The Advertising Council is urging Americans to “change the world of a child’’ by becoming Head Start volunteers.
The public-service campaign, which includes announcements for television, radio, and the business press, “is vital to us if we are to continue to increase our reach to America’s low-income children and their families,’' said Helen Taylor, the associate commissioner of the Head Start Bureau of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
The campaign, designed on a pro bono basis by the New York-based advertising agency Lord, Dentsu & Partners, has a toll-free number, (800) 27-START, to offer guidance and refer people to local centers.
Many black adults fear that their children will be harmed by violence, drugs, and gangs, a new poll shows.
The survey involved 1,004 adults and 421 children and was commissioned by the Children’s Defense Fund and the Black Community Crusade for Children, a campaign coordinated by the C.D.F. and other child-related agencies.
The majority of adults polled described times as “tough’’ or “really bad’’ for black children. Many also expressed concerns about black children becoming teenage parents, getting involved with drugs or gangs, or being denied opportunities because of prejudice. Good health care, jobs and job training, and strong public schools topped the list of strategies they said would help.
Black youths echoed many of the adults’ concerns, but 74 percent said that if they work hard and try to do their best they can succeed. Both groups said parental support is key.
Copies of the poll results are available for $3.50 each from C.D.F. Publications, 25 E St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.
The Family Resource Coalition has compiled a set of reference materials for working with black families.
Copies of “Working With African-American Families: A Guide to Resources’’ are available for $29 each for members or $39 each for nonmembers from the Family Resource Coalition, 200 South Michigan Ave., Suite 1520, Chicago, Ill. 60604.
The coalition has also released two other new publications. “The Basics of Family Support: A Guide for State Planners’’ is available for $24 for members and $29 for nonmembers. “Family Support and Socially Vulnerable Communities: Three Case Studies and Lessons Learned’’ costs $12 for members and $14 for nonmembers.
--DEBORAH L. COHEN
