MCC Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary
Summit Initiative on Child Protection and Family Support
Child Death Review Bill Passes
UMASS Public Opinion Poll Results to be Issued
Middleton Child Sexual Abuse Case
Never Shake a Baby Campaign
Our Organization Name Change
Vote NO on Questions 4 and 6
People Notes
Many Thanks To These Folks

 

MCC Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary

This year marks Massachusetts Citizens for Children's 40th year of effective advocacy on behalf of the state's most vulnerable children. An evening reception is planned for Thursday, October 26, 2000, to celebrate this important milestone.

Eli Newberger, M.D., a life-long child advocate and child abuse expert, will be presented the Martha May Eliot Child Advocate Award. Dr. Newberger led the organization's Board for over twenty years. Through his work with MCC, and as founder of the Child Protection Team and the Family Development Program at Children's Hospital, he provided exemplary service not only to Massachusetts' children but to children all across the country.

The Newberger Media Award has been created in his honor and will be awarded each year to a person in the media who has done the most to champion the cause of children. Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe Columnist, will be the first awardee for her sensitive yet outspoken coverage of issues affecting the children of our state.

Co-Chairs of the Celebration Committee are Christopher Lydon, host of WBUR's "The Connection," and Maureen Pompeo, President of Galloglass Consulting. The event, to be held at the UMASS Trustrees Board Room, One Beacon Street, Boston, will serve as a fundraiser to support MCC's Summit Initiative to improve child protection and expand family supports in Massachusetts.

Tickets to the Celebration Reception are $250 per person. If you would like to receive an invitation to the event or make a donation to MCC to help support its work and to honor these outstanding child advocates, please call Deborah at MCC (617-742-8555) or email us at mail@masskids.org.

Go to web site of Dr. Eli Newberger

 

Summit Initiative on Child Protection and Family Support

In May 1999, MCC convened a two-day Summit on Child Protection and Family Support that brought together 50 Massachusetts child and family policy leaders and a dozen experts from around the country. They learned about new and promising practices in other states and discussed what was and was not working in Massachusetts' current system.

There was wide support for an ongoing effort that would lead to real improvements that would benefit abused /neglected and at-risk children, their families, and those charged with protecting and serving them.

This past January, five Working Groups were convened and met on a regular basis to explore specific aspects of the child protection and family support systems and to craft recommendations for change. In April, May and June, three day-long symposia were also held to discuss the newest brain research and its implications for children traumatized by abuse or family violence. The Symposia, held at the new Massachusetts Medical Society complex in Waltham, brought together several hundred people and resulted in numerous recommendations around policy, practice and prevention.

The full report synthesizing those findings is being prepared now and will be available for viewing on MCC's website after January 1, 2001 (www.masskids.org). A shorter "Kids Count" report will summarize the findings and recommendations. Public release of this document will launch an intensive effort to disseminate the findings, refine recommendations and mobilize citizen support and action.

Briefings for Summit participants, Campaign for Children members, legislators, business representatives, faith-based leaders and citizens-at-large are being planned. Visit the MCC website for further updates, www.masskids.org.

 

Child Death Review Bill Passes

Child deaths in Massachusetts will now be systematically reviewed to determine how and why children die and what can be done to reduce preventable deaths. At the end of the legislative session, the Child Fatality Review Bill was passed unanimously, making Massachusetts the last state to implement a system of child fatality reviews.

Under the new law, local child fatality teams will be established in each of 11 districts to conduct immediate multi-disciplinary reviews of child deaths. These teams will include individuals representing child welfare, law enforcement, health, and public safety. A state team, headed by the Chief Medical Examiner, will gather and examine data from all the local teams and present an annual report to the legislature and the public as to how these deaths could be prevented in the future.

When Massachusetts Citizens for Children convened the conference, "Toward a Coordinated Response to Child Deaths" in May of 1992, no one who attended expected that the road to victory would be so long. In fact, all were hopeful that Massachusetts would be the second or third state in the nation to establish this statewide system.

Despite all the delays and difficulties, it has certainly been a worthwhile collaborative effort on the part of legislators, prosecutors, law enforcement, the medical community, and child advocates. We can now look forward to a system that will accurately reflect the numbers and types of child deaths in our state, and most importantly, to how we can support programs and policies that will reduce preventable deaths

Thanks to everyone who helped secure this important victory for kids!

 

UMASS Public Opinion Poll Results To Be Issued

How serious would you rate the child abuse problem in our state?
How would you grade the state's current child protection system?
How would you describe the need for change?
Whose ideas for change would you trust most?
These are the kinds of questions that were recently posed in a public opinion survey conducted by UMASS Poll for MCC and PCA Massachusetts. The responses of the 400 citizens polled provide a solid backdrop for current Summit Initiative efforts. Look for public release of the polling results this winter in the media and on our web site. www.masskids.org

 

Middleton Child Sexual Abuse Case

This summer a case involving the sexual abuse of many Middleton-area children and youth was publicly disclosed. An investigation by the Essex County District Attorney's Office has resulted in over 100 charges being brought against a 28-year old Middleton man. The church and YMCA counselor is alleged to have sexually exploited perhaps as many as 250 children.

In June a public meeting called by the District Attorney attracted over 650 local residents. Most were disappointed to learn that very little information about the case could be shared. Many citizens walked out of the meeting in frustration.

In an effort to give the public an opportunity to learn more directly about sexual abuse, why it happens, its impact on its victims, and how it can be prevented, Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts is co-sponsoring with Community Newspapers a special on-line chat scheduled for September 18, 2000, from 12 noon to 1PM. On line to discuss the problem of child sexual abuse will be Linda Sanford, a recognized therapist of both child victims and perpetrators, and PCA Director and child abuse expert Jetta Bernier. They will be joined by Richard Hoffman, author of "Half the House," a poignant memoir of Richard's own life and experiences of child sexual abuse at the hands of his baseball coach.

If you would like to participate in the on-line chat, log on to www.townonline.com and follow instructions. PCA is working with the Tri-Town Council on Youth and Family Services for Middleton, Topsfield and Boxford to convene another public meeting this fall, featuring the guests of the on-line chat. If you would like to be informed about that meeting, please e-mail us at preventchildabuse@masskids.org, call us at 617-742-8555, or check our website calendar for more details.

More about the online chat

 

Never Shake a Baby Campaign

Six months before the tragic death of 17-month Mattie Eappen in February 1997, MCC launched its statewide public education campaign to reduce infant death and disability due to Shaken baby Syndrome (SBS). It distributed public service ads, and produced a high-quality teaching brochure. Over 500,000 brochures have been distributed to parents, hospitals, clinics, schools, childbirth educators, libraries, etc. Several states, including Wisconsin, Kansas, Delaware, and New Hampshire, have adopted the brochure as its core public education tool.

Last year, MCC brought the National SBS Memorial Quilts to Massachusetts where they were displayed at the State House, at Brockton Hospital and at a public weekend event that attracted over 3,000 persons.

This fall, as part of its ongoing campaign, SBS prevention materials are being sent to all major birthing hospitals in the state for distribution to new parents. A similar effort in several upstate New York counties resulted in a reduction of over 80% of SBS injuries and deaths within an 18 month period. PCA Massachusetts is hoping for similar good results.

If you would like information about SBS and how to cope with infant crying, please call 800-CHILDREN. Let us know how many packets of information you would like to share with all your children's caretakers. If you would like to place a large order or want to ask any other questions about SBS call us at 617-742-8555, ext. 5, or email preventchildabuse@masskids.org. Betsy Lowe, RN, will be pleased to help you.

More about Shaken Baby Syndrome and its prevention

 

Our Organization Name Change

After 40 years, "Massachusetts Committee for Children & Youth" (MCCY) is retiring its name for the shorter and more descriptive name "Massachusetts Citizens for Children" or "MCC". The Board had for some time been unhappy with its description as a "Committee" and wanted to emphasize its roots as a citizen-based voice for children. "Youth" was dropped primarily to make the name shorter and easier to remember. Its commitment to speaking out on behalf of all children birth to 18 years of age remains strong.

Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts
MCC's child abuse prevention work will now be conducted under the banner, "Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts." This change is occurring all across the nation as chapters of the Chicago-based Prevent Child Abuse America (formerly the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse) are moving to create a single brand identity. By helping the public to recognize the work of its chapters as part of an organized national movement, it is hoped that the cause of prevention will be advanced. MCC has served as the state's chapter of PCA America since 1985.

 

Vote NO on Questions 4 and 6

Children in Massachusetts have a lot at stake in the November elections. Of course, elections always matter, but two huge tax cuts on the ballot this year would have a big impact on the state's ability to fund vital programs for children. No matter who is elected to state and local offices here, if Questions 4 and 6 pass there would be very real limits on the state's ability to expand key investments in education, health, and children's safety programs for years to come.

Question 4 proposes a $1.2 billion income tax cut. It was proposed by long-time anti-tax proponent Barbara Anderson, whose previous proposal to cut the income tax in 1990 with Question 3 failed by a landslide. Most of the benefits of Question 4 would go to wealthy families who are the first to say they don't really need a tax break.

A family making $50,000 a year, however, would save just $4 a week, not enough to compensate for the lost public investments. And a family making $25,000 a year would save just $38, or 10 cents a day. But the very wealthy, with incomes of $1 million a year, would save over $7,300 a year from Question 4. Working families can't afford a tax cut that takes money out of schools and health care and gives it to the wealthiest people in the state.

Question 6 is a $650 million tax cut that would rebate to some drivers the highway tolls and auto excise tax that car owners pay to their city or town. The threat to municipal budgets from losing auto excise tax revenue is substantial, and cities and town already facing tight budgets would have even greater problems financing local services that can be so important to a child's health and well-being.

These tax cuts would be permanent. Just like Prop 2½ continues to hamstring local services 20 years after it was passed, Questions 4 and 6 would squeeze investments and limit budget increases for years to come, making it more difficult to secure solid funding for children's programs.

The Campaign for Massachusetts' Future is a coalition of organizations and individuals who support voting NO on Questions 4 and 6. For more information, contact the Campaign at 1-800-833-TEAM, or go to their web site, www.NoOn4and6.com.

 

People Notes

Charlie Welch, MD, President of the MCC Board of Directors, was elected Vice-President of the Massachusetts Medical Society this year. Dr. Welch is the Director of the Center for Somatic Therapies at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Mary Calderone of Haverhill will represent PCA Massachusetts at the 3rd National Shaken Baby Syndrome Conference in Salt Lake City this month. Mary is the mother of 12 year old Deena, a victim of SBS. She recently won the J.C. Penny Volunteer Award for her outstanding work to prevent SBS.

Lou DiNatale, MCC Board member and Director of the UMASS/McCormack Institute's Center for State and Local Policy, will soon be providing monthly commentary on political and policy issues for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Linda Cutting, an MCC Board member, was featured in a May 30th Boston Globe article about child sexual abuse and its prevention. Linda is the author of "Memory Slips," an award-winning book about surviving childhood sexual abuse. Linda is a concert pianist who performs internationally.

Eli Newberger, MD, MCC's President Emeritus, released his widely acclaimed book earlier this year, "The Men They Will Become: The Nature and Nurture of Male Character." He has been interviewing and lecturing extensively across the country.

Jetta Bernier, MCC Director, was honored earlier this summer by the Miss Massachusetts Organization for her life-long work in the area of child abuse prevention. She was the first recipient of its Woman of Achievement Award for her "demonstrated exemplary zeal and devotion to an issue of benefit to American society."

Max Kargman, a member of the MCC board, was recognized earlier this year by Dorchester CARES, at its10-year anniversary celebration at the JFK Library. Max was honored for his vision in providing the seed money that helped to create Dorchester CARES, and realize it mission to build strong families for children.

 

Many Thanks To:

Betsy Lowe, RN, for her ongoing generous volunteer contribution in assisting PCA Massachusetts with its public education efforts on child abuse prevention. Betsy is a registered nurse at the Pediatric Unit at Boston Medical Center.

Boston Celtics, for supporting PCA Massachusetts' Blue Ribbon Promotion earlier this year, to raise public awareness about child abuse prevention. PCA Board member Ron White of Bear, Stearns & Company, Inc., Miss Massachusetts April Thibeault, and other PCA volunteers distributed literature and the blue ribbon child abuse prevention symbols at a Celtics game at the Fleet Center.

Sun Life of Canada company and employees, for their generous donations, and for choosing Massachusetts Citizens for Children again this year as one of its selected charities.

Sigma Delta Tau Sorority of Northeastern University, for hosting the "Walk to Keep Kids Safe" to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts this past April.

Studio 416 for selecting Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts again as the benefitting charity for Art/Craft 2000, happening this coming November.

Our summer interns: Erin Leidl of Tufts University; Julie Fishman of Brandeis University; Sarah Herzog of Tufts University; and Eve Wilder of Needham High School. From researching information for MCC's upcoming report on child protection, to assisting with our website and delivering "KIDS COUNT 2000" Reports to State House legislators, their energetic assistance was invaluable.

Jessica Haider, for her diligent ongoing research, providing MCC with expanded listings for our web resource library.