Children's Trust of South Carolina
News
August 2017
A Thrilling Time Is in Your Future
Children's Trust Hosts Annual Gala and Silent Auction
Looking for a fun event in the near future?
Then gaze into the Crystal Ball and see our annual gala and silent auction that will take place on Saturday, Aug. 26 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the South Carolina State Museum.
Get your fortune read and see what’s in store for you while supporting Children’s Trust and its programs that prevent child abuse, neglect and injuries across the state.
Bid on many great trips from Tuscany to Ireland, or if you want to stay a little closer to home, bid on a stay in Charleston, Asheville, Hilton Head or Savannah. Auction items also include clothing, jewelry, artwork, memorabilia and fine dining.
Enjoy heavy hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, and the funky sounds of the Root Doctors all evening long. Cost is $125. Purchase your tickets today.

We would like to thank our corporate sponsors for helping make this event possible: Kinardee Communications, Love Buick GMC, Publix Super Markets Charities, TD Bank, Aflac, BB&T, Grecian Gardens, Health Force LLC, McGuire Woods and The Hobbs Groups. Media sponsored by Sylvan's Jewelers and printing provided by Professional Printers.
Community Gatherings on Race Equity and Inclusion Begin Tomorrow

Sign Up Today for One of the Events in Greenville, North Charleston, Columbia or Florence
Children's Trust, in partnership with eight other stakeholders, will host a series of race equity and inclusion gatherings in communities across the state in August and September.

The gatherings are expected to provide a safe place for expression, an increased awareness of racial disparities for children, an opportunity to learn about South Carolina’s civil rights history, and discussions about public and private systems that perpetuate inequities.
 
Speaking Down Barriers facilitators, trained in anti-racist framework and conflict mediation, will host these conversations, incorporating the power of narrative and the spoken-word poetry art form to create a healing space across differences.

The sponsoring organizations, including Children's Trust, are the Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina; Care Share Health Alliance; Eat Smart, Move More of South Carolina; Palmetto Association for Children and Families; Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness; South Carolina Hospital Association, and St. Martin's in the Fields Episcopal Church.

The gatherings will be held in Greenville, Thursday, Aug. 17; North Charleston, Tuesday, Aug. 29; Columbia, Monday, Sept. 11; and Florence, Thursday, Sept. 28. For more information, contact Whitney Tucker, Children's Trust policy and research associate, at wtucker@scchildren.org .
Prevention Conference Features Seven Tracks, 41 Sessions and Top-Level Speakers
Reserve Your Place Today 
Make sure that you are registered for Prevention Conference 2017  hosted by Children’s Trust Oct. 2-3 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
With a theme of "Embracing Prevention, Empowering Communities," the biennial event will provide enriching information and emphasize the role everyone plays in keeping children safe.

The conference, which costs $200 to attend, will help social workers, home visitors, counselors, program administrators and other child-serving professionals in their work to prevent child abuse, neglect and injuries. Continuing education units are available.

The conference will feature seven session tracks that cover a variety of interests and disciplines. Keynote speakers include Dan Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine; Ashley Rhodes-Courter, a former foster child who’s now an acclaimed author and speaker; Charlyn Harper Browne, senior associate of the Center for the Study of Social Policy; Donna Jackson Nakazawa, science journalist and researcher; Chris Soderquist, founder of Pontifex Consulting; and Craig Weber, an expert in helping organizations improve their performance by treating dialogue as discipline. 

A list of our featured speakers is available. 
Child Passenger Safety Summit Scheduled with Prevention Conference

Running concurrently with the Prevention Conference, Children’s Trust is hosting the Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Summit on Tuesday, Oct. 3, also at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. 

This training offers continuing education units so that child passenger safety technicians can maintain their certification and continue serving thousands of families through car seat safety.

The summit, which costs $75 to attend, features speakers and trainers addressing the most current information regarding safety regulations, equipment training, and updates from car seat manufacturers.
Pee Dee Resiliency Project Launched
An important project is beginning in Pee Dee elementary schools to combat the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).


Early adversity can send children down a path to lifelong negative health and social outcomes, which is why Children’s Trust is teaming up with the S.C Department of Mental Health, University of South Carolina School Behavioral Health Team, and Pee Dee Mental Health Center in a three-year project funded by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation.


The Pee Dee Resiliency Project (PDRP) is a community-based partnership for students and their families at nine elementary schools in Florence, Darlington and Marion counties. The goal is to help them to prevent and address emotional and behavioral challenges that interfere with a student’s success.

“PDRP is an opportunity for Children’s Trust to apply what we know about ACEs – that ACEs are prevalent across communities in South Carolina, and they influence many long-term health and social outcomes,” Children's Trust ACE coordinator Aditi Srivastav said. “This project will help us develop best practices for community based-prevention efforts, which can serve as a model for other communities both inside and outside of South Carolina.”

Child Health and Well-Being Coalition Formed
The Child Health and Well-Being Coalition is a statewide collaborative of community partners with a vision to improve the health and educational outcomes of South Carolina children living in poverty. The coalition's purpose is to act collectively to support and implement evidence-based and promising policies and programs to mitigate the effects of poverty on child health and education.

Children’s Trust is kicking off the coalition with the first leadership team meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 22. The purpose of the meeting will be to orient the leadership team, establish membership for the coalition, discuss DHEC Title V priority areas, identify workgroup champions representing high-priority topic areas, and advance the topic of desired outcomes and goals.

For more information, contact Lakesha Fields, child well-being coordinator at Children's Trust, at lfields@scchildren.org or 803-744-4066. If you have interest in joining the coalition, please submit the following form.  
Reauthorizing Home Visiting Programs Is Vital
Children's Trust Asks Supporters to Contact Lawmakers
The time to act in favor of home visiting is now. Hundreds of child-serving organizations across the nation, including Children’s Trust of South Carolina, are mobilizing support for the reauthorization of the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.

The evidence-based program, which has had strong bipartisan backing, provides funding that improves the lives of vulnerable children and families. Advocates want to see it expanded for a term of five years with increased incremental funding from $400 million annually to $800 million. The current legislation is set to expire Sept. 30.

There has been significant and purposeful movement made toward the current legislation being reauthorized, including a bipartisan letter of strong support signed by 13 U. S. Senators, including Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

The House Ways and Means Committee recently informed the national Home Visiting Coalition that H.R. 2824 (Increasing Opportunity Through Evidenced-Based Home Visiting Act) is up for reauthorization 15 days after Congress returns from the August recess.

MIECHV funds approximately 125 staff positions in South Carolina and has provided over 48,000 home visits to families since 2011. Please contact members of our state's Congressional delegation by phone or through social media, using the hashtag #SC4MIECHV, to lend your voice to the effort of expanding home visiting.  
Daniels Joins Children's Trust Staff
Kelsay Daniels, Program Assistant
Kelsay Daniels is a program assistant responsible for fulfilling needs of the organization’s programs through coordination of meetings, maintenance of program timelines, and assisting with data collection. With a recent bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of South Carolina, she formerly worked as an office assistant in the S.C. Department of Mental Health’s Columbia Metropolitan Children’s Advocacy Center. 
Published by Children's Trust of South Carolina.
Children's Trust of South Carolina is the only statewide organization focused on the prevention of child abuse, neglect and injury. The organization trains and educates professionals who work directly with families and also funds, supports and monitors proven prevention programs. Children's Trust is the voice for South Carolina's children and advocates for strong, well-founded policies that positively impact child well-being. Children's Trust is home to Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina, KIDS COUNT South Carolina and Safe Kids South Carolina.