June ICS eNews

ICS Sends a "Message In A Baby Bottle" to Congress

Megan Carolan and her son present a message in a baby bottle to Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.

ICS's VP of Policy Research Megan Carolan and her son traveled to Capitol Hill this month to join other families in delivering a "Message in a Baby Bottle" to members of Congress, including House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA). These messages advocated for the continued funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and other crucial programs for families and early educators. Proposed cuts to these programs could leave millions of young children and families without a safety net for food, health care, and other crucial needs. The event was organized by Zero to Three and included a letter signed by nearly 150 organizations working on behalf of children and families nationwide.

To send your own message to Congress in support of programs for children and families, click here.

Megan Carolan (left) and her son (center) present a message in a baby bottle to Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts (center), along with other families.

New Brief from Mission: Readiness:

SNAP Helps Secure Our Nation

Food programs such as SNAP and WIC help young children grow up to be healthy adults.

Under ICS's Strong Nation initiative, Mission: Readiness recently released a brief stressing the importance of nutritional programs that provide a crucial safety net for vulnerable children and families including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Read the full blog post here.

ICS Engages With Hilton Grantees

Aimée Drouin Duncan and Crystal Xu Rose present to Hilton grantees.

Dr. Aimée Drouin Duncan (VP of Evaluation & Practice) and Crystal Xu Rose (Senior Director of Products and Services) presented to a group of The Hilton Foundation's grantees this month. The Hilton Foundation provides support to organizations that help address poverty in communities across the globe.

ICS's Evaluation & Practice team regularly provides measurement and evaluation guidance to organizations that support young children and families.

Learn more about ICS's expertise in measurement and evaluation here.

New Paper from Carolinas Collaborative on Food Insecurity

The Carolinas Collaborative's work increased the identification and referrals for food insecurity in the community.

The Carolinas Collaborative for Child Advocacy and Residency Education, an organization fiscally sponsored by ICS, is a robust network of advocacy leaders and pediatric health experts representing all eight pediatric academic institutions across North and South Carolina. Pediatricians affiliated with the Carolinas Collaborative recently published an article in the British Medical Journal's BMJ Open Quality journal, titled "Addressing Food Insecurity: A Paediatric Academic Advocacy Collaborative Quality Initiative". This article shares how the Carolinas Collaborative improved the ability of pediatric clinics to identify food insecurity and refer families to appropriate resources.

Click here to read the article.

The Carolinas Collaborative is built on the fundamental principle that fostering the well-being of all children necessitates the seamless integration of effective clinical, community, and population health strategies. They aim to tackle existing inequities in pediatric and adolescent mental health throughout the Carolinas by strengthening infrastructure, dismantling barriers, and expanding capacity to address critical regional equity issues related to mental health.

Learn more about the work of the Carolinas Collaborative.

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