NEWS RELEASE January 5, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Information: Judy Langford, Senior Fellow Office: 847-869-9614 Fax: 202-371-1472 Email: judy.langford@cssp.org According to Frederic Simmens, Director of the Children's Division within the Missouri Department of Social Services, "We feel that the timing of this opportunity to participate in the Strengthening Families initiative could not be better for Missouri due to our current efforts in early childhood infrastructure and systems development. Missouri has long held the belief that strengthening families is an important key to reducing the incidence of child maltreatment, and we also embrace the belief that all children deserve quality early childhood experiences. The opportunity to be more strategic and intentional about our approach to reducing child abuse and neglect will help us achieve our goal of achieving a strong statewide early childhood education and care system and reach over 135,000 children." Missouri, along with Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, was chosen from among 27 state applications based on the strength of the State's leadership team, their commitment to dedicate the time and resources, and their knowledge of how to link the Strengthening Families initiative with other state program efforts aimed at reducing child abuse and neglect. "The states that were chosen will provide the model of linking early childhood programs to strategies known to reduce child abuse and neglect, and will lead the way for other states to follow" said Ms. Langford. CSSP plans to provide training and technical assistance to pilot states as well as the opportunity for them the states to work closely with one another in implementing the initiative. | |
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