1.
What positive
community norms
do we want to
grow?

2.
What is Connect the Dots?
• A collective effort to build a large social movement for children
and families
• Developing, promoting, and connecting actions that can be taken
by individuals, groups, communities, and policymakers
3

3.
What motivates organizations
to get involved?
• New strategies and resources to help you engage the public in your
work in your state or community
• Concrete way for businesses and other non-traditional partners to
connect to child and family issues
• An inroad for engaging faith-based organizations and other
community institutions in building protective factors
• An opportunity to make a collective impact on issues we care about
4

4.
What does it mean to call this “building a
movement”?
• Building a movement is more than marches and protests and enacting
laws; it is about developing leaders, building trust and mobilizing action
toward a common purpose.
• Building a social movement includes a variety of actions by individuals,
groups, organizations and others mobilizing to achieve a particular social
change.
• Actions may include specific campaigns and tactics as part of the
broader movement, but a social movement has a broader social impact.

5.
How do you build a movement?
• Affirm
• Empower
• Educate
Individual
Actions
• Sense of
connectedness
• Relationships
Community
Engagement • Engage in
issues
• Mobilize
Policy
Advocacy
6

6.
What’s
your dot?
7
Mentoring

7.
8
www.whatsyourdot.org

8.
Connect the Dots Map
http://www.whatsyourdot.org/map/

9.
Examples: Individual dots
• “I volunteer as a mentor for parents who are involved in the child
welfare system”
• “I serve on my local school board”
• “I watch my neighbor’s toddler and preschooler when she has a
doctor’s appointment or just needs some time to herself”
• “I get together with other home child care providers once a month.
We help each other with ways to provide the best care we can to the
kids and how to take care of ourselves too!”

10.
Connecting
the dots at a
community
level
12
Mentoring

11.
Examples: Community dots
• Family night at the laundromat – free laundry with pizza, child care
and parenting information provided
• Campaign to get to know your neighbors through trick-or-treating
• Training adults on how to prevent child sexual abuse
…and what’s happening in your neighborhood, community, state?

12.
Connecting at the Policy / Societal Level

13.
Building a movement to achieve
Collective Impact…

14.
Key elements of a collective impact approach:

15.
A case example: Baptist Convention
of New Jersey
In October of 2014, the General Baptist Convention of New Jersey voted to become
Strengthening Families churches. The pastor of each of these churches will sign a covenant
to promote the protective factors of families in their congregations. Reverend Darrell
Armstrong, an early adopter of Strengthening Families, developed the covenant as a tool to
engage clergy of any faith tradition in helping families to build protective factors as part of
their ministry.
• Over 300 churches in NJ will sign the covenant
• Protective factors have been aligned to key passages from scripture
• Training available for clergy and lay faith leaders on how to implement a protective
factors approach in their work with parishoners
Community
Institutions

16.
A case example: Magnolia Place
What would it take to have the 35,000 children living in the neighborhoods within the 5-
square mile/500 blocks of the Magnolia Catchment Area break all records of success in their
education and their health, and the quality of nurturing care and the economic stability they
receive from their families and community?”
• Use SF protective factors as a philosophy to align practice among a network of 75
providers
• Baseline survey of 800 individuals on PFs
• Café conversations with community members about what PFs mean to them
• Dashboard—to examine monthly success in engaging families around PFs
• Using EDI to measure impact on school readiness
Service
Programs

17.
Shared
Outcomes and
Measures
Magnolia Community Dashboard
15 August 2011
% of 3rd Grade Children Who are Proficient in Reading
% Parents of Children 0-5 with Protective Factors % Parents of Children 0-5 Achieving Family Goals
% Parents Reporting Reading to Their Child Daily Parent Experiences with Care (in the Community Overall and % Parents Reporting Ties to Neighbors
Overall and in Actively Improving Provider Settings)
% Parents Reporting Positive Relationship with Child % Parents Reporting Use of Bank Account % Parents Reporting Family-Centered/Empathetic Care
% Parents Discussing Resources for Families % Parents Asked About Developmental Concerns % Parents Asked About Family Stressors
% Parents Discussing Resources for Social Support % of Children Reached % Parents Asked About Depression
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
AtLeast1Neighbor
YouCouldDiscuss
PersonalProblem
With
CanGet
MedicalCare
WhenNeeded
FlexibleWhen
LifeDoesn'tGo
AsPlanned
Social
Connections
(% with both)
Concrete
Support in
Times of Need
(% with all 6)
Resilience (%
with all 5)
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%
Through child care
% receiving care from this system
% reached by Magnolia Network partner
SafePlacesfor
ChildtoPlay
NotDepressed
FoodHasNot
RunOut
CaregiversSee
ChildRegularly
Social
Conditions
Parent
Health
Economic
Stability Parenting
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2010 2011 2012
Has IEP
Area No. Comm Phys Lang Soc Emo 1+ 2+ (%)
Northwest 137 12 10 17 17 7 30 18 7
Southwest 15 27 0 0 13 13 40 13 --
Proportion of Kindergarten Children:
Developmentally vulnerable (%)
0 20 40 60 80 100
All children
"Children with parent <HS
educa on
No. Total number of children assessed
Comm Communication and general knowledge
Phys Physical health and wellbeing
Lang Language and cognitive skills 1+ Vulnerable on one or more domains
Soc Social competence 2+ Vulnerable on two or more domains
Emo Emotional maturity Has IEP Has special education plan
In actively improving doctor offices
In actively improving child care programs
In community overall
In actively improving family support programs
Goal
EDSI . EARLY
DEVELOPMENTAL
SCREENING
ANDINTERVENTION
INITIATIVE

18.
Elderly poverty in the U.S. decreased
dramatically.
Between 1960 and 1995, the poverty rate of
those aged 65 and above fell from 35% to
10% and remains steady despite economic
recessions.
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Homestead exemptions
Policy
Advocacy
A case example:
Poverty Rates for Seniors

19.
How can we
Connect our
Dots more
effectively to
achieve a
Collective
Impact?

20.
Strengthening Families
Mini-Grants Available
Up to $5,000 Each
- Letter of Intent Due Dec. 11th
- Applications Due Jan. 8th
info@strengtheningfamilieswv.org

21.
Help us Connect the Dots
• Encourage others to join the movement by signing up at
http://www.whatsyourdot.org
• Spread the word with #whatsyourdot
• Let me know what resources and tools would be most useful to you
Jim McKay
TEAM for WV Children / Prevent Child Abuse WV
304-617-0099 – jim@teamwv.org
23