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Strengthening Families Update: January 26, 2010 In this update: 2010 Strengthening Families Webinar Schedule Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood Update New Brief from PAES: Why States Can’t Afford to Cut Early Childhood Programs Follow us on Twitter, Join our Facebook Group, Read our Blog 2010 Strengthening Families Webinar Schedule CSSP has finalized its schedule of webinars 2010.  The purpose of these webinars is to disseminate information about the Protective Factors approach and innovations in Strengthening Families implementation while encouraging peer-to-peer discussion and technical assistance.  Invitations to register for webinars will be sent out as the presentation dates approach.  All webinars will be held from 2:30-4:00 PM Eastern Time. March 9, 2010: State Strengthening Families Initiatives: Lessons from state-level implementation of the Protective Factors approach. Presenters: Nilofer Ahsan, Kate Stepleton April 6, 2010: Strengthening Families 101: An Introduction to Strengthening Families and the Protective Factors. Presenter: Judy Langford June 15, 2010: Strengthening Families Family Child Care Study and Self-Assessment. Presenter: Charlyn Harper Browne September 14, 2010: Towards Tracking and Evaluation Strategies for Strengthening Families. Presenter: Nilofer Ahsan December 14, 2010: Topic TBA. Two webinars designed to introduce the new online Self-Assessment and train trainers on the tool will also be held during the first quarter of 2010. February 16, 2010 March 3, 2010 Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood Update CSSP, in a cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau, USDHHS, is the managing partner of the Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood (QIC-EC), a five-year project to generate and disseminate new knowledge and robust evidence about programs and strategies that contribute to child maltreatment prevention and optimal development for infants and young children (0-5) and their families, including those impacted by HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, or abandonment. ZERO TO THREE and the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds are partners in the QIC-EC. The QIC-EC is currently reviewing proposals for research and demonstration projects that will implement and evaluate approaches to the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and will fund three to five projects, to be announced by the end of February, 2010. Read about the QIC-EC and its activities in the newest QIC-EC Newsletter. New Report from PAES: Why States Can’t Afford to Cut Early Childhood Programs A new issue brief from the Partnership for American’s Economic Success (PAES), part of the Pew Center on the States, provides policymakers with a succinct argument for maintaining and even increasing investments in early childhood as a strategy for smart budgeting during the economic downturn.  With state budgets tightening at alarming rates, many of the gains made in early childhood investments are in peril as decisions must be made about programs and policies to prioritize.  PAES highlights the demonstrated economic gains in both the short term and the long term of supporting early childhood investments with solid examples from states. Read The Cost of State Disinvestment: Why states can’t afford to cut smart early childhood programs. Follow us on Twitter, Join our Facebook Group, Read our Blog Connect with Strengthening Families on the web in a variety of ways: Follow us on Twitter, at StrengthenFams, where we post news items and resources. Join the Strengthening Families Facebook Group to connect with others around the country. Read the Strengthening Families Blog on our website. Look for guest bloggers, new materials, and more.