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• The New England Consortium

Initiatives

The New England Consortium

The New England Consortium, a six-state collaborative of child research and policy organizations, has come together to develop a common set of priorities to reduce poverty in our individual states and region, and act as a catalyst for national change at this time of increasing poverty.

The Consortium’s mission is to reduce poverty and provide opportunities for New England children and families, through research and advocacy on a set of strategic state and federal policy priorities, with effective implementation across the region.

The Consortium envisions a New England region where children and their parents’ basic needs are met, educational and economic opportunities are available to all, and families are financially secure and a crucial part of their community's economic success.

NEC Member Organizations:

• Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS)
• Connecticut Voices for Children
• Maine Children’s Alliance (MCA)
• Massachusetts Citizens for Children (MCC)
• Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire (CANH)
• Rhode Island KIDS COUNT (RIKC)
• Voices for Vermont’s Children

The current focus of the Consortium is federal work, as we believe there is the most potential for change and opportunity to maximize our collective efforts in this area:

Part I. Federal Legislation:

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Working closely with each state’s congressional delegation, we will identify and champion a series of strategic and timely legislative initiatives that will reduce the number of children and families in poverty.
• Key New England delegation members are currently sponsors of poverty reducing legislation pending in Congress. We will work with the delegation to ensure that New England has sponsors and co-sponsors who will take the lead on future priority legislation. The goal will be for members of the New England delegation to be in support of key pieces of a unified agenda.

Long-term goals of the Consortium include effective parallel efforts at the state and local levels, to ensure effective state policy and practice, and implementation of federal law:

Part II. Advocacy to Reform State Policy & Practice

• Based on the collective decades of advocacy among the organizations in the New England Consortium, and with ongoing regional communication, organizations will prioritize shared concerns regarding the implementation of laws, policies and practices on the ground in our states, with an initial focus on drawing down ARRA funds.

Data is an important advocacy and research tool, and will be gathered, maintained, and used to demonstrate and support the effectiveness of sound policy decisions:

Part III. Data Collection & Analysis

• Each state will expand upon current data collection and maintain a standardized, reliable database to provide comprehensive and accurate information about poverty in New England.
• Data will be used to illustrate the current adverse effects of poverty, as well as the potential for positive effects from good public policy and practice improvements.

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