Category: Uncategorized

ACS client, Every Child Succeeds is front-page news regarding their national model to reduce infant mortality—data show that Every Child Succeeds has dropped infant mortality rate evenly across racial lines to 4.7 per 1,000 births! Read more below and click on the link to view the entire in-depth story.

“What’s the best way to reduce the region’s stubbornly high infant death rate? Supporters say it’s to add money and reach to Every Child Succeeds, a national model of help that’s already working in our midst”.

Read the full article here

Via The Ohio 8 Coalition, ACS client, Cincinnati Public Schools’ innovative model for turning schoolhouses into Community Learning Centers has earned the district a National Community School Award for Excellence by the National Coalition for Community Schools.

ACS Client, The Ohio 8 Coalition, includes the State’s largest urban school districts — Akron, Canton, Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland and Youngstown. The Akron Beacon Journal article below found that students from these districts were 3.3 times more likely to be hit by a vehicle than in surrounding suburban districts because the state offers no school transportation assistance for children who walk less than two miles to school.

Great work is only half of an organization’s success; the other half is sharing the story. That’s why the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority recently hired ACS to help boost its communications muscle. ACS will provide the Port with a new set of messages that clearly demonstrate its value to turn the surrounding community and residents into supporters. We’ll also supply the Port with a multi-year communication plan that is rooted in research and built on solid strategies for accomplishing short and long-term communications goals. Learn more about the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority at www.portofcleveland.com

ACS leaders Lori McClung and Scarlett Bouder are presenting two public engagement and advocacy workshop sessions at the 2013 National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, NC, April 29 — May 2. The workshop topics are “Prepare Your Organization to Build an Early Childhood Public Awareness Effort” on Wednesday, May 1, from 1:30-3:00 and “Advocacy, Communication and Media Relations Strategies for Early Childhood” on Thursday, May 2, from 10:30-noon.

Learn more about the conference here…

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) was recently highlighted in Education Week for implementing a bold and holistic strategy that turned around 13 of that city’s low performing buildings.

Read more…

Who is an English-language learner?

Across 50 states and tens of thousands of school districts, answers to that fundamental question can be quite different.

But with the Common Core State Standards widely adopted, and common assessments under development to test those new standards, states are reaching a point where perhaps they can start to wrestle with the task of reaching consensus around shared definitions of what it means to be an ELL, and when those students no longer need language instruction. The U.S. Department of Education is certainly pushing them to do so.

Read more…

ACS client, Every Child Succeeds, is featured in a column outlining the significant impact of the home visitation program, helping mothers, fathers, and babies get the best start possible to help prevent infant mortality, low weight births and encourage success in school—among many other positive measurable outcomes.

See the video and read the article here…

Health Management Systems, Inc. (HMS), as a subcontractor to lead firm Accenture, has secured a portion of $300 million contract with the State of Ohio to provide a comprehensive revamp of the State’s 30-year-old IT structure that houses Medicaid and health and human services eligibility systems. HMS will provide a software solution to help verify Medicaid applicants assets. As their lobbyist, ACS worked on behalf of HMS to make sure they had the information they needed to help secure this critical work. As a result, Ohioans will have a more effective and accurate Medicaid system. Congratulations to HMS!

Read More…

ACS has received national certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). We’ve also been certified as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) by Ohio’s largest County government, Cuyahoga County. Both of these certifications will help us reach new clients and build new organizational relationships in the coming year. It’s rare to be a small, woman-owned advocacy and direct lobbying firm, and we’re proud to help open new doors!