Wisconsin
Alliance for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH)
Early
Relationships Matter!
www.wiimh.org
Wisconsin
Association of School Boards (WASB)
Leadership
in Public School Governance
www.wasb.org
Wisconsin
Early Learning Coalition
Great Start
- Early Learning Matters
www.greatstartwi.org
Wisconsin
Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP)
An Online
Community for Parents, Administrators and Staff of Early
Education Programs throughout Wisconsin
www.collaboratingpartners.com
Wisconsin
Child Care Administrators Association (WCCAA)
Champions
for Quality Care and Education
www.wccaa.org
Wisconsin
Community Action Programs Association (WISCAP)
Community
Action . . .Creating Local Opportunities for Economic
Self-Sufficiency
www.wiscap.org
Wisconsin
Council on Children and Families (WCCF)
Raising
Voices to Make Every Kid Count
www.wccf.org
Wisconsin
Council for the Exceptional Children, Division of Early
Childhood (WCEC)
The Voice
and Vision of Special Education
http://www.geocities.com/soozeej/WCEC.html
Wisconsin
Department of Children and Families
Protecting
Children. Strengthening Families. Building
Communities
dcf.wisconsin.gov
Wisconsin
Early Childhood Association (WECA)
Building a
Foundation for a Lifetime of Learning for Wisconsin's
Young Children
www.wecanaeyc.org
Wisconsin
Education Association Council (WEAC)
www.weac.org
Wisconsin
Family Child Care Association (WFCCA)
Supporting
Family Child Care Since 1982
http://www.wisconsinfamilychildcare.org
Research Developments
Please see our
"Related Links" page for further research links.
Spotlight on Wisconsin
As part of the Center for Law and
Social Policy's (CLASP)
"Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care Project," CLASP featured the
Wisconsin Infant Toddler Professional Credential as an example of a
state training, education, and support initiative which promotes a strong
workforce and support for caregivers of infants and toddlers. More
initiatives are described in CLASP's
Starting
Off Right: Promoting Child Development from Birth in State Early Care and
Education Initiatives.
On June 1, 2009, the
National Head Start Association (NHSA)
sent its latest edition of
"Research Nuggest Updates" to NHSA membership. The Update included
the 11 following Research Nuggets:
1) Chicago
School Readiness Project (CSRP) Intervention Model Reduces Children’s
Behavior Problems
2) Health
Consultations, Screenings, and Services in Head Start and non-Head Start
Child Care Centers
3) The Impact
of a Part- and Full-Day Prekindergarten Programs on Student Academic
Performance
4) Special
Issue of the NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early
Intervention Field on Positive Behavior Supports
and
Interventions in Early Childhood Education
5) A Brief
Examining Relationship between Program Quality and Child Outcomes
6) Report of
the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP), a Scientific Synthesis of Early
Literacy Development and Implications for
Intervention
7) Mental
Health Problems in Early Childhood Can Impair Learning and Behavior for Life
8) Promoting
Academic and Social-Emotional School Readiness: The Head Start REDI Program
9) The Cost of
Doing Nothing: The Economic Impact of Recession-Induced Child Poverty
10) The Serious
Need for Play
11) Child
Well-Being Index 2009 and Special Focus Report Released
In the May 2008 research brief
"Child-Care Survey Reveals Cost Constrains Quality," Milwaukee's
Public Policy Forum published the results of their child care provider
survey in which they queried 414 child care providers in southeastern
Wisconsin on child care quality markers like accreditation, charges and
subsidies, child care staff instructional philosophies, and professional
development. They found that "cost as well as low wages and lack of
benefits for workers can constrain providers from pursuing improvements to
child-care quality." The brief details key findings and their
policy implications, like the "need for policy makers to structure financial
support for providers in ways that add organizational capacity and create
incentives for providers to pursue quality improvements." The Public
Policy Forum will continue to grapple with the questions "how can public
policy encourage higher quality care?" and "will the benefits
outweigh the costs?" in a future research brief enumerating the costs
and benefits of investment in early childhood care.
From June 26-27, 2008 the
National Governor's Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, the
National Conference of State Legislatures, and Harvard University's Center
on the Developing Child held the
"National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy" in
Cambridge, MA. The Symposium "was designed to build leadership
capacity in the states for developing and implementing science-based
policies that enhance children’s learning, behavior, and health" and built
on the findings of
"A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy." You can
view webcast recordings of select presentations using the above link to
the Symposium webpage. Available webcasts include:
-
The Science of Child
Development and the Future of Early Childhood Policy;
-
Lessons Learned from
Public-Private Partnerships;
-
The Impact of Early
Adversity on Brain Development;
-
What Research Tells us About
Early Childhood Program Effectiveness;
-
Improving Quality in Early
Childhood Programs;
-
Delivering High-Value
Services to Vulnerable Children;
-
and Learning from State
Experience: Executive and Legislative Perspectives.
"The Benefits and Cost of
Head Start," a recent article by Jens Ludwig (U. of Chicago) and Deborah
Phillips (Georgetown) published in the Society for Research in Child
Development's Social Policy Report (2007 v. XXI, no. 3), examines the
effectiveness of Head Start programs using benefit-cost analysis. The
article aims to answer whether or not Head Start programs produce both short
and long-term benefits in excess of their costs, making the paper especially
relevant given pending Head Start Reauthorization. Ludwig and Phillips
conclude that, yes, "there is an accumulating body of suggestive evidence
that Head Start is capable of generating long-term benefits and passes a
benefit-cost test" (p.16). According to the authors, the next step
is to continue research seeking to determine where further investment in
early childhood education and care should be made. The issue is not
if investments should be made, but rather "how, how much, and how
soon" (17) to invest.
To read the article in PDF,
click on the link:
"The Benefits and Costs of Head Start."
The
Public Policy Forum, a Milwaukee-based organization seeking to "promote
sound and innovative policy solutions," has initiated a project that aims
"to establish the costs and benefits of high quality early childhood
education in southeast Wisconsin." As part of the initiative, the
Forum has created a comprehensive matrix of existing research on early
childhood education. The matrix allows for easy comparison of
findings on individual and societal benefits arising from early education.
Generally, the existing research shows a connection between higher
quality early childhood programs and long-term benefits including:
-
improved school readiness
-
improved social skills
-
higher IQ scores
-
higher standardized test
scores
-
decreased crime and
delinquency
-
and greater earning
capacity.
To view the matrix of existing
research, click on the link: "Research
on Early Childhood Education Outcomes."