Selected Accomplishments 2002 ~ 1984

2002

Selected by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of three organizations in the U.S. to lead a three-year effort to develop adult and community-focused strategies aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.

Organized with key collaborators the Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership, a collaborative of over twenty state and private agencies with policy and program expertise in child abuse prevention, sexual violence prevention, sex offender management, child protection, public health, victim advocacy/services, and research and evaluation.

Launched the Child Abuse Prevention Month Campaign with public service ads on child sexual abuse prevention posted throughout the MBTA system; fulfilled requests for information from hundreds of callers to MCC’s 800-CHILDREN line.

Produced and disseminated a comprehensive response to the Cardinal Commission’s Draft Report for the Protection of Children; developed and distributed MCC Board Statement on the issue of child sexual abuse by Massachusetts clergy; wrote an article on child sexual abuse prevention that was published as the lead story in the Boston Sunday Globe’s Focus section.

Through the “Committee To Save DSS” co-convened by MCC, successfully lobbied to restore $3.5 million dollars in DSS budget cuts that had jeopardized child safety by the laying-off of 215 front line social workers.

Convened the two-day “Summit on Children and the Courts” that brought together 150 judicial, law enforcement and child protection leaders to learn about the latest research on child sexual abuse trauma and best practices to address child sexual abuse in the Probate Court.

Through a collaboration of MCC’s Children’s Law and Policy Initiative (CLPI) and private law firms, filed two amicus curiae briefs on behalf of child sexual abuse victims whose precedent setting cases were before the Massachusetts Probate Court and the U.S. District Court of Appeals.

Coordinated the production and dissemination of the “Children’s Bench Book”, a seminal reference for judges and attorneys involved in cases of intra-familial child abuse.

Established Legal Internships in Children’s Law and Policy for second and third year law students from Northeastern University, Boston University, Suffolk University, and Boston College Law Schools.

Began implementation of a comprehensive, multi-year initiative in Worcester County to reduce infant deaths and disability due to Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), the most frequent cause of infant homicides in the U.S. The evaluated pilot is expected to lead to new statewide policies and prevention programs.

Coordinated a successful SBS Prevention Conference that trained 150 Worcester County health are, law enforcement and child protection personnel; secured commitment from six Worcester County birthing hospitals to replicate the highly successful Western New York State SBS prevention education pilot; began orientation and training of hospital Nurse Managers.

Secured the commitment from Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Injury Surveillance Program to develop baseline data on SBS morbidity and mortality in Worcester County and the state.

Continued to educate, mobilize, and expand MCC’s Campaign for Children citizen membership through its comprehensive website, regular e-mail newsletters, special alerts, and a new online legislative advocacy feature that facilitates citizen contact with legislators on key state and budget actions for children.

2001

Published the comprehensive “State Call To Action To End Child Abuse and Neglect in Massachusetts,” the result of a 2-year effort involving over 200 key policymakers and advocates in health, human services and law enforcement. The multi-year blueprint was hailed by the Boston Globe as “… a unique document, the first effort in any state to examine the broad spectrum of issues that can result in abuse and neglect, and them to offer a comprehensive, systemic approach aimed at dramatically improving the treatment of children in Massachusetts. Early indications are that it will have considerable influence, and possibly, frame the way in which the state deals with abuse and neglect issues in the future."

Began work on implementation of “State Call” recommendations relating to: evaluations of child sexual abuse victims by untrained Guardians ad Litem (GALs); judicial decisions about offending parent/child victim contacts not supported by the latest research; and poor legal representation of children by untrained legal counsel

.With UMass Medical Center and the Central Massachusetts Department of Social Services, organized the Central Massachusetts SBS Prevention Campaign, a coalition of over 30 state and private agencies committed to launching an SBS prevention initiative in Worcester County.

Launched the Child Abuse Prevention Month Campaign with public service ads on child abuse prevention posted throughout the MBTA system and fulfilled requests for information from hundreds of callers to MCC’s 800-CHILDREN line.

2000

Under MCC’s “Summit Initiative on Child Protection and Family Support,” convened five Work Groups to address specific issues: Multidisciplinary Assessment, Dual Track, Workforce/Workload, Treatment/Intervention, and Family Support and Child Abuse Prevention.

Convened three day-long Symposia to address the impact of child abuse and trauma on child development, behavior, and school performance. Over 200 leaders in child welfare, health/mental health, and law enforcement participated in the Summit Initiative.

Continued SBS prevention education of parents, caretakers and the public through public presentations and the dissemination of thousands of SBS brochures and materials to hospitals, clinics, child care centers, schools, community agencies, etc.

Through a partnership with the UMASS Poll, conducted the Campaign for Children’s second Public Opinion Survey of 400 citizens on the status of Massachusetts children.

Rechartered as the Massachusetts Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America after an extensive programmatic and organizational assessment process.

1999

Convened over 60 of the state's and country's leading child and family policymakers through the highly successful two-day “Policy Leaders Summit on New Directions in Child Protection and Family Support.”

Produced the report "Child Abuse and Neglect: Protecting Massachusetts Children," a KIDS COUNT status report on Massachusetts' child protection system with recommendations for change.

Formally assumed fiscal and programmatic responsibility for the Campaign for Children after a request to do so by the multi-agency collaborative that formed it.

1998

Secured partnerships between the Campaign for Children and several media including The Boston Globe and The Boston Parents’ Paper that resulted in several full-page Globe ads representing $300,000 in donated public service advertising; and brought the number of Campaign members to over 1,500.

Produced and disseminated widely two KIDS COUNT data reports: “Working and Still Poor,” and “Who’s Minding the Children? The State of Child Care in Massachusetts.”

Conducted the Campaign for Children’s first Public Opinion Survey of 400 citizens. The 45-question survey addressed a range of issues affecting children, including family economic issues, child abuse, and the public’s perceptions of child advocacy organizations.

Developed the Campaign for Children’s “Kids and the Candidates” Questionnaire and secured responses from Massachusetts Gubernatorial candidates; results published widely and mailed to over 5,000 selected voters and opinion leaders. Secured pro bono placement of Questionnaire and Responses in a special stand-alone supplement in the Boston Parents Paper.

1997

Co-convened a day-long Prevention Institute in Salt Lake City at the Second National Conference on SBS. One hundred of the nation’s leading SBS prevention experts participated in the Massachusetts Medical Society-supported event.

Produced and disseminated widely two KIDS COUNT data reports: “Health Care Access for Children” and “Family Support.”

Worked actively to pass legislation that established a statewide child death review system.

1996

Launched the first Never Shake a Baby public education campaign in Massachusetts to reduce infant death and disability due to Shaken Baby Syndrome.Developed and produced a comprehensive SBS brochure for dissemination in Massachusetts and nationally.

Massachusetts Campaign for Children is formally launched to build an active and informed citizen constituency for children, a critical need that had been identified by the Children’s Advocacy Board in its strategic plan - the Massachusetts Agenda for Children.The Campaign is a multi-agency collaborative effort spearheaded by MCC.

Researched, produced and disseminated “State of the Child 1996,” a statewide KIDS COUNT report that assessed child well-being on numerous indicators.

1995

Successfully institutionalized Dorchester CARES, MCCY’s national demonstration project to prevent child abuse, as an independent community-wide family support program. The CARES model is adopted by the Department of Social Services and is replicated in over twenty other Massachusetts communities eventually forming the statewide “Community Connections” family support network.

1994

Researched, produced and disseminated the first Massachusetts KIDS COUNT report on the economic, educational, health, and social status of Massachusetts children.

Produced “Jeopardizing Children’s Lives,” a policy report on the need for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to require repeal of religious exemptions to medical care for children.

1993

Co-initiated ALL OUR CHILDREN, a data analysis and multi-issue advocacy initiative; organized the 35-member Children’s Advocacy Board, a broad-based diverse group of human service and community leaders that developed the “Massachusetts Agenda for Children,” an action plan to address identified needs.

Succeeded in the three-year effort to repeal Massachusetts’ religious exemption law, which had allowed parents of faith-healing sects to withhold medically necessary care for their seriously ill children.

Participated in successful efforts to pass legislation making egregious cases of child abuse a felony.

1992

Convened “Towards a Coordinated Response to Child Deaths,” a conference of 50 public policy leaders in law enforcement, public health and social services whose goal was to spearhead the effort to establish an independent, publicly accountable child death review system to examine the causes and prevention of child deaths in the State.

Produced “Death by Religious Exemption: An Advocacy Report on the Need to Repeal Religious Exemptions to Necessary Medical Care for Children” that documented the medical, legal and constitutional grounds for the need to repeal Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 273, Section 1.

1991

Spearheaded the effort to organize a coalition of prosecutors, physicians and legislators to change Massachusetts’ status as one of only two states in the country without a criminal child abuse law.

Successfully spun off MCC’s homeless and runaway youth advocacy program to form the independent New England Network for Child, Youth & Family Services.

1990

Secured a $1-million grant from the federal National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect to initiate Dorchester CARES, a five-year neighborhood-based family support/child abuse prevention project.With funding from the Foundation for Child Development and the Aspen Foundation completed program and process evaluations that documented successful child, family and community outcomes.

Organized the Coalition To Repeal Exemptions to Child Abuse Laws, a group of over two-dozen organizations seeking to insure that parents who subscribe to the use of faith healing also provide their seriously ill children with necessary medical care.

1989

Conducted a three-year HIV-prevention training project for runaway adolescents in emergency shelters through a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Organized and coordinated the statewide Coalition of Adolescent Emergency Services to advocate for improved services.

1988

Provided the private sector leadership in the development of the state’s first child abuse prevention plan in a three-way collaboration with the Executive Office of Human Services and the Special Legislative Commission on Violence Against Children.

Wrote and co-produced “Strengthening Families and Preventing Child Abuse through Parent Aides,” a 30-minute broadcast-quality video, distributed and sold nationally.

Produced and disseminated a comprehensive and detailed “Compliance Report” to evaluate the Department of Social Services’ performance on each provision of the “Settlement Agreement for the Protection of Abused and Neglected Children.”

In partnership with Harvard Medical School, researched and produced “Health Status and Health Care in Greater Boston Adolescent Emergency Shelters.”

1987

Produced and disseminated widely “Preventing Child Abuse: A Resource for Policy Makers and Advocates,” a nationally acclaimed reference and advocacy tool.

Created the first national public service ad on child sexual abuse, in collaboration with Marvel Comics and WBZ-TV

.Produced “One Year Later: The Commonwealth’s Response to No Place Like Home” to assess changes/improvements in the State’s response to homeless children.

In partnership with Boston University School of Social Work, researched and produced “Massachusetts Adolescents in Need of Aftercare Services.”

1986

Researched and produced “No Place Like Home: A Report on the Tragedy of Homeless Children and their Families in Massachusetts”.

Presented testimony on findings of MCC’s report before the U.S. Congress, House Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and Human Resources, Washington, DC.

Provided early leadership advocating for the development of legislation that was finally adopted to establish a Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund to support community child abuse prevention efforts.

1985

Produced and coordinated “Jenny’s Abuse,” America’s first statewide sexual abuse prevention media campaign and fulfilled requests for prevention materials from over 5,000 citizens. The series of three 30-second PSAs won 4th place at the International Film Festival in New York, and the Boston Art Directors Club Gold Medal.

Researched and produced “Ride a Painted Pony on a Spinning Wheel Ride,” a point-in-time survey of Massachusetts youth in need of permanent homes.

Chartered by the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, as its Massachusetts child abuse prevention chapter.

1984

Negotiated a four-year unprecedented Settlement Agreement between MCCY and the Executive Office of Human Services/Massachusetts Department of Social Services in response to an MCC- initiated class action suit filed on behalf of Massachusetts’ abused and neglected children.

Organized and coordinated the Greater Boston Adolescent Emergency Network, a coalition of adolescent service providers seeking to improve services for homeless and runaway youth.