MINUTES

                                    MANSFIELD ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN

                                                    Wednesday, April 1, 2009

                                                                6:30-8:00 PM

                                                   Council Chambers- Town Hall

PRESENT: J. Goldman, K. Grunwald (staff), J. Higham, S. Baxter (staff), S. Daley, A. Bladen (Chair),

J. Stoughton (staff), N. Hovorka, J. Greene

REGRETS: C. Guerreri, R. Leclerc, A. Bloom, M.J. Newman, Liz Buczynski, D. McLaughlin, K. Paulhus, L. Dahn

ITEM	DISCUSSION	OUTCOME
Open	-Welcome: Chair A. Bladen called the meeting to order at 6:32 PM. -Vote to adopt 3/4/09 Minutes: note that D. McLaughlin was in attendance	Minutes were adopted with that correction.
Week of the Young Child	-Brainstorm possible events: J. Goldman noted that this is a little late to be doing planning; can we do this earlier next year?  S. Baxter announced that Lisa Young and Debbie Ginekanos agreed to coordinate the display of children’s art.  A suggestion was made to use the “paper doll project” to celebrate the Week of the Young Child”. The theme this year is: “Communities come together for Children, Children Bring Communities Together.”  This can be used to point to resources in town that support young children.  The Community Center has a Family Fun Night planned on April 17; the Senior Center is doing a Grandchildren’s Day event; these will be publicized as part of the WOYC events as well.  S. Baxter will be putting the calendar of events together. Agreed that MAC will provide flowers to all staff at the Early Care Centers.  J. Higham will create a “thank you” card that will be sent to homecare providers and the centers that are closed that week, along with the public school pre-school programs.  Grandchildren’s Day will be on Monday, April 20 at the Senior Center from 9:30-12:30.	Return the paper dolls to Lisa Young at MDD by 4/16.  Get information about activities that are open to the community to S. Baxter to add to the calendar by this Friday.  N. Hovorka will create the calendar.   Members agreed to take them to local businesses.  Calendars will also be sent home in Fri. folders for pre-school students. K. Grunwald will have the Town Council do a proclamation in honor of the Week of the Young Child.
1-1 Interview Presentation	-Brainstorm strategies to create a fun and welcoming presentation of findings for interviewees.  There were some concerns raised that this is at the same time as a presentation at the Middle School on Internet Safety.  There has not been a lot of response to this date; a suggestion was made that participants be asked what would be a convenient time to attend.  Another question was raised as to whether or not participants would feel comfortable in a group; is this a bad time of the day for parents of young children?  The suggestion was made to email the presentation and ask participants for feedback.   Maybe the weekend would be a better time; explain in the invitation that this is an opportunity to provide feedback.  -How can we use this as a MAC recruitment tool using materials from Membership Committee?: no discussion.	Will email the presentation to the group and request feedback.  Explore offering a weekend presentation time for this group.
Reports from I/T Group and Family Information Packet Group	I/T Group: Representatives attended the UConn Provost’s Work/Life Committee meeting along with C. Guerreri.  The committee was provided with an update from the Leadership Work Group and MAC.  The co-chair, Terri Dominguez, was invited and attended the RBA presentation.  J. Higham asked if they have considered opening a new center at the university.  A. Bladen said that this all comes back to the need to conduct a feasibility study. J. Goldman pointed out that I/T care is one of the areas of focus for the Leadership Work Group, and she feels that MAC should take on this piece to be completed.  Family Information Packet: Sub committee met in Feb.; cancelled March meeting.  They decided to go with Gulemo Printing for the packet.  They have identified ad costs and will request donations as well.  The introduction letter needs to be completed.  J. Higham and J. Greene will solicit businesses to cover start-up costs for this year.  S. Baxter pointed out that at the Family Fun Fair many parents want to know how to select a pre-school; she provided a handout on this to consider including in the packet.
School Readiness Update	Discussion re: expanding the membership of MAC to include School Readiness parents. -Review of the new School Readiness application, grant requirements and space allotment:  S. Baxter announced that the sub-committee has determined slot allocation for each of the Centers, totaling 14 slots at the 4 Centers.  She is in the process of working on the new grant application; reimbursement to Centers has been increased.  There are some other changes in terms of the requirements of the grant.  The school readiness task force will meet to review policy additions and modifications.  There are also new requirements for School Readiness teachers. Several questions came up around the expansion of the pre-school programs in the public schools.	Recommendation that we establish a requirement that all School Readiness parents would be involved in at least one activity related to their school or MAC. The School Readiness Task Force will develop family participation guidelines and bring them to this council for adoption.  Adopted unanimously. J. Goldman asked that R. Leclerc speak to the issue of expanding pre-school programs in the public schools at our next meeting.
Announcements and Agenda for next meeting	-Announce Leadership Workgroup updates: -Recommendations from the group: Rachel Leclerc report on Public School’s Pre-School Program changes
Adjournment	Meeting adjourned at 8:05PM	Next Meeting: May 6, 2009

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin Grunwald