Praise for the Commission

The State of Connecticut was prescient in establishing the Connecticut Commission on Children. This organization has done excellent work in providing the legislature with the objective analysis of the knowledge base on children's issues. The Commission has been an important factor in placing Connecticut at the cutting edge of dealing with child and family concerns."

—Dr. Edward Zigler, Sterling Professor of Psychology at Yale University and Director Emeritus of the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale

The Commission on Children is truly the voice for children, and especially for those in our state who are most vulnerable. It has a proven track record of ensuring that the health, safety, and learning of the children in Connecticut are central. When they see a problem, they seek expert opinion on the most up to date research, communicate this to the legislature and governmental officials, and drive the policy that will result in effective solutions. The list of proactive, preventive programs that they have brought to this state through legislation is enormous, including school readiness, early reading, lead abatement, obesity prevention, and child poverty reduction. In each case, they have saved this state millions of dollars by enhancing the health and development of our children and preventing serious and costly problems from arising.

—Dr. Darcy Lowell, Executive Director of Child FIRST (Child and Family Interagency Resource, Support, and Training Program), Bridgeport Hospital

Since 2000, we at Haskins, along with the Connecticut teachers whom we've trained and the children whom these teachers have taught, have been the beneficiaries of the Commission's vision, policy acumen, and dedication to raising the achievement of every child in our state."

—Margie Gillis Senior Scientist and Project Director, Haskins Literacy Initiative at Haskins Laboratories, Yale University

The Commission has worked on the lead poisoning issue from the beginning. They were part of the 'Get the Lead Out Coalition' that spawned the LAMPP project back in the early 1990's. LAMPP has since received two rounds of federal funding to the tune of over $12.6 million and has remediated lead paint in more than 1,135 housing units to date."

—Amy McLean Salls, Project Coordinator of LAMPP (Lead Action for Medicaid Primary Prevention)

[The Commission] supports the planning, programs, and activities that prepare parents, grandparents, and other adult caregivers to work with school, community, and state leaders to improve health, safety and learning outcomes for all children. [It has made] an important difference here in Meriden. These resources are vital investments in our state's children and families--especially in these challenging economic times.

—David Radcliffe, Director, Meriden Children First Initiative

The Commission on Children plays a unique role in Connecticut as a communications link between citizens and the often complex processes of government. Working in partnership with local and statewide, public and private organizations, the Commission has helped many who are working on behalf of children to be heard more clearly in the public arena."

—David M. Nee, Executive Director, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund

As we continue our research and discover ways to have a positive impact on childhood overweight and obesity, we continue to rely on and highly value our relationship with the Commission and its Obesity Council on a variety of issues, to help us educate policy makers, communities, families, and other citizens about making real change in the lives of Connecticut children.

—Roberta Friedman, Director of Policy, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University

The Commission on Children pays as much attention to what is happening in Connecticut's towns and cities as to what it happening at the Capitol. No other agency makes such a point of getting to know--and mentor--local leaders on children's issues. It has an eagle eye for promising local initiatives--Bridgeport's Child FIRST, for instance--which it brings to the attention of legislators and policy makers. It is the Commission to which local leaders turn to smooth the rough edges of their advocacy, and test their ideas against sophisticated policy analysis."

—Betsy Morgan, Director, Middlesex Coalition for Children

The Commission on Children is an agency that has an impressive track record of identifying the key issues for children and families, and I believe that is because they ask us--the families--and then work directly with us, gathering the research and pulling together the critical players to work through the issues and make a difference for Connecticut's children.

—Karen Zrenda, Old Lyme parent and longtime volunteer on behalf of children with disabilities

In 2008 my wife and I completed Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) training in Bridgeport, and our children completed the Children's Leadership Training Institute program. We use the training we received weekly, if not daily. There are hundreds like us being trained each year in this state. Once the training is done, we are out there working in the communities and making a difference.

—John Wilkins, Bridgeport

The Commission on Children is a cost-effective investment in our state's future."

—Diane Willcutts, Board of Directors, Learning Disabilities Association of Connecticut

The Connecticut Commission is unique among the active governance bodies surveyed by the Family Impact seminar. The Commission and its staff, by nearly all accounts, perform a valuable catalyzing and coordinating role on behalf of better and better-coordinated services to young children and their families. Known for its facility at mobilizing both public and private stakeholders and creating effective public education campaigns, the Commission is perhaps most valuable as an influential advisor to all branches of government and as a site for the negotiations of state and family and child policy."

—From "Coming Together for Children and Families: How Cabinet-level Collaboration is Changing State Policymaking," published by the Family Impact Seminar