Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS) is pleased to share that Michigan, Oregon, and Louisiana were selected to receive Preschool Development Grant – Birth through Five (PDG B-5) renewal grants to implement their early childhood strategic plans that were developed in 2019. To date, twenty states were selected out of 45 applicants. In addition, Idaho Read More

Advocacy & Communication Solutions client, PRE4CLE, recently celebrated their five-year anniversary and was recognized in The Hechinger Report for their efforts to transform preschool in Cleveland, Ohio. Five years ago, only 25 percent of Cleveland’s 3 to 5-year-olds were enrolled in high-quality preschool, as defined by the state’s quality rating system. In several neighborhoods, there Read More

It is now easier for Cleveland, Ohio families to access a high-quality preschool for their children, due in large part to Advocacy & Communication Solutions’ Client PRE4CLE. Crain’s Cleveland Business and CLEVELAND.COM recently published articles about the organization’s five-year anniversary showcasing its amazing accomplishments including the following: Increasing from 24% to 43% of preschool-aged children enrolled Read More

Believe it or not, we’re more than halfway through 2019. Now is a good time to check in on many of the “hot topics” we reviewed in our January 10 Issues to Watch in 2019 publication and consider how these issues may influence your organizational priorities for the rest of the year. We provide an Read More

A recent National Association of School Boards of Education (NASBE) Policy Update looks at the impact of health on chronic absences and what states can do to address this issue. Chronic absences from school can severely set back academic learning and is considered an early warning sign of school dropout[1]. Untreated health conditions are the Read More

International & Regional Organizations Recognize Advocacy & Communication Solutions (ACS) Advocacy & Communication Solutions (ACS) was recently recognized for its work to design and implement a communication campaign and for its overall business growth. ACS’ work for the Franklin County Department of Job & Family Services received a Gold Hermes Creative Award in the Communication/Marketing Read More

Advocacy & Communication Solutions (ACS) Vice President Rebecca Cohen helped design and facilitate the National Association for School Boards of Education (NASBE) inaugural Early Childhood Education (ECE) Workgroup meeting for state school board members. Twelve state board of education members from 11 states traveled to Alexandria, Virginia for an intensive two-day peer learning session on Read More

Kids who start behind, often stay behind. Unfortunately, that’s particularly true for children of color in Ohio, according to a comprehensive report from Groundwork Ohio. In Cuyahoga County, just 22 percent of African-American and black children and 19 percent of Hispanic children demonstrate kindergarten readiness, as opposed to 52 percent of white children in the Read More

As we discussed in our 2019 edition of 10 Issues to Watch, health care systems and payers are increasing their attention on and investment in addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) – conditions like income, employment, education, housing, safety, transportation options, and others that influence individual and population health. In a recent piece, PatientEngagementHIT writer Read More

In 2018, three important pieces of legislation were signed into law that have the potential to move the dial on our nation’s abysmally high maternal and infant mortality rates, as summarized below and by policy experts at the Nurse-Family Partnership. The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2018 (H.R. 1218) authorizes and funds administration of new Read More